BACKGROUND

Originally conceived as a state facility, the Central Valley Project was taken over by the federal government in the 1930s, when California was unable to sell bonds to pay for it during the Depression. Construction of the first phase of the project was completed in 1951, including the key Shasta Dam on the Sacramento River and delta pumping plants at Tracy feeding the Delta-Mendota Canal, which serves farmers in the San Joaquin Valley. The project is the largest supplier of water in California. In normal times, about 7 million acre-feet--20% of California’s annual water supply--is delivered by the federal project, mainly to irrigate farms and orchards in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. The state also gets water from several other major sources, including the State Water Project, which produces 2.5 million acre-feet or 7% of the state total, mostly for Southern California. Under the Wilson proposal, the two systems would be merged.