SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Department of Water Resources is reconstructing the rock barrier once again in W. False River near Oakley. The wall was put up in May 2021 to limit saltwater from pushing through freshwater rivers and channels in the Delta.
“By making some changes in our operational rules, as well as implementing this emergency drought barrier, we're able to keep the salt at bay with the release of less freshwater,” says DWR Engineer Jacob McQuirk.
It was partially taken down in January 2022 to allow fish and boats through. Now, that the winter storm season has come to an end, the rock barrier is being rebuilt.
The third drought year in a row means more low water reserves. The dams and reservoirs are seeing low capacities between 38% and 60% from Shasta to Folsom. A big concern from farmers and lawmakers has been the allowance of water to flow out of reservoirs to help desalinize the Delta.
“The way that they work is you need to have enough fresh water that's coming in from the rivers that feed into the Delta to keep it fresh so that you can actually move water across the Delta,” McQuirk says.
Many San Joaquin farmers rely on the Delta to funnel water from rivers to canals, but salty water isn’t useful for drinking and agriculture, so released flows are needed in the Delta. The hope is that this rock barrier can be a short-term solution to releasing less water out of reservoirs.
The Department of Water Resources says they expect the wall to remain in place through Nov. 30.
