THE DELTA - It's not enough that Doug Hemly lives in the same white, Victorian-style home built by his great-grandfather in 1875.
No, his family's story goes back further. He gestures across the Sacramento River toward a eucalyptus tree, where his great-great-grandfather first settled in Gold Rush times.
Roots don't grow much deeper than that.
By the numbers
• 2,400 feet: Length of two of the three proposed intakes on the banks of the Sacramento River. The third would be 1,560 feet.
• 1,765 acres: Amount of farmland to be converted into two new forebays.
• 40 feet: Diameter of each tunnel.
• 35 miles: Distance from the Sacramento River intakes to the existing pumps near Tracy.
• 7,000 cubic yards: Amount of "muck" produced each day by drilling.
• 50 feet by 300 feet: Size of temporary construction barge landings to be built up and down the Delta.
"My great-grandfather and father died in this house," the 67-year-old Hemly said, standing in the backyard high above the river. "My mother and both of my sisters were born in this place. From that upstairs porch, which is our bedroom, we can see every house we've lived in as a married couple."
And from that porch, Hemly and his wife, Cathy, might someday also witness the construction of one of the biggest infrastructure projects in California: Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal for $14 billion twin tunnels to divert water away from the Delta.
The southernmost of three giant intakes is projected to be built over a pear orchard immediately north of the house. The home itself would be just outside the footprint of the project, according to the latest maps, but the family said it's also at risk of losing a packinghouse and cold-storage plant.
The Hemlys say they oppose the project both for the harm to their property and because they believe the tunnels are not the solution to California's water problems.
Read more here: http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130406/A_NEWS/304060325/-1/a_news
www.restorethedelta.org
No, his family's story goes back further. He gestures across the Sacramento River toward a eucalyptus tree, where his great-great-grandfather first settled in Gold Rush times.
Roots don't grow much deeper than that.
By the numbers
• 2,400 feet: Length of two of the three proposed intakes on the banks of the Sacramento River. The third would be 1,560 feet.
• 1,765 acres: Amount of farmland to be converted into two new forebays.
• 40 feet: Diameter of each tunnel.
• 35 miles: Distance from the Sacramento River intakes to the existing pumps near Tracy.
• 7,000 cubic yards: Amount of "muck" produced each day by drilling.
• 50 feet by 300 feet: Size of temporary construction barge landings to be built up and down the Delta.
"My great-grandfather and father died in this house," the 67-year-old Hemly said, standing in the backyard high above the river. "My mother and both of my sisters were born in this place. From that upstairs porch, which is our bedroom, we can see every house we've lived in as a married couple."
And from that porch, Hemly and his wife, Cathy, might someday also witness the construction of one of the biggest infrastructure projects in California: Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal for $14 billion twin tunnels to divert water away from the Delta.
The southernmost of three giant intakes is projected to be built over a pear orchard immediately north of the house. The home itself would be just outside the footprint of the project, according to the latest maps, but the family said it's also at risk of losing a packinghouse and cold-storage plant.
The Hemlys say they oppose the project both for the harm to their property and because they believe the tunnels are not the solution to California's water problems.
Read more here: http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130406/A_NEWS/304060325/-1/a_news
www.restorethedelta.org