A proposal to build a 42-mile long, 400-ft-wide water conveyance canal soundly rejected by California voters in 1982 is rising from the mists of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta again. It is driven this time, in large part, by a heightened appreciation for risk and the physical fragility of the state�s water supply. Consider it a legacy of Hurricane Katrina.
�Not long ago, risk was a dirty word, but things have changed,� says Martin W. McCann Jr., project technical director of the �Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Risk Management Strategy� study, one of several concurrent studies analyzing water issues in the state. �Now, [risk] is becoming every man�s tool. But it�s a unique expertise. We need to find the balance in how and when to use it.�