I found this photo on the Kern County Water Agency’s website.

A truly historic day that ushered in an era of water plenty, at least for a few decades.

By 1982 the love affair with large water projects was over and California voters rejected one of the final pieces of the State Water Project, the peripheral canal. It would have taken water from the Sacramento river out of the delta to pumps in Tracy.

Theoretically, that could have avoided problems with endangered species such as the delta smelt and salmon. (There was another piece known as the San Luis drain that theoretically could have avoided salinity issues now plaguing Westlands Water District, but that’s another story).

Anyhow, I thought this photo was cool.