Small Town Pushes For Housing On Protected California Delta

"In the first case of its kind, the unincorporated town of Clarksburg, 15 miles south of Sacramento, is urging a state commission to allow a developer to build 162 homes. The decision about whether to uphold the 14-year-old preservation statute could have broad implications for future land use in the state's immense agricultural plain, which faces increasing pressure from homebuilders."

"The delta includes some of the most fertile soil in the nation and crucial habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife. The levees that crisscross the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta not only protect farmland and small towns but also contain the drinking water for more than 23 million people in the San Francisco Bay area and Southern California."

"In an attempt to control development, state lawmakers in 1992 passed the Delta Protection Act. It set aside about 500,000 acres in an area known as the primary zone to 'be protected from the intrusion of nonagricultural uses.'"