Another reason to save the Delta

Want a reason to protect the Delta from encroaching interests from Parts Previously Unwatered? How about San Joaquin County's $2.1 billion agricultural output in 2008, a 6 percent increase from the year before.

San Joaquin farmers get a good deal of their water from senior rights to rivers and — you guessed it — the Delta.

But to quench the thirst of places with junior rights — places that arguably shouldn't have been farmed with permanent crops in the first place — one breadbasket might be damaged to sustain another.