Sacramento, CA — The state Department of Water Resources wants to spend $110 million to solve some of the problems that have long plagued the vast waterway that supplies water to two-thirds of Californians.

Four lengthy steel gates would cut across sections of the delta and rise like drawbridges to alter the delta´s flow. The gates would act like temporary dams, providing more water for pumping to Central Valley farmers and preventing brackish water from invading the lower reaches of the delta.

That means fresher delta water could be pumped to cities. The agency said the dam project would not harm already troubled fish populations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta but environmental groups are skeptical.