Friday, October 29, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 29, 2010

Delta Stewardship Council Supports Improved Treatment of Sacramento Wastewater

Story

from ACWA – Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010

TID temporarily fills vacancy

Story

from Modesto Bee – Friday, Oct. 29, 2010

Valley water users want DFG’s answers

Story

from Siskiyou Daily News – Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010

FISHBIO fall-run Chinook salmon update

Report

from FISHBIO – Wednesday, Oct. 27 2010

Will Klamath dam removable cheaper or more expensive than relicensing?

Story

from Siskiyou Daily News - Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010

Thursday, October 28, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 28, 2010

Doing more with less in California

Commentary

from Aquafornia – Thursday, Dec. 28, 2010

By Cameron Brooks, IBM

Coalition viewpoint…While continued conservation will play a role in California’s water future, it alone will not provide the water for a growing population and increased demands from the environmental community to take water away from both farmers and urban residents. Increased storage capacity through surface and underground sources will provide the flexibility we need to save water for later use. Continued efforts to improve water use efficiency must also be a part of the future.

Water study suit settled amicably

Story

from Chico Enterprise Record - Oct. 28, 2010

Wet winter reduces pressure on alfalfa

Story

from Western Farm Press RSS Feed

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 27, 2010

Delta water report unpopular upstream

Story

from Union Democrat – Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010

Will pessimism produce a better water bond?

Comment

from Appeal-Democrat – Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010

Experts puzzle over rare quake in Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

Story

from Sacramento Bee

California vineyard water ban ‘will cost economy $2bn a year’

Story

from Decanter – Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010

Water fight goes to court

Story

from Stockton Record – Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010

DWR and DFG Sign Fish Restoration Program

Press Release

from DWR – Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010

State agencies agree to try to help Delta fish

Story

from CV Business Times – Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010

State says S.J. failed to act on water request

Story

from Stockton Record – Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 26, 2010

Water and the ‘use less, pay more’ paradox

Opinion

from NC Times – Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010

Lake Shasta rising

Story

from Redding Record Searchlight – Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010

Monday, October 25, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 25, 2010

Protect our salmon fishers

Commentary

From Monterey Herald – Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010

By Duncan MacLean, fisherman

Coalition viewpoint…The description of the salmon fishing industry as presented by the author could also be written about many farm communities along the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Both industries, fishing and farming, have been damaged from federal regulations, drought and natural factors beyond anyone’s control. Science, which the author calls on to rule the day, is providing updated information that factors other than water exports---ocean conditions, loss of habitat, diminishing water quality---from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are having greater impact in the decline of salmon numbers. To point out only the exports as the cause of the problem is a disservice to anyone seeking the facts.

Farmer seeks payment over San Joaquin River seepage

Story

from Fresno Bee – Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010

Coalition viewpoint…Federal officials must work with property owners to insure that San Joaquin River restoration efforts do not create harmful effects on adjacent lands, as required by Congress when it approved enabling legislation. Increased monitoring will help in avoiding seepage damage on the lands.

The Changing Nature of Agricultural Water Allocation

Commentary

from Choices Magazine – 3rd quarter 2010

By Richard Howitt, UC Davis

Voters Agenda: Candidates evade thorny water issues

Editorial

from Sacramento Bee – Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010

Idea to draw down dams, pump groundwater doesn't pencil out

STORY

from Chico Enterprise Record – Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010

Interior Official Says Peripheral Canal (Conveyance) Is 'Necessary'

Blog

from Indybay newswire – Friday, Oct. 22, 2010

Valley water keeps flowing toward Southern California

from California TV News – Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010

Salmon from East Bay district hatchery catch a break

Story

from Contra Costa Times – Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010

Friday, October 22, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 22, 2010

Importing Risk

from Blogs – Friday, Oct. 22, 2010

Coalition viewpoint…Californians also face a risk from not adequately planning for a future that demands a reliable water supply. That future water supply must include new water storage facilities, both surface and below ground, improved conveyance, recycling, conservation and continued efforts to increase water use efficiency.

County needs a plan for water

Letter

from Chico Enterprise-Record – Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010

Coalition viewpoint…People need to understand that strict guidelines are already in place that govern the transfer of water from one region to another. Surface water transfers are closely monitored and the use of any groundwater as a replacement cannot create any negative impacts on the local community. If people are going to reference water transfers then they need to know the facts.

Another Winter of Extremes in Store for U.S. as la Nina Strengthens

Report

from NOAA – Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010

Merced Irrigation District reports strong year for water delivery

Story

from Merced Sun Star – Friday, Oct. 22, 2010

Does this make sense?

Letter

from Fresno Bee – Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010

Winterizing irrigation system seminar Oct. 29

Announcement

from Western Farm Press

Responses to the Environmental Water Caucus plan

Letters

from Aquafornia – Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010

Thursday, October 21, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 21, 2010

The cost of a global food chain

Opinion

from Los Angeles Times – Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010

Coalition viewpoint…California farmers have been resilient in shifting food production from one area to another in times when water supplies have been cut short by drought and environmental regulations. Continuing efforts to take water away from our farmers and 25 million Californians by reducing the amount of water flowing southward from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta may eventually overcome the ability of our farmers to make up for any shortfalls in production. When that happens, the problems outlined by Director Gottlieb will increase.

Environmental Water Caucus Unveils California Water Solutions

Blog

from Indybay newswire – Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010

Coalition viewpoint…This “solution” offered by EWC represents a narrow focus of taking water from farmers and 25 million Californians as a plan for fixing the Delta. It fails to acknowledge recent scientific studies and reports that point to factors---such as upstream water discharges laden with ammonium, ocean conditions, water quality and more---that have a greater effect on the health of the Delta than water exports. This “solution” is a thinly-veiled attempt to take water away from the people of California.

What’s happening across the river

Story

from Red Bluff Daily News – Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010

Madera Irrigation District will end water season

Story

from Fresno Bee – Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010

Carly Fiorina in the Valley

from California TV News – Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 20, 2010

Saving salmon: One dramatic proposal would transport fish around dams

Story

from Chico E-R – Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010

Report says Klamath dam removal would be economic boon

Story

from Eureka Times-Standard – Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 19, 2010

GOP taps water as wedge issue in Fresno County

Story

from San Jose Mercury News – Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2010

Water leaders say conservation is not enough

Story

from Riverside Press Enterprise – Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2010

Senate Bill requires water monitoring

Story

from Siskiyou Daily News – Monday, Oct. 18, 2010

Monday, October 18, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 18, 2010

River lawsuits head to S.F.

Story

from Redding Record Searchlight

A fresh battle between Southern California water adversaries

Story

from Los Angeles Times – Monday, Oct. 18, 2010

Sunken Delta Islands and Rose Bowls

Blog

from SF Chronicle – Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010

By Tom Philp

Choices in new members could cause pumping fee to resurface

Story

from Stockton Record – Monday, Oct. 18, 2010

Westlands Water investigation sought

Story

from Fresno Bee – Saturday, Oct. 16, 23010

Friday, October 15, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 15, 2010

Ground finally broken on Delta 'intertie'

Story

from Stockton Record – Friday, Oct. 15, 2010

Building begins on Delta water pipeline

Story

from Sacramento Bee – Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010

Work begins to link two south Delta canals

Story

from Contra Costa Times – Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010

Coalition viewpoint…While problems in the Delta must still be resolved to assure a reliable water delivery system, the completion of this linkage between the State and federal canals will provide some increased assurance of water delivery to farmers and 25 million Californians. Updating California's water infrastructure should be a goal of every individual in our state in order to build the water system that is needed now and in the future. This Intertie project is an important step in that direction and it is important that more projects be undertaken.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 14, 2010

Save water: Retire ruined land

Letter

from Modesto Bee – Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010

Your Oct. 4 story "Water users alarmed by salmon report" (Page A-1) includes comments by representatives of Modesto, Turlock and Oakdale irrigation districts that remind one of Chicken Little's cry that the sky is falling.

Coalition viewpoint…Taking water from agriculture and giving it to “fish and wildlife” will not solve the problems threatening the Delta. More and more science is pointing to causes other than water deliveries as having more impact on Delta fish and habitat. Predator fish are eating juvenile salmon…ocean conditions are robbing salmon of a needed food supply…wastewater discharges from the City of Sacramento are destroying the food supply for Delta smelt…the list goes on. Taking water from our farmers will only serve to increase the consumer’s reliance on an imported food supply.

Proposal to Restore Delta Bogs Down

Story

Wall Street Journal- Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010

Brown calls for delta canal in Calif. water plan

from San Francisco Chronicle – Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010

Brown calls for delta canal to help solve water crisis

from North County Times – Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010

Brown calls for delta canal in Calif. Water plan

from SF Chronicle – Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 13, 2010

Secretary Salazar to Hold Groundbreaking for Delta-Mendota Canal/California Aqueduct Intertie Project

News Release

from Scribd – Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010

Carcass count shows strong salmon runs

Story

from Mercury-Register – Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010

LOIS HENRY: Water fight spills out to the public

Column

from Bakersfield Californian – Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 12, 2010

Water credits threaten aquifer

Story

from Ventura County Star – Monday, Oct. 11, 2010

La Nina is heading our way—so, what’s she bringing?

Story

from The Record – Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010

La Nina (think dry winter here) gains strength

Blog

from Fresno Bee – Monday, Oct. 11, 2010

By Mark Grossi

150 Years of Delta History in 100 Seconds

Blog

from SF Chronicle – Monday, Oct. 11, 2010

By Tom Philp

Officials refuse to clear levees of foliage

Story

from SF Chronicle – Tuesday, oct. 12, 2010

Delta Flows: Crashing the Principals’ Office

Blog

from IndyBay – Monday, Oct. 11, 2010

By Dan Bacher

Has the U.S. Passed the Point of Peak Water?

Blog

from Huffington Post – Monday, Oct. 11, 2010

By Peter Gleick

Monday, October 11, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 11, 2010

Peering down on California’s water problems

Story

from The Packer – Friday, Oct. 8, 2010

REGION: Safety lines being installed in border canal to prevent drownings

Story

from North County Times – Monday, Oct. 11, 2010

Friday, October 8, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 8, 2010

SWP Predicts Future Deliveries Greater Than During the 1980's and 1990's

from Blogs – Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010

by Barry Nelson

Coalition viewpoint...Science is at the forefront of developing a resolution to Delta environmental problems and achieving a reliable water supply for 25 million Californians. The current process within the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and Delta Habitat Conservation and Conveyance Program (DHCCP )reflects the science that water users are calling for. The recent UOP/UC Davis report substantiates claims that farmers and their employees along the San Joaquin Valley westside suffered severe impacts from reduced water deliveries. But using the SWP Delivery Reliability Report to diminish these impacts is a gross oversimplification. Also, UOP numbers on job losses points out that salmon industry officials overestimated their job losses, which added to the “supercharged water policy discussions” Nelson describes.


Runoff rules the Bay Area

Blog

From Pacific Swell – Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010

By Molly Peterson

Coalition viewpoint…The study area for this report encompassed only the major parts of San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun bays and did not extend east into the Delta. Significant impacts on Delta water quality continue to come from other urban sources such as Sacramento’s wastewater treatment plant, which is blamed for releasing the ammonium that scientists claim has altered the basic chemistry of the Delta. There is a lot of blame to go around when it comes to the health of our ecosystems and information like this shows more and more that farms are less likely the problem.


All-American Canal buoy installation begins, safety project to total $1.1 million

Story

from Imperial Valley Press – Friday, Oct. 8, 2010

Buoy lines will crisscross the All-American Canal by April after the Imperial Irrigation District installs them in hopes of preventing illegal immigrant drowning deaths.

Farm water runoff permit renewed with string attached

Story

from Ventura County Star

Ventura County farmers got a renewed permit on Thursday to discharge water into rivers and streams with one new caveat.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 7, 2010

Urban runoff, not ag, polluting bay

Story

from Stockton Record – Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010

Coalition Viewpoint...The study area for this report encompassed only the major parts of San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun bays and did not extend east into the Delta. Significant impacts on Delta water quality continue to come from other urban sources such as Sacramento’s wastewater treatment plant, which is blamed for releasing the ammonium that scientists claim has altered the basic chemistry of the Delta. There is a lot of blame to go around when it comes to the health of our ecosystems and information like this shows more and more that farms are less likely the problem.

ESA Protections Increase Dry Year Water Supplies - No, Really!

from Blogs – Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010

by Barry Nelson

News articles and links from Oct. 6, 2010

Stop Westlands’ Water

Letter

from Sacramento Bee – Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010

Coalition viewpoint…This letter is an example of mixing facts with opinions. The majority of farms in Westlands Water District are family farms, many who have second and third generations family members working the soil. Also, no water has ever been sold from Westlands. In fact, the Westlands board of directors are on record to oppose any such sales. Everyone has a right to an opinion but don’t confuse facts with opinions.

Cities key source of toxics in bay, study finds

Story

from San Francisco Chronicle – Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010

Farmers improve selenium cleanup

Story

from Stockton Record – Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010

Bay Delta Conservation Plan

Web Update

from California Natural Resources Agency – October 2010

How much should crop production decline during a drought?

Blog

from Valley Economy – Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010

By Jeffrey Michael

Achieving California’s Water Supply and Delta Ecological Improvement Simultaneously

Blog

from WaterWired – Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010

Sacramento County sewer charges could triple if state water officials have their way

from California TV News – Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010

Stop Westlands’ Water

Letter

from Sacramento Bee – Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010

Nunes critical of water district

Story

from Fresno Bee – Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010

Feds reject putting Delta fish back on endangered list

Story

from Sacramento Bee

Officials say minnow doesn’t need protection

Story

from Stockton Record – Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010

Splittail re-review re-completed for Delta

Blog

from Southern California Public Radio – Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 5, 2010

Recipe For A Solid Bay Delta Conservation Plan

from Blogs – Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010

Coalition viewpoint…The author’s 7-step process for fixing the Delta is amazing in two ways: It ignores efforts recommended by the National Marine Fisheries Service to reduce populations of predatory fish including striped bass and it ignores science that says toxic wastewater discharges are killing the elementary parts of the food chain. Common sense would tell you that these two things would likely do wonders to save salmon in the Delta. Stop poisoning Delta habitat with toxic wastewater discharges and stop non-native fish from eating the endangered ones. Increasing flows as recommended by a recent narrowly-focused study does nothing to stop these other significant stressors from the damage they cause Delta fisheries.


Imperial Irrigation District, Quantification Settlement Agreement parties file appellate briefs

Story

from IV Press – Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010

Delta editorial misses the facts

Letter

from Stockton Record – Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010


County supes to revisit groundwater overdraft

Discussion

from Hanford Sentinel – Monday, Oct. 4, 2010


Wolk’s Delta bills rejected

Story

from Daily Democrat – Monday, Oct. 4, 2010


Schwarzenegger Vetoes Lois Wolk's Water Recycling, Delta Bills

Blog

from Indybay newswire by Dan Bacher – Monday, Oct. 4, 2010

Locals see ongoing Delta planning process

Story

from Chico Enterprise Record – Monday, Oct. 4, 2010

Monday, October 4, 2010

News articles and links from Oct. 4, 2010

San Joaquin Delta water users alarmed by salmon report

Story

from Modesto Bee – Monday, Oct. 4, 2010

Coalition viewpoint…It is stunning that the very people who have the biggest interest in seeing salmon populations recover minimize the factors that may very well be the answers to their problems. Zeke Grader and Mike Jackson both continue the tired old story of blindly increasing Delta flows while they all but dismiss factors such as pollution and predatory fish. A 2009 report by the National Marine Fisheries Service called predation on Chinook salmon a “major stressor” and said reducing populations of striped bass and other nonnative predators necessary to ensure the salmon’s survival.

How can these people in good conscience ignore this and other important Delta ecosystem information? Yet, they continue their campaign of destruction when every new comprehensive report on the Delta points to other factors than just flow.

Viewpoints: Irrigators may get new free pass to pollute

Viewpoint

from Sacramento Bee – Sunday, Oct. 3, 2010

Coalition viewpoint…All the progress that has reduced runoff flows to the San Joaquin River from the Grasslands Drainage Project (NOT and never has been from Westlands WD) will be for naught if the water board does not act to allow drainage interests to complete their work. Raising the history of Kesterson and voicing unfounded claims as this author does serves no purpose in resolving drainage runoff.

River flow’s damage

Letter

from Fresno Bee – Sunday, Oct. 3, 2010

Your glowing report, “San Joaquin River restoration rolls along” Sept. 26, does not fully represent the unnecessary impacts the river restoration interim flows have had on farmers downriver.