Friday, August 31, 2012

News articles and links from August 31, 2012


WATER SUPPLY

Story
From examiner.com - Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012

GROUNDWATER

TV news
From KCOY/12 - Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012

RIVERS

Letter
From Fresno Bee - Friday, Aug. 31, 2012

DELTA

Commentary
By Jeffrey Kightlinger
From LA Daily News - Friday, Aug. 31, 2012
From Long Beach Press Telegram - Friday, Aug. 31, 2012
From Torrance Daily Breeze - Friday, Aug. 31, 2012

LEGISLATURE

Blog
By Katy Grimes
From Cal Watchdog - Thursday, Aug. 30, 2012

Thursday, August 30, 2012

News articles and links from August 30, 2012


WATER SUPPLY

Blog
By David Guy
From Water-Food-Environment - Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012

Story
From Modesto Bee - Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012

Letter
From Modesto Bee - Wednesday, Aug. 29 2012

Letter
From Modesto Bee - Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012

WATER QUALITY

Letter
From Sacramento Bee - Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012

DELTA

Blog
By Alex Breitler
From esanjoaquin   - Aug. 29, 2012

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

News articles and links from August 29, 2012


Water supply

Blog
By Andri Antoniades
From Take Part - Sunday, Aug. 26, 2012

Coalition response...Dry farming as described in this article is a practice used in isolated areas under certain conditions. The remaining apple farmers in western Sonoma County who opt to dry farm take advantage of the moist coastal climate to maintain their trees; most of the trees are 50-years or older. Unfortunately, the yield from these trees is declining and the acreage devoted to apples has gradually declined in the region as farmers turn to more profitable crops such as grapes that are irrigated with micro-irrigation systems. The suggestion that dry farming may be an answer for farmers across the United States during dry years like we are experiencing does not recognize the the fact that the worldwide demand for food production must be met with dependable irrigation water supplies.  Leaders in the early 20th Century recognized the need for water supply projects and that paid off with economic prosperity and bountiful food production. That kind of leadership is needed again as we work to improve our world-class water supply system and restore precious environmental resources.
  
Delta

Opinion
By Victor Gonella
From North Bay biz - September 2012

Coalition response...The author's claims falsely portray the current proposal by stating that the "primary purpose is to interrupt the natural flow of the Sacramento River" and suggesting that the project is "big enough to drain the entire Sacramento River." These claims are far from reality and continue the campaign of spreading false information to the public.

No more water will be allowed to be diverted than what the flow of the Sacramento River will support. Those documents are already part of the project plan. No existing water rights are allowed to be affected by the project. That's the law. Saying that the project will destroy salmon habitat is directly opposite to the legislature's requirement for co-equal goals of improving water supply reliability AND ecosystem restoration.

The bottom line is whether we are going to do the hard work necessary to provide water supply reliability to 25 million Californians and to the farms that use the water to grow the food we all depend on. The author doesn't explain where our food will come from if we can't grow it on the productive farmland that we already have.

GROUNDWATER

Story
From ENews Park Forest - Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012

Story
From Hanford Sentinel - Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012

RIVERS

Story
From Sacramento Bee - Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012

Press release
From UC Merced - Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012
From Central Valley Business Times - Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012

Letter
From Fresno Bee - Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012

DELTA

Blog
From SWC - Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2012

Press release
From EPA - Monday, Aug. 27, 2012

FISHERIES

Radio news
From KALW/San Francisco - Monday, Aug. 27, 2012

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

News articles and links from August 28, 2012


GROUNDWATER

Editorial
From Porterville Recorder - Monday, Aug. 27, 2012

DELTA

Story
From Sacramento Bee - Tuesday, Aug. 28, 2012

Blog
By Alex Breitler
From esanjoaquin - Monday, Aug. 27, 2012

Story
From Riverbank News - Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012

Column
by Dennis Wyatt
From Manteca Bulletin - Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012

Friday, August 24, 2012

News articles and links from August 24, 2012


PEOPLE

Press release
From Aquafornia - Friday, Aug. 24, 2012

DELTA

Story
From Sacramento Bee - Friday, Aug. 24, 2012y A

Blog
By Alex Breitler
From esanjoaquin - Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012

Blog
By Damien M. Schiff
From Pacific Legal Foundation - Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012

Opinion
By John Laird, Natural Resources Secretary
From San Jose Mercury News - Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012

Thursday, August 23, 2012

News articles and links from August 23, 2012


Delta

Opinion
By Victor Gonella
From Sacramento News and Review - Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012

Coalition response...Scientists with the National Marine Fisheries Service would disagree with the rationale of the author. Ocean conditions have been identified as the leading cause for the drop in salmon population. Those conditions have improved and the result is an increase in the number of salmon that are returning to the rivers and encountering the gauntlet of fishermen. No one has argued that salmon have been salvaged at the pumps; the argument has been the number. Again, scientists and researchers have identified a much smaller percentage of fish taken at the pumps than the critics of exports have suggested.

The rules governing the flow of water through the Delta that could be exported while protecting salmon were labeled "arbitrary, capricious, and a scientifically unreasonable action" by a federal judge. That same judge directed federal fish agencies in 2011 to rewrite the rules. We're still waiting the results.

Blog
By John Bass
From Delta National Park - Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012

Coalition response...Two points: 1) Fixing the problems in the Delta for water users and the environment means returning the system to a more east-west flow, according to every credible biologist. You can do that by reducing or eliminating pumping in the south Delta, which doesn't provide a solution for water users. Or you can divert water upstream of the Delta during times when Sacramento River flows support it and then screen fish at that location. That's the kind of solution the legislature called for when it made water supply reliability and ecosystem restoration co-equal goals.
 2) Currently, Delta farmers seem to get all the water they want with the only cost being the expense to pump it out of the waterway. But in fact, the water stored upstream by DWR and USBR has been appropriated at a time when it does not affect other water rights holders. When the agencies release that water for project purposes including (1) in-basin demands, (2) water quality standards in the Delta (including flow), and (3) rates of export, it is water that is excess to the system and legally unavailable for downstream users, other than the public water agencies or individuals with DWR or USBR contracts. The way the system is currently being operated, and apparently what John Bass believes, is that water appropriated by these State and federal agencies is assumed to be available for all downstream users, which legally it is not. If in-Delta water users feel that their needs are not being adequately met, under the Delta Protection Act they have the option to make arrangements with the State Water Project to release water for their in-Delta use if they are willing to pay for those additional supplies.

Story
From Bilingual Weekly - Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012

Coalition response...It is unfortunate when individuals and reporters reference selenium along the San Joaquin Valley westside that they do not acknowledge the ongoing efforts by the Grasslands Bypass Project (GBP) to reduce the amount of selenium flowing into the San Joaquin River. The map of the westside that accompanies this article was provided by the Environmental Protection Agency, the same agency that described the GBP as a "success story." From 1995 to 2010, the amount of selenium entering the river from the GBP was reduced by 87%, thanks to the cooperative effort of farmers, local water districts, environmental groups and State/federal agencies. While solutions continue to be sought for California's overall water problems, the Grassland Bypass Project is already finding answers. 

WATER SUPPLY

Story
From Gilroy Dispatch - Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012

GROUNDWATER

Story
From Porterville Recorder - Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012

DELTA

Story
From Stockton Record - Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

News articles and links from August 22, 2012


WATER SUPPLY

Commentary
By Jack Rice
From Ag Alert - Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012

Story
From Modesto Bee - Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012

Letter
From Modesto Bee - Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012

GROUNDWATER

Story
From Visalia Times-Delta - Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012

Story
From Fresno Bee - Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012

Story
From Bakersfield Californian - Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012

RIVERS

Story
From Havasu News - Wednesday, Aug. 22, 2012

Press release
From San Joaquin Tributaries Authority - Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012

Story
From Central Valley Business Times - Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012

DELTA

Story
From SF Chronicle - Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012

Blog
By Niki Woodard
From California Forward - Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012