Friday, September 28, 2012

News articles and links from September 28, 2012


Delta

Letter
By Mark Borba
From Stockton Record - Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012

(The following letter was written in response to Mark Borba's letter, above.)
Letter
By Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla
From Stockton Record - Friday, Sept. 28, 2012

Coalition response...What is so wrong with growing crops for exports? This practice provides a food supply that is distributed to American consumers as well as to international markets. The export trade of California farm products plays a valuable role in the balance of trade for our State. It also provides jobs on and off the farm, including truck drivers, dock workers and more. Most ag producing areas of our State, including the Delta, send a portion of their products to overseas markets. The "poor soils" the writer refers to produce some of the most abundant crops in California. Farmers manage their water supply with some of the most efficient irrigation practices to produce affordable and healthy food for consumers. These practices result in a regional specialization that is not only economically efficient but environmentally efficient. They also allow farmers to invest in improved growing technologies and techniques that minimize environmental impacts while maximizing human benefits.

Opinion
By Victor Gonella
From Eureka Times-Standard - Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012

Coalition response...This opinion article is written opposite of the facts. The Trinity River ROD (Record of Decision) was adopted in December 2000 and requires an annual release of water between 369,000 acre-feet and 815,000 acre-feet for fish in the river. Water is sent to the Sacramento River watershed each year only after Interior ensures there will be enough water to make the fishery releases to the Trinity River required by the ROD.

Far from reducing the salmon flows required by the Trinity ROD, Interior is going in the opposite direction by releasing even more flows to the Trinity River for salmon than it is supposed to under the ROD.  This August and September, Reclamation released more water than is provided for under the ROD in an effort to improve conditions in the Lower Klamath.  The Siskiyou Board of Supervisors, among others, objected to those increased releases based on concerns about the unexamined environmental consequences of unnaturally high flows this time of year, including concerns that the releases could trigger premature upstream migration before upstream water temperatures have sufficiently cooled.

Claiming that water users "have their eye on the Trinity River" to increase their deliveries is far from the truth. It ignores the regulations that govern these deliveries and the reality of how much water is being dedicated for fish purposes. Such claims only serve to heighten the rhetoric aimed at the Bay Delta Conservation Plan that is directed to restore the ecosystem of the Delta and establish a reliable water supply. 

DELTA

Story
From Lodi News-Sentinel - Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012

FISHERIES

Press release
From DWR - Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012

Thursday, September 27, 2012

News articles and links from September 27, 2012


WATER SUPPLY

Story
From Fresno Bee - Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012

Video  
From California Watch - Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012

Story
From Sonoma Press Democrat - Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012

DELTA

Blog
By Tina Swanson
From NRDC - Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012

Blog
By Tina Swanson
From NRDC - Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012

Blog
By Alison Whipple
From California Water Blog - Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

News articles and links from September 26, 2012


WATER SUPPLY

Story
From Siskiyou Daily News - Monday, Sept. 24, 2012

DELTA

Blog
From Maven's Notebook - Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012

Story
From Chinadialogue - Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012

Story
From Woodland Daily Democrat - Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

News articles and links from September 25, 2012


WATER SUPPLY

Story
From Imperial Valley Press - Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012

WATER QUALITY

Story
From Santa Ynez Valley News - Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012

DELTA

Blog
By Alex Breitler
From esanjoaquin - Monday, Sept. 24, 2012

MEETINGS

Announcement
From Western Farm Press - Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012

Monday, September 24, 2012

News articles and links from September 24, 2012


Delta

Blog
By Cheyenne Cary
From Independent Voter Network - Monday, Sept. 24, 2012

Coalition response...This article fails to include a second economic study conducted by Dr. David Sunding of UC Berkeley. This study points out that the benefits of the tunnel conveyance are expected to outweigh the costs. The article also fails in its comparison of BDCP to a proposal from 30 years ago. The previous plan was primarily focused on water supply while the BDCP is designed to meet the Legislature's mandate of co-equal goals for both a reliable water supply and ecosystem restoration.

It has been clearly stated within the BDCP process that the cost of the conveyance system will be paid by those water users who receive the benefits. That means no taxpayer funds will be involved in the conveyance costs.  The cost to Southern California residents is also misrepresented. A more likely cost, as determined by the residents' water supplier, is an increase of only $4-5 per month per household.

Opinion
By Barbara Barrigan-Parilla and Robert Pyke
From San Jose Mercury News - Friday, Sept. 21, 2012

Coalition response...While strengthening Delta levees is a good idea, it does not solve the water supply problems that are confronting 25 million Californians and farmers who are growing our food supply. More than $150 million dollars and years of work by scientists, biologists, researchers and others have gone into developing the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. This effort is directed by the Legislature's mandate of co-equal goals: water reliability and restoration of the Delta ecosystem. Critics of the proposed tunnels within the BDCP fail to explain how only shoring up the Delta levees will provide any habitat improvements in an otherwise channelized Delta.

Accomplishing the co-equal goals established by the Legislature requires an improved conveyance system to safely move water and at the same time protect the Delta ecosystem.

FISHERIES

Story
From Marysville Appeal-Democrat - Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012

Coalition response...The writer of this article exhibits his bias in an attempt to present a news story. Selective information is presented and a lack of full disclosure is evident. While the federal court in 2006 ordered more water for salmon, the same court subsequently ruled that the federal fish agencies inadequately prepared the biological opinions that govern the flow of water through the Delta. The court said that the guidelines harmed people who rely on deliveries of water that flows through the Delta and ordered the guidelines be rewritten.

The article repeatedly points to water deliveries that go to 25 million Californians and farmers who use the water to grow our food supply as the culprit for the low salmon numbers. Remarkably, the author only quotes salmon industry officials when discussing supposed impacts on the fish and ignores actual scientific studies that show just the opposite. A recent report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration points to ocean conditions as the leading cause for the dwindling salmon numbers in recent years. These conditions include warm water temperatures and a loss of food supply. This report is available at  http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Salmon-Habitat/.

JD Richey, a fishing guide familiar with the Sacramento River, wrote in a March 2009 edition of Western Outdoor Magazine that predator fish also play a role in the salmon population. He wrote: "The peak of the baby salmon's downstream journey corresponds with the spring spawning run of striped bass.  Somewhere along the line the two crash headlong into one another. It's a one-sided blood bath, and when the spray and foam settles, the stripers emerge fat and happy while the Chinook suffer heavy losses." You can read the full article here: www.farmwater.org/striperseatsalmonsmolt.pdf.

PEOPLE

Press release
From DSC - Friday, Sept. 21, 2012

Story
From Central Valley Business Times - Friday, Sept. 21, 2012

WATER SUPPLY

Story
From San Diego Union-Tribune - Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012

Analysis
By John Holland
From Modesto Bee - Saturday, Sept. 22, 2012

Story
From Examiner.com - Friday, Sept. 21, 2012

RIVERS

(This opinion article was also printed in the Modesto Bee.)
Opinion
By Mike Wade
From Merced Sun-Star - Friday, Sept. 21, 2012

DELTA

Audio report
From Central Valley Business Times - Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012

Thursday, September 20, 2012

News articles and links from September 20, 2012


WATER SUPPLY

Editorial
From Modesto Bee - Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012

Story
From SF Examiner - Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012

Story
From San Jose Mercury News - Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012
From KXTV 10 - Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012
From KGPE 47 - Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012

Editorial
From Modesto Bee - Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012

Story
From Modesto Bee - Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012

Blog
By Niki Woodard
From California Forward - Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012

Blog
By Justin Ewers
From California Economic Summit - Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012

GROUNDWATER

Story
From Selma Enterprise - Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012

RIVERS

Story
From Patterson Irrigator - Thursday, Sept. 20, 2012

DELTA

Story
From ACWA - Wednesday, Sept. 19, 2012

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

News articles and links from September 19, 2012


WATER SUPPLY

Story
From Modesto Bee - Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012
From Merced Sun Star - Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012

Story
From Imperial Valley Press - Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012

Blog
By Nicole Montna Van Vleck
From NCWA - Monday, Sept. 17, 2012

RIVERS

(This article was previously published in the Fresno Bee.)
Story
From Merced Sun-Star - Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012

DELTA

Blog
From State Water Contractors - Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012

Story
From ACWA - Tuesday, Sept. 18, 2012