Water supply
(This story previously appeared
in the Fresno Bee.)
Story
From Modesto Bee - Monday, Jan. 21, 2013
Coalition response...The reporter does a good job in presenting the ongoing efforts of
farmers and water districts voluntarily working together to solve their
problems relating to water supply and subsidence. These groups have already
funded research to gather vital groundwater information to be used in reaching
solutions. Their goal is to protect the groundwater that is important to so
many.
This effort of working together
to solve a local issue is reflected in other issues, such as drainage and river
restoration. Farmers and water districts in the Grasslands Drainage Project
Area near Los Banos have worked with government and environmental groups to
reduce the runoff of minerals into the San Joaquin River. Restoring flows and
salmon to the San Joaquin River has also benefited from voluntary efforts that
provide needed information to help these ongoing efforts.
Farmers and water district officials
realize that working together results in protecting a food supply that is grown
on their lands. To do otherwise would threaten a food supply that is both
healthy and affordable.
Delta
Editorial
From San Diego Union-Tribune - Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013
Coalition response...This is not a new proposal. It has been part of the project review
documented all the way back to last March and can be found here. Proponents of this "new" proposal
have taken the current two-tunnel project and cut it in half to only one,
reducing its ability to deliver water to farms that need it now and to meet the
future needs of cities later, as the article describes. They're also proposing
a reduced ecosystem restoration program in the Delta, cutting back more costs
but also reducing the effectiveness of those projects for the environment.
Under the guise of cost cutting they have dramatically swept aside years of
study that have resulted in the two-tunnel proposal. On the eve of the plan's
formal announcement, this plan suddenly is being shopped as a new idea. It's
not.
The "new" proposal does
not provide a solution to a broken water supply system that threatens our
state. This editorial admits that it will not answer long-term needs. Water
supply reliability has declined, affecting everyone from urban residents
through higher water costs to the farmers that grow fresh fruit and vegetables destined
for the grocery store. The end result is fewer locally grown food choices
and higher food costs, all at a time when the economy is just beginning to
recover.
Significantly absent from this
group of environmental organizations and business groups are public water
agencies that represent large areas of some of the state's most productive
farmland. Not surprising, this "new" proposal would be devastating to
farmers in California's San Joaquin Valley, home to some of the most productive
farmland in the world.
Planning for a reliable water
supply must continue to move forward. Saying that a smaller approach that
ignores the needs of California's farm community is a step backwards and is the
wrong choice for California.
WATER SUPPLY
Editorial
From Porterville Recorder - Monday, Jan. 21, 2013
Story
From Modesto Bee - Friday, Jan. 18, 2013
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