Thursday, March 28, 2013

News articles and links from March 28, 2013


BAY DELTA CONSERVATION PLAN

Story
From Contra Costa Times - Thursday, March 28, 2013

Coalition response...Significant changes have taken place in the Bay Delta Conservation Plan process since a year ago, among them the number of intakes in the north Delta from five to three. The amount of water to be moved through the tunnels has also been reduced from 15,000 cubic feet per second to only 9,000 cubic feet per second.

Locating the intakes in the north Delta also benefits the smelt, which does not reside in that area. During most years, the smelt are expected to increase in numbers with increased food supplies produced in the more than 100,000 acres of new habitat.  Biologists have indicated that added habitat could result in higher productivity for the salmonid fish by giving them more area in which to grow instead of being flushed immediately out of the Delta.

BAY DELTA CONSERVATION PLAN

Story
From Fresno Bee - Thursday, March 28, 2013
From Sacramento Bee - Thursday, March 28, 2013

Story
From Fresno Bee - Wednesday, March 27, 2013
From Modesto Bee - Wednesday, March 27, 2013
From News 10 - Wednesday, March 27, 2013
From SLO Tribune - Thursday, March 28, 2013
From Stockton Record - Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Story
From Sacramento Business Journal - Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Story
From ACWA - Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Radio news
From Capital Public Radio - Wednesday, March 27, 2013

WATER SUPPLY

Story
From Patterson Irrigator - Thursday, March 28, 2013

Story
From Western Farm Press - Thursday, March 28, 2013

TV news
From KCRA 3 - Thursday, March 28, 2013

TV news
From KSEE 24 - Wednesday, March 27, 2013

(The following story previously appeared in the Fresno Bee.) 
Story
From Merced Sun-Star - Wednesday, March 27, 2013

RIVERS

Letter
From Modesto Bee - Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

News articles and links from March 27, 2013


ALLOCATIONS

Story
From Bloomberg - Wednesday, March 27, 2013

TV news
From KSEE 24 - Tuesday, March 26, 2013

TV news
From KFSN 30 - Tuesday, March 26, 2013

TV news
From KGPE 47 - Tuesday, March 26, 2013

BAY DELTA CONSERVATION PLAN

Letter
From Sacramento Bee - Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Press release
From California Natural Resources Agency - Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Editorial
From Vacaville Reporter - Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Opinion
By Randy Record and John Coleman
From LA Daily News - Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Editorial
From SF Chronicle - Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Story
From KQED- Tuesday, March 26, 2013

WATER SUPPLY

Story
From Fresno Bee - Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Story
From Visalia Times-Delta - Tuesday, March 26, 2013

GROUNDWATER

Story
From Modesto Bee - Tuesday, March 26, 2013

RIVERS

Story
From Ag Alert - Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

News articles and links from March 26, 2013


BAY DELTA CONSERVATION PLAN

Letter
By John Kerhlikear
From Sacramento Bee - Sunday, March 24, 2013

Coalition response...The Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) is more than a water supply proposal; it also includes benefits for species and habitat as a result of being a habitat conservation plan. BDCP has been developed under Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act and the California Natural Community Conservation Planning program. These two directives require BDCP to have a plan that covers all the species that are affected in the planning area by the project.

The proposed habitat areas in the south Delta are designed to create favorable conditions for increased survival of salmon, steelhead and other species.  Biologists have indicated that added habitat could result in higher productivity for the salmonid fish by giving them more area in which to grow instead of being flushed immediately out of the Delta.

Letter
Alice Hendrix
From Sacramento Bee - Sunday, March 24, 2013

Coalition response...In 2009 the California legislature approved legislation to establish a reliable water supply and to restore the Delta ecosystem. The proposed Bay Delta Conservation Plan is in response to that legislative mandate and represents years of study by scientists and researchers. Those afraid of the amount of diversions from the water flowing through the Delta should understand that limits exist to safeguard the estuary. The amount of water that the project could move is based on what river conditions would allow; sometimes more and sometimes less. Visit www.farmwater.org/exportthrottle.pdf to learn more about exports.

Letter
By Dan Bacher
From Sacramento Bee - Sunday, March 24, 2013

Coalition response...Comparing the Bay Delta Conservation Plan's two tunnels to the Peripheral Canal of years past is a false comparison. The two tunnels have a capacity to move 9,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) while the Peripheral Canal's capacity was 21,800 cfs. The tunnels include three, advanced technology screens to protect multiple species of fish; the Peripheral Canal had only one screen designed to protect salmon and striped bass. Visit http://www.farmwater.org/p-canalcomparison.pdf and learn more.

Benefiting from the Bay Delta Conservation Plan would be 25 million Californians who rely on the Delta for a portion of their water supply, plus three million acres of farmland that grows the fresh fruits and vegetables that consumers seek in their grocery stores.

RIVERS

Letter
By Ralph Mendershausen
From Modesto Bee - Monday, March 25, 2013

Coalition response...HR 934 does not remove the Merced River from Wild and Scenic Rivers Act designation. The legislation would raise the spillway at New Exchequer Dam, not the dam, by 10 feet. This action would inundate the last 1,800 feet of the 122-mile stretch of the Merced River, far from Yosemite, for two to eight weeks every few years. That's 1/350 of the protected stretch of the river.

Individuals should realize that construction of New Exchequer Dam was completed in 1967. Twenty years later in 1987 the Wild and Scenic River Act encroached on the hydroelectric project boundary on the Merced River. HR 934 creates an increased reliability of available water for farmers to grow food for consumers.

WATER SUPPLY

Blog
By Mark Grossi
From fresnobeehive - Monday, March 25, 2013

Letter
From Modesto Bee - Monday, March 25, 2013

BAY DELTA CONSERVATION PLAN

Blog
By Chris "Maven" Austin
From Maven's Notebook - Monday, March 25, 2013

Story
From Capitol Press - Monday, March 25, 2013

Letter
From Sacramento Bee - Monday, March 25, 2013

Letter
From Sacramento Bee - Sunday, March 24, 2013

RIVERS

Story
From ACWA - Friday, March 22, 2013

DELTA

Blog
By Cary Blake
From Western Farm Press - Monday, March 25, 2013

Monday, March 25, 2013

News articles and links from March 25, 2013


BAY DELTA CONSERVATION PLAN

Viewpoint
by Jane Wagner-Tyack
From Sacramento Bee - Sunday, March 24, 2013

Coalition response...Attempting to characterize the Bay Delta Conservation Plan as a means of draining the north state is utterly baseless. The misguided claim that BDCP will drain the Sacramento Valley and the Delta ignores the operational guidelines that protect these regions. The amount of water that the project could move is based on what river conditions would allow; sometimes more and sometimes less. Visit www.farmwater.org/exportthrottle.pdf to learn more about exports.

The author also claims that existing pumping restrictions are insufficient to protect endangered fish but she never mentions the lack of habitat in the Delta or the poor conditions in the ocean, which the National Marine Fisheries Service has identified as the leading cause for the dwindling salmon numbers. Add the high numbers of juvenile salmon taken by predators and a more complete picture is presented on factors affecting salmon. The predator problem is significant, especially when one realizes that a recent study (www.farmwater.org/93percentsalmon6-5.pdf) revealed that 93% of the juvenile smolts in the Tuolumne River, that make their way to the Delta via the San Joaquin River, are eaten by predatory fish. That's not healthy for any species regardless of the circumstances.

RIVERS

Letter
By David Guzzetta
From Merced Sun-Star - Friday, March 22, 2013

Coalition response...Individuals and groups concerned with the proposal by the State Water Resources Control Board to designate higher flows in the Merced, Tuolumne and Stanislaus rivers for fish are waiting for the scientific reasoning for the decision. Water board staffers have publicly stated that it is unknown whether the flow decision will benefit salmon.

Science must play an important part in the decisions that regulate our water resources. A recent study as part of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's relicensing of Don Pedro Dam on the Tuolumne River found that 93% of juvenile salmon in the river were consumed by predator fish. Adding more water to the river will not solve the predator problem and restore the salmon population.

ALLOCATIONS

Press release
From US Bureau of Reclamation - Friday, March 22, 2013

Press release
From California Farm Water Coalition - Friday, March 22, 2013

Press release
From San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority - Friday, March 22, 2013

Press release
From Westlands Water District - Friday, March 22, 2013

Press release
From State Water Contractors - Friday, March 22, 2013

Story
From Hanford News - Saturday, March 23, 2013

Story
From Lake County News - Saturday, March 23, 2013

Story
From Fresno Bee - Friday, March 22, 2013

Story
From Oroville Mercury-Register - Friday, March 22, 2013

Story
From Modesto Bee - Friday, March 22, 2013
From San Jose Mercury News - Friday, March 22, 2013
From Visalia Times-Delta - Friday, March 22, 2013
From News 10 - Friday, March 22, 2013

Story
From Bakersfield Californian - Sunday, March 24, 2013

WATER SUPPLY

Story
From Manteca Bulletin - Saturday, March 23, 2013

Letter
From Fresno Bee - Saturday, March 23, 2013

BAY DELTA CONSERVATION PLAN

Editorial
From San Diego Union-Tribune - Sunday, March 24, 2013

Story
From Fresno Bee - Sunday, March 24, 2013
From Sacramento Bee - Sunday, March 24, 2013

GROUNDWATER

Story
From Western Farm Press - Monday, March 25, 2013

RIVERS

Opinion
by Joshua Pedrozo
From Merced Sun-Star - Friday, March 22, 2013

Story
From Salinas Californian - Friday, March 22, 2013

WATER BOND

Blog
By Joel Fox
From Fox & Hounds - Monday, March 25, 2013