Water Supply
From: California Data Exchange
Center, DWR
Data as of midnight, July 21,
2013
From: Matt Weiser, Sacramento
Bee
Water levels in Folsom Lake and
the American River this fall will drop to levels not seen in five years as California
verges on another extended drought period.
Other problems are emerging on
the Klamath River. Last week, the bureau opened a public comment period on
plans to release water from reservoirs on the Trinity River to help salmon runs
downstream on the Klamath River. The run is expected to be large this fall, but
without more water, another large-scale fish kill could occur like the one that
left thousands of salmon dead in 2002.
From: Staff, Bakersfield
Californian
We're seeing a lot more
"beach" than we'd like at Lake Isabella. The historic average capacity
for the mountain lake atop Kern County's western Sierra is 35 percent this time
of year, but it's now at about 13 percent. If nothing changes, Isabella could
bottom out at 8 percent by November.
From: Kaci Poor, Eureka
Times-Standard
With a request from the Humboldt
County Agriculture Commissioner's Office for a secretarial drought designation
pending before the U.S. Department of Agriculture, local ranchers say they are
feeling the burn of a dry year.
A drought survey sent out by the
Humboldt County Agriculture Commissioner's Office to about 60 livestock
producers in the area last month found that the lack of rain plaguing Humboldt
-- and the rest of the southwestern United States -- this summer has led to an
estimated 47 percent reduction in rangeland and grass growth in the county.
From: Staff, The Oregonian
The Klamath Basin straddles
Oregon and California and comprises an area larger than nine American states.
It is famous for its natural beauty and supports farms and ranches as well as
tribal homelands and vast wildlife refuges. The Basin also is the center of the
most contentious and consequential water struggle in the United States.
The Klamath Tribes this year
exerted their newly affirmed senior rights to the upper Basin's water, joining
a call for water by Klamath Project irrigators, and several upper Basin water
shutoffs unwound like a game of Russian roulette. Income will be hobbled, some
folks could go out of business. Thousands of migratory birds, meanwhile, have
chosen not to land in wetlands that are dried up from drought. And the peculiar
hydrology of the Basin, hammered in recent years by diminished snowpack levels,
defies long-term projection.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Christopher Arns,
Sacramento Business Journal
The federal government isn't
happy with Gov. Jerry Brown's tunnel plan.
According to a story from the Los
Angeles Times, biologists from the National Marine Fisheries Service have
criticized a draft environmental impact report of the Bay Delta Conservation
Plan, which calls for funneling water from the California Delta to farms in the
San Joaquin Valley.
From: Staff, Lake County News
On Friday, several U.S.
Representatives from Northern California called on the Brown Administration to
withdraw and fully revise their proposed Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) in
light of draft environmental documents being found "biased" and
"insufficient" by federal agencies in public comments made available
Thursday.
From: Eric Vodden, Marysville
Appeal-Democrat
Area Congressman John Garamendi
is one of several Northern California congressmen who have weighed in against
Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed Bay Delta Conservation Plan.
However, it has drawn the ire of
the group of Northern California congressmen in the wake of comments from
federal agencies that commented the report is "biased" and
"insufficient."
Trinity River
From: Peter Fimrite, San
Francisco Chronicle
Low water on the Klamath River
has prompted the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to recommend a large release of
water from Trinity Dam to help what is projected to be one of the best salmon
runs in a decade, but farmers are all but jabbing pitchforks at the plan.
The San Luis & Delta-Mendota
Water Authority, representing agricultural interests in the Central Valley, has
threatened to sue if the bureau proceeds with the plan to release 62,000 acre
feet of cold Trinity River water into the Klamath between Aug. 15 through Sept.
21.
From: Devan Schwartz,
Northwest Public Radio
Water struggles in the Klamath
Basin are spreading to the Trinity River. Managers at the federal Bureau of
Reclamation say by releasing extra water from the Trinity into the Klamath
River, they may avoid a fish kill.
Shasta Dam
From: Mike Osbourne, KQED
Water planners are exploring the
possibility of expanding Shasta Dam, a concrete slab across the Sacramento
River that forms California's largest reservoir, Shasta Lake. A $1 billion
proposal to raise the dam by as much as 18 and a half feet would expand the
reservoir's capacity by 634,000 acre feet, enough to supply more than a million
families for a year. (Though how the water would be parceled out between farms,
families and fish is still up for debate.)
Colorado River
From: Associated Press, Casper
Star-Tribune
Government officials are urging
Congress to consider solutions to deal with possible water shortages in the
Colorado River basin that could include finding ways to reduce demand,
conservation and better management of water supplies. Other solutions being considered
include reuse of water and augmentation from other water sources.
Fisheries
From: Heather Hacking, Chico
Enterprise-Record
Hot weather predicted for today
and tomorrow means more cold water from Philbrook Lake to Butte Creek.
PG&E began releasing the
extra water Thursday morning, and within about 22 hours the temperatures should
drop a bit along the 11 miles where threatened spring-run chinook salmon are
waiting to spawn.
Legislature
From: Staff, Hanford Sentinel
What is your position on the key
issues facing agriculture, including water, food safety and farm labor/immigration
issues?
VIDAK: Water is the number one
issue for agriculture and for job creation in the Valley.
PEREZ: I support increased
surface water storage. I support ground water recharge.
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