Wednesday, September 4, 2013

News articles and links from September 4, 2013


Bay Delta Conservation Plan

From: Mike Wade, Orange County Register

(This article may require a subscription to read.) 
In a normal year about 30 percent of the water supply needed by Southern California flows through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. A portion of that water is stored in San Luis Reservoir along Highway 152 near the town of Los BaƱos. But this year was anything but normal.

From December through February Northern California experienced some of the heaviest rainfall it has seen in years. That's usually good news for Southern California because the water that makes it way through the system helps meet the needs of people from the Bay Area to San Diego. It is also an important water supply for farmers who grow much of the food that fills the produce aisles of our grocery stores here and across the nation.

From: Maven, Maven's Notebook 

At the August 27th, 2013 of Metropolitan's Special Committee on the Bay Delta, the Committee heard a presentation on the impacts of Bay Delta Conservation Plan on Metropolitan's Integrated Resources Plan, costs, and water rates.

State Water Project 

From: Maven, Maven's Notebook

Negotiations continue between the Department of Water Resources and the water suppliers who contract for water from the State Water Project.  Some of the issues on the table include extending the length of the contracts from between 40 and 75 years, increasing the financial reserves for the Department of Water Resources, and increasing contractor input on financial management issues regarding operation of the project.

Water Supply

From: Staff, Fresno Business Journal

Speaking at the final Fresno Grizzlies' Farm Forum of the season Friday, Valley water experts warned of serious economic damage - especially to impoverished areas - if the Valley experiences another dry winter and water allocations for the Central Valley Project are further reduced.

From: Antoine Abou-Diwan, Imperial Valley Press

After showing an overrun well into this year, Bureau of Reclamation projections recently showed that the Imperial Irrigation District is staying within its allocation of Colorado River water.

From: Staff, Laughlin Times

After back-to-back driest years in a century on the Colorado River, federal water managers are giving Arizona and Nevada a 50-50 chance of having water deliveries cut in 2016, reports the Mohave Valley Daily News.

A U.S. Bureau of Reclamation operations plan made public in August will for the first time slow the flow of water from the Lake Powell reservoir upstream of the Grand Canyon to the huge Lake Mead reservoir that provides almost all of Las Vegas' water.

From: Henry Soloway, Las Vegas Sun

Kudos to Ed Dornlas for his letter, "Don't bet against Mother Nature," regarding the fragility of our community's water supply. Dornlas correctly notes that "just a few hours west we have an unlimited water supply in the Pacific Ocean." But he fails to note that there is another - and possibly less expensive - way for Las Vegans to use ocean water than to simply pipe it to Las Vegas.

Drought

From: Angela Bowman, AG Professional  

"We've been living off the snowpack from a couple of seasons ago. It has become a very serious issue and probably exacerbated some of the other issues we are seeing, such as the (wildland) fires."

That's what Val Dolcini, executive director of the U.S. Farm Service Agency in California, told The Record as federal farm officials declared nearly the entire state of California as a drought disaster area.

Salton Sea

From: Kim Delfino, Salinas Californian

(This article was previously printed in The Desert Sun.) 
Right now, the California Legislature is discussing the next statewide water bond. Key issues are being decided: How much money should California spend to provide safe and reliable drinking water for people and healthy aquatic ecosystems for fish and wildlife? Toward what activities should the state direct the bond funding?

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