Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Alex Breitler, Stockton
Record
Delta advocates rallied the
faithful on Monday, warning at a special forum that legislators and the public
must be prepared for a water fight that could drag on for years.
Coalition response...Concerns about how water decisions might affect Stockton businesses and
the region's economy deserve consideration, as do the impacts felt in San
Joaquin Valley's rural communities when water deliveries are reduced. Farmers,
cities and businesses south of the Delta have experienced water losses for the
past 20 years. Business owners in the western Fresno County community of
Firebaugh are reporting losses of 25-30 percent this year because of water
deliveries being cut back by 20 percent. See "Farm Water and the Business
Crisis," at http://bit.ly/1cIxKqD.
The Bay Delta Conservation Plan's
(BDCP) two objectives, as mandated by the State Legislature, will restore the
Delta ecosystem and create a reliable supply of water. Fears that accomplishing
these two goals might drain the Sacramento River are baseless. The State Water
Resources Control Board establishes required flows through the Delta and BDCP
must adhere to those standards.
Any suggestion that construction
on BDCP could have already started ignores the legal requirements to conduct an
Environmental Impact Study, which has not yet been completed. Federal fishery
agencies must also approve the Plan before it is implemented, something that
also has yet to get underway.
Factual information regarding the
Bay Delta Conservation Plan is available at http://baydeltaconservationplan.com.
From: Vince Rembulat, Manteca
Bulletin
Rogene Reynolds lives on two
acres of farm land on Roberts Island.
This region of the South San
Joaquin Delta is deep rooted, belonging to her family since 1889.
At Monday's Delta Coalition
community forum at the University of the Pacific Alumni House, Reynolds, who
was part of a distinguished panel, said the Bay Delta Conversation Plan would
greatly impact the place she calls home.
Coalition response...Alternatives to the Plan fail to achieve the two goals established by
the Legislature in 2009 - achieving water supply reliability and restoring the
Delta ecosystem. Biologists, researchers, economists and others have looked at
the Bay Delta Conservation Plan and its proposed tunnels and have concluded the
current Plan is the best option to answer the State Legislature that demanded
restoration of the Delta ecosystem and creation of a reliable water supply.
Individuals and organizations continue to surface objections that have already
been answered by years of research.
The water that currently flows
through the Delta is taken by in-Delta users first and then delivered to 25
million Californians and nearly 4,000 farms south of the Delta. Those south of
Delta users have suffered through 20 years of water supply cuts due to
Endangered Species Act regulations. Why isn't anyone talking about that?
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Mike Wade, Santa Maria
Times
Clarifications on the
"Protesting a pipe dream for more water" commentary are needed
concerning the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and California water rights.
The BDCP is in response to a 2009
mandate by the Legislature to restore the ecosystem of the Sacramento/San
Joaquin Bay Delta, and to create a reliable water supply for 25 million
Californians and 3 million acres of productive farmland.
Groundwater
From: Jeremy B. White,
Sacramento Bee
With water issues on the agenda
for the coming session in the California Legislature, given a pair of 2014
water bond proposals, it's a good time to take a look at groundwater.
Today the State Board of Food and
Agriculture will wade into the issue. A daylong meeting covering everything
from local groundwater authority to the role of the Sierra snowpack will
marshal a roster of academics in addition to representatives of the U.S. Geological
Survey, the State Water Resources Control Board, the Central Valley Regional
Water Quality Control Board and the Resource Conservation District of Santa
Cruz County. Starting at 10 a.m. at 1220 N St.
From: Jim Johnson, Monterey
Herald
Monterey Regional Water Pollution
Control Agency officials offered a sneak peek Monday of a fledgling pilot plant
for its proposed groundwater replenishment project.
The project, proposed as part of
California American Water's Peninsula water supply project, seeks to take
wastewater, which has been treated, but not up to irrigation standards, and
make it drinking water quality. Then up to 3,500 acre feet of product water per
year would be injected into the Seaside water basin for later use.
From: Staff, Chico
Enterprise-Record
State water boards are working on
groundwater protection, including a workplan the county will talk about at the
1:30 p.m. Wednesday meeting of the Water Commission, 25 County Center Drive in
Oroville.
One aspect of the plan is to have
local and regional management of water on a sustainable level over the
long-term, the report to the Butte County Water Commission states.
San Joaquin River
From: Mark Grossi, Fresno
Beehive
A few days before Christmas 1988,
more than a dozen environmental and fishing groups sued federal leaders over
the San Joaquin River, Friant Dam and the renewal of 40-year water contracts,
mostly for farmers.
Water Supply
From: David Garrick, SD
Union-Tribune
Aiming to help Escondido's
struggling farmers get cheaper water, city officials are moving forward with a
$12 million pipeline expansion that will bring treated sewer water to hundreds
of citrus and avocado groves.
Water Plan
From: Rob Roscoe, Sacramento
Bee
Re "Water plan aims to avoid
crisis" (A3, Nov. 1): The Brown administration deserves praise for its
endeavor to create a comprehensive, statewide plan that provides a reliable
water supply for all Californians.
However, there are some omissions
in the plan, and local water providers wish to collaborate with the
administration to address these.
Farming
From: Jenny Schweigert, Agchat
AgChat Foundation will host the
2014 Northwest Regional Agvocacy conference in Portland, OR, at the Downtown
Crowne Plaza Convention Center, January 30-31. Known for training farmers and
ranchers about social media, ACF Agvocacy conferences also bring producers of
all kinds and types together to advocate for agriculture.
Social media has taken consumers
by storm. According to the 2012 U.S. Grocery Shopper Trends Executive Summary,
52% of consumers use technology in their grocery shopping. Globally, 64% of
shoppers conduct their grocery research online. It isn't hard to connect the
dots to realize that the way farmers and ranchers tell their story may be
affecting the bottom line.
Tickets for the event are $100
and are on sale now exclusively for farmers and ranchers until November 15.
Tickets for non-farmer/ranchers will be released on November 16 for $150.
www.AgChat.org/Portland.
Districts
From: Antoine Abou-Diwan,
Imperial Valley Press
The public will soon know the
financial costs of a decade of litigation related to the Quantification
Settlement Agreement.
Today, the Imperial Irrigation
District Board of Directors will review an internal audit of legal expenditures
the district accrued over 10 years of lawsuits related to the nation's largest
agriculture to urban water transfer.
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