Water Rights
From: Staff, Los Angeles Daily
News
When someone says that there are
two Californias, the reference these days is usually to the political
differences between coastal and inland residents rather than the historical
split between north and south.
But there is a third and even
more telling divide in this state, and it has to do with the water wars that
create some of our most bitter intra-state rivalries.
While the rest of the nation and
the world may imagine that California is all Silicon Valley and Silicon Beach,
Sierra Nevada vistas and Hollywood stars, the reality is that we are also
America's greengrocer. There is no more fertile place on Earth than our Central
Valley.
Coalition response... This editorial uses some inflammatory language to make a point about
water rights in California...but it misses two important points Southern
Californians should be aware of.
First, the cost of water is based
on the cost of delivery. Farm water is less expensive because it is a different
product than the water consumers get from the tap. Urban water supplies are
much more highly purified and must meet strict State and federal drinking water
quality standards. Urban water supplies usually also have to travel
further than water used on the farm, which increases the cost due to more
infrastructure. It is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week at the turn
of a faucet. Farm water generally does not share that same reliability. All of
these things add to the cost of water that consumers receive in their homes.
Secondly, the value of farm
production as a small percentage of California's GDP is a plus for consumers.
Our domestic food supply is inexpensive and available in bountiful varieties
and abundant quantities. This allows people to avoid having to think about the
source or safety of the food they feed their families. Research shows that
people trust farmers. And they want their food to be grown locally, be as fresh
as possible and be affordable. California farms can do that when they have
access to adequate, dependable and affordable water supplies.
Water Supply
From: Alex Breitler,
eSanJoaquin
State water officials today
announced a mere 5 percent initial allocation next year for cities from the Bay
Area to San Diego, and some south San Joaquin Valley farms.
These first, conservative numbers
almost always improve as winter storms begin to bolster the snowpack in the
High Sierra. But how often do State Water Project customers actually get a full
allocation?
Coalition response... It is important to recognize that millions of Californians and the farms
that grow food, employ people and contribute to the economy received 100
percent of their supply through 1990 except for 1977, a severe drought year.
Since 1990, in addition to water-short years, the reductions in deliveries have
been caused by new laws and Endangered Species Act regulations written to
protect Delta fish. The result of these regulations is less water for users
while fish are still facing the same problems. Isn't it time to look for
solutions that really work instead of doing the same failed practices over and
over and over?
Water Supply
From: Staff, yourcentralvalley.com
The Department of Water Resources
announced its initial water allocation for next year. Is considered very low at
only five percent.
Groundwater
From: Patrick Cavanaugh,
California Ag Today
At the San Joaquin Valley
Groundwater Overdraft Meeting in Tulare, David Orth, General Manager of Kings
River Conservation District, Fresno, presented his assessment of the
groundwater challenges California faces.
"We have tried to manage
groundwater, but unfortunately, overdraft has become the report card and it is
giving us somewhat of a poor grade just because of overdraft conditions,"
Orth began.
Salton Sea
From: Jim Miller, Sacramento
Bee
California officials need to
start focusing on restoring the ailing Salton Sea or else the state faces
hundreds of millions of dollars in new costs as early as 2025, according to a
new state audit.
Subsidence
From: Press Release, U.S.
Geological Survey
Extensive groundwater pumping
from San Joaquin Valley aquifers is increasing the rate of land subsidence, or
sinking. This large-scale and rapid subsidence has the potential to cause
serious damage to the water delivery infrastructure that brings water from the
north of the valley to the south where it helps feed thirsty cropland and
cities. According to a new report by the U.S. Geological Survey the subsidence
is occurring in such a way that there may be significant operational and
structural challenges that need to be overcome to ensure reliable water
delivery.
From: John Fowler, KTVU.com
On Thursday Bay Area scientists
announced that nearly 1200 square miles of California was sinking because
people had pumped so much water out of the ground.
Scientists say in some spots right
now the ground's sinking about one foot each year.
From: Staff, KCRA
Transcript: The ground beneath
our feet is sinking and sinking faster than ever before. This sinking land
could cause some problems for what we build on top of it. We have more on what
is causing the problem and how stopping it won't be easy. Using stations like
this one, scientist from the U.S. Geological Survey have found that much of the
land in the central valley is not only sinking, but sinking faster than ever
before. Land sinking or subsiding has been going on for decades.
From: Staff, CBS 13
More than 1,000 square miles of
the central valley is sinking faster than ever, because of the overuse of water
during drought years.
The process is called subsidence,
and it's when the top layer begins to sink because groundwater is being taken
out from underneath.
"You can more look at it
like a sponge, so when a sponge is dry, it is smaller," sad U.S.
Geological Survey hydrologist Michelle Sneed. "If you put water in, it
inflates a little bit.
From: J.N. Sbranti, Modesto Bee
From: J.N. Sbranti, Merced Sun-Star
So much groundwater is being
pumped from the San Joaquin Valley that it's causing a massive swath of Merced
County's surface to sink at an alarming rate, U.S. Geological Survey
researchers revealed Thursday.
Parts of Merced south of El Nido
dropped more than 21 inches in just two years. That area - often called Red Top
by locals - appears to be continuing to sink at a rate of nearly 1 foot per
year.
From: Jason Dearen, AP- Sacramento Bee
From: Jason Dearen, AP- Stockton Record
From: Jason Dearen, AP- News10.net
From: Jason Dearen, AP- Bakersfieldnow.com
From: Jason Dearen, AP- The Bakersfield Californian
From: Jason Dearen, AP- Modesto Bee
From: Jason Dearen, AP- UT San Diego
Land in California's San Joaquin
Valley is sinking more rapidly than usual because of increased pumping from
underground sources, a phenomenon that is damaging vital water infrastructure,
the U.S. Geological Survey said Thursday.
The USGS study found that land
sinking had been measured at nearly one-foot per year in one area, and that it
is reducing the flow capacity of the Delta-Mendota Canal and the California
Aqueduct, two key sources of water.
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