Friday, May 31, 2013

News articles and links from May 31, 2013


Bay Delta Conservation Plan

From: Dave Gebhard, Lake County News

Coalition response...The Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) is being developed to provide a reliable supply of water to 25 million Californians and thousands of farmers. This is water they already have a right to receive. BDCP will also restore the Delta ecosystem as more than a 100,000 acres of habitat will be created that protects fish.

Those who benefit from the increased water reliability and the ecosystem improvements will pay their share of their costs associated with BDCP. San Joaquin Valley farms, which are mostly family operations, will continue to provide a healthy and affordable food supply that Californians enjoy.

The flow of water through the tunnels will be governed according to available supply. When the flows are high, more water will move through the tunnels. Lower flows mean less water will be exported. See more at www.farmwater.org/exportthrottle.pdf. 

From: Bill Ryan, Napa Valley Register

Coalition response...Describing the nearly 4,000 family farmers in the San Joaquin Valley as "Wall Street farmers" is far from reality. Second and third-generations operate most of these farms, including sons and daughters who saw their parents and grandparents work to develop the land into the most productive farmland in the world.

The Bay Delta Conservation Plan, as mandated by the California Legislature, is a proposal to create a reliable water supply and restore the Delta ecosystem. The water will flow to 25 million Californians and 3 million acres of farmland. Those individuals and cities have a right to the water and BDCP provides a solution for them to receive it while increasing habitat that will provide protection for Delta fish.

Bay Delta Conservation Plan

From: Mike Luery, KCRA 3 TV

From: Maven, Maven's Notebook

From: KCBS

From: Bruce Ross, Redding Record Searchlight

From: Lake County News

From: Fresno Bee


Water Supply

From: Michael Lingberg, Porterville Recorder

Delta

From: Alex Breitler, eSanJoaquin

Rivers

From: Carol Campodonica, Modesto Bee

From: Mark Grossi, Fresno Beehive

Fisheries

From: Matt Weiser, Sacramento Bee

From: Bettina Boxall, LA Times

Thursday, May 30, 2013

News articles and links from May 30, 2013


Bay Delta Conservation Plan

From: Central Valley Business Times

Coalition response...Opponents to the Bay Delta Conservation Plan continue to reject the science that has been conducted over the years developing the current proposal. Economist Jeff Michael from the University of the Pacific rejects the work of economist David Sunding from the University of California, Berkeley. Other critics refuse to budge from their positions. Now is the time that all interests should put aside their self-interests and work together to resolve the water problems confronting California.

From: Cathy O'Connor, Sacramento Bee

Coalition response...It is time for all Californians to come together, including Delta advocates, to solve problems that in some cases have been 150 years in the making. Thousands of farms and 25 million Californians depend on water that flows through the Delta and they have experienced water shortages that have caused land to go unplanted and a cut back in jobs on San Joaquin Valley farms. The Bay Delta Conservation Plan is intended to fix these delivery problems and at the same time restore the Delta ecosystem.

From: Matania Ginosar, Sacramento Bee

Coalition response...Where are the water subsidies that so many people are quick to claim? No subsidies exist for any user receiving water from the State Water Project. In fact, users pay a full contracted amount even in years when they receive less than their contracts call for. Congress decided when the Central Valley Project that the interest applied to construction costs would be waived and that is the only amount that is not charged. Considering the return in billions of dollars of crops produced with this water, it has been a great investment for the American people.  

People also need to realize the role that agricultural exports play in our state's economy. More than $16 billion of farm products are exported each year and that means jobs and tax dollars for California's economy.

Bay Delta Conservation Plan

From: Press release, California Farm Water Coalition

From: Press release, Kern County Water Agency

From: Press release, State Water Contractors

From: Press release, California Natural Resources Agency

From: Announcement, BDCP

From: Pamela Martineau, ACWA

From: Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times

From: Wyatt Buchanan, SF Chronicle

From: Paul Burgarino and Steven Harmon, Contra Costa Times
From: Paul Burgarino and Steven Harmon, San Jose Mercury News

From: Alex Breitler, The Record

From: Steve Scauzillo, San Gabriel Valley Tribune

From: Janet Zimmerman, Riverside Press-Enterprise

From: Heather Hacking, Chico Enterprise-Record

From: Ben van der Meer, Sacramento Business Journal

From: Associated Press, The Record
From: Associated Press, Fresno Bee
From: Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle

From: Nancy Vogel, California Majority Report

From: ABC 7 TV

From: John Myers, NBC 10 TV

From: Amy Quinn, Capital Public Radio

From: Bruce Ross, Redding Record Searchlight

Groundwater

From: Joshua Emerson Smith, Merced Sun-Star

Salton Sea

From: Colt Stewart, Desert Sun

Farming

From:Catherine Green, Los Angeles Times

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

News articles and links from May 29, 2013


Bay Delta Conservation Plan 

From: Stephen Heringer, Sacramento Bee

Coalition response...Steve Heringer has a right to question the impacts of new Delta water conveyance on his family's farming operation. But neither he nor the Delta as a whole exists in a vacuum. Thousands of San Joaquin Valley farms and 25 million Californians depend on water that flows through the Delta and they have already faced significant water shortages - shortages that the Bay Delta Conservation Plan is intended to fix. This is a time when Californians should come together, including Delta advocates, to solve problems that in some cases have been 150 years in the making.  

Bay Delta Conservation Plan

From: Sacramento Bee

From: Amy Quinton, Capital Public Radio

From: Steve Scauzillo, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
From: Steve Scauzillo, Los Angeles Daily News
From: Steve Scauzillo, Pasadena Star News
From: Steve Scauzillo, San Bernardino Sun
From: Steve Scauzillo, Whittier Daily News

Delta

From: Pamela Martineau, ACWA

From: Editorial, Modesto Bee
From: Editorial, Merced Sun-Star

From: Alex Breitler, The Record

Water Supply

From: Chris Nichols, San Diego Union-Tribune

Groundwater

From: Mark Grossi, Fresno Beehive

Rivers

From: Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times

From: Ian James, The Desert Sun

From: Matt Williams, ACWA

From: Associated Press, Fresno Bee
From: Associated Press, Modesto Bee
From: Associated Press, CBS 2-TV

From: Bob Berwyn, Summit County Citizens Voice

Quantification Settlement Agreement

From: Alejandro Davila, Imperial Valley Press

Fisheries

From: John Bowman, Siskiyou Daily News

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

News articles and links from May 28, 2013


Bay Delta Conservation Plan

From: Jim King, Fresno Bee

Coalition response...It would require 120 desalination plants the size of the recently approved Poseidon facility in San Diego County to meet the 6 MAF requirements of the State Water Project and federal Central Valley Project. With 840 miles of California coastline, a desal plant would have to be placed every seven miles and would still not connect to our current water distribution system.

The BDCP is a much cheaper and more environmentally-friendly solution.

From: Bill Jennings, The Record

Coalition response...Public water agencies have already spent $150 million to fund the research by scientists, economists and engineers to develop the Bay Delta Conservation Plan with the expected results of a reliability in water deliveries, which they have a right to receive. That reliability is absent today because of environmental regulations that have taken water away from 25 million Californians and thousands of farmers. See the impacts caused by these regulations at farmwater.org/watersupplycutshurtusall.pdf

The public water users already have the right to receive water that flows through the Delta and is planned to be conveyed through the tunnels. The amount of water that will flow through the tunnels will be limited by the actual day-by-day conditions and flows of the Sacramento River. Studies have concluded that water diversions will likely be in the range of average exports over the past 20 years. When flows are high more water can be moved through the tunnels. When flows are lower less water will be moved...or none at all under dry conditions. Learn more at www.farmwater.org/exportthrottle.pdf.

Endangered species will not benefit from "new state-of-the-art fish screens in the south Delta," as proposed by the author. Instead, fish will be trapped in a channel with no way out that will become heavily populated by predator fish waiting for a meal. BDCP scientists and engineers have already concluded that screens at the south Delta pumps will not help the fish; yet, the author and others continue to ignore years of research and study.

The Bay Delta Conservation Plan remains the best alternative to provide a reliable supply of water and at the same time restore the Delta ecosystem. Accomplishing these two goals as set forth by the California Legislature will provide a secure water future for our state.

Delta 

From: Carolee Krieger, Contra Costa Times

Coalition response...Carolee Krieger is wrong about the proposed actions within Rep. Costa's legislation and she exaggerates the potential impacts on the ecosystem.

The legislation introduced by Rep. Costa, H.R. 1927: More Water and Security for Californians Act, will not "drain the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta" and her interpretation is simply false. In fact, a careful read of the proposal at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr1927/text reveals numerous safeguards to preserve in-Delta water supplies and enhancements to improve fish species but Kreiger is betting that you won't read it. 

Courts

From: Dan Nelson, San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority

From: Tom Birmingham, Westlands Water District

From: Fresno Business Journal

From: John Bass, Delta National Park

Bay Delta Conservation Plan

From: Steven Harmon, San Jose Mercury News


From: Matt Weiser, Sacramento Bee

From: Alex Breitler, The Record

From: Alex Breitler, The Record

Delta

From: Sacramento Bee

Water Supply

From: David Castellon, Visalia Times-Delta

From: Wayne Zipser, Modesto Bee

Water Quality

From: Alex Breitler, The Record

Transfers

From: Thaddeus Bettner, Chico Enterprise-Record

Rivers 

From: Victor A. Patton, Sacramento Bee

From: Henry Brean, Las Vegas Review-Journal

From: Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
From: Sacramento Bee, Associated Press
From: San Francisco Chronicle, Associated Press
From: Desert Sun, Associated Press
From: KFMB-TV 8, Associated Press

Farming

From: Fresh Plaza

Fisheries

From: Lake County News

From: Alex Breitler, The Record

From: Aaron Kinney, Contra Costa Times
From: Aaron Kinney, San Mateo County Times