Fisheries
From: Staff, Stockton Record
Environmentalists are urging the
state and federal governments to take action to protect migrating salmon as
river levels drop during the drought.
In a letter this week, four
environmental groups are calling for more young salmon to be trapped and
shipped around the dangerous Delta, rather than leaving the fish in the low
streams to fend for themselves on their journey to the ocean.
Coalition response... Environmentalists?! These four organizations (the California
Sportfishing Protection Alliance, the Golden Gate Salmon Association, the
Coastside Fishing Club and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's
Associations) exist to support people who catch fish! A fisherman may be an
environmentalist just as a farmer or anyone else is but let's be honest folks,
they're out to catch the very fish they're asking the government to protect.
Drought
From: Lois Henry, Bakersfield
Californian (Subscription required)
There are real issues to be
discussed involving California's water troubles. Tough issues. Such as, whether
we've overplanted with crops that simply cannot be accommodated long term given
regulatory changes in the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta.
Oh yeah, I went there. Let the
howling begin.
Can our water system sustain the
explosion in almonds, pistachios, grapes and other permanent crops we've seen
in Kern and other valley counties?
Coalition response... Lois Henry's piece on the effort to bring relief to drought
stricken farmers is a stunning, yet sad, déjà vu. In 2008 salmon fishermen
received a whopping $174 million in direct payments when they convinced
then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to jam "massive salmon relief into
the Farm Bill as an earmark without a vote." The $174 million was nearly
eight times the actual value of salmon fishermen's annual $22 million catch,
according to CBS News, which initially reported the story back in 2008.
WHAT?!!! Congress was using the
Farm Bill to funnel money to salmon fishermen? And they were direct payments,
too. Some of the fishermen raked in six-figure payouts while they were free to
continue to fish for other, well, fish. And fish they did. Farmers, on the
other hand, simply want temporary access to a small amount of extra water to
help get through this year's severe drought, not a cash bailout like the
fishermen received.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Jay Hislop, Stockton
Record
I attended the Bay-Delta
Conservation Plan meeting in Stockton at the University Plaza Waterfront Hotel
on Jan. 21. Only about 100 public members attended, and when I was there it
seemed there were only two or three other public members.
There were dozens of BDCP staff
members hovering around, mostly talking with each other and not making eye
contact. It was hard to break through their insider group discussions, and I
definitely felt unwelcome. But I was able to pull four individual BDCP staffers
or consultants away for some discussion.
Coalition
response... Lawyer Jay Hislop provides
a well-groomed, if misguided, narrative here - and while we don't question his
experience at the meeting, we have to correct his facts. The BDCP is the result
of seven years planning and evaluating data collected over the past 50 years,
and is not, in fact, the only approach considered. Not only distinct
alternatives were considered, but the BDCP itself has changed from its initial
form in response to stakeholder concerns, reducing the size of the tunnels,
shifting the type and placement of facilities and other changes, with the
express intent that both of the BDCPs goals - water supply reliability and
environmental restoration are met.
It's unfortunate that Mr. Hislop
left the recent BDCP meeting in Stockton feeling uncertain of the important
environmental restoration components of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. We
encourage Mr. Hislop, and other members of the public to seek out their information
directly from the source. If you need help finding information in the plan
tweet @BDCP_CA your question, #WhereinBDCP or go to the
"Your questions answered" section of their website at http://baydeltaconservationplan.com/AboutBDCP/YourQuestionsAnswered.aspx
Fisheries
From: Dennis Wyatt,
Manteca Bulletin
Delta Smelt, the 5- to 7-centimeter
fish that tends to hang around the Tracy pumps, is California's biggest
consumer of water. Ounce for ounce, the endangered fish astronomically hogs
more of California's fresh stored water than Los Angeles or massive farms in
the southern San Joaquin Valley.
Just a few years ago, the state
was annually diverting a million acre feet of water specifically for the Delta
Smelt.
Based on per capita consumption
of water by Manteca and Lathrop's 90,000 residents, that's enough water to meet
the needs of 11.4 million Californians, or just under a third of the state's
entire population for a year.
Drought
From: Elizabeth Campbell,
Bloomberg News
Near the confluence of the Merced
and San Joaquin rivers, the heart of the California farm belt, Bob Kelley
watches the driest year ever erode water supplies and prospects for the dairy
business his family began in 1910.
The amount of water available for
the 2,800 acres (1,133 hectares) of corn and alfalfa Kelley grows to feed more
than 6,500 cows may drop as much as two thirds, so fewer crops will be planted
and some animals will be sold to avoid the expense of buying grain, he said by
telephone from Newman, about 83 miles (134 kilometers) southeast of San Francisco.
From: Lilith Waterworth,
Sacramento Bee
Re "House speaker talks drought" (Capitol &
California, Jan. 23): House Speaker John Boehner visited California to tout the
need for drought management. At a news conference, held in a parched field
belonging to farmer Larry Starrh of Bakersfield, Boehner proposed gutting
environmental protections for much of the Delta. Starrh has to leave 1,000
acres of almond orchards fallow.
From: Michael Doyle,
Sacramento Bee
San Joaquin Valley congressional
Republicans took aim this week and missed their stated goal of helping
California cope with drought.
Now, having unsuccessfully tried
a long-shot, last-minute farm bill maneuver, the GOP lawmakers are regrouping.
Their next steps are unclear, though some are certainly on the way.
From: Clay Brandow, Sacramento
Bee
Re "Past droughts opened way
for state water policy fixes" (Viewpoints, Jan. 18): I found Jay Lund's
opinion piece thought-provoking. Droughts are the kind of crises that create
opportunities to make advances in water management possible - if not for this
drought, then for the next one. One area of drought-related advancement Lund
left out is the improvement in hydrology data collection and use.
Groundwater
From: Staff, KGPE 47
More and more Central Valley
farmers are looking for ways to survive the drought. While one option is to
drill new wells, it's forcing many local farmers to dip into their bank
accounts. The process is expensive. By the time one well is ready to use, the
costs can run up to $1 million. The deeper the well, the more expensive the price
tag.
At an almond farm in Madera
County, where well drillers are working around the clock, vice president of
Arthur & Orum Well Drilling, Steve Arthur, says this is the busiest they've
ever been as farmers try to save their crops during the drought.
"The drought of '77 was
nothing compared to this one," Arthur says.
Transfers
From: Staff, Modesto Bee
We're glad that Oakdale
Irrigation District's board of directors, under pressure from district farmers,
decided to reject an offer from Westlands Water District. As it has in the
past, the world's largest irrigation district wanted to buy more of Oakdale's
water. In a drought, the only way to get that water was to take it from OID's
fields. And that could have hurt a lot of people around here.
From: J.N. Sbranti, Modesto
Bee
A proposal to pay Oakdale
landowners to fallow their pastures so irrigation water could be sold to
Fresno-area farmers was rejected Tuesday morning.
Oakdale Irrigation District
directors voted 4-1 to reverse last Thursday's decision, which would have kept
the proposed Westlands Water District deal alive. OID directors said they
changed their minds after being flooded with phone calls from Oakdale farmers
and ranchers opposed to selling water to outsiders during this drought.
Farming
From: AP Staff, Sacramento Bee; Redding Record-Searchlight; Contra Costa Times; San Jose Mercury News; San Diego Union-Tribune; Modesto Bee
With California in the grips of
severe drought, Napa Valley wine grape growers on Tuesday said some vines are
ripening early and that farmers are planning fewer crops to save water.
Vineyard owners are pruning
earlier than usual and on a shorter schedule, Domenick Bianco of Renteria
Vineyard Management said. If the Valley does not see late winter or spring
rains, 2014 will yield a smaller crop.
"Water amount determines
yield. If you use 80 percent less water than last year, you could see 80
percent of the crop," Bianco said.
Water Storage
From: Mark Grossi, Fresno Bee
Blogs
West Valley farmers spent $150
million last year buying some water and storing it in San Luis Reservoir. They
were planning ahead for a zero water allocation from the federal Central Valley
Project this year.
Looks like they were right about
the zero allocation, but maybe their investment and wise planning won't work out.
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