Water Supply
From: Peter Fimrite, SF
Chronicle
As cities brace for rationing and
many California farmers yank out trees and fallow land for crops, growers and
dairy farmers on 240,000 acres along the San Joaquin River near Los Banos are
comparatively awash in water. The property owners and farmers who are
within the 80-mile-long territory that falls under the authority of the San
Joaquin River Exchange Contractors will get 75 percent of the water they
historically receive this year from the California State Water Project and the
federal Central Valley Project.
Coalition response... As a result of the Exchange Contractors agreeing to shift the source of
their pre-1914 appropriative and riparian rights and enter into contracts with
the federal government, San Joaquin River water became available to farmers on
the eastside of the San Joaquin Valley who otherwise would not have that water
to grow much of the food that we all look for in our grocery stores. Cities and
small rural communities have also benefited from the water developed by the
construction of Friant Dam, a cornerstone of the CVP, which would not have
happened if the Exchange Contractors had not agreed to enter into the agreements
with the federal government over 75 years ago. Conservation programs are
extremely important and are implemented by each of the EC members. This
year the implementation of inflexible federal and state environmental
regulations coupled with the drought has crippled the CVP and forced the
federal government to make deliveries to senior right holders on the San
Joaquin River. If anyone has benefited from this "good deal," as Tom
Stokely describes it, it is the small rural communities in the San Joaquin
Valley, refuges and consumers throughout our state and around the world.
Water Bond
From: Steve Evans, Modesto Bee
In November, California voters
will be asked how much money they want to borrow to improve the state's water
infrastructure and fight the drought. Because polls show an $11.1 billion
general obligation bond on the Nov. 4 ballot is too expensive for many voters,
legislators are scrambling to revise the water bond to make it more palatable.
Along with the total amount,
another point of contention is how much is allotted to building new and
enlarging existing surface storage dams. The current bond and the $8.7 billion
version proposed by Senate Republicans include $3 billion for new and bigger
dams, but Gov. Jerry Brown's $6 billion proposal whittles this down to $2
billion. A coalition of environmental groups allocates $1 billion for surface
storage in its $6 billion plan.
From: Jeremy White, Sacramento
Bee
Scrambling to place a new water
bond before voters, California's legislative leaders on Monday converged on a
$7.195 billion proposal and carved out more time to finish it by delaying a
looming electoral deadline.
Contours of the water bond
blueprint surfaced as the Legislature toiled under a rapidly closing window to
act. With November elections months away, California's secretary of state was
scheduled to begin printing voter guides on Monday evening.
From: Staff, Modesto Bee
An agreement on a revised water
bond for the November ballot seemed within reach on Monday, but only if no side
gets too grabby. That includes legislators from both parties and from all
regions, and it includes members of Congress.
As The Bee's Jeremy B. White
reported, California lawmakers converged on a proposed bond in the range of
$7.2 billion.
From: Fenit Nirappil,
Associated Press
Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic
legislative leaders said Monday they are closing in on a deal to overhaul a
water bond on the November ballot, but their replacement plan still needs
support from Republicans.
Both houses of the Legislature
voted Monday to extend the deadline for printing voter pamphlets, giving
lawmakers and the governor another two days to reach an agreement.
Drought
From: Katherine Noyes, Forbes
More than 80% of California is
now in a state of extreme drought, according to the latest assessment. The
environmental conditions that residents are experiencing today actually began
in 2011. Still, there seems to be no end in sight. Water costs are sky high, as
you would expect, but Californians are paying the price in more ways than one.
The state's Central Valley
agriculture industry, for example, stands to lose $1.7 billion this year as a
result of what some believe is the worst drought to affect the region in 500
years. Some 14,500 workers could lose their jobs in an area responsible for
half of the state's agriculture and five percent of the entire nation's.
From: Tracy Brown, Associated
Press
Nevada's Lake Mead, the nation's
largest reservoir, has hit an all time-low since it was first filled in the
1930s, raising concerns that a water shortage could be declared for a region
home to 40 million people in seven fast-growing states.
[VIDEO]
From: Ian James, USA Today
The first half of 2014 was by far
the hottest in California in 120 years of record-keeping, and that heat is
exacerbating one of the most devastating droughts in state history.
Month after month, the red and
burgundy patches on the California drought map have been spreading, with 82
percent of the state now classified as being in "extreme" or
"exceptional" drought on the U.S. Drought Monitor website.
Groundwater
From: Casey Hashimoto, Modesto
Bee
For an informed dialogue to
occur, Turlock Irrigation District is compelled to offer additional information
following a recent groundwater editorial (Our View: Stanislaus County officials finally responding to
water crisis, July 31).
TID recognizes there are
challenges within the Turlock groundwater subbasin, and sympathizes with people
who have concerns. This is why we are continuing to fight to maintain
surface-water resources for the area, and hope to expand our water supply
beyond surface water and groundwater. We've also taken steps to conserve water
and make our canal system more efficient, most recently in the development of a
long-term TID water resources plan.
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