News articles and links from October 25, 2013

Water Supply

EDITORIAL: Quit skimping on plans for water, transportation

From: Editorial Staff, Riverside Press-Enterprise

California cannot prosper without highways, bridges or water systems. Yet the state's approach to such necessary infrastructure is haphazard and shortsighted, a new report warns. Legislators instead need to take a long-term view, setting careful priorities for infrastructure spending and ensuring the state's capacity to maintain and improve public facilities.

The state auditor released a report last month detailing "high-risk" areas for state government. And prominent among the auditor's concerns was the state's deteriorating transportation and water infrastructure.

Water fight documentary takes top award at Fresno festival

From: Staff, Fresno Business Journal 

The award-winning documentary, "The Fight for Water: A Farm Worker Struggle", received a Best Documentary award at the Viña de Oro Fresno International Film Festival held Oct. 16 - 19 at the historic Tower Theatre in Fresno.

The film, which features a historic water march from the west side of the San Joaquin Valley to the San Luis Reservoir by farmers and farm workers, screened Oct. 19 as the closing film of the festival.

Salton Sea

Imperial County, Imperial Irrigation District sign Memorandum of Understanding for Salton Sea

From: Press Release, Imperial Irrigation District

The Imperial County Board of Supervisors and the directors of the Imperial Irrigation District held a special signing ceremony today at the Salton Sea commemorating a Memorandum of Understanding that outlines how the county, the Imperial County Air Pollution Control District and the IID will work together to restore California's largest and most troubled inland lake and avert severe harm to public health, the local economy and wildlife habitat resulting from its continued decline in water quality and elevation.

Local officials celebrate Salton Sea pact

From: Antoine Abou-Diwan, Imperial Valley Press

Officials from the Imperial Irrigation District and Imperial County signed a memorandum of understanding Thursday that outlines how the two agencies will cooperate to restore the Salton Sea.

Officials sign Salton Sea restoration plan agreement

From: Erica Felci, Desert Sun 

Surrounded by lake bed exposed by the receding shoreline, regional officials on Thursday finalized a historic deal they hope will add momentum to the much-discussed Salton Sea restoration effort.

Commentary: Restore historic Salton Sea with energy plan

From: Matt Dessert and Ray Castillo, SD Union-Tribune

Situated at the economic and environmental crossroads of the nation's largest agricultural-to-urban water transfer and the future well-being of Southern California's binational border region, the Salton Sea has reached a tipping point.

Sustained mainly by agricultural runoff from the farms and fields of the Imperial Valley, the state's largest and most troubled body of water has been in decline for a generation or more, a trend the 2003 signing of the Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA) was supposed to arrest and ultimately reverse.

But that hasn't happened.

Groundwater

Expert to talk possible groundwater solutions at Modesto Junior College

From: Garth Stapley, Modesto Bee  

Pumping is an artificial way of "releasing" underground water. When too much pumping threatens the supply, could artificial replenishing be a solution?

Hydrogeologist Chris Petersen thinks so, and he's ready to tell all about it.

Agriculture water quality tackled at CSU Monterey Bay forum

From: Jim Johnson, Monterey County Herald

Two months after the state water board approved rules for agricultural water quality, a panel of experts discussed a slew of ways the Salinas Valley could address the issue at a public forum at CSU Monterey Bay on Thursday.

Officials from Ventura County and the Central Valley outlined their methods for dealing with ag water quality regulations, including a cooperative approach with regional water board officials, use of best management practices and a farmers-only coalition.

Experts lament problems with oversight

From: D.L. Taylor, Salinas Californian

One of the impediments to improving Salinas Valley groundwater quality is, ironically, the regulatory process established to protect it, a consensus of experts said Thursday during a panel discussion at California State University, Monterey Bay.

Fisheries

Salmon have arrived

From: Alex Breitler, Stockton Record

Another near-record salmon run is expected on the Stanislaus River this fall, while farther north, thousands of fish are already splashing their way up the Mokelumne River past Lodi.

Chinook salmon thrive in flooded-field experiment

From: David Perlman, SF Chronicle

Researchers who fattened young chinook salmon in flooded fields after the rice harvest last winter reported Thursday that the fish grew fast and to record sizes, offering a promising new way to improve survival of the long-threatened salmon.

For fish and rice to thrive in Yolo Bypass, 'just add water'

From: Kat Kerlin, Davis Enterprise

From a fish-eye view, rice fields in California's Yolo Bypass provide an all-you-can-eat bug buffet for juvenile salmon seeking nourishment on their journey to the sea.

That's according to a new report detailing the scientific findings of an experiment that planted fish in harvested rice fields earlier this year, resulting in the fattest, fastest-growing salmon on record in the state's rivers.

News articles and links from October 24, 2013

Farming

Campbell's Challenge: Growing Lots of Tomatoes in Water-Scarce California

From: Peyton Fleming and Brooke Barton, National Geographic Water Currents

California and tomatoes are synonymous. Drive along Interstate 80 near Sacramento these days and you'll see an endless parade of trucks, each filled to the brim with 26 tons of glistening succulent red tomatoes. It's so many trucks, one after another, that you begin to understand how California grows 30 percent of the world's processed tomatoes.

It's a mind-boggling operation, especially when you ponder the vast amount of water that's needed for all this. The processing plant itself uses more than three million gallons a day to move, clean, and cook tomatoes. Out in the fields, growing just one pound of raw tomatoes requires about nine gallons of water. Multiply that times the 20,000 acres that are under production for Campbell and you get the idea.

Drying times in Humboldt County: Drought effects echo through beginning of rainy season

From: Catherine Wong, Eureka Times-Standard

With temperatures dropping and the fog rolling in, it may be hard to believe Humboldt County is still in a drought.

"The effects of a drought, the lag is a full year," said Blake Alexandre, a Humboldt County dairy farmer. "We will be suffering all winter and all spring because of this summer."

Water Supply 

Blog: Active Water Management in All Water Years

From: Anjanette Shadley Martin, Farm Water News

Making the efficient use of our water supply in any "type" of water year is always a priority but even more so when you see these headlines:

     · "Groundwater worries in San Joaquin Valley Intensify, along with drought" (Mark Grossi 9/24)

     · "UC Professors look at declining California Groundwater and how to manage it into the

        future" (LA Times 9/23)

Groundwater

Turlock officials want county to halt new ag wells

From: Marijke Rowland, Modesto Bee

City leaders want a stop to new agricultural wells across the county.

City Council members voted unanimously Wednesday night to draft a letter to the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors requesting members to consider a moratorium on drilling for new agricultural production wells.

Bay Delta Conservation Plan

Federal Shutdown Delays Release of Bay Delta Conservation Plan

From: Amy Quinton, Capital Public Radio

The California Department of Water Resources will delay the release of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan yet again. As Amy Quinton reports from Sacramento, the costly delay is a result of the federal government shutdown.

Salton Sea

Alternative energy deal to fund Salton Sea revival

From: Associated Press, SF Chronicle

Leaders in Imperial County have hammered out a deal to restore the Salton Sea and raise $3 billion to revive the shoreline economy driven by new alternative-energy development.

The accord announced Tuesday ends more than a decade of infighting between the county and the Imperial Irrigation District over the ongoing sale of water to the San Diego region, the U-T San Diego newspaper reported.

Meetings 

Nov. 18 Forum to Examine Groundwater Overdraft in the San Joaquin Valley

From: Matt Williams, ACWA

A regional forum Nov. 18 in Tulare will look at the challenges and concerns associated with groundwater overdraft in the San Joaquin Valley and the American West.

News articles and links from October 23, 2013

Water Supply

EDITORIAL: Embrace small, large solutions to statewide drought

From: Editorial Staff, Riverside Press-Enterprise

Californians cannot change the weather, but can control how they use water. Residents should step up water conservation efforts, to avoid shortages from another dry year. Legislators also need to help, by ensuring that the state has a reliable supply of water for the long term.

But drought is not the only threat to California's water supply. The Legislature needs to safeguard the state's system of water exports. Water that flows through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta serves two-thirds of the state's population and irrigates millions of acres of farmland. But that supply is at risk because of the delta's environmental ills, which have already prompted periodic cutbacks in water exports. The many conflicting interests in the delta make reaching consensus difficult. But blocking a supply of water that much of the state relies on would be reckless policy.

Reservoirs

Dry October doesn't help reservoir water levels

From: Dina Kupfer, News 10 TV

With docks perched on sand and vehicles parked where buoys once floated, anyone heading out to Folsom Lake can see right away that the water level is low.

"Last year we were at about 42 percent of capacity, this time of year; this year we are at about 33 percent in Folsom," Department of Reclamation's Lewis Moore said.

Salton Sea

Salton Sea pact advances

From: Michael Gardner, SD Union-Tribune

Imperial County leaders have forged a truce to end more than a decade of infighting over restoring the Salton Sea - acrimony directly connected to the ongoing sale of water to the San Diego region.

Levees

Glenn-Colusa canal breaks near Ord Bend

From: Barbara Arrigoni, Chico Enterprise-Record

The west levee of the Glenn-Colusa canal broke Tuesday morning near Ord Bend, leaving officials worried about flooding nearby and scrambling to repair the breach.

Meetings 

Experts explore water quality log jam

From: D.L. Taylor, Salinas Californian

The forum's title is telling. "A Greater Vision," along with imagination, is sorely needed to forge a path through the conflicts that surround water quality in the Salinas Valley.

Thursday's forum at California State University, Monterey Bay brings together some of the most highly regarded experts on water quality along the Central Coast as well as the Central Valley where water quality issues are equally perplexing. The forum is the third and final discussion in the "Greater Vision" water quality series.

News articles and links from October 22, 2013

Bay Delta Conservation Plan 

Column: Delta water fight starts in SoCal

From: Frank Mickadeit, Orange County Register

Even as our reporter Pat Brennan was writing last Sunday's huge front-page curtain-raiser on the state's $25 billion proposal to radically alter the Sacramento Delta and send more water to Southern California, opposition was conferencing at an Irvine hotel.

I was there. And anybody who thinks this new plan is going to have an easier time getting sign off from Northern Californians than the failed 1982 Peripheral Canal plan did hasn't spent any time listening to Northern Californians with a stake in the outcome.

Coalition response...Without a reliable supply of water flowing to California farms the locally grown food supply that consumers expect in their grocery stores could be threatened. If water supplies continue to be reduced to San Joaquin Valley farmers as in recent years because of federal regulations to protect fish in the Delta, less farmland will be planted and consumers may have fewer choices.

The Bay Delta Conservation Plan and its proposed tunnels are designed to provide a reliable water supply that is important to farmers. That is part of the reasoning that farmers and water agencies have already paid more than $140 million to develop the Plan. They recognize the importance of keeping water flowing that they already have a right to receive and are paying the costs to deliver it.

The Plan will also restore the ecosystem of the Delta and increase the habitat for fish and wildlife. This added habitat will not only provide a food supply for fish but also protection from predator fish.

The Plan and its proposed tunnels are vastly different than the 1992 Peripheral Canal. The capacity of the tunnels is only 9,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), compared to 21,800 cfs for the Peripheral Canal. The Plan also provides flexibility to maintain in-Delta water quality with through-Delta operations while the Peripheral Canal was fully isolated with no through-Delta operations. Learn more at http://www.farmwater.org/p-canalcomparison.pdf. 

San Joaquin River 

Blog: River restoration update

From: Alex Breitler, eSanJoaquin

The State Water Resources Control Board on Friday announced that it has approved water-rights changes allowing extra flows to be sent down the San Joaquin River.

"The water rights changes approved (Friday) allow for the dedication of water released from Friant Dam to the river channel to support fish and wildlife and for that water to then be picked up for other uses farther downstream," the board reported in a news release.

Coalition response....Your readers should understand that the estimated cost for the San Joaquin River Restoration Program now exceeds $1.1 billion and could climb over $2 billion, according to the Bureau of Reclamation's 2012 framework document. This means the final cost could more than double the reported $900 million. Funding for the restoration efforts have been difficult to obtain from the federal budget.

While more than $100 million has already been spent for studies, monitoring, application expenses and overhead, not one infrastructure project identified in the Program has been started. These projects are considered necessary to reroute the river channel and provide protection for salmon.

These projects would also safeguard against negative impacts to farmland adjacent to the river. In 2010 when interim flows sent increased levels of water down the river, seepage occurred and farmland was flooded. The federal government was required to pay for the damages encountered by the farmers.

Wouldn't it make more sense to complete these projects before building a hatchery and releasing salmon into the river? Currently, there is no clear path for the fish to reach the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Without these projects it is doubtful that the fish will survive their journey.

Bay Delta Conservation Plan

Experts: State's economy depends on solving water woes

From: Jack Robinson, Sacramento Business Journal 

The state's $25 billion plan to fix the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is a start, experts told a group of civic, government and business leaders Monday. But much more work is needed to prevent water woes from devastating California's economy in the long term.

Salton Sea

IID board to review MOU with county

From: Antoine Abou-Diwan, Imperial Valley Press

The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors is scheduled to vote Tuesday on a memorandum of understanding between the IID, county of Imperial and the Air Pollution Control District regarding Salton Sea stabilization and restoration.

The three agencies have been in litigation over the Quantification Settlement Agreement for about 10 years.

Water Quality

Nitrate pollution continues for decades after fertilizer use

From: Bettina Boxall, LA Times

From: Bettina Boxall, Merced Sun-Star

Nitrates from agricultural fertilizer could continue to leach into groundwater for at least 80 years after initial use, according to researchers who conducted a long-term study of nitrogen uptake.

Using isotope tracers, scientists followed the fate of nitrogen-based synthetic fertilizers applied to fields planted in France with wheat and sugar beets.

Farm Water and the Business Crisis

Businesses and cities lose money when neighboring farmers do not receive water to grow their crops.

"When there is water flow, business is great," says LaVonne Allen, owner of The Farmer's Daughter restaurant. "The last year I'm probably down 25-30 percent on my business because a lot of people are unemployed. When water and agriculture hurts out here, it hurts everybody."

"There's not the tax revenue for the city. It isn't getting roads repaired or keeping up with some of the general maintenance that they need to do in the town. The tax revenue has dropped a huge amount," adds Jim Britton of Britton Ag Consulting.

More than 160 business owners, community leaders and farmers gathered in an alfalfa field near Firebaugh earlier this month with more than 90 pieces of equipment to portray the importance of a reliable water supply.

"The reason for gathering all of this farm equipment in the alfalfa field we chose for this event was to create a visual for people who don't understand the ag economy we have here in central California with the help of water," says Steve Malanca of Thomason Tractor Co. in Firebaugh. Malanca originated the idea of bringing together the business community leaders and farmers.

"Four years ago in 2009, federal water contractors along the San Joaquin Valley Westside were told to expect zero deliveries from the federal Central Valley Project. That estimate was eventually raised to 10 percent, which still left hundreds of thousands of acres unplanted and thousands of farm workers out of work. Local businesses felt the effect as sales declined," according to Executive Director Mike Wade of the California Farm Water Coalition.

With indications of a record low water allocation looming in 2014, Central California farmers are bracing for another difficult year.

"It isn't just farmers who are bracing for a rocky year," says Wade. "It is the local tractor dealer, irrigation pipe supplier, auto dealer, financial institution and other businesses who are fearful of the economic consequences thrust upon their businesses from a suffering ag economy."

"The ag industry for the city of Firebaugh is the main provider of jobs, revenue sources and, really, the whole existence for the city," adds Ken McDonald, Firebaugh City Manager. "If we didn't have agriculture, there probably wouldn't be a need for the city to exist."

News articles and links from October 21, 2013

Video

Farm Water and the Business Crisis

From: Press Release, California Farm Water Coalition

Businesses and cities lose money when neighboring farmers do not receive water to grow their crops. That is the message of "Farm Water and the Business Crisis," a video that portrays the reliance that communities have on a healthy farm economy that is now available at www.farmwater.org.

The short video includes business owners and community leaders from Firebaugh in western Fresno County explaining what happens when farmers are forced to cut back on their planted acreage when water deliveries are reduced.

Delta 

On the Hunt-Searching For Rare Plants in the Delta

From: Alessandra Bergamin, Bay Nature

Seated in a wooden kayak at the mouth of Sycamore Slough, Danny Slakey peers through his hand lens at a plant no bigger than a sprig of thyme. Carefully, he inspects the small purple flowers growing along its stem, turning the specimen in his hand.

In the Delta, the state is proposing a huge construction project centered around twin tunnels dug under the Delta to deliver water from the northern part of the watershed to farmers in the San Joaquin Valley and urban consumers in Santa Clara County and Southern California. The proposed "peripheral tunnel" project is paired with the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, which aims to improve habitat for native species as mitigation for the tunnels. Having baseline data for what is here now is an essential prerequisite for understanding what species need to be taken into account and Slakey, so far, is optimistic.

"It seems there should be minimal impacts to the rare plants in the Delta," Slakey says.  "Overall, it sounds like the Bay Delta Conservation Plan may help to make for improved habitat restoration."

Water diversion gates in the Delta near Walnut Grove to close Monday morning

From: Matt Weiser, Sacramento Bee

Water diversion gates near Walnut Grove in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta will close Monday morning, sealing off a shortcut important to boaters.

The closure of the Delta Cross Channel Gates is expected to occur at 9 a.m. Monday, according to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the gates.

Waterway Closed Off To Help Salmon and Water Quality

From: Bob Moffitt, Capital Public Radio

Pete Lucero with the Bureau of Reclamation says it closed the Delta Cross Channel gates near Walnut Grove on Thursday and Friday and will likely close them again today.

Bay Delta Conservation Plan

For key water source, a 50-year, $25 billion rescue plan

From: Pat Brennan, Orange County Register

The California Delta is an intricate, 1,100-square-mile tapestry of farmland, canals, lakes, trees, reeds and marshes, but to Southern California it might resemble something like a gargantuan water glass.

And an enormous, serpentine straw - the California Aqueduct - sucks some of the Delta's water south, providing drinking water to 19 million Southern Californians.

State and regional water agencies, however, say the Delta is in crisis, its natural habitat rapidly deteriorating.

Weather

Blog: Last year, we were talking about snow in the Sierra

From: Mark Grossi, Fresno Beehive

In the midst of this balmy, October weather, I sneaked a look at the weather a year ago. I saw an archived item about a local storm report - talking about snow in the Sierra Nevada. There were reports of heavy snow in the mountains of Fresno, Tulare and Madera counties.

Groundwater

Local landowners agree that groundwater must be managed - but how?

From: Julie Lynem, SLO Tribune  

After weeks of productive and often passionate debate, stakeholders tasked with finding the best way to manage the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin have not reached consensus on what type of water district to form or who will oversee it.

Experts recommend special district for managing Paso Robles groundwater basin

From: Julie Lynem and Tonya Strickland, SLO Tribune

As San Luis Obispo County supervisors and others review ways to manage the threatened Paso Robles groundwater basin, experts recommend crafting a special act district created by the Legislature and customized to fit the needs of a specific area.

Dams

Don Pedro Relicensing Nears Completion; Predation Studies "Groundbreaking"

From: Alex Cantatore, Turlock City News

After nearly four years of work, the Turlock Irrigation District expects to submit its draft application to relicense Don Pedro Reservoir next month.

Since its creation in 1924, the Don Pedro Reservoir has served as the main source of irrigation water for TID growers. The district operates the dam through a license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is set to expire; the dam has not been relicensed since 1966, just before construction on the New Don Pedro Dam started.

One notable study looked at the effects of predation from non-native fish species on native salmon. That study found predation to be a "significant issue" in salmon production, far more so than water flows.

Quantification Settlement Agreement 

Water deal helped SD face drought

From: Mike Gardner, SD Union-Tribune

The giant Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has no plans to ration deliveries even as the state braces for a possible third-straight dry year and the vast Colorado River system remains plagued by plummeting flows into a shrinking Lake Mead.

One reason for this welcome reprieve can be traced back 10 years ago this month when warring water interests across the West signed a historic seven-state agreement to share the Colorado River. That pact also cleared the way for the Imperial Valley to sell supplies to the San Diego County Water Authority.

Rivers

Comment: River thick with flood overgrowth

From: Norm Groot, Salinas Californian

In my last column, I described the need for rain this coming winter for the Salinas Valley community. Having Mother Nature refill our reservoirs is top of the list this rainy season - otherwise, we may find ourselves next summer without year-round releases of water into the Salinas River, affecting groundwater recharge, habitat and fish, and our local economy.