Delta Stewardship Council Supports Improved Treatment of Sacramento Wastewater
Story
from ACWA – Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010
Story
from Modesto Bee – Friday, Oct. 29, 2010
Valley water users want DFG’s answers
Story
from Siskiyou Daily News – Thursday, Oct. 28, 2010
FISHBIO fall-run Chinook salmon update
Report
from FISHBIO – Wednesday, Oct. 27 2010
Will Klamath dam removable cheaper or more expensive than relicensing?
Story
from Siskiyou Daily News - Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010
Doing more with less in California
Commentary
from Aquafornia – Thursday, Dec. 28, 2010
By Cameron Brooks, IBM
Coalition viewpoint…While continued conservation will play a role in California’s water future, it alone will not provide the water for a growing population and increased demands from the environmental community to take water away from both farmers and urban residents. Increased storage capacity through surface and underground sources will provide the flexibility we need to save water for later use. Continued efforts to improve water use efficiency must also be a part of the future.
Water study suit settled amicably
Story
from Chico Enterprise Record - Oct. 28, 2010
Delta water report unpopular upstream
Story
from Union Democrat – Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010
Will pessimism produce a better water bond?
Comment
from Appeal-Democrat – Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010
from Sacramento Bee
California vineyard water ban ‘will cost economy $2bn a year’
Story
from Decanter – Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010
from Stockton Record – Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010
DWR and DFG Sign Fish Restoration Program
Press Release
from DWR – Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010
State agencies agree to try to help Delta fish
Story
from CV Business Times – Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010
from Stockton Record – Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010
Water and the ‘use less, pay more’ paradox
Opinion
from NC Times – Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010
Story
from Redding Record Searchlight – Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010
Commentary
From Monterey Herald – Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010
By Duncan MacLean, fisherman
Coalition viewpoint…The description of the salmon fishing industry as presented by the author could also be written about many farm communities along the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Both industries, fishing and farming, have been damaged from federal regulations, drought and natural factors beyond anyone’s control. Science, which the author calls on to rule the day, is providing updated information that factors other than water exports---ocean conditions, loss of habitat, diminishing water quality---from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are having greater impact in the decline of salmon numbers. To point out only the exports as the cause of the problem is a disservice to anyone seeking the facts.
from Fresno Bee – Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010
Coalition viewpoint…Federal officials must work with property owners to insure that San Joaquin River restoration efforts do not create harmful effects on adjacent lands, as required by Congress when it approved enabling legislation. Increased monitoring will help in avoiding seepage damage on the lands.
The Changing Nature of Agricultural Water Allocation
Commentary
from Choices Magazine – 3rd quarter 2010
By Richard Howitt, UC Davis
from Sacramento Bee – Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010
from Chico Enterprise Record – Sunday, Oct. 24, 2010
from Indybay newswire – Friday, Oct. 22, 2010
Valley water keeps flowing toward Southern California
from California TV News – Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010
from Contra Costa Times – Saturday, Oct. 23, 2010
Coalition viewpoint…Californians also face a risk from not adequately planning for a future that demands a reliable water supply. That future water supply must include new water storage facilities, both surface and below ground, improved conveyance, recycling, conservation and continued efforts to increase water use efficiency.
Letter
from Chico Enterprise-Record – Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010
Coalition viewpoint…People need to understand that strict guidelines are already in place that govern the transfer of water from one region to another. Surface water transfers are closely monitored and the use of any groundwater as a replacement cannot create any negative impacts on the local community. If people are going to reference water transfers then they need to know the facts.
Another Winter of Extremes in Store for U.S. as la Nina Strengthens
Report
from NOAA – Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010
Merced Irrigation District reports strong year for water delivery
Story
from Merced Sun Star – Friday, Oct. 22, 2010
from Fresno Bee – Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010
Winterizing irrigation system seminar Oct. 29
Announcement
from Western Farm Press –
Responses to the Environmental Water Caucus plan
Letters
from Aquafornia – Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010
from Los Angeles Times – Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010
Coalition viewpoint…California farmers have been resilient in shifting food production from one area to another in times when water supplies have been cut short by drought and environmental regulations. Continuing efforts to take water away from our farmers and 25 million Californians by reducing the amount of water flowing southward from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta may eventually overcome the ability of our farmers to make up for any shortfalls in production. When that happens, the problems outlined by Director Gottlieb will increase.
from Indybay newswire – Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010
Coalition viewpoint…This “solution” offered by EWC represents a narrow focus of taking water from farmers and 25 million Californians as a plan for fixing the Delta. It fails to acknowledge recent scientific studies and reports that point to factors---such as upstream water discharges laden with ammonium, ocean conditions, water quality and more---that have a greater effect on the health of the Delta than water exports. This “solution” is a thinly-veiled attempt to take water away from the people of California.
What’s happening across the river
Story
from Red Bluff Daily News – Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010
Madera Irrigation District will end water season
Story
from Fresno Bee – Thursday, Oct. 21, 2010
from California TV News – Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010
Saving salmon: One dramatic proposal would transport fish around dams
Story
from Chico E-R – Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010
Report says Klamath dam removal would be economic boon
Story
from Eureka Times-Standard – Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010
GOP taps water as wedge issue in Fresno County
Story
from San Jose Mercury News – Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2010
Water leaders say conservation is not enough
Story
from Riverside Press Enterprise – Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2010
Senate Bill requires water monitoring
Story
from Siskiyou Daily News – Monday, Oct. 18, 2010
from Redding Record Searchlight
from Los Angeles Times – Monday, Oct. 18, 2010
Sunken Delta Islands and Rose Bowls
Blog
from SF Chronicle – Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010
By Tom Philp
from Stockton Record – Monday, Oct. 18, 2010
Westlands Water investigation sought
Story
from Fresno Bee – Saturday, Oct. 16, 23010
from Stockton Record – Friday, Oct. 15, 2010
Building begins on Delta water pipeline
Story
from Sacramento Bee – Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010
from Contra Costa Times – Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010
Coalition viewpoint…While problems in the Delta must still be resolved to assure a reliable water delivery system, the completion of this linkage between the State and federal canals will provide some increased assurance of water delivery to farmers and 25 million Californians. Updating California's water infrastructure should be a goal of every individual in our state in order to build the water system that is needed now and in the future. This Intertie project is an important step in that direction and it is important that more projects be undertaken.
from Modesto Bee – Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010
Your Oct. 4 story "Water users alarmed by salmon report" (Page A-1) includes comments by representatives of Modesto, Turlock and Oakdale irrigation districts that remind one of Chicken Little's cry that the sky is falling.
Coalition viewpoint…Taking water from agriculture and giving it to “fish and wildlife” will not solve the problems threatening the Delta. More and more science is pointing to causes other than water deliveries as having more impact on Delta fish and habitat. Predator fish are eating juvenile salmon…ocean conditions are robbing salmon of a needed food supply…wastewater discharges from the City of Sacramento are destroying the food supply for Delta smelt…the list goes on. Taking water from our farmers will only serve to increase the consumer’s reliance on an imported food supply.
Proposal to Restore Delta Bogs Down
Story
Wall Street Journal- Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010
Brown calls for delta canal in Calif. Water plan
from SF Chronicle – Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010
News Release
from Scribd – Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010
Carcass count shows strong salmon runs
Story
from Mercury-Register – Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010
LOIS HENRY: Water fight spills out to the public
Column
from Bakersfield Californian – Wednesday, Oct. 13, 2010
Water credits threaten aquifer
Story
from Ventura County Star – Monday, Oct. 11, 2010
La Nina is heading our way—so, what’s she bringing?
Story
from The Record – Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2010
La Nina (think dry winter here) gains strength
Blog
from Fresno Bee – Monday, Oct. 11, 2010
By Mark Grossi
150 Years of Delta History in 100 Seconds
Blog
from SF Chronicle – Monday, Oct. 11, 2010
By Tom Philp
Officials refuse to clear levees of foliage
Story
from SF Chronicle – Tuesday, oct. 12, 2010
Delta Flows: Crashing the Principals’ Office
Blog
from IndyBay – Monday, Oct. 11, 2010
By Dan Bacher
Has the U.S. Passed the Point of Peak Water?
Blog
from Huffington Post – Monday, Oct. 11, 2010
By Peter Gleick
Peering down on California’s water problems
Story
from The Packer – Friday, Oct. 8, 2010
from North County Times – Monday, Oct. 11, 2010
SWP Predicts Future Deliveries Greater Than During the 1980's and 1990's
from Blogs – Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010
by Barry Nelson
Coalition viewpoint...Science is at the forefront of developing a resolution to Delta environmental problems and achieving a reliable water supply for 25 million Californians. The current process within the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and Delta Habitat Conservation and Conveyance Program (DHCCP )reflects the science that water users are calling for. The recent UOP/UC Davis report substantiates claims that farmers and their employees along the San Joaquin Valley westside suffered severe impacts from reduced water deliveries. But using the SWP Delivery Reliability Report to diminish these impacts is a gross oversimplification. Also, UOP numbers on job losses points out that salmon industry officials overestimated their job losses, which added to the “supercharged water policy discussions” Nelson describes.
Blog
From Pacific Swell – Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010
By Molly Peterson
Coalition viewpoint…The study area for this report encompassed only the major parts of San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun bays and did not extend east into the Delta. Significant impacts on Delta water quality continue to come from other urban sources such as Sacramento’s wastewater treatment plant, which is blamed for releasing the ammonium that scientists claim has altered the basic chemistry of the Delta. There is a lot of blame to go around when it comes to the health of our ecosystems and information like this shows more and more that farms are less likely the problem.
All-American Canal buoy installation begins, safety project to total $1.1 million
Story
from Imperial Valley Press – Friday, Oct. 8, 2010
Buoy lines will crisscross the All-American Canal by April after the Imperial Irrigation District installs them in hopes of preventing illegal immigrant drowning deaths.
from Ventura County Star
Ventura County farmers got a renewed permit on Thursday to discharge water into rivers and streams with one new caveat.
Urban runoff, not ag, polluting bay
Story
from Stockton Record – Thursday, Oct. 7, 2010
Coalition Viewpoint...The study area for this report encompassed only the major parts of San Francisco, San Pablo and Suisun bays and did not extend east into the Delta. Significant impacts on Delta water quality continue to come from other urban sources such as Sacramento’s wastewater treatment plant, which is blamed for releasing the ammonium that scientists claim has altered the basic chemistry of the Delta. There is a lot of blame to go around when it comes to the health of our ecosystems and information like this shows more and more that farms are less likely the problem.
ESA Protections Increase Dry Year Water Supplies - No, Really!
from Blogs – Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010
by Barry Nelson
Letter
from Sacramento Bee – Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010
Coalition viewpoint…This letter is an example of mixing facts with opinions. The majority of farms in Westlands Water District are family farms, many who have second and third generations family members working the soil. Also, no water has ever been sold from Westlands. In fact, the Westlands board of directors are on record to oppose any such sales. Everyone has a right to an opinion but don’t confuse facts with opinions.
Cities key source of toxics in bay, study finds
Story
from San Francisco Chronicle – Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010
from Stockton Record – Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010
Web Update
from California Natural Resources Agency – October 2010
How much should crop production decline during a drought?
Blog
from Valley Economy – Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010
By Jeffrey Michael
Achieving California’s Water Supply and Delta Ecological Improvement Simultaneously
Blog
from WaterWired – Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010
Letter
from Sacramento Bee – Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010
from Fresno Bee – Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010
from Sacramento Bee
Officials say minnow doesn’t need protection
Story
from Stockton Record – Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010
Splittail re-review re-completed for Delta
Blog
from Southern California Public Radio – Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010
Coalition viewpoint…The author’s 7-step process for fixing the Delta is amazing in two ways: It ignores efforts recommended by the National Marine Fisheries Service to reduce populations of predatory fish including striped bass and it ignores science that says toxic wastewater discharges are killing the elementary parts of the food chain. Common sense would tell you that these two things would likely do wonders to save salmon in the Delta. Stop poisoning Delta habitat with toxic wastewater discharges and stop non-native fish from eating the endangered ones. Increasing flows as recommended by a recent narrowly-focused study does nothing to stop these other significant stressors from the damage they cause Delta fisheries.
Imperial Irrigation District, Quantification Settlement Agreement parties file appellate briefs
Story
from IV Press – Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010
from Stockton Record – Tuesday, Oct. 5, 2010
County supes to revisit groundwater overdraft
Discussion
from Hanford Sentinel – Monday, Oct. 4, 2010
Story
from Daily Democrat – Monday, Oct. 4, 2010
Schwarzenegger Vetoes Lois Wolk's Water Recycling, Delta Bills
Blog
from Indybay newswire by Dan Bacher – Monday, Oct. 4, 2010
from Chico Enterprise Record – Monday, Oct. 4, 2010
San Joaquin Delta water users alarmed by salmon report
Story
from Modesto Bee – Monday, Oct. 4, 2010
Coalition viewpoint…It is stunning that the very people who have the biggest interest in seeing salmon populations recover minimize the factors that may very well be the answers to their problems. Zeke Grader and Mike Jackson both continue the tired old story of blindly increasing Delta flows while they all but dismiss factors such as pollution and predatory fish. A 2009 report by the National Marine Fisheries Service called predation on Chinook salmon a “major stressor” and said reducing populations of striped bass and other nonnative predators necessary to ensure the salmon’s survival.
How can these people in good conscience ignore this and other important Delta ecosystem information? Yet, they continue their campaign of destruction when every new comprehensive report on the Delta points to other factors than just flow.
from Sacramento Bee – Sunday, Oct. 3, 2010
Coalition viewpoint…All the progress that has reduced runoff flows to the San Joaquin River from the Grasslands Drainage Project (NOT and never has been from Westlands WD) will be for naught if the water board does not act to allow drainage interests to complete their work. Raising the history of Kesterson and voicing unfounded claims as this author does serves no purpose in resolving drainage runoff.
Letter
from Fresno Bee – Sunday, Oct. 3, 2010
Your glowing report, “San Joaquin River restoration rolls along” Sept. 26, does not fully represent the unnecessary impacts the river restoration interim flows have had on farmers downriver.
