Report wrongly excuses farms from helping solve water woes
Viewpoint
By Peter Gleick
From Sacramento Bee – Sunday, March 6, 2011
The latest report on California's water crisis has recently been released by the Public Policy Institute of California, and while there are good things in this work, it has two fundamental flaws that cannot be ignored: It completely lets the agricultural sector off the hook...
Coalition response... Eight independent scientists worked on this report and have reached the same conclusion that real irrigation experts have been saying for years: that the water use efficiency potential in agriculture is limited.
The PPIC report is criticized because it doesn’t draw the same conclusions that the Pacific Institute wants. It is important to note that the Pacific Institute’s conclusions are based on flawed assumptions that have been identified by real irrigation experts from the California State University system and the University of California. A 2008 report by the Pacific Institute claimed that agricultural water use efficiency could generate 4-6 million acre-feet of water per year, a number they don’t even use themselves anymore because it was wrong.
Most, not all, excessive farm water is recaptured and reused. Is there still water conservation potential in agriculture? You bet. Is it all cost effective? Not yet but as water conservation technology becomes available and affordable, farmers willingly adopt it.
Water conservation potential may be as large as 10 percent to 15 percent but that is not a statewide average. Pacific Institute reports often extrapolate small savings in one example and apply it to a much wider potential. In their 2008 report “More with Less,” the Institute uses a study of 55 farmers that showed a 13 percent reduction in water use by using weather-based irrigation management. The Institute then grossly applied the potential savings across all water withdrawals in the Sacramento Valley, San Joaquin Valley and Tulare Lake regions of California to come up with a whopping 3.4 million acre-feet of potential savings. Is this the kind of science that is driving water policy decisions at the top levels? I hope not.
What the Pacific Institute casually refers to as a “policy choice” is actually written into California’s Constitution. Language in the Water Code protects water users who invest in water conservation activities to be able to continue to use the water they conserved for other beneficial uses. Farmers often use conserved water to grow more crops, increasing the economic efficiency of that water. What the Institute is saying here though, is that those Constitutional protections should be removed and that conserved water should be handed off to someone else. That’s not very comforting if you are an urban water agency working on stretching supplies to meet future demand. The phrase “Finding more innovative ways to share water,” as the Pacific Institute says, is double-speak for, “We’ll just take your conserved water and use it somewhere else for things we decide are more important.”
The fact is the Pacific Institute is more and more becoming the lone voice in promoting bad science and extreme policy recommendations that strip historical protections for all water users and foster bad policy decisions on misleading recommendations in the name of science.
WATER SUPPLY
Water report suggestions are crucial
Editorial
From Fresno Bee – Sunday, March 6, 2011
Given the importance of water to this state, you'd think California's leaders would have figured out a way to properly use this precious resource. Not a chance in a state that would rather argue over water than actually use it wisely.
PPIC has logical water plan but lacks vision for more storage
Editorial
From Oakland Tribune – Sunday, March 6, 2011
From Contra Costa Times - Sunday, March 6, 2011
Perhaps California would be better able to solve its problems with water if we treated it like whiskey. As Mark Twain reportedly said, "Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over."
Irrigation season pushed back due to rain
Story
From Turlock Journal – Friday, March 4, 2011
Due to changing weather conditions the start of irrigation season for Turlock Irrigation District customers has been pushed back seven days, from Thursday to March 17, the district announced at its annual pre-season growers meeting Wednesday night.
CA Confused on “Drought” meaning
Blog
By Wayne Lusvardi
From Cal Watchdog – Monday, March 7, 2011
California’s drought barometer and vocabulary need to be reformed. The bureaucratic apparatus in California perpetually says the state is in a “drought.”
DELTA
State’s regulators letting Delta water go to waste
Viewpoint
By Rep. Devin Nunes
From Sacramento Bee – Sunday, March 6, 2011
In its editorial criticizing House Republicans, The Bee recently suggested that current management of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is without controversy or is somehow the result of a collective best practice.
A short History of the California Delta Part 2 of 4
Report
By Bill Wells
From Nevada County – Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Hernando Cortez with his Indian allies seized Mexico in 1519, and in 1521 two of his soldiers deserted and headed north to Alta California possibly because of rumors of great wealth to be found there.
Meetings to focus on the Delta
Announcement
From The Record – Monday, March 7, 2011
Advocacy group Restore the Delta will host a series of community meetings about what's going on in the estuary west of Stockton.
FISHERIES
Dam adapts as priorities shift; Red Bluff project on target for 2012
Story
From Record Searchlight – Saturday, March 5, 2011
It's midafternoon and Steve Dennis is finally sitting down to a bowl of soup after staying up half the night on a frost watch.
Salmon fishermen waiting for good news
Story
From Press Democrat – Friday, March 4, 2011
After years of severely restricted or canceled salmon fishing seasons, North Coast fishermen said they are excited about the possibility that there may be a salmon season this year.
Judge nixes special irrigation permits
Story
From Capital Press – Friday, March 4, 2011
A judge has invalidated California Department of Fish and Game-issued permits to irrigators in two rural valleys near the Oregon state line.
WATER USE
Farmers urged to use surface water when possible
Story
From Willows Journal – Friday, March 4, 2011
Despite less dependence on groundwater than in past decades, Glenn County Supervisor Leigh McDaniel still urged farmers to use surface water whenever possible.
Bay Area farmers use water efficiently
Opinion
By Tim Chiala
From Silicon Valley Mercury News – Saturday, March 5, 2011
Though most of us only think about water during a storm or when hydrating after a long workout, water is always at the forefront of a farmer's mind. Aside from land, water is the most important resource we rely upon to grow food for the world.
CONGRESS
House GOP budget bill aims to slash environmental regulation
Story
From LA Times – Monday, March 7, 2011
The House spending bill passed last month wouldn't just chop $60 billion from the federal budget — it seeks to cut a broad swath through environmental regulation.
OTHER
Grant funds San Joaquin River restoration
Story
From Fresno Business Journal – Friday, March 4, 2011
Armed with a $563,000 grant awarded recently by the Wildlife Conservation Board, local groups will work to restore wetland and riparian habitat on the San Joaquin River Parkway just east of Highway 41 in Fresno.
California Water Commission to Meet
Announcement
From CA Water Commission – Monday, March 7, 2011
Agenda includes report on Cal Poly Irrigation Training and Research Center tour, scheduled for Thursday, March 10, 2011.
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