Water supply
Guest Editorial
From Salinas Californian - Monday, July 23, 2012
(This response was posted to the
editorial last week when it was posted in the LA Times.)
Coalition response...Suggesting that San Joaquin Valley farmers are damaging the environment
with "polluted runoff and concentrated metals and minerals" exhibits
a lack of understanding. If farmers do not take care of their lands then they
are out of business. Farmers are complying with regulations regarding runoff
waters by forming coalitions to monitor and control this water. Other farmers
are working with State and federal agencies and environmental organizations to
successfully remove minerals for runoff water. A visit to the farms of the San
Joaquin Valley will demonstrate that farmers are good stewards of their lands.
Regarding the Delta, no one is
asking Delta farmers to give up their land or way of life. No one is suggesting
that any new conveyance systems will take all the fresh water from the Delta,
leaving swamps to replace farms. These unfounded fears have crept into
discussions of seeking a secure water future for California but they should not
be taken without challenge.
The success of the Bay Delta
Conservation Plan and the Delta Stewardship Council to reach the co-equal goals
of restoring the Delta ecosystem and providing water supply reliability for
people are pivotal to our water future. Those efforts should continue.
Groundwater
Story
From Stockton Record - Tuesday, July 24, 2012
(This response was posted
yesterday to other newspapers that carried a similar story.)
Coalition response...Concern for groundwater levels in our aquifers and the impacts of
overdraft is not new to Central Valley farmers. Farmers recognized the impacts
of overdraft back in the early 1900s. That was one reason they later supported
efforts to construct the State and federal water supply systems that deliver
water to several million acres of farmland. Receiving water from these supply
systems enabled farmers to turn off their irrigation pumps and reduce the
amount of water pumped from the aquifers.
The recent report points to the
2007-2009 drought years as farmers were forced to fallow land because of less
water being delivered. It was also during these years that environmental
regulations restricted delivery of water flowing through the Delta to San
Joaquin Valley farms. We may not alter the actions of Mother Nature but
man-made regulations that take water away from our farmers creates artificial
drought conditions and forces farmers to increase pumping from the aquifers,
thus exacerbating the overdraft situation.
WATER SUPPLY
Story
From Imperial Valley Press - Monday, July 23, 2012
DELTA
Story
From Contra Costa Times - Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Frin Oakland Tribune - Tuesday, July 24, 2012
From SJ Mercury News - Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Story
From Stockton Record - Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Story
From KQED - Monday, July 23, 2012
Blog
By Alex Breitler
From esanjoaquin - Monday, July 23, 2012
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