Delta
Opinion
By Victor Gonella
Coalition response...Scientists with the National Marine Fisheries Service would disagree
with the rationale of the author. Ocean conditions have been identified as the
leading cause for the drop in salmon population. Those conditions have improved
and the result is an increase in the number of salmon that are returning to the
rivers and encountering the gauntlet of fishermen. No one has argued that
salmon have been salvaged at the pumps; the argument has been the number.
Again, scientists and researchers have identified a much smaller percentage of
fish taken at the pumps than the critics of exports have suggested.
The rules governing the flow of
water through the Delta that could be exported while protecting salmon were
labeled "arbitrary, capricious, and a scientifically unreasonable
action" by a federal judge. That same judge directed federal fish agencies
in 2011 to rewrite the rules. We're still waiting the results.
Blog
By John Bass
Coalition response...Two points: 1) Fixing the problems in the Delta for water users and the
environment means returning the system to a more east-west flow, according to
every credible biologist. You can do that by reducing or eliminating pumping in
the south Delta, which doesn't provide a solution for water users. Or you can
divert water upstream of the Delta during times when Sacramento River flows
support it and then screen fish at that location. That's the kind of solution
the legislature called for when it made water supply reliability and ecosystem
restoration co-equal goals.
2) Currently, Delta farmers seem to get all
the water they want with the only cost being the expense to pump it out of the
waterway. But in fact, the water stored upstream by DWR and USBR has been
appropriated at a time when it does not affect other water rights holders. When
the agencies release that water for project purposes including (1) in-basin
demands, (2) water quality standards in the Delta (including flow), and (3)
rates of export, it is water that is excess to the system and legally
unavailable for downstream users, other than the public water agencies or
individuals with DWR or USBR contracts. The way the system is currently being
operated, and apparently what John Bass believes, is that water appropriated by
these State and federal agencies is assumed to be available for all downstream
users, which legally it is not. If in-Delta water users feel that their needs
are not being adequately met, under the Delta Protection Act they have the
option to make arrangements with the State Water Project to release water for
their in-Delta use if they are willing to pay for those additional supplies.
Story
Coalition response...It is unfortunate when individuals and reporters reference selenium
along the San Joaquin Valley westside that they do not acknowledge the ongoing
efforts by the Grasslands Bypass Project (GBP) to reduce the amount of selenium
flowing into the San Joaquin River. The map of the westside that accompanies
this article was provided by the Environmental Protection Agency, the same
agency that described the GBP as a "success story." From 1995 to
2010, the amount of selenium entering the river from the GBP was reduced by
87%, thanks to the cooperative effort of farmers, local water districts,
environmental groups and State/federal agencies. While solutions continue to be
sought for California's overall water problems, the Grassland Bypass Project is
already finding answers.
WATER SUPPLY
Story
GROUNDWATER
Story
DELTA
Story
