News articles and links from May 2

BAY DELTA CONSERVATION PLAN 'Portfolio' plan for Delta won't produce enough water Letter From Sacramento Bee - Wednesday, May 1, 2013 It takes water to fill a reservoir, and water is the missing ingredient in The Bee editorial board's latest commentary on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Coalition response...The water supply for about 750,000 acres of farmland is at risk under NRDC's "portfolio" proposal. The water supply for south-of-the-Delta farmers will be reduced by 4 million acre-feet under its smaller, single tunnel plan. That means a huge drop in the number of acres growing fresh fruit and vegetables for consumers worldwide. At a time when millions of people around the world are entering middle income earning levels and competing for a potentially declining food supply, does it make sense to choose solutions that limit our ability to grow food on productive farmland? View the portfolio's effects at www.farmwater.org/BDCP-NRDC_alt.pdf. Instead of restoring Delta, tunnels will destroy farmland Letter From Sacramento Bee - Wednesday, May 1, 2013 I am grateful to The Bee for its recent coverage of the emerging details of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. The destructiveness of the proposed tunnel plan is truly alarming. Coalition response...The Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) is the environmental permitting process designed to allow water rights holders to take delivery of water to which they're entitled. It answers the Legislature's 2009 mandate to create a reliable water supply and restore the Delta ecosystem. By moving the water intake system to the north Delta and sending water through the tunnels will provide increased protection for fish living in the Delta and a more dependable water supply for 25 million Californians and almost 4,000 farms. Water diverted under the proposed BDCP will be limited by the actual day-by-day conditions and flows of the river. When flows are high more water can be moved through the tunnels. When flows are lower, less water will be moved...or none at all under dry conditions. Find out more at: www.farmwater.org/exportthrottle.pdf. BDCP will also create more than 100,000 acres of new habitat for native Delta flora and fauna. Better ecosystem conditions will help salmon, Delta smelt and other fish populations recover from the record lows seen in recent years.

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CLICK HEADLINE TO ACCESS STORY BAY DELTA CONSERVATION PLAN California needs to keep Bay Delta water plan moving Letter From Sacramento Bee - Wednesday, May 1, 2013 Haste makes waste? Not when it comes to moving the Bay Delta Conservation Plan forward. Where is the haste in Gov. Jerry Brown's request that the feds perform a timely review of the draft plan? State water official only spoke the truth on Delta plan Letter From Sacramento Bee - Wednesday, May 1, 2013 Any thinking and reasonably educated person has known since the plan's inception that the "BDCP is not about, and has never been about saving the Delta" just as Jerry Meral said. Couching this water grab in "conservation" language is no better than calling snake-oil cough syrup! Gov. Brown's Delta tunnel project is out of control  Letter From Sacramento Bee - Wednesday, May 1, 2013 As Gov. Jerry Brown's juggernaut twin tunnel solution to save the Delta looks more like an effort to fundamentally transform the Delta, or destroy it, I had a few ideas that he is free to use. WATER SUPPLY Dry conditions continue; snowpack below average Story From Central Valley Business Times - Thursday, May 2, 2013Snow surveyors are reporting Thursday that water content in California's snowpack is only 17 percent of average for the date. That will mean below average water supply this summer, the Department of Water Resources says. Airborne laboratory being used to measure California's snowpack Story From LA Times - Wednesday, May 1, 2013 Teams will fan out across the Sierra Nevada on Thursday to perform their final snow survey of the season, a closely watched rite of spring that helps determine how much water will flow to farms and cities in coming months. WATER TRANSFERS California State Board of Food and Agriculture will revisit water transfers Story From Imperial Valley News - Wednesday, May 1, 2013 Sacramento, California - The California State Board of Food and Agriculture will revisit several key agricultural policy issues on Tuesday, May 7th in Sacramento. The meeting is scheduled from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the California Department of Food and Agriculture, 1220 N Street - Main Auditorium, Sacramento, CA 95814. RIVERS River flows not only way to aid salmon, state says Story From Modesto Bee - Wednesday, May 1, 2013State water officials said Wednesday that their plan to aid salmon could involve more than simply boosting river flows at the expense of farmers. They said streambed improvements and other options could be part of the effort to build back salmon numbers on the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers.   SALTON SEA Federal funds may soon flow to the Salton Sea Story From IV Press - Thursday, May 2, 2013 A bill that would designate the Salton Sea Authority as the lead agency for projects intended to preserve the water-starved lake stalled on Tuesday in a state legislative committee. Salton Sea bill stalls in California legislative committee Story From Desert Sun - Wednesday, May 1, 2013 A bill that would designate the Salton Sea Authority as the lead agency for projects intended to preserve the water-starved lake stalled on Tuesday in a state legislative committee. TECHNOLOGY Agriculture conference taps Silicon Valley for water solutions Radio news From California Report - Wednesday, May 1, 2013 Big minds in water, energy and high-tech gather Wednesday for a conference in Fresno called "Blue Tech Valley." If that sounds like an effort to cast a Silicon Valley-glow over the business of agriculture, that's because it is