News articles and links for June 7, 2013

      Farming 

Farm Subsidies Leading to More Water Use From: Ron Nixon, NY Times Millions of dollars in farm subsidies for irrigation equipment aimed at water conservation have led to more water use, not less, threatening vulnerable aquifers and streams. Coalition response... Improving the quantity and quality of food and fiber produced per drop is an important investment in the future, not only for farmers but also for our nation. California farmers have increased their efficiency in applying irrigation water to grow their crops. Part of that improved efficiency has been the installation of new irrigation systems, some with partial funding from USDA programs. Over the last 40 years the volume of California farm products has almost doubled while using about the same amount of water. Consumers and the environment ultimately benefit from this improved efficiency of production. Restricting how farmers can use their water, as suggested by the Environmental Working Group, would penalize consumers.

Bay Delta Conservation Plan

Plan could help fisheries, water supply  From: Charlton H. Bonham, SF Chronicle  The Bay Delta Conservation Plan is proposed as a comprehensive approach to ecosystem restoration for the West Coast's largest estuary and water supply reliability for much of California that features large-scale habitat restoration and new water conveyance tunnels. It is an attempt to break what has become a familiar cycle to Californians of conflict between fish populations and water supplies. Within the more than 20,000 pages of planning and review now available are scientifically sound ecological and natural resources conservation concepts that you need to know.

Final Delta Report Tells Costs  From: Ron McNicoll, Independent Mobile News  The final report on the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) for environmental restoration and water supply reliability provides a more specific outline of costs than past discussions of the plan. Released on May 29, the plan shows that it will cost $19.7 billion in today's dollars to build the capital improvements to implement the plan. Some $14.5 billion of the total amount would be for water facilities construction, including two 35-mile tunnels that would convey fresh water under the Delta and deliver it to pumping stations in the south Delta. Another $4.1 billion would be spent on building wetlands and other protections for fish and plants in the Delta. There would be $1.1 billion spent for various conservation measures.

Water Supply

No surface water for Tulare ID farmers this year From: John Lindt, Fresno Business Journal The driest January through April in California history has delivered a knockout punch for water deliveries in the 70,000-acre Tulare Irrigation District. General Manager J. Paul Hendrix said TID will have no water run for only the fourth time in its 124-year history, as decided recently by its board of directors.

Drought cuts water for Klamath Project irrigators From: Associated Press, Sacramento Bee It will be another tight water year for farmers on the Klamath Reclamation project. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Thursday released its operations plan for the project, which straddles the Oregon-California border south of Klamath Falls.

Meetings

       
       Minimizing Costs with Drip/Micro Irrigation July 9, Five Points
         From: Western Farm Press

          
         Tuesday, July 9, 2013 * Five Points, CA