Infrastructure
From: John
Lawrence, Sacramento Bee
There are no politics like water
politics. For Westerners, and Californians in particular, no issue excites
passions, fuels regionalism or hits the economic bottom line like water.
Facing a dry year and the
prospect of quite a few more in the future thanks to climate change, the
demands for massive new water development once again are rising to fever pitch,
especially from Gov. Jerry Brown and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, both longtime
proponents of water development. "The message is clear. ... California
needs a lot more water storage - and we need it now," Feinstein wrote in a
recent column in The Bee.
Coalition response...
Taxpayers would be foolish to
ignore the tremendous success that their investment in infrastructure has
brought to our state and country. Since 1941 new tax revenue from farm
operations, made possible by the federal Central Valley Project, totals $124.4
billion on an initial investment of just $7.3 billion.
John could learn a lot from
talking with a modern California water user, much has changed since 1991.
California's agricultural water users remain among the most progressive in the
world, investing hundreds of millions annually in precision irrigation and
water management to produce food and fiber. California's Water Plan
Volume 2 discusses changes in irrigation methods, documenting significant
shifts toward drip and micro-irrigation. Between 2003 and 2010, San Joaquin
Valley farmers alone invested $2.1 billion dollars upgrading their irrigation
systems. But improvements in water management are only one of California farm
water success stories, learn more about the economic benefits of California's
irrigated farms at www.moneygoeswherewaterflows.org
Delta
From: Bob Moffitt, KPBS
The mayors of California's
largest cities met with Governor Jerry Brown Wednesday at the state Capitol.
They talked about a host of issues including prison realignment, high speed
rail and the governor's proposed Delta water project.
Farming
From: Layne Cameron, Western
Farm Press
An international team of
scientists has developed crop models to better forecast food production to feed
a growing population - projected to reach 9 billion by mid-century - in the
face of climate change.
Groundwater
From: Tonya Strickland, The
Tribune
For years, Paso Robles thought
its water supply was an endless bounty. City leaders sat atop a liquid treasure
trove - a vast underground basin that in 1979 was said to have enough water to
last the entire North County more than 250 years.
From: David Sneed & Julie
Lynem, The Tribune
Residential wells in North County
neighborhoods will continue to dry up, Paso Robles' wine industry will be in
jeopardy, and city water supplies will be threatened unless San Luis Obispo
County leaders act soon to stop declining water levels in the Paso Robles
groundwater basin.
Faced with this unprecedented
crisis, county officials and stakeholders know immediate steps must be taken to
stabilize it. But they have only begun to develop viable solutions to balance
the needs of homeowners, businesses and North County vineyards, by far the
largest water users.
Litigation
From: Pat Snelling, indybay.org
The delta is starving for water,
so California officials setup a plan to take more water out of the delta. How
does that make any sense?
California has had a long history
of water wars, with many battles, and once again the state is gearing up for
another fight.
Press Release
From: John Garamendi
Today, several U.S.
Representatives from northern California met with Secretary Sally Jewell of the
U.S. Department of the Interior to discuss the Bay Delta Conservation Plan
(BDCP). The members expressed their opposition to Governor Jerry Brown's
flawed plan for the BDCP and lack of input from stakeholders in the Bay-Delta
Region.
Rivers
From: Robert Gammon, East Bay
Express
California is blessed with some
of the most beautiful rivers in North America, and none is more breathtaking
than the Merced. From its headwaters in Yosemite National Park, the river
gradually grows larger before it cascades over two world-famous waterfalls -
Nevada and Vernal - and then flows past El Capitan and Bridalveil Fall in
Yosemite Valley. Once it leaves the park, the Merced begins its
one-hundred-mile journey to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and San
Francisco Bay. But a portion of the Merced is now in jeopardy of being
destroyed, and if that were to happen, it could ultimately lead to the
decimation of Northern California's last remaining unspoiled rivers.
No comments:
Post a Comment