Monday, June 24, 2013

News articles and links from June 24, 2013


Water Supply

From: John Woods, Fresno Bee

I would improve our surface water storage and delivery systems. Raise Shasta Dam, build Temperance Flat dam, build the delta tunnels. These expenditures will provide a continuing, self-supporting return on our investment. All of the revenue generated with viable agriculture and its associated support industries is enhanced. We would have a dependable source for groundwater recharge. Eliminate the political, agenda-based roadblocks to agriculture, the backbone of the San Joaquin Valley's, as well as California's economy. More permanent and seasonal jobs and more tax dollars are created as more money churns in our free enterprise system.

Water Quality

From: Jack Hamm, Sacramento Bee

Re "Farm bill would be a disaster for conservation, California" (Viewpoints, June 12, 2013): Kari Hamershlag's op-ed included assertions about worsening pollution linked to farms. Those assertions are simply not true.

Delta

From: Mike Klocke, Stockton Record

Our newspaper has had a number of very good environmental reporters over the years, one of them the always straight-shooting Jim Nickles, rest his soul.

In the late 1990s, I ambled over to Jim's desk to get his thoughts on some iteration of news dealing with the monolithic CALFED/Bay Delta program that was charged with overhauling California's water policy.

"Who are the big winners with this development?" I asked Jim, only two see him form a facial expression that was 50 percent smirk and 50 percent disgust.

"The winners? Oh, that would be the water lawyers," he responded.

From: Chico Enterprise-Record

Our view: The newly completed Delta Plan avoided the fundamental water issue in California: How much water moves south?

Well, a new plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has been drafted, and quite predictably, lawsuits have already been filed over it.

The Delta Plan, drafted by the Delta Stewardship Council under authority of the Legislature, was supposed to restore the delta's environment while at the same time assuring a reliable water supply for the state.

Bay Delta Conservation Plan

From: Melissa Murphy, Vallejo Times-Herald

Proposed plans to revamp the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to move water south will impact Solano County. The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will receive an update on Delta-related issues and activities.

According to staff, Solano remains actively engaged in Delta water issues, as many current projects and programs will have varied and potentially significant impacts on the county and the whole Delta region.

Transfers

From: Press release, USBR

The Bureau of Reclamation today released the final environmental documents for the transfer of Central Valley Project water by CVP contractors located north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The water will be purchased by up to 10 San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority member agencies located south of the Delta.

Regional Water Plan

From: Ramona Giwargis, Merced Sun-Star

The region's first integrated water management plan has been released, and the collaborative effort provides a "big picture" perspective on water, officials said.

Multiple agencies, including the city of Merced, Merced County and the Merced Irrigation District, joined forces with more than 35 community stakeholders - a Regional Advisory Committee - to create the plan.

Groundwater

From: Susan Moran, Discover Magazine

On this gray, drizzly winter morning, the California coastal mountains in the distance look like a mirage hovering over a flat swath of fields at Russell Ranch, a 300-acre experimental farm in the Sacramento Valley. One of the researchers in charge is Martin Burger, an angular, intense-looking Swiss ecologist. He steps out of his Ford F-150 pickup and leads me down a gravely path to a field covered in neat rows of lime-green triticale - a cereal grain - and bean shoots.

Above ground, the scene looks orderly and static. But Burger and his colleagues at the University of California at Davis are interested in what lies hidden below the surface. Down there, it's a highly dynamic and far-from-predictable scene. To get a glimpse, they have buried an array of instruments that can trace the trajectory of nitrogen. They are trying to help solve the many ecological and human health problems caused by this troublesome element while helping farmers grow crops more efficiently

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