Fisheries
From: Matt
Weiser, Sacramento Bee
In a sign of
growing drought in California, state officials recently took the unusual step
of loosening environmental water quality rules in hopes of protecting salmon in
the Sacramento River.
The move
illustrates how drought forces difficult trade-offs in modern-day California,
where water supplies are stretched to the limit even in normal years.
Coalition
response...The solution
to providing sufficient water for fish migration while continuing to meet the
water supply needs of Northern California and the rest of the state is the
development of new storage in Northern California. Construction of Sites
Reservoir and expanding Shasta Dam would help improve water management
flexibility for all of California. These projects can accomplish this by
increasing the reliability of Sacramento Valley water supplies and other parts
of the state by reducing Sacramento River diversions at a time when salmon need
it most. Combined, Sites and Shasta could add over 2 million acre-feet to
California's water supply and ecosystem portfolio, which is a win-win for
people and the environment.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Mike Wade,
California Farm Water Coalition
The Bay Delta
Conservation Plan represents a seven-year effort by water industry
professionals working in the Delta for more than 40 years to develop a plan
that increases water supply reliability and restores ecosystem resources in the
Delta. The water supply for almost 4,000 farms and 25 million Californians has
become increasingly unreliable in the wake of environmental pressures
unforeseen at the time our existing water supply system was conceived. Experts
say that climate change and earthquakes pose additional risks to our water
supply.
From: Alastair
Bland, Sacramento News & Review
The brown water of
the Sacramento River lumbers quietly downstream along the levee bank, swirling
eddies and occasional surges of turbulence revealing the power of this greatest
of California's waterways. It is nearly 100 degrees in the town of Hood, about
20 minutes south of Sacramento, and the heavy sun crushes the midday hours into
idleness. The streets are quiet, except for the occasional passing of a car on
Highway 160, the rushing of the trees and the corners of a sign on a gate
flapping in the hot wind. It reads:
"STOP THE
TUNNELS."
Water Supply
Dry Winters, Water
Rationing Force Output Cuts, Test Fragile Regional Economy
From: Jim
Carlton, Wall Street Journal
Two years of dry
weather and regulatory water cuts are taking a mounting toll on California's
giant farm belt, forcing farmers to idle more fields and workers even as much
of the rest of the Golden State continues to recover from a debilitating
recession.
As they did last
year after a dry winter forced state and federal water managers to cut their
allotments, farmers here in the Central Valley again this year are letting
fields go fallow after being advised they would receive as little as 20% of
their contracted supplies of water from the mountains of Northern California.
Aiding SoCal's
water needs requires studying north's resources
From: Tony St.
Amant, Chico News & Review
Governor Jerry
Brown recently signed an executive order that directs immediate action to deal
with the dry conditions in the state and water-delivery limitations to the San
Joaquin Valley. Responsive to immediate need? Absolutely. Responsive to
long-term needs? Not even close!
What the governor
is overlooking is the need to develop a projection of how much water
realistically will be available if we are in fact entering the long-term dry
spell many have predicted. Without thoughtful planning and a lot more study, he
runs the risk of creating a second water-starved valley-this one north of
Sacramento.
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