Bay Delta Conservation Plan
Delta water conservation plan has local officials skeptical
From: David Benda, Record Searchlight
(Subscription Required)
A state water official says a controversial plan to manage the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta will not divert more water from Lake Shasta.
Paul Helliker of the Department of Water Resources told the Shasta County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday that one component of the plan, the twin tunnel project, will improve the way water flows through and is managed in the delta.
Groundwater
Ordinance is a needed timeout for groundwater basin, stakeholders agree
From: David Sneed, San Luis Obispo
Now the real work begins.
Tuesday's landmark decision by the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors to impose emergency land-use restrictions to protect the Paso Robles groundwater basin begins the lengthy and complicated process of finding a permanent solution to the North County's dwindling aquifers.
Failed desal project: Court rules appeal moot
From: Jim Johnson, The Herald
Attorneys for both sides are claiming victory after an appeals court ruled that a successful challenge to the failed regional desalination project's environmental review was no longer relevant.
In a ruling issued Monday, the Sixth District Court of Appeal found the Marina Coast Water District's appeal of a decision by a Monterey County judge that the project's EIR was inadequate is "moot," or irrelevant, because both sides agree the project is essentially dead.
Meetings
IID sets public workshop to discuss 2013-2014 water conservation measures
From: Imperial Valley Press Staff, Imperial Valley Press
The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors has scheduled a public workshop for Wednesday in the Condit Auditorium, El Centro, to recap the district's water conservation activities to date in 2013 and actions considered for implementation in the year ahead. The workshop will begin at 4 p.m.
Estuary Restoration
Massive new wetlands restoration reshapes San Francisco Bay
From: Paul Rogers, San Jose Mercury News
From: Paul Rogers, Santa Cruz Sentinel
The Carneros region in southern Napa and Sonoma counties has been known for years for chardonnays, pinot noirs and merlots.
But as the grapes hang plump on the vines awaiting the autumn harvest, this area along the northern shores of San Francisco Bay is growing a new bounty: huge numbers of egrets, herons, ducks, salmon, Dungeness crabs and other wildlife, all returning to a vast network of newly created marshes and wetlands.
Farming
Viewpoints: Tractors changed farms, and America's way of life
From: David Mas Masumoto, sacbee.com
In our old wooden red barn, a set of "trees" hang on the wall. They're wooden bars with metal rings and fasteners at the ends. Farmers once used these when hooking up a team of horses to pull a farm implement or wagon or trailer. And I have no clue how to use these, I have never farmed using a horse or mule.
Friday, August 30, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
News articles and links from August 29, 2013
August 29, 2013
Bay Delta Conservation Plan
Changes to Delta Plan
From: Patterson Irrigator Staff, Patterson Irrigator
The State Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has approved 14 regulations to help implement the Delta Plan on Sept. 1 this year, according to a news release from the Delta Stewardship Council. The Council adopted the Delta Plan on May 16, and submitted the rules for review shortly after for public consideration.
Coalition response...
Bay Delta Conservation Plan
Water, the Delta and prosperity
From: Jerry Meral, Manteca Bulletin
The latest comprehensive economic analysis of the governor's plan for fixing the state's aging water system and restoring the environmental health of the Delta estimates that the project will yield roughly $5 billion in net benefits for California residents and preserve more than a million additional jobs over the next 50 years.
Many of those jobs will be in San Joaquin County and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Groundwater
Growers aim to protect groundwater
From: D.L. Taylor, The Californian
A Tuesday night presentation on one of the three key desalination projects moving forward on the Monterey Peninsula highlights what all the proposals' proponents understand: They must pass muster with agriculture concerns in the Salinas Valley.
Bay Delta Conservation Plan
Changes to Delta Plan
From: Patterson Irrigator Staff, Patterson Irrigator
The State Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has approved 14 regulations to help implement the Delta Plan on Sept. 1 this year, according to a news release from the Delta Stewardship Council. The Council adopted the Delta Plan on May 16, and submitted the rules for review shortly after for public consideration.
Coalition response...
Supervisor Jim DeMartini needs to look a little
closer at the benefits of the planned
tunnels associated with the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. His own supervisorial district
is one of the hardest hit areas suffering from an 80 percent water supply cut
this year and possibly a zero percent allocation next year. Farmers can’t grow
crops without a reliable supply of water and they can’t hire employees or buy
goods and services they use in their farming operations.
The tunnels would improve water supply
reliability to almost 4,000 farms from Patterson to Bakersfield as well as
two-thirds of California’s residents. It is a comprehensive plan that will
create 110,000 new jobs, protect over a million jobs during the 50-year life of
the permit and generate $84 billion in statewide economic activity. The project
provides significant economic benefits to farms and businesses in the Patterson
area and throughout California and deserves fair consideration from our elected
leaders.
Bay Delta Conservation Plan
Water, the Delta and prosperity
From: Jerry Meral, Manteca Bulletin
The latest comprehensive economic analysis of the governor's plan for fixing the state's aging water system and restoring the environmental health of the Delta estimates that the project will yield roughly $5 billion in net benefits for California residents and preserve more than a million additional jobs over the next 50 years.
Many of those jobs will be in San Joaquin County and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Groundwater
Growers aim to protect groundwater
From: D.L. Taylor, The Californian
A Tuesday night presentation on one of the three key desalination projects moving forward on the Monterey Peninsula highlights what all the proposals' proponents understand: They must pass muster with agriculture concerns in the Salinas Valley.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
News articles and links from August 28, 2013
Groundwater
From: Erin Brodwin, Scientific
American
Midwestern Farmers have relied on
the High Plains Aquifer System since they first discovered the solution to
their drought woes nearly six decades ago. The massive underground water source
has turned a vast dry swath of the Great Plains from North Dakota to Texas into
arable farmland.
Coalition response... It is important to note that San Joaquin Valley farmers, contrary to
statements made in this article, do not use water from the Colorado River basin
to irrigate their crops. The article is correct, however, in describing the
enormous increase in water use efficiency achieved by San Joaquin Valley
farmers. Since 2003 more than $2.1 billion has been invested in upgrading
irrigation systems on more than 1.8 million acres. One of the results of that
kind of investment is that crop production has increased more than 89 percent
on about the same amount of applied water per acre in years past.
Water Supply
From: Kate Campbell, Ag Alert
Farmers say this year's
agricultural water supply has been squeezed dry-wells are going empty, major
reservoirs are at a fraction of historic storage levels for this time of year
and the U.S. Drought Monitor shows California is in a severe to extreme
drought.
No California growing region has
been spared the drought's effects.
From: Garth Stapley, modbee.com
Even valley water leaders are
talking about the Rim fire.
The fire itself doesn't threaten
mountain water going to thousands of farmers and hundreds of thousands of
Modesto water customers, all of whom rely on Tuolumne River flows.
From: John Franco, Merced
Sun-Star
I attended the film screening of
"The Fight for Water: A Farmworker Struggle" at UC Merced on Aug. 21
and believe the panel discussion should have included a wider range of perspectives,
and any discussion of our water future should always start with the natural
watershed geography.
From: Steve Frisch, sfchronicle.com
As the record-breaking Rim Fire
continues to consume power lines and structures in its path, the bigger story
is its effect on water and power for San Francisco, the East Bay and hundreds
of square miles of California farmland. The largest fire in Sierra Nevada
history is a sobering reminder that our water resources are at risk, not only
from wildfires but also from climate change and a legacy of poorly planned land
management.
Salton Sea
From: Victoria Pelham, The
Desert Sun
A $5 billion water bond
introduced by state lawmakers earlier this month will include funds for the
Salton Sea, according to Assemblyman V. Manuel Pérez's office.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Alex Breitler, esanjoaquin.com
Dueling eocnomists[sic]: The
State Water Contractors published a fact sheet comparing recent twin tunnels
analyses by David Sunding, a consultant for the state, and Jeff Michael, the
skeptic often quoted by Stockton-based tunnels foe Restore the Delta.
From: John F. Shirey,
Sacramento Bee
Re "Capital steps up Delta
battle" (The Public Eye, Aug. 25): In the article, the city of Sacramento
is characterized as opposed to the governor's Bay Delta Conservation Plan
(BDCP). To be clear, Sacramento has not taken a formal position on BDCP.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Interview with Liz Hudson of Hudson Family Farms
As August comes to an end so does Peach Month. This
doesn’t mean the end of peaches though! Peach lovers should be able to find
this delicious fruit for at least another month.
We thought we would interview
one of our favorite California peach farmers, Liz Hudson from Hudson Family Farms,
to get some insight into what peach farming is all about. Liz runs a fruit
stand along the Fresno County Fruit Trail so if you are in the area be sure to
stop by and pick up some fresh peaches!
 |
| Liz Hudson talking to a group of visitors at her fruit stand |
1. How did you get into peach farming?
Married into it! I grew up farming, but my family
farmed grapes. My husband is the peach farmer. I just do the bookwork part of
it!
2. What is the most challenging part of your job?
 |
| Hudson Family Farms also grows delicious nectarines! |
With any labor-intensive crop, like peaches, having
an adequate reliable supply of employees to help harvest the fruit is always a
challenge in California. Likewise, water availability is always an issue.
Although we usually have an adequate surface water supply, this year is an
exception. The low snow pack in the Sierras resulted in no surface water for us
this summer. We are pumping from the groundwater aquifer, which we will hope to
replace with a strong snow pack this winter, God willing!
3. What is one of your favorite aspects of peach
farming?
Seeing our fruit stand customers enjoying the
peaches. I must say the spring bloom is a beautiful time of the year in the
orchard, too!
 |
| Spring bloom on peach trees |
4. Can you explain what a day in the life of a
peach farmer looks like?
There is no typical day in the life of any farmer!
You never know what to expect!
5. What is your favorite type of peach?
Fairtime, which comes off in late-Aug-early Sept.
It is an amazing freestone peach that has an old-fashioned taste and is great
for eating, jamming, freezing, etc.
 |
| Some of Liz's beautiful peaches |
A special thanks to Liz for taking the time to do
this interview- we really appreciate it!
News articles and links from August 27, 2013
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Efrain Rojas, Merced
Sun-Star
The San Luis Reservoir is drying
up. Assuming the worst about global warming, we should prepare for greater
shortcomings by encouraging desalination for coast communities. Desalination is
a solution to our water needs and global warming.
Coalition response...San Luis Reservoir lost the potential of storing 800,000 acre-feet of
water earlier this year because of federal regulations. These regulations kept
the water in the Delta for fish species instead of allowing it to be rightfully
diverted to nearly 4,000 farms and 25 million Californians. Instead, this water
flowed to the ocean with no demonstrable benefit for the fish.
Looking for new water supplies is
always a good idea. Studies are underway on several projects---Upper Temperance
Flat on the San Joaquin River, Sites Reservoir in western Colusa County and
raising Shasta Dam---that would increase the water supply for California. It is
estimated that 120 desalination plants the size of the recently approved
Poseidon facility in San Diego would be required to meet the 6 MAF requirements
of the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project. With 840
miles of California coastline, a desal plant would have to be placed every
seven miles and would still not connect to our current water distribution
system. Plans already underway, such as the above and the Bay Delta
Conservation Plan, would be much cheaper and more environmentally-friendly than
lining our coastline with desal plants.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Press Release, State
Water Contractors
The State Water Contractors
released a fact sheet today comparing two of the studies
being referenced to assess the costs and benefits of the Bay Delta Conservation
Plan (BDCP). UC Berkeley's David Sunding and University of the Pacific's Jeffrey Michael, have both testified before the
legislature and are regularly utilized as sources on this issue, but their
findings are drastically different.
From: Ryan Lillis, Sacramento
Bee
Sacramento city officials are
paying a high-powered political affairs firm $10,000 a month to communicate the
city's opposition to a plan to build two massive water diversion tunnels in the
Delta.
From: Zane Vorhes, Sacramento
Bee
Re "Capital steps up Delta
battle" (The Public Eye, Aug. 25): Thank god I live in the county. A city
that can't afford swimming pools, police officers and firefighters is spending
money on public relations, under no-bid contracts to oppose the Delta pipeline
project, although it does not affect its interests.
From: C.J. Jawahar, Sacramento
Bee
Re "Capital steps up Delta
battle" (The Public Eye, Aug. 25): I applaud Sacramento city officials for
spending $10,000 per month to communicate their opposition to the Delta tunnel
water sale plan
Water Bond
From: Seth Nidever, Hanford
Sentinel
As the state Legislature debates
spending billions on a water infrastructure bond, Kings County supervisors are
expected to weigh in Tuesday with demands that it include new dams.
Kings County's ag-based economy
is near crisis mode after two consecutive dry Sierra snowpacks. Calls for more
water storage have been amplified by environmental restrictions that prevent
more Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta water from being pumped south.
Supervisors will consider passing
a resolution outlining the need for additional storage and calling for action.
Groundwater
From: David Sneed, SLO
Tribune
The State Water Resources Control
Board has sent a letter to San Luis Obispo County supervisors urging them to
adopt an emergency ordinance to protect the Paso Robles groundwater basin.
From: David Sneed, SLO Tribune
An estimated 375 wells have been
drilled in the North County during the past five years - with the deepest of
them in a swath east of Paso Robles where the aquifer levels have dropped the
most since 1997, according to a Tribune review of county well permit data.
Delta
From: Alex Breitler, Hispanic
Business
(This article was previously
printed in the Stockton Record.)
In the age of Google Earth and
GPS, century-old hand-drawn maps of the Delta would seem irrelevant.
Not so.
Meetings
From: Press Release, USBR
The Bureau of Reclamation in
partnership with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, California Department of Water
Resources, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Water Board,
and the University of California, will be hosting a landowner and stakeholder
workshop focused on initial planning tasks to evaluate the feasibility of
reintroducing Chinook salmon into tributaries above Shasta Lake.
Monday, August 26, 2013
News articles and links from August 26, 2013
Trinity River
From: Editorial Staff, SF
Chronicle
Until this week, a record salmon
run swimming up the Klamath River faced soupy-warm water, high bacteria levels
and low flows that add up to deadly conditions. But a federal court bowed to
scientific testimony and bitter history in choosing fish over farms and
released extra water to smooth the spawning migration.
From: Editorial Staff, Santa
Rosa Press Democrat
A federal agency, under pressure
to supply water to irrigators, diverts a North Coast river, creating a killing
field for tens of thousands of chinook salmon and other fish.
Sound familiar?
It's the Cliff's Notes version of
events 11 years ago on the Klamath River - an unnatural disaster with
disastrous consequences for coastal communities and Indian tribes that rely on
salmon fisheries for their livelihoods.
(The following comment is
submitted in response to the above editorials.)
Coalition response...This editorial does not include the complete information surrounding the
court ruling that allows supplemental water to be sent down the Trinity River
from Trinity Reservoir. During the court proceedings, the U.S. Department
of Interior reduced the amount of water they wanted from up to 109,000
acre-feet to just 20,000 acre-feet. It was evident that the scientific
arguments they had put forth for the higher amount were not justified.
In his ruling, Judge O'Neill
wrote that "all parties have prevailed in a significant, responsible
way."
All parties must now work
together in reaching a long-term approach to managing requests for supplemental
water that is balanced and scientifically supportable.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Editorial Staff, Redding
Record Searchlight
The question of the day was
simple enough: When it comes to the state's multibillion-dollar proposal to
build tunnels diverting Sacramento River water around the Delta to points
south, "How will Sacramento Valley interests be addressed?"
Coalition response...Those who claim that the Bay Delta Conservation Plan will simply
"preserve the status quo" refuse to acknowledge the benefits
contained in the Plan. BDCP is an effort to obtain a 50-year endangered
species permit that will improve the Delta through habitat restoration and
protection of species. In doing so it is expected that water supply
reliability will improve for users who have a legal right to use existing water
supplies.
The BDCP does not increase the
average amount of water that has been delivered through the Delta over the past
20 years. This permit should improve water
supply reliability for almost 4,000 farms and 25 million
Californians. The importance of a dependable supply of water to farmers
means California consumers can depend on a variety of safe, healthy and
affordable food products from local sources.
Restoring thousands of acres of
habitat for fish and providing a reliable supply of water so farmers can grow
crops are benefits that do not exist today.
Water Supply
From: Valerie Gibbons, Visalia
Times-Delta
The ditches of the Tulare
Irrigation District haven't been dry at this time of year since 1990 - and
district managers don't think water will flow any time soon.
The water that usually flows out
to growers as far west as Corcoran and as far south as Delano was sold in
January to go to other irrigation districts throughout the Valley.
From: Eric Vodden, Marysville
Appeal-Democrat
Curt Aikens: The National Marine
Fisheries Service has been focused on fish passage and has included the idea of
removing or modifying Englebright Dam. That could have a substantial,
socio-economic, environmental impact in our area. How can you help us work
with the fisheries service to do
a science-based collaborative process to improve fishery habitat in the Yuba
River?
Garamendi: National Marine
Fisheries was pushed by a court order to issue a biological opinion "far
faster than was appropriate.
"The result was a bad
opinion."
Farming
From: Todd Fitchette, Western
Farm Press
For the Maddox family, early
innovation has been something of a trademark for their farming operation.
Whether it has been the innovations in the dairy breeding program for Holstein
cows to those which support the dairy, new programs and efficiencies remain a
vital part of the business.
Last October Maddox began the
move away from the typical and into a practice of utilizing subsurface drip
irrigation (SSDI) in the alfalfa and Maddox is happy. The yields speak for
themself.
From: Antoine Abou-Diwan,
Imperial Valley Press
There is no shortage of Imperial
Valley farmers who oppose the Quantification Settlement Agreement, the nation's
largest agriculture to urban-area water transfer.
Many have challenged its validity
in court over the last 10 years. Brawley farmer Mark Osterkamp is one.
And while the court recently
upheld the validity of the agreement after 10 years of lawsuits, accusations
and bitter rhetoric, Osterkamp came to realize some time before that the water
conservation measures at the heart of the transfer are an opportunity for
farmers like him.
Water Bond
From: Ellen Hanak, Sacramento
Bee
In recent weeks, work has begun
in earnest in the Capitol to revamp the water bond that will go before
California voters in November 2014. Everyone seems to agree that the new bond
needs to be smaller than the $11 billion bond currently slated for that ballot,
which polling suggests is more than the voters are likely to approve. But
agreeing on what the new bond should include is proving harder. Our advice?
This is an opportunity to put California on a more sustainable water funding
diet - with a balanced portfolio that relies less on periodic injections of
general-fund-backed debt.
Delta
From: Alex Breitler, Stockton
Record
In the age of Google Earth and
GPS, century-old hand-drawn maps of the Delta would seem irrelevant.
Not so.
In fact, recent state actions in
the Delta had so many lawyers and engineers rifling through documents at the
San Joaquin County Historical Society and Museum that now officials there have
put some of that material online.
From: Alex Breitler, Stockton
Record
Legislation that would have
forced water agencies to reduce their reliance on the fragile Delta - or risk
losing out on state funding - has been significantly weakened.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Susan Meeker, Glenn
County Transcript
Water wars are expensive and most
often fruitless, but U.S. Rep. John Garamendi said he is willing to throw down
the gauntlet to stop the governor's plan to build two underground tunnels that
have the potential to suck the Sacramento River dry.
Salton Sea
From: Kim Delfino, Desert Sun
Right now, the California
Legislature is discussing the next statewide water bond. Key issues are being
decided: How much money should California spend to provide safe and reliable
drinking water for people and healthy aquatic ecosystems for fish and wildlife?
Toward what activities should the state direct the bond funding?
Fracking
From: Editorial Staff,
Bakersfield Californian
Three out of four Californians
surveyed in "key legislative districts" said they fear hydraulic
fracturing, or fracking, a technique used to extract oil from hard-to-reach
areas, such as the Monterey Shale, could pollute the state's ground water.
The polling data released last
week by the Natural Resources Defense Council might have some meaning if
popularity contests were used to set public policy. But we are talking about
regulating an industry with the potential of creating thousands of jobs and
bolstering the state's economy.
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