Trinity River
From: John McManus, Sacramento
Bee
A massive tug of war for water on
the Trinity River needed to keep a bumper crop of salmon alive is playing out
in a Fresno federal court this week. Officials expect more than 271,000 adult
salmon to return to the Klamath and Trinity River within days. In many
stretches of the rivers, warm water temperatures lethal to spawning salmon await
their return. The Bureau of Reclamation, not wanting a massive fish kill on its
hands again, planned to release at least 62,000 acre-feet of cold water from
Trinity Lake to cool the rivers. But San Joaquin Valley growers, led by
Westlands Irrigation District, said no, that they should be given that water -
and they sued to get it.
Coalition response...The court decision will determine whether the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
is required to follow the law. The intent of the lawsuit is force Reclamation to
abide by the 2000 Trinity River Diversion Record of Decision that set aside
water for fish protection. When it came time to use that water this year,
Reclamation had already used it and they turned to water that was designated
for other users.
Reclamation must follow the laws
and regulations just like everyone else. That is what the judge is ruling on.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Editorial Staff, Modesto Bee
From: Editorial Staff, Merced Sun-Star
(This editorial was previously
printed in the Sacramento Bee.)
Kudos are in order for Mark
Cowin, the director of the California Department of Water Resources. For
months, Cowin has taken seriously the concerns of farmers and landowners whose
lives and businesses could be upended by a gargantuan water tunnel project the
state wants to build through the Sacramento- San Joaquin Delta.
Coalition response...The changes announced last week to the Bay Delta Conservation Plan as
outlined by this editorial is a continuation of changes that have taken place
with the planning process. People may forget, or may not even be aware that at
one time the proposal called for three tunnels. These and other changes have
been the result to listening to comments and conducting studies and analyses to
determine if they would benefit the Plan.
It is puzzling why the editorial
continued to question how the project will be operated during different times
of the year or in wet or dry years. The BDCP Conservation Measure 1 - Water
Facilities and Operations brochure has been on the BDCP web site for five
months with an easy-to-understand diagram of variable export rates based on
Sacramento River flow conditions. When water levels are high in the Sacramento
River, more water will be available to move through the tunnels. When river
levels are low, less water will be diverted. Individuals seeking to learn more
about the flow of water through the tunnels can read it themselves at http://bit.ly/18FGxrl.
It is also important to remember
that the objective of BDCP is to obtain a 50-year endangered species permit
that will improve the Delta through a long-term conservation strategy. These
improvements should also increase the reliability of water supply deliveries to
almost 4,000 farms and 25 million Californians from the Bay Area to San Diego.
Trinity River
From: Catherine Wong, Eureka
Times-Standard
The Board of Supervisors and
local tribal officials said Tuesday they are hoping a declaration asserting
Humboldt County's rights will be their trump card in a legal battle over
Trinity River water after releases to protect Klamath salmon were halted by a
Fresno judge.
That's if a scheduled hearing
goes forward.
From: Mark Grossi, Fresno
Bee
Members of two Northern
California tribes Tuesday demonstrated at Westlands Water District, asking
district officials to drop their lawsuit against water releases that would
protect a large run of salmon.
From: Tom Birmingham,
Westlands Water District
No one wants to see a repeat of
the loss of Chinook salmon in the lower Klamath River that occurred in 2002.
However, achieving a reasonable balance among competing uses of water involves
more than simple slogans that can be fit easily on a protest banner.
Water Supply
From: Rep. Jeff Denham,
Manteca Bulletin
As our children head back to
school and the fall harvest begins, the rivers coming into our reservoirs slow
and they empty out. Unfortunately, this past winter and spring failed to bring
us the amount of water we need, and the water supply situation for the Central
Valley is shaping up to be a dire one. As a community, we face great
uncertainty for next year.
From: Editorial Staff, San
Gabriel Valley Tribune
Is it Southern California's lot
to be cast forever as the villain when it comes to water? Maybe. Probably, in
fact.
But that doesn't mean it's fair
or right.
Water Bond
From: D.L. Taylor, Salinas
Californian
With legislators worried about
public reaction to an $11.4 billion water bond slated to go before California
voters in June 2014, a dramatically slimmed down version was introduced last
week.
But a senator representing the
Salinas Valley says the reduced bond will be dead on arrival.
From: Maven, Maven's Notebook
From 2000 to 2008, voters
approved nearly $100 billion in general obligation bonds to fund the state's
infrastructure needs with about a quarter of that being approved for water
infrastructure projects. However, not all of those bond funds have been spent,
and there has been much speculation as to how much remains uncommitted and how
those funds could possibly be used for near-term projects in the Delta or other
water infrastructure needs. The total is now in: according to data
compiled by the Assembly Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife, the amount of
remaining uncommitted bond funds is over $1.2 billion.
Water Quality
From: Kate Campbell, Ag Alert
Managing water has always been a
priority on farms and ranches across California, but the job could become more
complex and costly under newly proposed federal food safety rules.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Janis McLean, Sacramento
Bee
Re "At Tahoe summit, Brown
defends accord" (Capitol & California, Aug. 20): In defending the
Tahoe accord, Gov. Jerry Brown dismisses critics of both the accord and his Bay
Delta Conservation Plan as being opposed to any plan that isn't
"absolutely perfect."
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