News, Articles and Links from August 30, 2013

Bay Delta Conservation Plan
 
Delta water conservation plan has local officials skeptical
From: David Benda, Record Searchlight
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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.