Trinity River
From: Peter Fimrite, SF
Chronicle
A simmering feud over water
rights boiled over Thursday when Central Valley agricultural interests sued the
federal government in an attempt to stop releases into the Klamath River to
protect spawning salmon.
From: Mark Grossi, Fresno Bee
From: Mark Grossi, Merced Sun-Star
West San Joaquin Valley farmers
filed suit Thursday against the federal government, hoping to stop a planned
release of Trinity River water aimed at protecting salmon in Northern
California.
The lawsuit said the release of
109,000 acre-feet of water to the Pacific Ocean is unlawful and unthinkable as
west Valley farmers face a growing water-shortage catastrophe.
From: Damon Arthur, Redding
Record Searchlight
On the same day the U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation announced it planned to increase the amount of water flowing
down the Trinity River to prevent Chinook salmon from dying, two water agencies
in the San Joaquin Valley filed a lawsuit to stop it.
From: Gosia Wozniacka, SF Chronicle
From: Gosia Wozniacka, Modesto Bee
From: Gosia Wozniacka, Eureka Times-Standard
Farmers in California's San
Joaquin Valley are suing the federal government over the planned release of
water from a Northern California reservoir to prevent a salmon kill in the
lower Klamath River.
(The following comment is posted
in response to the above articles.)
Coalition response...The purpose of the lawsuit is to hold the Bureau of Reclamation
accountable for the water they are charged with
managing. Reclamation's proposed action would take up to 100,000
acre-feet of water that is designated for farms, homes and businesses and redirect
it down the Trinity River and on to the Klamath River to protect non-endangered
salmon from a disease already established in the Klamath. Reclamation had water
available earlier this year that could have been used specifically for this
purpose but it was squandered and now the agency is illegally taking water from
CVP users for use outside of the CVP service area.
In 1988 the number of returning
salmon was almost double to numbers that were present in 2002 and the flows in
the rivers were identical. No supplemental water was released by Reclamation in
1988 and no salmon die-off occurred.
Federal agencies are as
responsible for following the law as the rest of us. It is unfortunate that it
is taking a lawsuit to accomplish that.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Staff, Stockton Record
A consultant's cost-benefit
analysis of Gov. Jerry Brown's $24.5 billion pipe dream to bore two giant
tunnels under the Delta is long on espousing the benefits and decidedly short
on analyzing the costs.
Coalition response...This editorial is long on rhetoric and short on facts. A fact that will
govern how much water will be moved through the proposed tunnels is the
required adherence to Delta water quality standards established by the State
Water Resources Control Board. Fears that the tunnels will take too much water
from the Sacramento River are baseless.
More than a million jobs will be
created during the 50-year lifespan of the Plan and many of those individuals
will reside in San Joaquin County. The payroll for this workforce is expected
to be over $11 billion, which means more money flowing through the county's
economy.
It is important that individuals
seek the facts when considering the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. The overall
economic benefits to California total $84 billion, an amount that should be
welcomed during these economic times.
From: Guy Carl, Napa Valley
Register
A hot topic in the California
Legislature these days is the "peripheral tunnel" project designed to
divert water to southern California farmers and cities.
This project is strongly opposed
by many salmon advocates and other environmental groups due to the further harm
it would inflict on the already embattled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta system.
Coalition response...Delivery of water that flows through the Delta has been interrupted in
recent years by government regulations that require portions of the users'
water to remain in the Delta for environmental purposes. A recent example is
the loss of more than 800,000 acre-feet (farmwater.org/watersupplycutshurtusall.pdf) from
December to February of this year. This was at a time when heavy flows were
present in rivers and reservoirs were storing water. Since that time rain and
snow has dwindled and farmers along the San Joaquin Valley Westside who receive
water from the federal Central Valley Project saw their deliveries cut by 80
percent. If the tunnels had been in place, that 800,000 acre-feet of water
could have been sent south of the Delta and into storage for use later in the
year.
These uncertainties of knowing
how much water they will receive has caused farmers to delay planting their
fields and eventually leave their fields fallow, which causes farm workers to
lose their jobs. The Bay Delta Conservation Plan restores that certainty of
water deliveries for farmers by delivering water that they have a right to and
once received before the government regulations caused the interruptions.
Unfortunately, the increased diversion of water has not resulted in any proven
benefits to fish or the environment.
Those who benefit from the water
passing through them will pay the cost of constructing the proposed tunnels.
The author compares California's
statewide salmon industry economic activity at $1.4 billion to Westlands Water
District's produce sales of $1.6 billion, which misleads and grossly
understates comparative economic values. Water delivered through the Delta
serves almost 4,000 farms in dozens of irrigation and water districts from
Patterson to Bakersfield, which is much greater in value than measuring part of
the production in just one district.
A closer look at the recent
economic analysis of benefits resulting from the Plan reveals that California
will receive an overall benefit of $84 billion. Part of that total is the more
than a million jobs that will be created during the 50-year span of the Plan
and the $11 billion in wages that will be paid, which should be a welcome
addition to California's economy.
From: Lester H. Lee, San Jose
Mercury News
We need more water, not more
pipes for it
Gov. Jerry Brown's $24 billion plan
to shore up support for water is a mystery to me. Piping water from the
Sacramento River to the Delta does not add any more water to the system.
Coalition response...The goal of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan and its proposed twin
tunnels is not to increase California's water supply but rather to restore
water that was once delivered to thousands of farms and 25 million
Californians. At the same time the Plan is designed to restore the Delta
ecosystem. Government regulations have interrupted the water supply by taking
water away from users, including those in Santa Clara County and the Eastbay,
and keeping it in the Delta for environmental purposes. Unfortunately, federal
agencies have been unable to prove any benefits to the environment from this
action.
Water that should be delivered to
farms is used to grow the food that consumers find around the corner at their
local grocery stores and around the world. If water once delivered to farms is
not restored on a reliable basis, then consumers should expect to find more
imported food items on their grocery shelves.
Water Supply
From: Seth Nidever, Hanford
Sentinel
As drought conditions worsen,
arguments over Kings County's most important natural resource - water - are
intensifying.
Farmers at Naval Air Station
Lemoore and in surrounding areas on 90,000 acres of Westlands Water District
property have the support of Gov. Jerry Brown on a proposal to build giant
tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River delta to pump more water south
to Kings County land.
Water Bond
From: Ben van der Meer,
Sacramento Business Journal
Legislators are making cautious
progress on crafting a state water bond to go before voters next year, said an
assemblyman who's a member of the working group.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Evan Halper, Marysville
Appeal-Democrat
(This article previously appeared
in the LA Times.)
Gov. Jerry Brown has shown
mastery of Sacramento, but his hope for a legacy of enduring public works
hinges on a different skill - the ability to work Washington.
From: Peter Z. Scheer, LA City
Watch
Southern Californians get much of
their fresh water from the northern part of the state and they don't seem to
care that the system that supplies that water is in danger of collapse.
From: Alex Breitler,
esanjoaquin
Melinda Terry, manager of the
North Delta Water Agency, has never been shy about expressing her opinion in
public about the future of the Delta.
Rivers
From: Ken Carlson, Modesto
Bee
A state water board is delaying
action until early next year on a disputed plan for increased water releases to
support salmon in the Tuolumne and Merced rivers.
Fisheries
From: Steve Carson, Chico
Enterprise-Record
The salmon action on the
Sacramento River that has been going along at a slow simmer is about to heat up
a lot, reported local guide Kevin Brock.
From: Heather Hacking,
Oroville Mercury-Register
Fingers are crossed that the
threatened spring-run chinook salmon in Butte Creek will continue to make it
through this long, dry, hot summer.
No comments:
Post a Comment