News articles and links from October 23, 2013

Water Supply

EDITORIAL: Embrace small, large solutions to statewide drought

From: Editorial Staff, Riverside Press-Enterprise

Californians cannot change the weather, but can control how they use water. Residents should step up water conservation efforts, to avoid shortages from another dry year. Legislators also need to help, by ensuring that the state has a reliable supply of water for the long term.

But drought is not the only threat to California's water supply. The Legislature needs to safeguard the state's system of water exports. Water that flows through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta serves two-thirds of the state's population and irrigates millions of acres of farmland. But that supply is at risk because of the delta's environmental ills, which have already prompted periodic cutbacks in water exports. The many conflicting interests in the delta make reaching consensus difficult. But blocking a supply of water that much of the state relies on would be reckless policy.

Reservoirs

Dry October doesn't help reservoir water levels

From: Dina Kupfer, News 10 TV

With docks perched on sand and vehicles parked where buoys once floated, anyone heading out to Folsom Lake can see right away that the water level is low.

"Last year we were at about 42 percent of capacity, this time of year; this year we are at about 33 percent in Folsom," Department of Reclamation's Lewis Moore said.

Salton Sea

Salton Sea pact advances

From: Michael Gardner, SD Union-Tribune

Imperial County leaders have forged a truce to end more than a decade of infighting over restoring the Salton Sea - acrimony directly connected to the ongoing sale of water to the San Diego region.

Levees

Glenn-Colusa canal breaks near Ord Bend

From: Barbara Arrigoni, Chico Enterprise-Record

The west levee of the Glenn-Colusa canal broke Tuesday morning near Ord Bend, leaving officials worried about flooding nearby and scrambling to repair the breach.

Meetings 

Experts explore water quality log jam

From: D.L. Taylor, Salinas Californian

The forum's title is telling. "A Greater Vision," along with imagination, is sorely needed to forge a path through the conflicts that surround water quality in the Salinas Valley.

Thursday's forum at California State University, Monterey Bay brings together some of the most highly regarded experts on water quality along the Central Coast as well as the Central Valley where water quality issues are equally perplexing. The forum is the third and final discussion in the "Greater Vision" water quality series.