Water Supply
From: Heather Hacking, Chico
Enterprise-Record
As California struggles to
provide water to a growing state, increased pressure is being made on the rich
water supply of Northern California, said Barbara Vlamis, director of
AquAlliance, during a groundwater forum Thursday night.
In 2009, state legislators passed
several water bills, and now several large-scale plans are being written for
statewide water management.
Coalition response...Characterizing farms along the west side of the San Joaquin Valley as
"industrial agriculture" paints the wrong picture of farmers who use
Central Valley Project water. Almost 4,000 family farms receive CVP water south
of the Delta and they share the same supply that their counterparts in the
Sacramento Valley do. Maintaining water supply reliability helps farmers
provide jobs and support local community economic activity whether it is in
Chico or Mendota. Despite claims from Barbara Vlamis and Jim Brobeck, nothing
in the State Water Action Plan or Bay Delta Conservation Plan threatens
area-of-origin water rights for users north of the Delta. Both plans are intended
to increase the reliability of water farmers and others already have a legal
right to use.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Supervisor Ken Vogel,
Stockton Record
If you believe proponents of the
Bay Delta Conservation Plan, there's only one way to fix the Delta - tunnels.
There's a better solution.
Coalition response...While Ken Vogel would like you to believe that California is suffering
under an oversubscribed water supply it is important to note that South of
Delta CVP water users received 100 percent of their supplies from 1952 to 1989,
with the exception of 1977, a severe drought year. Today those supplies have
been decimated, not because of an oversubscribed water supply but because of
environmental regulations that limit water exports that once served several
million acres of productive farmland. Sadly, those regulations have not helped
endangered species recover and people like Vogel want to continue to try and
fix the problem with a solution that is proven not to work.
From: Arve R. Sjovold, Santa
Barbara Independent
Can a man drown crossing a river
that averages one foot in depth? The answer is, of course, yes. An average
cannot describe how wet you'll get wading a river with a deep channel and a
broader shallow run. In fact, the average is likely to represent only two
points in the depth profile: the point where one descends and the point where
one ascends the sides of the deep channel.
Coalition response...Water users are seeking more reliable water supplies from the Bay Delta
Conservation Plan. Deliveries of water that flows through the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta have been interrupted in recent years because of drought
conditions and Endangered Species Act regulations that are suppose to protect
fish. As an example, beginning last December at the same time that water
flowing through the Delta was high, regulations meant to protect fish prevented
it from being stored for farms to use later in the year. More than 727,000
acre-feet of water went to the ocean instead of helping meet the needs of 25
million Californians and nearly 4,000 family farms. Federal officials have yet
to provide information that this action benefited endangered fish.
The Bay Delta Conservation Plan
could have avoided this loss of water. Read more about it at farmwater.org/watersupplycutshurtusall.pdf.
Farming
From: Leonard Van Elderen, Modesto Bee
From: Leonard Van Elderen, Merced Sun-Star
The financing of a farm is tied
squarely to the land. The land has value that allows the lender to provide the
loans. That value comes from the land's ability to grow the crops. And that
requires water.
Water is an emerging concern for
Central Valley agriculture on several fronts.
Water Supply
From: Mark Grossi, Fresno
Beehive
When John Laird, secretary for
the California Natural Resources Agency, comes to Fresno these days, people
want to talk with him about water. Specifically, the lack of it.
He met this week with the Latino
Water Coalition to chat about the Bay Delta Conservation Plan - the one with
the twin tunnels - the final draft of which will hit the streets Dec. 13.
From: Associated Press,
Marysville Appeal-Democrat
In California, few issues are as
divisive as water. It pits North against South, fisherman versus farmer.
Now a group of self-described
"nature nerds" made up of database experts, academics and
conservationists are trying to bring meaning to the state's mass of water data.
The effort is called The New California Water Atlas, and it will use
interactive maps powered by government data that are currently publicly
available but hard to synthesize.
Weather
From: Jon Erdman, Weather
Channel
The first 10 months of 2013 have
been the driest such period on record in California, dating to 1895, according
to the National Climatic Data Center.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Editorial Staff, Sacramento Bee
From: Editorial Staff, Modesto Bee
When it comes to water policy,
Gov. Jerry Brown's motto seems to be "tunnels or bust." Increasingly,
as costs and questions pile up, "bust" looks like a possible outcome.
From: Editorial Staff, Fresno
Bee
Sometime next month, water
contractors and the Brown administration are expected to release a draft
environmental impact report for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. This hefty
tome likely will be heralded as an important milestone in pushing forward BDCP's
plans to restore Delta habitat and build tunnels to ship Sacramento River water
to the south. But what is missing from the plan will be as important as what it
contains.
From: Lois Kazakoff, SF
Chronicle
The California delta's water woes
might seem distant, but if you live in Alameda, Contra Costa or Santa Clara
counties, you may drink delta water.
If you savor locally caught
salmon, the delta's health is crucial to maintaining the supply.
Next month, the state will
release the final (and 25,000-page) draft of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan,
which includes a proposal to build a $14 billion "facility" and
30-foot-diameter twin tunnels to move water from the north delta to the state
water pumps in the south delta. The public will then have 120 days to comment.
The final document is anticipated next fall and a decision by the State Water
Resources Control Board sometime thereafter.
From: Paul Burgarino, Contra
Costa Times
As the state prepares to unveil
key environmental documents for Gov. Jerry Brown's proposal to build two large
tunnels to move Sacramento River water south, dozens of concerned East Contra
Costans were brought up to speed last week on how it could impact their Delta
backyard.
The governor's $24.7 billion plan
is widely opposed around the Delta communities, as opponents say the tunnels
would reduce fresh water flows, endanger local fish and other habitat and put a
sizable financial dent in local agriculture.
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