Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Matt Weiser, Sacramento
Bee
The state's ambitious plan to
restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has two main goals: improve water
supplies and remove dozens of native animals from the endangered species list.
Yet for nine key species - including salmon, Delta smelt and greater sandhill
cranes - it remains unclear whether the plan will ultimately help or hurt.
Coalition response... One wonders how far opponents of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan will
reach to pick holes in it. In this story Matt Weiser lists so-called adverse
impacts on endangered species when he says, "Another concern is that the
birds (sandhill cranes) could be killed by colliding with new power lines
required for the project, both during the project and after." Seriously?
There are power lines that already criss-cross the Delta including the area
where sandhill crane habitat exists. No one is hearing about sandhill crane
deaths from the large power lines that are already there.
If there is going to be a genuine
discussion on the costs, benefits and challenges of a project like the Bay
Delta Conservation Plan then we need to do away with baseless
"concerns" that seem to be included in a story just for the added
color.
From: Staff, Chico
Enterprise-Record
Our view: We can only hope the
south state realizes there really isn't enough water to make the expensive twin
tunnels work.
The latest documents are out on
the plan to put a pair of huge tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta,
and despite amounting to 34,000 pages, there's darn little consideration of
where the water is coming from.
Coalition response... It simply isn't accurate to say that there isn't enough water to make
the twin tunnels work. Prior to 1990 south of Delta CVP contractors received
100 percent of their allocations, with the exception of 1977, the driest year
on record. The Bay Delta Conservation Plan's goal is to reliably deliver
water that 25 million Californians and 3 million acres of farmland already have
a legal right to use. The BDCP is intended to improve environmental resources
so water supplies can return, at least in part, to the levels they once were.
From: Bob Wright, Stockton
Record (Subscription Required)
California's water woes can only
worsen. Our farmers have given their all, they've pioneered an industry others
can only follow. The world reaps our harvest while our farmers take the arrows.
The days of good jobs and reasonably priced food and fiber are over.
Feeding and clothing a hungry
world requires trucking water out of state. Water tables have sunk to
unrecoverable levels; wells are failing, salt as sea water leaches backward
into the voids.
Coalition response... The Bay Delta Conservation Plan's goal is to reliably deliver
water that 25 million Californians and 3 million acres of farmland already have
a legal right to use. It is not a water grab. The volume of water that went to
Californians south of the Delta was restricted beginning in 1990 when
environmental cutbacks reduced their supply. The BDCP is intended to improve
environmental resources so water supplies can return, at least in part, to the
levels they once were.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Jerry Meral, BDCP Blog
Californians have been debating
the role of the Delta and the best way to move water to where it's needed for
nearly 70 years. The recently released draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan and
accompanying draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement
(EIR/EIS) reflect the ongoing evolution of Delta water policy in the critical
areas of supply, water quality, environmental impacts, species preservation and
the interests of the Delta communities. This is the first of a three-part blog
that summarizes how our understanding of these issues has changed in relation
to the dynamic growth of California and our constantly expanding appreciation
of the needs of its environment.
Groundwater
From: Ken Carlson, Modesto Bee
As Stanislaus County leaders made
sure farming interests had seats on a new Water Advisory Committee, certain
urban interests made a pitch for places on the advisory panel, too.
Water Supply
From: Staff, Western Farm
Press (Subscription Required)
The Department of Water Resources
(DWR) has mobilized a new drought management effort to prepare for and reduce
potential impacts of what is expected to be a third straight dry year in 2014.
DWR Director Mark Cowin said the department is focusing its personnel and
programs "to offset potentially devastating impacts to citizen health,
well-being and our economy." Cowin appointed Bill Croyle to lead the
effort as department drought manager.
From: Theo Douglas,
Bakersfield Californian (Subscription Required)
Officials from four San Joaquin
Valley water agencies joined state and federal lawmakers Tuesday in applying
pressure to the president and governor to declare a drought emergency and relax
endangered species standards as a dry winter looms.
From: Staff, Santa Rosa
Press-Democrat
After two consecutive dry years
in California, this year is shaping up as a third.
In many parts of the state, this
has been the driest year on record. And the long-range forecast is bleak,
leaving water officials to ponder historic droughts.
Water Bond
From: Jason Hoppin, Santa Cruz
Sentinel
Sacramento lawmakers came to
Seaside on Tuesday to shop a $6.5 billion plan to keep California's water
infrastructure from going further down the drain.
Litigation
From: Antoine Abou-Diwan,
Imperial Valley Press
El Centro farmer and former
Imperial Irrigation District director Mike Abatti is again challenging the
IID's water apportionment plan.
In a lawsuit filed Nov. 27, he
accuses the district of placing Imperial Valley's municipal and industrial
water needs above the area's agricultural needs.
Meetings
From: Staff, California
Irrigation Institute
What is the future of the
water-energy relationship? Can a balance on water use efficiency and energy use
be found? Come engage with other water and power professionals as we
explore the future of water and energy efficiency at the 52nd Annual California
Irrigation Institute Conference!
Thursday & Friday, Jan.
23-24, 2014
Sacramento Arden West Hilton
2200 Harvard Street, Sacramento
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