Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Staff, CBS-LA
Community leaders and consumer
watchdog groups Wednesday were set to voice their opposition to a Northern
California tunnels project that could impact neighborhoods here in the
Southland.
Members of eight Los Angeles
neighborhood councils, Food & Water Watch, the Sierra Club, Southern
California Watershed Alliance and Environmental Water Caucus claim the Bay
Delta Conservation Plan would raise rates and property taxes without delivering
any new water to Southern California.
Coalition
response... Food and Water Watch warns
Southern Californians that the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP),
"...would raise rates and property taxes without delivering any new water
to Southern California." Amazingly, at the same time, their own web site
calls the BDCP a "corporate water grab for big agriculture and real estate
developers."
Which is it? A water grab or no
new water? The fact is, the BDCP is designed to restore the reliable delivery
of water that 25 million Californians and 3 million acres of productive farmland
already have a legal right to use. Farmers and Southern California consumers
both stand to lose if we don't fix the environmental problems behind our
state's water crisis.
Water Bond
From: Staff, Santa Cruz
Sentinel
It's needed and it's a better
proposal.
These truths were on display
Tuesday in Seaside at a state hearing about a water bond moving toward the
November 2014 ballot.
The $6.8 billion measure presented
by state lawmakers replaces a twice-postponed and pork-laden $11.1 billion
proposal that was widely expected to fail.
Coalition
response... This editorial is exactly
right when it says, "California needs more water storage in reservoirs and
underground basins and the more this bond measure specifically provides for
collecting water from storm runoff, mountain snow packs and rivers and streams,
the better." Unfortunately, both the Assembly and Senate water bond
proposals fall short on funding for storage. And the manner in which the $1.5
billion in storage funding from the two competing proposals is allocated
doesn't provide a chunk of money big enough for any specific region in
California to build a project big enough to resolve our biggest water storage
needs.
Monterey County officials are
right when they say the proposals are insufficient to meet their local needs.
That's the same message being heard from around the state on these two bonds.
Too little. Too fractured.
Most everyone agrees that the
original $11.6 billion bond proposal could be revamped. It still represents the
kind of robust investment California needs to make in its water infrastructure
to meet tomorrow's needs.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Jerry Meral, BDCP Blog
On a quiet summer day in June
1972, the failure of the Andrus-Brannan Islands caused sea water to rush into
the Delta, jeopardizing the quality of supplies for the Contra Costa Water
District and for the exports that serve millions of consumers in the Bay Area,
Southern California and the Central Valley. This event forced decision makers
to focus on the need for an alternative way to export water that currently
flows into the Delta, given the mounting concerns about the reliability of its
levees. In 1973, the Legislature established a program to provide funds for
maintenance of the Delta levee system to reduce the risk of levee failure and
island flooding.
From: Mike Wade, Lompoc Record
Clarifications on the
"Protesting a pipe dream for more water" commentary are needed to
concerning the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and California water rights.
The BDCP is in response to a 2009
mandate by the Legislature to restore the ecosystem of the Sacramento/San
Joaquin Bay Delta, and to create a reliable water supply for 25 million
Californians and 3 million acres of productive farmland.
From: Amanda Carvajal, Merced
Sun-Star
Farmers receiving water from the
Delta-Mendota Canal along the west side of our county saw their water
deliveries reduced by 80 percent this year. Dry conditions and unproved
Endangered Species Act regulations that redirected water to endangered fish in
the Delta forced the water cutbacks. These cutbacks have caused land to go
unplanted and workers to lose their jobs.
When farmers and workers do not
have money to spend, the effect is felt throughout the local economy. For
instance, Firebaugh business owners are reporting 25 to 30 percent losses
because water is not flowing to local farms. Listen to them speak on "Farm
Water and the Business Crisis" that is available on YouTube at http://bit.ly/1cIxKqD.
Water Supply
From: AP Staff, U-T San Diego; Sacramento Bee; SFGate.com; Lodi News-Sentinel
Gov. Jerry Brown is convening a
task force to help determine whether a statewide drought declaration is
warranted.
The governor on Wednesday asked
staff from state water, agriculture and emergency services agencies to meet
every week to help strengthen drought preparations and advise him on next steps.
From: Staff, CBS47
Water pouring out of California's
dams could be sights and sounds of the past unless we get some rain.
In 2013, farmers on the Central
Valley's west side only received a 5% water allocation. Next year could be even
worse.
"Unless this water year is
definitely on the wetter side, they'd expect those folks to get an initial
allocation of zero," said Jeanine Jones, Dept. of Water Resources.
From: Hank Schultz, Foodnavigator-usa.com
A looming water crisis in
California has led more than 50 California lawmakers to request the declaration
of a state drought emergency. The dire water situation for the upcoming
crop year could send ripples through US agricultural supply says the California
Water Alliance, an advocacy organization.
Water Storage
From: John Holland, Modesto
Bee
San Francisco has a place of
honor for a pen wielded by President Woodrow Wilson a century ago today.
He used it to sign the Raker Act,
which allowed the city to divert some of the Tuolumne River upstream of the
Modesto and Turlock irrigation districts.
From: Bill Jurkovich,
Sacramento Bee
Re "Reservoirs also are
important" (Capitol & California, Dan Walters, Dec. 16): Dan Walter's
column lays out the reasons and need for added water storage in California. The
doubling of the population since the last building program and climate change has
resulted in an increasingly critical water shortage in the state. Scientists
tell us that there will be climate swings between floods and droughts.
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