Water Action Plan
From: Denis Cuff, Contra Costa
Times
California Natural Resources
Secretary John Laird will be in Dublin on Jan. 30 to do a public briefing on a
proposed state action plan for managing California water supplies.
The free 6 p.m. event will be
held in the city council chambers at City Hall, 100 Civic Plaza. The public is
invited to attend, or watch a broadcast of it to be aired later on Tri-Valley
Community Television.
The 17-page California Water
Action Plan outlines broad actions over the next five years to make water
supplies more reliable -- including increasing conservation and recycling,
adding new storage facilities, and improving water ecosystems.
Water Storage
From: Tom Berryhill, Fresno
Bee
In California turning on the tap
is really no guarantee that water will flow. Unless something is done to
upgrade and improve our water storage and delivery system, Californians will
risk not having enough water for everyday activities and certainly not enough
to sustain many of the state's key businesses. While the talk is on conveyance,
the real issue should be additional storage. Without storage there is nothing
to convey.
Thousands of workers may not be
getting a paycheck simply because California has refused to develop and build a
sustainable water infrastructure. Agricultural land - worth billions of dollars
to our economy - is fallow, keeping workers from jobs that are essential for
them to house, feed and clothe their families.
Drought
From: Michael Carr, Yahoo News
A lack of rainfall in California
could have a nationwide impact on food prices. According to the California
Department of Food and Agriculture, the state produces almost half of
U.S.-grown fruits, nuts and vegetables.
California produces about
one-eighth of the nation's total farming output. The state accounts for more
than 90 percent of the U.S. production of artichokes, broccoli, celery,
almonds, grapes, walnuts and other crops.
From: Staff, KMJ 580
Water professionals from around
California are preparing to meet in Sacramento this week to discuss the future
of efficient water and energy use in the state. But many are now focusing on an
immediate future threatened by drought.
As a result, California Irrigation
Institute conference organizers have secured recently appointed Deputy Drought
Manager Jeanine Jones to provide an update during Friday's luncheon regarding
what the state of California intends to do.
From: Nela Lichtscheidl, KERO
23
California congressmen will meet
with the house speaker, Wednesday, to discuss plans for emergency legislation
meant to lift the water crisis.
Reps. Kevin McCarthy and David
Valadao will explain a three-plan legislation that would allow for
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta pumps to operate and would stop the San Joaquin
River Restoration Project from continuing water flow into the Pacific Ocean.
From: John Ellis, Bakersfield
Californian
Three San Joaquin Valley
Republican congressmen will join House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday
afternoon north of Bakersfield, where they will announce emergency drought
legislation intended to bring more water to the region.
If approved, the bill would allow
the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta pumps to operate as long as water is
available, said Rep. Devin Nunes, a Tulare Republican who will be at the press
conference Wednesday.
From: J.N. Sbranti, Modesto
Bee
The Oakdale Irrigation District
should weather this year's drought fairly well, but doing so may require
draining its stored water reserves, pumping five times more groundwater than
normal and fallowing farmland. OID directors were updated Tuesday on how the
district will cope if it doesn't start storming soon.
One option: Paying farmers to
fallow up to 35,000 acres of agricultural land around Oakdale so the irrigation
district would not have to deliver water to them. Exactly how that would work,
how much it would cost and where that saved water would end up was not
explained to the public.
From: David Bienick, KCRA 3
California's top water board has
warned water users that some of them may be cut off from their supplies.
"We're kind of umpires," said Felicia Marcus, chairwoman of the water
board.
Shortly after Gov. Jerry Brown
declared on official drought on Friday, the water board posted a notice online
that reads: "In the coming weeks and months, if dry weather weather
conditions persist, the State Water Board will notify water rights holders in
critically dry watersheds of the requirement to limit or stop diversions of
water under their water right, based on their priority."
From: Dan Walters, Sacramento
Bee
America's political executives -
presidents, governors and big city mayors - are often judged by how they
respond to unanticipated crises.
Thus, then-President George W.
Bush's popularity soared after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the
nation, then plummeted four years later after an erratic response to deadly
Hurricane Katrina.
Farming
From: Rachel Long, UC ANR
Blog
If trends continue as per current
predictions, the continued drought in California will have serious impacts to
forage production in 2014, affecting the availability and price of animal feed.
It's like an 800-pound gorilla in
the room, worrying everyone including growers, suppliers, livestock operators
and consumers alike. According to the Western Regional Climate Center,
October-December of 2013 was the driest on record in California. Other western
states are also experiencing drought to varying degrees (note the U.S. Drought
monitor map for the west below). Current predictions are for zero to slight
chances of rainfall for the rest of January for most of California.
Groundwater
From: Kenneth Krause, Modesto
Bee
The State of California is in the
midst of its worst drought ever recorded. Gov. Jerry Brown has requested that
residents reduce water use by 20 percent. With this said, why hasn't our
Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors followed suit?
Many large landowners are in the
process of working their ground to plant almond trees. These trees will require
large amounts of water, which will come from huge wells drilled into our
existing aquifer (tapping groundwater). These wells are capable of pumping 600
gallons per minute or more. Our county supervisors must place a moratorium on this
use of groundwater and these types of groundwater wells due to the drought and
the continued lowering of our aquifer.
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