Water Supply
From: San Jose Mercury
The Central Valley's thirst for
water to irrigate its fields has already decimated its own aquifer. It's made a
60-mile stretch of the once-majestic San Joaquin River run dry, devastating an
area where wildlife once flourished.
Coalition response...Contrary to this editorial, the Bay Delta Conservation Plan is
actually about restoring supplies to water users who built and are paying for a
system to deliver water that they have a legal right to use. The conflict
arises when environmental priorities are met by a system that was never
designed to meet a new, diverse set of demands. The BDCP bridges the conflict
between environmental concerns and water users, which is what it is intended to
do. When it comes to water use efficiency, almonds provide sufficient return for
farmers to invest in high-efficiency irrigation systems that would have been
unaffordable in yesteryear with crops like cotton or corn to pay the bills.
Almost 4,000 family farms depend on the same system that brings water to the
San Jose region. The reliability and protection from seismic risks that are
built into it (BDCP) and the dependable delivery of water used to grow food
puts farmers and urban water users on the same side of the table.
Water Supply
From: Kathleen Hennessey,
Sacramento Bee
President Barack Obama will
travel to Fresno, Calif., this week to highlight federal efforts aimed at
helping farmers and others hit by a severe drought. A White House official said
Obama will visit the Central Valley city Feb. 14.
From: John Coleman, Sacramento
Bee
Nearly every day brings fresh
signs that California is in a drought of epic proportions. Whether it's the
historic announcement of zero deliveries from the State Water Project or the
latest survey confirming the lowest Sierra snowpack on record for the date,
it's clear that we are entering uncharted territory.
From: Rebecca Plevin, Capital
Public Radio
Planting has hardly begun in
California's Central Valley. But farm workers already fear the state's extreme
drought conditions are a forecast for hard times ahead. During the winter, when
the Central Valley's fields are quiet, the Westside Pool Hall in Mendota fills
with farm workers, like Jose Gonzalez Cardenas.
From: Tillie Fong, Sacramento
Bee
Downtown Sacramento beat the
record for the most rain in a 24-hour period for the date on Saturday, posting
1.29 inches. The previous record for Feb. 8 of 1.17 inches was set in 1985.
From: Staff, KCRA 3
Even as rain fell almost
continuously in Sacramento on Sunday, drought was not far from people's
thoughts. Northern Californians said they are grateful for the rain during the
last few days, but want more.
From: Washington Post
California saw a bit of relief
from its extreme drought this past weekend, when big storms dumped rain on the
parched state. But it appears that California won't be spared from another
threat - Washington politicians talking foolishly about the water crisis or,
worse, meddling in the state's efforts to cope.
From: Modesto Bee
Jeff Shields says he's going to
sleep well tonight. Thanks to him, and the people who live in the South San
Joaquin Irrigation District, about 44,000 Tuolumne County residents should
sleep a little better, too.
From: LA Times
If lawmakers could send voters a
November bond measure that would guarantee 150 inches of winter snow in the
Sierra every year, Californians would certainly pass it, even if it cost a few
billion dollars. The snowpack feeds the reservoirs and aqueducts that slake the
thirst of Northern and Southern California, water the crops that power the
economy in the Central Valley, and sustain the state's essential but sensitive
heart and lungs in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta,
Groundwater
From: David Perlman, SF
Chronicle
California's great Central Valley
aquifer and the rivers that feed it, already losing water in the changing
climate, are now being drained because of the drought, leaving water levels at
their lowest in nearly a decade.
Technology
From: Dennis L. Taylor,
Bakersfield Californian
It's human nature to look at your
neighbor's Rain Bird sprinkler watering your driveway and surmise he is the
latest in a long line of dunderheads. You're probably right, but first
impressions can be tricky.
Meetings
From: Staff, Western Farm
Press
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