Fisheries
From: George Skelton, Los
Angeles Times
Don't blame the little fish. And
don't call it the Central Valley. Both comments, repeated incessantly, were
irritants during President Obama's visit to parched California farm country
last week.
The president was there-in the
San Joaquin Valley-to cuddle with water hogs.
The hogs are large growers who
use lots of water, have just about run out and are angry because they're being
denied other people's. And they keep complaining that the government is
favoring a little "bait fish" over farmers.
Coalition response... While George's singular affinity for salmon is obvious in this opinion -
there are a few points that require additional consideration. First, salmon,
like almonds, peaches, bell peppers, cantaloupe, (among hundreds of others
produced in the areas he describes) is just one of the many food products
California produces on water that flows through Delta. Also produced with this
water from the Delta are jobs in the Los Angeles Basin. While Southern
California has done a tremendous job investing in local storage and efficiency
that will hopefully carry it through this period of drought, the future path of
Southern California's prosperity, and in fact the entire state's prosperity,
are undeniably tied to the water systems in the Delta.
George takes great pains to paint
a picture in his piece that diversions are the sole cause of salmon decline- a
convenient excuse, but nothing in life is that simple. Salmon are impacted by
numerous factors in the Delta, not the least of which is predatory species such
as bass - in fact, recent studies show that fewer than 10% of baby salmon
hatched upstream make it alive out to sea. Among the many quotes by
representatives of the commercial fishing industry is the quote by Zeke Grader
that the salmon fleet of 1,000 ships is much smaller than in 1980, when it had
nearly 5,700 ships. What is missing from Zeke's comment is that in 2003 and
2004, 1,500 commercial salmon ships were able to bring in the same weight of
salmon as in 1980 - landing over 6 million pounds of salmon in each of those
years; in 2012 the yield per ship was approximately twice that of 1980. It
might be fair to say that commercial fishing fleet is also improving the
efficiency of their operations.
Water Supply
From: Mark Grossi, Fresno Bee
San Joaquin Valley farmers are
expecting devastating water news Friday -- the worst-ever forecast for federal
water delivery, reflecting the landmark dry season.
Federal Central Valley Project
leaders are expected to announce an unprecedented zero allocation for more than
2 million acres, spanning both east and west sides of the country's most
productive farmland.
From: Erik Schatzker,
Bloomberg
It's hard to believe that
statistics understate what is going on in California, they are calling this the
biggest route in more than a century -- the biggest drought in more than a
century, everything is unbelievably dry, no matter where you go in the state.
I was in the sierra through the
central valley, the farms, out to the coastal vineyards like this one, we are
not too far from the pacific coast. All those people and industries in
California are feeling the drought now.
From: Heather Hacking, Chico
Enterprise-Record
An unprecedented drought and
water cutbacks of unprecedented proportion are sweeping through the Sacramento
Valley. This time it was Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District's turn to hear the
dry news: the lowest amount of water in its history and significantly less than
required by its water contract.
Last weekend the Bureau of
Reclamation sent a letter stating the district would receive 40 percent of its
usual allocation of water from the Sacramento River.
From: Anthony York, Los
Angeles Times
Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative
leaders unveiled a proposed $687.4-million drought-relief package Wednesday to
free up water supplies and aid Californians facing financial ruin because of
the state's prolonged dry spell.
The proposal would provide
millions of dollars to clean up drinking water, improve conservation and make
irrigation systems more efficient. It would increase penalties for those who
illegally divert water.
From: Jenny Espino, Redding
Record-Searchlight (Subscription required)
Redding and other senior water
rights holders say they will challenge a federal agency's decision to slash
water deliveries by as much as 60 percent for the year.
Allocations from the Sacramento
River provide nearly half of Redding's water, meaning the city will have to
rely on groundwater and voluntary conservation efforts to meet demands to the
levels of those from three years ago.
From: Staff, KCRA 3
Gov. Jerry Brown and other state
leaders announced Wednesday proposed legislation that would provide $687
million to deal with the effects of California's worsening drought.
The governor announced the
legislative proposal during a news conference Wednesday at Mather, describing
it as "a call to action" as the nation's most populous state deals
with one of the driest periods on record.
Brown was joined by Assembly
Speaker John Perez and Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg at Mather for
the announcement.
From: Fenit Nirappil, AP
Gov. Jerry Brown and the top
Democratic lawmakers on Wednesday announced a $687 million plan to provide
immediate help to drought-stricken communities throughout California, including
$15 million for those with dangerously low drinking water supplies.
The proposal comes amid one of
the driest periods in the history of the nation's most populous state, forcing
farmers to fallow fields and some communities to warn of low water supplies.
From: Laurel Rosenhall,
Sacramento Bee
Gov. Jerry Brown and legislative
leaders on Wednesday unveiled a proposal to spend roughly $687 million to
alleviate the impacts of California's drought, including efforts to clean and
recycle water, improve conservation, capture rain, and give emergency food and
housing assistance to farmworkers who will be out of work because their fields
are fallow.
From: Jean Jubb, Sacramento
Bee
Re "Drought may not be
state's fate" (Capitol & California, Feb. 17): Can anyone explain to
me why the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the California Department of Water
Resources systematically drained northern California reservoirs last summer?
Southern California reservoir
Pyramid Lake is at 96 percent of capacity and Castaic at 86 percent. They have
enough water to supply all their needs until 2016.
Farming
From: Gene Haagenson, Fresno
Bee
The drought in California is
having its biggest impact on agriculture. With virtually no water available in
the state and federal water projects, growers are giving up on some crops.
Thousands of acres of land will
not be in production this year, and that means a big hit to the local economy
and the loss of thousands of jobs. Because of the drought, dusty fields in
Western Fresno County won't be growing anything this year.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Staff, Sacramento Bee; Modesto Bee; Merced Sun-Star
Call it a deep reality check. In a severe drought year, with the comment
period winding down on Gov. Jerry Brown's proposed twin tunnels project to
divert water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the Standard & Poor's
credit rating agency has issued a sobering report.
The cost of construction would be
high, the report says, and would be borne largely by those benefiting from the
project, the water contractors south of the Delta, "regardless of the
amount of water delivered from the Delta."
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