Water Supply
From: Robert Merrill, Fresno
Bee
California, especially the
Central Valley, is experiencing a serious drought and today there will be a
House Natural Resources Committee hearing starting at 10 a.m. at Fresno City
Hall. Rep. David Valadao, R-Hanford, requested the hearing after the House of
Representatives passed H.R. 3964, and several GOP congressmen are chastising
the U.S. Senate for not being attentive to demands contained in the House bill.
H.R. 3964 appears largely a
rewrite of Rep. Devin Nunes' previous bills. Nunes, R-Tulare, and Rep. Tom
McClintock, R-Elk Grove, through their extreme statements seem to prefer an
"environment" of cement-lined canals instead of rivers. They also
pick and choose facts to fit their positions and fail to understand or ignore
climate change and the geologic record.
Coalition response... Mr. Merrill effectively echoes
the chorus of environmental interest talking points in the context of his
field, geology - but in doing so he repeats persistent mistakes found in many
of the arguments regarding agriculture. These errors, paired with advocacy for
sweeping and intrusive changes to property rights are disheartening and
disturbing.
By any measure, California
agriculture has already answered the call of conservation and efficiency. In
the last 10 years farmers have spent almost $3 billion upgrading irrigation
systems on more than 2.4 million acres. These and other improvements have
nearly doubled production while applied water use has declined by 14.5 percent.
These and other investments in efficiency have resulted in leading irrigation
researchers at the Center for Irrigation Technology and CSU Fresno to determine
the actual amount of conservation potential from California agriculture is
about 300,000 acre feet, or about 1 percent of typical applied water.
Farmers, long criticized for
growing "low value" annual crops have been driven toward selecting
higher value crop choices like pistachios (a crop particularly well-adapted to
dry climates) and almonds by economic considerations (high labor, land and
regulatory costs) unique to California, in addition to efforts to optimize
returns on their effort. This "demand hardening" has been paired with
an overall change in irrigation methods to improve the precise application of
water to the crop through drip and microirrigation.
Mr. Merrill disappointingly
attempts in his conclusion to create a false-conflict by providing a faceless
scapegoat, when in fact there are over 80,000 farms in California, of that- 96%
are controlled by families, not corporate machines.
Water Supply
From: Matt Weiser, Sacramento
Bee
California and federal water
officials say there is enough runoff in the Delta from recent storms to begin
delivering some water to farms, potentially offering at least temporary drought
relief.
On Feb. 1, the State Water
Resources Control Board approved a temporary order exempting the California
Department of Water Resources and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation from some water
quality standards in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to help retain water
stored in upstream reservoirs. The exemption was approved on the condition that
the agencies jointly divert no more than 1,500 cubic feet per second, and only
for public health and safety purposes, which generally means urban uses.
From: Sharon Bernstein,
Reuters
Drought-plagued California will
ease some protection for fish in the fragile San Joaquin-Sacramento River
Delta, officials said Tuesday, a move expected to make more water available for
farming and ease political tensions in an election year.
The move marks a retreat from
restrictions imposed earlier in the year which had widely been expected to be
tightened further, rather than eased, and was welcomed in the agricultural
community.
From: Bettina Boxall, Los
Angeles Times
Thanks to February storms, state
officials are slightly easing drought restrictions on water deliveries, but the
changes won't make a difference to most of the state. The prime beneficiaries
will be Central Valley irrigation districts with the most senior water rights.
Although last month's above
average rainfall in Northern California improved the water supply picture
somewhat, officials Tuesday continued to predict that the big state and federal
water projects that help supply a majority of Californians will deliver little
or no water to most agricultural and urban agencies this year.
From: Andrew Creasey,
Marysville Appeal-Democrat
There now will be enough water
for some agricultural deliveries, after human health and safety needs are met,
state and federal officials said Tuesday, although some contractors without
senior water rights could see no surface deliveries in 2014.
In a media conference call,
department heads from the Department of Water Resources, Bureau of Reclamation
and the State Water Resources Control Board gave updates on the drought and
detailed the latest decision to decrease Delta outflows, but did not provide
any information about how much water would be available for water contractors.
The modification of the temporary
urgency change petition originally signed on Jan. 31 will decrease Delta outflows
- used to protect aquatic habitat - from 11,000 cubic feet per second to 7,100
cubic feet per second.
From: Staff, Modesto Bee
When it comes to water, we're so
desperate for good news that even not-so-bad news sounds good.
That's how we characterize
Tuesday's announcement by three key water officials that they would modify the
state's emergency drought order to allow them more flexibility in delivering
what little water we have to those who need it most.
They didn't promise more water.
They didn't say that our wanderings through the desert of drought have ended.
All they said was that February's slightly above-average rainfall in the
Sacramento watershed means there might be enough to share at least a little
with deserving farmers."
From: Raquel Cervantes, Yourcentralvalley.com
Some farmers with senior water
rights may be receiving water from state and federal contracts, according to an
announcement made Tuesday during a conference call Tuesday from the U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation, California Department of Water Resources and the State Water
Resources Control Board.
From: Staff, AP
Officials say February's rain
storms pleasantly boosted the state's water supply, but California remains in
the throes of a drought.
Tom Howard, executive officer of
the State Water Resources Control Board, said Tuesday he will sign an order
allowing water to be pumped from the San Joaquin Delta. But how any extra water
gets allocated is up to state and federal authorities that oversee a pair of
vast waterways.
From: Alex Breitler, Stockton
Record
With February's storms a distant
memory, officials on Tuesday announced steps to bypass water quality standards
in the Delta while perhaps making water available to San Joaquin Valley
farmers.
Last month's storms boosted the
amount of water flowing through the Delta, as well as the amount that could be
pumped south from the estuary.
From: Rob Parsons, Merced
Sun-Star
Most drought-plagued Merced
Irrigation District farmers will receive just 6 inches of water per acre during
this year's truncated irrigation season. "People are used to having 3-plus
acre-feet per acre over a seven-month season, so this is quite a cutback,"
MID General Manager John Sweigard said Tuesday.
Irrigation water is measured per
acre-foot, which is the amount of water required to cover an acre of land 1
foot deep, or about 325,900 gallons.
Meetings
From: Staff, KSEE 24
Another push toward water reform
is on it's way to the Valley. Republican lawmakers are holding a water
rally and hearing Wednesday morning at Fresno's City Hall, where they hope to
spur solutions to what's being called a 'broken system.' The hope is for a very
large crowd, because the bigger the crowd, the stronger the message.
Lawmakers say the main message is the need for immediate and long term
solutions.
The hopes are high for Wednesday's
water rally and hearing at Fresno's city hall. Congressmen Devin Nunes
and David Valadao are expecting a big turn out. Congressman David Valadao,
(R-Hanford) says, "Continue to shine a light on this issue and hopefully
deliver a win for us and get the senate to deliver a bill."
From: Mark Grossi, Fresno Bee
About 1,000 people jammed into
the rodeo grounds Tuesday near the San Joaquin River, roaring approval for
politicians and farm leaders who criticized Sacramento's handling of
California's water crisis.
A few hours later in Sacramento,
state water leaders made a change in the drought emergency orders issued
earlier this year to assure farmers they would be able to get whatever water
becomes available.
From: Gene Haagenson, KFSN 30
A rally was called to protest a
state plan to divert more water from farms to cities. But Governor Jerry Brown
killed that plan just before the rally started. A crowd of at least 1,000
gathered at the rodeo grounds in Firebaugh to hear farm interests, and
politicians rally the crowd to fight the government, and big cities for Valley
water.
Cannon Michael with Bowles
Farming warned the crowd, "They've got their foot on our neck and they are
going to keep on going. Its groundwater next surface water is gone today right,
groundwater is next they are already talking about it."
Groundwater
From: Ian James, Desert Sun
Hydrologist Brian Thomas has
pored over decades of groundwater data from water agencies in the Coachella
Valley, and he says the declines in much of the aquifer highlight a need for
the area to find ways to cut back on water use.
Thomas, a postdoctoral scholar at
the UC Center for Hydrologic Modeling at UC Irvine, is one in a list of water
scientists and experts who will attend a symposium in Palm Springs on Thursday
focusing on drought and water scarcity in the West. His research on groundwater
in the Coachella Valley has helped document how the area's aquifer has been
depleted over the years despite deliveries of imported water from the Colorado
River.
From: Lois Henry, Bakersfield
Californian
I know you've all been on the
edge of your seats wondering what the heck that recent legal ruling on the Kern
Water Bank really means.
Here's the short answer: No one
knows yet. But it could be big. Very big. Like, big enough to possibly
jeopardize a major housing development planned by Tejon Ranch and/or put a
serious hurt on mega corporate farming operations in Kern County.
No comments:
Post a Comment