Delta
From: Alex Breitler, Stockton
Record
Stare[sic] and
federal officials said Tuesday they will temporarily relax protections for fish
in the Delta in order to export more water to drought-ravaged farms and cities,
the latest in a series of similar actions.
Normally, in a critically dry
year like this, a rule kicks in April 1 requiring the amount of water exported
from the Delta to be no greater than the amount of water flowing into the Delta
via the San Joaquin River.
The rule aims to protect
threatened steelhead from getting sucked into the export pumps, and also
benefits other fragile species, such as Chinook salmon.
Coalition response... Times of extraordinary crisis, such as this prolonged drought, demand
that regulations demonstrate some flexibility to ensure that human needs aren't
overwhelmed by rigid bureaucratic rules.
Regulators have determined that
it is a sufficiently low risk to the threatened and endangered species in the
Delta, and are permitting human use diversions to be slightly elevated to
capture some of the excess storm flows we have seen in recent weeks.
Investing in public
infrastructure that can restore the Delta, while stabilizing the water supply
of 25 million Californians and almost 4,000 farms growing food and fiber.
From: Bettina Boxall, Los
Angeles Times
Officials announced Tuesday that
they are temporarily waiving an endangered species protection to enable water
managers to send more Northern California water south.
The move comes as fishery
agencies are under increasing political pressure to take advantage of late
winter storms and ramp up pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the
center of the state's water distribution system.
Coalition response... Contrary to the rhetoric repeated by lawyers of environmental interest
groups, there are no endangered or threatened species being sacrificed by
improving the storage of water south of the delta. Fish surveys have shown that
the species concerned are not near the pumps used to divert water to
California's cities and farms at this time.
Improving the water supply being
stored south of the delta will help ensure that these farms and cities have the
best chance of weathering this dry period, while preparing for the uncertain
water supply of next year.
Improvements in the delta
diversion facilities to allow better control over where water is diverted in
the Delta, such as the BDCP would help eliminate future risk to the species,
restore the delta, and protect the water that 25 million Californians and
almost 4,000 family farms depend on.
Drought
From: Tim Palmer, San
Francisco Chronicle
One peril of being human is that
we often respond poorly to crises. Because we now face one of the worst
droughts in California history, the stage is set to flirt with error on a scale
as colossal as the crisis itself.
The House of Representatives, for
example, passed HR3964 in February to indiscriminately move additional Northern
California water southward, to abandon restoration of the beleaguered San
Joaquin River and to hang our imperiled salmon out to dry. For the first time
ever, a National Wild and Scenic River designation would be rescinded - the
Merced River below Yosemite our unlikely victim. None of this would ease the
drought or solve the problems we face, as noted by Gov. Jerry Brown, who called
the bill "unwelcome and divisive."
Coalition response... California farms have never been more efficient in their use of water.
The often-repeated, but
thoroughly refuted conservation potential from studies by the Pacific Institute
is nothing but a mirage. California's leading irrigation researchers from
independent universities have critiqued many of their conclusions, with typical
academic understatement, as "incorrect."
Researchers at the Center for
Irrigation Technology who actually study irrigation have reported recently that
the potential for increased water use efficiency in agriculture is about 1
percent, or 300,000 acre-feet. If vast improvements in irrigation efficiency
were still possible we wouldn't be seeing almost 1 million acres of farmland
idled this year due to water supply shortages.
People appreciate locally grown
foods, and nowhere in the world are a greater variety grown in the volumes
necessary to feed our growing population. The rural infrastructure that grows,
prepares, and moves, this food relies on the stability of the water rights in
California. Rights that promote investment in rural communities, and
improvements in agricultural efficiency and productivity.
Groundwater
From: Lois Henry, Bakersfield
Californian
Groundwater has officially become
the "new black" in California. As the drought drags on, it is this
season's "must have." Wells are being dropped like mad, people are
worried about subsidence and now the state is talking about ginning up
legislation to finally gain some oversight of the wild west that is the world
of groundwater. It's enough to make your head spin.
But like almost every fashion
craze, this one's just another retread. Oh, yeah -- we've been here before,
almost exactly.
Coalition response... Federal environmental regulations affecting the ability to deliver water
historically delivered through the Delta are the major reason farmers have
returned to groundwater. The projects built over half a century ago are not
being operated in the way they were designed, which had drastically reduced
surface water deliveries to farms, homes and businesses. That is why overdraft
will continue to be an increasing problem for California, not the lack of
regulatory oversight.
Water Use
From: Pete Aiello, San
Francisco Chronicle
There has been a lot of
finger-pointing as California endures a drought, and much of it seems to be
directed toward agriculture. Here's how I see it: Plants need water to grow.
When farmers "use" water, we are growing healthy, affordable, local food.
It doesn't make sense to criticize farmers for using water to grow our food any
more than it does to criticize home builders for using wood to build our homes.
As a California farmer, I can say
we farmers are judicious with our water use and we do our best to make every
drop count. My family's farm started installing drip irrigation systems (think
of a hose with microscopic perforations) in 1985. Drip irrigation allows water
to be applied in the amount needed and at the exact time it is needed, so there
is less waste and the plants respond better. Local experts estimate that 80
percent of local irrigation is done through low-volume irrigation such as drip
tape and micro sprinklers.
Water Supply
From: Jim Carlton, Wall Street
Journal
Recent wet weather has failed to
break California's worst drought in decades, according to measurements showing
the state's snowpack stands at about one-third of its normal average. That
could result in higher prices nationally for some produce grown in the state,
such as nuts, according to food-industry experts.
California has seen more
precipitation since February, and in recent days storms have blanketed the
state's mountains in several feet of snow. Still, Tuesday's surveys by the
Department of Water Resources showed the water content of the snowpack there at
32% of normal. While that is a big jump from a reading of 12% at the end of
January, state officials say that with the wet season about to wind down, it
isn't enough to end a drought that has prompted mandatory rationing and water
cutbacks to farms and cities.
From: Staff, CBS - LA
Authorities say they are capturing
rain falling in the storm lashing California to be used later in what's
expected to be a very dry year.
Mark Cowin of the California
Department of Water Resources said Tuesday that state and federal officials
expect to pump water from the San Joaquin Delta for storage in reservoirs
during the next week - or possibly two - depending on the amount of rain that
falls.
From: Paul Rogers, Contra
Costa Times
The much-welcomed storms that hit
California this week and over the past month increased the Sierra Nevada
snowpack, a critical source of water for cities and farms.
But they didn't end the drought,
experts say. They simply improved a disastrous situation to dismal.
On Tuesday, surveyors for the
state Department of Water Resources reported the snowpack is 32 percent of
average -- the lowest level on April 1 since 1988, when Sierra Nevada snows
were at 29 percent of normal. That was the second year of California's last
major drought, which lasted five years.
From: Philip Reese, Sacramento
Bee
These are strange days for
California water officials. The penultimate snow survey of the season Tuesday
found the Sierra Nevada snowpack holding 32 percent of normal water content - a
relatively dismal reading - and yet many of them expressed relief.
A few months earlier, those water
officials had feared much worse.
From: Michael Gardner, San
Diego Union Tribune
Spring storms delivering
desperately needed snow to the Sierra still fell far short of the 1991
"Miracle March" that rescued California from one of its worst
droughts on record.
The snowpack came in at less than
a third of normal Tuesday, prompting state and federal water managers to
reiterate that they have no immediate plans to turn the tap back on for some of
their largest customers, including the Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California that delivers the vast majority of the San Diego region's supplies.
Drought
From: Alison Vekshin,
BusinessWeek
California's experience with
recurrent drought has prompted such wide adoption of conservation methods that
the current water shortage will have little impact on the state economy,
according to a report by the University of California, Los Angeles.
A study of employment and income
tax growth found no correlation with rainfall or its lack from 1969 to 2012,
according to the UCLA Anderson Forecast.
From: John Holland, Modesto
Bee
Thanks to the early spring
storms, the Turlock Irrigation District has postponed the start of 2014 water
deliveries until at least April 10. The delay, announced Tuesday, could help
farmers stretch a Tuolumne River supply that is expected to be tight because of
the drought.
The Modesto Irrigation District,
TID's partner on the river, is scheduled to start deliveries Sunday, but that
could be moved to a later date based on weather, spokeswoman Melissa Williams
said Tuesday.
Surface Water
From: J.N. Sbranti, Modesto
Bee
A possible way to reduce groundwater
pumping in eastern Stanislaus County's rapidly expanding agricultural region
was proposed Tuesday: Start delivering surplus Oakdale Irrigation District
water there.
OID's governing board voted to
have its staff meet with farmers from Paulsell Valley - in northeast Waterford
- to discuss options for supplying them irrigation water.
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