Sacramento River
From: Tom Philpott, MotherJones.com
California is locked in an
epochal drought-and yet produce aisles nationwide still brim with reasonably
prices fruit and vegetables from the Golden State. How does California continue
proving half of US-grown vegetables under such parched conditions?
Peter Gleick, president of the
president of the Pacific Institute, one of the world's leading think tanks on
water issues, broke it down for me. He says that despite the drought,
California farmers will likely idle only about a half million acres this
year-less than 10 percent of normal plantings, which are about 8 million acres.
And most of the fallowed land will involve "low-value" crops like
cotton and alfalfa (used as a feed for the dairy and beef industries)-not the
stuff you eat directly, like broccoli, lettuce, and almonds.
Coalition response... California's water infrastructure is designed to avoid groundwater
overdraft in the Central Valley. Decades ago, experts came together to
design a system to ensure that future generations would reduce reliance on the
finite groundwater available while fostering economic growth, encouraging
vibrant rural communities, and encouraging investment in improved agricultural
productivity. The system they envisioned would provide other benefits too -
providing critical water for California's growing businesses and cities, reduce
flooding risks, improve the water quality in the Delta, and prepare the people
of California for drought.
The system they designed is the
surface water delivery system we have today. For decades water delivered
reliably through the Central Valley and State Water Projects met these goals.
Reservoirs, canals, levees and pumps were designed to work in concert to
achieve multiple benefits for water users across the state.
While the Central Valley is
certainly one of our State's most important agricultural regions, we can't
neglect the other regions. Consumers are currently enjoying fresh California
produce that is being grown in the sunny southern portion of California, in the
Coachella and Imperial Valleys, areas that have not been significantly impacted
by the drought facing the northern portion of the state. As the year goes on,
food that would have been grown in the Central Valley won't show up in the
produce aisles across the nation. Consumers will be faced with the choice
between more expensive California-grown produce or food grown abroad - food
that is for the most part uninspected as it enters the country, and grown
without the level of accountability for food safety and labor that farmers here
in California have.
Water Supply
From: Raju Chebium, Salinas
Californian
Sen. Dianne Feinstein on
Wednesday applauded a decision by federal and state officials to release more
water in the Central Valley, and pushed for much more supplies to be made
available to the parched farming region.
At a Senate appropriations
subcommittee hearing that she presided over, the California Democrat said the
latest fish surveys show a negligible number of deaths among endangered species
like chinook salmon and the Delta smelt.
From: Raju Chebium, Salinas
Californian
Sen. Dianne Feinstein on
Wednesday applauded a decision by federal and state officials to release more
water in the Central Valley, and pushed for much more supplies to be made
available to the parched farming region.
At a Senate appropriations
subcommittee hearing that she presided over, the California Democrat said the
latest fish surveys show a negligible number of deaths among endangered species
like chinook salmon and the Delta smelt.
Water Bond
From: Peter Jensen, Napa
Valley Register
The Napa County Board of
Supervisors won't support a $6.8 billion water bond measure carried by State
Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, until it contains more funding for water storage and
recycled water projects.
The board was asked to endorse
the package during its meeting Tuesday, but the supervisors said they wouldn't
do so unless it was amended.
Transfers
From: Heather Hacking, Chico
Enterprise-Record
Farmers with surface water rights
are scrambling to decide if they will pump groundwater to make up for cutbacks
from the state water supplies along the Feather and Sacramento rivers.
In the meantime, a
"relatively quiet" proposal to transfer water from Biggs-West Gridley
Water District to south of the delta a has some farmers in the Sacramento
Valley upset.
Mark Kimmelshue, a rice trader,
said he's not opposed to water transfers as a general rule. However, it's
important to look at whether there is a need for local water within the county
before making a sale, he continued.
No comments:
Post a Comment