Water Supply
From: Peter Fimrite, San
Francisco Chronicle
Snow surveyors are expected to
tromp out into the Sierra powder Tuesday under a soft, steady patter of
comforting precipitation, but the spring moisture is a cruel oasis in
California's desert of drought, according to leading climate and weather gurus.
The pounding rain along the coast
and fluffy snow in the mountains this week won't come close to solving the
state's mounting water crisis, which has forced the state to turn off the
spigot in many communities, a scenario that experts say is threatening farms,
fish and homeowners.
Coalition response...The Pacific Institute and Natural Resources Defense Council have joined
together in a tag team effort to ignore many of the facts about agricultural
irrigation and practical on-farm water use.
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 possible we wouldn't be seeing almost 1 million acres of farmland idled
this year due to water supply shortages. Gravity irrigation, when managed
properly, is an efficient form of irrigation both in water use and energy
conservation and is appropriate for many crops in California. The irresponsible
rhetoric from these two environmental organizations will lead to a
disaster among California farmers while more and more water goes to serve
environmental purposes with no measurable benefits.
Water Storage
From: Staff, Chico
Enterprise-Record
On a warm spring day 13 years
ago, three Enterprise-Record journalists took a tour of bucolic Antelope
Valley, west of Maxwell, where top state water officials talked about building
a reservoir. They said they were getting ready to start feasibility studies and
get moving on the project.
Thirteen years later, on a warm
springlike day, two of the same journalists went back again. Nothing had
changed in the verdant valley, which blessedly seems to be about a century
behind the rest of the world. Cattle still outnumbered people. And this time it
wasn't top state water officials talking about building a reservoir, but two
powerful federal officials. They said they would push for feasibility studies
so they could get moving on the reservoir.
Coalition response... Claims that the tunnels proposed in the BDCP divert water that isn't
available are simply untrue. The tunnels, which are part of a greater effort to
improve water supply reliability and restore the Delta are intended to divert
flows that would otherwise be captured at the south Delta pumps. This
water has been reliably available for decades. Creating a second place of
diversion helps to improve the flexibility of the state's water management
system, protecting endangered and threatened species like salmon and smelt
while improving the water supply reliability to millions of Californians and
thousands of California farmers who produce food and fiber with that
water. Environmental regulations and protocols are preventing the
diversion of water that could be captured at no risk to threatened and
endangered species.
Drought
From: Cannon Michael, Maven's
Notebook
California is experiencing a
drought. It isn't the first and it won't be the last. This year
only briefly started on par with the last big drought of 1977. Storms in
February and March have pulled California out of that driest trajectory - see
chart - and more storms are on the horizon.
Key reservoirs, such as Shasta,
Folsom and Oroville in the northern Sierras are low as well as the San Luis
Reservoir south of the Delta. These are key components of the Central
Valley Project and the State Water Project. Zero allocations have been
made for the Federal, State and Friant Contractors - 4,000,000 acres of
productive farmland has been allocated no surface water for 2014. Looking
back at the 1977 drought year, the Federal westside and Friant farmers all had
25% allocations, the State contractors had 40%. So why are things so different
now? Why with the improving hydrology are we still seeing no improvements
in allocation?
From: Staff, KGPE 47
The drought could have a big
impact on valley air. According to the Valley Air Pollution Control District,
idle farmland is creating a dust hazard and it could pollute the air. In Kings
County alone, an estimated 100,000 acres of land will be left fallow. This is
land farmers are choosing not to cultivate due to the lack of water. Normally,
farmers use water to control dust in these fields but that's not an option.
Instead, the Air Pollution Control District is recommending the use of a
chemical alternative or nut shells to block the dust.
From: David Bienick, KCRA 3
Recent rains have kept lawns lush
and caused reservoirs to rise in Northern California, but water officials warn
the drought is still far from over, and shortages may still be coming.
"It looks pretty good. Looks
really hopeful that will have enough water for our summer," said Steve
Symkowick, of Orangevale, as he and his wife looked out over Folsom Lake on
Monday afternoon.
Water Supply
From: Antoine Abou-Diwan,
Imperial Valley Press
Water experts called for
increased water conservation measures Monday as they discussed California's
water supply. The situation is grim. California is in a severe drought, with
every part of the state feeling some degree of water stress, said Peter Gleick,
discussing the California Department of Water Resources April snow survey
during a telephone news conference. He is the president of the Pacific
Institute.
"Snowpack measurement on
April 1 is often a key measure of where we are," said Peter Gleick,
president of the Pacific Institute. "By any measures, our snowpack is
low."
From: Dale Yurong, KFSN 30
On Tuesday the Department of
Water Resources will take the state's final snowpack survey of the season.
Unfortunately, our latest storm basically amounts to a drop in the bucket.
A miracle march never
materialized in this our third straight drought year. Despite our recent storms
the snowpack still looks bleak - a third of normal. The final snowpack survey
of the season will give us an idea of how much water is available for the
spring and summer.
Groundwater
From: Lester Snow, San
Francisco Chronicle
Mother Nature's last-ditch effort
to make a dent in the drought with last week's rain and snow won't make any
real difference for California's water supply in 2014. The state will conduct
its final measurement of snowpack in the Sierra Nevada today - an indicator of
how much snow will melt and flow into our rivers, ultimately making its way to
cities and farms throughout California. We don't need that measurement to know
that the drought persists and water supplies remain scarce.
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