Drought
From: Mike Dunbar, Merced
Sun-Star
Here's a best-case scenario:
In the name of helping endangered
fish, the state takes 40 percent of the water flowing down the Tuolumne,
Stanislaus and Merced rivers and sends it to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta,
leaving a third less for irrigation. Farmers start pumping more groundwater for
their trees and vines. After a couple of droughts, there isn't enough
groundwater left, and the trees and vines begin dying. Everyone loses. Meanwhile,
south valley farmers get guaranteed water deliveries from the new gigantic
tunnels near Sacramento. With this reliable supply, their trees and vines
flourish; their land prices rise and they make huge profits when there's no
competition from nut farmers to the north.
Coalition response... Proposals by the State water Resources Control Board aren't about
making water users whole in one part of the state at the expense of others.
It's about the continual shift of developed water supplies from farms, homes
and businesses to meet more recent environmental priorities.
Mike Dunbar's call for more
storage is right on the money. His misunderstanding is that moving water under
the Delta through tunnels would harm the Delta. In-depth research conducted to complete
the environmental review documents show that is incorrect. The system is
designed to move water at times of the year when it is abundant so we only move
water in quantities that won't impact water users or the ecosystem. When it's
dry, little or no water will be diverted.
Water Storage
From: Sarah Null, UC Davis: californiawaterblog.com
In California, we ask water
managers to do the near-impossible task of managing rivers for both
environmental and economic objectives, which are often at odds. Where we have
repeatedly failed to stem or reverse environmental problems, environmental
regulation can drive water management.
California's Bay Delta - a water
source for 25 million people and about 3 million acres of farmland - is a prime
example. No sooner did Gov. Jerry Brown declare a statewide drought emergency
in January than enforcers of the Endangered Species Act ordered big cuts in
Delta water exports to protect the delta smelt, a native species on the brink
of extinction.
Coalition response... Sarah Null underestimates the value of dams and reservoirs for flood
control, a primary reason many of them, including Pine Flat Dam, were built.
Claiming in her piece, "California will face increased water scarcity with
the anticipated warmer and drier climate," is at odds with every climate
scientist that suggest future climate change will likely introduce more need to
artificially store rainfall when it occurs. Warmer, wetter storms will actually
increase wet runoff, making projects like Pine Flat and others even more
valuable for capturing water supplies and diverting them to groundwater storage
in the future.
Drought
From: Diana Aguilera, Valley
Public Radio
Schools on the east side of
Fresno County are already feeling the impact of California's ongoing drought.
Education officials from the Kings Canyon Unified District say they have seen a
significant drop in attendance this year.
Superintendent Juan Garza says
families have been forced to relocate, taking their school aged children with
them. Come August of next school year, there may be even less kids having fun
on the playground.
From: Staff, KSEE 24
The governor's drought task force
visited Tulare on Monday. The group met with community leaders from all over
the valley. It's the latest in a series of water meetings taking place
throughout the state.
From: Rick Elkins, Porterville
Recorder
The old saying "Every drop
helps" could never be more true than this historic drought year and for
citrus growers in the Terra Bella area, a few more drops may mean the difference
between trees surviving or dying. This week, growers got a bit of good news
from Sean Geivet, general manager of the Terra Bella Irrigation District.
From: Juan Villa, Visalia
Times-Delta
Leaders of Gov. Jerry Brown's
Drought Task Force visited Tulare Monday to speak with locals about their needs
and concerns regarding the drought.
The closed meeting took place at
the Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner's office with government officials,
water managers, agricultural commissioners and local tribe leaders from Tulare,
Fresno, Kings and Kern counties in attendance.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Matt Weiser, Sacramento
Bee
Construction planning for the
giant water diversion tunnels proposed in the California Delta is about to be
handed off to a new entity, one that gives a prominent role to the water
diverters that will benefit from the project.
The California Department of
Water Resources, which has led the project engineering so far, has agreed to
start sharing that duty in a joint powers arrangement with the water agencies
it serves, including the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and
the Kern County Water Agency.
Groundwater
From: Wayne Zipser, Modesto
Bee
Three years of ongoing drought
conditions in California, and particularly in the Central Valley, have left
surface-water reservoir supplies at record lows. In response, as there is
nowhere else to turn during dry times, groundwater use has increased to make up
for the lack of surface water to meet the needs of our cities and farms.
Groundwater has historically been
used this way in California as the "dry-year bank account." This is
nothing new.
From: Jay Jasperse, Santa Rosa
Press Democrat
There is nothing more frightening
for a landowner than turning on the tap and nothing comes out. Hardware
problems are often the culprit. But what happens when the lack of water at the
tap means that the well has run dry? In Sonoma County's third year of drought,
this nightmare scenario seems a growing possibility to many residents and farmers.
Water Transfers
From: Garth Stapley, Modesto
Bee
Farmers might be waiting to see
what the Modesto Irrigation District board will do Tuesday before committing to
water transfers. As of Monday, only three farmers had signed up to buy
additional water freed up by others in a fixed-price program managed by the
district, and 18 sellers and buyers submitted transfer requests in open-market
deals handled among themselves in a second program.
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