Water Supply
From: Staff, Associated Press
Officials said Tuesday that, for
the first time in decades, they plan to tap water stored behind a dam east of
Fresno, as they try to help California farmers through the ongoing drought.
Pablo Arroyave of the U.S. Bureau
of Reclamation said in a conference call with reporters that low water levels
in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta have forced officials to turn to Friant Dam
on the San Joaquin River. The dam forms the Millerton Lake reservoir.
From: Staff, Porterville
Recorder
It is looking more certain that
growers on the east side of the Valley, including those in eastern Tulare
County, will get no water out of Millerton Lake.On Tuesday, officials said
that, for the first time ever, they plan to tap water stored behind a dam east
of Fresno for west side growers and that no water will be sent down the Friant
Kern Canal.
"They has just basically
said we don't have an obligation to meet their contracts on the east
side," said an angry Joel Nelsen, president of California Citrus Mutual.
He said the lack of water threatens 50,000 acres of citrus in Fresno, Tulare and
Kern counties. Of that, roughly 7,000 acres in the Terra Bella area are at high
risk because they do not have the ability to pump water from the underground.
It is unknown how many thousands of acres of other crops will be impacted on
the east side.
From: Tim Hearden, Capital
Press
Federal officials boosted water
allocations for farms and wildlife along the San Joaquin River, but little
relief appears headed to the state's beleaguered citrus belt. U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation officials announced May 13 that exchange contractors along the
river will get 529,000 acre-feet of water this year - about 65 percent of their
normal allocation. They had been slated to receive 40 percent.
Some high-priority wildlife
refuges in the region will see a similar boost. To accomplish the increases,
Reclamation will begin releasing water from Friant Dam near Fresno as well as
from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
Drought
From: Staff, KSEE 24
Thousands of people impacted by
the drought received some much needed relief in Firebaugh. Thanks in part
to the Community Food Bank, as well as the state's drought relief package,
struggling Valley families will now have food on their tables. Part of
the state drought relief included food and funding for local food banks, and
people who would normally be working, instead lined up to feed their families.
The lines were long in Firebaugh
Tuesday; the longest they've ever been as the ongoing drought leaves thousands
without work and food.
From: Staff, ACWA News Blog
Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday
released his revised budget proposal - a $156.2 billion spending plan that
provides an additional $142 million for drought-related expenditures such as
increased fire protection, enhanced salmon monitoring and more funding for the
Save Our Water campaign.
Brown's budget replaces his
$154.9 billion 2014-15 budget plan released in January. The new proposal
reflects an increase in projected revenues and significantly bolsters spending
on Medi-Cal.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: John Howard, Capitol
Weekly
Gov. Jerry Brown delivered an
impassioned defense of his ambitious plan to drill huge tunnels through the
delta east of San Francisco to move more northern water south, saying
California's economic well-being depended on it.
Brown said during a state budget
briefing that the huge public works project - easily, the largest in the
nation's history - "is an economic necessity that I've laid out, not
because I want a legacy but because it appears absolutely imperative for the
economic well-being of the people of California into the future."
Water Transfers
From: Garth Stapley, Modesto
Bee
On split votes Tuesday, the
Modesto Irrigation District board made it easier on several fronts for farmers
to buy and sell water locally. But participants still might have to provide
some private well information.
MID management backed off
considerably from stringent transfer rules proposed three weeks ago, and the
board majority on Tuesday made another huge concession by erasing this week's
application deadline. Rather than pinpointing by Thursday how much water would
be transferred in individual deals between farmers for the entire season,
farmers can submit staggered requests by deadlines of June 1, July 1 and Aug.
1.
Farming News
From: Pam Shallock,
Bakersfield Californian
Beth Brookhart Pandol ("Tired rhetoric undermines hard work of Central Valley
growers," May 12) reminded me of an agriculture seminar for
teachers years ago. What an eye-opener it was.
Less than 2 percent of our
population grow the food we eat and export to feed our world. California can
compete with nations when it comes to food production. The highlight of that
week was spending a morning with a farmer, shadowing what he did in a normal
morning. While I have to know about children and education, they have to know
about biology, chemistry, physics, labor relations and laws, finances, economic
trends, markets, mechanical engineering, meteorology, product development,
politics, animal husbandry, pest control, technology and water. Each season,
farmers take a risk. They may see a financial benefit at the end of the harvest
or they might lose big.
From: Staff, KGO 7
The extreme heat wave is creating
a dilemma for fruit and vegetable growers. The drought has put pressure on them
to conserve water. A new water conservation project is now underway that's
employing high-tech methods to find the best balance to water plants but not
hurt the quality.
Sherrie's Farm in Gilroy, like
many in South Santa Clara County, has switched to drip irrigation to save
water. But growers now have a new tool to add to intuition and years of
experience to know when to adjust water usage.
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