News, Articles, and Links from June 13, 2014

Lawsuit targets Delta water shipments

From: Alex Breitler, Stockton Record Environmentalists sued Wednesday to block proposed water transfers from Northern California to the drought-plagued south San Joaquin Valley, arguing that the plan fails to protect the fragile Delta. Under the federal government's plan, willing sellers in the north would allow water to flow down the Sacramento River into the Delta, where the giant export pumps near Tracy would deliver it to southland farms, where very little water is available this summer. Coalition response... The State Water Resources Control Board, in typical deliberate fashion, consulted with experts at the US Fish and Wildlife Service when making it's decision to rebalance Delta flow standards this year.  The experts at USFWS acknowledged that water transfers would occur this year and that they posed no threat to Delta smelt.

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Drought

Can California Conserve Its Way Through Drought? From: Brian Howard, National Geographic     From: Alex Breitler, Stockton RecordEnvironmentalists sued Wednesday to block proposed water transfers from Northern California to the drought-plagued south San Joaquin Valley, arguing that the plan fails to protect the fragile Delta. Under the federal government's plan, willing sellers in the north would allow water to flow down the Sacramento River into the Delta, where the giant export pumps near Tracy would deliver it to southland farms, where very little water is available this summer. Coalition response... The State Water Resources Control Board, in typical deliberate fashion, consulted with experts at the US Fish and Wildlife Service when making it's decision to rebalance Delta flow standards this year.  The experts at USFWS acknowledged that water transfers would occur this year and that they posed no threat to Delta smelt. As California enters the hottest months of the summer in the midst of a devastating drought, the state appears to be falling short of Governor Jerry Brown's calls for sweeping cuts in water use. In January, Brown declared a state of drought emergency and called on Californians to slash water consumption by 20 percent this year. Three months later, he stressed that "the driest months are still to come in California and extreme drought conditions will get worse."

Report: California's water savings untapped From: Antoine Abou-Diwan, Imperial Valley Press  California can come up with more than enough water to fulfill its cities' needs by implementing municipal and agricultural efficiency measures, recycling wastewater and capturing storm runoff, according to a report published recently. Some 14 million acre-feet of water - more than twice the water deficit that the state runs every year - can be saved if agencies statewide implement aggressive water management and conservation measures, according to the Pacific Institute and the natural Resources Defense Council.

Valley Drought 2014: Citrus Trees Being Yanked Out From: Rich Rodriguez, KMPHThousands of acres of almond trees have been dozed over on the Valley's Westside due to the drought and now the same thing is happening to citrus groves on the Eastside.  Thursday grower Lee Bailey watched as a bulldozer pushed over 12 acres of orange trees near Orange Cove. Bailey farms the grove for two nieces.  He says they pulled them out for a number of reasons.  "We've had to pick some lots with low production and this is some of them and we're pushing out two different blocks." Bailey says they spent 100-thousand dollars for extra water and the gamble didn't pay off.  To make matters worse the oranges on the trees pushed out were frozen in October and the fruit wasn't good enough to be salvaged for juice