News articles and links from July 14, 2014

Drought

EDITORIAL: Water limits should apply to all users

From: Staff, San Jose Mercury News

The California State Water Resources Control Board will decide next week whether to impose mandatory limits on urban water use and slap violators with fines of up to $500 a day. This begs two questions:

1) What took it so long?

2) Why aren't agricultural water users, who gulp 80 percent of California's usable supply, getting the same attention?

Coalition response...According to the State's Department of Water Resources, only 41% of the state's water supply goes to growing food and fiber. 49% goes to environmental uses, while the rest goes to our state's cities and industry. While the food and fiber we enjoy is definitely thirsty this year - it certainly doesn't gulp 80% of the water in the state.

Not only are farmers already implementing conservation measures, they were the first to bear the brunt of surface water shortages. The consequences of these shortages cascade through the rural communities that have grown up to work some of the rarest, most valuable soils in the world, and into the cities that enjoy their produce. While the hardships of the shortages will be felt most severely in the rural communities as surging unemployment, strained civic services, and business downturns - our urban centers will also be reminded at the checkout stand when buying locally grown produce.

It's worth repeating that farmers were encouraged to plant a lot of high value permanent crops prior to the destabilization of surface water supplies. Farmers remember well the criticisms leveled against them only a few short decades ago for raising annual crops on the same land they are now being criticized for growing trees and vines on...

Water Supply

OPINION: Busting water conservation myths

From: P. Gleick, K. Poole, R. Wilkinson, Sacramento Bee

As a solution for California's complex water challenges, conserving water to get more from every drop stands out for its great potential and the misconceptions around it.

A recent op-ed column, "Putting two myths about the state's drought to rest" (Viewpoints, July 6), repeated three misstatements about conservation that are often used to delay implementing strategies for more efficient water use. Until these misunderstandings are corrected, common-sense improvements will continue to be underfunded and inadequately pursued. The failure to use proven and cost-effective efficiency programs can be seen in the limited attention to conservation in the state water bond proposals and only modest efforts of some water agencies.

Your Almond Habit Is Sucking California Dry

From: Tom Philpott, Mother Jones

California farmers will reap a record 2.1 billion pounds of almonds this year, the USDA estimates-about three times as much as they did in 2000. That's great news for the world's growing horde of almond eaters, because the state's groves supply 80 percent of the global harvest.

San Joaquin River

OPINION: San Joaquin River's hard-won restoration is under threat

From: Tim Palmer, Sacramento Bee

Since 2009, the San Joaquin River has been celebrated as a path-breaking example of restoration. But this year, Central California's largest river has the dubious distinction of being on the conservation group American Rivers' "most endangered" list because it's so overtapped.

A panicked response to the drought could worsen the situation.

Transfers

Recycled water issue returns to Turlock

From: Staff, Modesto Bee

The board of the Turlock Irrigation District will talk Tuesday evening about supplying some of its Tuolumne River water to a treatment plant proposed for three cities.

The board will consider "certain proposed terms and conditions" that would be attached to any agreement to provide the water to Turlock, Ceres and south Modesto, according to the agenda. The project, which has been discussed off and on since the 1980s, could reduce their reliance on wells.

Fresno judge denies move to stop water transfers

From: Mark Grossi, Fresno Bee

A federal judge in Fresno on Friday rejected a motion for a preliminary injunction against irrigation water transfers from Northern California to the San Joaquin Valley.

A fishing group and a Northern California environmental advocacy group in June asked the court to stop water transfers, saying federal leaders are jeopardizing the protected delta smelt. The plaintiffs are AquAlliance and the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, both nonprofit groups.

Bay Delta Conservation Plan

Unusual water deals struck in drought-stricken Central Valley ag country

From: M. Grossi, R. Rodriguez, Fresno Bee  

In drought-scarred farm country, coffee shop talk turns obsessively to water and its cost - which several months ago hit a shocking $1,000 per acre-foot and then climbed to more than $2,000.

But it's far too simple to say drought-buster deals in the San Joaquin Valley are all about making a pile of money. A sale in the last week featured a compassionate offer of San Joaquin River water at only $250 per acre-foot.

News articles and links from July 11, 2014

Water Supply 

EDITORIAL: Saving Water in California

From: Staff, New York Times

California is in the third year of its worst drought in decades. But you wouldn't know it by looking at how much water the state's residents and businesses are using. According to a recent state survey, Californians cut the amount of water they used in the first five months of the year by just 5 percent, far short of the 20 percent reduction Gov. Jerry Brown called for in January. In some parts of the state, like the San Diego area, water use has actually increased from 2013.

Coalition response... A persistent myth repeated in this opinion is that 80% of California's water is used to grow food and fiber. This is wrong. California's Department of Water Resources reports that water use is quite different from this claim. The State reports that, in fact only about 41% of water is used to grow food and fiber, approximately 10% goes to drive commerce and be used in homes, while 49% goes to the environment.

Despite the repeated claims of the environmental interest groups Pacific Institute and NRDC, who have sought for years to sell the public a false message of vast agricultural water waste, their estimates of water that can be conserved were soundly dismissed by leading university researchers in 2009 and 2011 as grossly overstated.

While the installation of precision irrigation methods gives better control over when water is applied, research shows that the volume of water used often increases with the use of technologies such as drip. This increased use translates to greater productivity per plant, better plant health, and higher quality food for us to enjoy. Flood irrigation, often maligned, often proves a very efficient method of irrigating, particularly when coupled with laser leveling of fields, and usually require less energy to operate than drip systems.

Water Supply

OPINION: California's Low On Water? Time to Fine the Water Resources Board Not Its Citizens

From: Thomas Del Beccaro, Forbes

California is in the midst of one of its many droughts.  To combat the current drought, the otherwise do-nothings of the California Water Resources Board are proposing to fine citizens they call "water hogs" $500 per day.  Instead of fining helpless consumers, California's government should do its job for once and seriously increase water supplies.

It is well known that California is the most populated state in the Union, with more than 38 million people.  Its population was just under 20 million in 1970, when the bulk of its current water storage and delivery systems were already built.  In other words, the California governments have done very little to significantly increase water supplies in over 40 years, even though its population has doubled during that period of time.

Talk of enhanced ag water conservation is all wet

From: Vicky Boyd, The Packer

Every now and then - and particularly during a drought - some group issues a report that says if only California agriculture would conserve a little more, all of the state's water woes would be solved.

But Mike Wade, executive director of the Sacramento-based California Farm Water Coalition, takes exception to that. "Conservation and recycling are important, but we can't conserve our way out of the existing situation with the current demands," he said.

Drought

EDITORIAL: Water limits should apply to all users

From: Staff, San Jose Mercury News

The California State Water Resources Control Board will decide next week whether to impose mandatory limits on urban water use and slap violators with fines of up to $500 a day. This begs two questions:

1) What took it so long?

2) Why aren't agricultural water users, who gulp 80 percent of California's usable supply, getting the same attention?

EDITORIAL: Water rules and fines will help, but attitudes must change

From: Staff, Modesto Bee

We hope the State Water Resources Control Board affirms all the staff recommendations for emergency urban water cutbacks outlined Wednesday - restrictions and fines on excessive landscape watering, running hoses and rinsing off sidewalks. Such rules are reasonable and doable.

Delta

Stockton fights costly wastewater mandate

From: Alex Breitler, Stockton Record  

Stockton is fighting a new wastewater permit that the city says could cost its ratepayers anywhere from $195 million to $252 million and increase rates by perhaps 80 percent.

A formal appeal was filed this week with the State Water Resources Control Board. A lower board approved the permit last month, pushing aside the city's argument that in this case, the benefits of stricter pollution standards did not justify the cost.

San Joaquin River

My trip down the most endangered river in America

From: John Sutter, CNN

After three weeks and about 400 miles, I finished my kayaking (and walking) journey down the "most endangered" river in America: California's San Joaquin. This page collects the tweets from my adventure. The journey started way up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains and ended beneath the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on July 4.

News articles and links from May 29, 2014

Water Supply

S.J. protests wild, scenic proposal for Mokelumne

From: Alex Breitler, Stockton Record

Long thirsty for Mokelumne River water, San Joaquin County appears poised to oppose legislation that would designate 37 miles of the upper stream as wild and scenic.

The county fears such a designation could block future dams upstream of Pardee Lake and could undermine recent efforts by diverse interest groups to work together to cooperatively manage the stream.

Economic Review Backs AFBF Position on Waters Rule

From: Janell Baum, Farm Futures

The U.S. EPA's proposed Waters of the U.S. language does not provide a realistic overview of its scope or costs, a new analysis prepared by the Brattle Group for the Waters Advocacy Coalition shows.

The report, authored by University of California-Berkley faculty member Dr. David Sunding and dated May 15, finds EPA's proposed rule, contrary to the agency's indications, would expand the definition of waters of the U.S. to include small, isolated wetlands, ephemeral drains and many ditches.

San Joaquin River

California water release opponents suffer setback

From: Staff, Associated Press

Water will continue flowing from a reservoir east of Fresno for now after a judge rejected an attempt to turn off the spigots.

A federal judge ruled on Tuesday that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation can supply water from Millerton Lake to wildlife refuges and farmers on the San Joaquin Valley's west side while a lawsuit challenging the decision is pending.

Water Transfers

City loses round in water lawsuit

From: Lois Henry, Bakersfield Californian  

The city of Bakersfield lost on all counts in the first round of a lawsuit brought against it by an agricultural water district over whether the city must continue selling water to the district per a 1976 agreement.

The May 23 tentative decision by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Tari Cody could hamper the city's plans to run more water down the dry Kern River bed.

Groundwater

Well Drilling Spikes In Drought-Stricken Central Valley

From: Pauline Bartolone, Capital Public Radio    

Many people who live in the Fresno area say water isn't flowing from their taps like it used to. Households using private groundwater wells are finding the water table is falling below their pump during the drought.  CapRadio's Pauline Bartolone visited the people in Fresno they call when the water runs out.

Valley Drought 2014: Ground Water To Be Managed Locally?

From: Justin Willis, KMPH 26

A new law that will help to manage groundwater throughout California, is now headed to the state senate for approval. The groundwater supply mostly goes unregulated.

Opponents of the bill say the "well police" will always find faults in the state's groundwater system. But the author of the bill says the intent is to allow local agencies to manage their own water.

Stanislaus water committee suggests well data be voluntary

From: Garth Stapley, Modesto Bee

Hoping not to alienate farmers, a water committee on Wednesday softened well-data recommendations going before Stanislaus County supervisors in two weeks.

Rather than requiring that well owners provide groundwater pumping information, the Water Advisory Committee is suggesting that people volunteer key data. Also, the information must be obscured before sharing it publicly, the committee agreed.

News articles and links from May 28, 2014

Water Rights

Experts Call State Water System 'Archaic'

From: Dale Yurong, ABC30

The Friant Water Authority filed suit against the US Bureau of Reclamation to halt the flow of water out of Friant Dam to some growers on the Valley's west side. But its bid for a temporary restraining order was rejected in US District Court in Fresno.

Many Valley farmers face zero allocation but thousands of people with historic water rights don't have to cut back at all. Water users staked their claim on the water flowing through the San Joaquin and other rivers generations ago.

San Joaquin River

Federal court rejects bid to stop flow from Friant Dam

From: Mark Grossi, Fresno Bee

The U.S. District Court in Fresno Tuesday refused to stop Millerton Lake water from being sent to wildlife refuges and farmers with historic rights on the Valley's west side.

East San Joaquin Valley farmers, facing a zero allocation of Millerton water, asked the court last week to stop the flow. Federal officials this month began releasing water, and about 200,000 acre-feet is expected to be released to the west side by late August.

Court won't stop water deliveries

From: Staff, Porterville Recorder

Water that could have saved East Side growers will continue flowing west down the San Joaquin River. On Monday, U.S. District Judge Lawrence O'Neill denied a request for a temporary restraining order requested by the Friant Water User Authority and its member districts to halt the delivery of water from Friant to West Side growers.

"The Friant Water Authority (FWA) is disappointed by the federal court's denial of FWA's request for a temporary restraining order. However, this is an interim ruling by the court and not a final decision on the merits, so FWA will still have a chance to prove its case when it gets its day in court," said the Friant Water User Authority.

Water Management

California drought: Water-payment rules largely ignored

From: Katharine Mieszkowski, San Francisco Chronicle   

The last time California endured a drought, legislators set their sights on the state's biggest water users: farmers.

The state designed laws to push agricultural water districts to track their water flow and make the largest districts charge farmers based on how much they use. The economic theory was simple: If you aren't paying for how much you actually use, you have little incentive to consume less.

Groundwater

OPINION: Groundwater belongs to us all

From: Peter Sugia, Modesto Bee

In the context of our current drought and efforts to address decreasing groundwater levels, I am disappointed that some landowners are reluctant to embrace a crucial paradigm shift. In the interest of maintaining current usage, some don't want their pumps monitored. From a short-term perspective, based on minimizing cost and maximizing withdrawal, that is understandable. However, research suggests water levels are dropping; public records indicate a significant number of new well permits have been issued, and it is clear the current policy is not sustainable.

Overdrafting increases pumping costs to others when wells go dry. Subsidence decreases the future capacity of aquifers; surface water is depleted when there is a shortage of groundwater, and the cost of treating groundwater near the bottom of an aquifer is expensive. We need comprehensive groundwater reform that is based on long-term costs, benefits and sustainability.

BLOG: Why California's agriculture needs groundwater management

From: Jay Lund, UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences Blog

Without access to groundwater, this year's drought would be truly devastating to farms and cities throughout California. Groundwater is California's largest source of water storage for drought. However, reduced recharge and growing groundwater use in wetter years threatens to diminish its availability in droughts. This can become a serious threat to California's agriculture and rural residents. The current drought highlights how much California's agricultural prosperity depends on groundwater - and agriculture's growing need for managing it.

Bill would allow local groundwater management

From: Juliet Williams, San Francisco Chronicle

The state Senate approved legislation Tuesday asking local agencies to develop plans to manage groundwater, a supply that is largely unregulated throughout the state even amid a statewide drought. "We shouldn't waste the opportunity to act this year," said the bill's author, Sen. Fran Pavley, D-Agoura Hills.

Careful reporting and monitoring of groundwater levels is critical to ensuring the supply is not totally diminished, said Pavley, who added that the intent of her bill, SB1168, is to allow local agencies to manage their own water.

Water Transfers

OPINION: Tejon Ranch now officially qualifies as water baron

From: Lois Henry, Bakersfield Californian  

Back in November when we learned that Tejon Ranch had purchased a chunk of what I call "the Nickel water" for its proposed Grapevine village, I said with all the water the ranch had been buying in recent years, it was positioning itself as a private water seller. Yup. I was right.Tejon Ranch made $3 million, net, ($7.4 million gross) from selling most of that Nickel water in the first three months of this year, according to its quarterly earnings report.

It sold 6,250 acre-feet of water starting in February to several western Kern County water districts, including Belridge Water Storage District, Wheeler Ridge-Maricopa Water Storage District, Berrenda Mesa Water District and Lost Hills Water District.

Fisheries

More salmon to get truck rides due to drought

From: Matt Weiser, Sacramento Bee   

Nearly 1 million juvenile Chinook salmon this week will get a truck ride from Red Bluff to San Pablo Bay as a detour around harmful Sacramento River conditions caused by drought.

The fish are the last of 12 million fall-run Chinook salmon produced this year at Coleman National Hatchery near Red Bluff. Normally, all those fish are released into Battle Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento, to journey downstream to the Pacific Ocean on their own.

Butte Creek chinook salmon will get a blast of cold water this summer

From: Heather Hacking, Chico Enterprise-Record

When fish are swimming they are difficult to count. From Allen Harthorn's vantage point on an elevated deck above Butte Creek, he believes there may be 10,000 spring-run chinook salmon in the creek. A Vaki River Watcher video system lower in the creek has counted only 4,000 fish moving over a fish ladder.

The discrepancy in fish numbers can be expected. The Vaki cameras are placed on a fish ladder. During high storm flow in March and April, fish didn't need the fish ladders to move upstream, thus they avoided the cameras, explained Clint Garman, a fish biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. By any count, the spring-run chinook numbers look good.

News articles and links from May 22, 2014

Drought

Sen. Feinstein's wrong response to the drought

From: Staff, San Francisco Chronicle

The test of any water policy is not if it works in the wet times but if it protects widely shared public values in the dry times.

So it is distressing to see Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., determined to toss out water management policies and protections, worked out over 20 years to balance the water needs of California cities, farms and the environment, in order to serve some interests at the expense of others.

Coalition response... It's important to remember that California's senators have a responsibility to represent the entire state and to pursue policies that improve the state for the greater good of all its citizens. California's extraordinary diversity in social values, economics and geography make this a challenging task in the best of times.  

Drought

Drought bill balances principles, practicality

From: Senator Dianne Feinstein, San Francisco Chronicle

The May 21 Chronicle editorial "Sen. Feinstein's wrong response to the drought" suggests a water policy is successful "if it protects widely shared public values." That is true. But I would argue that a key part of "shared public values" is actually getting water where it needs to go. Balancing environmental principles with practical water solutions is the goal of my bill, the Emergency Drought Relief Act.

Unfortunately, the Chronicle editorial board repeatedly mischaracterizes this legislation. First and foremost, the bill specifically states that all existing laws and regulations must be followed, including biological opinions, the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Water Act and other laws. In fact, when environmental groups came to my staff and said the bill did not cover court-approved biological opinions of both smelt and salmon, we promptly revised the bill text.

California drought taking a toll on jobs, economy

From: Bruce Kennedy, CBS News, Moneywatch

The severe and historic drought underway in California is expected to take a large financial bite out of the Golden State's agricultural sector -- and lead to thousands of jobs being cut. It's also projected to have additional impacts on the nation's food prices.

A new study by the University of California, Davis' Center for Watershed Sciences says the state's ongoing dry conditions will deal a "severe blow" to irrigated agriculture and farm communities in California's Central Valley -- one of the most productive agricultural regions on earth -- while costing the state around $1.7 billion.

BLOG: Calculating the Cost of the Drought to Farmers

From: Jonathan Kauffman, San Francisco Chronicle

With the summer solstice still a month off, it's still hard to get a full sense of how the drought is affecting the Bay Area's food supply. Dire warnings of wildfires and projections of large price increases are offset by relatively small changes in what we're spending at supermarkets.

A new study that came out of UC Davis yesterday starts to attach some numbers to the losses that Central Valley farmers are facing this year.

Feinstein's anti-drought bill may face rough waters in House

From: Michael Doyle, McClatchy DC 

Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein's newly finished California water bill that's designed for quick Senate approval gratifies some farmers while alienating some fishermen, tribes and environmentalists.

The California Democrat is pushing for the revised 16-page bill to pass the Senate as soon as possible, perhaps by Friday, setting up a delicate round of deal-making with Republican-led House negotiators. Right now, though, this remains a machine with many moving parts.

California Water Managers May Limit River Water Diversion For Crops

From: Max Pringle, Capital Public Radio 

Some California farmers may not be allowed to divert river water to irrigate their crops this summer. The restriction is part of new rules being considered this week by state water managers.

Some members of the Water Resources Control board say suspending water rights is an unavoidable temporary emergency measure caused by the drought.

Crop cuts taking toll on economy

From: Andrew Creasey, Marysville Appeal-Democrat

Fertilizer sales are down and seasonal jobs are being cut as local businesses adapt to crop reductions due to the drought. More than 100,000 acres of agricultural land will likely go fallow this summer due to cutbacks in the surface water supply, and fertilizer companies reported decreases in sales volume between 10 and 15 percent as farmers ready fields for planting.

"Absolutely, (the drought) impacted our business," said Blake Covert, market manager for the Sacramento region for Simplot Grower Solutions. "It's taxing everybody, not just us. Other businesses are off, from car dealers to restaurants to everybody in between."

Drought to bring $1.67 billion loss to Valley economy, finds study

From: Cara Hallam, Turlock Journal

An economic study conducted at University of California, Davis is estimating a $1.67 billion loss to agriculture and ag-related industries in the Central Valley due to the recent drought, resulting in a $3.4 billion hit to the state's economy, and a ripple effect throughout all segments of the state.

While the UC Davis study paints a bleak picture, the California Farm Water Coalition says it could have been worse."Researchers are estimating that 400,000 acres will remain unplanted but added that the numbers will be revised in an updated report expected next month," said the California Farm Water Coalition in a release. "Earlier surveys conducted by the Coalition doubled that amount of unplanted acreage but recent increases in water deliveries by state and federal projects, along with an increase in pumping from aquifers, have resulted in the lower number."

San Joaquin River

East side farmers sue to halt Friant Dam water flow

From: Dale Yurong, KFSN 30

The latest battle over water will soon be fought in a federal courtroom in Fresno. The Friant Water Authority, which represents growers on the Valley's east side, has filed a legal challenge to halt the release of water from Millerton Lake. The water being released from Friant Dam will be used by the Exchange Contractors on the Valley's west side, a group of growers with water rights dating back hundreds of years.

Friant Water Authority general manager Ron Jacobsma said the lawsuit seeks a restraining order against the US Bureau of Reclamation to stop the river flow.

"This is not against the Exchange Contractors."

Irrigators Sue to Block Water For Salmon, Wildlife Refuges

From: Chris Clarke, KCET

A agency that represents 22 irrigation districts and other water providers in the San Joaquin Valley is asking a judge to block the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation from releasing water to benefit other water users, including Central Valley wildlife refuges. The Friant Water Authority (FWA) filed suit in U.S. District Court in Fresno on Monday to seek an immediate halt to USBR's release of water from Friant Dam and Millerton Lake to a fellow water agency, the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors, and to nearby National Wildlife Refuges, claiming that the releases are a violation of state and federal water laws.

East Valley farmers sue to stop Millerton Lake water release

From: Mark Grossi, Fresno Bee

East San Joaquin Valley farmers, facing a zero water allocation this summer, are asking a judge to stop unprecedented water releases that started last week at Millerton Lake.

The Friant Water Authority, representing 15,000 east-side growers, says federal leaders are not following a long-established water-rights pecking order in releasing Millerton water, which would help save thousands of acres of east-side orchards.

California farmers sue to stop lake water release

From: Staff, Associated Press

A group of Central California farmers have asked a judge to halt the release of water from behind a dam east of Fresno.

The Fresno Bee reports (http://bit.ly/1oj0nBh) that a lawsuit filed this week by the Friant Water Authority, representing 15,000 East San Joaquin Valley farmers, seeks a temporary restraining order against the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.

Farming News 

Climate change to result in less nutritional food, report says

From: David Pierson, Los Angeles Times

Climate change threatens to undermine not only how much food can be grown but also the quality of that food as altered weather patterns lead to a less desirable harvest, according to a new study. Crops grown by many of the nation's farmers have a lower nutritional content than they once did, according to the report by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.

Research indicates that higher carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have reduced the protein content in wheat, for example. And the International Rice Research Institute has warned that the quality of rice available to consumers will decrease as temperatures rise, the report noted.