Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
2013 was the driest year since
California began keeping records in 1895. That fact will be used to try to
fast-track the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, whose two massive tunnels would
carry water under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta that now provides
nearly half of Silicon Valley's water.
The drought instead should raise
skepticism about this $25 billion plan, the largest public works project in
U.S. history, because it raises a conundrum: The plan says the tunnels will
provide not a drop more water than the Delta provides today -- and that is
completely out of whack with the interests of agencies and communities lining
up to pay billions of dollars to build them.
Coalition response... When discussing the twin tunnels and associated Bay Delta Conservation
Plan it is important, even in an opinion piece, to stick to the facts. Exports
did not increase dramatically between 1990 and 2010, as stated in the
editorial. Exports in 2010 were up less than 15 percent over levels recorded in
1990.
Publicly released BDCP documents
show operating guidelines that respond to Sacramento River flow. Water
operations would always include a required level of water passing the intakes before
water could be diverted, which protects the Delta ecosystem.
And to claim that the BDCP
"...is completely out of whack with the interests of agencies and
communities lining up to pay billions of dollars to build them" makes no
sense at all. The BDCP is not and never was about increasing the amount of
water exported from the Delta. It is about providing reliable deliveries of
water to 25 million Californians and 3 million acres of farmland that have had
legal access to it for many years.
Water Supply
From: Lance Johnson, Fresno
Bee
The start of the new year always
finds people reflecting on prior years and making predictions for the coming
year on most any subject one can think of. Throughout most of California,
especially among farmers, and particularly farmers in the San Joaquin Valley,
the hot topic of the 2014 new year is the ever-worsening drought conditions and
this year's abysmal water supply outlook.
From: Diane Hayes, Visalia
Times-Delta
Having spent my week off driving
around a good chunk of Central California and the Bay Area, I can think of one
word that best describes the state right now: Dry.
The state looks like it could
burn up from an errant match.
I expected it here in the Central
Valley. I know it doesn't rain here much. But to head north and near the ocean,
and still see brown grass and withered plants was a surprise.
From: Heather Hacking, Chico
Enterprise-Record
The first official snow survey of
2014 was released Friday, telling residents of the state what we already knew:
The hills are dry and the mountains are not covered in white.
It could rain buckets from now
through spring. But betting on rain wouldn't be the wisest wager.
From: Michael Wines, New York
Times
The sinuous Colorado River and
its slew of man-made reservoirs from the Rockies to southern Arizona are being
sapped by 14 years of drought nearly unrivaled in 1,250 years. The once broad
and blue river has in many places dwindled to a murky brown trickle. Reservoirs
have shrunk to less than half their capacities, the canyon walls around them
ringed with white mineral deposits where water once lapped. Seeking to stretch
their allotments of the river, regional water agencies are recycling sewage
effluent, offering rebates to tear up grass lawns and subsidizing less thirsty
appliances from dishwashers to shower heads.
From: Staff, San Francisco
Chronicle
It's a fact of life in California
that we have dry spells and wet years, and living in this Mediterranean climate
means figuring out how to adapt when we don't get wet weather. Typically, our
state makes progress on evolving water management only in dry years, and thus
2014 promises to be a banner year for innovation.
Water Storage
From: Andrew Creasey,
Marysville Appeal-Democrat
Those who have been waiting for
the construction of Sites Reservoir to solve the state's burgeoning water woes
still have a while to wait.
The federal Bureau of Reclamation
released a progress report on north-of-the-Delta storage projects that sums up
the work that has been conducted to date. But the report does not advance the
project along, it only provides information previously unavailable to the
public, said Michelle Denning, regional planning officer for the Bureau of
Reclamation.
Salton Sea
From: K. Kaufmann, The Desert
Sun
A new study from the Imperial Irrigation
District projects that geothermal, solar and other green technology development
at the Salton Sea could generate more than $4 billion over the next 30 years,
with 50 percent or more to be used for the receding sea's restoration.
Bay Delta
Conservation Plan
From: Jerry Meral, Sacramento
Bee
In 1972, Sacramento County and I
filed the original lawsuit against the East Bay Municipal Utility District to
prevent the diversion of water into the Folsom South Canal upstream of
Sacramento. Such a diversion would have harmed the lower American River. That
lawsuit eventually forced EBMUD to build the Freeport diversion plant and
divert the water from the Sacramento River instead.
From: Staff, BDCP Blog
An errata sheet for the BDCP
Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) has
been posted here. This errata sheet provides corrections to
errors and/or omissions discovered in the Draft EIR/EIS. Specifically,
corrections have been made to figures listed in Chapter 3. Updates to this
document will be made as required.
Releases
From: Staff, Westlands Water
District
On Friday, January 03, 2014, the
California Department of Water Resources (DWR) conducted the first snow survey
of the year. This survey confirms the severity of the water crisis. Snowpack
measurements taken by DWR revealed a bleak outlook for farmers and other water
dependent industries as well as consumers throughout the state.
Meetings
From: Staff, California
Irrigation Institute
What is the future of the
water-energy relationship? Can a balance on water use efficiency and energy use
be found? Come engage with other water and power professionals as we explore
the future of water and energy efficiency at the 52nd Annual California
Irrigation Institute Conference!
Thursday & Friday, Jan.
23-24, 2014
Sacramento Arden West Hilton
2200 Harvard Street, Sacramento
