This just in … California Members of Congress Demand that the Bay Delta Conservation Plan Be Fair and Equitable Call the current delay the “the last, best opportunity” to improve the far-reaching plan
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 3:39 pmReceived via email from Congressman McNerney, Congressman Miller, Congressman Thompson, Congresswoman Matsui, and Congressman Garamendi:
Washington, D.C. – Calling the most recent BDCP delay the “last, best opportunity to stand up to… unreasonable demands,” Reps. Jerry McNerney (CA-11), George Miller (CA-7), Mike Thompson (CA-1), Doris Matsui (CA-5), and John Garamendi (CA-10) called for specific steps to be taken for the BDCP to move forward in a fair and transparent manner. The five members from the California congressional delegation have been vocal in calling for changes to the BDCP and have demanded that any plan has significant input from the Bay-Delta region.
In letters sent today to Governor Jerry Brown and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, the lawmakers said, “We recognize that some are now calling for an immediate decision, but we believe that it is critical to get this right; a rushed and inadequate Bay-Delta planning effort will lead to increased litigation, uncertainty, and expense.”
“I will not accept any plan for the Delta that is harmful to the farmers, families, and small business owners in the Delta region. To date, the planning process for Delta water has been unduly influenced by wealthy water contractors from south of the Delta who would steal our water, costing us millions of dollars and countless jobs. This delay provides an opportunity for the state and federal governments to stand up to the water contractors and ensure that the BDCP includes the input of our region. I will continue to fight against any measures that would destroy the Delta and our way of life,” said Rep. Jerry McNerney.
Continue reading “This just in … California Members of Congress Demand that the Bay Delta Conservation Plan Be Fair and Equitable Call the current delay the “the last, best opportunity” to improve the far-reaching plan” »
Wednesday’s top of the scroll: A visual deep dive into California’s Delta
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:45 amFrom KQED’s Climate Watch:
“If, like most Californians, you’re a bit fuzzy on why the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta matters to you, take a tour through the impressive new online resource from KQED’s science unit, the San Francisco Estuary Institute, and Stanford’s Bill Lane Center for the American West.
“California’s Deadlocked Delta” is more than a data trove for water geeks, it’s a visually pleasing deep dive into the single most important piece of California’s persistent water puzzle. It provides some eye-opening glimpses of how this critical intersection for the state’s freshwater supply has changed over generations. … “
Continue reading from KQED’s Climate Watch by clicking here.
Sixth draft of Delta Plan rolls out for more review
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:43 amFrom the Oroville Mercury-Register:
“The sixth draft version of the intricate and wide-reaching Delta Plan was posted this week online at http://deltacouncil.ca.gov/delta-plan/current-draft-of-delta-plan.
Water code sections affirming area-of-origin water rights were included in the most recent document. This is a welcome addition for people in the Northern Sacramento Valley who have asked for this change.
Yet, Paul Gosselin, director of the Butte County Department of Water and Resource Conservation said he’ll want to read through the report in its entirety to see exactly what this means for local water users. … “
Continue reading from the Oroville Mercury-Register by clicking here.
The release of the Delta Plan is also covered in the Vacaville Reporter:
“A plan aiming to achieve a better balance between the demand for water to serve farms and cities while maintaining the ecosystem of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta was released Monday.
Staff of the Delta Stewardship Council released the final-draft Delta Plan intended to increase California’s water supply reliability, protect and enhance the Delta ecosystem, improve water quality, reduce risk of flooding and set an example by using the “best available science.”
Nearly 250 different organizations and individuals provided more than 10,000 comments since the public release of the plan’s first draft in 2010. … “
Continue reading from the Vacaville Reporter by clicking here.
Tulare County Supervisors challenge UC water study
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:40 amFrom the Visalia Times-Delta:
“The Tulare County Board Supervisors approved a letter urging more research into what’s contaminating Valley groudwater at their meeting Tuesday.
Specifically, the letter to the California Water Resources Board cites concerns over a $2 million UC Davis research project looking at groundwater contamination in the Tulare Lake Basin -†including Tulare County — and the Salinas Valley.
“We have concerns what the state Water Resources Board is going to do with the findings of that study,” county Chief Administrative Office Jean Rousseau told the supervisors. … “
Continue reading from the Visalia Times-Delta by clicking here.
State Board upholds stricter limits for Sac Regional Wastewater Plant
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:39 amFrom ACWA’s Water News:
“Tighter treatment requirements for the Sacramento Regional Wastewater Treatment Plan are appropriate and necessary to protect beneficial uses in the Delta, the State Water Resources Control Board concluded in a draft order issued Monday.
The draft order followed a review requested by the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District and the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance of a strict new discharge permit for the district approved in December 2010 by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. The permit requires the district to limit the amount of ammonia and other constituents discharged into the Sacramento River and the Delta by the wastewater treatment plant. … “
Continue reading from ACWA’s Water News by clicking here.
Company wants to tap Mojave’s public lands for Southland water: Cadiz Inc. could realize $1 billion to $2 billion in revenue over the plan’s 50-year life; Opponents say public resources are being used for private profit
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:37 amFrom the Los Angeles Times:
“Three decades ago a group of businessmen pored over NASA satellite imagery as part of a worldwide hunt for large groundwater reserves they could tap to grow desert crops. They found the signs they were looking for here in the sun-blasted mountain ranges and creosote-freckled valleys of the Mojave Desert, 200 miles east of Los Angeles.
The group, which founded Cadiz Inc., bought old railroad land, drilled wells and planted neat grids of citrus trees and grapevines, irrigating them with water that bubbled out of the desert depths at the rate of 2,000 gallons a minute.
But by the mid-1990s, Cadiz had a new business plan: Sell water, not lemons. … “
Continue reading from the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.
Oil industry says it will report California ‘fracking’ information
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:34 amFrom the Sacramento Bee:
“On the eve of a series of public hearings on hydraulic fracturing, a controversial but little-regulated method of oil extraction in California, an industry group said Tuesday that its members will voluntarily post information about their “fracking” operations on a disclosure website, Frac Focus, likely by the end of June.
The disclosure comes as Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration, pressured by lawmakers, prepares to draft the state’s first regulations for fracking, in which water and chemicals are injected thousands of feet underground to break up rock formations. … “
Continue reading from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.
EDF/On the Water Front blog: California needs more reliable water deliveries, not more Delta water
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:33 amFrom Cynthia Koehler at the Environmental Defense Fund’s On the Water Front blog:
“The Sacramento Bee editorialized over the weekend about the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), articulating a position similar to many in keeping an open mind about a canal or tunnel that could eliminate the need to operate the major federal and state pumps in the south Delta that are harmful to California’s fisheries and the San Francisco estuary.
The Bee put its finger on a key issue in noting that, south of Delta exporters “seem to have an expectation that BDCP can provide them with even more Delta water – more than the record high pumping of the previous decade – and that federal and state agencies will sign off on such a plan as ‘fish friendly’.”
The Bee quite reasonably points out that “living in the real world” means exporters “can’t keep drawing ever more water out of an estuary in collapse and claiming that flows don’t matter much for the life cycle of fish. The National Research Council, among other scientific bodies, has made clear that minimum flows are essential for fish recovery, especially during dry years.” … “
Continue reading from On the Water Front by clicking here.
Delta National Park blog: Advanced environmental psychiatry (or, “it’s the economy, stupid”)
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:30 amFrom the Delta National Park blog:
“From The Central Valley Business Times: Without a water quality analysis that examines how eliminating fresh water flows from entering the Delta will affect water quality, this draft of the Delta Plan is as incomplete as the last draft. The Delta Stewardship Council must build its plan on a cost benefit analysis, a public trust analysis, a water quality analysis, and a flow analysis, and until it does so, its planning will remain incomplete,” says Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta.
I agree that a cost benefit analysis of four alternatives (tunnel, canal, fortress, nothing) is non-negotiable and thus far not produced, no doubt because the numbers such a work might yield would make the Big Infrastructure options political non-starters. Claims that there are good reasons for not doing the economic analysis – moving targets as to what the project is, all of that – are red herrings and politically expedient. … “
Continue reading from the Delta National Park blog by clicking here.
Delta communities continue to harm the estuary, says commentary
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:28 amFrom the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta, this commentary:
“The effects of human development on the Delta ecosystem are numerous. Local stakeholders in the Delta never fail to highlight the impacts of water pumping operations, but their narrow focus on water exports ignores the pollution they are putting into the estuary and its effects on water quality and wildlife.
Communities within the Delta region use the estuary to dispose of sewage and stormwater. While these discharges are subject to state and federal regulation, most local entities that release sewage and stormwater into the Delta are in violation of those laws and permit requirements.
In many cases, these communities are not just breaking the law, but actually poisoning the water for native fish and wildlife. Toxicity in urban stormwater runoff includes harmful substances from streets, lawns and gardens, such as automotive oil, zinc from brake residue, and pesticides. In fact, urban areas contribute more pesticide runoff than agriculture in many parts of the state, including the Delta. According to the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, in the Sacramento Valley between 1995 and 2006 (the latest numbers available), urban application of pesticides was 21 percent greater than for agriculture. … “
Continue reading from the Coalition for a Sustainable Delta by clicking here.
UC nitrate study surprises few, says commentary
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:26 amFrom the Porterville Recorder, this commentary by Don Curlee:
“The big surprise in the recently released comprehensive study about nitrates invading the underground water supplies is that its conclusions haven’t surfaced earlier.
Released by the University of California, the study merely confirmed what experienced agricultural researchers have known all along: nitrates from fertilizer applied to crops and from manure accumulated in dairy operations tends to penetrate the soil to depths that affect underground water supplies.
The same agricultural researchers will tell you the situation does not call for panic. However, to ensure safe drinking water for millions whose supplies are pumped from underground aquifers the nitrate concentrations need to be monitored constantly, and treatment facilities need to be updated and well maintained. … “
Continue reading Don Curlee’s commentary at the Porterville Recorder by clicking here.
Growing risks from hatchery fish; Study suggests salmon raised in man-made hatcheries can harm wild salmon through competition for food and habitat
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:24 amFrom PhysOrg:
“”The genetic effects of mixing hatchery fish with wild populations have been well-documented,” says journal editor David Noakes from Oregon State University. “But until now the ecological effects were largely hypothetical. Now we know the problems are real and warrant more attention from fisheries managers.”
The research volume, published in the May issue of Environmental Biology of Fishes, brings together 23 peer-reviewed, independent studies carried out across the entire range of Pacific salmon, including some of the first studies describing the impact of hatcheries on wild salmon populations in Japan and Russia. … “
Continue reading from PhysOrg by clicking here.
State, local officials mark half-century of State Water Project deliveries
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:23 amFrom ACWA’s Water News:
“Nearly 50 years to the day after the first water flowed into the South Bay Aqueduct, state and local officials gathered near Bethany Reservoir on Tuesday to mark a half-century of moving California’s water through the State Water Project.
The event was aimed at reflecting on the foresight and planning of past water leaders and celebrating the contributions of those who worked to construct, operate and maintain the engineering marvel. … “
Continue reading from ACWA’s Water News by clicking here.
Siskiyou supervisors want congressional hearings on dam claims
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:17 amFrom the Record-Searchlight:
“The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors is asking Congress to hold hearings looking into a federal whistle-blower’s claims that federal scientific reports on removing dams on the Klamath River were influenced by politics.
The board voted Tuesday to send a letter to U.S. Rep. Wally Herger, asking him to hold a field hearing near the dams “whose fate is at stake in this politically perturbed process,” the letter says.
“From very early on, Siskiyou County has had serious concern that a predetermined outcome would skew the commitment to scientific integrity and transparency promised for the decision-making process on the Klamath River dams,” the letter says. … “
Continue reading from the Record Searchlight by clicking here.
Red Bluff Fish Passage Improvement Project nearly complete
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:13 amFrom the Capital Press:
“Jeff Sutton grinned as he watched water being pumped into a canal that would take it to some of the nearly 150,000 agricultural acres his water districts serve.
“It’s actually pumping water now. This is pretty exciting,” Sutton said May 14 as he stood atop the pumping station that is part of the $190 million Fish Passage Improvement Project here. “It’s providing water to growers as we speak.”
Crews are wrapping up nearly three years of construction on the project, which includes a quarter-mile-long wall of fish screens, a forebay, a pump house, canals and a high-voltage switch yard. … “
Continue reading from the Capital Press by clicking here.
Far past time for Potter Valley to be heard on Eel River issues, says commentary
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:12 amFrom the Eureka Times-Standard, this commentary by Fortuna resident Richard Leamon:
“The Friends of the Eel River put on “The Eel River Symposium” a month ago at the Fortuna River Lodge which I attended. There was a crowd of more than 130 people. The agenda had excellent speakers giving information on beavers, frogs, legal issues and dam removal.
I was particularly interested in the dam removal presentation. I lived in Potter Valley for 37 years and Scott Dam above Potter Valley was the place where Friends of the Eel River were focused. They also discussed the Potter Valley Diversion Project.
In the 1950s powerful floods occurred in the Russian River. Sonoma County put up the money to build Coyote Dam and created Lake Mendocino. Lake Mendocino is filled in winter from Cold Creek and the East Fork of the Russian River which exits from Potter Valley and has a watershed of its own. In the 1960s terrible floods ravaged the Eel River Valley. Places like Myers Flat and Pepperwood suffered severe damage. People in the hamlets of Holmes and Pepperwood now build homes on second-story foundations. I’m told that the Potter Valley Diversion Tunnel is sometimes used in winter to alleviate flooding conditions in the Main Stem of the Eel. … “
Continue reading from the Times-Standard by clicking here.
Taking care of our local watershed is top priority, says commentary
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:10 amFrom the Redwood Times, this commentary:
“Water Day II drew a lively crowd of scientists, river advocates and homesteaders to the Mateel Community Center on Sunday, May 6. The program offered a full menu of speakers and small breakout sessions that packed a lot of information into a long day that started at 9 a.m. and continued into the evening. The one uniting theme of this effort was the vital importance of protecting our rivers, streams and groundwater to the continuance to life.
Mike Furniss drew on his 25 years of experience with the U.S, Forest Service and a quote he attributed to Benjamin Franklin that “many small leaks can sink a big ship.”
He also identified a basic truth about water, that it always moves downhill, which is one reason the badly engineered and poorly maintained roads that criss-cross the mountains around us do so much damage to the waterways. Furniss said that roads and streams shouldn’t connect, that road cuts into hillsides should be avoided and all roads out-sloped to allow the water to follow its natural course. The water intends to reach the streams and rivers and should be allowed to do so. Abandoned roads have ongoing cumulative impacts on the landscape and if they are not treated they create a system of gullies that further destabilizes the mountainsides. … “
Continue reading from the Redwood Times by clicking here.
Locals advised to speak out on delta flow proposals
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:08 amFrom the Oroville Mercury-Register:
“State water reps are advising agencies and people to get involved in the discussion regarding the State Water Resources Control Board’s delta flow criteria, which could result in lower lake levels at Lake Oroville, impacting fish, recreation and the economy.
On Monday, Tim Haines, senior power manager for the State Water Contractors, said by telephone the Control Board has announced additional conferences in late summer and fall to review issues related to the Delta Plan.
Haines earlier reported on the water flow issue to the Supplemental Benefits Fund Committee and the Oroville Recreation Advisory Committee. … “
Continue reading from the Oroville Mercury Register by clicking here.
Woodland council looking after city’s water supplies, says commentary
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:05 amFrom the Woodland Daily Democrat, this commentary by Matt Rexroad, Yolo County’s 3rd District supervisor and a former Woodland mayor:
“Last month the Woodland City Council approved an increase in our water rates over a four-year period. As a taxpayer I have no desire to pay for government programs that are not needed.
But the outstanding leadership of the city of Woodland to secure and deliver a diversified water supply to our homes and businesses is well worth the cost.
Revenue from the increase will be used to ensure the city can meet strict water quality regulations and improve our water supply and infrastructure. Contrary to what some believe, this money cannot be used to fund any other part of city government. … “
Continue reading from the Woodland Daily Democrat by clicking here.
Lake Merced transfer helps clear the way for cleanup, recreation at site
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:04 amFrom the San Francisco Examiner:
“For years, Lake Merced’s future has been murky. Plans to clean the surrounding waterfront and improve recreational opportunities generated more talk than action.
But last week, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission approved a transfer of land at the lake, which will help clear the road for a $10.7 million cleanup of land occupied by the Pacific Rod and Gun Club.
The proposed cleanup now shifts the focus on progress at Lake Merced to long-stalled plans for a renovated boathouse and waterfront recreation such as kayaking, stand-up paddling and day camps. … “
Continue reading from the San Francisco Examiner by clicking here.
Santa Clara Valley Water District under investigation for violating water pollution laws
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:02 amFrom the Silicon Valley Mercury News:
“Silicon Valley’s leading drinking-water provider, which collects millions of dollars from the public to provide clean water, is under investigation for violating state water-pollution laws after repeatedly spilling hydraulic oil into its reservoirs.
Prosecutors from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office have notified the Santa Clara Valley Water District that the agency is facing fines of up to $25,000 in connection with the most recent spill, in early January at Coyote Reservoir.
“Due to the serious nature of the violations and the potential impact on the environment, the District Attorney’s Office has decided that a civil prosecution is appropriate in this case, with the goals being threefold — punishment, deterrence and compliance,” deputy district attorney Tina Nunes Ober wrote in a March 29 letter to water district CEO Beau Goldie. … “
Continue reading from the Silicon Valley Mercury News by clicking here.
Group taps technology to solve Pajaro Valley groundwater deficit
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 5:00 amFrom the Contra Costa Times:
“When raspberry grower John Eiskamp wants to know how much water his crop needs, he consults his iPad.
With his system of strategically placed soil probes and a wireless tower for transmitting data, he could use a smart phone or the computer in his office just as easily.
In the three years since he placed the first probe, Eiskamp estimates he’s cut water use by 20 percent.
The system will be more readily available to other growers thanks to a wireless transmission network being built throughout the Pajaro Valley. … “
Continue reading from the Contra Costa Times by clicking here.
Managing nitrogen on farmland focus of forums
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 4:59 amFrom the Central Valley Business Times:
“Growers, dairy operators, agency representatives, agricultural commissioners, policymakers and other community members are expected for half-day forums in June to discuss management of agricultural nitrogen.
The forums will be held in Sacramento on June 12 and in Tulare on June 18.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture and University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources will be hosting the two community forums to explore solutions to nitrate in groundwater and the role of policy. … “
Continue reading from the Central Valley Business Times by clicking here.
Bakersfield: Water flows for bike race
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 4:57 amFrom Bakersfield Now:
“Stage five of the Amgen Tour of California rolls into Bakersfield on May, 17th.
With all eyes of the biking world on Bakersfield, organizers want to make the city appear as aesthetically pleasing as possible.
That’s why today the City of Bakersfield will let the water flow just for the bike race into the normally dry Kern River from the Lake Isabella Dam. … “
Continue reading from Bakersfield Now by clicking here.
Commentary: The public trust doctrine as it relates to Lake Elsinore
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 4:53 amFrom the North County Times, this commentary:
“After the American Revolution, each of the original states ceded to the sovereign the right and duty to protect navigable waters and submerged lands not in a proprietary capacity, but rather “as a trustee of a public trust for the benefits of the people” for uses such as commerce, navigation and fishing. This right and duty was passed on to all the other states by way of the Equal Footing Doctrine. The determination of what was a navigable waterway was to be determined at the time of statehood.
“The public trust … is an affirmation of the duty of the state to protect the people’s common heritage of streams, lakes, marshlands and tidelands….” —- Supreme Court of California in a 1983 comment in regards to a ruling on Mono Lake.
In looking at this doctrine, a navigable waterway is one that was such at the time of statehood. In California that date is Sept. 9, 1850. … “
Continue reading this commentary by clicking here.
QSA: Landmark water deal comes under scrutiny
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 4:51 amFrom the San Diego Union-Tribune:
“An alliance of Imperial Valley residents and former San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre on Tuesday released a report that criticized the Imperial Irrigation District and raised questions about the landmark 2003 sale of water to the San Diego County Water Authority.
The 35-page analysis said the irrigation district is governed under a system in which “private interests mostly outside of Imperial Valley benefit at the expense of the people of the Imperial Valley.”
It said the Quantification Settlement Agreement between San Diego and the Imperial Irrigation District was a “give-away of important IID property rights.” That deal, which spans decades, is an important element of San Diego’s strategy to diversify its water sources. … “
Continue reading from the San Diego Union-Tribune by clicking here.
Imperial Irrigation District, public discuss water transfer
Posted by: Maven on May 16, 2012 at 4:49 amFrom the Imperial Valley Press:
“Through more than four hours of discussion about the Imperial Irrigation District’s water transfer, questions were answered, insults were spewed and the future of the Imperial Valley was argued over.
Both consulting attorney Charles T. DuMars and outside counsel David Osias spoke on issues related to the Quantification Settlement Agreement, the nation’s largest agriculture-to-urban water transfer. However, both talked on different issues associated with the transfer of IID-entitlement water to coastal urban areas.
DuMars went over his preliminary final report, going over how the district can move to implement the water transfer, or a “critical path forward,” according to the report title. … “
Continue reading from the Imperial Valley Press by clicking here.
This just in … Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District petitions State Water Board to vacate permit requirements; Board sets workshop for July
Posted by: Maven on May 15, 2012 at 11:32 amThe State Water Resources Control Board has scheduled a workshop in July to review the waste discharge requirements for the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District (SRCSD).
The SRCSD is petitioning the State Water Resources Control Board to vacate the new filtration requirements for ammonia, pathogens and nitrate citing “adverse impacts on residents of all economic circumstances, business and development, and the environment. These adverse impacts are not justified. The Regional Board was too committed to certain outcomes and did not consider what is reasonable and necessary … ” Read the full text of SRCSD petition here: a2144apetition-1
The initial review by the Board finds that the requirement to provide equivalent to “disinfected tertiary recycled water” level of treatment is correct, given the high level of public contact, its use for irrigation and the use of Delta waters for drinking water supplies, and that the Board is not required to consider economics. Read the full text here: A-2144ab draft order (5-14-12)
Tuesday’s top of the scroll: State officials release draft of Delta Plan
Posted by: Maven on May 15, 2012 at 8:41 amFrom the Stockton Record:
“State officials Monday released a far-ranging “road map” for the Delta of the future, a complex web of strategies intended to save the estuary’s ecosystem, secure its role as a source of water for much of the state and protect some of its unique attributes.
Local officials have watched with concern the development of the draft Delta Plan for two years.
Not only might the plan eventually include a peripheral canal or tunnel to divert water past rather than through the Delta, it also adds a new layer of bureaucracy that city of Stockton officials have warned could thwart the city’s authority to plan its own orderly growth. … “
Continue reading from the Stockton Record by clicking here. Note: This article is behind the paywall at the Stockton Record. Login or registration required to read it. A free registration will give you 10 article reads per month.
MORE COVERAGE:
- Delta restoration plan released for review, from the Sacramento Bee
- Latest draft of Delta Plan released, from the Silicon Valley Mercury News
- Delta Stewardship Council Releases Draft Plan Recommending Canal, from Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org
- Latest Delta Plan released today, from the Chico Enterprise-Record
Critic blasts newest plan to ‘save’ the Delta
Posted by: Maven on May 15, 2012 at 8:41 amFrom the Central Valley Business Times:
“The final “draft” plan to solve California’s water supply problems is being criticized as incomplete and being a thin veil for the Brown Administration’s real plan to build a massive canal around the Delta or an equally large tunnel beneath it.
The canal or tunnel would siphon off much of the Sacramento River before it enters the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and ship the fresh water to the state and federal irrigation systems’ pumps near Tracy.
“Without a water quality analysis that examines how eliminating fresh water flows from entering the Delta will affect water quality, this draft of the Delta Plan is as incomplete as the last draft. The Delta Stewardship Council must build its plan on a cost benefit analysis, a public trust analysis, a water quality analysis, and a flow analysis, and until it does so, its planning will remain incomplete,” says Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, executive director of Restore the Delta. … “
Continue reading from the Central Valley Business Times by clicking here.
MORE: Restore the Delta Responds to Delta Stewardship Council’s Release of Plan: “The Fix is in for a New ‘Conveyance’”, press release from Restore the Delta
After dry ‘rainy season,’ California faces high wildfire risks
Posted by: Maven on May 15, 2012 at 8:26 amFrom KQED’s Climate Watch:
“In California, May typically marks the beginning of a warm and dry summer season. This year, however, things are different. Not only has it been warm and dry for the past couple weeks; it’s been warm and dry for months. So dry, in fact, that officials are warning the risk of wildfires across much of the state is going to be much worse than usual, for several months to come.
According to their most recent outlook, the National Interagency Fire Center predicts that large parts of southern and central California, along with forests throughout the Sierra Nevada, are likely to see more wildfires than normal, particularly later this summer. … “
Continue reading from KQED’s Climate Watch by clicking here.
Delta National Park blog: Maps are great at that
Posted by: Maven on May 15, 2012 at 8:24 amFrom the Delta National Park blog:
“Everyone, but especially those who develop history and geography curriculum for the state’s schools, should check out KQED’s fabulous new Delta interactive map. I’ve just barely scratched its surface but have already learned some new things. Great historical photographs, images and texts from early surveyors.
It is a model of the kind of work that someone like J.B. Jackson would have done if he were doing his work with today’s media. Congratulations to KQED and Stanford’s Bill Lane Center. … “
Continue reading from the Delta National Park blog by clicking here.
California’s ‘forage’ fish protection strongest in the world, says commentary
Posted by: Maven on May 15, 2012 at 8:21 amFrom the North County Times, this commentary:
“More than 150 years ago, immigrant Chinese fishermen launched sampans into the chilly waters of Monterey Bay to capture squid. The bay also lured fishermen from Sicily and other Mediterranean countries, who brought round-haul nets to fish for sardines.
This was the beginning of the largest fishery in the western hemisphere —- California’s famed “wetfish” industry, imprinted on our collective conscience by writers such as John Steinbeck.
Who doesn’t remember “Cannery Row”?
It was the plentiful schools of fish —- especially sardines that stretch from the Gulf of California to Alaska during cycles of abundance —- that provided opportunity for generations of enterprising fishing families to prosper. These families helped build not only Monterey, but the ports of many other California cities, including San Diego, San Francisco and San Pedro —- the fishing hub of Los Angeles. … “
Continue reading this commentary at the North County Times by clicking here.
California Greening blog: Water budgets meet financial budgets in CA water wars
Posted by: Maven on May 15, 2012 at 8:19 amFrom the California Greening blog:
“There is an increasing body of evidence that any resolution to the peripheral canal and Delta infrastructure is meeting a financial wall around which there is no room to maneuver. What is happening in California is no different in many ways from what is happening elsewhere. Water wars are driven by allocations, financial and hydrological. Coastal urban allocations in California are disproportional in their priority because of the use of geo-political entities. As the Central Valley becomes more urbanized there is an increase in their political representation. But as long as diversions are the solution of choice in California, regional planning will never be utilized to integrate urban users with agricultural and rural users in the decision-making process. … “
Continue reading from the California Greening blog by clicking here.
A tour of drought as it unfolds across the U.S.
Posted by: Maven on May 15, 2012 at 8:17 amFrom OPB News:
“Last year at this time, all eyes were on Texas, where drought conditions were intensifying into what became that state’s worst single year drought on record, causing nearly $8 billion in economic losses. Recently, though, Texas has gone from famine to feast in the precipitation department, and drought concerns for the upcoming summer are focused farther to the west, as drought tightens its grip across a broad swath of the interior West and Southwest
In addition to the West, drought conditions are also prevalent in the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, and parts of the Northeast as well, along with a small pocket in the Upper Midwest. In all, 56 percent of the Lower 48 states were experiencing drought conditions as of May 8, almost twice the area compared to last year at this time, according to data from the U.S. Drought Monitor. … “
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