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More response from agricultural groups on water allocation announcement

Posted by: Maven on February 28, 2010 at 7:51 am

From The Grower:

“The federal and state water projects told water users in California today to expect only a fraction of their normal contracted amounts.

“For farmers and their employees, this is like a nightmare that you can’t wake up from,” Paul Wenger, a Modesto walnut grower and president of the California Farm Bureau, said in a news release. “What makes it worse is that, unlike previous years, these low allocations come at a time when snowpack levels stand near average and our reservoirs are refilling.”

The federal Central Valley Project warned agricutlural customers both north and south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta they could see allocations as low as 5 percent under the most conservative scenarios. The State Water Project raised its projected water deliveries to 15 percent. … “

Continue reading at The Grower by clicking here.

Tom Nassif of Western Growers says that the 5, 10 or maybe even 30% allocation only adds confusion to the despair:

” … “We all hope a ‘dry year’ scenario that would result in a five percent allocation does not come true. The federal government today pointed out the obvious – that California is experiencing an average water year to date – and said if this condition continues the allocation could be as high as 30 percent. This goes to the heart of the problem: Because of the ESA-based biological opinions restricting delivery of water to farms and cities south of the Delta, it no longer matters very much if the state receives ample rain and snow since that water cannot be delivered where it is needed. Despite the fact that the largest federal storage reservoir, Shasta, is at nearly 100 percent of average storage for this time of year, the federal government still can only ‘hope’ that completion of an average water year will result in perhaps a one-third water allocation. An average water year that fills Shasta and the other reservoirs should result in something much closer to a 100 percent allocation, not ‘maybe 30 percent.’ … ‘

Continue reading Tom Nassif’s statement at the California Ag Network website by clicking here.

February 28, 2010 · Filed Under Uncategorized

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