This is just one post in the Central Valley Project Category

Sacramento Bee: Obstacles ahead for Westlands water deal

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 1, 2007 at 9:44 am

Here’s coverage of the Westlands water deal from this morning’s Sacramento Bee:

Negotiators are pressing forward today on what some are calling the biggest water transfer in the nation’s history, hoping to end a Central Valley irrigation dispute that’s defied solution for several decades.

The sprawling Westlands Water District would gain control of the water stored in San Luis Reservoir, under the revised proposal expected on Capitol Hill. Westlands could be free of the federal acreage limits meant to preserve small family farms, and would stop repaying the government for building the reservoir and associated canals. In return, the Rhode Island-sized water district and several others would assume responsibility for cleaning up a multibillion-dollar irrigation drainage mess. So far, the districts haven’t specified exactly how they might solve the drainage problem.

The Bush administration and Westlands officials who first floated the general idea earlier this year expect to present their latest, more polished version during a closed-door, two-hour session convened on Capitol Hill by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif. “I do not expect the meeting to be dispositive, but part of an ongoing effort to find a solution,” Feinstein said.

To read the full text of the Sacramento Bee article, click here.

August 1, 2007 · Filed Under Agriculture, Central Valley Project, Westlands Water District

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