Water Education Foundation
This is just one post in the San Joaquin River Restoration Category
Click here to view all posts

Finally, progress on the San Joaquin, says editorial

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 20, 2008 at 3:33 pm

From the Capital Ag Press, this editorial which praises the recent progress made on the San Joaquin River restoration:

As Marvin Hughes, chairman of the Friant Water Users Authority, put it last week in a Fresno Bee opinion piece, “It should be plain to everyone in the Valley by now that the courts are the worst place to make decisions about San Joaquin Valley water supplies. Without the settlement the litigation would resume and we would have to return to court and put control of our water into the hands of a federal judge whose previous rulings strongly indicate that he will send water down the river to re-establish a salmon fishery regardless of the cost to the Valley.”

The deal Feinstein announced means CVP “exchange contractors” won’t see any decrease in their CVP contract deliveries, and they retain rights to divert from the San Joaquin if the canals dried up.

Some farmers, and rightly so, don’t like that. Judge Wanger, acting on behalf of threatened Delta smelt, has limited CVP and SWP pumping from the Delta for six months out of each year. Add to that the CVP practice of shorting Westside water deliveries during drought years, and you can understand the unease.

It took courage for Feinstein to take the lead on this settlement. She’s come a long way from being mayor of San Francisco. Central Valley farmers can thank her for caring. Also due thanks as the settlement bill moves forward are a bipartisan trio of congressmen: George Radanovich, a Republican, and Democrats Jim Costa and Dennis Cardoza.

Read more from the Capital Ag Press by clicking here.

November 20, 2008 · Filed Under San Joaquin River Restoration

Comments

Leave a Reply