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Kangaroo rat, Congress keep Madera County water plan bottled up

Posted by: Maven on March 17, 2009 at 3:42 pm

From the Fresno Bee:

The Madera Water Bank has been touted for a decade as a savior for Madera County farm fields and new housing tracts in dry times – like right now.

Yet the underground water storage project, which is a hit with farmers, environmentalists and legislators, is still on the drawing board.

As a third year of drought unfolds, officials search the proposed bank site for Fresno kangaroo rats and other endangered species. They’re trying to get approval from federal and state wildlife agencies to flood the land.

Madera Irrigation District, the third group to work on the water bank proposal in the last 10 years, says the project should be on a faster track because of the drought. “Sure, I’d feel good if I had the project ready right now, because we really could use it,” said farmer Carl Janzen, the district board president. “But it’s not ready, and part of the problem is all the hoops we have to jump through.”

The bank is well worth the effort, say most water experts. It would hold enough water to fill half of Millerton Lake. During wet years, the district would pipe extra water from area rivers to the grasslands southwest of Madera, where it would seep into the ground. The water would remain underground for years, ready to be pumped out and used when needed.

The water bank could provide more than 40% of the water needed by district farmers each year.

Read more from the Fresno Bee by clicking here.

March 17, 2009 · Filed Under San Joaquin Valley, Water Banking

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