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California’s water woes may go from bad to worse

Posted by: Maven on June 6, 2009 at 6:41 am

From The Packer:

The National Marine Fisheries Service, an arm of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, has dropped a bombshell on California growers. The service submitted to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation June 4 a biological opinion, also known as a reasonable and prudent alternative, calling for even greater reductions in federal and state exports of Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta water to San Joaquin Valley growers and to southern California. Reaction from the growers and California politicians was quick and angry.

In a statement released by his office, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said “the opinion puts fish above the needs of the people of California.”

Fresno-based Westlands Water District, which serves growers who farm 600,000 acres, will join other public water agencies in filing suit to block the implementation of the RPA, said Sarah Woolf, spokeswoman for Westlands. “They have rushed this biological opinion into place without bothering to prepare an environmental impact statement, without public hearings or the kind of independent public review that the law requires,” she said. “The opinion is a violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and of the federal endangered species law.”

News of the opinion came as a shock to the valley’s grower-shippers, many of whom received just 10% of the region’s irrigation water allotment this spring.

“There was no public comment period,” said Congressman Devin Nunes, a Visalia Republican who represents portions of Tulare, Kings and Fresno counties. “It’s absurd; I’m told that’s really never before happened.”

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June 6, 2009 · Filed Under Wildlife & Endangered Species

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