A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 25, 2007
3. Watersheds
Cost to restore river set at $1b; Latest analysis of price tag exceeds previous San Joaquin estimates -
State panel backs plan to restore Salton Sea - Desert Sun
DELTA ISSUES:
Editorial: Water pump solution needed for
Editorial: Showdown over pumping; Clock is ticking -- who's going to blink first? -
WESTERN WATERSHED ISSUES:
Little Help for Watersheds in the West - New York Times
WILD AND SCENIC RIVER DESIGNATION:
Environmental groups seek federal protection of rivers; Alliance lobbies to prohibit new dams - Monterey Herald
Cost to restore river set at $1b; Latest analysis of price tag exceeds previous
By Mark Grossi, staff writer
The price tag of restoring the
An official from a west
The San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Authority, the west-side irrigation group, represents owners of 240,000 farmland acres next to the river. Officials fear their land might be flooded if the restoration isn't done well.
"I know the numbers are going to cause controversy," said Steve Chedester, executive director of the authority. "The river basically hasn't existed in one stretch since the 1960s."
Chedester spoke at a large educational gathering hosted by the
Speakers included representatives of environmentalists, farmers and federal and state governments.
The restoration project probably is among the biggest in the country, said Bill Loudermilk, regional manager in this area for the state Department of Fish and Game.
Two salmon runs died on the
But the river went dry in two long sections on the Valley's west side.
West-side farmers, who had previously used the river for irrigation, obtained
For many miles in one stretch on the west side, the
The restored river will either run through a rebuilt section of the river or the bypass, said Monty Schmitt, a scientist for the Natural Resources Defense Council, which filed the lawsuit over the river in 1988.
He said no decision has been made yet.
"There are pros and cons on both sides," he said. "The decision will take into consideration things like fish habitat and cost."
A steady water flow is supposed to be restored in the river by fall 2009, according to the settlement agreement. Salmon are scheduled to be reintroduced in the river by late 2012.
Chedester said he did not want to see the project move forward without a plan for the closed section of river. #
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/43792.html
State panel backs plan to restore Salton Sea
Desert Sun – 4/25/07
By Erica Solvig, staff writer
A state Senate committee endorsed the idea of saving the
The Natural Resources and Water Committee voted 6-1 to send a bill recognizing the importance of restoring the lake and creating a project fund to the Senate's appropriations committee.
The vote is the beginning of what will likely be a long process to gain statewide support for an effort, perhaps costing up to $6 billion, to revitalize the state's largest lake.
"It's the first legislative test," Salton Sea Authority executive director Rick Daniels said.
"It was a good sign."
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny, D-San Diego, is basically a framework.
Details on the way
The specifics on how to save the sea are going to come from Secretary of Resources Mike Chrisman, who within a week is expected to present a recommended plan to the Legislature.
A draft version included a much smaller sea and marshy wildlife habitat. It also shows an exposed lakebed that will have to be controlled in order to prevent dust and air quality issues.
Even if the plan is endorsed by lawmakers, the big funding question remains unanswered. 
The sea stands to get about $47 million from a water and parks proposition voters passed in November.
"Obviously it's going to cost a lot more money than that to do, so we're going to have to be realistic about how much the state is going to provide, and looking at ways to reduce the cost of the complete restoration," Alicia Dlugosh, spokeswoman for state Senate Leader Don Perata, D-Oakland, said before Tuesday's vote.
Federal efforts
The U.S. Congress is also working to set aside money. Until Chrisman's plan is finalized, it is unknown how much federal and state dollars will be needed and when.
"I know (the concept is) very expensive, but it's a project that will be done over 75 years and if everyone does their fair share, I think it can be done," said U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, who lives in Rancho Mirage.
"There is so much at stake - air quality for tens of thousands of people, an incomparable contribution to protecting the habitat of hundreds of species, and the economic development of one of the fastest-growing areas in California," said Boxer, chairwoman of the Senate's Environment and Public Works Committee. #
http://www.desertsunonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070425/NEWS0701/704250323/1006/news01
DELTA ISSUES:
Editorial: Water pump solution needed for
Woodland Daily Democrat – 4/24/07
At Issue:
Shutting down water pumps in the Delta.
Our Opinion:
A bureaucratic or legal dispute should not put either fish or humans at risk in the debate over Endangered Species Act.
When Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch ordered state water officials to comply with the California Endangered Species Act or shut down Delta pumps in 60 days, he meant it. Last Wednesday, he finalized his order, and the clock is now ticking.
Shutting the Delta pumps would be a financial disaster and hardship for the 25 million Californians who rely on the State Water Project for water.
It's not just the Central Valley and
The Zone 7 Water Agency, which serves 200,000 people in southeastern
If the pumps were to be shut down for any length of time, there would be severe economic damage, costing the state economy hundreds of billions of dollars, according to water officials.
However, those officials are partly to blame for the impending crisis. Since July 2005, they have been aware of the fact that the water project lacks permits to kill fish under state law.
The California Department of Water Resources said it will appeal the ruling and warned again of an economic disaster.
In the meantime, water officials need to work with the state Department of Fish and Game to get permits to kill fish.
The water agency has asked Fish and Game to endorse the less-stringent federal endangered species fish-kill permits and grant a state permit. However, Fish and Game Director Ryan Broddrick said he could not issue such a permit because the federal permit has been deemed inadequate.
The state and federal permitting regulations concerning fish should have been fashioned in an environmentally responsible manner years ago. But that shortcoming must not be allowed to force state water officials to completely shut down the water supply of 25 million users.
In the long run, the federal fish-kill permit needs to be upgraded so that it is similar to the state permit requirements. In the short term, Fish and Game should consider issuing a temporary one- or two-year permit, allowing the state agency to continue pumping water out of the Delta, perhaps at a reduced volume.
A bureaucratic and legal hassle must not result in an economic calamity. Water issues can often erupt into pitched battles in which all of the sides lose.
We certainly hope that is not the case here. There is room for both reason to prevail so that everyone can win. #
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/opinion/ci_5739741
Editorial: Showdown over pumping; Clock is ticking -- who's going to blink first?
It's hard to imagine the giant state water pumps northwest of
They probably won't be, but Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch upped the stakes when he refused a last-minute plea April 18 from California Department of Water Resources officials.
Roesch instead finalized his order that the pumps must stop in 60 days unless state officials obtain the necessary permits to kill fish.
Also caught up in this high-stakes power game are state Department of Fish and Game officials, who issue the permits required under the California Endangered Species Act.
At risk are Delta smelt and salmon. Department of Water Resources officials maintain that older federal agreements allowed them to kill these threatened species during pumping operations.
Roesch rejected the claims of a de facto permit and ordered agency officials to go through Fish and Game for required conventional permits.
Who's going to fold first?
The State Water Project provides water for 25 million Californians and supports $300 billion of
Shutting down the delivery system at the Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant would have dire economic consequences.
Fish and Game officials are caught in the middle. Department of Water Resources officials are appealing the ruling but - hedging their bets - finally are filing for the permits as well. They first were told to do that two years ago.
The situation could get even murkier. Adjacent federal pumps are subject to parallel federal litigation. A federal judge this week will hear arguments about invalidating the state permits.
Part of the argument by state officials is that the Delta needs a broader, long-range review, and any change in pumping operations should wait until that is completed.
That's probably true (see editorial below), but Department of Water Resources administrators have lost their gamble that no judge would order them to shut down the pumps.
They had months to make an appropriate permit application and find a better way to manage the pumps during crucial periods of fish migration.
At least one Superior Court judge in the
The next step is unclear.
An uncompromising court order is in place.
California Department of Water Resources officials are late in responding and state Fish and Game officials are conflicted about their responsibilities.
An appeal might buy more time, but it won't resolve the ambiguity of these pumps inadvertently killing threatened fish while slaking the thirst of
Nobody has a winning hand in this game. #
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070425/A_OPINION01/704250317/-1/A_OPINION06
WESTERN WATERSHED ISSUES:
Little Help for Watersheds in the West
New York Times – 4/25/07
By Kirk
Mountain snows melted and evaporated away with the wind and heat, leaving places like the Salt River and
In the drought that began in 2000 across much of the West, (with 2005 being the odd, near-normal year) 2007 is promising no relief: better than some years, but with no clear turning of the corner, either.
“We always like to be optimists, and we were, and then comes March,” said Kip White, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Reclamation, which manages dams and reservoirs in the West.
Hydrologists say the dry heat of early spring this year echoed what happened last year. The snows were there, and then abruptly they were not. In the Southwest and in central
But reservoir storage levels for drinking water and irrigation in
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/25/us/25water.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
WILD AND SCENIC RIVER DESIGNATION:
Environmental groups seek federal protection of rivers;
By Kevin Howe, staff writer
Several environmental organizations have formed an alliance to lobby for federal protection of wild and scenic rivers in
Friends of the River, California's statewide river conservation organization, has opened an office in Monterey and teamed with the Santa Cruz-based Ventana Wilderness Alliance, the Ventana chapter of the Sierra Club and other conservationists, community leaders and activists to form the Ventana Wild Rivers Campaign.
The group is seeking protection for several rivers flowing through public lands in Big Sur and the northern
Wild and scenic designation would ensure that the rivers and streams remain in a free-flowing state for future generations by prohibiting new dams, said Hannah Schoenthal-Muse,
The Ventana Wild Rivers Campaign, she said, seeks wild and scenic designation for the
Because their upper watersheds are largely undisturbed, Schoenthal-Muse said, these rivers and streams are an important source of clean water for
The
The campaign initially is seeking to educate the public about the rivers issue, she said, putting up information tables at public events, such as the recent Earth Day celebration, and organizing guided hikes along the rivers.
The group's next hike will be Sunday into the San Carpoforo Creek watershed in the Ventana Wilderness west of Fort Hunter Liggett, led by Richard Popchak and Schoenthal-Muse.
Organizers describe it as a strenuous, all-day hike involving steep climbs. To sign up and find out the group's meeting time and place, contact Popchak at 439-2623 or rich@ventanawild.org.
Other hikes are scheduled May 5 at Big Creek in
http://www.montereyherald.com/search/ci_5745220
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