A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
August 1, 2007
1. Top Items
Farmers ready to take big drink; CALIFORNIA: May get huge water grant while cities conserve - Associated Press
Talks continue grinding forward to reach water deal; The proposed transfer to Westlands still faces major obstacles - Sacramento Bee
Farmers ready to take big drink;
Associated Press – 8/1/07
By Garance Burke, staff writer
Landowners in the Westlands Water District would gain the rights to 1 million acre feet of water under a proposed settlement federal regulators are likely to present today. An acre foot translates to the amount needed to cover one acre with a foot of water.
That's 15 percent of the federally controlled water in
The Westlands Water District, a coalition of giant agribusinesses in the fertile
If drought-like conditions persist in the West, the deal would guarantee the farmers' irrigation pumps will flow, even if that means some cities in the
''Can a proposal that appears to put a small group of farm operations ahead of the taxpayers and our fish and wildlife resources be justified because it may help one federal agency deal with a specific drainage problem?'' said Hal Candee, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Westlands declined to comment, saying Sen. Dianne Feinstein had asked participants to refrain from speaking about the negotiations in advance of today's meeting.
The proposed settlement would give the Westlands farmers a stake in a massive reservoir, millions of dollars in pumps and pipes, and permanent rights to enough water to serve 8 million people.
It is one of two settlements being considered. The second proposal would offer landowners a contract for less water, but would still ensure that Westlands farmers get their water before cities. #
http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/491544,CST-NWS-water01.article
Talks continue grinding forward to reach water deal; The proposed transfer to Westlands still faces major obstacles
Sacramento
By Michael Doyle, Bee Washington Bureau and Dennis Pollock, Fresno
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.
Westlands spokeswoman Sarah Woolf added, "I don't know that the deal is a deal," and stressed that Feinstein had urged negotiators not to make details public. Today's session follows an earlier Capitol Hill meeting in June, after which participants generally agreed a compromise might be many months away.
There are, in fact, a daunting series of political and policy hurdles standing in the way of any proposed grand bargain, even if the Bush administration and Westlands have come to a meeting of the minds.
The negotiators are trying to resolve a problem begun when the federal government built San Luis but never finished an irrigation drainage system promised as part of the water package. Consequently, water tainted by selenium found naturally in
The federal government remains flummoxed, having lost a lawsuit filed by the farmers and now being forced to come up with a solution. Fixing the irrigation drainage problem would cost
Officials see swapping the San Luis water in exchange for getting rid of irrigation drainage responsibilities as a good deal.
Environmentalists, in particular, are highly skeptical of a plan that by some accounting could give the water districts control of 1 million acre-feet of water.
"This huge giveaway of
"
In even more pointed detail, the Natural Resources Defense Council has spelled out potential legal, technical and political problems with the proposal in an 18-page missive already circulating on Capitol Hill. Hal Candee, a senior attorney with the environmental group, will be among those participating in today's session.
The environmentalists have key congressional allies involved, including one of the top lieutenants to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, so it will be difficult to pass the necessary legislation unless everyone is reasonably content. #
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/302589.html
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