[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 2/29/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

February 29, 2008

 

2. Supply

 

CENTRAL VALLEY WATER STORAGE:

Backers of water-storage projects lobby in D.C. - Fresno Bee

 

AG WATER SUPPLY:

Central Valley farms to get 45 percent of irrigation water allocations - Central Valley Business Times

 

 

CENTRAL VALLEY WATER STORAGE:

Backers of water-storage projects lobby in D.C.

Fresno Bee – 2/28/08

By Michael Doyle, staff writer

 

WASHINGTON -- Supporters of two water-storage projects proposed in the central San Joaquin Valley are looking for help this week on Capitol Hill.

 

The Tule River Tribe wants to gather water in a new reservoir. Madera County officials want to collect water underground. Both require congressional help, and both face Bush administration skepticism.

 

The Porterville-based tribe's proposed reservoir would pool water from the Tule River flowing from the Sierra Nevada. Ultimately, the proposed reservoir could cost roughly $150 million. For now, the tribe needs $3 million for a feasibility study.

 

The proposed Madera County water bank -- a $90 million project -- would percolate water into underground aquifers near Highway 99 and release it during dry years.

"It is part of our plan to stop the over-drafting of ground water in our district," Madera Irrigation District board president Carl Janzen told a Senate subcommittee Thursday.

 

The projects have different histories, but they face similar hurdles.

 

The Tule River Tribe originally lived along the Tule River in eastern Tulare County until the tribe was relocated in the 1870s to rocky land about 15 miles away. Extensive negotiations culminated in a tentative deal calling for construction of a reservoir along the river's south fork.

 

"It's taken too long," said Alec Garfield, a longtime leader on the Tule River Tribal Council, adding that for years "nobody would listen to us."

 

The Tule River water rights settlement still must be ratified by Congress. As part of the deal, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, has introduced legislation authorizing $3 million to study the feasibility of a new reservoir. This week, Garfield and other Tule River Tribe members lobbied House members to support the legislation.

 

"It's completely consensus based, and nobody got sued," stressed Tom Rodgers, a former Senate staffer now serving as the tribe's Washington lobbyist.

 

The tribe has paid Rodgers' firm between $120,000 and $160,000 annually for lobbying on casinos and other issues in recent years, public records show. This week, he was guiding tribal leaders to congressional offices, clarifying the legislative process along the way.

 

So far, the Bush administration opposes the Tule River feasibility study, with Bureau of Reclamation official Robert Quint last year calling it "premature" and potentially costly. On Thursday, Quint was voicing similar reservations about the Madera County water bank project.

 

The water bank could store up to 250,000 acre-feet of water. The water might be sold for farming or development, and could help farmers replace irrigation water lost because of efforts to restore the San Joaquin River nearby.

 

"It's to help not just us in the water district, but it's to help our whole county," Janzen told the sparsely attended hearing of the Senate water and power subcommittee.

 

The House already has approved a bill by Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, to authorize water bank construction. Quint, though, warned Thursday that the Madera water would cost $420 per acre-foot, at least $100 per acre-foot more than current rates.

 

Quint added that it was "premature" to authorize the Madera project, stressing that none of the 18 studies done to date meets federal standards for a formal feasibility study.

 

The Senate's intentions aren't yet clear on the Madera water bank bill, while the Tule River feasibility study faces what Rodgers called a "fraught" political environment during this presidential election year. #

http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/431336.html

 

 

AG WATER SUPPLY:

Central Valley farms to get 45 percent of irrigation water allocations

Central Valley Business Times – 2/28/08

 

Farmers who purchase their irrigation water from the Central Valley Project can expect 45 percent of their allocations, according to the Bureau of Reclamation.

 

But the Bureau says allocations for those north of the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta may be subject to further review for Sacramento River water temperatures to protect salmon.

 

The bureau is also implementing interim court-ordered measures this year to protect the delta smelt, and water supply for the allocations south of the delta could change.

 

Farmers south of the delta face an even more uncertain season for irrigation water, according to a Sacramento-based private water law attorney.

 

Additional court decisions about endangered species protections for salmon and a new fish that may be added to the list could further reduce water flows.

 

“The Delta smelt interim decision regarding additional restrictions to protect Delta smelt is ongoing. There also has recently been a state decision on the longfin smelt and so we may get additional restrictions on the State [Water] Project,” says Becky Sheehan, a private water law attorney in Sacramento.

 

On Feb. 7, the California Fish and Game Commission voted to designate the longfin smelt as a "candidate species," the first step toward formal listing of the tiny fish as an endangered or threatened species under the California Endangered Species Act.

 

Ms. Sheehan adds that there is a decision expected soon in yet another case, this one involving salmon, which could further restrict use of the Delta’s fresh water.

 

It all adds up to make predictions of water deliveries this year and next very uncertain, says Ms. Sheehan.

 

“This year is particularly uncertain because of all of the decisions that have been made and decisions that will be made. But it’s not just this year, it’s going probably be the next couple years,” she says.  #

http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=7976

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