Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
September 19, 2008
1. Top Item -
Smelt threaten irrigation projects: Lawsuit could junk scores of valley water contracts
Capitol Ag Press- 9/18/08
Editorial
Flood of misinformation: State's new flood maps are inaccurate, confusing
The
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Smelt threaten irrigation projects: Lawsuit could junk scores of valley water contracts
Capitol Ag Press- 9/18/08
Hank Shaw, Capital Press
Contracts for 42 irrigation districts that rely on Central Valley Project water could be tossed because of the tiny delta smelt.
U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger heard arguments late last week over whether to require the Central Valley Project to rewrite the contracts because each was based off a flawed ruling that the water promised to both farmers and urban dwellers would not harm the endangered fish.
Delta smelt are considered to be the bellwether species in the estuary, which forms the hub of
Should the contracts be invalidated, it would likely mean that farmers would get less water and on a different schedule than they receive now.
How much less and on what sort of delivery schedule would be up to the individual districts as well as the federal government - and the smelt.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is in the midst of rewriting the biological opinion concerning the smelt. The degree of damage a new series of water contracts could do to the
This is a drought year and most farmers who get water from the
However, if a new set of contracts drops farmers' allocations, they may be forced to retire more land or alter their cropping patterns to less water-intensive - and often less valuable - product.
"By reducing the water in the contracts you are in essence supporting permanent modifications to agriculture and urban communities," Jacobsma said.
Friant water users have only an indirect stake in the lawsuit; should the contracts get tossed and open a vacuum, several water-using groups downstream have old claims to San Joaquin River water they could exercise - leaving everyone in the lurch.
A similar situation exists with water users in the
Neither Jacobsma nor Trent Orr - an attorney with the environmental group Earthjustice, which is party to the lawsuit - say they want that to happen.
"The thing is not that water deliveries should stop - various holders should get interim water - but only that the contracts should reflect the new biological opinion," Orr said.
The goal in Orr's mind is to toss the existing contracts but delay any changes for a year. This would allow the 42 contracting water districts to renegotiate contracts or get interim water deliveries.
But those new contracts couldn't begin to be negotiated until late this year when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finishes the new biological opinion.
Orr said he did not expect earthshaking changes to farmer's lives should the environmental groups win.
"I don't think (the new contracts) would look a lot different from what it looked like before," he said.
Sarah Wolff of the Westlands Water District begs to differ. Westlands is in the midst of negotiating its own Central Valley Project contract. She said if they must start over, "it would be extremely detrimental to us."
Wolff said one of the prime arguments the environmental groups make - that because farmers rarely receive 100 percent of their contracted water, they would not see much effect from a reduction - fails to account for one of the most serious water problems in the valley: groundwater.
The farmers in the Westlands district typically pump between 150,000 and 200,000 acre feet of water out of the ground each year. This year the total will be more like a half-million acre feet.
That is not sustainable and the farmers know it. This is why when
Wolff noted that Westlands farmers have already let 250,000 acres go fallow because of the drought. She said to ask them to take those acres out of production permanently is asking too much.
"We're already short on the contracts," Wolff said. "Now they're saying they're going to decrease it even more? That would have huge implications."
Judge Wanger said he would release his ruling "as soon as is humanly possible." It is unclear whether that will be in days, weeks, or months.
Hank Shaw is the
http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?SectionID=67&SubSectionID=616&ArticleID=44650&TM=82809.45
Editorial
Flood of misinformation: State's new flood maps are inaccurate, confusing
The
By
You've got to wonder what the state Department of Water Resources was thinking.
The DWR has released a set of flood maps, adding to a number already floating around, which1) have nothing to do with FEMA's maps that could force some homeowners to by flood insurance, and 2) are simply wrong.
Talk about confusion. The maps released earlier by the Federal Emergency Management Agency are confusing enough. And they've created considerable angst among homeowners about flood insurance. Is it required? Who is required to buy it? When? What will it cost?
Now along comes the DWR with its maps that state officials say are for information only. But
The maps are supposed to show areas that fall into the 100- and 200-year flood zones. A 200-year flood is one of a depth that has a 1-in-200 chance of occurring in any given year.
County officials say the DWR maps drastically underestimate the area likely to fall into a 200-year flood zone. The maps show levees where none exist and embankments such as railroad tracks as levees.
DWR officials say they were under a legislative deadline to prepare the maps, although you have to wonder why that deadline was so important to the DWR but the budget deadline so unimportant to the Legislature.
The maps were a heads-up to the communities, DWR officials said. They're not much of a heads-up if they're wrong.
Still, the agency says corrections are being made and better maps are on the way.
A cynic might suggest they will arrive before the state budget.#
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080919/A_OPINION01/809190315/-1/A_OPINION
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