[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 9/3/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

September 3, 2008

 

2. Supply –

 

 

 

Council says no to canal: In a symbolic move, the City Council voted to oppose possible construction of a canal that would ship water around the Delta and sent it to Southern California.

The Tracy Press- 9/2/08

 

Lake Oroville seeing fewer visitors: Labor Day weekend lake traffic down a third due to low water

Chico Enterprise Record- 9/2/08

 

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Council says no to canal: In a symbolic move, the City Council voted to oppose possible construction of a canal that would ship water around the Delta and sent it to Southern California.

The Tracy Press- 9/2/08

By Eric Firpo   

 

The Tracy City Council voted Tuesday to join other government agencies in and around the San Joaquin Delta to oppose a proposed canal that would deliver water to Southern California.

 

The vote is the latest installment of a decades-old fight between those who live in water-abundant Northern California and their brethren in Southern California deserts.

 

A plan to build a peripheral canal died at the hands of voters in 1982, but has been revived by a panel appointed by the governor called the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force.

 

Supporters say a canal that would steer water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta toward Southern California would not only improve water quality, but also help restore a teetering ecosystem that seems near its deathbed.

 

But that’s not how many people around the Delta see it.

 

The city councils of Stockton, Lodi and Manteca have joined the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors to oppose the canal, as Tracy’s did Tuesday night. Five counties around the Delta have also banded together as peripheral canal opponents.

 

County Supervisor Leroy Ornellas of Tracy was at Tuesday’s meeting to urge the council to oppose the canal

 

What bothers Ornellas as much as the canal itself is a proposal for what he called "new governance" for the Delta that could take decisions that impact Delta waterways out of the hands of locals and put it into the hands of others.

 

He said dry washes and other seasonal creeks in Tracy sit in a sort of secondary zone bordering the Delta that the "new governance" would oversee.

 

"Southern California interests are very supportive of this plan," Ornellas said.

 

The supervisor predicted that if the canal is built, "The Delta will become just a salty marsh."

 

Mel Lytle, a water expert with the county’s public works department and who lives in Tracy, also warned the blue ribbon panel will consider re-writing water rights.

 

The state’s department of water resources has already sent letters to 1,000 landowners in the Delta to tell them of a plan to survey their land.

 

Not everyone at Tuesday’s meeting opposed the canal, though.

 

Tom Benigno, Ornellas’ opponent in this year’s primary election for county supervisor, said the canal is a good idea because it would put a lot of people to work building it and help San Joaquin County’s economy.#

http://tracypress.com/content/view/15672/2242/

 

 

 

Lake Oroville seeing fewer visitors: Labor Day weekend lake traffic down a third due to low water

Chico Enterprise Record- 9/2/08

By TONI SCOTT, Staff Writer

Labor Day weekend proved to local state park officials that low levels on Lake Oroville are taking a toll on the number of visitors they see.

 

Bob Foster, district superintendent for the California State Parks, said the campgrounds and marinas on Lake Oroville saw at least one-third less visitors than last year.

 

"The biggest single factor to that would be the low water level," Foster said.

 

The lake is currently at 682 feet, a record low.

 

Foster said there are no permanent boat launches that operate below 695 feet in elevation, and without boat access, the lake's popularity is quickly dwindling.

 

"With decreased access we are seeing lower numbers," Foster said, adding that the park typically has six operating boat launches at this time of the year.

 

Foster said that the Department of Water Resources did provide the Lake Oroville State Recreation Area with two aircraft landing mats that have served as temporary boat launches at the Bidwell Marina and the spillway.

 

Still, Foster said the locations of both of the mats require visitors to have four-wheel drive capability on their vehicles as they are on dirt roads.

 

In addition to the low lake level, Foster also credited the summer's wildfires for their decreased attendance numbers.

 

"A lot of people canceled their reservations early on after all the fires," Foster said.

 

Foster said he expects this past weekend's low turnout to carry on into the rest of the year.

 

"We are usually busy in the fall, but that will be down too," Foster said.

 

Still, Lake Oroville has the potential to see more visitors if plans to install a new low-water boat launch are brought to fruition.

 

The launch is expected to be installed this fall by the Department of Water Resources, Foster said.

 

Foster did stipulate, however, that the launch will only operate to 650 feet of elevation.

 

The lake is projected to go as low as 630 feet by the end of the year.#

http://www.chicoer.com/news/oroville/ci_10366848