Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
November 18, 2008
1. Top Items -
McClatchy Newspapers
Waterway dispute finally settled after two decades.
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McClatchy Newspapers – 11/18/08
By Michael Doyle, staff writer
While not entirely unexpected, the delay disappoints those who had hoped to resolve the long-simmering river restoration issue sooner rather than later. It also gives supporters and opponents more time to maneuver.
"It's unfortunate that the Senate could not move on this bill," said Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, adding that "it is my hope that the House will move quickly" in January.
The ambitious
Lawmakers once spoke of moving the massive legislation during the lame-duck congressional session this week, but that schedule proved too ambitious amid ongoing negotiations over an economic stimulus deal and an auto industry bailout.
"Rather than move forward on the lands package, which is ... so important to a lot of senators and certainly a lot of people around the country, we're better off waiting until we come back," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced early Monday afternoon.
The
The
"We've been through a little bit of a roller coaster," acknowledged Ron Jacobsma, general manager of the Friant Water Users Authority, but "in many ways, the settlement today is better than what it was two years ago."
Even so, farmers worried about losing irrigation supplies could use the next several weeks to resist the river provision. Last week, Kings County Farm Bureau president Tim Larson urged
"Our concern is not only for our future, but extends beyond the boundaries of our county to include our neighboring counties," Larson wrote, citing a "lack of federal funding (and) a risk of future litigation."
More broadly, some conservative lawmakers as well as organizations including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce raised alarms about the overall public lands bill as being pork-laden.
Reid said Monday that unnamed senators threatened to invoke a rarely used Senate rule requiring that the entire bill be read aloud on the Senate floor. At well over 760 pages, Reid estimated that it would take at least 24 hours to get through the reading.
Reid's decision means the bill will return in a markedly different political environment. The Democrats will hold at least 57 seats in the Senate, giving them more leeway to force through legislation.
"In January, we'll have more votes," Reid said, adding that the public lands measure will be "the first or second thing we do when we come back in January."
The overall package could change, reflecting the Senate's own changes. Several senators from states that have provisions in the current bill, including Idaho and Alaska, are leaving Capitol Hill, although that won't necessarily mean the states' provisions will be stripped out.#
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/244/story/56020.html
Waterway dispute finally settled after two decades.
By CAROL REITER
A federal bill that would restore water flows and return salmon to the
But amendments to the bill were agreed upon Monday, and those amendments should drown the worries of the districts.
The bill will go before the Senate early next year as part of a big land-use package and would make sweeping changes to the
Negotiation for some of the districts was done by the
Art Godwin, a lawyer with the firm, said growers downstream of the river were worried about seepage issues. If the river gets more water flow, water would seep into the growers' land. That could kill whatever is being grown on the acreage.
"We were worried about seepage and also about the cost," Godwin said. The cost has been estimated to be anywhere from $500 million to more than $1 billion. Godwin said the districts were worried that the money would run out before the restoration was finished.
Another worry, especially for the Merced Irrigation District and San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority on the Westside of the county, was reintroducing Chinook salmon to the
Currently, the spring run of the salmon only happens on the
The salmon is a threatened species, and if it ended up in other rivers, those water districts might have to mitigate for it.
"The Merced Irrigation District was worried because the Merced River ends at the
The district was troubled by the possibility that the salmon might accidentally go up the
Dan Nelson, executive of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, said the negotiations that took place over the past several weeks have satisfied the districts.
"We were worried that there would be increased price impacts to the third-party districts," Nelson said. The districts are considered third party because they weren't part of the lawsuit that started the restoration. The lawsuit, which focused on reintroducing fish into the river, was settled in 2006, 18 years after it was filed.
"The farmers in the third-party districts have developed an agricultural community that provides a valuable supply of food, fiber and thousands of jobs," said Nelson. "This community would be in jeopardy if their water supply or their ability to farm were threatened."#
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1019421.html
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