Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
February 23, 2009
Top Item–
Federal water forecast is grim for some Valley farms: Not a drop
State, federal water allocations cut
Marysville Appeal Democrat
Feds: Less water for California
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Federal water forecast is grim for some Valley farms: Not a drop
By Mark Grossi
Farmers on the west side of the
Farmers now must shift into survival mode, pumping groundwater to keep orchards alive and leaving bare dirt where tomatoes, onions and melons grew in previous years.
"People are going to be using every available groundwater well and trying to get by," said Sarah Woolf, spokeswoman for Westlands Water District, the largest of the districts that are affected.
One Westlands farmer, Joe Rascon, will cut his cotton crop by 75 percent. "It is going to be a nightmare," he said Thursday.
Even if there is a lot of rainfall in the next several weeks, west-side farmers can expect only 10 percent of the water they want.
The lowest previous delivery was 25 percent during two drought years in the early 1990s.
The announcement today stems from complex problems, including three consecutive dry winters and reduced water pumping to protect dwindling fish in
The bad news was shared privately Thursday with legislators in
It is the first water-delivery forecast of the season, water officials said, so a stormy late winter and spring may change the picture.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, owner of the Central Valley Project, usually modifies the forecast in March and April.
Stormy weather over the past two weeks has added to the Sierra snowpack, but the 400-mile-long range is still far behind – about 75 percent of average for this date.
Valley water officials say today's forecast will not settle one troubling question: Will east-side farmers have to give up some of their
If the high-priority west-siders – known as exchange contractors – cannot get their allotment of imported water from Northern California, they can legally get water from
That has never happened, but east-side farmers who irrigate with water from
East-siders today also will hear news about their
"We would like to see a lot of storms in the next several weeks," said Ron Jacobsma, Friant general manager. "If there is a call on Friant water from the exchange contractors, we could have very tight water supplies this year."
West-side cities, such as Coalinga and Huron, will be told to expect 50 percent of their usual allotments, officials said.
Many other west-side cities get their water from wells.
Most leaders in west-side communities knew bad news was on the way.
Mendota Mayor Robert Silva wonders how much more his farming community can take. He estimates that 80 percent of his city's economy is tied to agriculture.
The city's unemployment rate is 40 percent. Silva said he is working with social service agencies to distribute 1,000 boxes of food next month.
"But that will only be a Band-Aid," Silva said. "It will only last for a few days." #
http://www.sacbee.com/politics/story/1638882.html?mi_rss=State+Politics
State, federal water allocations cut
Marysville Appeal Democrat – 2/21/09
By Howard Yune
A
Water users receiving
State officials warned of the likelihood of reduced supplies earlier this year, citing three straight drier-than-normal years, a shrinking Sierra Nevada snowpack, and the resulting record-low levels in the
Communities in the southern half of the valley may be the biggest losers in the drought. Several water districts in the
The effect of the water supply cuts on Mid-Valley farmers is not yet clear. Numerous water districts crisscross Yuba, Sutter and Colusa counties, many of them with state or federal contracts for reservoir water.
Federal water allocations may change March 1, when the reclamation bureau revises its forecast. A storm brought more than 3 inches of rain over the Mid-Valley last weekend and dropped snow over the Sierra Nevada, and another storm is predicted for this weekend.#
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/water_74497___article.html/state_federal.html
Feds: Less water for California
Los Angeles
Ari Bloomekatz
Federal officials announced today that they may not be able to provide the agricultural water supply to more than 200 water districts in the
It marks the first time in 17 years that the Federal Bureau of Reclamation has announced that it does not have enough water to fulfill its agricultural contracts to parts of the
"This year is on the heels of two previous critically dry years, and this is the third year in a row," Wirth said, adding that the zero-percent projection affects only the agency's agricultural service contractors. Today's announcement was the agency's initial water allocation projection for 2009, and Wirth said officials were hopeful the allocations could be increased if there is more precipitation.
According to a dry forecast projection released by the agency, agriculture contracts north and south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta would receive zero percent allocation while municipal and industrial groups would receive 50% of their contracts in the same area. Refuges and people under "water rights" contracts are projected to receive 75% of their contracts, Wirth said.
Tom Birmingham, general manager of the Westlands Water District, which has the largest contract with about 1.2 million acre-feet of water delivered by the federal agency, issued a statement in response to the projection, describing a water crisis already underway.
"Farmers in the Westlands Water District have already begun destroying thousands of acres of almond orchards and plan on fallowing over 300,000 acres of land. Wherever possible, almond production will be stunted in hopes of keeping the trees alive through this desperate time. But there is no question that many years worth of investments will be lost," he said in the statement.
"In Westlands, the crisis is well underway," he continued. "Cropping decisions have already been made. Fields are being abandoned. The unemployment rate in the community of Mendota alone has soared to 40%."
The state Department of Water Resources announced today that it would be able to allocate only 15% supply to each of its contractors.
"Reduced deliveries will require contractors to rely on dry water year contingency plans to meet their needs. If precipitation were to increase and hydrologic and reservoir conditions improve, it is possible the allocation could rise in coming months," water resources officials said in a statement.
Laura King Moon, assistant general manager of State Water Contractors, a nonprofit association of 27 public agencies across
The SWC delivers water to more than 750,000 acres of farmland and to more than 25 million
"Water agencies up and down the state will be forced to adopt increasingly restrictive water management approaches, including mandatory conservation, rationing and rate hikes," Moon said in statement. "We need to move forward as quickly as possible with a proactive, comprehensive approach to protect fish as well as the water supply people depend on.”#
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/02/calif-water.html
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