[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 3/26/09

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

March 26, 2009

 

2. Supply –

 

 

 

Opinion:

Berryhill: Bad infrastructure threatens drought, flood all at once

Modesto Bee

 

Still coming up dry

Hanford Sentinel

 

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Opinion:

Berryhill: Bad infrastructure threatens drought, flood all at once

Modesto Bee – 3/26/09

By Assemblyman Tom Berryhill, Modesto

 

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While the recent storms have brought some much-needed rain, we cannot be lulled into a false sense of security about our water situation.

California is in drought. And with the state of our infrastructure, we are running the ironic risk of simultaneously running out of water and experiencing devastating flooding. We must resolve years of neglect or deal with dramatically reduced water.

 

Our water infrastructure has become inadequate, yet the state has failed to act. As this infrastructure continues to decay, we are confronted with the challenge of keeping pace with the demands of a state growing by 500,000 new people each year.

 

Already, farmers are taking agricultural lands out of production, and building permits could be put on hold, forcing the loss of thousands of jobs. California's gross cash income from agriculture alone is more than $31 billion, and nearly 400,000 Californians are employed in agriculture-related fields. California's water crisis has the potential to devastate our economy.

 

There is no simple fix. California relies on an elaborate network of water storage and delivery systems to supply cities, farms, businesses and the environment with adequate water year-round.

 

The state must address our water crisis in a comprehensive approach emphasizing below- and above-ground water storage, strengthening conveyance that recognizes area-of-origin water rights, delta restoration and resource protection. However, all necessary negotiations will mean nothing unless we are committed to building the brick-and-mortar infrastructure this state needs.

 

While solutions are being studied and debated, it is important to remember the importance of the delta as part of the complex water delivery method throughout the state. Focus should be directed toward the aging levees that protect the delta's fresh water from floods and are at risk of a major failure that could cripple water deliveries.

 

Many of the levees were built in the 19th and early 20th centuries and have not been adequately maintained. It is unfortunate that the delta is at an environmental tipping point. It is even more disturbing that in the midst of water rationing, much-needed rain is squandered as it runs to the ocean due to lack of storage facilities.

Additional storage would provide a valuable tool for meeting the needs of people and ecosystems. The surface storage projects envisioned today would increase water system flexibility by capturing higher levels of peak runoff with minimal environmental impacts. The direction we need to head is simple, but the implementation will be much more difficult.

 

There is no single solution to the multifaceted water problem in the state. How we manage these risks is entirely dependent on whether or not the state's water system can finally get the attention it requires. We cannot afford to be shortsighted by focusing on quick fixes and lesser priorities. By not moving forward and addressing the entire state, we are compromising safe drinking water, the safety of our communities and environment, and our economy.

Berryhill, R-Modesto, represents the 25th Assembly District. #

http://www.modbee.com/opinion/community/story/643027.html

 

Still coming up dry

Hanford Sentinel – 3/25/09

By Seth Nidever

Central Valley farmers north of the Sacramento River Delta are getting a little bit of irrigation water, but growers in Westlands Water District still won't be receiving a drop.

A wet February allowed the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to announce last week that farmers north of the Delta will get 5 percent of their allocation instead of 0 percent.

But for growers in the Westlands Water District in Kings and Fresno counties, there will still be no water flowing down from the giant pumps that suck water out of the Delta and send it south.

The pumping has been cut back to protect the Delta smelt fish and other endangered species in the Delta area, according to Pete Lucero, a bureau spokesman.

"I've just basically planted to keep my people busy. It's for the workers," said Ernie Taylor, a local farmer with 2,000 acres mostly in Westlands.

 

This year, only 600 acres of Taylor's acreage is being farmed, and Taylor has only three workers left out of the normal 12 to 14.

Westlands Water District, which has 30,000 of its 600,000 acres in Kings County, will let up to two-thirds of its acreage go barren this year.

The district feeds water to about 600 San Joaquin Valley farmers.

A recent University of California, Davis study estimated that the drought will cost Central Valley farmers $1.6 billion in the coming months and result in 60,000 lost ag jobs.

San Joaquin Valley farmers may get more water allocated to them depending on any additional precipitation in March, said Pete Lucero, a bureau spokesman.

But it won't matter much for farmers like Taylor.

He said the only thing he'll plant this year is some cotton. The rest of his limited well water will go toward keeping alive some alfalfa that was already planted.

That leaves him and other farmers more vulnerable to the unknowns of disease, drought and weather. Normal practice is to plant several crops in case some don't do well.

"There's no sure thing for us this year. It's going to be a little risky for us," Taylor said.#

http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/articles/2009/03/25/news/doc49ca7d50b91da560566331.txt

 

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