Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 16, 2009
3. Watersheds –
Editorial: Advocating for water solutions
The
AFP
Editorial: Where are the salmon solutions?
The San Francisco Chronicle
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Editorial: Advocating for water solutions
The Inland Valley
We were glad to see the announcement last week that the governor's Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force has reconstituted itself.
The group, whose work for the governor ended in December, is now known as the Delta Vision Foundation and has non-governmental financial support. These heavy-hitters will work on advancing the set of recommendations and strategies they proposed in their Delta Vision Strategic Plan, released in November.
The delta referred to, of course, is the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast. It is a very fragile ecosystem, subject to seismic threats because it is largely bounded by old, earthen levees, that provides drinking water to 25 million people in
That, combined with dry weather over the past three years, is likely to produce water shortages this summer. But the task force concentrated on longer-range and potentially much worse problems associated with the hard-pressed Delta.
"Failure to act to address identified Delta challenges and threats will result in potentially devastating environmental and economic consequences of statewide and national significance," according to the Delta task force. Essentially, the state's water supply and the state's economy are both at risk if the Delta fails.
The task force spent two years developing a holistic approach to managing the Delta that emphasizes protecting both the state's water supply and the Delta's ecosystem. The task force's recommended a "dual conveyance" approach, which is a variation on the old peripheral canal pushed by local state Sen. Ruben Ayala of Chino in the 1980s, only to be spurned by voters in a state referendum. Some water would be diverted into the State Water Project before it reaches the Delta, with the rest flowing into the Delta and a lesser amount of water being pumped from the Delta into the water system.
Managed properly, dual conveyance would sustain the estuary while protecting the water supply from a potential disaster - like an earthquake that causes saltwater to breach the earthen levees and ruin the Delta's fresh water. That would drop the state's economy into a recession that makes the current one look like a cakewalk.
Researchers with the Public Policy Institute of California concluded last summer that a peripheral canal alone, rather than dual conveyance, would be best for the water supply and the Delta; that some water should be diverted to supply lines and the remaining water that flows into the Delta should not be pumped.
In either case, some form of peripheral canal is necessary to protect the water supply, the economy and the Delta. We're glad the members of the task force have stuck together to advocate for their multifaceted solution that includes increasing water conservation and storage facilities.
Now, if only elected leaders would listen to them.#
http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_11920699
PASADENA, California (AFP) — Even grinding recession has not undone growth in one corner of California's drought-parched landscaping sector, where Robert Cornell has spent more than two decades fine-tuning climate friendly gardens.
In
Nor do passersby see any clues that this type of vegetation best suited for temperate to tropical areas really ought not be thriving in this semi-arid Mediterranean climate.
In
"Here normally, you'd have chapparal, buckweed (types of brush). You would have perennial plants that are designed to burn every 40 and 50 years."
The water that comes out of the tap in this area comes from hundreds of miles (kilometers) away, from the mountains of the state's northeast.
But with the drought dragging on, authorities are not ruling out rationing water to residents; watering restrictions are already in place.
Fortunately, one thing is starting to be uprooted in
Part of the change has come from living with drought; some has to do with people making better-informed decisions taking environmental factors into account -- as well as greater demand for natural, climate-cued gardens.
Kent Shocknek, a local television anchor, is among those who simply like the natural style of the climate-attuned garden.
He and his wife, Karen, asked Cornell to help then develop "a landscape as ... green as possible, with as little maintenance as possible.
"We wanted something that would blend with the environment, we wanted something that would be pretty and a little more rustic and wild than something manicured, and anchor the hillside, and keep it from sliding," Shocknek said.
With the garden in place, "we haven't seen our utility bill increase, that's been one of the benefits of Robert's work. Our watering system has been turned off since the last rain."
Around the couple's home, Cornell planted Mexican aloe, different tall grasses, yucca and South African plants such as Mole Purge (euphorbia Lathyrus and Characias).
"If you live in
"It's not just gorgeous and architecturally interesting, they're good for the environment as well."
Back when he was specializing in these types of plants 25 years ago, Cornell thought he could see the future.
"The population in
Now, he said his typical client is someone who has a concern about the environment, often Democrats, he says.
Though at the time his colleagues thought he was a gardening heretic, "today, in the industry, they realize that if they're not on board, they're not going to have a good reputation. It's the way of the future.
"There's a lot of talk about that. They're becoming very progressive. Today, I see in the industry a lot of people saying, this is probably the future, we've got to get on board," added Cornell.
"Azaleas are very thirsty. People who plant that today are on the wrong side of history," Cornell stressed, just ahead of the fifth World Water Forum, which begins in
Referring to President Barack Obama's effort to encourage environmentally sound job creation, Cornell joked: "I've been a green collar worker for 25 years!"#
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jF5aruvDSaMEuVmaCLYzLhCxB0CA?index=0
Editorial: Where are the salmon solutions?
The San Francisco Chronicle – 3/16/09
First it was a one-year ban, and now it's likely to be a second year with virtually no salmon fishing in
The affected interest groups - commercial fishermen, sports and environmental groups, plus government agencies - are showing remarkable patience and discipline in going along with a costly, job-killing timeout. It's a united front built on the hope that once-plentiful stocks will return.
But other than keeping fish hooks out of the water, where are the solutions to this crisis? This week there may be answers when a federal study is released on the decline.
So far, the explanations have ranged across a spread of human intrusions: pesticide runoff, water diversions and bankside development. There's another culprit that's drawn special attention: changing ocean currents that have carried off the food that sustain young fish to maturity.
But nature's hand gives
Also, the department staff oversees building plans and timber cuts in river corridors. With fewer hands, this work can't be done carefully.
Salmon may live a hazardous life at sea where forage is scarce, but none of the young fish will ever get there if salmon-rearing conditions in the
This neglect has lasted for years, and it didn't begin with this year's monumental budget battle. But it can't be allowed to continue for the health of either the salmon or the California Department of Fish and Game. A stable funding source must be found.
A state Assembly hearing last week in
Unless this commitment is found, an iconic fish - and the human industry built around it - could slowly die out.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/16/ED8316F0P9.DTL
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