From News Line, a daily compilation of farm water news distributed to CFWC members and others upon request. To receive News Line, click here.

State’s refusal to use sound science continues to delay the Bay Delta Conservation Plan

Coalition response…The BDCP represents the best opportunity to improve both the ecosystem in the Delta, restoring more than 100,000 acres of habitat while improving our ability to respond to the needs of endangered species, and improves water supply reliability for almost 4,000 farms and millions of people from the Bay Area to Southern California.

The reference to a “Portfolio Approach” also raises the question why “several conservation groups, water districts, and businesses” waited so long in the development process to step forward to offer a plan. A plan that has the potential to take water away from about 750,000 acres of highly productive farmland. www.farmwater.org/BDCP-NRDC_alt.pdf

At a time when world food consumption is on the rise and million of people overseas are rising to middle income status and seeking to import prized California-grown agricultural products, is it a good idea to promote a plan that could mean fewer fresh food choices and higher prices in California grocery stores?

In order to explain the claim of “refusal to use sound science,” the author uses a highly questionable tactic of linking to a two-year-old press release by the Bay Institute that has routinely criticized BDCP and his own blog, instead of linking to the National Research Council’s report at http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13148 where readers can reach their own conclusions.

The California Farm Water Coalition is joining with Kronick, Moskovitz, Tidemann & Girard to recognize the Water Education Foundation’s Project WET at a special reception on Wednesday, May 8, 2013. The reception takes place during the ACWA 2013 Spring Conference in Sacramento.

CFWC Executive Director Mike Wade encouraged members of the water supplier community to attend the reception and learn more about Project WET and its role in educating students about water issues in California. The reception is scheduled from 5-7 pm at the rooftop lounge at MIX Downtown, 1525 L Street, Sacramento. Further information is available via email –lono@kmtg.com.

From News Line, a daily compilation of farm water news distributed to CFWC members and others upon request. To receive News Line, click here.

Delta plan doesn’t sit well locally

Coalition response…The concern the water users in the Delta have is one that other water users in California can relate to – water shortages for the last 20 years. A large part of the water lost due to environmental regulations flowed to the ocean with no measurable ecosystem benefit. A part of that water could have been serving 25 million people and growing local food in a farm state that is more productive than any other region on earth. That water can be put to use when the right conditions make it available.

The Bay Delta Conservation Plan is focused on creating a reliable water supply and a restored Delta ecosystem. Public water agencies are seeking the reliability that would provide near average deliveries to what they have received over the last 15 years, which is a reasonable compromise Californians can support.

From News Line, a daily compilation of farm water news distributed to CFWC members and others upon request. To receive News Line, click here.

Water sale just the beginning?

Coalition response…Voluntary water transfers add flexibility to California’s water system and provide benefits to both the buyer and the seller. Its important to understand that transfers like this undergo a review process by the State of California that must prove no harmful effect to the area of origin or the environment. As water moves downstream through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, part of it remains in the Delta for environmental benefits as well.

Comparing a boiling pot of water to transfers leaves out a very important factor—the oversight and assurance that the transfers meet their needs of the recipients as well as protecting the area of origin.

From News Line, a daily compilation of farm water news distributed to CFWC members and others upon request. To receive News Line, click here.

Report: Flooding as part of Bay Delta Conservation Plan could ruin Yolo Bypass rice crop

Coalition response...A clarification is needed to this story regarding who is paying for parts of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. The improved conveyance measures, including the twin tunnels, will be paid by those users who receive the water and not the public of California.

From News Line, a daily compilation of farm water news distributed to CFWC members and others upon request. To receive News Line, click here.

Governor’s tunnel plan could take Humboldt County’s Trinity water, impact salmon

Coalition’s response…Jerry Meral, Deputy Resources Secretary, has specifically stated in public meetings that existing water rights will be protected under the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). In response to concerns by some water rights holders who fear BDCP will prevent their continued use of water, Meral has said “we are going to extraordinary efforts to make sure our plan doesn’t do that. We will not ask the State Water Board to require anyone upstream of the Delta to change their water operation in compensation for something that we’re going to be applying for. It’s been a consistent theme for the last several years and we’re going to continue that.”

From News Line, a daily compilation of farm water news distributed to CFWC members and others upon request. To receive News Line, click here.

Delta plan is just another water grab by Southern California

Coalition response…In a recent letter on California water issues, Roger Thibault misses some key facts about water rights and the BDCP. Rights to use water for beneficial purposes are issued by the State Water Resources Control Board. The right to use that water isn’t limited to those upon whose head it falls, as Thibault believes. Public water agencies throughout the state helped pay for the water projects that deliver the water used to grow food on farms, meet domestic needs in homes and provide jobs for California businesses. Claiming that those same water users want to “…take virtually the entire flow of the Sacramento and pipe it around the Delta” is baseless as well. The water diverted under the proposed BDCP will be limited by the actual day-by-day conditions and flows of the river. When flows are high more water can be moved through the tunnels. When it is low, less water will be moved…or none at all under dry conditions. Find out more here: www.farmwater.org/exportthrottle.pdf.

From News Line, a daily compilation of farm water news distributed to CFWC members and others upon request. To receive News Line, click here.

No matter what you call it, it’s still the bad peripheral canal 

Coalition response…The Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and its proposed tunnels are very different than the 1982 peripheral canal. The capacity to transfer water through the BDCP tunnels is only 9,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) while the peripheral canal had a capacity of 21,800 cfs. Learn more about the differences by reviewing the facts at www.farmwater.org/p-canalcomparison.pdf. It is also important to understand that people in other parts of the state have water rights and long-term contracts to a portion of water that originates in Northern California. They are simply working on a plan that will reliably deliver the water that they once received but that water is now constrained by ineffective biological opinions that limit the delivery of the water. The BDCP is about protecting existing water rights, fixing the Delta ecosystem, and providing water to drive California’s trillion-dollar economy.

From News Line, a daily compilation of farm water news distributed to CFWC members and others upon request. To receive News Line, click here.

Give up on saving the Delta

Coalition response…One of the goals of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) is to restore the ecosystem of the Delta. Efforts toward that goal are included in BDCP, along with creating a reliable water supply. Combined, these two goals shape the planning that has gone into providing a plan that will provide a secure water future for California. BDCP must move forward in order to safeguard a water supply for 25 million Californians and 3 million acres of farmland that grow a healthy and affordable supply that consumers have come to rely upon.

From News Line, a daily compilation of farm water news distributed to CFWC members and others upon request. To receive News Line, click here.

Evaluate alternatives to tunnels

Coalition response…The Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) and its proposed tunnels are not currently expected to deliver significantly different amounts of water that the average amount over the past 15 years. Some years is may be slightly more. Other years it will be less. The amount of water that will flow through the tunnels depends on the amount of water in the river, as illustrated at  www.farmwater.org/exportthrottle.pdf.

The public is currently reviewing draft chapters of the BDCP that was developed through seven years of study by scientists and researchers. It is the best option to achieve a reliable water supply and a restored Delta ecosystem, both mandated goals by California’s Legislature.