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

Broke California unveils fish-saving boondoggle

Coalition response…The author’s alternative proposals, including desalination, recycling and levee improvements, are already underway in California. Desalination efforts in Southern California have gone through years of legal challenges and the permitting process continues. Recycling, as well as conservation, has been a way of life on California farms and in our cities. California has spent more than $300 million since 2005 to improve Delta levees and plans to spend more.

The Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) does not prohibit the above actions from continuing. The focus of BDCP is to create a reliable water supply and restore the Delta ecosystem. Seven years of research by scientists have resulted in the current BDCP proposal, which is the best opportunity that Californians have in securing their water future.

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

Latest piece of Delta tunnel plan looks at environmental effects

Coalition response…Significant changes have taken place in the Bay Delta Conservation Plan process since a year ago, among them the number of intakes in the north Delta from five to three. The amount of water to be moved through the tunnels has also been reduced from 15,000 cubic feet per second to only 9,000 cubic feet per second.

Locating the intakes in the north Delta also benefits the smelt, which does not reside in that area. During most years, the smelt are expected to increase in numbers with increased food supplies produced in the more than 100,000 acres of new habitat.  Biologists have indicated that added habitat could result in higher productivity for the salmonid fish by giving them more area in which to grow instead of being flushed immediately out of the Delta.

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

Merced River should remain protected

Coalition response…HR 934 does not remove the Merced River from Wild and Scenic Rivers Act designation. The legislation would raise the spillway at New Exchequer Dam, not the dam, by 10 feet. This action would inundate the last 1,800 feet of the 122-mile stretch of the Merced River, far from Yosemite, for two to eight weeks every few years. That’s 1/350 of the protected stretch of the river.

Individuals should realize that construction of New Exchequer Dam was completed in 1967. Twenty years later in 1987 the Wild and Scenic River Act encroached on the hydroelectric project boundary on the Merced River. HR 934 creates an increased reliability of available water for farmers to grow food for consumers.

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

Think the downtown arena is bad? Get a load of the tunnel

Coalition response…In 2009 the California legislature approved legislation to establish a reliable water supply and to restore the Delta ecosystem. The proposed Bay Delta Conservation Plan is in response to that legislative mandate and represents years of study by scientists and researchers. Those afraid of the amount of diversions from the water flowing through the Delta should understand that limits exist to safeguard the estuary. The amount of water that the project could move is based on what river conditions would allow; sometimes more and sometimes less. Visit www.farmwater.org/exportthrottle.pdf to learn more about exports.

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

Tunnels would aid Southern California’s unlimited thirst

Coalition response…The Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) is more than a water supply proposal; it also includes benefits for species and habitat as a result of being a habitat conservation plan. BDCP has been developed under Section 10 of the Endangered Species Act and the California Natural Community Conservation Planning program. These two directives require BDCP to have a plan that covers all the species that are affected in the planning area by the project.

The proposed habitat areas in the south Delta are designed to create favorable conditions for increased survival of salmon, steelhead and other species.  Biologists have indicated that added habitat could result in higher productivity for the salmonid fish by giving them more area in which to grow instead of being flushed immediately out of the Delta.

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 tunnels would be a disaster

Coalition response…Comparing the Bay Delta Conservation Plan’s two tunnels to the Peripheral Canal of years past is a false comparison. The two tunnels have a capacity to move 9,000 cubic feet per second (cfs) while the Peripheral Canal’s capacity was 21,800 cfs. The tunnels include three, advanced technology screens to protect multiple species of fish; the Peripheral Canal had only one screen designed to protect salmon and striped bass. Visit https://farmwater.org/p-canalcomparison.pdf and learn more.

Benefiting from the Bay Delta Conservation Plan would be 25 million Californians who rely on the Delta for a portion of their water supply, plus three million acres of farmland that grows the fresh fruits and vegetables that consumers seek in their grocery stores.

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 tunnel project truly can drain north state 

Coalition response…Attempting to characterize the Bay Delta Conservation Plan as a means of draining the north state is utterly baseless. The misguided claim that BDCP will drain the Sacramento Valley and the Delta ignores the operational guidelines that protect these regions. The amount of water that the project could move is based on what river conditions would allow; sometimes more and sometimes less. Visit https://farmwater.org/exportthrottle.pdf to learn more about exports. 

The author also claims that existing pumping restrictions are insufficient to protect endangered fish but she never mentions the lack of habitat in the Delta or the poor conditions in the ocean, which the National Marine Fisheries Service has identified as the leading cause for the dwindling salmon numbers. Add the high numbers of juvenile salmon taken by predators and a more complete picture is presented on factors affecting salmon. The predator problem is significant, especially when one realizes that a recent study (www.farmwater.org/93percentsalmon6-5.pdf) revealed that 93% of the juvenile smolts in the Tuolumne River, that make their way to the Delta via the San Joaquin River, are eaten by predatory fish. That’s not healthy for any species regardless of the circumstances.

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

California’s water belongs to everyone

Coalition response…Individuals and groups concerned with the proposal by the State Water Resources Control Board to designate higher flows in the Merced, Tuolumne and Stanislaus rivers for fish are waiting for the scientific reasoning for the decision. Water board staffers have publicly stated that it is unknown whether the flow decision will benefit salmon.

Science must play an important part in the decisions that regulate our water resources. A recent study as part of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s relicensing of Don Pedro Dam on the Tuolumne River found that 93% of juvenile salmon in the river were consumed by predator fish. Adding more water to the river will not solve the predator problem and restore the salmon population.

California Farm Water Coalition
Release immediate

California’s water future going from bad to worse

Today’s announced cutbacks in water deliveries from the two major water supply systems in California are “making a bad situation even worse,” according to Mike Wade, executive director of the California Farm Water Coalition.

“Farmers were already looking at reduced water supplies caused primarily by federal regulations to protect fish in the Delta,” he said. “More than 800,000 acre-feet of water was taken earlier this year from farmers and folks who live in our cities because of the regulations.”

State Water Project officials had previously announced a 40 percent delivery of water to its users. Water deliveries from the Central Valley Project were even lower at 25 percent. Today’s announcements cut each of those deliveries by 5 percent. 

“The announcements made earlier today are making a bad situation even worse,” Wade said. “California’s water delivery system is broken and action needs to be taken to fix it in order that people are not penalized from an unreliable system.

“A reliable water delivery system is one of the two goals of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP). The other goal is restoration of the Delta ecosystem. The BDCP is the best option California has in reaching a secure water future.”

Wade noted that San Joaquin Valley farmers are already planning to leave thousands of acres unplanted during this growing season because of a dwindling water supply.

“When farmland goes unplanted, people lose jobs,” he added. “The loss to California’s economy is estimated to total $11 billion. This scenario will be repeated in the future if efforts are not taken to improve the current water delivery system through the Delta.”

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San Luis & Delta Mendota Water Authority
Release immediate

(The following is a statement by Executive Director Dan Nelson of the San Luis & Delta Mendota Water Authority regarding the federal announcement today of water delivery cutbacks.)

Federal regulations shatter water delivery system

“We recognize the last three months have been dry but the current system that delivers water through the Delta was designed to handle periods of drought. We have seen that happen successfully many times before and surely the 50-year-old system needs modernizing.

“However, current federal regulations hoping to protect fish are at the heart of today’s chronic water shortages and have shattered the reliability that the delivery system once offered. These regulations are overreaching, ineffective and must be addressed.”

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