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Water supply

Author thirsts for wiser use of water

Column
By Bill McEwen
From Fresno Bee – Monday, April 30, 2012

I expect the audience to develop a love-hate relationship with Charles Fishman when he speaks Thursday at the International Water Technology Conference. Fishman, author of “The Big Thirst,” likely will praise California farmers for saving water and leading the way in using new technologies to grow crops more efficiently.

Coalition response…Fishman is correct in stating that everyone can conserve water. Farmers and urban residents have already achieved substantial water savings as a result of innovative water management practices. His claim, however, that American farmers “probably still waste 40% of the water they use” is not based on fact, at least here in California. A recent study by the Center for Irrigation Technology at CSU Fresno reveals that only 1.3 percent of existing farm water supplies, or about 330,000 acre-feet of water, could be conserved on farms through improved irrigation practices. It is also important to realize that a portion of the water that is used to irrigate crops will seep into the aquifer and become a ready supply for cities and families living in rural communities.

Conservation will be a part of the answer to a reliable water future but an increase in storage must also play a pivotal role if we are to provide a water supply for future generations.

Other News

WATER SUPPLY

April rains raise Lake Shasta closer to the top

Story
From Redding Record Searchlight – Tuesday, May 1, 2012
An unsettled April brought higher-than-average rain to Redding and a wild fluctuation between winterlike temperatures and near-summertime heat.

Lake Oroville on the rise

Story
From KHSL/TV – Monday, April 30, 2012
There is encouraging news to report today about Lake Oroville. The lake level is about 116-percent of normal, well above what had been predicted earlier this year.

Valley flood plan moving to new stage of discussions

Story
From Marysville Appeal-Democrat – Tuesday, May 1, 2012
The controversial Central Valley Flood Protection Plan is moving into a new stage of discussions with a series of meetings set for the next two months leading toward possible adoption.

Running the aquatic gauntlet of California’s water politics

Story
From Comstock Magazine – May 2012
…In the best of times, California water politics is much like a waterway of its own: What you see from the shore pales in comparison to the activity under the surface. Now, with reduced supply running parallel to major legislative efforts to govern its flow, that action often resembles a life-or-death struggle.

Southwest Water Wars: 8 things to know

Blog
By Bob Morris
From Independent Valley Network – Monday, April 30, 2012
Stop scapegoating agriculture. Sure, agriculture in the Southwest uses lots of water. It’s also where much of the nation’s food comes from due to multiple growing seasons a year. If those areas grow less, prices for food will increase. Farmers do try to conserve water. Can they use even less water? Sure, but so can everyone else.

Why we share the river with San Francisco

Opinion
By John Mensinger
From Modesto Bee – Monday, April 30, 2012
In 1887 the Turlock and Modesto irrigation districts were created. They built La Grange dam to divert water from the Tuolumne River for irrigated agriculture. A few years later San Francisco came up with the idea of a dam on the Tuolumne in Yosemite National Park.

MID releases draft contract for sale of water to SF

Story
From Modesto Bee – Monday, April 30, 2012

The Modesto Irrigation District on Monday evening released final details of a proposed water sale to San Francisco. The district also announced that its board will discuss the controversial plan May 8 and could vote on it May 22.

GROUNDWATER

California trade groups, growers appeal water regulations

Story
From The Grower – Tuesday, May 1, 2012
The California Farm Bureau Federation and a coalition of trade associations and grower-shippers appealed new water rules requiring growers to monitor fertilizer and pesticide runoff and increased buffer zones.

From decade to decade: What’s the status of our groundwater quality?

Press release
From USGS – Monday, April 30, 2012
There was no change in concentrations of chloride, dissolved solids, or nitrate in groundwater for more than 50 percent of well networks sampled in a new analysis by the USGS that compared samples from 1988-2000 to samples from 2001-2010. For those networks that did have a change, seven times more networks saw increases as opposed to decreases.

FISHERIES

Meeting to cover chinook salmon

Story
From Stockton Record – Tuesday, May 1, 2012
A public meeting on the proposed reintroduction of spring-run chinook salmon to the San Joaquin River will take place in Los Banos on Friday.

Feds and NRDC file responsive briefs in 9th Circuit delta smelt litigation

Blog
By Brandon Middleton
From Pacific Legal Foundation – Monday, April 30, 2012
In the continuing 9th Circuit litigation over Judge Wanger’s decision to invalidate the 2008 delta smelt biological opinion, the federal government and the Natural Resources Defense Council on Friday filed briefs in response to earlier filings made by water users and the California Department of Water Resources.