Just found this.....there's gonna be problems with water for farmers for years to come. - Joyce Rosenwald 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT:

February 20, 2009

Fiona Hutton

Ann Newton

(818) 760-2121

STATEMENT FROM LAURA KING MOON, ASSISTANT GENERAL MANAGER OF THE

STATE WATER CONTRACTORS IN RESPONSE TO SWP ALLOCATION PROJECTIONS

Sacramento, CA – Despite recent rains, the California Department of Water Resources announced today that as of now, water agencies are slated to get only 15 percent of the water

they are contracted to receive from the State Water Project in 2009.

“We are in a very tight situation, even with the latest round of storms. Our drought reserves are being depleted rapidly, and we have lost most of our flexibility to move water this year and in coming years, even when it is available. The drought has simply drawn the regulatory noose a little tighter. As a result, water agencies up and down the state will be forced to adopt

increasingly restrictive water management approaches, including mandatory conservation, rationing and rate hikes. We need to move forward as quickly as possible with a proactive, comprehensive approach to protect fish as well as the water supply people depend on.”

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The State Water Contractors is a statewide, non-profit association of 27 public agencies from Northern, Central and Southern California that purchase water under contract from the

California State Water Project. Collectively the State Water Contractors deliver water to more than 25 million residents throughout the state and more than 750,000 acres of agricultural lands.

For more information on the State Water Contractors, please visit www.swc.org.

My research shows that huge amounts of water is being diverted to sustain “wetlands” under the order of the Federal EPA. It is apparent from this report that water will be a problem for farmers for years to come.

"....In 1960, California voters approved $1.75 billion in general obligation bonds to finance construction of the State Water Project. Water supply contracts were signed between the state and public agencies stretching from counties in the north, to the San Francisco Bay area, through the San Joaquin Valley, and into Southern California. Water deliveries from the project began in 1965. By 1997, 27 public agencies throughout California were serving 22 million people and 1 million acres of farmland.

Under the contracts signed between the state and public agencies (known as the State Water Contractors), it was agreed that the agencies would receive specified amounts of water each year from the State Water Project. In return, the agencies agreed to repay the full cost, including interest, of financing, building, operating and maintaining the water delivery system.