HERE’S THE SOURCE OF THE PROBLEM  WITH NOTENOUGH WATER FOR THE FARMERS.

FEDERAL EPA MANDATES TO SAVE THE FISH WERE MORE IMPORTANT THEN SENDING WATER TO THE FARMERS! CALIFORNIA GOVERNMENT IS DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE!

Prior to 1992, roughly 85 percent of California's applied water supply was used for agriculture with the balance going to urban and industrial uses. Today, agriculture accounts for only 41 percent, urban uses for 11 percent, and the largest share, 48 percent, is devoted to these newly defined environmental purposes.

 

Full report below

House committee reviews state's drought crisis

Issue Date: April 8, 2009

By Kate Campbell
Assistant Editor

 

With California's water crisis deepening, Congress held a hearing last week to assess actions by federal and state agencies responding to the emergency. In addition to hearing from a panel of government officials, the House Natural Resources Committee took testimony from a group of California congressmen.

Joining the panel of lawmakers, Tulare County Supervisor Allen Ishida pointed out that while California is experiencing its third year of below average precipitation, this fact alone is not the cause of the state's water crisis.

Like most of those testifying, Ishida blamed federal court decisions related to the Endangered Species Act for limiting water transfers to the federal Central Valley Project (CVP) and the State Water Project (SWP) to protect the delta smelt.

"This fact has put stress on our surface water providers, increased the over drafting of our underground water aquifers, caused massive economic losses and emotional stress for all of our residents who are dependent upon this water supply," Ishida said.

Since passage of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA) in 1992, he said California has redirected more than 3 million acre-feet of water that used to serve farms and cities to support fisheries and habitat.

"We have also invested more than $1.5 billion in these environmental purposes," he told the committee. "The result has been a continuing decline in the delta fishery."

HERE’S THE PROBLEM

Prior to 1992, he testified that roughly 85 percent of California's applied water supply was used for agriculture with the balance going to urban and industrial uses. Today, agriculture accounts for only 41 percent, urban uses for 11 percent, and the largest share, 48 percent, is devoted to these newly defined environmental purposes.

Westlands Water District gave up more than 800,000 acre-feet of water for the environment following the passage of CVPIA.

"This was supposed to be the extent of their contribution to restore the environment," Ishida said, with promises made to restore some of their losses through the now defunct Cal-Fed process.

"Today Westlands Water District has a zero allocation of water from the CVP and will have to idle approximately 300,000 acres," he said. "The surrounding cities are experiencing unemployment rates as high as 40 percent."

Noting that the House of Representatives last week passed legislation that will fund the San Joaquin River Settlement, he said that, as a Friant water user, "I am concerned we will face the same fate as the Westlands water users when this law is implemented."

The problem is not the courts or the judges, Ishida said. "The problem is that the ESA and CVPIA have become a primary source of money to fund extreme environmental groups, who use these laws to lower the quality of life for our residents.

"I believe that this hearing was called to help formulate a solution to drought issues we are facing nationwide," he said. "I am asking for your help on behalf of the citizens of our great country to review the ESA and to remove all of the unnecessary regulatory road blocks that result in endless litigation which prevents us from solving our water issues.

"Green economy, renewable energy, smart growth planning and clean air are noble goals, but they are empty programs if we cannot supply our citizens with water."

Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Atwater, stressed in his testimony that California's population has almost doubled since the last dam was constructed in the state, and it is expected to double again during the next 30 years.

"We need the administration's leadership in working with the state on long-term solutions for California's water future, including constructing more storage facilities, improved conveyance and a more sustainable management of the delta."

With unemployment soaring in his district and home foreclosures and business failures at historic levels, he said thousands of families were moving out of his district, calling the situation a "Dust Bowl migration in reverse."

URGING EMERGENCY LEGISLATION THAT WOULD ALLOW TURNING ON THE DELTA PUMPS IN THE FACE OF THE CRISIS, REP. DEVIN NUNES, R-VISALIA, SAID THE UNEMPLOYMENT RATE IN HIS DISTRICT IS NEARLY 20 PERCENT AND IS NEARING 50 PERCENT IN SOME COMMUNITIES.

THEY DIDN’T DO THIS. FOLLOWING FEDERAL EPA MANDATE TO SAVE THE FISH WAS MORE IMPORTANT THAN SAVING THE FARMS AND EMPLOYMENT FOR FARM WORKERS!

 

"We're not asking for a billion-dollar bailout. We aren't even asking for one single dollar," Nunes said. "All we need is for this committee to move emergency legislation which would allow the delta pumps to return to historic export levels.

"We cannot recycle our way out of a drought when there is no water to recycle," he said. "The solutions to this drought are clear. In the short term, we must turn the delta pumps back on and start pumping the water to the communities, water users and farmers who need it most."

Rep. George Radanovich, R-Fresno, said he has introduced legislation specifically to address problems with the current drought by temporarily removing ESA restrictions on the delta pumps during the emergency.

"The long-term solutions to the problems in the delta are alternative conveyance and storage," he told the committee. "We must take action now on building the necessary infrastructure so in the future California will not have to face the devastating situation we are in now.

"It's time to move forward on solutions for a reliable, effective way to move water around the delta, while protecting the estuary. If there had been the foresight 20 years ago, we would not be sitting here today."

He said this year the state will deliver only 20 percent of the water typically allocated for cities and farms. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the CVP said it will deliver zero water to farms south of the delta this year. Farmers north of the delta can expect to get just 5 percent of their contracted amount.

"I must point out that this is the first prolonged drought that we have experienced since enactment of the CVPIA law and it is obviously showing some unsustainable weaknesses," said Rep. Wally Herger, R-Chico.

In Tehama County, he said the "regulatory drought" will require that the Red Bluff Diversion Dam cease operating as an efficient, gravity-fed diversion. He said it will need to be replaced with a power-driven, screened pumping plant to provide irrigation water to 150,000 acres of agriculture.

During the hearing, lead by Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Norwalk, government officials were asked about the progress of the joint state and federal drought action team. J. William McDonald, acting commissioner for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, said the team will work to maximize aid to drought-stricken communities and direct the appropriate departmental agencies and bureaus to work with the state's drought response team.

He said that the action team was meeting for the first time last week, but that preliminary work was already under way.

In his testimony, he said: "The Interior bureaus and our land management partners are preparing to deal with the potential for widespread and intense fires in California this year as a result of multiple successive years of drought."

California Natural Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman told the committee: "Each year, and especially in drought years, the acute tension between the environmental and economic uses of water generates lengthy, time-consuming, and expensive controversy in the form of protracted process and litigation."

He said there needs to be an investment in a long-term solution that includes "robust ecosystem restoration, increased water conservation, regional water investment, increased water storage, and a change in the manner in which we convey water across the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

"This is the only way we can ultimately hope to end the constant struggle of economy versus environment," Chrisman stressed. "There is enough water for both to be healthy, but in order to ensure adequate supplies for both, we must invest in the long-term solution."

Archived video of the hearing and written testimony are available online at http://resourcescommittee.house.gov. Click on "Hearings and Markups."

(Kate Campbell is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at kcampbell@cfbf.com.)

Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item.

         

Water system to get federal stimulus funds

Issue Date: April 22, 2009

By Kate Campbell
Assistant Editor

 

[ALL Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger had to do to end the draught was to issue an E.O. to turn on the pumps, or allow emergency legislation to ignore EPA regulations to save the minnow. Obviously the minnow was considered to be more important then the farms, the crops, and employment for the people of California. But look at all the money the feds are giving him. Is it worth it?

Could it have been a contrived plan by the politicians in California to get federal money? The people of California have paid a heavy price.]

 

The state's sagging water infrastructure will get a boost from the $260 million in federal stimulus funds that target a number of projects important to California agriculture. U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, flanked by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state and federal officials, said the current drought is a "stark reminder that it's time to modernize California's water infrastructure."

He said there will be some hard choices ahead, but "it's time for the federal government to re-engage in full partnership to (build) a 21st-century water system for California."

The funding assistance, which comes as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, was announced last week in Rancho Cordova after officials took an aerial tour of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The tour included a discussion of challenges California faces because of its inadequate water system.

"The human suffering here (due to drought and judicial decisions) is all too real," Salazar said. "Farmers are not able to plant. Workers in many communities and counties with unemployment rates of 30 and 40 percent are also now without jobs because there are no crops to harvest and schools are closing as families move away."

Schwarzenegger told a press conference after the tour, "California's water system is in crisis, and our future economic growth and prosperity depends on a water system that provides clean, reliable and sustainable water to our people, our farms and our businesses.

"These recovery act economic stimulus funds will create jobs and provide critical drought relief, helping to shield our water-dependent economy from disaster."

He said California can't fix its broken water system without federal partners and that the state's environment, its economy and its future is at risk.

 

"We welcome the federal government's commitment of funds to help California with some near-term projects," said Chris Scheuring, California Farm Bureau Federation Natural Resources and Environmental Division managing counsel. "Modernization of our water storage and delivery infrastructure has been on the back burner for far too long and now we're all paying the price.

"We hope the secretary's visit and funding announcement further focuses Californians on the need for a more robust and comprehensive investment in our water infrastructure to benefit all of California, including agriculture, urban areas and the environment."

The new recovery act funding includes $109.8 million to build a screened pumping plant at the Red Bluff Diversion Dam. The new structure is designed to help protect sturgeon and migrating salmon populations, while delivering water to agricultural users who need to irrigate about 150,000 acres of crops, much of them permanent orchards.

The Tehama Colusa Canal's operating procedures have been modified to meet environmental requirements, leaving many farms and ranches without adequate surface water supplies.

"This project will create and protect more than 10,000 jobs while also ensuring healthy and sustainable fish populations," said Ken LaGrande, chairman of the Tehama Colusa Canal Authority, which delivers irrigation water from the Sacramento River to produce more than $250 million worth of food crops.

Other projects slated for funding include:

In February, Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency due to drought conditions statewide and ordered immediate action to manage the crisis. In the proclamation, the governor exerted his executive authority to direct all state government agencies to use their resources in response to the emergency, implement a state emergency plan and provide assistance for people, communities and businesses impacted by the drought.

The governor's office reported that California recently sold $733 million in bonds to fund drought, flood control and water management projects, and that the state is preparing for another bond sale of $400 million for additional water and drought response.

"The drought is a stark reminder that California's water system, much of it built a half-century ago for a population that is half as large as it is today, has reached its limits," Salazar said during his remarks to the press.

"It's time to modernize. It's time to make hard choices. And it's time for the federal government to re-engage in full partnership ... with the state of California."

 

Meanwhile, last week Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will be sending $84.8 million to state and local governments to improve water quality, increase water supply, decrease soil erosion and improve fish and wildlife habitat in rural communities as part of the recovery act.

The funds will be used to develop conservation measures such as planting vegetative cover and creating shallow water ponds to improve wildlife habitat, improving irrigation efficiency and conserving water, installing filter strips and soil erosion control practices, flood-proofing homes and enhancing stream corridor and flood plain function, as well as constructing small flood control dams.

 

In California, $10.3 million will go to improvement projects on Stemple Creek, a federally designated "impaired" stream that flows through Sonoma and Marin counties, and Lower Silver Creek, which flows through the city of San Jose and is prone to flooding.

(Kate Campbell is an assistant editor of Ag Alert. She may be contacted at kcampbell@cfbf.com.)

Permission for use is granted, however, credit must be made to the California Farm Bureau Federation when reprinting this item.

 

 

Lots of information at www.joycerosenwald.com