Thread: LEFTIST LAWMAKERS AND ENVIRO-EXTREMISTS CREATED CA WATER CRISIS

LEFTIST LAWMAKERS AND ENVIRO-EXTREMISTS CREATED CA WATER CRISIS




by ASSEMBLYMAN TIM DONNELLY
30 Aug 2014

On Friday, the California State Assembly outdid itself. You can always count on the leftist leaders of what is supposed to be the “people’s house” never lets a crisis go to waste.

With the passage of AB 1739 (Dickinson-D), SB 1168 (Pavley-D), and SB 1319 (Pavley-D), 100 years of history was reversed. The authors painted a grim picture of California’s groundwater future. Most of what they said is true. The only problem they didn’t bother to tell you two key truths:

1.It was these same so-called leaders who give up our seat—the property owner and the farmer’s place at the table—to the enviro-extremists. The fish now have more water rights than do the farmers and ranchers who by making a living off the land, feed this state and this country.

2.By wasting surface water and letting 800,000 acre-feet go out to sea instead of capturing and storing it for the bad years, California’s dysfunctional policies combined with uber-restrictive Federal endangered species protections have created over-dependency on groundwater.

These bills, which obliterate private property rights and local control, are being sold as a port in a storm, when the reality is that they are the recipe for the perfect storm. By granting the State Water Resources Control Board, the last vestige of control over all our water, the farmers and ranchers who were denied their allocation of water from the State Water Project, will be at the mercy of a merciless government. The tactics of the left never vary. They use a government created crisis such as the drought, which is the culmination of years of their own mismanagement and corruption, to consolidate power.

Now, the basic right of a citizen to draw water for support of himself or his family is non-existent. Once a state agency gets control over something, they are like a great white shark. They never let go. Now a board that sits just a few blocks away from the State Capitol will have more say than your local governing body over how much groundwater you can use. Don’t be fooled by the proponents of this bill who are doing this to “help recharge the groundwater.” There is nothing in this bill that will address the groundwater crisis facing California. Almost every one of the provisions of these bills will not be in force for years to come.

This is about power and government control. Whoever controls the water, controls the people. Every time the government takes more control over a natural resource, the price goes up. In this case, the cost of food and energy will be inflated by government, not the marketplace. When government is the source of inflation, it is only a matter of time until cheaper sources make their way to market from less-regulated states or nations.

California has long been known as the “bread basket of the world.” If Governor Jerry Brown signs into law this evil trifecta, the government that created a dust bowl out of the once-fertile Central Valley, will preside over the death of agriculture as the number one industry in our state.

http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-C...Water-Shortage

IT'S A DROUGHT.

Seven states running out of water

usatoday.com - Jun 2014

More than 30% of the country experienced at least moderate drought as of last week's data. ....California had the nation's worst drought problem with more than 76% of the state ...Explore: water issues

California's Drought: These Statistics Show Just How ...

newrepublic.com - Mar 2014

The scary statistics of California's drought read like a latter-day version of the 1930s Dust Bowl crisis. Last year was the state's driest since the start of record-keeping in 1895, and this ...

Californians lose 800,000 acre-feet of water to 305 minnows

Feb 27, 2013
by Harry Cline in Farm Press Blog

• 800,000 acre-feet of water went to waste based on the science of four buckets of minnows.
• Westlands general manager calls it "insanity."

It would take about four average size minnow buckets to hold 305 3-inch Delta smelt, yet that is number of minnows responsible for diverting enough water to the ocean to provide a year’s supply for 800,000 California families.
800,000 acre-feet of water went to waste based on the science of four buckets of minnows. That is enough water to produce crops on 200,000 acres or 10 million tons of tomatoes; 200 million boxes of lettuce; 20 million tons of grapes. You get the picture?

No wonder Tom Birmingham, the normally thoughtful and analytical general manager of Westlands Water District, responded with, "This insanity has to stop," when asked to respond to a Fresno Bee news reporter’s inquiry about the Federal Bureau of Reclamation’s initial water allocation of only 25 percent of federal water to San Joaquin Valley farmers.

This is not a drought year. The meager allotment is the result of too much water.

Heavy rains in November and December created a water flush through the Delta, herding the threatened Delta smelt/minnow south, closer to water pumps that move water from the Delta to the San Luis Reservoir, a storage terminal near Los Banos, Calif., that collects state and federal project water for movement south to urban Californians and San Joaquin Valley farmers. To protect the endangered minnows, the pumps were periodically stopped through the winter. No pumps; no water south. Just water west into the ocean.

The ridiculous environmental rules protecting the Delta minnow say the pumps can only gobble up 305 of the minnows in a water year, which ends Sept. 30. The count is already 232 — more than 75 percent of the limit. So to make sure pumps supply water to 25 million people and millions of acres of farmland consumes no more than four minnow buckets full of smelt — 800,000 acre-feet of water is gone.

Mike Wade, executive director of the California Farm Water Coalition points out, “Despite the heavy rain and snowfall earlier this water year in December, farmers will be receiving less water than last year, which was a dry water year."
The initial 25 percent is the lowest since 2009 following a drought year, not a bureaucratic drought like this year.
Birmingham was quoted as saying had the 800,000 acre-feet not been flushed to the sea, the initial allocation would have “easily” been 40 percent to 45 percent.

Now, rather than having a somewhat optimistic water outlook this spring, farmers are X-ing out sections of farmland on 2013 crop production maps and looking at ways to cut their payrolls — all based on four buckets of minnows.
Not only is the 305 smelt-science shaky, but farmers and city dwellers point out that there are many factors impacting smelt populations, including predator species (some purposely introduced into the Delta), pollution, and discharge from city sewage. However, pumping seems to be the smelt’s public enemy No. 1.

Of course, radical environmentalists want to shut down the pumps totally, claiming groundwater banking south of the Delta would solve California’s growing water crisis. The one question I have for this insightful, brainy group: Where do you think that water would come from for groundwater banking?

Most likely it would come from north of the Delta where the majority of California’s water originates. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect some of that 800,000 acre-feet lost this year could have been deposited in groundwater banks.
“Insanity” is putting it mildly.

http://westernfarmpress.com/blog/cal...er-305-minnows

Going back a bit farther.

California's Man-Made Drought

The green war against San Joaquin Valley farmers.

Updated Sept. 2, 2009 12:49 p.m. ET

California has a new endangered species on its hands in the San Joaquin Valley—farmers. Thanks to environmental regulations designed to protect the likes of the three-inch long delta smelt, one of America's premier agricultural regions is suffering in a drought made worse by federal regulations.

The state's water emergency is unfolding thanks to the latest mishandling of the Endangered Species Act. Last December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued what is known as a "biological opinion" imposing water reductions on the San Joaquin Valley and environs to safeguard the federally protected hypomesus transpacificus,a.k.a., the delta smelt. As a result, tens of billions of gallons of water from mountains east and north of Sacramento have been channelled away from farmers and into the ocean, leaving hundreds of thousands of acres of arable land fallow or scorched.

For this, Californians can thank the usual environmental suspects, er, lawyers. Last year's government ruling was the result of a 2006 lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council and other outfits objecting to increased water pumping in the smelt vicinity. In June, things got even dustier when the National Marine Fisheries Service concluded that local salmon and steelhead also needed to be defended from the valley's water pumps. Those additional restrictions will begin to effect pumping operations next year.
Enlarge Image


Hypomesus Transpacificus U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The result has already been devastating for the state's farm economy. In the inland areas affected by the court-ordered water restrictions, the jobless rate has hit 14.3%, with some farming towns like Mendota seeing unemployment numbers near 40%. Statewide, the rate reached 11.6% in July, higher than it has been in 30 years. In August, 50 mayors from the San Joaquin Valley signed a letter asking President Obama to observe the impact of the draconian water rules firsthand.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has said that he "doesn't have the authority to turn on the pumps" that would supply the delta with water, or "otherwise, they would be on." He did, however, have the ability to request intervention from the Department of Interior. Under a provision added to the Endangered Species Act in 1978 after the snail darter fiasco, a panel of seven cabinet officials known as a "God Squad" is able to intercede in economic emergencies, such as the one now parching California farmers. Despite a petition with more than 12,000 signers, Mr. Schwarzenegger has refused that remedy.

The issue now turns to the Obama Administration and the courts, though the farmers have so far found scant hope for relief from the White House. In June, the Administration denied the governor's request to designate California a federal disaster area as a result of the drought conditions, which U.S. Drought Monitor currently lists as a "severe drought" in 43% of the state. Doing so would force the Administration to acknowledge awkward questions about the role its own environmental policies have played in scorching the Earth.

As the crisis has deepened, the political stakes have risen as well. In late August, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack came to the devastated valley to meet with farmers and community leaders. Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein has pledged to press the issue with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. "There are 30 lawsuits on the biological opinions and two separate opinions, one for the smelt and one for the salmon," Ms. Feinstein said, "The rules need to be reconsidered."

The Pacific Legal Foundation has filed a lawsuit on behalf of three farmers in the valley, calling the federal regulations "immoral and unconstitutional." Because the delta smelt is only found in California, the Foundation says, it does not fall under the regulatory powers provided by the Constitution's Commerce Clause. On a statutory basis, the Fish and Wildlife Service also neglected to appropriately consider the economic devastation the pumping restrictions would bring.

Things in California may have to get so bad that they endanger Democratic Congressional incumbents before Washington wakes up, but it doesn't have to be that way. Mr. Salazar has said that convening the God Squad would be "admitting failure" in the effort to save the smelt under the Endangered Species Act. Maybe so, but the livelihoods of tens of thousands of humans are also at stake. If the Obama Administration wants to help, it can take up Governor Schwarzenegger's request that it revisit the two biological opinions that are hanging farmers and farm workers out to dry.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/...84731898375624

Sean Hannity exposes the man-made drought in California




Uploaded on May 8, 2009
FROM THE GREAT AMERICAN BLOG:

Let me be honest: When I get hungry, I walk into the kitchen, wash an apple, slice it and slap some peanut butter on it. Or sometimes I grab a can of almonds, pour a few in my hand and enjoy a little healthy snack. But, never do I think about where the foods are grown or how much work went into growing them.

Recently that changed when Chase ("Hannity" producer) and I flew out to Fresno, California. We spent days visiting farms where nearly 300 crops (fruits, veggies and most nuts) are produced. It was quite a site. We flew above miles and miles of gorgeous, almond orchards and talked with farmers about different issues affecting our foods.

The main concern and the reason for our research is this: Nearly 40,000 farmers in the Central Valley are unemployed because a judge ordered to turn off the irrigation system in order to save a small fish, which is endangered.

The minnow is called the Delta Smelt and it lives in the water, which is pumped into the San Joaquin Valley. Environmentalists complained and a judge ordered the pumps be turned off. But, no water means no crops and no jobs.

In turn, farmers are making tough decisions. They are losing their farms (in some circumstances third generation farms) and forced to fire the workers. Food banks can't keep shelves stocked because of all the needy families and eventually, farmers say, you and I will feel the effects. We will be forced to eat fruits, veggies and nuts from other countries (with few regulations, pesticides, etc).

Most farmers are screaming "fish over family" and they are stressed, frustrated and fearful. But, environmentalists say the fish needs to be protected and without it the entire ecosystem is in danger. They want the fish to stay in its natural surroundings, not moved to another pond (aka not supposed to be there).

It's a fascinating story and one that will take a long time to work out. But, no doubt, something has to be done. Watch the story tonight on "Hannity" at 9 PM EST. I'll be on set with Sean discussing the issue. Thanks for watching!

-Ainsley Earhardt, FOX NEWS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twd59PrqCNg

8/11/2009

http://www.alipac.us/f19/food-fight-...ter-ca-157528/

1/30/2010

http://www.alipac.us/f19/grape-water...roblem-177310/

• US West Faces 'Worst Drought in 500 Years'
  
  02-05-2014
• ​
• Parched Earth Policy: Are We Running Out of Water?
  
  11-29-2012

• CA. Delta, accustomed to water wars, prepares for battle
  
  10-04-2012

• Drought -- and neighbors -- press Las Vegas to conserve water
  
  04-21-2014

• Drought has Lake Mead at historic low
  
  11-01-2010

I just hope that Pelosi's vineyard drys up.

EDITORIAL: A fishy drought in California, made worse by a smelt

A lowly minnow starts a water war in the San Joaquin Valley


By THE WASHINGTON TIMES - - Thursday, February 20, 2014

President Obama’s traveling golfing circus and global-warming revival played California’s San Joaquin Valley last week, where he used the worst drought in decades as a backdrop to shill for his magic elixir guaranteed to cure warts, relieve irregularity, conjure water and expand government spending.

He correctly blames man for the drought, but it’s not the men in pickup trucks or astride John Deere tractors.

The San Joaquin Valley was one of the most fertile agricultural regions in the world until environmentalists created a dust bowl to save a three-inch fish called the Delta smelt.

This little fish, not much bigger than a minnow, suddenly became useful when radical leftists realized they could cut off the water for nearly 25 million people and millions of acres of fertile farmland in the interests of expanding federal control of the environment.

From his courtroom in Fresno, U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger declared saving the fish more important than feeding humans and, citing the Endangered Species Act, in 2007 ordered the pumps watering the valley from the Sacramento River turned off, lest the Delta smelt be disturbed.

Choosing between saving a minnow and watering the nation’s food basket was an easy call. Instead of irrigating crops of fruit, fabric, vegetables and grain, the water from the river was diverted from the farms to the Pacific Ocean.

Families, farmers and some elected officials in the Valley have pleaded with the government to turn the spigots on again. The Valley continues to shed jobs as farms dry up. The environment suffers as the parched earth invites wildfires.

Rather than working to get water to flow into the Valley again, the president offered thirsty Californians only a bailout of $160 million in federal aid. He blames global warming, of course, and his allies in Congress, like Little Sir Echo, dutifully repeat his message.

House Democrats on Tuesday badgered the Commerce Committee chairman to hold hearings on the issue. “The committee needs to understand the connection between climate change and drought in California and the Western United States,” they said, “as well as the effects of severe droughts.” There was no mention of the fishy nature of the water shortage.

The Republicans countered with their own water-relief bill, which includes a provision allowing more water to be pumped out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Certain mini-fish protections would be eliminated. Mr. Obama, golfing at a well-watered resort in the desert, stepped away from the beautifully manicured greens to say that he would veto the Republican relief bill.

Forty years on, the Endangered Species Act continues to inflict economic and ecological disaster. The law is a tool for liberals to turn back the clock, trying to undo the progress wrought by the Industrial Revolution. Enough is enough.

The only thing more absurd than creating a disaster over a fish is blaming the drought on Americans who only want to water their crops. The president’s global warming tour is an economic disaster for Americans. The people are better off when he sticks to putting greens and his mulligans.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...#ixzz3DbMemh6i
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