Thread: CA. Senator pushes water delivery

Senator pushes water delivery

Feinstein looks to Congress' jobs bill as a vehicle for helping west Valley farmers.

Posted at 11:06 PM
Feb. 11, 2010
By Michael Doyle and E.J. Schultz / The Fresno Bee

WASHINGTON -- Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein is roiling California water politics with new plans to override scientists and boost irrigation deliveries to San Joaquin Valley farms.

Urged on by Valley farmers and lawmakers, Feinstein on Thursday made public her hopes of tacking a California water-delivery amendment onto an upcoming Senate jobs bill.

The details remain closely held, but Feinstein said her intention is to provide farmers with up to 40% of their normal allocated amounts.

West Valley farmers got only 10% of their federal allotments last year. Federal officials next week are expected to make their first forecast of summer water deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Last year, the first forecast was zero.

"I believe we need a fair compromise that will respect the Endangered Species Act while recognizing the fact that people in California's breadbasket face complete economic ruin without help," Feinstein said Thursday.

THE FRESNO BEE

Archive on California’s water shortage Feinstein discussed the water delivery issues Thursday in a conference call with the Westlands Water District and others favoring more irrigation deliveries to farms.

Once made public, the conversation raised alarms among skeptics who fear unintended consequences and weakened environmental protections.

Environmental Defense Fund analyst A. Spreck Rosekrans, echoing several other environmental advocates, cautioned that "we're very concerned" about a maneuver that appears to exempt certain irrigation decisions from a key environmental law.

"A political judgment on the science seems unwarranted," Rosekrans said.

The current water cutbacks are due to a combination of the previous year's drought and diversions to protect endangered species.

Feinstein's amendment still is a long way from becoming reality.

Once she finalizes the language, it could be offered on the Senate floor, and if approved would need further approval by House negotiators.

In order to increase irrigation pumping, Feinstein and her allies must find a way around two "biological opinions" that govern federal water allocations. A Fish and Wildlife Service biological opinion issued in December 2008 protects the delta smelt.

A National Marine Fisheries Service opinion issued in June 2009 protects steelhead and salmon.

At the behest of Feinstein and others, the National Research Council already is reviewing the two California water biological opinions. The initial assessment is due in early March.

Feinstein and her allies are considering rewriting part of the biological opinions to mandate the delivery of more irrigation water.

Feinstein on Thursday cited a precedent from 2003, when Congress did something similar to assist Albuquerque's water supply.

In public, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, has been citing the Albuquerque-vs.-silvery minnow example for many months. The rhetoric has been heated at times, and Feinstein in September led the Senate rejection of an amendment ostensibly modeled on the 2003 case.

Behind the scenes, though, Reps. Dennis Cardoza, D-Merced, and Jim Costa, D-Fresno, have been pressing similar points. On Thursday, Costa said the new language being drafted would be narrower than what Nunes had proposed.

"To be stuck with a 10% water allocation is just unfair," Costa said.

But Andrew Fahlund, senior vice president of the environmental group American Rivers, warned that increasing water pumping to Valley farms "could be the end of the West Coast salmon fishery," and angry environmental negotiators Thursday threatened to walk away from broader California water talks convened around the Bay Delta Conservation Plan.

The group effort includes public agencies, farm groups and environmentalists who seek consensus on a new water conveyance system around the Delta.

Ann Hayden, a senior water resource analyst with the Environmental Defense Fund, said Feinstein's proposal would weaken short-term species protections and make long-term planning difficult.

"We're thinking about possibly suspending our participation in the process until and unless adequate protections are in place," Hayden said.

http://www.fresnobee.com/1072/story/1818737.html

Nunes to introduce water legislation

Posted at 12:03 AM on Thursday, Feb. 18, 2010
By John Ellis / The Fresno Bee Buzz up!

SACRAMENTO -- Last week's court ruling to reduce delta water pumping has led to renewed calls for a state-financed solution to California's water needs -- a deal that could include money for a new dam near Fresno.
But with only about a week left in the legislative session, time is running out to strike a compromise on one of the most politically charged issues in the state.

Lawmakers must find common ground on competing proposals by Gov. Schwarzenegger and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland.
A local congressman said Wednesday that he will introduce legislation to address a host of controversial water issues that have frustrated San Joaquin Valley farmers and ranchers.

Visalia Republican Devin Nunes admits his legislation is doomed -- at least for now. But he still vowed to do his best to press the matter in Washington, holding hearings through the "hot, dry summer."

Among other things, Nunes' proposal would:

- Waive parts of the Endangered Species Act that let officials limit water pumping in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The waiver would be in effect until a system such as a canal or tunnel is built to move water around the delta.

- "Fast track" construction of a system to move water around the delta and for new reservoirs such as Temperance Flat, proposed for a site above Millerton Lake.

FRESNO BEE FILE
Devin Nunes
- Rewrite the San Joaquin River Settlement to make it more "financially feasible" and with an "environmentally sustainable warm-water fishery."

The existing settlement is supposed to restore an uninterrupted, year-round flow of water to parts of the San Joaquin River that have been mostly dry since Friant Dam was completed in 1944 so that salmon can return.

But many of the same proposals have failed over the years, whether Republicans or Democrats have been in power in Washington.

Environmental and fishing groups scoffed at Nunes' proposed legislation.

Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman's Associations, said Nunes' proposal is "terribly myopic."

"He's just talking about the same old things that even Ronald Reagan turned down when he was governor," Grader said.

While Nunes acknowledges his proposals have no chance this year, he is hopeful that if Republicans can pick up seats in Congress this November -- especially the Senate seat held by Democrat Barbara Boxer -- his legislation might have a chance next year.

Grader is skeptical.

"Most of these things he has offered up are losers," he said.

http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/1826422.html

Lawmakers ask Feinstein to withdraw water proposal

By The Associated Press
Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 10:56 a.m.

WASHINGTON— A dozen lawmakers from California and Oregon are calling on Sen. Dianne Feinstein to withdraw her proposal to divert more water from the California delta for farming.

The group of Democratic lawmakers say in a letter released Thursday that Feinstein's proposal would push salmon and steelhead populations closer to extinction in the two states.

The Democratic senator announced last week that she was considering amending a jobs bill so farmers could get up to 40 percent of their federal water allocation for two years. Last year, they received just 10 percent.

Fewer than 40,000 chinook salmon returned to the river this year, down from 750,000 in 2002.

Feinstein responded by saying she remains open to other ideas but believes her approach is a fair compromise.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010 ... -proposal/

Drip irrigation is a very good thing, rather than flooding drought ridden fields with sudden deluges. And, not being a fan of wine, too many fields are taken up with grapes, which turned into chardonnay or merlot fetch hundreds per bottle (grapes picked by illegals, of course).
Apparently, from what I have read, humans need foodstuff of all sorts, and hunger will not be well slaked by getting snockered. The worst thing that can be done is depriving a food source for a food source (like the fishes who eat other fish) by lack of water because growing grapes is mor important.