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California Unveils Environmental Blueprint for Delta Tunnels

/in /by /The Sacramento Beeby Dale Kasler

California officials Tuesday released a detailed environmental blueprint for Gov. Jerry Brown’s controversial Delta tunnels project, saying the $15.5 billion plan “minimizes potential effects” on endangered fish species whose populations have dwindled following decades of water pumping. The Department of Water Resources unveiled its so-called “biological assessment” for the proposed tunnels, which are designed to re-engineer the plumbing of the battered Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in order to improve reliability of water deliveries to the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California.

 

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Oak Trees in the Santa Monica Mountains Hit Hard by Drought

/in /by /Ventura County Starby Cheri Carlson

Dave Edwards has hiked in the Santa Monica Mountains for decades, but the view has changed in the past few years. Hundreds, if not thousands, of trees have died, leaving hillsides with gray and brown patches. Five years of drought has shortchanged trees on water and nutrients. Trees dried out and insects moved in. “It’s not just in the Santa Monica Mountains. It’s all over the state,” said Edwards, a volunteer with the Santa Monica Mountains Trails Council. “I have never seen it like this.”

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California Water Conservation Dips as Relaxed Drought Rules Take Effect

/in /by /Los Angeles Timesby Matt Stevens

Water conservation in California dipped slightly during the first month that the state’s mandatory water-savings rules were significantly relaxed, regulators said Tuesday. The 21.5% cut in water use in June compared with the same month in 2013 was less impressive than some officials had hoped, but also came as a relief because the numbers suggest that urban Californians will continue to save water — even when they are not required to do so.

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OPINION: Can California Tune up its Climate Strategy?

/in /by /The Fresno Bee

As Philadelphia baked and wildfires roared like the apocalypse in California, Gov. Jerry Brown last week called on the nation to remember the impact this presidential election could have on climate change.

“What America needs today are not deniers, but leaders. Not division, but common purpose. Not bombast, but bold action,” Brown told the Democratic National Convention, lambasting Donald Trump and lauding Hillary Clinton. “Trump says global warming is a hoax. I say Trump is a fraud.”

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Delta Tunnels Plan Rekindles Water Disputes

/in /by /San Jose Mercury Newsby Denis Cuff

A half century after building the largest water-delivery system in America, California officials say they now realize they put their giant straws to capture Delta water in the wrong place. Last week, state and federal water project operators opened the case to win permission for a fix — construction of three diversion points near Sacramento tied to twin underground tunnels to shunt Delta water for 25 million people throughout the state.

 

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BLOG: Despite Drought, California Farming Prospered

/in /by /Water Deeply (New York) by Matt Weiser

It might not be what you expect to hear about California agriculture in the throes of drought: After four years of historic water shortages, farm earnings in the state increased 16 percent, and total employment increased 5 percent.

Yet those are real numbers gathered by federal agencies that track economic data. Average wages for farm employees also increased an impressive 13 percent since the drought began.

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OPINION: When it Comes to Water, do not Keep on Trucking

/in /by /Los Angeles Times

The multi-year drought has become so bad in some parts of California that last year wells dried up and communities had to have their water hauled in by truck. Even with that emergency lifeline, residents of places like East Porterville in Tulare County had to carefully parcel out their supplies for cooking and cleaning. Toilets were “flushed” by dumping used dishwater into the bowl. Showers became a luxury.

 

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Despite Drought, California Farming Prospered

/in /by /Water Deeply (New York)by Matt Weiser

It might not be what you expect to hear about California agriculture in the throes of drought: After four years of historic water shortages, farm earnings in the state increased 16 percent, and total employment increased 5 percent.

Yet those are real numbers gathered by federal agencies that track economic data. Average wages for farm employees also increased an impressive 13 percent since the drought began.

 

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Twin Tunnels Hearings Show Old Conflicts about Water Remain

/in /by /Oroville Mercury-Registerby Denis Cuff

A half century after building the largest water-delivery system in America, California officials say they now realize they put their giant straws to capture Sacramento River water in the wrong place.

Last week, state and federal water project operators opened the case to win permission for a fix — construction of three diversion points near Sacramento tied to twin underground tunnels under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to shunt water to 25 million people throughout the state.

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Court May Have Dug a Grave for Governor’s Delta Tunnels

/in /by /Central Valley Business Times (Stockton)

In an unpublished opinion, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations and the San Francisco Crab Boat Owners Association in their long battle with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and San Joaquin Valley agribusinesses that get irrigation water from the Central Valley Project.

 

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