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The state of California’s proposed Bay Delta water plan is being portrayed as a water fight between supposedly wealthy farmers and fish. When there is so much more at stake to us all, I have to ask why? I suspect this is a deliberate tactic by those involved in professional politics and government. It is probably much easier to say that only a handful of farmers are being harmed by a massive water diversion than to acknowledge that an entire community – including some of the most disadvantaged youths and adults in the state – are going to be harmed.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will offer farmers and ranchers more opportunities to participate in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The announcement includes new CRP practices to protect water quality and adds an additional 1.1 million acres targeted to benefit wildlife, pollinators and wetlands. “The Conservation Reserve Program is an extremely popular voluntary program that offers producers and landowners a wide variety of opportunities to prevent erosion, protect wildlife habitat and reduce nutrient runoff,” said Vilsack.

Representatives of some of California’s leading agricultural bodies have highlighted a “litany of positives” in the state’s recently introduced drought legislation for its “short term and long term solutions to California’s needs”.

In a statement, California Citrus Mutual president Joel Nelsen, California Fresh Fruit Association president George Radanovich and California Cotton Ginners & Growers Association and Western Agricultural Processors Association president Roger Isom, echoed the words of Senator Dianne Feinstein – “this bill isn’t perfect but I do believe it will help California”.

 

The House on Thursday overwhelmingly approved the biggest federal reset of California water use in a generation, setting the stage for easier dam-building, more recycling and potentially happier Central Valley farmers. By a 360 to 61 vote that divided California representatives, the House approved the drought-inspired California provisions as part of a broader water projects bill that now heads to the Senate. Disappointing environmentalists and some Northern California Democrats, the White House declined to issue a potentially lethal veto threat. “It is a bill that helps deliver water to our communities,” said House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield.

Central to the ongoing tug of war about how best to balance California water uses is a plan by the State Water Resources Control Board to leave more water in the main tributaries of the San Joaquin River during periods it considers key for at-risk native species.