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Asking the public to listen carefully to their controversial plan, state water officials began a series of hearings Tuesday on permanently shifting a share of water away from farms and cities and reallocating it to wildlife on streams feeding the San Joaquin River. Tuesday’s meeting was in Sacramento, but the board will next head to Stockton on Dec. 16 for a session at the Stockton Memorial Civic Auditorium. San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Merced counties have expressed strong opposition.

 

The first couple months of the new water year has yielded better-than-average rain and snow for parts of California. Water years begin Oct. 1 and run through the end of the following September. For California, the new water year got off to a rather wet start. While it’s being called the wettest start in 30 years, some almost seem to be egging on the drought by reminding us that we could end up in our fifth year of it on short notice.

Farmers and rural residents told California regulators they’re concerned about a proposal to increase water flows in the San Joaquin River and its tributaries to protect threatened fish. Native fish populations in the system have been declining for decades.The river system is part of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which provides water to Central Valley farms and millions of Californians. Regulators say currently up to 70 percent of the water is diverted. J.D. Richey, a Delta fishing guide, says his industry is collapsing.

Marin Country reservoirs are rising with multiple storms arriving early in the rainy season. Two are already spilling over and funneling water into creeks and streams. “So far this year we have received more than 17 inches of rainfall at Lake Lagunitas – we’re off to a great start with 78 percent of capacity at our seven reservoirs,” Lon Peterson, a spokesperson for the Marin Municipal Water District said.  At this time last year, the reservoirs were at 65 percent, the average storage for late November.

In Palm Springs, one of the hottest regions in California, precious groundwater has been depleted for decades to build lush golf courses, swimming pools and tract homes. Now the local American Indian tribe is pressing for a right to help manage that water. The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, which owns two casinos in the popular desert tourism region, has been buying water for decades from the two government water agencies that manage local groundwater, the Desert Water Agency and the Coachella Valley Water District.