Posts

The Western View: Cease-Fire Ahead in the Water Wars?

/in , /by /AgNet Westby Len Wilcox

It’s been a year of surprises, one thing after another – a pandemic that shut down the world, a murder hornet that suddenly appeared in the north woods, rioting in the streets, and even a giant meteor just missed the earth. But there is one more startling event that not many people know about. That is: The State and the feds are actually talking to each other about our water. They’ve been figuring out how to balance the needs of fish versus farmers and settle how they will handle water deliveries to the Central Valley and Southern California.

Full Story

Opinion: Reimagine California’s Big-Water Dreams

/in , , /by /Daily Breezeby Larry Wilson

Romantic newspaper myths aside — wait; are there romantic newspaper myths anymore? — editorial-page junkets are not along the lines of a stay in a house on stilts in a Bali lagoon. Just to do some Indonesian fact-finding, don’t you know. In fact, it didn’t take the novel coronavirus to dampen down out-of-town trips to conventions or the state capital on the paper’s dime. That non-ship sailed long ago; not enough dimes.

Full Story

Central Valley Town Fought for Clean Water for Years. Is the Battle Finally Over?

/in , /by /The Fresno Beeby Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado

During summertime, many households in Seville have seen their wells go completely dry. For years — too many, residents say — households teetered with unpredictable conditions. Using too much water in the day meant having none at night. One flush too many, and everyone relying on a single well in town was thrown into a dry spell.

Full Story

In a Dry Year, Valley Water Sales Get an Extra Dose of Scrutiny

/in , , /by /The Sun (Central Valley)by Alex Tavlian

As California navigates a critically dry water year, many business-as-usual elements are getting a second look. One such transaction is a proposed water sale by the Merced Irrigation District.

Full Story

What’s at the Heart of California’s Water Wars? Delta Outflow Explained

/in , , /by /Cal Mattersby Jeffrey Mount and Greg Gartrell

The latest dustup In California’s water wars, as noted in Dan Walters’ commentary, revolves principally around the federal government’s efforts to increase the amount of water supplied to farms and cities by the Central Valley Project, and a breakdown in cooperation between the state and federal government.

Full Story

Tiny Bugs Can Clean Valley Drinking Water but at What Price?

/in , /by /SJV Water (San Joaquin Valley)by Lois Henry

If you have a small, drinking water system in the Central Valley that’s full of nitrates, and there are plenty, a company has some bugs to sell you. Specifically, a company called Microvi is looking for a demonstration project in the valley to show that its “biological denitrification” process is feasible for small systems.

Full Story

Judge Temporarily Blocks Trump’s California Water Plan

/in , , /by /AP News

A federal court on Tuesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s efforts to pump more water to the agricultural Central Valley, which critics said would threaten endangered species and salmon runs.

Full Story

Thirsty Crops and Vulnerable Families Vie for California’s Precious Water

/in , /by /High Country Newsby Susie Cagle

When Carolina Garcia’s well began pumping sand and air instead of water in 2016, she didn’t know where to turn.

The Garcias had been living in Tombstone Territory, a quiet four-street community in California’s San Joaquin Valley, for 10 years. In the middle of the state’s historic drought, many of the farms surrounding Tombstone Territory had installed new wells and deepened existing ones. Despite being just two miles from the Kings river, Tombstone was drying up.

Garcia, her husband and four children spent four days without water that first time. They resolved to lower their water pump. It worked for a few months – but then, again, sand and air. When they repaired it again, they were told the new fix would only buy them a couple more years.

Full Story

Farmers Review Impact of Federal, State Water Actions

/in , /by /Ag Alert (Sacramento, Calif.)by Christine Souza

After a week that saw President Donald Trump visit Bakersfield to pledge more water for Central Valley farmers and Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration respond with a lawsuit, farmers and water agencies looked for ways to continue work on voluntary agreements intended to ease California’s water disputes.

Trump announced his administration had finalized new federal rules to guide operations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta for the federal Central Valley Project and the State Water Project. The lawsuit filed by the state the next day asserts that new biological opinions prepared by federal agencies lack safeguards for protected species and their habitat.

Full Story

California Water Debate Heads to Court After Trump Joins Discussion

/in , /by /Fox 5by Nexstar Media Wire

Last week, President Trump inserted himself directly in a decades-long internal water battle between Northern and Southern California.

Now, the debate is heading to court.

“I’m very disappointed the Governor decided to sue. We’ve been working very closely with the State of California,” Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman said.

After years on the sidelines, the Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman says new federal plans to divert water from the delta region in Northern California to farms in the southern part of the state will bring water where it’s needed most.