San Joaquin Valley Archives

San Joaquin Valley Communities Seeing Unhealthy Levels of Toxins in Water

Turning on the tap may seem harmless, but communities throughout the San Joaquin Valley are seeing unhealthy levels of toxins turn up in the water.

Kingsburg City Leaders say most residents could not tell anything was wrong with the drinking water, but years of testing showed unregulated chemicals were found.

“It’s not a sight or a taste or a smell thing,’ says Kingsburg City Manager Alex Henderson. “What it is is that we have to test for a number of chemicals and have for a very long time.”

Full Story

Opinion: Gov. Newsom Needs to Stand Up to the Trump Administration on the Delta

January 19, 2020/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /CalMatters (Sacramento, Calif.)by John McManus

It’s hardly news that California is under environmental attack from Trump administration policies allowing air and water pollution.

Now Trump’s team is set to impose new environmentally damaging Bay-Delta water diversion and pumping rules. My organization, the Golden State Salmon Association, and our allies have gone to court to block Trump’s effort.

Full Story

Opinion: Westlands Contract Shakes the Waterscape

November 17, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /CalMatters (Sacramento, Calif.)by Dan Walters

California’s perpetual, uber-complex conflict over water progresses much like the tectonic plates that grind against one another beneath its surface.

Periodically, as subterranean friction increases, there’s a sudden movement that we call an earthquake — sometimes imperceptibly small, but occasionally large enough to disrupt and endanger life at the surface.

Full Story

Feds Set To Lock In Huge Water Contract For Well-Connected Westlands Water District

November 12, 2019/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Los Angeles Times by Bettina Boxall

Westlands Water District, a sprawling San Joaquin Valley farm district with ties to the Trump administration, is poised to get a permanent entitlement to a massive quantity of cheap federal irrigation supplies.

Westlands is the first in line to permanently lock in its contract for Central Valley Project deliveries under a 2016 law. Other valley farm districts are expected to follow, but as the project’s biggest customer, Westlands arguably has the most to gain.

The deal would entitle Westlands to annual deliveries that are roughly double what the entire city of Los Angeles uses in a year.

Full Story

Here’s How $500M New Reservoir Planned Near Patterson Would Work

October 28, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Modesto Beeby Ken Carlson

A proposed reservoir in Del Puerto Canyon, just west of Patterson, promises reliable water deliveries for farms in western Stanislaus County and nearby counties.

It could serve to recharge groundwater for Patterson, a city of 23,750 residents, while other proposed benefits are water deliveries for wildlife refuges and flood control on occasions when storms threaten flash floods on Del Puerto Creek.

Proponents including Del Puerto Water District and the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority discussed the multiple benefits of the Del Puerto Canyon Reservoir at a press briefing Monday.

Full Story

SJV Water Blueprint Submitted For Water Resilience Portfolio

October 15, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /AgNet West by Brian German

The Water Blueprint for the San Joaquin Valley recently presented recommendations for the Water Resilience Portfolio in response to Governor Newsom’s Executive Order. The information sent to the Governor’s office highlights some of issues facing water security in the San Joaquin Valley. Some of the Blueprint coalition participants include the California Farm Bureau Federation, Western Growers Association, California Citrus Mutual, and Dairy Farmers of America.

Full Story

OPINION: Proposition 3 Provides Needed Funds To Improve Valley’s Water Infrastructure

September 26, 2018/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Fresno Beeby Jason Phillips

Imagine the Silicon Valley without technology or Hollywood without the entertainment industry. Just as those areas depend on their foundations for prosperity, our ability to capture, move and store water for agriculture is a determining factor for our region’s prosperity. In the southern San Joaquin Valley, water is our lifeblood. When it flows, communities prosper. Without it, jobs disappear, families leave, services evaporate and communities suffer. Even if your job doesn’t have anything to do with agriculture, if you live in our Valley, water matters.

Full Story

Posts