You aren't allowed to guess when it comes to science
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
For years government agencies have said that export pumping is at fault for declining Delta fish populations, yet Judge Oliver Wanger’s ruling could not have been more clear; the government acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” and the pumping restrictions were “a product of guesstimations”. The agencies involved formulated actions that lack scientific justification and they failed to evaluate alternatives other than reduced pumping.
Those are strong words.
The judge also acknowledged that protections for fish are important. That’s something farmers have never debated. The answer, according to the judge and we agree, must be a balanced solution that doesn’t sacrifice the needs of people for the sake of fish, especially when bad science is used to justify regulatory actions.
Shasta near full, supplies remain at 40%
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Shasta storage increased 420,000 acre-feet this month and is now within 100,000 acre-feet of reaching its capacity. Shasta was also near filling in May in years 2003, 2005 and 2006 but agricultural service allocation in those years was 75%, 85% and 100% respectively. This year it is 40% due largely to the salmon and smelt biological opinions.
Pumping at the federal Jones Pumping Plant near Tracy remains at its minimum level of about 800 cubic feet per second (cfs) during April as required by the salmon biological opinion. Minimum exports will continue until June 1 as required by both the salmon and smelt biological opinions. If not for the two biological opinions, export pumping would have been at a combined 2,250 cfs during the 30-day Vernalis Adaptive Management Program (VAMP) that began on April 25.
When will madness end?
Friday, 16 April 2010
Ag water users were on the receiving end of an announcement
from the feds on tax day as the Interior Department announced an increase in
water deliveries from the federal CVP.
It seems to me that some critics of agricultural water use, and even water development in general, are simply trying to fulfill a basic human need to leave their mark on the world. Tearing down what others have built is their way of doing it.
Farm water critics Dan Bacher and Lloyd Carter regularly denounce the governor, the legislature and most of the environmental community for doing too much to try to fix our broken water system. They have variously claimed in the past that there is no drought in California, that the loss of tens of thousands of farm jobs this past year has had no impact on employment, and that the absence of water deliveries to the Central Valley and Southern California is not affected by regulations that prevent those deliveries from being made.
We've posted some videos in our Video area. Learn about California water and California Farmers. Don't miss the Alfalfa and Pizza Video.
California Water Facts Handout
Learn more about California Water through our Water Facts Handout. This easy to read PDF helps you understand just how much water California farmers are saving each month!
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