David Lee
05-14-2009, 10:48 PM
I found this on the Fishsniffer site .....
http://www.ktvu.com/video/19446355/index.html
Story
Water Allocations Making Some Rich In Midst Of Drought
Posted: 9:29 pm PDT May 12, 2009
Updated: 12:05 am PDT May 13, 2009
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- While millions of Californians are being told to turn off the spigot because of drought, a KTVU Channel 2 News report reveals a handful of major landowners have so much water they are flooding farm fields and even selling water they get for free back to Californians for a profit.
The federal Bureau of Reclamation, which supplies water to a vast swath of California farms, has cut back agricultural allocations to 10 and 15 percent of normal this year because of the official drought status.
However, the government is giving 100 percent of the entitlements to 135 water districts -- the vast majority farming alliances -- the same amount they would get even in the wettest years.
"The federal government made a sweetheart deal with some of the farming districts years ago," said Peter Vorster, a Bay Area hydrologist and environmental activist.
Not everyone agrees.
"Basically, you are going to kill the industry that drives Northern California, which is agriculture," countered John Sutton, a fourth-generation California farmer in the upper Sacramento Valley who is entitled to the generous water allocation and says he is concerned cutting it back will have drastic effects on the state.
Sutton is a member of the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, one of the 135 water agencies getting the surfeit of water.
In fact, the district will get enough water this year to flood more than 100,000 acres of rice fields and still have plenty to sell at a pure profit to parched farmers with only 10-15 percent water allocations this year.
Glenn-Colusa will also sell water to municipal users, such as the Los Angeles Metropolitan Water District, just as it did in 2003.
In all, the Glenn-Colusa Water District will make an extra $4 million dollars this year selling its excess water.
Glenn-Colusa, like the other 134 water district with 100 percent allocations, gets the water free from the federal government.
Federal Bureau of Reclamation officials say American taxpayers have spent more than $3 billion building the federal water project in California and spend another $100 million annually maintaining it.
"Well, it's an agreement," said bureau spokeswoman Lynnette Wirth. "The fairness factor is certainly one that concerns people."
For environmental activists such as Vorster, the "fairness factor" is important.
"Some people are really big winners," explained Vorster. "Everyone else -- farmers, cities, you and I -- have to sacrifice."
Plain-spoken Sutton is unapologetic about the deal his ancestors cut with the bureau.
"If he's a got a goldmine and hits the Mother Lode, is he going to share it with me? Of course not," said Sutton. "It's the luck of the cards."
Niiiiiice .
D. -
http://www.ktvu.com/video/19446355/index.html
Story
Water Allocations Making Some Rich In Midst Of Drought
Posted: 9:29 pm PDT May 12, 2009
Updated: 12:05 am PDT May 13, 2009
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- While millions of Californians are being told to turn off the spigot because of drought, a KTVU Channel 2 News report reveals a handful of major landowners have so much water they are flooding farm fields and even selling water they get for free back to Californians for a profit.
The federal Bureau of Reclamation, which supplies water to a vast swath of California farms, has cut back agricultural allocations to 10 and 15 percent of normal this year because of the official drought status.
However, the government is giving 100 percent of the entitlements to 135 water districts -- the vast majority farming alliances -- the same amount they would get even in the wettest years.
"The federal government made a sweetheart deal with some of the farming districts years ago," said Peter Vorster, a Bay Area hydrologist and environmental activist.
Not everyone agrees.
"Basically, you are going to kill the industry that drives Northern California, which is agriculture," countered John Sutton, a fourth-generation California farmer in the upper Sacramento Valley who is entitled to the generous water allocation and says he is concerned cutting it back will have drastic effects on the state.
Sutton is a member of the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, one of the 135 water agencies getting the surfeit of water.
In fact, the district will get enough water this year to flood more than 100,000 acres of rice fields and still have plenty to sell at a pure profit to parched farmers with only 10-15 percent water allocations this year.
Glenn-Colusa will also sell water to municipal users, such as the Los Angeles Metropolitan Water District, just as it did in 2003.
In all, the Glenn-Colusa Water District will make an extra $4 million dollars this year selling its excess water.
Glenn-Colusa, like the other 134 water district with 100 percent allocations, gets the water free from the federal government.
Federal Bureau of Reclamation officials say American taxpayers have spent more than $3 billion building the federal water project in California and spend another $100 million annually maintaining it.
"Well, it's an agreement," said bureau spokeswoman Lynnette Wirth. "The fairness factor is certainly one that concerns people."
For environmental activists such as Vorster, the "fairness factor" is important.
"Some people are really big winners," explained Vorster. "Everyone else -- farmers, cities, you and I -- have to sacrifice."
Plain-spoken Sutton is unapologetic about the deal his ancestors cut with the bureau.
"If he's a got a goldmine and hits the Mother Lode, is he going to share it with me? Of course not," said Sutton. "It's the luck of the cards."
Niiiiiice .
D. -