Interesting Isn't It....

[Darian]

During the recent year of drought, the water provided to Westlands Irrigation District was somewhere around 10% of full allocation. They and agricultural interests plead disaster if they didn't receive a full allocation. Westlands even agreed to retire approximately 100K acres as a result.... Wow!!! Really hard times, huh.... :confused:

This heavy water year, I believe Westlands is allocated somewhere between 40% and 50% of full contract. Yet, they (Westlands and other irrigators) are negotiating with the Metropolitan Water District (SoCal) to sell excess water from their current allocation.... :shock: Kinda makes you wonder just how much water irrigators actually need, don't it.... :\\

Wonder if the group assigned to study what volume and flow of water is required to maintain a healthy Delta will take this info into consideration.... :question: :confused:

[Darian]

An editorial in todays SacBee, Opinion Section is Headlined, "Finally, Delta's flows get needed attention". "The State Water Resources Control Board has issued a draft report confirming that "....excessive diversions of water are imperiling the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta...." A big step in the right direction.

Now that the obvious has been confirmed, the next steps might be to conserve water resources by:

1) Treat water as a commodity only to be sold by Fed/State water agencies at current market prices.

2) Establishing the amount of water required to irrigate an acre of a particular crop.

3) Modification of all water contracts to provide allocations based on actual need.

4) Modification of all contracts to reflect a realistic market value for an acre foot of water.

5) Recovering excess water from allocations and placing it back into the fed/state system for sale by the feds/state.

Of course, all of this is just "pie in the sky" thinking and overly simplified but.... :smirk:

[wjorg]

Thanks for jotting this down Darian. Good way to show Westlands is as evil as we claim. Lying, cheating, killing. Too bad too many people could care less. Go Fly Shop!

As far as I am concerned the state of California can go back to the swamp and desert it was, have the people move to "the HEARTland" and get the hell outtahere. The states been bankrupt for so long, why wont the people move?

Oh yeah, weve got 60 degree temps in San Francisco while the global warming skeptics are steaming their eyeballs off, no wonder they are so blind.

[michaeln]

Growing rice (a crop that needs to be grown in standing water) in the middle of a huge desert (California central valley) has never seemed to me to be one of the more clever things we do in this state. :rolleyes:

[Darian]

Actually, guys, I wasn't attempting to demonize Westlands (deserved or not) but was attempting to show how the current system of allocation of water thru rights contracts does nothing to reinforce the need to conserve natural (water) resources.

Playing devils advocate here, Westlands only real problem was attempting to influence (thru campaign contributions) a Senator from South Carolina to benefit their cause after Feinstein had counseled patience. Otherwise, they've probably done nothing illegal in California.... Given the massive amounts of money at stake in these water issues, I might've behaved the same to protect an investment of my own.

I believe that the real issue in all of this is how water is treated as personal property under state law and not a natural resource....

[wjorg]

You don't need to demonize them Darian, they do it all on their own. Socially and environmentally irresponsible company with too much influence and power. Teddy Roosevelt would be inflamed.

[Darian]

OK,.... Just in case you'd like to read and support or oppose, a bill concerning this subject (water conservation/transfers) is currently winding it's way thru the State Legislature:

http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_2751-2800/ab_2776_bill_20100715_amended_sen_v95.html

The link is to a copy of the bill (not a lengthy bill). The author, Jared Huffman, has a good one here. Still a way to go tho. :D