- Author: Brenda Dawson
An article in The (Stockton) Record by reporter Alex Breitler took a closer look at an economic analysis of building a peripheral canal to divert water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The analysis, written by David Sunding, UC Cooperative Extension economist at Berkeley, found that more than 129,000 jobs would be created in order to build a peripheral canal or tunnel. Sunding presented the report at a public meeting where he gave this caveat, quoted in the article: "[The Bay Delta Conservation Plan] is an extremely complex activity with all kinds of economic...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Family farmers and fishermen, California Indian tribes and grass roots environmentalists are working together to preserve the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and the fish and communities that depend on it for their livelihoods, according to a commentary by Dan Bacher published on Calitics.com.
Calitics is a "progressive online community" that provides individual Californians a platform for discussing state issues and campaigning. Anyone can sign in and contribute to the blog.
Bacher reported on the "Farms & Salmon Summit," held last month in Atwater. During the forum, farmers and fishermen urged...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A mid-course review of the draft Bay Delta Conservation Plan by a panel of scientists found the document to be "fragmented, incomplete and hard to understand," according to a report by McClatchy Newservice reporter Michael Doyle.
UC Berkeley emeritus professor Henry Vaux Jr. chaired the panel that reviewed the plan, which has been in the works since 2006, has already cost about $150 million and involved hundreds of meetings among state and federal agencies, water districts and environmental and conservation groups.
"Given the time and expenditure of money,...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
A perspective piece in the Sunday San Francisco Chronicle wrapped up decades of California water wrangling and pondered a possible end to the state's "water war."
The article centered on the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which 150 years ago was a marshy estuary with a constant ebb and flow of saltwater from the San Francisco Bay and fresh water from rivers draining the mountains, said the article, written by freelancer Matt Jenkins.
Today, the article said, after 150 years of "spirited remodeling," the area has been transformed into a tangle of waterways with farms and towns on levee-protected islands. Fresh water from the...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
An independent panel appointed by the National Academy of Sciences is working this week at UC Davis to review Delta water allocations, according to yesterday's Sacramento Bee. The activity doesn't directly involve ANR scientists, but the implications for agriculture in California are huge.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein asked for the review in response to requests from San Joaquin Valley farmers, including Stewart Resnick, owner of Paramount Farms, according to the Bee. Resnick's Sept. 4 letter to Feinstein says "sloppy science" contributed to the new water and species protection rules.
Resnick...
