Community | September 02, 2009 | 16 comments

The water wars of California

source: http://www.sfbg.com/entry.php?entry_id=9088&catid=4&volume_id=398&issue_id=447&volume_num=43...

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JanforGore
Don't think water wars are relegated to third world countries. California is a breeding ground for the same with drought, lack of moral will, greed, and political grandstanding all coming together to make matters worse. Sooner or later, something's got to give.

Excerpt:

The pumps that export water out of the delta regularly pulverize federally threatened and endangered fish, yet the government agencies that operate them are rarely held accountable. The agency that is supposed to monitor and protect the health of the San Francisco Bay and the fragile delta ecosystem also gets 80 percent of its budget from water sales. And the state water projects regularly promise more water than they can deliver.

THE GREAT SUCKING SOUND

California's water wars stem from a tricky dilemma: two-thirds of the precipitation falls in the north, while two-thirds of the people live in the drier south. The delta, located primarily in Sacramento and San Joaquin counties, is the heart of the state's water supply, where the freshwater flows of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and vein-like tributaries converge. It boasts the largest estuary on the west coast of North and South America, providing critical habitat for at least a dozen threatened or endangered species including salmon, smelt, splittail, sturgeon, and others.

The delta is also like a superhighway interchange of water for the state.

Two vast plumbing networks — the Central Valley Project, operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, and the State Water Project, operated by the Department of Water Resources — transport water from delta pumping stations to cities and agricultural operations across the state.

Roughly 5.7 million acre-feet of water was exported annually from the delta in recent years, a high that many environmentalists say is unsustainable. (An acre-foot, or 325,853 gallons, is the amount that covers an acre one-foot deep.) Before the Central Valley Project was constructed in the 1930s, only 4.7 million acres of farmland were irrigated statewide. By 1997, the acres of thirsty cropland had climbed to 8.9 million, converting many areas that were once barren desert into lush green fields. Agribusiness dominates the sector, with some farming operations like agricultural empires, spanning tens of thousands of acres.

As cropland has expanded, so has agriculture's demand for water. State and federal agencies sell delta water by issuing contracts to water districts, and the water is priced substantially lower for agricultural use. A report issued by the Natural Resources Defense Council suggests that delta water allocation has traditionally gone something like this: "Corporate and agricultural interests demanded more and more water, and the state and federal agencies let them have it."

No one can say just how much rain will fall from the sky in a given year, so stipulations were written into the water contracts to deal with allocation during times of water shortage. Depending on a district's water rights — a status determined by a combination of seniority and a hierarchy of uses — it may get 100 percent of the amount promised on paper during a dry year, or a mere fraction of it.

But the districts continue to promise water to farmers, and the state continues to promise water to the districts.

This latest round of water wars is exacerbated by the drought, which has sapped water supply in California for three years in a row.

continued at the link.
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16 comments // The water wars of California

  • ras_menelik
  • ras_menelik
  • SeaJade
    • 0
      SeaJade  

    • Remember the movie "Chinatown" with Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunnaway....

      So much water is wasted here, so much could be saved...

      And one more time with Andy Lipkis presentation on saving water in Southern California if you haven't seen this or heard of alternative ways of collecting and saving water...

      We water our entire garden, mostly veggies, with our grey water, this is not a difficult or expensive way to get started with making a dramatic difference in water usage...

    • 2 years ago
  • biggranny
    • 0
      biggranny  

    • water is the next world crisis.better start paying attention or you will be paying through the nose for a cup of coffee and not the fancy kind either

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
    • 0
      J_Jammer [removed]  

    • lol

      wasteful...hahah.

      No. The state and the federal government should put more time and money into getting more freshwater facilities and even if that is too expensive then they need to get someone on it to make it cost efficient. We should have just as many water treatment facilities as we do oil rigs.

      As far as we are all concerned they are both very important until otherwise stated via of a replacement.... efficient one not one stated in theory.

    • 2 years ago
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  

    • They should think of going to less water intensive crops, but then you come up against those who simply refuse to understand that they must do this to save their farms in the longrun.They would rather push for more water at the expense of others. I read some have employed better irrigation, but it needs to be statewide mandated and implemented, and some will have to just forego growing rice or almonds or other water intensive crops or at least cut the acreage for those crops to replace with others that do not take up as much. It is truly sad to see this because it could have been prevented or at least prolonged except for the greed of those selling the water and those using it. Again, we don't realize the worth of water until the well runs dry. This is the candle meeting in the middle that has been warned about for years.

    • 2 years ago
  • samthesixth
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • JanforGore:

      Well, that is expensive as well as carbon intensive and really only a bandaid if people's habits and wasteful behavior do not change. It is also harmful to marinelife as well. Unfortunate though that this option which is really not a solution may be forced upon them. People will then most definitely be paying through the nose for water.

    • 2 years ago
  • J_Jammer
  • QuestionGeek
    • 0
      QuestionGeek  

    • I live in California and I wonder if we are having such a drought, then why are we allowed to be so wasteful with water? We shouldn't be allowed to water grass lawns.

      We should have crushed rock as lawns and drought resistant plants like what you see on the "lawns" in Palm Springs.

      Fountains should not be allowed. Yes they use and waste water too.

      Our farms need to change the way they irrigate.

      Old clothes washers use 40 gallons of water compared to 20 gallons of water that the front load use. They should replace our washers for free or give heavy incentives...

    • 2 years ago
  • lifestudentno83
    • 0
      lifestudentno83  

    • The Government won't do anything about a water shortage until it becomes profitable for their corporate masters.

      When they can SELL water because there is none is when the drought will be profitable. Until then, get used to your fish being poisoned with mercury, your rivers, lakes, and streams drying up, and your thirst growing until you're paying 100 bucks a barrel for clean drinking water.

      Next, they'll begin to pollute the air until you have to buy tanks of clean oxygen for your house, car, and to walk outside. Miss a payment and get your oxygen cut off...

    • 2 years ago
  • nodonjuan
  • csmonut
  • poosta7
    • 0
      poosta7  

    • Most of California's water is for agriculture....to grow crops to feed cows so we can eat meat. Dr. Michael Klapper points out that to produce just one beef steer takes the amount of water to float a Navy destroyer; 1 lb of beef requires about 5000 gallons of water...I went vegan about 10 years after reading John Robbins "Diet for a New America" .... Consequences for me have been nothing less than wonderful.

    • 2 years ago
  • good_stuff
    • 0
      good_stuff  

    • 8 pages later, I have the solution. This isn't really a complicated issue, but the politicians are trying to pretend it is.

      Combine the managment agencies, and charge agriculture the same as people. Business is business and even if it the most productive land, if water is too expensive then they will just farm somewhere else. Then, you just have to deal with keeping the population low.

    • 2 years ago
  • JanforGore
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