Another Cause of Delta Woes - Groundwater Pumping

This opinion piece in the Sacramento Bee points to excessive groundwater pumping in Sacramento County as another cause of the environmental decline in the Delta.

The Bee has also started an online page on all things Delta: http://www.sacbee.com/delta/

Ocean Conditions?

One of the reasons given over the last few years for the decline of salmon runs on the west coast is "ocean conditions," which is a euphemism for the lack of food for salmon to fatten up on before they return to the rivers to spawn. The cause can be just about anything: warmer water, tricky currents, not enough upwelling, etc., but it also seems to be one of those excuses that can explain a difficult problem while offering no realistic solution. Some fisheries experts believe this is just another excuse to not focus on the real problem: fixing the Delta.

Here is an interesting eyewitness account of current "ocean conditions"

Give the Delta a Voice! Rally

A rally on the Capitol steps in Sacramento on July 7th.

Delta gates proposal builds support, but environmental impact remains murky

From Matt Weiser at the Bee:

"A plan to build gates across two Delta channels has strong support from state and federal leaders, though little is known about how the project would affect the environment.

The so-called "two gates" project would build moveable gates across Old River and Connection Slough in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta."

Big backer is the Metro Water District of Southern California. More...

Despair flows as fields go dry and unemployment rises

Article in the Los Angeles Times about tough times in the Central Valley for farmers and workers.

Here are the numbers:

"Water scarcity looms as a major challenge to California's $37-billion agricultural industry, which has long relied on imported water to bloom. The consequences of closing the spigot are already evident here in rural Fresno County, about 230 miles north of Los Angeles. Lost farm revenue will top $900 million in the San Joaquin Valley this year, said UC Davis economist Richard Howitt, who estimates that water woes will cost the recession-battered region an additional 30,000 jobs in 2009."