California's water wars reach 'new level of crazy' this year

Good piece by Mark Grossi in the Fresno Bee about this year's version of the "crazy" California Water Wars, which will only escalate as we exit the (not very) rainy season. A lot of these same issues are covered in the Delta Blues documentary - they just keep rolling through every few years. This year's historic drought is likely to make everything worse for fish and farmers, and the impact will be felt for years.

KQED Forum Program on the Delta

Delta Blues DVD

Here's the link for today's program on KQED, which focused on the release of the Brown Administration's environmental plan for the Delta:

It's hard to believe, but I started this blog six years ago, at the beginning of the production of Delta Blues. The documentary was completed and went out on the film festival circuit in 2011, but I've always regretted not staying with it longer and making it a more complete film.

Time and money ran out,  but this story, as today's Forum broadcast shows, is far from over.

New tunnel plan reduces footprint and cost, but may impact sandhill cranes

From the LA Times:

"The redesign shifts the northern portion of the tunnel system a few miles to the east, away from the towns of Hood and Courtland and closer to Interstate 5. It also shortens the tunnel's length by five miles, to 30 miles, and slashes the size of a water storage area near the diversion point from 750 acres to 40 acres.

The redesign cuts the footprint of permanent facilities by about half, to 1,851 acres, and moves some land uses from private to state-owned lands."

State says delta tunnel benefits exceed costs by billions

From the LA Times. The economic analysis says that the $25 billion tunnel project will actually come out ahead by $5 billion in a cost/benefit analysis.

And there's this:

"The report also concluded the tunnel project would generate $83.5 billion in statewide business activity over its 50-year life by averting further water delivery cuts and creating construction and maintenance jobs."

Opponents of the tunnel project are more than a little skeptical. 

Westlands Water District Files Lawsuit Against Delta Plan

Classic opening quote from the story:

Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, began his presentation in the public comment period of the Delta Stewardship Council meeting on May 16 by stating, "Good morning, welcome to the resumption of California's water wars."

Seems not many happy with the latest "comprehensive management plan" for the Delta.

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2013/05/28/18737482.php

Delta Blues Now Available Online

The documentary Delta Blues is now available here for streaming online and to all mobile devices for $4.99:

http://vimeo.com/ondemand/deltablue/.

Socal Water War

Not the Delta  (although the Delta should be mentioned as part of the overall California water scheme), but an interesting piece in the New York Times on the fight over water in Southern California, particularly in San Diego. 

Little Knowledge of the Delta in New Study

Statewide survey finds 78 percent clueless about Delta

I always thought ignorance about the Delta was high (it's one of the reasons I made the documentary), but this is stunning.

Here's the article in The Record.

DVD Available

After a film festival run and educational sales window, Delta Blues is available for purchase here for $14.95.

2010: A Record Year for Fresno County Agriculture

Despite the lingering impact of the drought, and widespread complaints about lack of water, particularly from west side farmers, Fresno County had a record year. Grapes and almonds are neck and neck for the leading crops and even cotton - seemingly dead as a viable crop in the Central Valley when I was filming Delta Blues - is making a comeback.

Tim Sheehan from the Fresno Bee has the story here.

Pacific Institute Report on the Recent CA Drought

The report, Impacts of the California Drought from 2007 to 2009:Surprising Outcomes for California's Agriculture, Energy, and Environment,  , analyzes the impact of the drought on the farming community, the environment and hydroelectric power. A quick read indicates that the impact on Central Valley Farming was less than expected, the impact on the environment (including the Delta region), was as bad or worse than most observers thought, and that Californians paid more for power because of the drought. 


Many of these issues are covered in Delta Blues (which is scheduled for release on DVD this summer), and Peter Gleick, the President of the Pacific Institute, is one of the primary characters in the documentary. 


Click on the link above for a copy of the full report or an executive summary.  

BDCP Plan Blasted By Fed Panel

The Bay-Delta Conservation Plan was always a tough task - putting together environmentalists, government agencies and water users to come up with a comprehensive plan for the immense amount of water flowing through the Delta and utilized for agriculture and SoCal water supplies, not to mention the health of the Bay-Delta ecosystem.

The National Research Council slammed the effort yesterday, especially the BDCP's advocacy of a new "conveyance system," which means a peripheral canal or tunnel. California had close to record snowfall this past winter and some of the urgency has seeped out of efforts to fix the Delta, but this is a problem that won't go away and the longer the delay, the more it's going to cost and the more damage to all of the state's water users, human and otherwise.

Read more here from the SF Chron.

Delta Blues Screens Saturday, April 2nd

at the Sacramento International Film Festival at 4pm.

SFGate: Delta fish may be too far gone to save, plan hints

A grim assessment.

Earlier : SFGate: First Delta Draft Out Today

From the article: "The preliminary plan is one of seven to be released this year by the Delta Stewardship Council, which has until Jan. 1 to finalize a comprehensive, 50-year plan for the estuary. The overarching goals are two-fold: revitalizing the delta's ecosystem while ensuring water for millions of Californians and some of the most fertile agricultural land in the world - a balance that has eluded policymakers for decades."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/02/13/MNM21HKUVI.DTL#ixzz1DxaTtlCd

LA Times on the Delta Smelt

 A trip into the Delta with scientist Peter Moyle in search of the Delta Smelt. We filmed one of these research trips and an interview with Moyle for Delta Blues. On our day on the boat, the trawls brought up a nice haul of small stripers and split tail, but no Smelt. Moyle and his team hadn't seen one all year. We also filmed at the Smelt lab described in the piece.

See the Bay Area premiere of the film at the San Francisco Green Film Festival on March 5th. Click here for more details.

Two NYT articles on the Delta

The first covers the recent decision by Judge Wanger that criticizes the science work of the Fish and Wildlife Service. He calls for continued protection for the Delta Smelt but says the Biological Opinion is "arbitrary, capricious and unlawful." More court action and confusion sure to come.

The second tries to give the overall Delta situation a thorough analysis and turns out to be mostly confusing. It's a tough subject to cover in the typical newspaper length, especially because it is never ending.

Study: Cut in delta water use needed for fish

From the SF Chron. Sounds good, but two quotes sum up how far away a Delta solution still is:

"The board has finally put to rest the argument about whether the delta needs more water," said Cynthia Koehler, water legislative director with the Environmental Defense Fund. "You can't divert 50 percent of the flows and think the fish and ecosystem are going to be just fine."

"The information certainly is interesting and informative ... but it's immaterial," said Tom Birmingham, general manager of Westlands Water District, a sprawling agricultural zone in the Fresno area. "Protecting the public trust resources are not the only goals of the planning processes."

New state agency tries to revive delta

Comprehensive article in the SF Chronicle about the demise of CalFed and its replacement, the Delta Stewardship Council.

As with most things in California these days, it comes down to money. Will it be fully and consistently funded? Or will it become another victim of the state's very serious budget crisis over the long term?

Both sides claim victory in water compromise...

...but it's a short term compromise at best. Stay tuned for the next round.

The Fresno Bee has the story.

Lots of action in Cal water this week

First there was this: "A topsy-turvy week in a federal courtroom in Fresno, Calif., has led to the imposition of water flow restrictions to aid endangered delta smelt in the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta." This was after Judge Wanger ruled with Westlands last week and allowed additional pumping. Read more in the New York Times.

Also, yesterday Dianne Feinstein threw her support behind Central Valley farmers with legislation in the Senate. Some strong comments from NorCal House members in this article.

Finally, chinook salmon numbers are out for 2009 and they're dismal. Looks like a third straight year of closure for the commercial salmon fishing season. Lots of jobs and businesses impacted. More here.