California Delta being held hostage?

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Different issues Wendy:

CA state parks will likely be taken over by the Feds. (Lost the link.)

The CA Delta issue has to do with the folks in Southern CA wanting more water for their lawns. If this project, previously known as the "peripheral canal" and now disguised behind various names, goes through, salt water will back up into the Delta and numerous fish species will be lost. Additionally, they plan several dams & gates that will essentially cut off or curtail a lot of boat traffic.
 
Tom said:
has to do with the folks in Southern CA wanting more water for their lawns.
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Ah, just like they want to take the extra water from Colorado and are ticked because we don't want them to have it. Of course, the folks on the front range in Colorado want to take the extra water from the western slope and we don't want to give it to them either. I knew I should have become a Water Rights attorney.

Wendy
 
There are water wars all over the west. Around here its Prescott trying to drill wells in the head waters of the Verde River. The Verde River supplies water to the Verde Valley and goes all the way to Phoenix. The Salt River Project which has surface water rights to the Verde is even starting to go after people with domestic wells if they are close to the river. I think its going to get ugly before too many more years.
 
[quote author=Tom]CA state parks will likely be taken over by the Feds. (Lost the link.)[/quote]

Here's that link, although nowt to do with the water issue:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07/01/feds-threaten-seize-california-parks-closed-budget/
 
Thanks for the link. I had read about this earlier since I've been following the California state park issue closely. It's only a handful of state parks the NPS is talking about taking over although I'm sure they'd grab more if they were closed. Hopefully, the California government will see how important the majority of the parks are and find a way to keep them open.

Wendy
 
The threatened takeover only affects 6 of the 220 parks California is threatening to close, because they're located on lands that will revert back to the Federal government if the parks are closed.

This is not the case with the remaining 214 parks on the closure list, so there's no grounds for the Federal government to intervene if they're closed.
 
Tom said:
The CA Delta issue has to do with the folks in Southern CA wanting more water for their lawns. If this project, previously known as the "peripheral canal" and now disguised behind various names, goes through, salt water will back up into the Delta and numerous fish species will be lost. Additionally, they plan several dams & gates that will essentially cut off or curtail a lot of boat traffic.
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Not quite Tom.  Residential use is only about 5% of the total demand, industrial is about 10% -- 85% is agricultural.  That 85% largely feeds the corporate farms in the San Joaquin Valley.  If want to see who owns those, stroll down Montgomery St. in SF.

BTW SoCal is on strict water rationing now. 
 
Carl L said:
Not quite Tom.   Residential use is only about 5% of the total demand, industrial is about 10% -- 85% is agricultural.   That 85% largely feeds the corporate farms in the San Joaquin Valley.   If want to see who owns those, stroll down Montgomery St. in SF.

BTW SoCal is on strict water rationing now.   
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It is my understanding, I am not following this real close, the farming community was and has always used water from the delta however, a year or two ago, the water was shut off or cut back substantionaly because the reduced water in the Delta was endangering the smelt which was not an indiginous fish to those waters.  It is my understanding the smelt gets into those waters when the ships that travel the delta release their balast......this is what we are being told in this area anyway, but I am sure there is lots of gray between what we are being told and what is really going on.
 
Carl L said:
Not quite Tom.   Residential use is only about 5% of the total demand, industrial is about 10% -- 85% is agricultural.   That 85% largely feeds the corporate farms in the San Joaquin Valley.   If want to see who owns those, stroll down Montgomery St. in SF.

BTW SoCal is on strict water rationing now.   
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My lawn is dead and I don't water at all cause it seems a waste to try to keep grass green watering 2 times a week in 100 plus weather. I will however keep the pool full since it is refreshing and cuts down on the AC use. Water cops are fining left and right in my area and yes Agriculture is still the #1 use of water in So cal.

Be careful painting SoCal in a broad stroke it is a large area from Imperial Valley to the pacific  and north to wherever you consider So Cal to end but remember. I dont' live in LA I live 100 miles from LA and other parts of Socal are further still. We don't share much with LA and our water district gets most of its water from wells. They buy about 15% from Metro Water but that is it. Other places obviously have differnet needs.

wayne
 
I believe, from what I've read and heard, that Dave has the original story right, except that the smolt are indigenous.

This is a resurrection of the 'peripheral canal' project which was voted down by the voters. The last 12-18 months,  the folks in Sacramento have proceeded with a plan disguised as a series of smaller projects with obscure names. Only relatively recently has it come out what they're really up to.

There are numerous web sites discussing this, but here's one perspective:

http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/bassmaster/conservation/news/story?page=b_con_CalifDelta_20090811

And a short Wiki here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peripheral_Canal

One caveat - I see one glaring error/omission in the ESPN article as it relates to the San Joaquin river; The article states that "the San Joaquin flows directly to the City of Tracy", but omits the fact that it continues and forms a confluence with the Sacramento river near Antioch, and the combined waters flow to San Francisco Bay.

BTW we took out our lawn, although we live right here in the Delta.
 
Good reads tom, Good luck with it all. Even though I live here I have always stood fast that the thing that will bring California to its Knees is going to be the water problem. You cannot continue to grow on imported water without running out or making enemys or both. What we need is a few good old years of record rain and snow.

Wayne
 
[quote author=zukIzzy]What we need is a few good old years of record rain and snow.[/quote]

You're so right Wayne. Last time we drove past Shasta it was pitiful to see the lake level so low. Similar stories at a number of other lakes.
 
Don't forget Las Vegas and a lot of southern California are downstream of our Rocky Mountains and while this was a good year, it was only the second good year in the last ten. If there's not a good snowpack here, there's not anything to flow southwest (or be pumped east over the mountains to the Front Range).

Wendy
 
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