Posted by Tina
This story begins with a severe drought and becomes sharply defined by a devastating court ruling:
(Fresno) In a landmark decision, a federal judge on August 31 ordered state and federal water project managers to reduce the amount of water pumped from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to protect the threatened delta smelt from extinction. ** Environmentalists praised the ruling, even though the decision didn’t go as far as they wanted, while Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and water agency representatives claimed the decision would devastate California’s water supplies and the economy. ** U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger ruled to restrict water deliveries from the California Delta’s massive export pumps to the Bay Area, Central Valley and Southern California to protect the fish. The Delta smelt is found only in the Bay-Delta estuary and is considered by scientists to be an indicator species demonstrating the health of the West Coast’s largest estuary.
I’ve wanted to post about the tragic story unfolding for farmers in the Central Valley of California for a few weeks now but couldn’t seem to find the time, not that it would have done me much good. Tonight when I went in search of information there was very little to draw from on the web from main stream media sources. Sean Hannity of FOX News and commedian Paul Rodriguez attended a recent rally held by the farmers and Sean featured the story of the farming “dust bowl” on his TV show. NPR has a very good article (below) and the following story comes from a little known organization called, “Urban Habitat”. Before we’re done we will also hear from the governor and Democrat members of the Assembly:
“California Farmers March for Water,” by Rebecca Plevin – urbanhabitat.org
Diedrich, a farmer for 40 years, said Valley farmers have never had it this bad. ** He said 1977 was a dry year, “but now, you have all the regulatory aspects of it, plus we are in a drought. Zero water … We’ve never had zero water.” ** It’s such a nerve-wracking situation, he said, that he often wakes up at 2 a.m. and can’t fall back asleep because too many thoughts swirl around in his head. ** “Hey, this is it, man,” he has told his employees, as he’s encouraged them to participate in the event. “My farm is your job. The more bodies, the better.” ** In April, in a sweltering tin shed in the middle of the Westland’s water district, about 200 farmers gathered to hear what Tom Birmingham had to say about the crisis. Birmingham is the executive director of the irrigation district. Yes, the drought is a problem, he says, but he believes the much bigger problem is that court ruling. ** “Since mid-February, as a result of that biological opinion, we’ve lost approximately 300,000 acre-feet of water. It’s floated out the Golden Gate.” ** That means it was given to the fish. Several pickups parked outside the meeting sport a hand-painted slogan: “Start the pumps.” ** In the 1950s, Westlands was the last district to join the vast irrigation project built by the federal government, and so it’s the first to get cut when water runs low. That’s how Western water law works, and there are environmentalists who say that this land should never have been irrigated in the first place, and that some of the soil here gets salty because of bad drainage. ** In his office lined with maps and charts, Birmingham offers a rebuttal. ** “I don’t know whether Westlands should have ever been farmed, but the reality is that it was. I have heard people say that the city of Los Angeles should never have been developed on the imported water supply from the western Sierra.”
“Drought, Politics Trouble Farmers In California,” by John McChesney – NPR
California is in its third year of drought, and many farmers in the state’s crop-rich Central Valley are looking at dusty fields, or worse, are cutting down their orchards before the trees die. ** Hardest hit is Westlands, the biggest irrigated region in the country, where much of the nation’s fruit, nuts and produce come from. This year, farmers have been told they are getting only a small fraction of the water they need.
And so a few weeks ago, Ty and Janet Lompa were doing the unthinkable: cutting down 110 acres of walnut orchards. That’s roughly 10,000 trees and a third of their entire acreage. ** “It takes 30 years to get ’em here,” says Janet Lompa, “and about a minute and a half to knock ’em down.”
Gov. Schwarzenegger Joins Water March to Highlight Urgent Need to Improve California’s Water Supply
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today joined farm workers, farmers, mayors, students, business owners and civic leaders at the San Luis Reservoir as the last stop in a four-day California March for Water Rally through the Central Valley to draw attention to California’s water crisis and the urgent need for a comprehensive solution that increases storage, improves conveyance, protects the Delta’s ecosystem and promotes greater water conservation. ** “This march is about opening our eyes to the reality of California’s water crisis – and the reality is that farmers do not have a reliable water supply they can count on, farm workers fear losing their jobs because crops are not being planted, and in towns across the Central Valley, unemployment is skyrocketing,” said Governor Schwarzenegger. “I am determined to getting a comprehensive solution done once and for all that will update our water infrastructure, increase our water storage and restore our Delta.” ** The lack of water has forced California farmers to abandon or leave unplanted more than 100,000 acres of agricultural land. With California farmers providing nearly half of the fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables consumed by Americans, and the Central Valley in particular being the most productive farmland in the country, the crop losses caused by the drought will adversely impact families and economies throughout California and beyond our borders. Agricultural revenue losses exceed $300 million to date and additional losses of up to $477 million are projected this season. Total income losses to farmers and other businesses involved in crop production could reach $644 million this year.
“Human and Economic Toll from Water Crisis Rising’ – Assembly Democrats
(Sacramento) – As California struggles with a third straight year of drought like conditions Assemblymember Anna Caballero (D-Salinas) is calling on state water officials to change the restrictions on the transfer of water from areas that have enough to areas that are facing potential disaster from a lack of water. At a state capitol news conference today with other legislators, farmers, farm workers and local water officials Assemblymember Caballero released a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger calling on his administration to allow flexibility in the transfer of water by adjusting the “place of use designation” that controls who and how water can be transferred.
The plight of the California farmer has gone virtually unnoticed in the media. I can’t imagine what they could be thinking. It has all of the eliments that news agencies want…human drama, crisis, and political and social tensions. What’s going on? Why are these workers and business owners less important than auto workers and of all things a tiny little fish? Why, if the fish is indeed endangered, cannot the scientific community find a temporary solution to keep the fish alive while supporting the farmers in getting the water they require to grow our food? Is this political? Is it a matter of a strong environmental lobby and if so how much money changed hands and what politicians benefited? What green industries or organizations have been involved in legislation or court cases? These and many other questions should be asked and the information brought before the people.
***
‘Analysis on ruling that Fish and Wildlife Service required to justify pumping restrictions in the Delta,” from Jacqueline L. McDonald of Somach Simmons & Dunn:
On May 29, 2009, in the United States Eastern District Court case of San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, et al v. Salazar (Case No. 1:09-CV-00407), the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) was enjoined from restricting pumping operations in the Delta without justification and an explanation of why alternative, less severe restrictions would not adequately protect the delta smelt. The Court found that Plaintiffs San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority and Westlands Water District (collectively “Westlands”) were reasonably likely to succeed on their claim that the Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in failing to conduct environmental review before establishing pumping restrictions for the protection of delta smelt. ** The Biological Opinion: In May 2007, in the related case of Natural Resources Defense Council v. Kempthorne (E.D. California, Case No. 1:05-CV-1207) (Kempthorne), the Eastern District Court invalidated the Service’s 2004 biological opinion that addressed impacts of the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the United States Bureau of Reclamation’s (Reclamation) joint operations of the State Water Project and Central Valley Project (collectively “Project”) on the delta smelt. The delta smelt is an aquatic species residing in the Delta that is listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Court ordered the Service to prepare a lawful biological opinion to ensure that the Project operations would not jeopardize the delta smelt in violation of the ESA. The Court held additional proceedings