Despite President Donald Trump's highly publicized signing of a memo last week directing more water to San Joaquin Valley farmers, the Bureau of Reclamation's initial allocations announced Tuesday more closely reflected the below-normal Sierra snowpack and scant winter rain. Farmers in the Friant Division will receive 20% of their Central...
What Is SGMA? Here Are the Basics.
By Lois Henry SJV.org The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act was passed in 2014 and enacted in 2015. It aims to stop groundwater overpumping in critically overdrafted basins by 2040 and bring them into “sustainability.” Sustainability is defined as avoiding undesirable results: 1. Chronic lowering of groundwater. 2. Reduction of groundwater storage....
Salty Water Spat Erupts Over 'No Man’s Land' of Mendota Pool
The federal government has OK'd a 20-year extension of a water exchange program for one Central Valley water district that another district says will illegally foul its water. The Bureau of Reclamation billed the exchange program as a way to “optimize water supplies and reduce pumping impacts” by allowing a...
Peracchi Steps Down, Errotabere Will Lead Westlands Board
Don Peracchi announced Tuesday that he is stepping down early as president of the Westlands Water District’s Board. His term was to end in 2022. The district's board of directors subsequently elevated Daniel Errotabere from vice president to president by unanimous vote. Errotabere takes command on Jan. 1. “It has...
Walters: Westlands Contract Shakes the Waterscape
California’s perpetual, uber-complex conflict over water progresses much like the tectonic plates that grind against one another beneath its surface. Periodically, as subterranean friction increases, there’s a sudden movement that we call an earthquake — sometimes imperceptibly small, but occasionally large enough to disrupt and endanger life at the surface....
Environmentalists Oppose Westlands' Bid to Secure Water
WASHINGTON — The Interior Department proposes to award one of the first contracts for federal water in perpetuity to a powerful rural California water district that had long employed Secretary David Bernhardt as a lobbyist. Conservation groups are demanding fuller disclosure of financial terms and an environmental review of the...
State Thanks 'Robust' Storms for Higher Water Allocation
Citing the winter's "robust" storms and resulting above-average snowpack, California's Department of Water Resources announced Thursday it will slightly raise the allocation for the State Water Project. The increase from 70% to 75% is the final allocation level for the calendar year, and marks a dramatic increase since the water...
Feds Raise Water Allocations for Farmers. Westlands Isn’t Impressed.
Citing the latest storms sweeping through California, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation approved a slight increase in water allocation to westside farmers. The agency that provides water to those farmers says it's still not enough. Allocations for Central Valley Project South-of-Delta agricultural use were increased from 65% to 70%, the...
Did Reclamation Do Right by Westlands With 55% Allocation?
There is good news from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation for Westlands Water District growers. The Bureau has increased this year's water allocation to district farmers from the 35% announced last month to 55%. But, according to the district, the news should have been better considering California's snowpack and rainfall...
Trump Tabs Former Westlands Lobbyist to Lead Interior Dept.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump says he's nominating a Washington veteran with lobbying ties to U.S. energy companies and farm water interests to lead the Interior Department. David Bernhardt, currently Interior's acting head, would replace Ryan Zinke if the Senate approves his nomination. Zinke resigned in December amid ethics investigations....