On Tuesday, the Bureau of Reclamation announced the water supply allocation for the Central Valley Project. While east-side farmers and municipalities will be getting full water supplies, west-side farmers were told they’d have to wait a few more weeks to learn what water supplies they will get from the Central Valley Project.
Here are the reactions I could find, listed in alphabetical order:
From the Byron Bethany Irrigation District:
“In what’s shaping up as the wettest year on record, farmers in Byron-Bethany Irrigation District’s (BBID) Central Valley Project (CVP) service area are stuck in limbo, their water held hostage apparently at the behest of federal fishery agencies.
Today’s extremely puzzling announcement from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation means some CVP users will receive a full 100% allocation in 2017, while many of their immediate neighbors, including BBID, will have to wait weeks to find out what this year’s water supply will be. This nonsensical, imbalanced approach introduces unnecessary and potentially costly uncertainty to many of the District’s growers, who are now forced to wait to plant crops.”
“As we have seen time and again, federal fisheries are hoarding water in a misguided effort to keep river temperatures at an arbitrary level to protect fish – at everyone else’s expense. Today’s announcement underscores how badly the water supply system, built to bring water to farms and communities, has been commandeered by environmental interests.
With months left in the rainy season, reservoirs are already filled. The Bureau itself acknowledged historic precipitation levels. There is plenty of water to go around. And yet, there is still no balance in sharing our overflowing supplies between mounting environmental demands and the water users who fund the system and rely upon its supplies. Our growers expect – and deserve – better.” – Rick Gilmore, GM
About Byron-Bethany Irrigation District:Byron-Bethany Irrigation District (BBID) is a multi-county special district serving parts of Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Joaquin Counties across 47 square miles and 30,000 acres. The district serves 160 agricultural customers and approximately 12,000 residents of the Mountain House community.
From the California Farm Bureau Federation:
Today’s water supply announcement from the federal Central Valley Project shows the resiliency of nature and the limitations of California’s water supply system, according to the president of the California Farm Bureau Federation. After a wintertime recovery in precipitation, CFBF President Paul Wenger said “it’s a shame” the CVP can’t assure full water supplies to all of its customers.
“Just look at the numbers,” Wenger said. “The Sierra snowpack stands at 186 percent of average. Most key reservoirs hold higher-than-average supplies for the time of year. If the CVP can’t assure full supplies to all of its customers this year, what would be needed for that to happen?
“We understand this is a fish-first system now,” he continued, “because federal fisheries agencies have the first and last call on CVP water. We know the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act that Congress passed last year will help. But we obviously need to take further action to modernize our water system, our laws and our policies.
“One wet year won’t erase our long-term surface water deficit, and the current fish-first policies have also harmed groundwater supplies—an impact that is both serious and inexcusable.
“Farm Bureau remains committed to achieving a water system that benefits both our environment and our economy. We believe that can be achieved and we believe we can learn from wet years such as this one as well as from dry years. We will continue to work with elected representatives and agency officials with that goal in mind.”
From Congressman Jim Costa:
Today, the Bureau of Reclamation announced the initial Central Valley Project 2017 Water Supply Allocation for Friant, Eastside and American River division contractors. Rep. Jim Costa (CA-16) released the following statement:
“California’s Central Valley is on track to have its wettest water year on record, and obviously an initial 100 percent water allocation from the Central Valley Project for Friant, Eastside, and American River contractors is good news. However, with the announcement of today’s water allocations, I share in both the relief and the frustration of many farmers and Central Valley residents.
“Had water infrastructure projects, like Temperance Flat Dam and Sites Reservoir, been built prior to this record rainfall, then more water would be stored for years with less precipitation and snowfall, to be made available to respond to future human and ecosystem needs. Congress and the Administration must work together on a bipartisan basis to make desperately needed investments in California’s water infrastructure, so that years from now, God willing, when there is another record breaking wet year, there will be the storage capacity to capture water from the rain and snow.
“Furthermore, the fact that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has not announced a water allocation for the Westside, which includes the San Luis Unit, and isn’t expected to do so until late March, despite abundant rainfall and snow in the mountains, is another clear indication that California’s water system is broken. After five years of record breaking drought, California finally has water, but yet again farmers on the Westside do not know what their water allocation will be, threatening their ability to plant annual crops. As we enter the month of March, farmers are meeting with their bankers to obtain loans and determining how much of their diverse and nutritious crops will be planted based upon this year’s water allocation. Decisions have to be made; now is the planting season.”
From the San Luis & Delta Mendota Water Authority:
“There are few words left to describe our reaction to this year’s unusual allocation announcement for South of Delta Central Valley Project water users. Some areas are receiving a 100 percent allocation while others in the immediate vicinity will have to wait weeks to find out what their 2017 water supply will be.
Federal fishery agencies have completely hijacked the water supply system that was built for the purpose of supplying water to farms and numerous communities, and have rendered it impossible for our partners at the US Bureau of Reclamation to operate it as intended.
“There are two months left in the rainy system and California reservoirs are already brim full and making flood releases. The state is on track for the wettest year on record. There is almost nowhere to store additional water and yet our federal partners have been unable to figure out how to share nature’s abundance between ever increasing environmental demands and the water users who are paying for the system.
“The delays and miniscule allocations that have plagued the system over the last 20 years have real consequences for people and the economy. We must return some sense of balance to the system.”
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