California Ag Network

Tag: Water

  • Reclamation Announces Initial Water Supply Allocation for the Central Valley Project

    Sacramento, Calif., (March 3, 2017) – The Bureau of Reclamation today announced the initial 2017 water supply allocation for Central Valley Project contractors in the Friant Division, Eastside Division and Municipal & Industrial Water Service Contractors in the American River Division.

    “The 2017 water year has been an extreme year thus far, with precipitation throughout the Central Valley on track to be the highest in our historic records,” said Reclamation’s Acting Mid-Pacific Regional Director Pablo Arroyave. “As such, Reclamation is taking an approach to the announcement of CVP water allocations this year that differs from our historic practice.”

    Given that inflow to Shasta Lake has already exceeded the volume necessary to be certain that this is not declared a Shasta Critical Year, Reclamation has notified the Sacramento River Settlement Contractors, San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors and Refuge Contractors of that fact. Regarding the remainder of the allocations to CVP contractors, although the CVP is operationally integrated, each individual reservoir has unique and specific operational criteria that must also be met. With this initial allocation announcement, Reclamation is targeting districts that receive water directly from Folsom, New Melones and Millerton reservoirs given the large snow pack and unusually high projected runoff this spring and summer.

    The remaining water service contractors can expect an initial contract allocation amount in mid-to-late March. As Reclamation continues to refine the water supply allocation for these contractors, Reclamation will take advantage of the current hydrology to ensure specific districts’ water needs are met to the maximum extent practicable. While this allocation approach is warranted now, in future years Reclamation will continue to strive to release initial allocations for all water users in February.

    Specific to the South-of-Delta water service contractors, a substantial amount of CVP water is already in storage south of the Delta, and the Federal share of San Luis Reservoir will be full within the first week of March. Given the extraordinary large snow pack and very high river flows this year, much of the water currently in storage in the Federal share of San Luis Reservoir will be available for delivery to CVP water service contractors this spring and summer.

    Reclamation currently estimates that at least 900 thousand acre-feet of water will be available for delivery to South-of-Delta water service contractors this year, and additional supplies will likely be available once seasonal operational forecasts are developed later in March. The 900 taf estimate represents the combined delivery of both 2017 CVP supplies and carryover supplies from last year. The exact amount of each type of supply is subject to hydrologic conditions this spring, and the overall allocation of water south of the Delta must be validated by the operational studies to be based on the March 1 snow surveys and runoff forecasts.

    The California Department of Water Resources reports that as of Feb. 27, 2017, the statewide average snow water equivalent in the Sierra Nevada was 45 inches, as compared to 21 inches on Feb. 27, 2016. Precipitation is currently over 200 percent of the seasonal average to date for the Sierra Nevada for this point in the water year (beginning Oct. 1, 2016).

    Reclamation determines the allocation of water for CVP contractors based upon many factors, including hydrologic conditions, reservoir storage levels, water quality requirements, water rights, contractual obligations and endangered species protection measures. After evaluating these factors, Reclamation is announcing the initial allocation to the following:

    American River Division Contractors

    • American River Division M&I water service contractors will receive 100 percent of their contract supply.

    Friant Division Contractors

    • Pursuant to Reclamation’s previous discussions with Friant Division contractors and based upon Millerton Lake storage as well as current and forecasted hydrologic conditions in the Upper San Joaquin River Basin, the Friant Division allocation is 100 percent of Class 1 supplies. In addition, as long as current hydrologic and operational conditions exist and there is a need to evacuate water from Millerton Lake in order to prevent or minimize spill or to meet flood control criteria (currently referred to as “uncontrolled season”), Friant contractors may schedule and take delivery of Class 2 supplies up to the contract maximum, consistent with contract terms and conditions.
    • Unreleased Restoration Flow supply related to the San Joaquin River Restoration Program of 358,730 acre-feet are being made available in a block that needs to be scheduled and delivered by June 15 to avert flood management concerns.

    Eastside Water Service Contractors

    • Eastside water service contractors (Central San Joaquin Water Conservation District and Stockton East Water District) will receive 100 percent of their contract supply.

    This initial allocation is based on a conservative estimate of the amount of water that will be available for delivery to these CVP water users and reflects current reservoir storages, precipitation, and snowpack in the Central Valley and Sierra Nevada. “We will continue to carefully monitor hydrologic conditions and collaborate with our stakeholders and partners to manage our water resources as effectively as possible,” said Arroyave.

    The CVP began the 2017 water year last October with 4.9 million acre-feet of carryover storage in six key CVP reservoirs — Shasta, Trinity, Folsom, Millerton, New Melones and the Federal share of San Luis Reservoir. This is 82 percent of the 15-year average annual carryover and 2 million acre-feet more than the amount with which the Mid-Pacific Region began WY 2016 on Oct. 1, 2015.

    As the water year progresses, changes in hydrology and opportunities to deliver additional water will influence future allocations. Water supply updates will be made as appropriate and posted at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/cvp-water/index.html .

    For additional information, please contact the Public Affairs Office at 916-978-5100 (TTY 800-877-8339) or emailmppublicaffairs@usbr.gov.

  • Anger, Disappointment, Amazement

    Los Banos, Calif., (March 2, 2017) – (The following is a statement by Executive Director Jason Peltier of the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority on 2017 CVP Allocation Announcement)

    “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. “

  • Fresno County Farm Bureau Issues Statement On Water Supply for County’s Federal Water Contractors

    Fresno, Calif., (March 1, 2017) – Statement by CEO Ryan Jacobsen:

    “Mother Nature has provided a bountiful precipitation season-one that will be near the top of the record books.  After the historic five-year drought, the snowpack and rain are a tremendous blessing to an agricultural industry hammered by the critical water shortage.  Most farmers and ranchers with surface supplies will experience an increased water allocation as a result of these storms’ resurgences across the state.

    “While the short-term relief of this year’s water outlook should have our industry optimistic, reality says something much different.  The implications of the governmental-imposed drought continue with a vengeance.  How, with reservoirs at their brim, flood releases happening by the hundreds of thousands of acre feet a day, snowpack levels in most areas 150 percent plus for this date and Delta outflows cumulatively adding up to over 24 million acre feet since October 2016, can Fresno County’s Westside federal water contractors still have no initial allocation?  Historically, this announcement has come in the middle of February.  And, at this point, these farmers do not even expect to reach anywhere near their contracted amount.

    “Unfortunately, but as this region has come to expect, the answer is bureaucratically-related.  The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), under the United States Department of Commerce, has yet to complete their fisheries’ temperature management plan for Shasta Lake.  While they take their time in completing this report, our Valley loses jobs and economic activity.  Cropping decisions are taking place now!  Farmers cannot make choices on what might be an allocation…they need real numbers.  Every day that passes without an announcement, as well as anything short of a 100 percent allocation in a year like this, takes some of the world’s most fertile fields out of production.  This is completely unacceptable.

    “Federal water policy is failing this region.  It has failed to protect fish species, and, most importantly, it has failed to provide water to the communities and businesses who need it most, even when water is plentiful.

    “On the Friant system, while news of a 100 percent Class I allocation is welcomed, we are once again reminded of the importance of Temperance Flat Dam.  Around 350,000 acre feet of water has already been released to date with much more flows expected this season.  Over the long-term, California does receive ample precipitation, but it’s weather patterns are cyclical.  Without investments in our water infrastructure, it will be economically devastating to the Valley to make it through the dry times, particularly with the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.

    “FCFB will continue to push for additional surface water and groundwater storage; improved conveyance through the state, specifically in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta; and a return to common-sense water policies that bring back into balance water allocated for food production, municipal and rural communities, the economy and the environment.”

  • Statement by California Farm Water Coalition Executive Director Mike Wade on Oroville Dam Operations.

    Sacramento, Calif., (February 16, 2017) – This winter’s record-breaking storms have tested our state and its infrastructure in ways no one could have predicted.

    The past week has been particularly frightening for people in and around the City of Oroville. We’d first like to say how glad we are that hundreds of thousands of people were able to safely evacuate and that the emergency spillway helped provide the necessary time to do so.

    There has been a lot of finger-pointing and talk about whether the structure should have been made even stronger.

    Unfortunately, facts sometimes get lost in a crisis.   As was pointed out by Jeffrey Mount of the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California, the Oroville structures had successfully handled the big flood of 1997. The emergency spillway as well as the dam itself were re-checked and re-licensed a decade ago, and deemed safe and capable of handling what at the time, experts believed would be the worst-case scenario.

    It’s also important to point out that the spillway in question was an extra precaution taken in addition to the regular overflow mechanisms. The licensing agency, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), even noted that in an extreme event, some erosion of the emergency spillway would be likely. In other words, it performed as expected.

    California is facing an unprecedented amount of rain and snowfall this year, well above the wettest year in the state’s recorded history. Precipitation in the Northern Sierra this year is 221% above average.

    We applaud the swift work of government officials, are delighted to hear the evacuees are now returning home and look forward to rolling up our sleeves and working with all involved toward an even more secure water future.

  • Irrigators to Defend Klamath Water Users’ Rights

    Washington, D. C., (February 3, 2017) – Monday marks the beginning of the Federal Court of Claims Takings Case trial that has been on the docket for over 15 years. In this case, Klamath Project water users contend that curtailment of their water supplies in 2001 based on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was a taking of property rights – water rights – that requires compensation under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution. The outcome of the case may have lasting implications for future operations for the Klamath Project. More than 25 Klamath Reclamation Project irrigators, five of whom are former Klamath Water Users Association (KWUA) Presidents, will be in Washington, DC, to begin approximately two weeks of testimony in the case pending before the United States Court of Federal Claims.

    “Although it has taken a long time to get to this point, this case is one that has never left the minds of those of us who lived through the event of 2001,” said Gary Wright, a Tulelake, CA, farmer, rancher and past president of KWUA. “I pray we never experience an event like that again.”

    In biological opinions issued in April of 2001, the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service concluded that the Bureau of Reclamation’s 2001 planned operations to allow the delivery of irrigation water to Klamath farmers threatened the listed threatened and endangered species of the Klamath Basin (coho salmon and sucker fish) and prescribed necessary river flows and lake levels. Immediately after that, the Reclamation issued an operations plan that barred the delivery of irrigation water to Klamath Project water users (a very limited supply was later made available for some, very late in the season). This action caused great hardship and gained national media attention.

    “I think about it every day,” said Luther Horsley, a Midland and Lower Lake, OR, Farmer and past president of KWUA. “We all came together for something that was not only meaningful, it was symbolic of who we are as a community.”

    Later in 2001, project water users filed suit against the United States in the U. S. Court of Federal Claims, asserting that the Federal government unconstitutionally took their water rights and breached the Klamath Basin Compact without just compensation. In 2005, the Federal Claims Court ruled that the Project water users do not have a property right in water. This ruling was appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, which referred specific issues of Oregon law to the Oregon Supreme Court under a special procedure. The Oregon Supreme Court’s answers to the questions led the Federal appellate court to reverse and remand the case to the Federal Claims Court for resolution in light of the application of Oregon law to the farmers’ water rights. The water users have reasserted their claims on remand.

    “This is a big deal,” said Scott White, Executive Director of the Klamath Water Users Association. “These guys have fought hard for this basin’s water rights. But this is more than just their water rights. They are fighting for their neighbors, their economy and their community.”

    The trial is set to begin Monday, January 30th in Washington and expected to last up to three weeks. There are two consolidated cases being tried at the same time, one titled Klamath Irrigation District et al. v. United States, and one titled John Anderson Farms et al. v. United States. Court of Claims Judge Marion Blank Horn will issue her decision following completion of the testimony and consideration of any remaining motions filed by the parties.