http://blogs.edf.org/waterfront/2009/07/07/we-are-from-the-federal-government-and-we-are-here-to-help/ A water policy forum for the Golden State Mon, 15 Mar 2010 22:16:53 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://blogs.edf.org/waterfront/2009/07/07/we-are-from-the-federal-government-and-we-are-here-to-help/comment-page-1/#comment-66 gocalifornia Sun, 12 Jul 2009 15:05:46 +0000 http://blogs.edf.org/waterfront/2009/07/07/we-are-from-the-federal-government-and-we-are-here-to-help/#comment-66 Dear Director Harnish: I was born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley and worked the crops. I now live in the East Bay and work in San Francisco. I post my observations on several water blogs under this username; especially the Fresno Bee. The blogs Ive read show that Valley peoples feel the Bay Area needs to share and sacrifice their water rights with peoples of the San Joaquin Valley. The postings also show the same for Southern California. If I recall, the Bay Area has first water rights to Hetch Hetchy (for SF) and EBMUD also has water rights to the Delta. To that end, is it possible that Bay Area conservation practices can re-divert the water you save and send to the San Joaquin Valley? Are their regulations that enable this. Similar to a cap and trade for water? Also, doesn't the Valley have natural water rights that supercede the Bay Area water rights because the Central/San Joaquin Valley is closer to the source? Thank you for your time. Dear Director Harnish: I was born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley and worked the crops. I now live in the East Bay and work in San Francisco. I post my observations on several water blogs under this username; especially the Fresno Bee. The blogs Ive read show that Valley peoples feel the Bay Area needs to share and sacrifice their water rights with peoples of the San Joaquin Valley. The postings also show the same for Southern California. If I recall, the Bay Area has first water rights to Hetch Hetchy (for SF) and EBMUD also has water rights to the Delta. To that end, is it possible that Bay Area conservation practices can re-divert the water you save and send to the San Joaquin Valley? Are their regulations that enable this. Similar to a cap and trade for water? Also, doesn't the Valley have natural water rights that supercede the Bay Area water rights because the Central/San Joaquin Valley is closer to the source? Thank you for your time.

]]> http://blogs.edf.org/waterfront/2009/07/07/we-are-from-the-federal-government-and-we-are-here-to-help/comment-page-1/#comment-65 susans Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:05:48 +0000 http://blogs.edf.org/waterfront/2009/07/07/we-are-from-the-federal-government-and-we-are-here-to-help/#comment-65 The BDCP perhaps holds promise for a Delta fix, but for those of us in the Sacramento Valley, it raises more fear than hope. If conveyance capacity and options increase, where will the water come from to supply that conveyance? Water transfers do not come without impacts. If farmers up here give up their surface water, they will pump groundwater to substitute and after three years of below average rainfall, groundwater levels are falling around the valley. These aquifers sustain the streams that are the only remaining habitat for the threatened spring run Chinook salmon, along with myriad other species. Improving the Delta is important, but we must not redirect those impacts to healthier, viable habitat. The BDCP perhaps holds promise for a Delta fix, but for those of us in the Sacramento Valley, it raises more fear than hope. If conveyance capacity and options increase, where will the water come from to supply that conveyance? Water transfers do not come without impacts. If farmers up here give up their surface water, they will pump groundwater to substitute and after three years of below average rainfall, groundwater levels are falling around the valley. These aquifers sustain the streams that are the only remaining habitat for the threatened spring run Chinook salmon, along with myriad other species. Improving the Delta is important, but we must not redirect those impacts to healthier, viable habitat.

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