Published in the Fresno Bee, 3/10/16: Editorial: Bureau of Reclamation should increase Delta water exports
There’s no other way to say it. The federal Bureau of Reclamation’s decision Wednesday to export less water south from the Delta than is legally allowed defies common sense.
Rain and snow finally have returned to California following three years of intense drought. This most recent storm was big enough to inflict damage on coastal areas and bury the northern Sierra under deep blankets of snow.
Reservoirs need to be filled, and Valley farmers dependent on federal irrigation water deliveries need to know that they will get some much-needed relief after having to fallow hundreds of thousands of acres of cropland because of the drought.
SLDMWA Commentary :
By imposing operational criteria based upon belief rather than science, the federal fish agencies have created a California where two-thirds of us dependent upon water stored in the north are left guessing about our water supply future. How much higher will my water bills go? How much longer do I need to skip showers and not flush? How much more of my yard needs to die? What happened to the use of objective science rather than feelings-based decision making? This is the California a handful of government bureaucrats have created. And to what effect? Since the listing of Delta smelt and winter-run salmon more than 20 years ago, their condition has only worsened at the hands of government managers, as has the quality of life for millions of Californians. This lose-lose approach must end.