Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
February 11, 2010--Judge: CA pumping limits needed to protect smelt (Denver Post)
A federal judge turned down California farmers' emergency request Wednesday to suspend water pumping restrictions in the state's delta in a ruling aimed at keeping a threatened fish species from being ground up in the pumps. The decision by U.S.
February 6, 2010--California: Limits on pumping are lifted (New York Times)
A federal judge on Friday temporarily lifted pumping limits designed to protect endangered wild salmon in order to speed more irrigation water to California’s drought-parched fields. Some of the country’s largest farms had pressed for the protections in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to be suspended because the persistent drought has caused job losses and other economic woes.
January 27, 2010--U.S. speeds up water deliveries to San Joaquin Valley farmers (Los Angeles Times)
Federal managers said Tuesday they are speeding up delivery of irrigation water to farmers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley because recent storms have boosted the state's water supply. "Essentially we're saying we're confident enough right now that we can provide this as an assured water supply . . .
January 25, 2010--National science panel convenes on Calif. delta (Denver Post)
An expert in California's delta told a panel of the National Academies of Sciences on Sunday that their decisions about the largest estuary on the West Coast could alter how Californians use water.
December 23, 2009--Feds release new plan to revive Calif. delta (Denver Post)
Senior Obama administration officials released a new action plan Tuesday aimed at bolstering the federal government's role in solving California's water crisis and restoring the vast freshwater estuary that provides drinking water to millions of households.
October 16, 2009--Water uncertainty frustrates busy Calif. farmers (New York Times)
As California prepares for its fourth year of drought, farmers are nervous in California's San Joaquin Valley. The valley's eight counties, if they were their own state, would be the top producing one in the nation. Nearly all the U.S. cantaloupes, garlic, almonds and processing tomatoes come from here. And so do nearly 400 other commodities -- more than anywhere else.
October 4, 2009--Water canal sparks skepticism, lawsuits in Calif. (Denver Post)
Landowners along the fertile stretch of land between San Francisco and the state capital are joined in a revolt against the canal that has evolved into something of a modern-day sagebrush rebellion. "All the pumps and systems to get water out of the river and put in a canal will have to be done in our area.
September 4, 2009--Salazar to Calif.: Drought, not rules, dried up water (Denver Post)
Top Obama administration officials took California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to task Thursday for blaming the state's water crisis on federal environmental restrictions. The governor sent a letter to Washington on Wednesday demanding a response to "catastrophic impacts" he said were caused by federal environmental rules that have slashed water deliveries.
August 13, 2009--Interior says Calif. water crisis is major priority for the nation (Durango Herald)
California's ongoing water crisis is a major national priority, akin to restoring the Chesapeake Bay or Florida's Everglades, a top Obama administration official said Wednesday.
August 9, 2009--Calif. water officials study building delta tunnel (U.S. Water News)
State engineers are studying a proposal to send water supplies to Southern California through a tunnel under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, rather than through a peripheral canal.
