Making good decisions – Getting results During the recent drought, Californians were called to reevaluate how we use, manage, and share water to get through the crisis. Farmers received only small fractions of the surface water they needed to grow food, and strident mandatory cuts were imposed on our cities, forcing us all to ask how to […]
What does it take to grow the food that makes it to your table? It takes time, a farmer’s hard work, and yes, water… …But not as much water as you’d think. In fact, in California, over the past half century, agricultural water use has remained about the same, while providing about 43 percent more food […]
Reactions to State Board Unimpaired Flows Action On September 15, the State Water Resources Control Board released an updated proposal for the Bay Delta Water Quality Plan, expanding the pursuit of increased flow in it’s approach for addressing species decline in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River system. “If implemented, the State Water Board’s rule will have […]
The State Water Resources Control Board has released its Water Quality Control Plan which, if implemented, will cause significant harm to California residents without quantifying any specific environmental benefits. In taking this step, Felicia Marcus, the Board’s Chairwoman noted that San Joaquin River flows have not been updated since 1995. We fully agree it’s time that state […]
Statement by California Farm Water Coalition Executive Director Mike Wade on the upcoming release of proposed flow standards for tributaries to the San Joaquin River California officials are on the verge of releasing new water regulations that would cause significant harm to California residents without quantifying any specific environmental benefits. The State Water Resources Control […]
UC Davis drought report On August 15 the Center for Watershed Sciences released a UC Davis drought report titled “Economic Analysis of the 2016 California Drought on Agriculture.” The report was a follow-on to reports commissioned by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and released previously in 2014 and 2015. Of note in the […]
UC Davis drought report On August 15 the Center for Watershed Sciences released a UC Davis drought report titled “Economic Analysis of the 2016 California Drought on Agriculture.” The report was a follow-on to reports commissioned by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and released previously in 2014 and 2015. Of note in the […]
While Californians have been doing everything possible to conserve water, government agencies have been flushing billions of gallons of water directly to the ocean and the people want it to stop. Download this fact sheet or click on the image below to see what the public is saying about State and federal policies that flush water to […]
The California State Water Resources Control board, elected officials and others frequently tout Australia as a model for managing limited water resources. Specifically, Australia’s long history of dealing with drought is seen as a way to help California avoid making the same mistakes – Australia has already been where California is heading. On August 16, […]
This weekend, Bakersfield Californian columnist Lois Henry published an informative piece on the water management issues that nearly resulted in loss of water to millions of Californians. Henry’s column is well worth a read: in addition to providing a history of this year’s numerous Federal tinkering with water allocation, it also touches on what motivated […]