[env-trinity] [FOTR] Fresno Bee Water Editorial

[Tim McKay]

Editorial: Water at the forefront; State's needs are growing, answers 
are few. That must change

Fresno Bee - 12/18/05



Barely a day goes by without a new story emerging about water, and 
that's been true for all of California's history.



Last week, it was fears about the quality of water supplies in poorer 
rural communities in the Valley. Residents of towns like Parlier, 
Mendota, Alpaugh and Raisin City often live with brackish brown tap 
water because they have neither the local resources nor the political 
clout to fix things.

Before that we were reading about concerns over water that will limit 
residential growth in the nearby foothills. The Fresno County Board 
of Supervisors has taken steps to limit development in the Shaver 
Lake area.



We've been treated to the long-running legal pas de deux between 
environmentalists and farmers over San Joaquin River water from 
Millerton Lake - a hit show that's still running.



The deterioration of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta - the 
linchpin of California's complicated plumbing system - continues 
apace, although you wouldn't know it from the apparent indifference 
or ignorance of many of our elected leaders.



In the meantime, climate changes may radically alter the cycles of 
snow, spring melt and percolation into the massive aquifer that is 
our principal source of water in the Valley - or maybe not. Is this 
an El Niño year, or is his sister, La Niña, on her way? And do they 
have any cousins we haven't met yet?



Population growth continues the upward pressure on demand for water, 
and not just any water, but water people can drink safely. 
Municipalities and private residents alike have to drill deeper and 
deeper to reach potable water in the Valley, and that costs more. 
We're using up the aquifer faster than nature can replenish it.



And we still haven't got water meters up and running in Fresno.



We've got to get a handle on these problems or we will find ourselves 
one day without sufficient water for all the fields and orchards, the 
shops and factories, the homes and lawns. We won't have enough to 
drink, much less bathe. But how?



Part of the problem is that authority over water matters is spread 
over a wide and tangled web of bureaucracies. Federal, state and 
local agencies each have a piece. Dams, lakes, rivers, canals and 
private wells are all lodged under different roofs. And groundwater 
isn't regulated at all.



Getting all those varied and sometimes contentious people to the same 
table is difficult. Getting them to actually solve problems is even 
harder - witness the excruciatingly painful "progress" of the Cal-Fed 
process, an attempt to bring federal, state and local interests all 
to the same page on water issues. It's been years in the works and is 
barely breathing most of the time.



But we have to make the effort. Valley representatives in Washington, 
D.C., and Sacramento must find ways to collaborate in this effort. In 
the meantime, people at the grass roots should be pushing their 
leaders to action. New solutions must be found, and some old ones may 
bear a fresh look.



Conservation is crucial, but it may also be time for new storage 
facilities - groundwater banking, for instance. Perhaps even new dams 
should be on the table, despite their tremendous cost and 
environmental impacts.



Our old ways aren't going to work forever. Issues of water quality 
and quantity affect us all, as we have begun to learn about air 
pollution. A new year offers us a chance to get busy on new ways of 
doing things. Let's not waste it.



Byron Leydecker

Chair, Friends of Trinity River

Advisor, California Trout, Inc

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810 ph

415 383 9562 fx

<mailto:bwl3 at comcast.net>bwl3 at comcast.net

<mailto:bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org>bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org

<http://www.fotr.org>http://www.fotr.org

http:www.caltrout.org






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T. James McKay
712 Eighth Avenue
Trinidad CA 95570
Ph. 707.677.3172, cell 707.498.4900
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