[env-trinity] Sac Bee 3 20 09

[Byron Leydecker]

Storms allow slight boost in federal water supply


The Associated Press 

Published: Friday, Mar. 20, 2009 - 3:06 pm 
Last Modified: Friday, Mar. 20, 2009 - 4:57 pm

FRESNO, Calif. -- Many farmers, cities and industries in California that buy
water from the federal government can expect to get a little more this
summer.

The  <http://topics.sacbee.com/Bureau+of+Reclamation/> Bureau of Reclamation
says recent storms will allow them to boost the amount of water shipped to
customers north of the
<http://topics.sacbee.com/Sacramento-San+Joaquin+Delta/> Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta.

But farmers on the San Joaquin Valley's parched west side still will get
none of their federal water allotments this year. The cutbacks have already
led to jobs losses, fallowed fields and water rationing. 

A recent study from the University of California, Davis estimated that $1.6
billion in agriculture-related wages and as many as 60,000 jobs across the
valley will be lost in the coming months due to dwindling water.

Up to two-thirds of the 600,000 acres in Westlands Water District will be
left barren this year, said Sarah Woolf, a spokeswoman for the district,
which provides irrigation to about 600 valley farms.

More than half of the normal lettuce crop grown in the district won't be
planted, and there will be a significant drop in cantaloupe, broccoli,
cauliflower and asparagus crops as well, Woolf said.

February rain and snow storms boosted reservoirs and brought the Sierra
Nevada snowpack to about 90 percent of normal.

Still, state officials warn California remains in a dangerous drought. Water
also must be reserved for fish in the fragile delta ecosystem. 

 

 

Byron Leydecker, JcT, Chair

Friends of Trinity River

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810 

415 519 4810 cell

bwl3 at comcast.net

bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org

www.fotr.org 

 

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