http://www.californiadroughtupdate.org/pdf/20161027-California-Drought-Update.pdf
This week we begin with the insane ruling of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, stating that the computer models of global warming forecasts 50-60 years into the future must be “facts” used to prove that human activity must be restricted under the Endangered Species Act. Farmers have already warned that this ruling can be applied against just about any human activity that is claimed to at some distant moment in the future to in some way potentially threatened some species.
We can say that this ruling is the third of what was a “one-two punch” delivered to agriculture in the state over the past few weeks. One and two are the proposed Water Board policies of increasing the “unimpaired flows” of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers. A summary of that policy and developments flowing from it can be found below. Though some of that report is worth repeating here:
To summarize the state’s San Joaquin River plan: The state proposal recommends that 30 to 50 percent of what naturally flows into the tributaries during February to June be left unimpeded and allowed to flow out to the Delta. It will start at 40 percent and adaptive management can kick in to raise or lower that amount as determined by the state.
It is estimated that as much as 300,000 to 400,000 acre feet will be the unimpaired flow, reducing by that much what is normally used by agriculture. Agricultural interests estimate that 24,000 acres of prime farm land will be fallowed, and financial losses will be in the billions. Of course, farmers will resort to more ground water pumping, which undermines the intent of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which is suppose to cut-back on groundwater pumping.
Then, two weeks ago the Water Board released its plan for the Sacramento River. It is called “Phase 2 of its update to the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan.” This report proposes that the unimpaired flows of the Sacramento River and delta shall be an average range of 35 percent to 75 percent.
Under the title below “In Case You Missed It” I relate what the state will look like after a 70-year mega-drought according to Jay Lund, Director of the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. In sum, one-half of the state’s agricultural acreage will be fallowed. That center’s report repeats the fallacious argument that agriculture makes up only 2 percent of the state’s GDP.
At the end of this week’s report is an item on the Colorado River and Hoover Dam. With Lake Mead at its lowest level ever, a real threat to the water supply of three states and Mexico is now imminent. The article excerpted in this section gives the details.
