March 9, 2022
Liz Writes Life
No rain or snow in January and February certainly added to
drought in California. L.A. Times reporter, Ian James, reported on Feb. 24,
2022 that many farmers in the federal Central Valley Project will not receive
water from the federal system this year. In mid-February, the federal Bureau of
Reclamation announced a zero-water allocation for many irrigation districts that
supply farmers throughout the Central Valley. Makes one wonder where our food
will be grown?
James also reported that cities that receive water from the
federal project in the Central Valley and “parts of the Bay Area were allocated
25 percent of their historical water use.”
Statewide the drought is an alarming problem and our local
elected officials are speaking out within their areas of influence.
I received a press release from our Dist. 1 Assemblywoman
Megan Dahle, who sits on the Water, Parks, & Wildlife Committee. The
committee convened in mid-February and she spoke out about the problem rural
North State farmers and ranchers face with unreliable water availability. She
also reasoned the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act
must be flexible, especially in the various different regions throughout the
state. “One size does not fit all,” she explained.
Assemblywoman Dahle noted that the 2014 Water Bond was passed
in an effort to combat California’s massive droughts. The Water Bond was
expected to increase water storage, both in surface reservoirs and underground
water storage. These water projects have not happened. She told the committee
that building these infrastructure projects “must be a priority.”
Dahle also brought to light that new costs being
imposed by the state will be an “additional burden for exhausted farmers‚ while
illegal pot growers continually get away with flouting the rules. This has to
change.”
So following today’s theme of water and drought,
I will jump to Dist. 1 Congressman Doug LaMalfa, who is working with several
other congressmen to influence the federal Bureau of Reclamation and the
California Dept. of Water Resources. LaMalfa led the small California
Republican group in sending a letter requesting a more flexible water operation
for this 2022 water year.
In
a press release I received, LaMalfa said: “Despite heavy storms in Northern California
this December, state water storage levels are still well below their annual
average. Lake Shasta is 580,000 acre-feet short of its storage total on this
date last year, and remains at 37% of total capacity and 52% of historical
average.
“Lake Oroville is at 47% capacity,
nearly 2 million acre-feet short of its storage total. I urge the DWR and Reclamation
to quickly resubmit a TUCP to the State Water Board, this issue can’t wait. We
must conserve the limited water supply we do have before regulators needlessly
send the water to the ocean without any benefit to humans or species. With
water levels this low we need to conserve every drop. Everyone is going to be
affected by the lack of water and we can’t waste it hoping more miraculously
shows up.”
LaMalfa referred to a TUCP, which is a Temporary Urgency Change
Petition utilized by the state and federal water agencies.
Upcoming wildfire season
Last week, California Congressmen, Doug LaMalfa and Tom
McClintock, introduced legislation directing the U.S. Forest Service to
immediately suppress wildfires on National Forest System lands and to put an
end to the policy of letting fires burn.
Hum, this would certainly be welcome for communities
threatened by wildfires.
LaMalfa said, “The days of ‘monitoring’ fires must end –
Northern California is burning up at a record rate. The Forest Service’s
monitoring policy and ‘watch and wait’ has allowed multiple catastrophic fires
to unnecessarily escalate and devastate our wildlands and rural towns.
“In 24 hours, what starts out as a small blaze can expand to
consume thousands of homes, municipal facilities and businesses. Drought
stricken, unmanaged, overgrown forests are a ticking time bomb for another
massive fire. In addition to aggressive initial attacks on fires, we must
properly manage our forests by thinning near towns and infrastructure, clear a
wider buffer zone around power lines, as well as use roads as firebreaks. Our
forests are overgrown, the long term solution is to return to proper management
and aggressively thin them.”
I really liked LaMalfa’s final statement: “Why is America the number 2 importer of wood,
while our own forests burn to the ground - causing untold damage to families,
pollution that chokes half the country and destroying the environment?”
Sure do hope this legislation moves forward and quickly!
May peace and calm be with you this week. Smile – just cuz it
makes you feel better!
Liz Bowen began writing ranch and
farm news, published in newspapers, in 1976. She is a native of Siskiyou
County. Columns from the past can be found at: lizwriteslife.blogspot.com. Call
her at 530-467-3515.
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