San Joaquin River restoration bill passes committee

Growers, leaders worried about significant water loss

Cecilia Parsons
Capital Press

November 23, 2007

Legislation to restore the San Joaquin River was passed Nov. 15 by House Democrats on the Natural Resource Committee without changes requested to protect communities' water supplies.

Friant leaders are optimistic the bill to enact the restoration settlement will move forward.

"It is certainly helpful. It shows continued interest by Congress in legislation to advance the settlement," said Ron Jacobsma, general manager of the Friant Water Users Authority. Jacobsma and other irrigation district managers who take water from the Friant Kern Canal , remain adamant that the settlement is the best way to ensure more reliable water supplies for growers and communities.

Jacobsma said this week that there are outstanding issues that still must be resolved. Those are funding for the massive project and water management goals. The settlement requires equal importance on restoration and water management that would return some of the lost water to farms and communities that rely on Friant for drinking water and irrigation.

Jacobsma said that currently there are more structured plans for restoration and significantly less planning for water management.

Local governments and farmers who face losing significant amounts of water when flows are returned to the San Joaquin River had asked for more assurance that water management plans would be in place to recirculate the water sent down the channel for fish.

The restoration agreement signed by Friant Water Authority and the Natural Resources Defense Council placed equal value on water for the restored salmon fishery and San Joaquin Valley water customers.

With the prospect of less water flowing from the San Joaquin delta due to a lawsuit by NRDC, many valley leaders believe their water needs will not be met in the agreement.

Lorren Wheaton, a Terra Bella citrus grower and member of the Terra Bella Irrigation District board of directors, said there is no way to determine how much water the district will lose when river flows are restored to a stretch of the San Joaquin River that has been dry for decades.

The district is about 95 percent dependent on surface water supplies.

"It won't be good, we'll be hurt, but this is still better than going back to (Judge Lawrence) Karlton," said Wheaton , referring to the U.S. District Court judge who ruled that water would be returned to the river channel for fish. "It's our best solution to survive."

Keith Watkins, president of Tulare County Farm Bureau said while there is support for the agreement, there is also nervousness over Tulare County 's water future. One sign was the unseating of a longtime incumbent on the Lower Tule River Irrigation District board. Tipton area dairy producer Tom Barcellos was elected to the post.

Local officials have argued that because the river deal was struck behind closed doors, they were unable to provide input to ensure community water supplies were protected. The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service reports evidence that the deal focuses too narrowly on river restoration and does not adequately address water supply challenges.

Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia, has argued the deal will strip third parties of the water without recourse.

Tulare County Supervisor Allen Ishida, who recently traveled to Washington , D.C. , on behalf of the county, said the legislation will have a far greater impact on the 400,000 county residents who were not direct participants in the settlement.

Nunes blasted House Democrats for their plan to pay for the $170 million federal cost of the project with a new tax on oil and gas leases.

Jacobsma said he has assurances from both Democratic Rep. Jim Costa of Fresno and Sen. Dianne Feinstein that the legislation would not progress without resolving the equality issue.

Cecilia Parsons is a staff writer based in Ducor. E-mail: cparsons@capitalpress.com.

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