How we treat our rivers is how we treat ourselves.[img_assist|nid=57|title=|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=304|height=450]

Revive the San Joaquin just posted a new newsletter at their site. It details several pressing water issues in the Central Valley and talks about the progress that Revive has made.

Thanks,
Lloyd

http://www.revivethesanjoaquin.org

San Joaquin River restoration costs

Want to know how much the partial restoration of the San Joaquin River will cost? Last year the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated it would cost about half a billion dollars, less than half what critics of the river restoration process say it would cost. It's worth noting the CBO estimate says the river would be "fully restored" when in fact only about 20 percent, or less, of the river's annual flows would be returned to the dry riverbed in normal years. Agriculture on the east side of the San Joaquin will continue to get over 80 percent of the river's flow, at prices FAR below the true market value of the water. In some cases, East Side irrigation districts are getting the cheap, subsidized publicly-owned water that was intended for farming and turning around and selling it at fat profits to developers. See the CBO report for yourself: CLICK HERE.

Thousand Island Lake, headwaters of the San Joaquin River in the Minarets region of the High Sierra.

A group of California members of the House of Representatives have come out AGAINST The California Chamber of Commerce's water bond proposal for the November 2008 election. In a letter to Gov. Schwarzenegger, the congressmen complain there is TOO MUCH in the water bond proposal for the environment and NOT ENOUGH for new dams and a Peripheral Canal around the Delta. This may prove to be the death knell for the $11.7 billion bond proposal that was also pushed by the California Farm Bureau Federation. Gov. Schwarzenegger and the Legislature's leaders announced weeks ago that because of the budget deficit, they would not be proposing a new water bond on the fall election ballot. See the letter for yourself:
CLICK HERE

Bakersfield Californian columnist Lois Henry writes about a 16-year-old boy's efforts to help revive the Kern River in Bakersfield. Read for yourself.

BY LOIS HENRY, Californian columnist | Saturday, Feb 16 2008 9:20 PM
Last Updated: Sunday, Feb 17 2008 11:59 AM

Remember this name: Conor O'Sullivan.

Photos:

Photo by John Harte / The Californian

Conor O'Sullivan has printed up postcards seeking signatures to get water to run down the Kern River channel.  READ MORE »

Lloyd Carter, veteran journalist and observer of California water politics, offers his monthly assessment of the current hot issues in California's Water World.
Listen to "Down in the Valley" live on the second friday of every month at 3 p.m. Pacific Time on Radio KFCF 88.1 FM, Fresno, California.

CLICK HERE  READ MORE »

Groups file suit against San Joaquin Valley water board
Written by Gabriel Dillard
Friday, 15 February 2008
(AP) — A coalition of community groups is suing the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, saying the agency is breaking state law by allowing pollution from dairy farms to penetrate groundwater supplies used for drinking water.

Last year, the board issued a permit that requires existing dairies to regulate some of their own pollution.  READ MORE »

Existing water rights holders on the Kern River are attempting to block State Water board hearings on a possible restoration of a flow in the stretch of the river through Bakersfield that is now dry most, if not all, of the year. See for yourself and note that nowhere does the letter mention the Public Trust Doctrine.
Lloyd
CLICK HERE

Anthony "Tony" Smith is an East Coast friend of mine who is distressed about what has happened to much of the mainstream environmental movement. What follows is his thoughts on that subject. Any comments?  READ MORE »