San Joaquin Valley water allocation boosted again

http://www.fresnobee.com/2010/06/15/1970471/san-joaquin-valley-water-allocation.html

San Joaquin Valley water allocation boosted again

WASHINGTON – Interior Department officials on Monday again boosted their planned irrigation water deliveries to the San Joaquin Valley, giving farmers 45 percent of their standard allocation.

The new allocation is up from a 40 percent delivery announced in May.

"This latest increase in allocation is a result of favorable weather conditions this spring and better-than- expected pumping conditions in the south Delta," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar explained Monday afternoon.

Other federal water allocations in California will stay the same. Farmers north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta still will get 100 percent of their allocation, while municipal and industrial water users south of the Delta still will get 75 percent.

Salazar has been under political pressure all year to boost irrigation water deliveries, with California lawmakers from both parties insisting environmental restrictions have been too strict.
Call Michael Doyle, Bee Washington Bureau, (202) 383-0006.

Last year, farmers south of the Delta and on the San Joaquin Valley's west side received only 10 percent of their allocation from the federal Central Valley Project. The cutbacks stemmed from a combination of three years of drought and environmental protections for species including the Delta smelt and winter-run salmon.

"Obviously, we're pleased," Westlands Water District spokeswoman Sarah Woolf said.

Rep. Jim Costa, D-Fresno, said the new announcement means "more water and more jobs for our Valley."

"We took on Valley outsiders who tried to cut off our water," he said. "We also took on the Washington bureaucracy until they listened."

The water restrictions were partly rooted in decisions by Fresno-based U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger, who has challenged the adequacy of water protections for endangered species.

Last month, though, Wanger also struck down pumping restrictions on the grounds that they were not based on sound science.

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