From Restore the Delta: “Congressman Denham, who claims to be against the Brown Administration’s WaterFix tunnels, has, however, also voted for and helped to advance the controversial Calvert and Valadao riders in the Department of Interior House Appropriations bill. The Calvert rider would strip Delta residents of due process rights by blocking their ability to litigate over the tunnels project, while the Valadao rider would block Delta residents from being able to litigate over the operation of the Central Valley Project.”
Jeff Denham’s celebrity campaign hit a new high over the weekend. After bringing in Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke a few weeks ago, Denham followed up a short time later with Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue. The idea was to show Denham’s tight connections to DC power, which only a short time ago was known as the swamp Donald Trump was promising to drain.
Now the swamp is populated by the likes of Zinke, who has shown a special zeal for offshore oil drilling and making what appear to be self-interested deals with the CEO of Halliburton. And Secretary Perdue has the distinction of heading the Department of Agriculture when Trump’s tariffs are making Midwestern farmers dependent on subsidies, a form of welfare the Republican Senator from Wisconsin Ron Johnson likened to a, “Soviet type of economy.”
Tariffs and graft notwithstanding, Jeff Denham seems to think close association with Washington DC will help people forget how little he’s accomplished after eight years in Congress. By far the most revealing attempt is Denham’s most recent group photo op with Donald Trump, Devin Nunes, David Valadao and Kevin McCarthy.
The photo shows Donald Trump signing legislation Denham said would help stop the state “water grab,” a proposal to increase flows along the rivers in and near Denham’s Congressional District. Denham is quoted as saying,
“My number one priority has always been to deliver more water to the Central Valley. This order will reduce regulatory burdens and promote more efficient environmental reviews of California water storage projects, ensuring that Valley farmers and residents have a supply of water for generations to come.”
But “Central Valley” means something far different to Donald Trump, Devin Nunes, David Valadao, Kevin McCarthy, and Jeff Denham than it does to most people. That difference can be best understood when one realizes that delivering, “more water to the Central Valley,” really means pumping more water south through the San Joaquin Delta.
That water isn’t intended for the Central Valley at all. Instead, it’s intended for the southern San Joaquin Valley, where McCarthy, Valadao, and Nunes need it for political survival.
As for Jeff Denham, it’s conceivable he doesn’t even understand the water dynamics of his own district. More than once, Denham has argued that pumping water to his friends Nunes, Valadao and McCarthy doesn’t affect his district because California Congressional District 10 is “south of the Delta.”
But some of Denham’s biggest contributors are advocates of selling Oakdale Irrigation District water to buyers outside the district, especially Westlands Water District. That District 10 water is sent south through the San Joaquin Delta.
Probably the greatest irony of Denham’s latest photo-op with his buddies down south is it offers even more evidence that Jeff Denham is in favor of selling his own district’s water. In August, Zinke himself instructed his aides to find ways to enable more water deliveries through the San Joaquin Delta. Trump’s latest fanfare with Denham and his buddies down south is yet another attempt to make voters think Denham and company can hurdle state and federal laws that limit how much northern California water goes south.
But there is one thing voters should keep in mind, and that’s if Jeff Denham and his friends down south ever do get what they want, District 10 residents can kiss their water goodbye. Jeff Denham votes with his party 97.8% of the time. And all anyone who thinks he will put people over party needs to do to learn the truth is check his record.
Great article, Eric… just more reasons to get out the votes against Denham, Nunes and Valadao…as those races are within reach. Sadly, the idiots in Kevin McCarthy’s district, which also stands to benefit, are so ga-ga over the possibility of him becoming the next Speaker you can’t talk sense to them. I know; I’ve tried. At a pointless protest nobody bothered to pay any attention to, so entrenched is he in his lead in his district…..but there’s still hope of taking the other three out. (Though, as the saying goes: “If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride…..” ) Alas… our poor State of Confusion…..
Jeff Denham is protecting our water by helping to bring about statewide water abundance for CA. So long as high population urban users need our water, our supplies will face threats. When one agricultural region is decimated by regulatory drought or lack of infrastructure, all rural communities feel the economic pain. With the new Trump executive actions all water needs in CA will be better met.
CA water needs are best met with statewide planning. That is how CA has solved water needs in the past. That is how we will best solve them now and in the future. The current assault on our community by the SWRCB and the Water Grab makes clear that unmet needs around the state will threaten our local resources. A statewide water strategy is our best path to local water security and our Congressman Jeff Denham is working hard to make it happen.
Eric, Eric, Eric…there you go again. You claim that District 10 residents “can kiss their water goodbye”. And yet you conveniently ignore the gross mismanagement of so-called pulse flow releases that have been made on the Stanislaus, Tuolumne, and Merced Rivers with extremely flimsy justification that these flows will resuscitate native fish populations.
Since 2009, when the pulse flows began, literally trillions of gallons of precious fresh water have been flushed right down the San Joaquin River system, through the Delta, and into the rising oceans. The recent drought we all lived through was greatly exacerbated by this insane water policy foisted on us by your environmentalist friends.
So what do your friends want to do now? Double down, of course! They propose now to double the releases beginning next year. The State Water Board will issue its decision on this (conveniently delayed until after the November election) and they will undoubtedly side with the thesis that–since nine years of pulse flows have increased fish populations by nearly zero–then doubling pulse flows will surely work.
That’s where the federal government should and will rightly step in. The New Melones Dam is a federal water project, not a state project–as loathe to admit that as Jerry Brown and Felicia Marcus are. Thank goodness the Feds are taking a more muscular approach to attempt to undo nearly a decade of water management insanity in California.
Kiss our water goodbye? We’ve been kissing it goodbye for nine years now. Interesting that you conveniently forget that in your zeal to demonize Mr. Denham.
The “gross mismanagement of so-called pulse releases” could be mitigated to an extent by keeping so-called “surplus water” here in District 10. Instead, Oakdale Irrigation District, aided and abetted by Jeff Denham, chooses to sell that water for a tiny fraction of its true worth to buyers down south. Mr. Barton, if you think that’s sound business practice, I have a bridge for sale.
One acre of urban use equals about one acre of farm land use. What is the baloney about high use urban areas?
With a reduction of water flowing through the Delta, water quality in the Delta will degrade with salt water intrusion. Delta farmers will be adversely impacted.
Why ship water to the desert for agriculture when we need it here?
Why should we supply water to an area that practiced unsustainable farming by depleting surface and ground water supplies?
If we had surplus water, one might condone a short term sales contract.. But for most of the last ten years, we have operated under drought conditions. We may be seeing a long term change towards a drier climate. True Conservatives would not support shipping any water south.
It appears that facts don’t matter to some folks in this community.
The valley’s treated wastewater can go south, there will be lots of that as facilities are built. Modesto did it and has a contract with Del Puerto Irrigation. If the major cities all came online… I like Accelerated Ocean Evaporation making use of the Atmospheric Pipeline. That’s the path to prosperity with shade provided by manufactured clouds.
Mr. Gunderson’s solution sounds like a common sense proposal. Unfortunately, the amount of water Westlands Water District and Kern County want greatly exceeds the amount of recycled water that we could supply.
Factor in Selenium at Westlands and Kern’s Alkali soils that need flood irrigation for rehabilitation and the water deficiency is overwhelming.
Taking our water will eventually create a shortage for everyone. We will deplete our ground water locally and Trump will drain our reservoirs.
The water sent south will be used to sustain agriculture that is unsustainable in the long run.
Absent a change to a wetter climate, the only real solution is the manufacture of water. The cost of manufactured water should be borne by water districts with inadequate supplies. Areas with sustainable agriculture should not be made unsustainable by the taking of water.
The Washington politicians are doing nothing to increase total supply. Instead, they are trying to force solutions that will make the situation worse.
“As such, while markets can be used to allocate water resources, careful design and strong legislation is needed to ensure that the outcomes are both efficient and equitable, and the answer to whether water should be considered a private or a public good depends on the type of resource and its uses.” This is from the Global Water Forum website: http://www.globalwaterforum.org/2015/04/27/understanding-water-markets-public-vs-private-goods/
What I see in CA is the buying and selling of public water to the private sector for huge financial gain which implies that we do not have ‘a carefully designed water system and laws to insure efficiency and equity of use’. As suggested in a prior post, we need to get the state as well as feds to do a much better job of meeting these objectives. That being said, in today’s environment as well in the past, politics and backroom deals dominate water allocations and like many resources go to the highest bidder. The notion of a public resource has been corrupted by pure and simple greed that only a strong govt can mitigate.
Frank has a statesmanlike solution. Presently, the government is unable to address the water issue due to corrupt forces within it. Throughout the history of California, there have been water wars. The Democrats currently occupying Sacramento cannot agree on a comprehensive solution due to conflicting interests throughout the state. Washington is so dysfunctional that it only makes the problem worse. As a result, every water district must fend for itself. Oakdale Irrigation District sells its water. Modesto Irrigation District tried to sell water to San Francisco a few years ago.
Chaos becomes worse during periods of shortage.
Many subjects discussed here. Only trying to point out some facts as I know them.
1) Don Pedro is owned by MID/TID/City & County of San Francisco
2) Don Pedro water rights owned by MID/TID. Water rights issued by the State of California. California has the power to change those water rights.
3) New Melones is owned by the Federal Governement, but the water rights were issued by the State of California.
4) The irrigators within MID (also TID and OID probably) pay far less than their cost of service for the water they receive. MID electrical customers are subsidizing the irrigators.
5) City of Modesto water users are paying for 100% of the water expenses and the irrigators subsidies. Shouldn’t the irrigators pay their own way?
6) The “Water Grab” will impact the storage at Don Pedro and reduce the surface supply available to the MID irrigators and the City of Modesto water users which will all have to pump greater amounts of water in the future.
Thank you Lee. Facts are always appreciated here. I would only add that OID farmers have an even better deal than MID, as far as I can assess. They get water below the cost of delivery. Well below. And they get that water at that cost because OID sells water down south, even while everyone is saying we will lose billions from the water grab.
Nice work, Eric.
I have a little cabin up by Fish Camp. There is a creek nearby that originates in Madera county, but splits and ends up flowing through the mountain communities and eventually into both Merced and Madera’s water districts. Both districts claim ownership of the water, and the rules as they were explained to me, date back more than a century and involve mining claims and seniority. It’s a clumsy system and I apologize if my description of it is too.
The solution was a very expensive diversion channel and block valve. Every year at a certain date the valve is shut and every drop of water in Lewis Creek (Madera side) stops flowing, and every fish planted by the county dies. After six months, the valve is opened and the creek flows again. This compromise is essentially like two parents in a divorce, deciding that the best way to share the kids is to cut them in half.
On a larger scale, the water issue is just as complicated and often just as silly, and taxpayers are likely on the hook for a lot of dead fish. Good reporting brings out the voices, and you’ve done that here. I don’t agree with John that under the “…new Trump executive actions all water needs in CA will be better met.” I’m not even sure Trump can point to California on a map. And when Don starts with “Eric, Eric, Eric…there you go again,” I know that we are dealing with issues that move beyond the practical and into the political (no offense to Don intended). I’m glad you have a nose for this; I usually dismiss the whole thing because it stinks.
Thanks again!