Farm Bureau Policies 2022 within their entities to finance, construct and participate in all projects to assure adequate water supplies for present and future use by the county, water districts or local agencies. There should be reserved and included in state water develop- ment, under the CaliforniaWater Plan, such upstreamwater stor- age reservoirs and other facilities necessary for the beneficial use of water for the areas of origin.
quality from export impacts. The delta transfer facility, including channel flowcontrol facilities, combinedwithnewstorage facilities is anticipated to savemany hundreds of thousands of acre-feet of water per year which would otherwise flow to the San Francisco Bayduringperiods of high run-off. Itmaybe feasible toprovidead- ditional delta protection andwater conservation by the construc- tion of partial barriers, or submerged sills to prevent unrestricted reverse flowof sea water. InterimDelta Barriers We support the prompt installation of appropriate facilities to improve the efficiency of the existing delta water transfer system pending provision of amore adequate facility. Suitable facilities should includeunderwater sills indeepchan- nels; appropriate barriers in those intermediate depth channels which carry substantial bay salt water intrusion toward the export pumps; and tide gatedbarriers in the shallowsoutherndelta chan- nels to restore circulation and water depth in those channels and to inhibit anddilute the flowof San JoaquinRiver salt to the export pumps. These facilities should be designed, where necessary, for easy flood-season removal (or gating) and summer reinstallation. Auburn Dam-FolsomSouth Canal Construction of the Auburn Dam and the completion of the FolsomSouth Canal should be expedited. Federal funding for the AuburnDamproject should be reinstated. Inflationary conditions increase constructioncosts, but theout- look forbenefit values likewise increase. The federal administration philosophy encourages cooperative financing by local interests in all future federal water projects. We believe the required local support exists, and that there is the utmost urgency for Congress to reauthorizeAuburnDam, whichwill helpprotect the interest of all U.S. citizens in the food productivity of the country, reduce our dependenceon importedoil andwouldreduce flooddanger toone of California’smost populousmetropolitan areas. Water Storage Urban expansion, environmental requirements, and the need for reliable agricultural water supplies mandate that additional facilities must be authorized and constructed along with flood control and stream bank protection. The increased demand for water has beendue to legislated increases for the rapidpopulation growth in this state and the reallocation of water fromagricultural uses to environmental uses. Tomeet this increasedwater demand and increased agricultural needs for a growing population and environmental uses, new projects must be built that will create a “new” water supply. TheproposedLosBanosGrande reservoir should receiveprior- ity for development of feasibility reports, due to its geographical location. This reservoir, or others similarly located, would facilitate water export and flood control during wet periods, thus relieving the Sacramento River of higher summer flows. Currently, the Sacramento River is not physically fit to act as a conveyancemeans for upstreamreservoirwaters. Stateand federal agencies should immediately initiateneededbankprotectionproj- ectson this river to reduce seepage, bankerosionandcropdamage. We support the expeditious construction of dams for proposed water storage sites along thewest sideof theSacramentoValleyand on the San Joaquin River above Friant Dam. Desalination We support desalinationwherever feasible todevelopnewwater supplies and increase thewater independenceof urbancoastal ar- eas, thereby reducing the pressure fromsuchareas onagricultural water supplies. We support state legislation to promote desalina- tion researchanddevelopment and increase the cost-effectiveness of desalinationprojects.Webelieve that the legal right ofmunicipal water agencies to pursue independent, locally generated water supplies throughdesalination shouldbepreserved.We encourage a balanced approach to the environmental regulationof desalina- tion projects that recognizes the necessity of ample fresh water supplies for all uses. Forest Thinning and Fuel Reduction We support funding for active management of public and pri- vate forests in California to help prevent forest fires that result in the siltation of our watersheds and reservoirs, and to provide an increased downstreamwater supply. (Rev. 2019) No. 302 Water for Food Supply We shouldaggressivelyaddress theneed for an increase inwater supplyas thepopulationgrows, specificallyaddressing theneed for anagriculturalwater supply that is adequate toproducea sufficient California-grown food supply tomeet future needs. These needs include adequate food for California’s forecasted future popula- tion, adequate food to maintain California’s contribution to the nation’s food supply, and any net export of food that is needed for worldwide stability and economic stimulus. The California Department of Food and Agriculture should be requested to forecast these food needs and the water needed to
produce that food, in time for inclusion in each Bulletin 160. The Department ofWater Resources shouldbe required toaddress this agricultural water supply need in its Bulletin 160 forecast of water needs in accordance with AB 2587 (2002). The water forecasts in DWR’s Bulletin 160 and the food forecasts by CDFA should be coordinated and revised every five years and should forecast the needs at least 25 years beyond each scheduled update. The Bulletin 160 State Water Plan should also comply with Water Code Section 10004.6, and no weakening of that statute should be allowed. We should pursue all appropriate political and legal means to assure that DWR complies with the existing statutes; to assure that the relevant statutes are not weakened; and to assure that the future agricultural water supply is suffi- cient to produce an adequate domestic and international food supply as defined above, and to thereby protect the national security that would be in jeopardy if we could not produce our own food. (02/Rev. 2004) No. 303 Financing Water Project Development Financing Every encouragement shouldbegiven towater project develop- ment by local districts. Through local district development, maxi- mumuseof private fundscanberealized.Non-reimbursablegrants shouldbemadeby the state and federal governments to such local project development for flood control, navigation, salinity control, fish and game and recreation values. Reimbursable costs of any state project should not include the costs of acquisition of sites, rights-of-way and relocation of highways and utilities. The federal government should provide funds on a loan basis at appropriate interest rates to the state and local districts to assist with initial construction of water projects, such loans to be repaid over a specific contractual periodwith the state or local district maintaining title to and full control of the project. Local governments should not bear the cost of acquisi- tions of sites, or rights-of-way or relocation of roads and utilities of state projects. Theconstructionofwater facilitieshas resulted inademand that such facilities also bemaintained to serve recreational purposes. Inasmuch as storage reservoirs are built to serve the primary purpose of providing a dependable source of supply of water for irrigation, domestic and industrial use, we believe that recre- ational facilities, when provided, should be self-liquidating and should be supported by adequate charges to be paid by those using the facilities. We must recognize the changing demands of the state by a much greater allocation of costs to such non-repayment features of multi-purpose water projects as flood control, recreation, fish andwildlife, etc. Amore realisticallocationof costs to these features will, in turn, reduce the costs allocated to the water conservation features. Quality and quantity improvement for fish and wildlife and recreationmust be paid by public funds. Environmental enhancement and instreamusers are encour- aged to participate in the purchase and development of newwa- ter. As a contributing purpose of the project, these share equally in supply reductions in the event of a drought or other limitation in supply. We object to demands of the Department of Fish andWildlife and the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service for the excessive releases of stored water for fish and wildlife purposes. Substantial compen- sation should assist in defraying the cost of construction to the irrigation or water district. Certain features of thesewater projects, such as the production of hydroelectric power, must be developed and used so as to help finance the water conservation and distribution features if we are to havemaximumbeneficial development of our water resources for the ultimate economic growth of California. The power produced in connectionwith federal and state wa- ter projects must be sold at market value and there must be an adequate allocation of project costs to recreation, so that water users will not have to subsidize these features through higher water charges. CaliforniaWater Fund Weworked for the establishment of the CaliforniaWater Fund by the 1959 Legislature and agreed that this fund be used for water development. We support the continuation of accrual of tidelands revenues to this fund for the purposes of facilitating water development. Federal-State Relations We favor the maximum participation of individuals, local agencies and local and state governments in the development of water projects. Federal participation in water development should preferably be in cooperation with state and local inter- ests. We are opposed to federal domination and control of water resource development. Water rightsestablishedby state lawandstate laws relating to the
The state’s constitution includes anundefined requirement that thebeneficial useof watermust be “reasonable.”This requirement must not be politically interpreted to nullify water rights laws pro- tecting areas of origin. It is reasonable to retain in each of the hydrologic and ground- water basins the right to all those waters which originate in those basins andwhich are or will be needed for diversion for beneficial uses in those basins. The law provides that production of agricultural commodities by imported surface water to replace groundwater overdrafts is reasonablewhenwater is surplus to thebeneficial needsof thearea of origin of that water. This law should be enforced. The areas of origin will preserve the right to use their surplus water without the added costs of development for export. Laws protecting areas of origin must be honored by govern- ment projects, and legal procedures must be developed which will assure affordable enforcement of all laws protecting areas of origin of water. DeltaWaters The state of California should meet its obligations to furnish surplus waters of Northern California to diversion points in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, as a point of distribution to areas of deficiency. We support the current statutory boundaries of the delta and oppose expansion of that area. It should be the state’s obligation (and the federal government should assume its responsibility to the degree that federal projects affect the program) to provide andmaintain a sufficient regulated quantity of water in the delta to assist in flood control and ensure themaintenance of water quality. We support the construction of the facilitiesnecessary toenable thestate toaccomplishthesegoals. DeltaWater Pumping Thepredominant industryof theSacramento-SanJoaquinDelta area is agriculture, and this industry relies almost exclusivelyon the waters of the delta area for its irrigation supply. The futureof thewater supply toagriculture in thedeltahasbeen placed in jeopardyby thepumpingof largequantitiesofwater from the area by the state and Bureau of Reclamation during periods of lowinflowinto thedelta, extreme tidal conditions, and theabsence of adequate control facilities. Such pumping directly influences the salinity content of the water supply and also thewater level in the sloughs and channels, to the extent that pumping operations of irrigators in certain areas were forced to cease. We request theBureauof Reclamationand theDWR to limit and regulate the pumping of water by their respective facilities so as to protect (1) the agricultural industry in the area fromdamage, and (2) the water rights of the people in the area. Conveyance Recognizing that California’s agricultural production will be in jeopardy if long-term conveyance improvements are not made, we support awater supply solution that improves the conveyance of water through the Sacramento-San JoaquinDelta region. Long- termsolutions towater conveyance in theDelta region shouldnot serve as an alternative to new storage facilities. Operation of an improvedconveyance systemshouldnot result in thedegradation of water quality in the Delta. We support a water system solution that brings benefits to all of California agriculture which may in- clude conveyance improvements of above-ground, below-ground and through delta solutions. Agricultural water users shall not be required tomitigate impacts caused by other stressors. DeltaWater Conveyance We recognize that the problems relating to delta water con- veyance are numerous and complex and that a solutionmay best be accomplished through a process of staging construction and mitigation measures. We would also support firm congressional legislation providing for joint federal and state responsibility for satisfactory water supply and quality control in the area of origin, the delta and areas of export. Congressional legislation should be supported with contracts between responsible local, state and federal agencies. The conveyanceplan shouldoptimize the export yield that can be achieved whilemaintaining levels of delta water quality which are adequate to sustain historical delta agricultural crop yields and crop diversity. Operable barriers or other devices should be used (such as near Franks Tract) to minimize the net flow of salt into the delta by tidal action combined with any level of export operations. Operable tidal flow barriers and other local measures in thesouthdeltachannels shouldbedesignedandoper- ated toprotect the in-channel water levels, water supply andwater
22 Ag Alert January 26, 2022
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