Farm Bureau Policies 2022 reservoirs, etc. The longer surfacewaters are allowed tocollect and run uncontrolled, the greater the downstreammanagement and control problems become. We recommend that flood control planning and development be predicated upon: (1) The conservation of flood waters in underground basins where feasible; (2) The recognition and consideration of the need for maxi- mumupstreamconservation storage tomeet thewater use needs of California;
We believe the Mexican irrigators should be required to adopt salinity control management practices equal to those adopted by United States irrigators, and that Mexican drainage systems should be constructed, maintained and operated at no expense to the United States. San Joaquin Valley Salinity A drainage systemappears necessary in the San Joaquin Valley south of Kesterson. Alternatives for disposal of the water, other thananopenditchconveyance to thedelta,must be givenpriority. It may be necessary to treat or dilute water prior to discharge at its final destination. Financing methods should be studied by all interested par- ties and public hearings held at the earliest practical opportunity. Grant funds under such laws as PL 92-500 shouldbeusable for the constructionof thedrainage system.Webelieve thedrainagewater should bemade available to be used for electrical generation, and industrial cooling purposes. Natural water channelsmust not be used for additional drain- age from lands irrigatedwithwater fromsources outside the wa- tershed if such drainage will damage established downstream agriculture. We encourage local areas with current drainage problems to develop self-help programs. We support all cost- effective options for addressing the disposal, treatment or use of agricultural drainage water. To theextent thatdrainagewater continues tobedrained into the San Joaquin River at salinities above the Vernalis and SouthDelta salinity standards, the timing of this drainage to the river should be adjusted to the extent possible to coincide with available dilution fromincreased flows, such as fish flows or recirculation flows. The plan for the development of additional water supplies should also provide a solution to resultant drainage problems as part of a newwater supply contract. The retirement of lands affectedwith severedrainageproblems should be considered only after all other options have been ex- hausted. Aprogramof this typemust be voluntary. Inaddition, the opportunity to return the affected lands toagricultural production should be retained. New technologymay become available or dry land farmingmay be an option. (Rev. 2013) No. 318 Salton Sea The Salton Sea, an economic and environmental resource of national importance, is critical as a reservoir for drainage of ir- rigation, municipal and storm water as declared in 1924 by the Department of Interior. Any project undertaken to reclaim the Salton Seamust: (1) Not increase demand on the availablewater supply, such as diverting usable water directly into the Sea; (2) Ensure the continued use of the Salton Sea as a reservoir for irrigation, municipal, and stormwater drainage; (3) Reduce or stabilize the overall salinity of the Salton Sea; (4) Stabilize the surface elevation of the Salton Sea; (5) Enhance the potential for recreational uses and economic development of the Salton Sea; (6) Include full protection of neighboring areas and residents fromdamages resulting from the project; (7) Employ themost cost-effectivemeasures available; (8) Tie any cleanup of the New and Alamo Rivers, including sewage from international sources, to long-term reclamation of the Sea; and (9)Provide full compensationorprovide for agriculture torecov- er itsexpenseunder anyplanwhichrestricts, regulatesorotherwise alters agricultural inflows to theSea for anyandall costsor impacts, includingbut not limited to the cost of facilities toalter Sea inflows, lost property values, and loss of crop production. Any reclamation of the Sea is a benefit to society as a whole, and society should bear the cost of any reclamation project or any liability arising from reclamation. (1999) No. 319 Mexican Sewage Problems We support the binational effort to continue the cleanup of the waters of the New and Tijuana Rivers. (2013) No. 320 Nonpoint Source Pollution Management practices to address nonpoint sources of pollu- tion should be based on technically and economically feasible control measures. The current focus of the CleanWater Act should remain that of achieving fishable and swimmable standards. (1) Nonpoint source programs should emphasize a self-deter- mined, incentive-based approach. (2)Efforts toaddressnonpoint runoff and improvingwaterqual- ity should prioritize impaired watersheds or water bodies using a “worst case first” approach.
removed froma streamduring suchaproject shouldnot beconsid- ered a commercial use if it is used on the property. (1996) No. 314 Navigable Streams We are opposed to the State of California extending its claim to privatepropertyunder theFederal DoctrineofNavigability, and to extending the definition of navigability to streams and their tribu- taries which are not navigable by long-time historical definition. Weareopposed to theStateof Californiaclaiming thepublichas the right toutilize thebanksof streamsunder theStateRecreational Navigability Doctrine. Weareopposed toany redesignationof navigabilityof rivers and lake shores above the existing lines of record as of January 1, 1970 and the subsequent acquisition by the State of California of lands under private ownership along and under the rivers of California. We are opposed to the public gaining a right to use, or an ease- ment to, the banks of streams under the Doctrine of Implied Dedication. (Rev. 1993) No. 315 Surface Mining Impacts on Groundwater We support the use of local government to issue permits and monitor surface mining in order to protect the groundwater hy- drology of the area. To protect the local groundwater fromnegative impacts of sur- facemining, the following should be required: (1) Written notification to all property owners within one mile of a proposed surfacemining operation by the local lead agency; (2) If an impact is identified in the CEQA process, require the surface mining operation to supply baseline ongoing hydrologic monitoring data to the local lead agency on an annual basis; and (3) Aprocess for aggrievedproperty owners topetition the State Mining&GeologyBoard to reviewthe failureof a leadagency toact as it relates tomining activities not in substantial compliancewith the SurfaceMining and Reclamation Act. (1997) No. 316 Wild and Scenic Rivers Weareopposedtoproposalswhichwouldprevent theeconomic development of a stretch of river which has potential resource value; which would necessitate the taking of scenic easements or fee title to privately owned land by eminent domain; or which wouldunnecessarily involve federal responsibility for a riverwhich is being adequatelymanaged by a state. Any land designated for wild rivers should be subject to local zoning ordinances. We oppose the expansion of the National and State Wild and Scenic Rivers System. No. 317 Salinity Control Researchon and control of all sources of salinity for which con- trolmeasures are practical shouldbe expedited inorder of benefit per dollar of cost. All salinity controlmeasures on federal land, and those measures for the control of natural sources, should be con- structed as the responsibility of the general public. Those sources resulting fromirrigationprojects shouldbe the responsibilityof the individual project. Irrigationprojectswhichcannotmeet the costs of their fair share of ensuring a usable quality of water in a river systemshouldbeencouraged toemploy thebest feasible irrigation practices. If numerical water quality standards are adopted they should be tailored to reflect practical control capabilities of each point of return flow. Under current technology it is not feasible to require users to return water of a quality equal to or better than the quality of their source, but a useful quality of water should be maintained for all downstreamusers. The determination of what constitutes appropriate best man- agement practicesmust address theneed tomaintaina long-term salt balance not only on each farmbut also throughout the water- shed. On-farmmanagement practices must be determined with due regard to the protection of downstreamparties fromdamage caused by drainage waters with high salinity which sometimes results fromexcessively “efficient” water application. Colorado River Salinity The United States, at great expense, has constructed storage facilities which regulate the flow of the Colorado River and thus make its waters manageable and of much greater utility to both the United States and Mexico. This construction has been at no cost to Mexico. Evaporation from the newly created lakes has lowered the quality of the downstream water, to the detriment of downstreamusers, including Mexico. As the result of Mexican protests, theUnitedStates has, byminute 242 to theUnitedStates- Mexico treatyof 1944, agreed to takemeasuresnecessary toensure Mexicoaqualityofwater useful toagriculture, and todo soentirely at United States’ expense.
(3) The provision for and coordination of flood control storage to themaximumextent compatiblewith soundmultipurpose up- streamdevelopment, soas tominimize theneed for leveeconstruc- tion and channel improvement work downstream; (4) Considerationand study being given first to thepotential for floodpreventionand control throughupstreamdevelopment and on-land treatment, and any necessary downstream studies and proposals being coordinated therewith; We further recommend that encouragement be given for the maximum feasible development of water conservation practices and facilities by individual landowners andby local water districts and agencies. We support active thinning of National Forests in California to reduce the evapotranspiration loss causedbyovercrowded forests. We encourage counties to adopt flood plain ordinances as a necessary prerequisite to obtaining federal participation under Public Law 99 for the repair of flood damage. (5) Aquick, simpleprocess for permitting of small streamchan- nel alteration projects should be available; (6) We also recommend that all planning departments and commissions thoroughly evaluate the potential flood hazard to properties downstreamfromproposed subdivisions aswell as the impact on the groundwater supply in the immediate area before any subdivisions or lot splits be granted; and (7) Applicable environmental statutes and regulations should not be interpreted insuchawayas toprohibit or obstruct themain- tenanceof levees, or the removal of silt accretions. Nor should they be interpreted to obstruct the control of erosion and of vegetative or other intrusions when such measures are required to restore andmaintain the hydraulic capacity of relevant natural channels and floodways to the capacity which existed at the time that each flood control project was authorized, or which was created by the authorized project. Environmental statutes and regulations should not be ap- plied to riparian vegetation areas which exceed the top of the bank. (Rev. 2013) No. 312 River Deterioration Control Through the combined efforts of federal and state agen- cies, many of the rivers of California are being used as chan- nels to convey water from impound areas throughout the state for the benefit of domestic users, recreation, and agri- cultural irrigation. To deal with serious recurring and damag- ing problems of bank erosion, sedimentation, seepage, and growth restrictions of the channels, the agencies involved in the releases from impound areas and control of flows of the channels should be made to take the responsibility for pro- tecting and maintaining river banks. The responsible agen- cies should regulate the flows of those rivers in conjunction with the use of increasingly accurate meteorological data so as not to cause seepage damage, crop damage and erosion problems. Adjacent landowners should not be required to bear the added cost of seepage controls which accrue from higher than natural flows in the river. Further water development in the Sacramento Water System must consider the detrimental effects of using the existing river as a conveyance system. The effect of seepage, bank erosion and crop damage caused by any further water development should bemitigated. We recognize that the SacramentoRiver in its present condition is not physically fit to act as a conveyancemeans for existingwater releases. As amethod to correct this Sacramento River deteriora- tion we support the channel stabilization plan of the Sacramento River Bank Protection and Erosion Control investigation by the U.S. Corps of Civil Engineers. Funding an equitable share of the maintenance costs of SacramentoRiver bankprotectionshouldbe included in the rateof structure forwater project userswhobenefit from the use of the Sacramento River. (Rev. 2006) No. 313 Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975 Exemption We support an exemption from the Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975 (SMARA) allowing landowners to do stream restoration and bank stabilization. The use of the gravel
January 26, 2022 Ag Alert 25
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