In this story from today’s Bee, it is the old refrain of too much water, which is companion to the also oft heard, too little water; both of which are solved by developing the appropriate water storage facilities to capture it when there is too much as now, to benefit all of us when there is too little, sure to be someday soon.
Here is an excerpt.
Dealing with the deluge
There's so much water, some agencies are giving it away. Rice and tomato farmers, however, wait for a dry spell.
By Jim Downing -- Bee Staff Writer Published 2:15 am PDT Saturday, April 22, 2006
Sometimes California's water gods give, and sometimes they take away. This spring, they're doing both, as far as Central Valley farmers are concerned.
The state's network of reservoirs and aqueducts are overflowing with a bonanza, always a good sign for irrigation-dependent farms.
On the flip side, heavy spring rains have caused delays and damage, particularly in the Sacramento Valley, and yields for some crops are already suffering. In Yolo County, a state of disaster was announced Friday afternoon, citing an estimated $14 million loss to the county's third-largest crop, alfalfa.
But first, happier news.
There's so much water in rivers and reservoirs that the federal Bureau of Reclamation is, for the first time, giving it away from the Central Valley Project in some areas.
"Get a bucket, and get on down there," said bureau spokesman Jeff McCracken. For at least another few weeks, "anybody can divert as much as they want" downstream of Friant Dam, north of Fresno, he said. The idea is to ease the pressure on the San Joaquin River, where high water is threatening levees.
Federal agricultural water deliveries are forecast to be at or near maximum levels through the summer.
The State Water Project is also flush. On Tuesday, the Department of Water Resources forecast its largest deliveries to farms and cities: more than 4.1 million acre-feet.
