A vote Tuesday more than doubled water rates for farmers in the Turlock Irrigation District. The district board’s 5-0 decision, which came over objections from a few customers, still leaves TID among the lowest-cost suppliers in California. The charge for an acre-foot in a normal or wet year will go from $8.25 to $17.50, assuming
Westlands General Manager Tom Birmingham told the Fresno Bee the negotiations indeed were confidential and completely private. But the existence of the talks was no secret, he said. Westlands has regularly briefed the federal court about the talks, Birmingham said, adding that environmental groups and others last year were told of the six-page “principles of agreement”from
A staggering economic and environmental problem festering for three decades in the southern San Joaquin Valley would be addressed by a secret deal reached between the Obama administration and farmers — one that is sounding alarms for Bay Area lawmakers. The deal would retire 100,000 acres of farmland damaged by salt and selenium in the
Recent storms will allow California to provide more water to local agencies and farms even as drought conditions stretch into a fourth year, officials announced Thursday. State officials said storms in early December boosted supplies in the state's vast reservoir system enough to give Southern California cities and farms 15 percent of their requested water.
Brown's budget -- much of which is expected to be approved by the Democratic-controlled Legislature in Sacramento -- calls for spending $532 million from the water bond, which was Proposition 1. The main areas where he would allocate money this year: $178 million for restoring streams, rivers and watersheds, the source of much of the
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) is a biodiverse ecosystem that covers about 1,150 square miles and supports over 700 species of fish and wildlife. The Delta is an important source of water for the state and is used to convey water from Northern California to Southern California. The Delta faces several significant problems, including: (1)
The debate over how to improve the water quality of Iowa's rivers and streams took center stage inside Des Moines Water Works' headquarters Thursday afternoon. Dozens of people debated the utility's plan to sue three northwestern Iowa counties over high nitrate levels in the Raccoon River. In the end, the waterworks moved forward with its plans to
Pasture owners around Oakdale willing to go without water will be paid for fallowing their land this year, Oakdale Irrigation District directors decided Tuesday. The water saved by idling fields will be sold to thirsty out-of-county water agencies. OID landowners volunteering for the deal could collect millions in “cash incentives” and funds to pay for
Citing the severe state drought, lawyers for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider a strict federal rule from the 1970s that calls for curtailing the water diversions to protect the threatened delta smelt and other imperiled species regardless of the cost to humans and the economy.
The Tulare City Council ratified an increase in local water rates. Councilman Carlton Jones alone voted to oppose the increase. The decision comes on the heels of the Tulare Board of Public Utilities taking similar action. This is the third of five annual rate increases to bring in additional revenue to Tulare’s water system. The council