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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>Editorial: Water at the forefront; State's
needs are growing, answers are few. That must change<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><b><font size=4
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:
bold'>Fresno</span></font></b></st1:City></st1:place><b><font size=4
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>
Bee – 12/18/05</span></font></b><font size=4><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Barely a day goes by without a new story emerging about water, and
that's been true for all of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>'s
history.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Last week, it was fears about the quality of water supplies in poorer
rural communities in the Valley. Residents of towns like Parlier, Mendota,
Alpaugh and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Raisin</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">City</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> often live with
brackish brown tap water because they have neither the local resources nor the
political clout to fix things.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Before that we were reading about concerns over water that will limit
residential growth in the nearby foothills. The Fresno County Board of
Supervisors has taken steps to limit development in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Shaver</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Lake</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
area.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>We've been treated to the long-running legal pas de deux between
environmentalists and farmers over <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType> water from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Millerton</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Lake</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
— a hit show that's still running.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>The deterioration of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta — the
linchpin of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>'s
complicated plumbing system — continues apace, although you wouldn't know
it from the apparent indifference or ignorance of many of our elected leaders.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>In the meantime, climate changes may radically alter the cycles of
snow, spring melt and percolation into the massive aquifer that is our
principal source of water in the Valley — or maybe not. Is this an El
Niņo year, or is his sister, La Niņa, on her way? And do they have any cousins
we haven't met yet?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Population growth continues the upward pressure on demand for water,
and not just any water, but water people can drink safely. Municipalities and
private residents alike have to drill deeper and deeper to reach potable water
in the Valley, and that costs more. We're using up the aquifer faster than
nature can replenish it.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>And we still haven't got water meters up and running in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Fresno</st1:City></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>We've got to get a handle on these problems or we will find ourselves
one day without sufficient water for all the fields and orchards, the shops and
factories, the homes and lawns. We won't have enough to drink, much less bathe.
But how?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Part of the problem is that authority over water matters is spread over
a wide and tangled web of bureaucracies. Federal, state and local agencies each
have a piece. Dams, lakes, rivers, canals and private wells are all lodged
under different roofs. And groundwater isn't regulated at all.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Getting all those varied and sometimes contentious people to the same
table is difficult. Getting them to actually solve problems is even harder
— witness the excruciatingly painful "progress" of the Cal-Fed
process, an attempt to bring federal, state and local interests all to the same
page on water issues. It's been years in the works and is barely breathing most
of the time. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>But we have to make the effort. Valley representatives in <st1:City
w:st="on">Washington</st1:City>, <st1:State w:st="on">D.C.</st1:State>, and <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:City></st1:place> must find ways
to collaborate in this effort. In the meantime, people at the grass roots
should be pushing their leaders to action. New solutions must be found, and
some old ones may bear a fresh look. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Conservation is crucial, but it may also be time for new storage
facilities — groundwater banking, for instance. Perhaps even new dams
should be on the table, despite their tremendous cost and environmental
impacts.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>Our old ways aren't going to work forever. Issues of water quality and
quantity affect us all, as we have begun to learn about air pollution. A new
year offers us a chance to get busy on new ways of doing things. Let's not
waste it.</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><em><i><font size=3 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Advisor, California Trout, Inc</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'> 2327</span></font></i></em></st1:address><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, <st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></em></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810 ph</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 9562 fx</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://www.fotr.org">http://www.fotr.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><u><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'>http:www.caltrout.org</span></font></u><font
color=lime><span style='color:lime'> </span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> </span><o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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