[env-trinity] On Water, CA's Real Water War

[petey]

Patrick,


Very interesting article. It's just so true. Ag is one of the biggest 
wate users and polluters. Clean it up, it's the right thing to do. I ran 
across this wbsite the other day and thought this appropriate. The site 
is from  from a Canadian ag - pollution education website. I think it is 
applicable here as well.

The website 
is: http://www.agr.gc.ca/pfra/flash/robocow2/en/robocow2_e.htm.   There 
is also a robocow1- the prequel.

      

Thanks again for the info.  Ciao  
Petey




Patrick Truman wrote:

> San Francisco Chronicle <http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/>
>
>
>       Open Forum
>
>
>   On Water
>
>
>     California's real water war
>
> Laurel Firestone,Amy Vanderwarker
>
> Monday, August 27, 2007
>
> A farmworker walks through a field, adjusting sprinkler h... 
> <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2007/08/27/EDDMRP3I1.DTL&o=0> 
>
> Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, environmentalists and water districts have 
> waded hip-deep into arguments over new dams, pricey canals and other 
> ways to manage future water wars in California.
>
> But the looming water crisis that the governor warns of is already here.
>
> Hundreds of small, rural communities throughout California's 
> agricultural heartland have no access to clean, safe drinking water. 
> It's a public health crisis that threatens California families every day.
>
> According to the state Department of Public Health, public drinking 
> water systems deliver water with unsafe levels of contaminants to 
> approximately 1 million people. The vast majority of this tainted 
> water flows to the Central Valley - to little-known towns such as 
> Monterey Park Tract, Mendota, Parlier, East Orosi, Cutler and Alpaugh 
> - where residents can't fill a glass of tap water without fear of 
> cancer, kidney disease and other health problems. These are some of 
> our state's poorest towns, where median household incomes hover around 
> $18,000. But they pay some of the highest water rates in California - 
> 2 to 6 percent of their household income - for undrinkable water.
>
> In 2004 alone, tens of thousands of Central Valley residents received 
> bright orange notices from their public drinking water systems saying 
> their water was not safe to drink and exceeded legal contaminant 
> levels. Many Central Valley residents drive 30 to 50 miles each week 
> just to buy bottled water, effectively doubling the price for this 
> basic need.
>
> More than 90 percent of Central Valley communities depend on water 
> stored underground for their drinking water. Unfortunately, years of 
> intensive farming with uncontrolled chemical use has heavily poisoned 
> that source. Recent groundwater sampling in Tulare County found that 3 
> out of 4 homes with private wells have contaminated water that is 
> unsafe to drink.
>
> California's agricultural heartland offers a bounty of crops, from 
> cotton to almonds to dairy products. But Central Valley industries 
> also pour forth a darker bounty: a vast array of water contaminants, 
> including nitrates from fertilizer use and mega-dairy waste and 
> pesticide components, such as DBCP - a chemical banned for causing 
> cancer and harming men's reproductive systems that still appears in 
> Central Valley wells. These contaminants mix with water used to 
> irrigate crops and wash cows and then seeps into the Central Valley's 
> groundwater. When people in neighboring communities drink this water, 
> they consume known carcinogens and acute poisons, such as nitrates, 
> which can kill infants in a matter of days.
>
> When contaminant levels spike or wells fail, no large water agency 
> stands ready to come fix broken treatment systems. Most of these small 
> communities must shoulder the costs alone, paying for expensive 
> maintenance and operations out of the lean budgets of a couple of 
> hundred farmworker families.
>
> These contamination and infrastructure problems have grown unchecked 
> since development in the Central Valley began. Virtually every water 
> agency ignores California's massive groundwater contamination problem. 
> Regulatory agencies such as the state and regional Water Quality 
> Control boards have given a green light to rampant agricultural 
> pollution. California and Texas remain the only states in the country 
> without a groundwater management program.
>
> Meanwhile, the state has developed an elaborate and expensive system 
> to pipe crystal-clear Northern California river water to Central 
> Valley farms, at taxpayer expense. The vast webs of canals and 
> aqueducts, subsidized by public dollars, bring water to Central Valley 
> farms. Fresh, clean water flows right by the homes of men and women 
> who harvest the irrigated fields, but have no access to safe drinking 
> water.
>
> Without the ability to hire highly paid staffers and lobbyists, farm 
> families find their voices drowned out by the raging debates about 
> California water. They continually fall through the cracks of local, 
> state and regional planning.
>
> Instead of talking about future water needs, we need to talk about the 
> chronic lack of access to clean drinking water Central Valley 
> residents face every day. Instead of spending billions of dollars on 
> building new reservoirs, let's talk about protecting one of 
> California's largest existing reservoirs - our groundwater.
>
> California water agencies can start by making a serious commitment to 
> groundwater protection and management. The largest sources of 
> groundwater contamination in the Central Valley - agriculture and 
> dairies - are virtually unregulated. Agriculture is allowed to 
> discharge waste water that does not meet Clean Water Act standards, 
> while virtually every other industry must meet these basic water 
> quality standards. This highly toxic water then contaminates the 
> source of drinking water for many small communities.
>
> The state could play a lead role in developing innovative solutions 
> and projects to address the problem. Right now, regulatory and water 
> resource agencies acknowledge the level of contamination but have 
> refused to take action.
>
> Many organizations have developed projects and proposals that would 
> take important steps to relieving the drinking water crisis, such as 
> requiring groundwater management plans of industries and agencies, 
> setting aside state funds to address the contamination and requiring 
> water districts to work with communities that do not have clean 
> drinking water in their area to develop alternative water sources. 
> Unfortunately, most of these programs fall apart as soon as industry 
> objects and then the state shirks its duty, saying the problem is too 
> big, unwieldy or out of its jurisdiction. Time and again, we have seen 
> agencies, legislators, and policymakers fail to take meaningful action 
> on groundwater protection and management, because it is a tough issue.
>
> The governor is right. We do need to invest in California's water 
> infrastructure. The place to start should be obvious for such a golden 
> state: ensuring all communities have safe, clean and affordable 
> drinking water.
>
> /Laurel Firestone is co-director of the Community Water Center, based 
> in Visalia. Amy Vanderwarker is the outreach coordinator for the 
> Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, based in Oakland. They will 
> be participating in a panel discussion on water and social justice as 
> part of the Commonwealth Club's Cool Clear Water series on Aug. 30th. 
> More information is available at www.commonwealthclub.org/water 
> <http://www.commonwealthclub.org/water>/
>
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