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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>Wet
March may improve Central Valley water allocations<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=byline1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>The Redding Record Searchlight
– 4/19/09<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=byline1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>By Dylan Darling<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=byline1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The
biggest rush of water into Lake Shasta in almost three years could lead to
increased water allocations for north state agriculture.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>"We
are anticipating an upward bump," said Brian Person, manager of the Bureau
of Reclamation's Northern California Office at Shasta Dam.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Early
this week, bureau officials plan to release updated allocations for the Central
Valley Project - which runs 500 miles from Lake Shasta to Bakersfield - based
on weather, lake inflow and other factors in March.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Snowfall
in February and rain in March gave the lake its biggest boost in years.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>More
than 1 million acre-feet, or enough water to flood a million acres a foot deep,
flowed into Lake Shasta in March, according to state Department of Water
Resources data. It's the biggest influx into the 4.5 million acre-foot capacity
reservoir since April 2006.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>After
a dry December and January, the bureau had announced in February that the
Central Valley Project could receive only half of its usual 6 million acre-foot
allocation - the most drastic cutback since a drought in the early 1990s.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The
projected allocations included no water for agriculture land north of
Sacramento supplied through contracts made after Shasta Dam was finished in
1945.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>But
stormy weather in February brought revised allocations last month, providing
those contracts with 5 percent of the normal supply.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Now
bureau officials are analyzing weather, snowpack and storage changes in March
to determine if and how to revise the allocations.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>"There's
a possibility (they) could change," said Pete Lucero, bureau spokesman in
Sacramento.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The
rush of inflow into Lake Shasta brought a big rise to the lake that had hit a
16-year low last fall. In March, the lake rose about 48 feet, bringing it to 66
percent full, said Larry Ball, operations chief for the bureau at Keswick Dam.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>March
brought the lake to the same level it was at this time last year, about 60 feet
below its high waterline.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Ball
said this year's allocations will still be lower than last because less water
is available from the Trinity River.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Along
with the likely increase in allocations, the wet March also has improved the
outlook for the lake at the end of the summer. Ball said the lake is expected
to bottom out at about the same 157 feet below crest next fall. Earlier in the
year, he had said the lake could hit 200 feet below.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>"That's
far better than the original estimates were in that dry January," Lucero
said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>A
workshop for growers looking to keep their crops going with reduced water
supplies is set for Tuesday evening at Shasta College.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The
workshop, hosted by the University of California Cooperative Extension, starts
at 6:30 p.m. in Room 1632, said Larry Forero, extension director in Shasta
County.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Topics
for discussion include maintaining pasture, preserving nut and fruit trees, and
saving vines despite reduced irrigation deliveries.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>There
also will be a discussion on federal drought aid, Forero said, but the workshop
will not be a forum to debate water policy, endangered species or water
deliveries in the past year.#<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><a
href="http://www.redding.com/news/2009/apr/19/wet-march-may-improve-central-valley-water/">http://www.redding.com/news/2009/apr/19/wet-march-may-improve-central-valley-water/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker, JcT</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends
of Trinity River</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>PO Box 2327</span></i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Mill Valley, CA
94942-2327</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810
land</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810
cell</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"><span style='color:blue'>bwl3@comcast.net</span></a></span></i></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><span style='color:blue'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>(secondary)</span></i><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="http://fotr.org/"><span style='color:blue'>http://www.fotr.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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