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<div class=Section1>
<h1><span style='color:black'>Water agencies loosen taps; Feinstein backs off<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<p class=byline><span style='font-size:9.5pt;color:black'><a
href="mailto:pfimrite@sfchronicle.com">Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=date><span style='color:black'>Saturday, February 27, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.5pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2010/02/27/MNEM1C7TJD.DTL&o=0"><span
style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:blue;
text-decoration:none'><img border=0 width=625 height=266 id="Picture_x0020_24"
src="cid:image001.jpg@01CAB7CB.F7669620"
alt="http://imgs.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2010/02/26/ba-water0227_gr_SFCG1267237650.jpg"></span></a><span
style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=caption><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:black'>Reservoir levels (John Blanchard / The Chronicle)<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=view><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:black'><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2010/02/27/MNEM1C7TJD.DTL&o=0"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";color:windowtext;
text-decoration:none'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";
color:blue'><img border=0 width=12 height=10 id="Picture_x0020_25"
src="cid:image002.gif@01CAB7CB.F7669620" alt=Images></span></span>View Larger
Image</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ul type=disc>
<li class=MsoNormal style='color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;display:none'><span style='font-size:9.5pt;
font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";display:none'><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/02/27/international/i015436S39.DTL"><span
style='color:#015660;text-decoration:none'>The world's strongest
earthquakes</span></a> 02.27.10<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<p><b><span style='color:black'>State and federal water regulators agreed
Friday to open the spigots a bit more on account of all the recent rain and
snow, prompting Sen. Dianne Feinstein to drop her threat to bypass the
Endangered Species Act to get farmers more water.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='color:black'>The announcements from Sacramento and
Washington offered some relief to Central Valley farmers and ration-weary
homeowners, but happy times for the tenders of hay fields and hot tubs are
still a long way off, according to water regulators. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='color:black'>The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation will be giving
farmers south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta 30 percent of the water
they requested. That's compared with 10 percent in 2009, when many fields were
left fallow. The percentage could rise to 40 percent, analysts said, as water
is purchased from other sources.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='color:black'>The California Department of Water Resources
raised its allotment to 15 percent of the water requested by water agencies
representing some 25 million residents. That's up from the 5 percent originally
proposed - but it is comparable to the amount of water allocated at this time
last year.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='color:black'>"Valley farmers have suffered tremendously
during California's three-year drought," U.S. Secretary of the Interior
Ken Salazar said in a statement. "The department has identified actions
that will provide additional water on top of what an average water year would
deliver."<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='color:black'>The announcements came a day after federal
officials predicted a huge increase in the number of salmon in the Sacramento
River system despite a record low number last year, opening the possibility of
a fishing season. The salmon season had been canceled for the past two years
because of low numbers of spawning fish. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='color:black'>Environmental advocates and fishermen have
blamed the drop in salmon numbers on increased water diversions to farmers that
they say have sucked baby salmon into pumps.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<h3><span style='color:black'>Change of plans<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<p><b><span style='color:black'>Regulators on Friday denied that the optimistic
forecasts had anything to do with Feinstein's threat to amend the law and
increase pumping for farmers, but the rosy outlook nevertheless convinced her
to scotch her controversial proposal. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='color:black'>"Much creative thinking and work has been
done by many people to make this happen, for which I thank the many people
involved," Feinstein said in a statement. "I will watch this
situation carefully and I am placing my proposed amendment on hold; however, I reserve
the right to bring it back should it become necessary."<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='color:black'>The water content of the California snowpack is
currently above average for this time of year, especially in the northern
Sierra, which is 121 percent of normal. That's important because rain and snow
runoff in the northern Sierra feeds the state's largest reservoir, Shasta Lake,
which, at its current 72 percent capacity, is at 98 percent of average for this
date. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='color:black'>Lake Oroville, the State Water Project's
primary source of drinking water, is only 38 percent full. That's 54 percent of
the average storage for this date. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<h3><span style='color:black'>Different roles<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<p><b><span style='color:black'>Water from Shasta is used by the federal
Central Valley Project to irrigate about 3 million acres of farmland from
Redding to Bakersfield and provide drinking water for close to 2 million
people. The State Water Project, in contrast, is oriented more toward urban and
industrial uses, providing drinking water to about 25 million Californians and
water to 700,000 acres of farmland. <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='color:black'>The discrepancy in the levels of the two big
reservoirs, analysts say, is because abundant rainfall can fill Shasta while
Oroville relies more on snow runoff in the spring. Water managers said a lot of
the runoff is being absorbed into the ground, which is still parched after
three years of drought.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='color:black'>Mark Cowin, the director of the state
Department of Water Resources, said the 15 percent state allocation would be
the lowest in history. The department ultimately delivered 40 percent of what
was requested last year - a year in which many Bay Area communities were forced
to ration water. Cowin said the amount could be increased to as high as 40
percent if the storms keep coming. If they stop, though, he said, things could
get worse.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='color:black'>"Despite a relatively wet winter, our
reservoir storage levels remain low," Cowin said. "After three years
of drought conditions and a number of mandated pumping restrictions, even a wet
year won't get us out of the woods."<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<h3><span style='color:black'>Some still upset<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
<p><b><span style='color:black'>Environmentalists and fishermen expressed
relief that Feinstein will not be going through with her threat to mandate
increased pumping, but they were still upset that farming got the nod over
regulations protecting salmon habitat.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p><b><span style='color:black'>"We're happy that the water year is
looking better than the last three years. It is good news for the environment
and it is good news for the cities," said Spreck Rosekrans, the senior
analyst for the Environmental Defense Fund. "We're disappointed that the
Endangered Species Act has been put in the balance subject to this year's
hydrology. It's a bad precedent." <o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:9.5pt;color:black'><br>
<br>
Read more: <a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/27/MNEM1C7TJD.DTL#ixzz0gmq2qR6g">http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/27/MNEM1C7TJD.DTL#ixzz0gmq2qR6g</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<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
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<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>PO Box 2327</span></i><span
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