San Joaquin Delta

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WRB
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San Joaquin Delta

Post by WRB »

I have followed the Delta politics for a lone time when the Feather River Project was started to deliver water from NorCal to SoCal creating lakes SoCal Pyrmide, Castiac and Silverwood with water supplied from the canal. That was 50 years ago when the political powers were more behind the curtain.
Fast forward to today when the Federal and State politics have joined to destroy what I always considered the small farmer/rancher bread basket of the country.
My close friends who have been family owned fot 4 generations are being forced out. Last year they had to up grade all their diesel powered engines to series 4 and remove the diesel powered well pumps and change to electrical.
The cost to power 5 electric pumps was 20k per month. They installed solar arrays engineered by PG&E to power the pumps and everything else electrical. Now the extra power can’t be sold back because the local wire can’t handle the added power.
The ranch removed 200 acres of walnut grooves because the market is dominated by China, they couldn’t compete any longer.
The local fertilizer plant had to shut down after they were forced to natural gas and the Feds shut down the gas supply.
The last straw now is the rancher/farmer needs to go deeper for well water now at 160’ and the Feds and State will not issue permits at a cost of 300K per well. Basically squeezing the family farm out of business.
The massive coops own nearly every small family ranch/farms water rights.
Over 90% of the Feather River water goes to large coops, 10% to where it was originally built
for.
I believe now the fragile Delta fresh water system is domed from salt water incursion by greedy large ag. Very sad to watch 4th generation farmers disappear and a world class fishery being destroyed.
Tom
mark poulson
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Re: San Joaquin Delta

Post by mark poulson »

Sad to hear that.
I actually drove down into Pyramid while it was under construction with my wife and first two kids.
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Whoopbass
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Re: San Joaquin Delta

Post by Whoopbass »

Maybe your friends can make a healthy campaign contribution to one of these scum politicians and get the ball rolling for a well permit.
mark poulson
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Re: San Joaquin Delta

Post by mark poulson »

Whoopbass wrote: Wed May 11, 2022 8:12 am Maybe your friends can make a healthy campaign contribution to one of these scum politicians and get the ball rolling for a well permit.
Maybe I should hit up Stuart Resnick. :lol:
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El Jefe
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Re: San Joaquin Delta

Post by El Jefe »

The root cause of all of it is urban sprawl.
mark poulson
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Re: San Joaquin Delta

Post by mark poulson »

El Jefe wrote: Thu May 12, 2022 7:59 pm The root cause of all of it is urban sprawl.
I think it's kind of a two edged sword. On the one hand, there are lots more people living in CA than when the aqueduct was first built, but those people are the ones who buy the products our state's farmers produce.
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WRB
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Re: San Joaquin Delta

Post by WRB »

My late son was going to college at Berkeley between 2000-2004 or about 2 decades ago.
we traveled the I5 north many times along the San Joaquin valley from the I99 Split to I508 south of Stockton. The valley at that time was basically brush and undeveloped for 300 miles.
Today the valley is orchards and dairy for 300 miles. The reason is simple Resnick and other large coop ag’s bought all the water rights from the small farmers who couldn't to water their crops.
The era of the family owned farms are going away, most 3rd to 4th generation immergrants who made the valley a bread basket.
Our water is irrigating the valley today for big ag.
Tom
El Jefe
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Re: San Joaquin Delta

Post by El Jefe »

WRB wrote: Fri May 13, 2022 7:14 pm My late son was going to college at Berkeley between 2000-2004 or about 2 decades ago.
we traveled the I5 north many times along the San Joaquin valley from the I99 Split to I508 south of Stockton. The valley at that time was basically brush and undeveloped for 300 miles.
Today the valley is orchards and dairy for 300 miles. The reason is simple Resnick and other large coop ag’s bought all the water rights from the small farmers who couldn't to water their crops.
The era of the family owned farms are going away, most 3rd to 4th generation immergrants who made the valley a bread basket.
Our water is irrigating the valley today for big ag.
Tom
Not exactly... the reason the farms moved to the less desirable areas is because the more productive land was sold for subdivisions, in some cases by eminent domain. The voting population changed which is reflected in our public officials who are easily swayed by developers to annex and re-zone more farmland for urban uses. Most of those farmers are relaxing somewhere now with a much better retirement than most of us.

The demand for those lost products is still there which causes the price to rise until it becomes profitable to farm crappy ground. Like I said....it all goes back to urban sprawl. The reason this is such a great state for agriculture (weather, water, geography, etc, excluding politics ) is also why it is such a great state for fish and wildlife.... we need to stop penalizing farmers for the decline of fish and get some legislation to protect farmland and incentivize higher density housing. This is a pipe dream though because everyone wants there 1 acre lot with a riding lawn mower.
Whoopbass
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Re: San Joaquin Delta

Post by Whoopbass »

So you would like to see most people stacked like cord wood in high rise apartments to protect farmland? I don't see too many one acre lots. Most homes built now are within 10' of each other.
Why are you even concerned with any of this? You will get your water until Melones dries up. It's sitting at 38% capacity right now but your irrigation district tells you you're in good shape.
Seems like since you have your land and water locked in you would be fighting for no more new farmland and more mouths to feed.
WRB
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Re: San Joaquin Delta

Post by WRB »

Whoopbass wrote: Fri May 13, 2022 10:52 pm So you would like to see most people stacked like cord wood in high rise apartments to protect farmland? I don't see too many one acre lots. Most homes built now are within 10' of each other.
Why are you even concerned with any of this? You will get your water until Melones dries up. It's sitting at 38% capacity right now but your irrigation district tells you you're in good shape.
Seems like since you have your land and water locked in you would be fighting for no more new farmland and more mouths to feed.
June 1st we start water rationing with 7 gallons per day for all water usage.
The Feather River project doesn’t use water form Melones.
WRB
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Re: San Joaquin Delta

Post by WRB »

WRB wrote: Sat May 14, 2022 9:58 am
Whoopbass wrote: Fri May 13, 2022 10:52 pm So you would like to see most people stacked like cord wood in high rise apartments to protect farmland? I don't see too many one acre lots. Most homes built now are within 10' of each other.
Why are you even concerned with any of this? You will get your water until Melones dries up. It's sitting at 38% capacity right now but your irrigation district tells you you're in good shape.
Seems like since you have your land and water locked in you would be fighting for no more new farmland and more mouths to feed.
June 1st we start water rationing with 7 gallons per day for all water usage.
The Feather River project doesn’t use water form Melones, it’s supplied from Orville.
Tom
El Jefe
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Re: San Joaquin Delta

Post by El Jefe »

Whoopbass wrote: Fri May 13, 2022 10:52 pm So you would like to see most people stacked like cord wood in high rise apartments to protect farmland?
No, to be a 100% honest high density housing is a compromise because I realize the best solution isn’t feasible…… I would rather people move to a state that was water rich like the Great Lakes area where their impact on farmland was less. But preservation of farmland is still the goal. Less people in this state means more food and also more fish and wildlife. All the city dwellers would be welcome to visit 👍🏻
Whoopbass
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Re: San Joaquin Delta

Post by Whoopbass »

You're right there is way too many people in CA and there will be nothing done about that. With bad politics, congestion, etc it is forcing some people out but that is a slow process. Didn't the population of the state finally go down for once?
I still think the management of our water is piss poor and when one segment has to ration they all should regardless of water rights that i'm sure were crooked deals to begin with in the first place.
All this use it up before the someone else gets it and do nothing mentality is going to come to a head one of these days.
Hopefully its not now.
mark poulson
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Re: San Joaquin Delta

Post by mark poulson »

Whoopbass wrote: Sat May 14, 2022 11:16 am You're right there is way too many people in CA and there will be nothing done about that. With bad politics, congestion, etc it is forcing some people out but that is a slow process. Didn't the population of the state finally go down for once?
I still think the management of our water is piss poor and when one segment has to ration they all should regardless of water rights that i'm sure were crooked deals to begin with in the first place.
All this use it up before the someone else gets it and do nothing mentality is going to come to a head one of these days.
Hopefully its not now.
I agree.
Unfortunately, if it's not now, it will be too soon.
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El Jefe
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Re: San Joaquin Delta

Post by El Jefe »

mark poulson wrote: Sat May 14, 2022 2:40 pm
Whoopbass wrote: Sat May 14, 2022 11:16 am You're right there is way too many people in CA and there will be nothing done about that. With bad politics, congestion, etc it is forcing some people out but that is a slow process. Didn't the population of the state finally go down for once?
I still think the management of our water is piss poor and when one segment has to ration they all should regardless of water rights that i'm sure were crooked deals to begin with in the first place.
All this use it up before the someone else gets it and do nothing mentality is going to come to a head one of these days.
Hopefully its not now.
I agree.
Unfortunately, if it's not now, it will be too soon.
The farms were here first, the "mismanagement" has been the uncontrolled population expansion and subdivision of prime farmland. I agree that we are growing too many damn almonds but that is a byproduct of farmers being forced to become more profitable or go bankrupt. I just get real tired of everyone thinking that ALL FARMERS are Stuart Resnick or some other corporate mega farm. The road I live on is about a mile long and has about 8 different land owners..... A small dairy about 120 acres... a couple different almond ranches from 20 acres to 400.... a couple irrigated pasture beef operations and it IS this way from Bakersfield to Redding. There are still a ton of small family farms all over this state that depend on affordable water to continue producing cheap safe food for this country. The dip chit politicians would love for everyone to believe that we are all factory farms raking in millions in profits and are the cause of all evil but that is not the FACT.... I love to fish and hunt and it was all able to co-exist before the population in this state exploded 50 years ago.
Jboutfishn
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Re: San Joaquin Delta

Post by Jboutfishn »

mark poulson wrote: Sat May 14, 2022 2:40 pm
Whoopbass wrote: Sat May 14, 2022 11:16 am You're right there is way too many people in CA and there will be nothing done about that. With bad politics, congestion, etc it is forcing some people out but that is a slow process. Didn't the population of the state finally go down for once?
I still think the management of our water is piss poor and when one segment has to ration they all should regardless of water rights that i'm sure were crooked deals to begin with in the first place.
All this use it up before the someone else gets it and do nothing mentality is going to come to a head one of these days.
Hopefully its not now.
I agree.
Unfortunately, if it's not now, it will be too soon.
Pretty much on target.
Sixty years ago I harvested many deer just north of Fontana. Used to catch fish on the East fork of the San Gabriel River. Caught a few spawning browns above what I called Morris Dam.

Times Change.
jiggin4bass
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Re: San Joaquin Delta

Post by jiggin4bass »

Welcome to CA. :lol:
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