Podcast

Music/Announcer: This is a Podcast from the U.S. Department of the Interior

Ron Tull: Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today announced that the Bureau of Reclamation’s 2010 Central Valley Project Water Supply allocations have increased throughout the valley as a result of additional precipitation, improved snowpack, and improved storage at Shasta Reservoir. As forecast by Reclamation on February 26, California is having a near-average water year following three years of drought, allowing Secretary Salazar to move up his allocation update.

Secretary Salazar: The reason for moving it up is because people who are on the ground, who are farming at this point in time, need to have certainty. Every day as a farmer we know matters a lot and so having the most recent and up-to-date timely information is imperative and we are trying to do that by providing this allocation today.

Ron Tull: The Department of the Interior is working diligently with its Federal and State partners and stakeholders to secure additional water for agricultural water users on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley. Under this initiative, an additional 150,000 to 200,000 acre-feet new supplies will be secured. Deputy Secretary David Hayes, Interior’s point man on California water says we can’t lose site of long-term plans.

Deputy Secretary Hayes: We are committed to coming up with a structure and an approach with the involvement of all stakeholders that will address the systemic challenge that we face in California with a system that is not currently capable of addressing all of the demands being placed upon it. That’s the fundamental root cause of the challenges that we’re facing and we want to address that so that the twin goals of a more reliable and robust water supply and a healthy ecosystem can be advanced together.

Ron Tull: Additional information regarding the updated forecastis available in the Bureau of Reclamations web site at www.usbr.gov/mp/pa/water. This has been a podcast from the U.S. Department of the Interior; I’m Ron Tull, Washington.