Faced with a pitchfork rebellion in the San Joaquin Valley, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar last month appointed a "water czar" to deliver extra water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to farmers in certain districts south of the Delta.
That prompts a question: Will the Obama administration also appoint a "salmon czar" to help bring relief to the North Coast fishing industry, which is dependent on healthy flows in the Delta so salmon can migrate and spawn?
So far, Salazar's water agenda in California has focused almost completely on Fresno-area farmers, whose wealth and clout tend to demand attention.
That's why Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes has been tasked to bring together federal agencies to expedite certain Delta projects, including a pair of gates that would block imperiled smelt and salmon from being sucked into pumps that deliver water to the south.
It's commendable that Salazar, a former congressman from Colorado, would want to wade into the swamp of Delta politics. For the last four years, the Bush administration barely got its toes wet.
Yet because they are not from this place, Salazar and Obama may not understand the need for a balanced approach to resolving conflicts over water and natural resources. They also should be careful not to fuel certain myths that make resolution more complicated.
Some of these myths:
• The Endangered Species Act and related court rulings are the main causes of the water shortages in the San Joaquin Valley. Not true. As of the end of April, the water content in the state's snowpack was 66 percent of normal, the third dry year in a row. Drought is the main cause of water cutbacks in the San Joaquin Valley.
• All water districts in the Valley are suffering. Again, not true. Some water districts have senior water rights, meaning they get first dibs on available supplies. While holders of junior water rights, such as the Westlands Water District, have been cut back severely, other districts are close to their normal allotments.
• Central Valley salmon are suffering only because of ocean conditions. Another falsehood. Salmon runs have bounced around but have generally declined since the 1960s, even with gyrating ocean conditions. Clearly, their habitat in the Valley has degraded – a habitat that is dependent on clear, cold, abundant water.
Through improved conservation, water banking, groundwater storage and other projects, California can help its farms and cities weather the dry periods while rebuilding a healthy fishery. That will take a cooperative approach.
Yet if certain farm districts and their congressional representatives choose to point fingers and inflame myths, cooperation will be hard to come by. The challenge for the Obama administration will be to bust through those falsehoods and serve as a moderating force for a more efficient and equitable use of water in California.
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