49ers earn $1.3 billion from Levi’s Stadium

According to the San Jose Mercury News, the 49ers have earned $1.3 billion in revenue from Levi’s Stadium, the same amount of money they spent to build it. To read the article, click here.

The 49ers’ brand currently is strong.

This article has 114 Comments

  1. Grant, who is the most responsible for the 49ers getting a new stadium? How much of a part did Jed play in making it happen and not just being the guy who shows up for the photo ops?

    1. CFC
      There is a great article about that in ESPN the Mag Bay Area Issue. In it they describe Jed goin door to door in SC to stump to turn the tide of public oppinion. And then later him and Gideon Yu pitching major banks in NYC, at one point staking his ownership claim on it (a stipulation that would make him default on a loan and force him to sell the team if he didnt secure the finances ahead of a predetermined deadline) It made it sound like he was the main driving force behind it.

  2. generally you don’t “raise” revenue. You earn it. The term “raise” generally refers to capital/funding…ie…raising debt, raising equity.

      1. Grant,

        you wanna speculate on Vernon Davis’s status and the Jimmy Graham ruling?

        Arbitrator Stephen Burbank:

        “I conclude that Mr. Graham was at the position of tight end for purposes of Article 10, Section 2(a)(i) when, at the snap, he was aligned adjacent to or ‘arm’s-length’ from the nearest offensive lineman and also when he was in the slot, at least if such alignment brought him within four yards of such linemen,” Burbank wrote in the 14-page, single-spaced decision obtained by PFT. Because Graham lined up in either of those two ways more than half the time in 2013, Burbank concluded that Graham is a tight end for purposes of the franchise tag.

        So why did Burbank draw a line in the slot? Burbank concluded that, within the distance of four yards, a tight end can perform any of his three primary roles: blocking on running plays, blocking on passing plays, and running pass routes.
        http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/07/02/four-yards-save-saints-more-than-5-million/

          1. Well, he is already paid like an elite TE, and he wants a raise. You do the math.

              1. No, he’s just in the top 3. If you need reason why he doesn’t deserve a new deal, just watch the 2013 NFC Championship game. You’d swear he didn’t play. He was invisible!

              2. This is a response to 23jordon, and he and others keep saying that
                Davis was invisible the fact is , he was wide open in the end zone on
                that last play and Kap didn’t even look his way, so he was there and
                would of had a touch down, to me that’s not invisible.

              3. Ron, he was extremely invisible. The last play? What about the 60 before that. He was invisible. Just like he has been for comp this year. He does not deserve a raise. He has a contract. He needs to report. He’s not getting a new deal right now.

          2. I think to a certain degree Vernon was making the case you were making about his value to the team as a big play receiver. Based strictly on “position” (where he lines up) Vernon is even more of a Tight End than Graham and I’d bet that based on the Niner’s heavy run offense he blocks far more than Graham. But he is a big play Tight End and that’s an argument that can be made (unsuccessfully).

            What I think is that Vernon is lobbying for an extension for more guarantee money. I heard Brent Jones talking about this on the radio and he said that he thinks that Vernon could try to push for a team friendly Kaepernick type of deal. I think that’s the last thing Davis wants. Kaepernick got some money but most of his money essentially not guaranteed and his contract is year to year there’s no guarantee that he’ll see much of the big money on the back end of the contract. I think Davis wants to negotiate a team friendly deal that locks down his money going forward. People keep saying that Davis should wait until next year to renegotiate his deal. Next year the Niners will have no cap room and will be forced to renegotiate or cut some pricey players. A 32 year old Davis would be at the top of that list IMO. I think Davis knows this so he wants to renegotiate now and offer to reduce his future salary but then guarantee it in the form of a signing bonus and/or option bonus over an additional 2-3 years. He gets his money up front and the Niners reduce his cap hit and his salary. But if Davis waits until next year, the Niners will have no cap space to work with and would be far more willing to trade or cut Davis.

            1. I don’t see where they will not have some cap space, they will get about
              20 mil more in cap money next season, so where do you get that there will be no cap room.

              1. The current Cap is at $133M. If the cap goes up by another $10M…which would be huge but not unexpected, the cap would be at about $143M. The Niner’s projected Cap with no restructuring or replacing lost players will be at $141M. That leaves them less than $2M in cap space to sign more players and rookies in 2015. So obviously they’re going to have to restructure and cut some players.

              2. AFFP, you make some good points, but I’d encourage you to consider that there are two other major restructures outside of VD that will significantly improve the 2015 cap picture.

                1. Aldon Smith was tendered a 9.5M option that the team can revoke if he continues to be a mutton head. That 9.5M option is appearing on the 2015 cap right now. Hefty hit, but it is presently only guaranteed for injury. I suspect if Aldon puts the childish ways behind him, SF will negotiate a long-term contract extension with him that will significantly lower this 2015 cap hit and spread his contract into 2016-19 when the cap is going to go up again (probably massively).

                2. Patrick Willis needs to be extended as his contract is up in 2016. That could be done in such a manner to reduce his 2015 cap hit. I’m too lazy at the moment to look it up, but IIRC it’s somewhere between 8-10M.

                The 49ers also have other vets, namely Justin Smith and Ray Mcdonald, who could retire or be cut in 2015. If we win the SB, JS will almost certainly retire. McDonald could be cut if our young pups show they can handle the daily roles.

                The cap and roster management is in good hands.

              3. @ron

                i absolutely agree that there are other contracts that will need to be renegotiated in 2015. there are a lot of contracts that can be managed to create room. Brooks and Staley…could be extended or let go/walk. Yup, Willis is inline for an extension too. So yes a lot can be done next year….I did not want to imply that the Niners are stuck at a possible $2M in space under the cap. I’m just saying that Vernon wants to jump to the front of the line and also maybe get some of the 2014 cap space money too.

                People keep saying that Vernon should wait until next year to renegotiate. That he has less leverage this year because he has 2 years left on his contract. I disagree. I think because of all the contract restructuring that will go on next year, he will be a disadvantage at getting an extension next year. I think he knows that and that’s why he made a move to kick start negotiations this year.

            2. Allforfunplay: Does Davis think the front office is inhabited by fools. So all Davis want is to extend his contract with most of his money up front. Sound familier? Well after he gets his money up front he can again argue that post front loaded salary isn’t enough. Then he can sit out AGAIN and continue renegotiate his salary into infinity.

    1. Thanks, Coffee. I found the following really amazing: “Using last season’s results as an example, the 49ers had an average Game Script of 5.9 points. This tells us that at any moment during a game last season, on average, San Francisco held a lead of 5.9 points over their opponent. That mark was good enough for the second highest in the NFL, trailing only the Broncos.”

    2. That was the Bill Walsh philosophy. He passed in the first half to set up the run in the second half. The 49ers usually were playing with a lead so they took the air out of the ball and ran it alot in the 2nd half.

  3. The reason Vernon Davis wants a raise, even though he is still playing out the last two years of his contract, is his investment company. He simply wants to increase the return on investment for his investors.
    You remember he became the first NFL player to sell shares in his future income to anonymous investors. Sales of those shares are lagging behind his projections. So he is trying to pump them up by holding out for more immediate money to make the shares more attractive. The media exposure of his holdout helps sales also.
    Given his age, he is being compensated fairly under a contract he signed. That his performance has increased a bit is reason to negotiate a new contract when this one expires, if his employer believes he still has something to offer the team.
    I do not believe the 49ers will honor his holdout at all. I do not believe he deserves nor will be given a new contract this year.

    1. “Sales of those shares are lagging behind his projections.”
      Whaaaat? Inflated expectations from the folks who sold him on going public? When does that ever happen, LOL? He bought a rosy scenario but the public isn’t impressed?
      You’re right, Keith, but the entire premise is flawed due to not accounting for the depreciation factor facing all athletes over time. The wear & tear of the NFL accelerates the decline. He lost thousands on that other deal where he & other investors were promised 12+% ROI but never got a dime and lost the principle too.
      Vernon is a really good Tight End, an artist and interesting guy who is trying to think ahead for his future but in finance he’s more like Jack and the Beanstalk.

    2. unless Vernon owns stock in Fantex, it doesn’t matter to him if his shares go up or down, he got his $4M up front.

      what blows my mind about the whole Fantex deal is that the player has no real fiduciary responsibility to his investors. essentially, the deal is the player pockets investor’s money up front and they hope he makes more money. I didn’t believe this at first, until someone pulled the actual language about this from the Fantex agreement documents and posted it. I can’t understand how an investor would put money into anything or anyone that doesn’t have a fiduciary responsibility to make you money.

      1. As a stock broker in a prior life, I’m not surprised. There is a saying, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Not true. There are thousands of them born every minute.

        1. That’s true, George, and any of them that bought huge blocks of this over-the-counter, low-volume stock like Fantex are really in for a big surprise if they try to unload when the average volume is under 100 shares per day. I believe nine shares were exchanged yesterday, lol. Right now the price ($11.40) is being manipulated by small investors buying and selling as little as 30-40 shares at a time, but can you imagine how low the price could go if the large investors started pulling out?

      2. Allforfun: He (Davis) might be obligated by contract to do everything in his power to increase his “Brand”. Holding out for a new contract even though it doesn’t materialize might just be something he is doing to fulfill his part of the contract. Ergo his comment he had to try.

        As to the stocks I don’t believe they were never meant to be a serious money making investment. I believe the initial sales were just fueled by fans who wanted a piece of Davis much like fans want autographs. The brokers are just using Davis as a product in order to legitimize what is in essence a pyramid scheme. This contract extension tactic was a push to increase sales and a last ditch effort to get the last drop of money out of a dying stock before it collapses completely.

  4. Re Aldon Smith possible suspension, I just saw on Rotoworld that Polian thinks three games “at most.” Apologies if already mentioned:

    “Appearing on Sirius XM Radio, ex-NFL GM Bill Polian predicted Aldon Smith will receive a three-game suspension “at most” for his off-field transgressions.”

    1. Thanks George. Great bit of information. I think since LAX is out of the picture, and since it’s likely the Santa Clara judge will give probation + hefty fine + community service. The real trick is whether the judge sentences Aldon on the gun charges as felonies, or if he reduces them to misdemeanors as part of a “quiet plea agreement” reached in chambers weeks ago.

    1. Jack:

      Good list. I think you identified the right players in the right order, but you know you’re wrong about McDonald’s “drop” in the Carolina game. That wasn’t a drop by McDonald; it was a great play by Kuechly. .

        1. Jack

          Not that it matters, but I side with ‘Clawed’ on this one…both hands on the ball isn’t a good measuring stick on that play; Kuechly actually had position, and that’s why the result was what it was….ripped out

          1. Oregonin: stated that “Kuechly actually had position”. I don’t know for sure if this was one of the times when McDonald had the opportunity to put his body between the ball and the defender. I think this might have one of those times. A good receiver will position his body to block out the defender. That was a major short coming that I noticed about Mac’s game. He doesn’t seem to be aware of the relationship of his defender in respect to the ball. It’s something like a good rebounder in basketball does. Kuechly never should have had positiona and that is as much on Mac as dropping the ball uncontested.

            1. @willtalk

              It’s “mano y Mano” every play between the receiver and the defender…the receiver knows where the ball is supposed to be…the defender has to gamble where the the ball is supposed to be on probably 90% of the pass plays, and sets up for the collision. This time, Kuechly guessed right….next time it might be McDonald 20 yards further downfield untouched. Sometimes you eat the bear…sometimes…well, you know….

      1. Jack’s not wrong about McDonald’s drop. Most the viewed it, viewed it as a drop me included. But it’s ok for you to state your opinion. Even McDonald states he was depressed for weeks and couldn’t stop thinking about his “dropped pass”.

        1. It’s not a drop when the defender pulls your hand off of the ball. The result of the play said more about Kuechly than it did about McDonald. Kuechly was selected as the NFC defensive player of the week for his play in that game, and that play contributed to his selection.

          I’m glad McDonald feels like he should have held on to the ball. If he didn’t, I’d have significant concerns about him. That said, it wasn’t a drop.

          Look at it this way. If someone knocks your plate out of your hand at a barbecue this weekend, it wouldn’t be accurate to say you dropped it.

          1. “If someone knocks your plate out of your hand at a barbecue this weekend, it wouldn’t be accurate to say you dropped it.”

            That won’t happen to me. I’m very sure handed.

            1. Are you going to be at the same party as Luke Kuechly? We could set something up.

  5. Nice job Jack. The Rantsports website dormat kinda blows though, IMO.
    Also on the list:

    6) Kendall Hunter- Needs to show he’s got what it takes to be heir apparent to Frank the Tank. There’s going to be beastly competition breathing down his neck.
    7) Quintin Patton- Is he worthy of the #3 WR spot? Injury kept QP from getting enough reps last season to answer the question. The entire Niner nation will be watching this position with laser like focus.

    1. Yeah I agree with that. Sorry Jack, I enjoy your writing but I’m not clicking through 10+ pages to artificially pump up a websites hits.

          1. Obviously me. I don’t have a problem clicking through a presentation, but I guess some folks do. Bummer.

            1. I clicked through the Rant sports page, but something is wrong with that site. It just doesn’t work very well. Poor transitions from the photo to the overlay explaining why that player was chosen as someone with something to prove.

    1. It’s the play one up from the bottom on the right. Now it’s not against a 3-4 defense but it is a guard/center double team on a 3 technique which is what we had discussed.

  6. The 49ers COO is named Al Guido? What a great name for a guy working for a family that has been rumored by be “connected” for decades. I can hear Big Al now…

    Nice stadium. It’d be a shame if something were to happen to it.

  7. Dion Jordan banned 4 games for PED violation. That would explain how he bulked up so much.

    1. I don’t why these guys try to take shortcuts. It always bites you in the end…..

      1. A disappointing rookie year and now a suspension. Not a good start to his career. Doesn’t help that he’s also playing in a D that doesn’t suit his skills – he should be a 3-4 OLB, not a 4-3 DE.

        1. Not a good start at all, especially taking into consideration where he was drafted and what they gave up for him. If he can’t get on track, he’ll go down as one of the bigger busts….

          1. Wonder what the Dolphins would be willing to take for him in a trade now? Bet they wish they had held more serious talks with the Eagles before the draft…

          2. Yeah. Then Baalke grabs him for a 7th and he thrives under Fangio coming off the bench.

  8. VD – That 1.3 billion has nothing to do with you…..You are a good TE not a great WR…..Get your ass to the equipment room to get your swollen head measured…..Put your art fantasy world on hold and that low-profit juice it up franchise can wait too. Those are hobbies!
    It’s time to focus on beating Seattle….Damnit!

      1. Sherman, Sherman — I love that guy’s commitment and hard work. Sherman and Baldwin played on the team w/Luck. Sherman says Luck could have been on an NFL team during his freshman year, he was that smart and good. Baldwin always said Luck was going to be great.

        Sherman says he and Baldwin survived Harbaugh. No love lost there.

        1. Yeah? Well I hope he gets obliterated by a VMac Truck! No love lost here either.

          1. He’s on the Madden Cover. I think Saxon puts it nicely:

            Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
            Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

            You’re a mind of useless information
            I’ll make it easy on you
            I’ll never say what you want me
            I’m not a martyr for your cause

            What goes around comes around
            You’re gonna get what’s coming to you
            What goes around comes around
            You’re gonna get what’s coming to you
            You’re gonna get what’s coming to you, yeah

            Can’t seem to figure out your problem
            I’m just not hearing what you say
            You got a mouth just like a shotgun
            Go spit your Buckshot out the door

            What goes around comes around
            You’re gonna get what’s coming to you
            What goes around (yeah) comes around
            You’re gonna get what’s coming to you

            I find it easy to see
            You’re runnin’ everywhere
            I say to you
            I say to you

            You live your life outside my back door
            I just can’t take it anymore
            Those seedy games will take you nowhere
            Why don’t you get yourself a life

            What goes around comes around
            You’re gonna get what’s coming to you
            What goes around comes around
            You’re gonna get what’s coming to you

            What goes around comes around
            You’re gonna get what’s coming to you
            What goes around comes around
            You’re gonna get what’s coming to you
            Comin’ to you

            1. How ’bout “let’s move on” everyone knows that he got what’s coming to him…he’s the best CB in football, and that’s why he’s All-Pro.

              1. Awwww, it’s alright. We love to love our heroes and love to hate our villains. I despised Deion in Atlanta. I loved him in R&G. I loathed him in Dallas.
                I got all fired up about Michael Irvin, but he woulda been my Homie here, right?
                Sherman is loud and in the World’s face. Mary cheers and we boo.

              2. Nope, he has NOT got what’s coming to him. But it’s coming this year.
                Payback! Embarrassment and humiliation at the hands of Kap and Crab.
                On the big stage again, the NFCCG. At Levi Stadium. Yessir, it’s coming.

    1. Kojac – If I was the webmaster in here I would nuke your existence. Worst picture I’ve seen in several years in here. No mas…..Seriously

      1. You would “nuke my existence”??? What have you been drinking, dude? Did you just get stopped by a cop?

        1. Or are you talking about the picture of Harbaugh with Sherman? If so, let me tell you that I dislike him too, but in truth I wish he were playing corner for us. What’s your beef — my avatar or Sherman?

          1. I thought only a tweaker could post a photo of Richard Sherman on a Niner blog. I hope I was wrong.

            When you first appeared in here I welcomed you and praised the avatar, maybe you were drinking that day.

            1. Crab, I thought it showed poor judgement too, but I don’t think George meant it as an insult to Niner fans.

  9. For a good laugh check out Donte Whitner’s Twitter timeline tonight. Dude’s a goof.

  10. question for Coach Harbaw:
    70,000+ fans, packing a new stadium;
    can you imagine the disappointment if
    you do not bring home a Super Bowl
    trophy this year? My oh my oh my..!!!

    One more thing: we want eye contact
    during your pressers this year. Give it up
    on the slack-jawed stare, fella. Relax, sorta.

  11. Happy Independence Day everyone! Be sure to spend plenty of time today time with your friends and loved ones. Remember that this day stands for our freedom and there has been many that gave all in order to preserve that freedom. God bless the U.S.A., those who fought for our freedom in the past and those who will fight for it in the future, and everybody on this blog.

    1. In 1776 we were so mad about taxes we declared our independence from England.
      238 years later everybody still seems pretty p#$*#!-off about taxes, but what the heck, have a beer and some fried chicken. Happy b’day ‘Merica.

    1. MID,
      Ha! Good stuff.
      Happy 4th of July to you and entire PD blog family!

      Special thanks to all past and current service men and women for making our freedoms possible.

  12. Happy 4th to Grant and all you tremendous Niner bloggers! You too George/Kojac.

    The chicks are lookin fine down here on San Clemente beach today. ;)…Stars and stripes bikini’s are always welcome.

    How long til we crush them Cowgirls?

        1. I don’t know how special they are but I do have plans. BBQ with the usual suspects. Enjoy your day and remember if you can’t be good be good at it.

    1. Happy 4th to you too, Crab, even though you wanted to “nuke my existence.” That wasn’t funny. How would you like people saying that to you? For your information, my blood is Niner red, although if you don’t believe that, I really don’t care. If anyone should be banned from this blog, it is someone who wishes that a fellow poster should be put to death. If Grant is reading this, I hope he responds, and if it ever happens again, I will take it up with his newspaper. I trust I am making myself clear.

      1. Damn, Geo, you would have hated the Alex Wars days on this blog. Those fights stooped to the reprehensible; a lot worse than Crabs’ exuberant partisanship. “Knowing” Crabs here over the years I took his phrase to mean banning your virtual personality from the chat room for violating 49er Faithfulness.
        He could’ve posted the icon of the little cartoon movie critic in the gagging pose. That’s kind of how I feel about RS! : >)

        1. BT, thanks for your post. I’ve posted enough for folks to know my colors. Always wanting us to get better and better, and seeing the glass half full. Be that as it may, I have a short memory and don’t want to make things tense. Crab, if you’re reading this, it’s water under the bridge. Go Niners.

        2. And yeah, Dick Sherman’s just that, a dick, and has let his success go to his head. But this coming year, I suspect Kap and Company will beat Seattle twice.

      2. Take it up with Grants newspaper wuss. Get over yourself.
        Most of the regulars in here are not fond of tattle tales…..Snitches get stitches lol…..Light a sparkler and chill out rookie.

  13. Happy 4th to all you 49er fans and fellow bloggers! Keep it safe and sane with the fireworks, too.

  14. Today is a time for Californian’s starved of shiny new sports facilities (and the transportation infrastructure to get people to them) to remember the revolutionary slogan “No Taxation Without Representation.”

    The colonists were denied a voice in Parliament, and eventually had something to say about it.

    For ever dollar California sends to DC in federal taxes, we get about 76 cents back in federal spending. Thanks to the electoral college, in a recent presidential election there were about 40 campaign stops in Ohio per candidate, none in California (not counting fundraisers). This lack of electoral impact has much to do with California being the biggest revenue exporting state.

    Though road/stadium/school infrastructure is not (always) from the federal revenue stream, the imbalance still creates a “rob from Peter to pay Paul” ripple effect that saps other kinds of funding, and forces Californian’s to raise local taxes/fees/tolls/fines just to keep thing going.

    To make it even more fun for California sports fans, we get to hear talking heads yammer on about how Californian’s “refuse” to build stadiums, and owners brag about stealing elite players because their state income taxes are less.

    1. Maybe we should just divide California into six states? I would be in the state of Jefferson, lol.

      1. Love the idea of a Jefferson, but an exclusively rural sate would get cut off from bay area tax revenue.

        I’m not against all revenue imbalances. Rural infrastructure (and where retiree’s choose to settle) often results in moderate revenue asymmetries. I’m OK with that. Gotta get California’s harvest to market.

        A clean decapitation of the electoral college would be my choice. I can just imagine a billboard on hwy 101 “This traffic jam brought to you by the electoral college.” (Other states would never go for it of course. We truely are stuck.)

        1. Yes, Brodie, we don’t get a fair return on federal tax dollars. That’s what slays me when guys like Rick Perry and Bobby Jindal Bloviate about cecession. They wouldn’t dare, they get well over a dollar return for dollars sent to DC; La. especially.

          1. Texas pays similar to what California does. As for the “state” of Jefferson, I wonder where those Jeffersonians are going to get the money to buy the fancy dams that the State and Feds built that keep Jefferson above water 2 out of 10 years. Finally, California had better work on a shiny new water conveyance system, unless you think running water isn’t necessary for a positive gameday experience.

            1. Greg, have you heard how many residential wells are drying up in the central valley in the Merced area? It doesn’t seem to be making much news, but there are people in that area right now with no running water and well-drillers are back-logged for eight months to drill wells deeper to get back into the aquifer. They are also not being allowed to tap into irrigation canals to water their land even though many have paid for the right to do so. They face a $500 fine if caught doing so. Shouldn’t that be an immediate concern before sending more water south?

              1. First off, very cool “picture”, reminds me of some of the shows I watched as a kid. I worked for about 11 years in the “water” business and was very involved in Delta operations. I got very burnt out, and moved on about 4 years ago, but I have a pretty good working knowledge of what is really going on. I have tried to avoid the subject as much as possible in those 4 years, but I started looking at some articles recently because of the proliferation of “stop the tunnels” signs.

                I took a quick google search and couldn’t find the specific case you mentioned, but I did see a number of articles about agricultural wells going dry because their neighbors are pumping groundwater to sell. In general, groundwater is regulated at the county level in CA (there are some exceptions to this – you will find more exceptions than rules in CA water rights law) so its hard to blame the state when a local groundwater aquifer is overdrawn. If you have a more specific reference I’d be happy to check it out and see what the real story is.

                The point I was making is that in addition to “sending water to SoCal” both the state and federal water project “send” water to Santa Clara Valley Water District. So when the throngs of faithful gather at Levi stadium in about 5 weeks for the preseason opener, the water they will be using to “flush” is from the same supply that is going to SoCal. And note, that Merced, San Jose, basically any place south of Rio Vista would not naturally receive the fresh water that is currently exported from the Delta. These areas have no more “rights” to this water than SoCal.

                If the state does not upgrade its current delta pumping facilities, there are two possible outcomes. First is the catastrophic failure of the system due to delta levee failure, especially if an earthquake happens. This failure would shut down the current system almost immediately and could take several years to return to normal operations. Imagine the economic and social effect of turning off a large portion of the drinking water to half the state’s population, as well as the water that irrigates 2 Billion dollars of crops annually. This is a much more “real” armageddon scenario that the “zombie” movies/shows that are so popular. Also note, these levees are so crappy that they have failed just due to things like snakes building nests in the levees that weaken them. An earthquake is not necessarily required for this type of failure to occur.

                The second option is the slow decay of water quality caused by rising sea levels. As sea levels rise, the salinity gradient increases across the delta. The water pumped out the south delta is typically 4 to 7 times more “salty” than water coming down the Sacramento River. As the ocean levels rise, this water quality degredation will only increase. The current degredation results in million of tons of “salts” imported to the San Joaquin valley. It also results in increased rates of cancer for those who use the water for municipal uses. This is not a catastrophic case, however increasing costs of water treatment will seriously impact the state’s (and world’s) economy.

                The benefits of creating a cross-delta conveyance system that takes the “fresh” water from the Sacramento River (which during the summers is mostly “project” water released from Shasta and Oroville) and transports it across the delta without decreasing the water quality are so great and the impacts of doing nothing are so severe that I don’t see how this isn’t the most pressing issue CA currently faces. The success of this water conveyance system is so great that most Californians don’t even have to think about their water supply system. If Californians don’t start taking this issue very seriously, it will bite us all in the backside.

                Like most of NorCal, I was born and bred to hate the Dodgers, Rams, and everything “LA”. That doesn’t change the fact that I like a stable economy, and without all those SoCal posers, our current economy doesn’t exist. We all need to keep that in mind when we discuss these issues. Also remember that the State Water Contractors (mostly Metropolitan Water District of Southern California) actually pay the full cost of the water they receive. The federal contractors (mostly San Joaquin Valley agricultural interests) pay a reduced rate for their water. This reduction is subsidized by the federal government. Remember this fact when Sean Hannity comes up to the Valley and rails on the federal government for not providing these welfare farmers their water. I have no issue with selling SoCal water as long as they pay for what it costs.

                (Note: I haven’t really talked about the “fish” but rest assured, if the fish go, so does the water quality. Allowing fish species to go extinct will cost much more in future water treatment requirements than what it would have cost to just maintain these species.)

              2. Greg, thanks for that information. You have conveyed the water situation well here in California. I hope others take note.

                The two agricultural communities that I have heard about that are being affected at this time are Livingston and Hilmar. There are several other very small towns in that area between Modesto and Merced that I am sure are also being affected but can’t recall their names. They are probably all getting ground water from the same aquifer is my guess. It’s a scary thing to know there are people out there with no running potable water.

              3. YW, after I posted, I thought damn, he’ll probably never read all that. Glad it helped. It’s frustrating that such an important topic seems to be debated in the same manner we all argue about things like Alex v. Colin, or whether Vernon should be given a new contract or not. Then again, we as a country seem to want choose our elected officials based on the same methodologies that we use to sell each other beer or body sprays (those Axe/Old Spice commercials are the worst) so I’m not sure we don’t deserve what we are getting.

              4. I also googled some more, but never was able to come up with a story that addressed the irrigation canal issues. What I did see were several storied indicating that residential wells were being affected by nearby agricultural pumping. This goes back to the fact that water law in CA is pretty much based on 19th century science and customs. Unless the County has regulations, the only way for a groundwater pumper (with some exceptions – boy I miss water law – hahaha) to address injury from another groundwater pumper is to go to civil court, which is probably the worst way to resolve these kinds of issues.

        2. Speaking of harvest, maybe the loss of tax revenue could be made up by taxing the largest cash crop (marijuana) in a state like Jefferson where I am sure it would be made legal.

Comments are closed.