The News Review:

- Salazar Vilsack nominations give voice to rural America
- Climate change could dramatically affect water supplies
- Grant advances water project
- Water board approves Everglades land purchase

Salazar Vilsack nominations give voice to rural America
Los Angeles Times CA 
Tom Vilsack — a longtime chief executive of a major farm state nominated Wednesday for Agriculture secretary — Obama is adding two rural-tuned voices to the Cabinet of the most urban president in at least 100 years. Salazar’s adds a background and perhaps a preference for farm and ranching interests to the often-contentious politics of western water scarcity. Among the Interior secretary’s duties is to oversee management of the Colorado River a crucial source of water for irrigation and municipal supplies for seven states including California. He will have a major say in appointments to key water posts including the commissioner of the U. Bureau of Reclamation which runs the biggest water system in the country California’s Central Valley Project. “We’re very pleased that we got someone who actually knows water who is a Westerner and is a centrist — not a liberal and not a conservative” said Jeffrey Kightlinger general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
Related from Bloggingrssmonster: Live-Blogging Obama’s News Conference

Climate change could dramatically affect water supplies
PhysOrg.com VA 
This analysis focused on a specific semi-arid region near Lubbock Texas in the southern High Plains. Predictions of the kinds and magnitudes of precipitation changes that may occur as the planet warms are included in the reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and are expressed as ranges of possible outcomes. “Because there is so much uncertainty we wanted to be able to bracket” the expected impact on water supplies under the diverse climate projections Ng says. “What we found was very interesting” Ng says. “It looks like the changes in recharge could be even greater than the changes in climate. For a given percentage change in precipitation we’re getting even greater changes in recharge rates. ” Among the most important factors the team found is the timing and duration of the precipitation.

Grant advances water project
Minot Daily News ND 
The commission approved the grant Wednesday for Tioga and Stanley from the state Resources Trust Fund. Money in the fund comes primarily from the oil extraction tax. The Ray and Tioga Water Supply Association is proposing a $6 million project to increase the water supply to the two towns. “Stanley needs more water than we can provide at this time” said Elizabeth Suhr secretary-treasurer of the association. “Tioga in the future will need more water. “The demand on the water system has increased because of oil development and a growing residential population. Beverly Gleave Stanley city auditor said Stanley hasn’t run short of water to meet its residential needs.

Water board approves Everglades land purchase
The Associated Press 
(AP) — The organization that controls water supplies for most of South Florida has approved a $1. 34 billion buyout plan to restore the Everglades. The South Florida Water Management District voted Tuesday for the buyout of U.