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Water-Starved California slows development

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 7, 2008 at 10:30 am

From the New York Times:

As California faces one of its worst droughts in two decades, building projects are being curtailed for the first time under state law by the inability of developers to find long-term water supplies.

Water authorities and other government agencies scattered throughout the state, including here in sprawling Riverside County, east of Los Angeles, have begun denying, delaying or challenging authorization for dozens of housing tracts and other developments under a state law that requires a 20-year water supply as a condition for building. California officials suggested that the actions were only the beginning, and they worry about the impact on a state that has grown into an economic powerhouse over the last several decades.

The state law was enacted in 2001, but until statewide water shortages, it had not been invoked to hold up projects. While previous droughts and supply problems have led to severe water cutbacks and rationing, water officials said the outright refusal to sign off on projects over water scarcity had until now been virtually unheard of on a statewide scale.

“Businesses are telling us that they can’t get things done because of water,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, said in a telephone interview.

On Wednesday, Mr. Schwarzenegger declared an official statewide drought, the first such designation since 1991. As the governor was making his drought announcement, the Eastern Municipal Water District in Riverside County — one of the fastest-growing counties in the state in recent years — gave a provisional nod to nine projects that it had held up for months because of water concerns. The approval came with the caveat that the water district could revisit its decision, and only after adjustments had been made to the plans to reduce water demand. “The statement that we’re making is that this isn’t business as usual,” said Randy A. Record, a water district board member, at the meeting here in Perris.

Development has been put on hold in Riverside & San Luis Obispo counties due to water concerns, and in Kern County, three developers scrapped plans over water worries.

“The water in our state is not sufficient to add more demand,” said Lester Snow, the director of the California Department of Water Resources. “And that now means that some large development can’t go forward. If we don’t make changes with water, we are going to have a major economic problem in this state.”

Read the full text of this article from the New York Times by clicking here.

David over at Westchester Parents says that before Los Angeles city officials keep approving development projects, the need to ask themselves some tough questions:

  • Can the projects currently envisioned by the city today be assured of an adequate and reliable water supply for the next 20 years as required by state law?
  • Have developers been able to assure the city that they have an adequate 20 year supply?
  • Can the city assure them that they have reliable 20 year supply?

Clearly the answer is they cannot. They cannot assure it and they need to come to grips with this new reality. I know this puts the city in the uncomfortable position of having to say No to these grand housing plans and thousands more like them, but the members of our city council and the mayor cannot continue to stick their collective heads in the sand and ignore today’s reality. To do so imperils the very existence of LA’s struggling yet vibrant population.

Read the full text of this post from Westchester Parents by clicking here.

June 7, 2008 · Filed Under Development & Water

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