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Metropolitan Water District General Manager’s statement on initial State Water Project allocation for 2009

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 30, 2008 at 3:22 pm

From Business Wire:

Jeff Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, issues the following statement regarding the California Department of Water Resource’s initial 15 percent allocation of State Water Project supplies to Metropolitan for the 2009 water year:

“We are preparing for the very real possibility of water shortages and rationing throughout the region in 2009. Over the past two years, Metropolitan has depleted more than a third of its water reserves to deal with drought and court-ordered water cutbacks from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. These reserves are rapidly reaching a level that demands careful management.

“While this low initial State Water Project allocation was anticipated, it still sends a solemn message up and down California—we all must immediately reduce water use to stretch available supplies.

“Metropolitan cannot expect any short-term relief from its supply situation if it begins to rain in the Southland, in Northern California or in the Colorado River watershed. The Delta’s serious environmental problems are driving court decisions and regulatory actions that are drastically limiting the ability to move water across the estuary. This is not a short-term problem that will be washed away with a few good storms.

“Throughout its 80-year history, Metropolitan has dependably met the region’s imported water needs. It has been a remarkable era of water stability, thanks to astute decisions that expanded our storage facilities, enhanced conservation and increased local supplies such as recycling. But now we are facing a continuing historic dry cycle and unprecedented environmental challenges in the Delta.

“For many months, Metropolitan has closely monitored weather conditions and water storage levels. If the region faces a shortage in 2009, the district has in place an allocation formula that seeks to equitably distribute supplies, while preserving emergency reserves. Conservation is an absolute necessity. Using less and being more efficient is the new water reality in Southern California.”

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving nearly 19 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource-management programs.

October 30, 2008 · Filed Under DWR & State Water Project, Metropolitan Water District, Water Supply

Comments

One Response to “Metropolitan Water District General Manager’s statement on initial State Water Project allocation for 2009”

  1. Ray Walker on October 31st, 2008 5:02 am

    Created in the 1930s, Lake Mead ensures a steady water supply for Arizona, Nevada, California, and northern Mexico by holding back the flow of the Colorado River behind the Hoover Dam. When full, the lake contains roughly the same amount of water as would have otherwise flowed through the Colorado River over a two-year period: roughly 9.3 trillion gallons (28.5 million acre feet).

    With 17 turbines, Lake Mead has the capacity when full to generate 2.074 million kilowatts of renewable energy for the region.

    Lake Mead — which supplies water to millions of people in the Desert Southwest, including Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego — has at least a 50 percent chance of drying up by 2021 according to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California.

    Maybe there is a solution…why not ask those in authority to investigate… just a thought…

    August 19, 2008

    TO: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation

    FROM: Ray Walker, Retired Water Rights Analyst
    waterrdw@yahoo.com

    Subject: Lease of available space in Lake Mead

    Attn: Robert Johnson, Commissioner
    Robert Walsh, External Affairs
    Officer,Lower Colorado Region

    I wish to deliver and properly measure up to ONE MILLION ACRE FEET of fresh water to the Colorado River which is absolutely non-tributary to the Colorado River. In order to solve the water shortage dilemmas facing the region, I wish to store said non-tributary water in Lake Mead on a space available basis. Evaporation losses will be paid by subtracting off for any increase in evaporation losses due to the increased surface area of Lake Mead that will result. Using existing capacity tables, this will be simple to calculate. I propose to pay for the lease with some of the increase in power generation due to the increase in head pressure as the non-tributary water accumulates. Lake Mead produces on average 1800 megawatts of renewable energy each year. Releases of the non-tributary water will be utilized to solve the environmental problems associated with the Colorado River Delta and the endangered species in the Lower Colorado River. The additional amount of non-tributary water will be utilized to solve the domestic and agricultural requirements of the region, as needed.

    I fully understand that in the event Lake Mead eventually fills and spills, my non-tributary water will be the first to spill. The water quality of the delivered non-tributary water, at all times, will match or exceed the water quality of existing water in Lake Mead. I agree to make no claim for any aspect of the stored non-tributary water as it applies to the recreational activities on the surface of Lake Mead, but I will in no way be held liable for such recreational activities.

    The definition of non-tributary water to the Colorado River means water that under no circumstances is part of any tributary or groundwater that would drain into or possibly be connected to or eventually ever reach any part of the Colorado River or any of its tributaries in any state.

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