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Agencies seek to preserve water behind California dams during emergency hearing, but recent rainstorms delay the need

Posted by: Maven on February 18, 2009 at 8:21 am

Two different takes on the emergency hearing taking place at the State Water Resources Control Board.  From the San Jose Mercury News/AP:

With California’s major reservoirs at woefully low levels, state and federal water agencies on Tuesday made a pitch to keep more water behind their dams this month.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and state Department of Water Resources said they need to store as much water as they can to ensure enough for salmon, cities and farmers later this year.

Keeping that water, though, means the agencies must be granted an emergency petition that allows weakened water-quality standards in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The state is supposed to release water from reservoirs each February to improve delta water quality, although it has fallen short of its mandate so far this month.

“California is in the third straight year of below-average rainfall and snowmelt runoff,” Cathy Crothers, DWR’s assistant chief counsel testified during an emergency hearing before the State Water Resources Control Board. “Dry conditions and low storage have resulted in significant reductions in water supplies throughout the state.”

At issue is the amount state and federal water agencies are legally required to release each February from dams that feed into the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers. The reservoirs are critical to the water supply of two-thirds of the state’s residents and millions of acres of farmland.

Their dams also block migrating salmon from colder northern waters. Despite that, they do have one benefit to the salmon: storing the cold water the fish need later in the year when river temperatures rise and threaten to kill them when they spawn.

It’s that cool water the agencies are looking to preserve in the reservoirs for later in the year. It wasn’t clear when the Water Resources Control Board would issue a decision about the request to hold water back, but the hearing was scheduled to continue Wednesday.

More from the San Jose Mercury News by clicking here.

Mike Taugher from the Contra Costa Times is reporting that the recent precipitation has delayed the need to relax the standards, but that the agencies might return next month:

Recent storms have lifted the need for an emergency decision on how to balance the water needs of two imperiled fish species for the rest of the month, a state water official testified Tuesday.

State water managers last week asked regulators for an emergency relaxation of February water quality standards that are beneficial to Delta smelt so they could better maintain cold water flows for spawning salmon this summer and fall.

But hours into a hearing on the emergency request, Department of Water Resources engineer John Leahigh said the rains are providing enough flow into the Delta that the standards will be met for the rest of the month.

That resolves a tough balancing act between water for smelt now and saving cold water for salmon later.

But the reprieve is only temporary. Water officials said that if the rains stop, they still could be back with another request as soon as March.

Read more from Mike Taugher at the Contra Costa Times by clicking here.

The hearing was continuing into the evening last night, and may continue today.

February 18, 2009 · Filed Under Delta Issues, Wildlife & Endangered Species

Comments

One Response to “Agencies seek to preserve water behind California dams during emergency hearing, but recent rainstorms delay the need”

  1. BeWaterWiseRep on July 13th, 2009 5:38 am

    Fresh water reserve levels for Southern California have dropped significantly over the last few years. Years of drought on the Colorado River, and below-normal rainfall and snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains, combined with environmental restrictions on pumping water, have severely reduced the region’s water supply. http://tr.im/s6EoWe can help the agencies and the government by doing our small bit like taking measures at home and outdoors to conserve water. If you go to http://tr.im/rIUt you will see tips on water conservation that lists Indoor and Outdoor tips and how much water is saved with each one.

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