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Few sellers lining up for DWR’s Drought Water Bank

Posted by: Maven on March 15, 2009 at 8:03 am

From the Mercury Oroville Register:

The state is shopping for water for the Drought Water Bank, but a variety of factors has supplies drying up. Despite a hefty price for the sale of water, environmental constraints and good prices for commodities have far less Sacramento Valley water users signing up to sell water to other parts of the state.

On paper, the state has conducted a California Environmental Quality Act review for more than 500,000 acre-feet of water to be transferred through the Drought Water Bank. But those numbers are the maximum. The actual amount of transferred water will be much less.

The Drought Water Bank is a way for the state to broker water from north to south. The program was revived this year and was last used in the early 1990s. Priority is given to buyers who need water to meet health and emergency needs, and then to permanent crops that could be lost due to drought.

However, “This year, because of constraints in the Delta, there is less flexibility in the water delivery system,” said Teresa Geimer, head of the Drought Water Bank for the Department of Water Resources.

The water bank deals with willing buyers and sellers, and this year the negotiating price appears to be about $275 an acre-foot of water, growers said. One acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons, enough water for two households for a year.

Read more from the Oroville Mercury-Register by clicking here.

March 15, 2009 · Filed Under Drought, Weather & Snowpack, Water Banking

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