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Western Water: A tale of two rivers: the Russian and the Santa Ana

Posted by: Maven on May 22, 2009 at 8:34 am

From the Water Education Foundation’s latest issue of Western Water:

Travel most anywhere in California and there is a river, creek or stream nearby. Some are highly noticeable and are an integral part of the community. Others are more obscure, with intermittent flows or enclosed by boxed concrete flood channels that conceal their true appearance. No matter the location, each area shares some common themes: cooperation and conflict regarding water allocations, greater water conservation, an awareness of environmental stewardship, and plans that ensure long-term sustainability.

The issues affect the spectrum of water users and touch upon some difficult and controversial matters that are hard to resolve. Sometimes, the dispute winds up in court, but there is an in-creasing emphasis on finding solutions that are outside a judge’s ruling and more agreeable to everyone involved.

In two of the state’s river systems – the Russian in the north and the Santa Ana in the south – scores of people individually and collectively are dealing with issues of water supply, water quality and protecting the interests of the environment. The problems are not new but have grown to a level of complexity that would be unrecognizable to previous generations. The Russian and the Santa Ana are far apart geographically but they share many of the themes common to all the state’s rivers.

One of those themes involves finding balance and reconciling the differences between water users along the river mainstem, the tributaries and the underlying aquifers. That process can be difficult and lengthy as issues of water appropriations and the responsibility for maintaining water quality are sorted out – in the Santa Ana River’s case it led to one of the largest cases of civil litigation anywhere but also to an accord by which management would proceed under a cooperative aegis.

“It’s the best managed river in California,” said Bill Dendy, who from 1969 to 1972 served as the inaugural general manager of what was then called the Santa Ana Watershed Planning Agency (the name changed to Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority [SAWPA] in 1972). “They’ve integrated management of groundwater storage and water quality into a single coordinated function that enables multiple reuses of water. And they’ve developed excellent working relationships among water management agencies as well as between those agencies and the regional water quality control board.”

Read the rest of this excerpt and download your copy of Western Water by clicking here.

May 22, 2009 · Filed Under General Water Issues

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