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Commentary: The Southern California drought—bad news mixed with some good news

Posted by: Maven on June 1, 2009 at 3:33 pm

From the Planning Report, this commentary by Michael George, a water rights lawyer for Sutter Securities Incorporated:

First the bad news: the drought is real, it’s upon us, and it’s likely to get worse. In its most recent survey of the Sierra snowpack, the Department of Water Resources confirmed that 2009 will be another in a disheartening string of dry years: the snowpack contains only about 60 percent of the state’s normal water content. Although the Colorado River watershed enjoys slightly above normal conditions in 2009 to date, eight years of drought on that system—along with increased demands from other users—means that the Southland will see little 2009 supply relief from that source.

Unlike prior droughts, however, the drought of 2009 compounds the physical drought with a regulatory drought. In a series of cases aimed at protecting the environment, federal courts have constrained the use of the pumps which take water from the Delta and deliver it to the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project. Based on these protective orders, the pumps can operate only in the “window” between the beginning of July and the end of September. Except for that three month period, the state’s primary water management infrastructure operates on a severely limited basis, limiting imports to the service area of the Metropolitan Water District.

Southern California is not suffering this drought alone, however. The Central Valley’s water supply has also been severely curtailed, threatening not just crops but the economy, ecology and communities from Lodi to Bakersfield. In addition to suffering the same Delta capacity constraints that are hitting Southern California, the east side of the San Joaquin Valley has recently agreed to forego up to 20 percent of its historic water supply to help restore fisheries in the San Joaquin River downstream of Friant Dam.

Find out what the good news is in the rest of Michael George’s commentary by clicking here.

June 1, 2009 · Filed Under Drought, Weather & Snowpack

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