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Water concerns could hamper desert development

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 14, 2007 at 6:49 am

From the Los Angeles Daily News:

Antelope Valley officials are concerned that a record-dry year and uncertain water supplies could lead to delays or a halt in construction in the sprawling High Desert. County officials have already determined that there is insufficient water to serve a 650-home development proposed in west Lancaster, putting the future of that project in limbo. “Everyone is kind of waiting to hear from the state as to how much water we are going to get. Everybody is holding their breath,” said Melinda Barrett, manager of Los Angeles County’s water conservation program.

The situation will depend on how the state handles the deepening water crisis caused by drought conditions and a federal judge’s ruling in August that water flowing through the California Aqueduct from Northern California must be cut by 30 percent to protect the delta smelt, a small fish threatened with extinction. “Given the unknowns, we are not not panicking. We are concerned. The water districts are concerned, and we are going to work with them to see how this will play out,” Palmdale Assistant City Manager Laurie Lile said.

District 40, which provides water to much of Lancaster and west Palmdale, gets 60 percent of its water from the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency, a water wholesaler that gets its water from the State Water Project.

“In addition to record-dry conditions, there’s also this recent court ruling about the delta smelt,” Barrett said. “What that means is that AVEK can’t assure they can deliver water. If they can’t assure it, then we can’t assure delivery of water to this project.”

To read the full text of this article from the Los Angeles Daily News, click here.

October 14, 2007 · Filed Under Water & Development