Central Valley’s drought water bank expansion OK’d
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 9, 2009 at 12:29 pmFrom the Central Valley Business Times:
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says it has approved a request that could make an additional 30,000 acre-feet of water available to the San Luis Delta-Mendota Water Authority this month through the 2009 Drought Water Bank.
Approval means that the Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority, which is in the Sacramento Valley, will be able to sell up to 30,000 acre-feet of water that recently became available. TCCA found that its farmers now have water that can be sold to water users south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. …”
Read more from the Central Valley Business Times by clicking here.
San Francisco Public Utilities Commission pursues underground water-storage plan
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on July 8, 2009 at 7:24 amFrom the Contra Costa Times:
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is pursuing a plan to store water underground that can be pumped out in time to supply customers in a drought, given the uncertainty of California’s water future.
Officials say the natural groundwater aquifer that sits under north San Mateo County will someday be full enough to send 7.2 million gallons per day to SFPUC customers in San Francisco, San Mateo and Alameda counties and much of Santa Clara County for a period of seven and a half years, longer than the last historic drought period in California.
Global warming, and the resulting anticipated loss of Sierra snowpack that feeds the Hetch Hetchy reservoir, have played a part in the SFPUC’s long-term planning for water security here in the Bay Area, said Ellen Levin, deputy manager of San Francisco’s regional water system. “We may be anticipating longer drought periods, and so having additional water supplies available to us protects our customers,” said Levin. “We want to reduce the need to impose rationing on our customers.”
At the heart of the proposal are the five San Mateo County cities — Daly City, South San Francisco, Colma, San Bruno and Millbrae — that already plumb the common groundwater basin they overlie for part of their water supply every year. They also use Hetch Hetchy water from the SFPUC. If these cities can promise to limit the water they draw from the groundwater basin in “wet” years, they will receive an equal amount of “surplus” water from Hetch Hetchy reservoir. Thus the groundwater basin will be allowed to naturally refill with rainfall until there is enough to draw on.
Read more from the Contra Costa Times by clicking here.
Water-energy dependency may put a damper on water banking in California
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 16, 2009 at 8:06 amFrom AlterNet:
We’ve been following some of the issues related to the drought in California. In response to water shortages, a “water bank” has been implemented to allow users who do not use all of their water to sell it to other users. In theory, such a system allows water to be used in an efficient manner, with higher priority users gaining the ability to purchase water when there are shortages.
In looking at the reality of implementing such a system, however, it becomes clear that there are challenges on many levels. This is evidenced by the fact that despite the state’s efforts, it will likely only promote the trade of 82,000 acre feet of water this year — less than 15% of what it had been hoping for.
One major challenge is related to the price of food crops, which have risen drastically in the last year, making the sale of water less appealing to farmers. Additionally, there is the fundamental challenge of getting the water where it needs to be once it has been purchased, a task that requires vast amounts of energy.
In many places, where water-energy dependency is already an issue, this may detract from the potential benefit that could be derived from systems like water banking.
Read more from AlterNet by clicking here.
Water officials mull state’s drought bank; Inefficiencies, expense keep farmers from using system
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 4, 2009 at 2:52 pmFrom the Capital Press:
Water managers are working toward a more efficient version of the state’s drought water bank for next year, California’s drought coordinator told the State Board of Food and Agriculture.
The state created a water bank this year for the first time since the early 1990s. Wendy Martin, statewide drought coordinator with the Department of Water Resources, described an efficient, state-managed trading system as a key piece of the state’s future water management.
“Transfers are one of the ways that we can balance the water portfolio,” Martin said. “A transfer system is a way of leveling that market. Some people will get more money for their water, some people will pay less, but it will start to equalize. And … that is the long-term solution, not just related to drought, but for the state’s water-management system. We have to be more effective at that.”
So far, each effort at transferring water has been bogged down in battles with local jurisdictions. Martin said the biggest obstacles to water transfers have come from county governments.
“One of our biggest adversaries – and the people who are suing us now, over this year’s water bank – are the counties,” she said. “Every portion of every transaction has had a fight associated with it. We have to stop fighting about this stuff and figure out what will work.”
Read more from the Capital Press by clicking here.
Monday’s top story: Gaming the water system
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 25, 2009 at 8:32 amFrom the Contra Costa Times, a recap story of the recent Media News Investigation:
Just before Interstate 5 climbs the Grapevine out of the San Joaquin Valley is a massive underground reservoir that its owners say is the largest water banking project of its kind in the world. Here among the tumbleweeds, sand and scrub, 15 miles west of Bakersfield, the gush of crystal-clear water appears as curiously out of place as the great blue herons cruising along the bank’s six-mile canal.
The Kern Water Bank, which was owned by the state Department of Water Resources from 1988 to 1995, is now in the hands of Kern County interests and is 48 percent owned by Westside Mutual Water Company, a private water company controlled by Beverly Hills billionaire Stewart Resnick.
It is 32 square miles of desert where one natural river and two artificial ones pass: the Kern River, which originates in the southern Sierra Nevada; the California Aqueduct, which carries Delta water more than 400 miles to a reservoir in Riverside County; and the Friant-Kern Canal, which takes water to valley farmers from behind a dam on the San Joaquin River.
“We have lots of water conveyance facilities that bring water past the Kern Water Bank,” said Jonathan Parker, general manager of the Kern Water Bank Authority. “That makes this location pretty unique.”
In wet years, the water bankers deposit water from the rivers into ponds where it percolates into the Kern River’s alluvial fan.
In dry years, they make withdrawals, which is why on a tour of the bank earlier this year water was gushing out of the ground from pipes and bubbling up into the canal from underground structures.
Read more from the Contra Costa Times by clicking here.
Sunday’s Top Story: A Media News Investigation: Pumping water and cash from Delta
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 24, 2009 at 11:35 am
From the Silicon Valley Mercury News:
As the West Coast’s largest estuary plunged to the brink of collapse from 2000 to 2007, state water officials pumped unprecedented amounts of water out of the Delta only to effectively buy some of it back at taxpayer expense for a failed environmental protection plan, a MediaNews investigation has found.
The “environmental water account” set up in 2000 to improve the Delta ecosystem spent nearly $200 million mostly to benefit water users while also creating a cash stream for private landowners and water agencies in the Bakersfield area.
Financed with taxpayer-backed environment and water bonds, the program spent most of its money in Kern County, a largely agricultural region at the southern
end of the San Joaquin Valley. There, water was purchased from the state and then traded back to the account for a higher price.The proceeds were used to fund an employee retirement plan, buy land and groundwater storage facilities and pay miscellaneous costs to keep water bills low, documents and interviews show.
Revenues from those sales also might have helped finance a lawsuit against the Department of Water Resources, the same agency that wrote the checks, documents show.
No one appears to have benefitted more than companies owned or controlled by Stewart Resnick, a Beverly Hills billionaire, philanthropist and major political donor whose companies, including Paramount Farms, own more than 115,000 acres in Kern County. Resnick’s water and farm companies collected about 20 cents of every dollar spent by the program.
MORE COVERAGE ON THIS STORY:
Paper shuffle allows for vast supply of easy money: It must have seemed like easy money. The state was delivering more water than ever to its customers, and in Kern County some of those customers sold some of it back, through a simple trade, at a higher price. Tens of millions of dollars in sales to the “environmental water account” were little more than paper shuffles. It was all perfectly legal. Click here for more on this story from the Mercury News.
Water ownership murky, complicated: Kern County water users who sold millions of dollars worth of water to a program meant to help the environment said the arrangement made sense because the water was rightfully theirs. Few would dispute that water that was purchased and stored in Kern County could be sold to the environmental water account. But the sales were made easier by the fact that the state Department of Water Resources was cranking up water deliveries to unprecedented heights at the same time it was buying water back for the environment. More from the Mercury News by clicking here.
The Resnicks: farming’s power couple: Stewart Resnick is not your typical dirt-under-the-fingernails farmer. The Beverly Hills billionaire’s companies, according to tax records, appear to own more than 115,000 acres in Kern County, about the size of four San Franciscos and more than all of the East Bay Regional Park District’s parks combined. The operation is the largest pistachio and almond growing and processing operation in the world, according to the company’s Web site, and part of a business empire that Resnick runs with his wife, Lynda, whose Web site asserts they are the largest farmers of tree crops in the country. Read the rest of this article from the Mercury News by clicking here.
California officials approve first water transfers
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 20, 2009 at 6:17 amFrom the Sacramento Bee:
California officials are moving ahead with a plan to ship water from farms north of Sacramento to growers in the drought-stricken San Joaquin Valley.
The California Department of Water Resources is buying the water from two irrigation districts in the Sacramento Valley. It will be sent to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and sold to a group of 10 buyers, most of whom are located in the drier southern half of the state.
Read more of this brief story from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.
Sutter County makes friends with water; Entities in county selling supplies to state bank
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 20, 2009 at 6:13 amFrom the Marysville Appeal Democrat:
Sutter County supervisors voiced confidence Tuesday night that farmers and water districts will continue to be good groundwater stewards.
The Department of Water Resources’ Drought Water Bank is buying water for $275 per acre-foot from willing water rights holders upstream of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The water would then be transferred to entities suffering water shortages. “We are trying to help our brothers down in the Central Valley,” said Supervisor James Gallagher. “We are building goodwill, and that goodwill will be very important in the future.”
In giving up some of the surface water they would otherwise use, the rights holders would likely use groundwater in lieu of surface water. Other solutions include not growing crops or substituting less water-intensive crops to save on surface water usage.
The farmers and water districts can be trusted to use the groundwater responsibly because they are stewards of the groundwater, said Brad Arnold, manger of South Sutter Water District. “They rely on that for their livelihood and for their children’s children,” he said.
Read more from the Marysville Appeal-Democrat by clicking here.
An unnatural disaster? PCL questions exemption of environmental review for major water merger
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 17, 2009 at 8:07 amFrom the California Progress Report, this from Traci Sheehan of the Planning & Conservation League:
Last month the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) submitted a Notice of Exemption to bypass environmental review of their proposal to merge California’s two largest water projects, citing “emergency conditions.”
If approved by the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), the exemption would allow the merger of the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project, fast-tracking the transfer of millions of gallons of water from Northern California farmers to Westside San Joaquin Valley agriculture. The exemption would also allow DWR to avoid commitments to protect Northern California and Bay Delta resources by minimizing requirements to mitigate impacts of these transfers.
This week the Planning and Conservation League (PCL) formally questioned DWR’s authority to act under emergency privileges and asked the SWRCB to consider the facts in the record before approving DWR’s proposal.
Read more from the California Progress Report by clicking here.
Badly-needed California water transfers blocked by economic, environmental hurdles
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 12, 2009 at 8:42 am
From the Sacramento Bee:
As another summer of drought approaches, hundreds of thousands of acres of San Joaquin Valley farmland are expected to be fallowed, and much of urban California faces 20 percent water cutbacks.
But in the Sacramento Valley, rice farmers have been busy for weeks spreading water 6 inches deep over a half-million acres. Many experts expect a larger crop than last year’s.
It’s not that no one saw it coming. The state of California devised a program to move some of that water to thirsty cities and fields south of the Delta. The plan made sense on paper, perhaps, but so far it has been hobbled by everything from high rice prices to environmental concerns.
“The state of California did not do its homework with the stakeholders to find out what the impacts of moving a lot of water would be,” said Jonas Minton, water policy adviser for the Planning and Conservation League.
Moving water around California is never simple. And the troubles with the state’s “water bank” show why.
Read more from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.
Underground water banks tackle drought
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on May 11, 2009 at 5:50 pmFrom the Western Farm Press:
Here’s an idea you can take to the bank: Saving water from a rainy day can help farming operations — as well as municipalities — get through the dry ones.
Excess water, much of it transferred to aquifers underground and out of view, is helping meet demand in California during a third drought year marked again by cutbacks in deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Much of the water from wet years would otherwise flood farmland or go out to sea.
Players in the underground water banking business range from a family farming operation on Fresno County’s West Side to huge operations in Kern County associated with the Kern County Water Agency.
It’s unknown how many water banks — underground or otherwise — are in the state. Some say it could number over two dozen.
But the principle for their operation is basically the same as for conventional financial institutions. “It’s like storing money,” said Jim Beck, manager of the Kern County Water Agency, Bakersfield, Calif. “When you have a lot, you put it where you have access when you’re short money. The general philosophy is that we can deposit water in times of plenty.”
The agency is associated with 18 different water banking operations. “There are more and more being developed all the time,” Beck said.
Read more from the Western Farm Press by clicking here.
Kangaroo rat, Congress keep Madera County water plan bottled up
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on March 17, 2009 at 3:42 pmFrom the Fresno Bee:
The Madera Water Bank has been touted for a decade as a savior for Madera County farm fields and new housing tracts in dry times – like right now.
Yet the underground water storage project, which is a hit with farmers, environmentalists and legislators, is still on the drawing board.
As a third year of drought unfolds, officials search the proposed bank site for Fresno kangaroo rats and other endangered species. They’re trying to get approval from federal and state wildlife agencies to flood the land.
Madera Irrigation District, the third group to work on the water bank proposal in the last 10 years, says the project should be on a faster track because of the drought. “Sure, I’d feel good if I had the project ready right now, because we really could use it,” said farmer Carl Janzen, the district board president. “But it’s not ready, and part of the problem is all the hoops we have to jump through.”
The bank is well worth the effort, say most water experts. It would hold enough water to fill half of Millerton Lake. During wet years, the district would pipe extra water from area rivers to the grasslands southwest of Madera, where it would seep into the ground. The water would remain underground for years, ready to be pumped out and used when needed.
The water bank could provide more than 40% of the water needed by district farmers each year.
Read more from the Fresno Bee by clicking here.
Few sellers lining up for DWR’s Drought Water Bank
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on March 15, 2009 at 8:03 amFrom 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.
Water banks, the ESA and the Public Trust Doctrine
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 10, 2008 at 11:00 pmFrom High Country News’s GOAT blog:
Matt Jenkin’s article “Liquid assets” in the October 27th edition is a good introduction to Water Banking – a concept which westerners are likely to hear used increasingly if predictions of diminished water supplies resulting from climate change are accurate. But the article only scratches the surface of a subject which West-watchers will want to know a lot more about. And – because taxpayer funds are often involved in financing the operation of water banks as well as in some cases the water purchases themselves – it can be argued that everyday citizens need to better understand what is involved.
Fortunately, there is a goodly amount of information readily at hand. Most of the information on water banks aims to educate farmers and ranchers, many of whom have been encouraged by property rights extremists to view water banks as a socialist plot designed by government bureaucrats and environmentalists to undermine water rights. On the other side of the spectrum some river advocates view water banks as part of an attempt to turn what were intended as use rights into property rights that are not attached to specific uses. If water rights become like other property rights, these folks assert, the Public Trust Doctrine will have been all but destroyed with respect to water resources. From this perspective water banks are seen as part of a world-wide movement to privatize water resources.
Part of the confusion over water banks is the result of the fact that the term has been used to describe institutional arrangements that are radically different and which have different legal implications.
Read more from the GOAT blog by clicking here.
Cadiz Valley desert water-storage plan renewed
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 29, 2008 at 8:54 amFrom Riverside’s Press-Enterprise:
The owners of remote desert land have revived a $200 million plan to store water underground to send to Southern California in dry times, although the region’s major water agency rejected the idea six years ago.
Cadiz Inc., owner of land and water rights in the Cadiz Valley about 40 miles east of Twentynine Palms, has secured a 99-year lease to use railroad right-of-way for a 42-mile pipeline connecting to the Colorado River Aqueduct, said Richard Stoddard, chief executive officer of a sister company, Cadiz Real Estate LLC, in a telephone interview.
Water would be diverted from the aqueduct into the Cadiz pipeline and injected into the ground for storage in an aquifer beneath the company’s land. When needed, the water would be returned to the aqueduct and could meet the needs of an estimated 1.2 million people in Southern California, the company contends.
Cadiz Inc.’s announcement surprised officials at Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the major buyer and distributor of water in the region. The district, which built and operates the 242-mile Colorado River Aqueduct that Cadiz wants to use, rejected a similar proposal in 2002 amid environmentalists’ opposition and concerns about costs. In addition, the Colorado River didn’t have surplus water to fill the Cadiz aquifer, district officials said.
“We don’t have any plans to proceed with the (Cadiz) project, and they haven’t discussed their new approach with us,” said Timothy F. Brick, Metropolitan’s board chairman.
And there is a lawsuit pending between Metropolitan & Cadiz regarding the 2002 plans for the project, which Metropolitan backed out of. Read more from the Press-Enterprise by clicking here.
Cadiz announces agreement with Arizona & California Railroad Company for new water pipeline; 99-year lease agreement will provide Southern California with as much as 150,000 acre-feet/year of clean and reliable water
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 18, 2008 at 8:27 amThis press release from Cadiz, Inc.:
Cadiz Inc. (NASDAQ:CDZI) announced today the execution of a 99-year lease agreement with the Arizona & California Railroad Company (ARZC). The agreement will allow Cadiz to utilize a portion of the railroad’s right-of-way for a conveyance pipeline as part of the Cadiz Valley Dry-Year Supply Project.
The Cadiz Valley Dry-Year Supply Project (Project) is a water storage and supply program, which will provide Southern California with as much as 150,000 acre-feet/year (49 billion gallons) of clean and reliable water during years of droughts, emergencies, or other periods of urgent need by utilizing the aquifer system that underlies Cadiz’s 35,000-acre landholding in the Cadiz and Fenner valleys of eastern San Bernardino County. Historically, such dry periods occur in approximately three out of every ten years. In any given dry year, this water would be enough to serve more than 1.2 million people.
This past August, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) announced that it may implement mandatory rationing in 2009 since it does not have enough water to meet demand. Furthermore, state water agencies will receive only 35% of their normal water allocations for 2008 – down from 60% in 2007 – and they expect to only receive between 10% & 20% in 2009.
“Southern California is facing chronic water shortages,” said Richard Stoddard, CEO of Cadiz Real Estate LLC. “The Cadiz Project is an innovative and environmentally responsible way to help meet the region’s need for new water supplies and more water storage.”
As part of the agreement with ARZC, Cadiz now has the right to construct an underground pipeline within the railroad right-of-way to connect the Project area to the Colorado River Aqueduct (CRA) rather crossing U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands, as was considered in earlier iterations of the Project. Although this alignment is significantly more costly, it is considered to be more environmentally friendly than routes that would have crossed federal lands because the railroad right-of-way is already active and disturbed.
“We are excited to hear about this new alternative pipeline alignment that would enable the Cadiz Project to deliver water to Southern California,” said Fern Steiner, Chairwoman of the San Diego County Water Authority. “Given the current water crisis affecting the entire region, San Diego County Water Authority is interested in exploring all possible supply opportunities including projects like the Cadiz Project which could accelerate the delivery of much needed supplies to the region.”
“In the ensuing years, the Southern California region has need of projects like Cadiz to responsibly and efficiently meet an unprecedented demand for “new” water supplies. Along with increased recycled water and desalination, the Cadiz Project presents an important alternative that can add to the region’s water supply reliability,” said Floyd Wicks, CEO of American States Water, whose subsidiary, Golden State Water Company, provides retail water service to more than a million Californians. “We are pleased with the news that the Project has advanced to the point which may yield an alternative that could quickly deliver these supplies to the region.”
Construction of the Project facilities could begin as soon as the environmental review for the Project is completed. It is now anticipated that the County of San Bernardino will serve as California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) lead agency and that it will oversee a comprehensive Groundwater Monitoring and Management Plan for the Project. Cadiz is currently engaged in discussions with a group of public water providers interested in participating in the Project.
“I look forward to the County playing the lead role on the Groundwater Monitoring and Management Plan and in helping to implement this important project,” said San Bernardino County Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt. Supervisor Mitzelfelt’s District is the largest in San Bernardino County and includes the Cadiz Project area.
The Groundwater Monitoring and Management Plan will be similar to one previously authored by San Bernardino County, the U.S. Geological Survey, National Park Service, BLM, and MWD in 2001.
This Plan was originally designed to alleviate concerns raised by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and it will maintain those principle objectives: protect the desert environment in and surrounding the Project area, ensure groundwater quality, and maintain the long-term yield and storage capacity of the aquifer system.
Information on the Aquifer System
The aquifer system that underlies the Project area has the ability to provide both a new supply of indigenous groundwater and to store approximately 1 million acre-feet of Colorado River water that could be imported from the CRA in “wet” years. This stored water and indigenous groundwater could be delivered to the CRA in “dry” years for distribution to participating water providers throughout Southern California. The aquifer system is recharged by precipitation (both rainfall and snow melt) that occurs within a regional watershed of 1,300 square miles. For this reason, any transfers of indigenous groundwater will be naturally replenished over time.
History of the Project
The Cadiz Project has been a decade-long effort to bring a new, clean and reliable water supply to Southern California. Cadiz’s original partner, MWD, together with the BLM prepared a Final Environmental Impact Report/ Environmental Impact Statement (FEIR/ FEIS) for the Project in 2001. The FEIS for the Project, including a right-of-way for the conveyance pipeline, was approved by the US Department of the Interior (DOI) in a highly supportive Record of Decision issued in August 2002:
“By providing storage of surplus Colorado River water, and the export of indigenous groundwater under specified conditions, the Cadiz Project will help ensure needed dry-year water supply reliability and will assist California in efficiently managing its water supplies. Future water supply needs in Metropolitan’s Southern California service area, without implementation of the Cadiz Project, would substantially exceed demands by the year 2020. The public benefits of the Cadiz Project are compelling reasons for the Department of the Interior to cooperate to the greatest extent possible in assisting California in meeting its water supply goals.”
However, MWD refused to accept the right-of-way offered by the DOI and decided not to proceed with the Project in October 2002. MWD is currently facing unprecedented water shortages, which would have been significantly mitigated by implementation of the Cadiz Project in 2002.
Metropolitan initially approved a $1-billion, 50-year project to pump water from the remote aquifer, as well as use it for storage of surplus Colorado River water. However, environmentalists vowed to fight, citing concern that Cadiz had overestimated the amount of water in the aquifer, and that the operations would dry up the natural springs vital to the survival of desert wildlife, such as the bighorn sheep and the desert tortoise.
Eventually, Metropolitan backed off the project and a lawsuit was filed in 2002. Just recently, a trial date was set for May 5th of this year, pending the outcome of settlement meetings, but that trial did not take place. The most recent update on the lawsuit I can find says this (from an SEC filing)
The initial mandatory settlement conference was held on April 30, 2008. Following the conference, Judge Johnson issued a 30 day stay of all proceedings while Judge Lichtman continues his ongoing mediation. If the parties do not ultimately reach an agreement through the settlement conference process and Judge Lichtman declares an impasse, the Court will set a new trial date. As is normal in such legal proceedings, applicable dates will be set and, if necessary, revised by the Court based upon availability within the Court’s calendar.
For more information on the Cadiz project:
- Cadiz, Inc. website
- L.A. Times: MWD OKs Plan to Pump Desert Aquifer’s Water, April 11, 2001
- Will the Met wring the desert dry?, from High Country News, May 21, 2001
Silicon Valley’s water bank: underground storage in Central Valley
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 23, 2008 at 8:31 am
From the San Jose Mercury News, a great article about how water banking works:
This farm community 25 miles north of Bakersfield, where billboards advertise new homes for $119,000 and almond trees stretch from dusty roads to the horizon, is a world away from Silicon Valley. But one thing ties them together: water.
In an innovative arrangement that may become more common as California struggles to quench the thirst of its growing population, Silicon Valley has been using the hardscrabble ground of Kern County, 200 miles south, as a giant subterranean piggy bank to store water.
For more than a decade, the Santa Clara Valley Water District has been steadily transferring its excess water during wet seasons to underground aquifers east of Interstate 5. It has built a considerable aquatic balance: 86 billion gallons – enough for 1.3 million people for a year. But now, facing a dry year, the agency that provides South Bay residents their water has made its first withdrawal – and plans to make another this fall.
“It’s like any bank. You put money in, then take it out when you need it,” said Will Boschman, general manager of the Semitropic Water Storage District, which manages the aquifers near Wasco. The agency is made up of about 300 farmers who grow almonds, alfalfa and cotton on 220,000 acres.
Read more from the San Jose Mercury News by clicking here. You can check out pictures of water bank infrastructure from the Aquafornia photo library by clicking here.
Lester Snow responds to article about Kern County Water Agency, says it was ‘misleading’
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 23, 2008 at 7:42 amLester Snow, head of the Department of Water Resources, responds to last Sunday’s article about the Kern County Water Agency and the Environmental Water Account in the Contra Costa County Times:
The Delta is declining, but this article distorts the truth about the causes and fails to recognize the governor’s commitment to finding a solution. There are many Delta stressors, including invasive species, pollution, rising water temperatures and runoff. To assert that the environmental water program contributed to the fishery decline ignores the complexity of the issue.
Water purchases made under the Environmental Water Account were according to law and rules established in the CALFED Record of Decision. Operation of the account was assisted by public independent science reviews. Also, water deliveries did not exceed conditions in the federal biological opinions. They do not have a limit on Article 21 deliveries.
EWA met its water purchase goals. Fish agencies had enough water for the actions they thought were needed. Purchases made by the EWA from south of Delta water users from 2001 to 2007 were from willing sellers who had stored water in water banks. The purchase price compensated users for the costs of storing this water, maintaining the water bank facilities, and extracting the water.
Response published in the Contra Costa Times.
Locals claim Kings County water district’s pumping operation is drying up wells
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 22, 2008 at 6:06 amFrom the Hanford Sentinel:
They stood elbow to elbow, they spilled out into the hall and they meant business. Worried farmers and property owners inundated an office room at Hanford’s Netto Ag Inc. on Wednesday, and there was one overriding reason — dropping water well levels they blame on the Kings County Water District.
A newly-formed organization called the Kings River Area Property Owners, with Netto CEO James Netto as its chairman, hosted the meeting, which was a preliminary attempt to figure out what to do about the district operation they say is responsible.
Called the Apex Conjunctive Use Project, the district’s operation is pumping water out of a recharge area near the Kings River close to Burris Park and sending it into the People’s Ditch system and the Settlers Ditch system, where it is transported and sold to thirsty farmers throughout northeastern Kings County. The operation is designed to bank water during wet years, floods and off-season flows for pumping during the summer months. “We’re saving water, getting extra water during flood releases,” said Don Mills, general manager for the district.
But while the project may be benefiting some users, it’s sticking in the craw of landowners closer to the river.
According to James Netto, four district pumps came on a couple of months ago to suck as much as 15,000 gallons per minute out of the ground. Since then, he said, two residential wells and four farm wells in the area have gone dry. “Everything was supposed to be really fine. (But) we have wells going dry,” Netto said.
Read more from the Hanford Sentinel by clicking here.
AVEK raises water banking rates, even though there’s no water to bank
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on March 24, 2008 at 6:30 amFrom the Antelope Valley Press:
Although there’s at present no water to bank, the charge to do so has inched up at the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency.
AVEK directors on March 11 voted 6-0, with Director George Lane absent, to amend the Rules and Regulations for Distribution of Water. That change increases the 2008 water banking rate to $194.50 per acre-foot – equivalent to 325,851 gallons – from the rate of $182.02 set for March 2007 through February. The new rate will be effective from April 1 through Feb. 28.
The rate applies to untreated water used for banking, Director Keith Dyas said.
The increase resulted from a new water reliability chart produced by the state Department of Water Resources. The resolution simply formalizes the water rates, he noted.
However, future water deliveries are likely to be impacted by climate change and the Wanger smelt ruling:
“If no actions for improvement are taken,” according to the department’s report, annual water reliability delivery will “decrease virtually every year in the future.”
Read the full text of this article from the Antelope Valley Press by clicking here.
Water district’s plan to sell parts of land overlying water bank spark concerns that some of that water will be sent to Southern California
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on March 9, 2008 at 8:29 amFrom the Fresno Bee:
The Madera Irrigation District is in negotiations to sell parts of the land over its underground water bank, sparking renewed debate over whether local water might ultimately be sold in thirsty Southern California.
The district sought bids for 2,735 acres of the 13,600-acre Madera Ranch property late last year. Ten parcels are being offered. The land, eight miles southwest of Madera, is the site of a $90 million project that would percolate water into underground aquifers to release during dry years.
Last month, the district began negotiating with one of the bidders, who has not been identified but who is interested in all of the parcels. The sale is expected to bring in $18 million to $20 million, said Carl Janzen, the district’s president. The money would be used to pay down debt on the project, he said. “It’s a good business decision,” Janzen said.
For years, critics have argued that the water stored there could be sold to Southern California interests, despite federal, state and county rules that prohibit such sales.
Jim Cobb, president of the Taxpayers Association of Madera County, has said those rules could be circumvented through a middle man.
The district is “allowed to sell water to districts that can sell water to Southern California,” Cobb said. He believes the district shouldn’t sell the land.
Janzen said that’s not an issue, because the land above is all that’s for sale. The water below isn’t part of the deal, he said.
The Bureau of Reclamation would not allow water to be sold outside the San Joaquin service area, but some are worried that perhaps this rule could be cirumvented by use of a middle man. A spokesperson for the Bureau admitted that plumbing did exist that could potentially transfer water to Southern California. Even so, it would require both state and federal approval to pump that water to Southern California.
Read the rest of this story from the Fresno Bee by clicking here.
San Diego County Water Authority signs deal with Semitropic Rosamond Water Bank
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on January 25, 2008 at 3:35 pmFrom the North County Times:
County residents have another place to stash life-sustaining water supplies to help them through droughts, thanks to an agreement reached Thursday.
San Diego County Water Authority board members approved a deal for an undisclosed amount in closed session Thursday to “bank” up to 100,000 acre-feet of water underground in Kern County. An acre-foot of water is enough to sustain two households for a year. The Water Authority, which supplies nearly all the water that county residents use annually, would eventually be able to withdraw up to 20,000 acre-feet a year from the Semitropic-Rosamond Water Bank Authority.
Water Authority officials said the deal would allow it to store the water and use it in times of drought. As part of the deal, the Water Authority agreed to buy 10,000 acre-feet of water already in the bank that could be taken out this year.
To read the full text of this story from the North County Times, click here.
Public comment period extended on Antelope Valley water banking project
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 10, 2007 at 1:24 pmFrom the Antelope Valley Press:
Two Rosamond residents have asked for more time to read through an Environmental Impact Report about a water bank project practically in their back yard – a site they consider too close for comfort.
They sent letters requesting an extension of the EIR comment period to the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency, the entity that purchased roughly 1,500 acres of land north of Avenue A and south of Rosamond Boulevard, between 60th Street West and 110th Street West for a proposed water bank. The property had been owned by longtime Kern County onion and carrot farmer John Calandri, and AVEK considered the site ripe for water banking.
Some nearby residents disagree.
Meanwhile, AVEK proceeded to obtain a draft EIR as requested by Kern County Planning Department administrators. The EIR, prepared by Hanson Environmental Inc., a Walnut Creek firm, is at least 300 pages of reading and explores potential impacts on the surrounding community as far as air quality, noise pollution, traffic congestion, flooding and a list of other concerns.
That document was released for public review Oct. 26, and the 45-day public comment period – required by law – was slated to end Dec. 10, according to a letter released with the EIR.
The board voted to extend the public comment period until January 8.
To read the rest of this article from the Antelope Valley Press, click here.
Plans for recharge project in the Antelope Valley taking shape; officials tour site
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 23, 2007 at 8:44 amFrom the Antelope Valley Press:
Water isn’t flowing along Upper Amargosa Creek, but that situation will change once it rains, and once the city implements its plans for a recharge project. Once in place, the Upper Amargosa Creek Recharge and Nature Park project will be one of the water banking sites meant to provide Antelope Valley residents with a safety net of sorts to ensure a reliable water supply during extended droughts, or if a major earthquake or other natural disaster hits.
Gordon Phair, senior civil engineer for Palmdale, guided a group of water suppliers and city planners Monday on a tour of the proposed project site, which runs from 20th Street West to just beyond 25th Street West, north of Elizabeth Lake Road. Phair described that trek along Elizabeth Lake Road as an informal tour “thrown together at the last minute to brief some people” on the project. That group included directors and staff members from Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency, an administrator from Palmdale Water District and two Palmdale planning commissioners.
In the final draft of the Antelope Valley Integrated Regional Water Management Plan, a Valleywide effort mandated by the state, the project is listed under the category of water supply needs. Participants at the IRWMP meetings put a high priority on securing state and federal grant funds.
The site – a natural flood collection and drainage area – is in close proximity to what Phair called the “ultimate build-out of the recycled water backbone line” being installed in Leona Valley by Los Angeles County. However, “the project that we’re building is not going to use recycled water at this time,” Phair said. “We’re just talking about using State Water Project water – raw aqueduct water. That’s only when an entity such as (Los Angeles County) Waterworks 40, Palmdale Water District, AVEK or (any other agency) wants to purchase excess aqueduct water and bank it.” In fact, he said, the city is seeking partners.
The city has done some percolation tests to make sure the site will work, and the initial results were very promising. Officials were impressed:
Still, Nicole West, management analyst at Lancaster’s Department of Public Works, lauded the steps Palmdale has taken to date. Though she did not tour the site, she sat in on the presentation by Swain. “I think they did a great job. The presentation was put together well. I received a favorable impression of the project. It’s well-thought-out,” West said.
Dyas agreed. “The city is following the appropriate standards of due diligence, including geophysical work, regulatory research and CEQA compliance,” he said, referring to the California Environmental Quality Act, intended to identify and resolve any negative impacts of a project.
“The city is ensuring the success of the project prior to investing millions of dollars of public money,” Dyas said. “They are pursuing partnerships and seeking state grants to assist in project funding. I admire the city’s approach to project implementation because they are being excellent and cautious stewards of public funds.”
The site will also include a nature park, with bike trails, foot paths, and story boards about the wildlife and native plants, as well as information about the recharge project.
To read the full text of this article from the Antelope Valley Press, click here.
New land deal for Antelope Valley water bank sparks controversy
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 17, 2007 at 6:48 amFrom the Antelope Valley Press:
Another land deal is in the works at the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency, but not all of the board members are on board with the arrangements for property that carries a $7.2 million price tag.
In closed session Tuesday night, the AVEK board directed General Manager Russ Fuller to pursue escrow contingent on a final title report and an engineering report on 1,455 acres of property owned by longtime Lancaster rancher Forrest Godde, said AVEK attorney Bill Brunick. The property stretches from Avenue A at the north to Avenue D at the south, and extends from 130th to 160th streets west.
When board members resumed open session, they voted 5-1 with one abstention on a motion to place the property into escrow provided the two contingencies fell into place. Brunick stressed that AVEK needed to receive a title report showing the land to be clear of any liens as well as a written report from Boyle Engineering Corporation indicating that the site will function as a water bank.
“I’m totally against the lease agreement,” said director Frank Donato, who abstained from the vote. Donato considered the lease problematic on two levels – that it was included in the motion to enter into escrow on the property, making it part of the sales agreement, and that the lease fee is absurd, he said.
Godde would lease the land from AVEK for farming at a cost of $100 per year for the first two years and then have an option to renew the lease, again at $100 for the year. The going rate for leasing farmland runs anywhere from $50 to $100 per acre in the Antelope Valley, Donato said. “This lease would go for $100,000 or more,” he said. Donato called the lease agreement a “fraudulent gift of public funds (and) a sweetheart deal” that benefits Godde.
To read the full text of this article from the Antelope Valley Press, click here.
Antelope Valley water bank EIR released
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 6, 2007 at 3:08 amFrom the Antelope Valley Press, news that the EIR for the water banking project has been released:
The 45-day public comment period ends at 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 10, according to a letter released with the document. In order to be considered in the final EIR, comments must be in writing and submitted to AVEK offices at 6500 West Ave. N, Palmdale, CA 93551-2855 by the deadline.
Copies of the document are available at the AVEK offices as well as the Rosamond Public Library, the Lancaster Library and the Palmdale City Library, said Russ Fuller, AVEK’s general manager.
AVEK also posted the draft EIR on the agency Web site, www.avek.org.
Benefits of a water bank include the ability for AVEK to supply its customers with water during dry years when the Department of Water Resources reduces the allocation of water from the California Aqueduct, according to a letter announcing the draft EIR. The bank also will serve as a backup if the aqueduct supply is interrupted by something such as an earthquake on the San Andreas Fault or failure of the levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta.
Permanent facilities to be built at the site include wells, buried pipelines and several small in-line pumping, storage and water treatment stations, the letter said. Low, temporary earthen berms will be constructed, similar in nature to the type used for flood irrigation of alfalfa. They can be removed during farming and set up again when the field is used for recharge.
The draft EIR, prepared by Hanson Environmental Inc., a Walnut Creek firm, provides at least 300 pages exploring potential impacts on the surrounding community such as air quality, noise pollution, traffic congestion, flooding and aesthetics.
Some residents have expressed concerns AVEK would sell Valley groundwater outside the region. But the document said, “The AVEK project does not contemplate use of recharge by agencies other than AVEK and does not contemplate deliveries of stored groundwater outside of the Antelope Valley region.”
To read the full text of this article from the Antelope Valley Press, click here.
To read the EIR for the project, click here.
In a related story, officials toured the site of the proposed water bank:
At present three partners are participating in the bank – Rosamond Community Services District, Semitropic and Western Development, Neufeld said, on property formerly owned by Van Dam Farms. The site runs from 150th to 170th streets west, between Avenue A and Holiday Avenue, and is estimated to be able to store 500,000 acre-feet of water. Each acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons, the amount an average single-family household in the Valley uses in a year.
Each partner brings a specific quality to the project, Neufeld said. Western brings development experience and the land, Semitropic has been operating a water bank and the community services district adds “a local face,” he said. The partners formed a joint powers authority, giving them decision-making rights.
The inclusion of Semitropic as a partner will add flexibility into the system:
In accordance with the Rosamond-Semitropic agreement, if Northern California experiences a dry year, that region can benefit from this water bank. Likewise, if Southern California goes through a dry year, assistance from water banks up north can help, Frates pointed out.
Andrew Werner, project engineer with Western Storage, said water will only be banked in the winter, by spreading it over the land like in rice fields. The remainder of the year, the land will be used for farming crops like carrots, maybe potatoes and onions, he said. Maben asked whether pesticides would be used in the farming that can contaminate the groundwater. Werner said the farming would be organic.
And as for past years of farming, Werner said he thoroughly tested water samples at various levels down to the water table and found no arsenic, and minimal traces of other substances, all within the allowable drinking water standards.
To read the full text of this article from the Antelope Valley Press, click here.
EIR for Antelope Valley water banking project to be released for public comment
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 12, 2007 at 7:54 amAntelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency board of directors has agreed to release the draft EIR for the proposed water banking project for public comment. The board stressed that they are releasing it for public comment, but this does not mean that the board has accepted it. The water banking project is needed for many reasons, as told in this article from the Antelope Valley Press:
The goal of the proposed water bank would be to have a reliable groundwater supply in the Antelope Valley at times when surface water becomes scarce, like in drought years or during crises such as a major earthquake on the San Andreas Fault that interrupts the flow in the California Aqueduct or U.S. District Court Judge Oliver W. Wanger’s decision to reduce the amount of water coming out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in order to save an indigenous species of smelt – two-inch-long fish whose population has declined.
Long-term sustainable groundwater yield in the Antelope Valley basin is estimated at 40,000 acre-feet per year, Monroe said, based on information gathered from the U.S. Geological Survey. An acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons, the amount used by the average single-family home in a year, water experts agree. Retail water demand in the Valley exceeds sustainable groundwater yield in all years, Monroe noted.
In any given year, the Department of Water Resources can drastically reduce supplies from the State Water Project, the aqueduct, he added. The department can – in a severe water shortage year – allocate 5% of the prescribed entitlement to each of the 27 State Water Contractors, a member group to which AVEK belongs.
AVEK, a water wholesaler that sells to municipal customers like Los Angeles County Waterworks District 40 and agricultural users, can prepare for water deficits by implementing in-basin storage – the water bank – or scrapping the project and overdrafting the basin, pumping out too much groundwater when a shortage occurs. But, he said, overdrafting leads to land subsidence – the land will contract and leave less room in the basin to replenish the groundwater supply. Also, the situation with groundwater rights in the Valley hasn’t been settled yet, and the adjudication case is dragging through the court.
Also, Monroe said, AVEK could implement “severe rationing” during a water shortage, rather than proceed with a banking project. Rationing is just another option. Monroe said if a judge adjudicates groundwater, determines who has the pumping rights and to what extent, then “you’ll be stuck with rationing – three or four (toilet) flushes a day per family. It gets pretty ugly.”
To read the full text of this article from the Antelope Valley Press, click here.
Release of EIR for Antelope Valley water bank delayed
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 6, 2007 at 6:25 amFrom the Antelope Valley Press:
At the advice of their attorney, Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency directors agreed to postpone for one week the release of a draft environmental impact report that describes the conditions of land they purchased for a water bank.
AVEK directors reached that decision after some heated discussion during a special meeting Tuesday night. They initially planned to release the EIR for public comment that night, regarding several land parcels that total roughly 1,400 acres at 60th Street West and Gaskell Road in Rosamond, property formerly owned by longtime Antelope Valley onion and carrot farmer John Calandri. But residents whose properties are in close proximity oppose those water banking plans.
The delay of the EIR release resulted from a dispute over whether the correct parcel numbers had been identified on the special meeting agenda prepared by AVEK, a water wholesaler that supplies retailers like Los Angeles County Waterworks District 40 and Quartz Hill Water District as well as agricultural users.
Randy Scott, a Rosamond resident opposed to the water bank in his backyard, said he just asked one question that triggered the flap.
“Of the 38 properties listed, it appears 12 don’t have a newly recorded deed. Two-thirds show the deed was recorded” on July 17, Scott said, adding that makes sense because water board members approved the close of escrow July 10, in a 4-0 vote, with one director abstaining, citing conflict of interest.
But, Scott added, one-third of the parcels don’t show that the deed has been recorded yet. So, he contended, “that property hasn’t changed hands. Then (the board) got into whether these were the correct legal descriptions.”
Once the board approves the EIR, it will be circulated for 45 days for public comment. Residents in the immediate area of the proposed water bank have many concerns: traffic, endangered species, flooding, and mosquitoes are among them. Once the EIR has been circulated, more public comment is expected.
To read the full text of this story from the Antelope Valley Press, click here.
Water bank location vigorously opposed in Antelope Valley
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on June 26, 2007 at 9:15 pmResidents showed up in force to oppose the location of a proposed water bank in Rosamond, a city on the outskirts of the Palmdale & Lancaster area. An Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency official discussed the need for the water banking project, citing continued drought in the Colorado River Basin & ongoing problems in the Delta area. He also discussed how voters rejection of key water development proposals in years past has led to the present difficulties with the Antelope Valley’s water supply.
“The State Water Project does not work without local banking,” he said.
This year, because of the drought, the Department of Water Resources allocated 60% of the entitlement to State Water Contractors, including AVEK, PWD and Littlerock. But with half a year to go, Fuller said he wasn’t certain that the state will even deliver that much. And next year will be worse, he speculated, with possibly as low as a 30% allocation.
Read more
Antelope Valley concerned about future water supplies
Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2007 at 5:55 pmBy ALISHA SEMCHUCK
Antelope Valley Press Staff Writer
PALMDALE
The Antelope Valley hasn’t been drained of all its groundwater – not yet.
A group representing water purveyors, agricultural users, builders and government agencies intends to keep the water table from running dry by implementing the Antelope Valley Integrated Regional Water Management Plan, a comprehensive measure.
Approximately 50 stakeholders met Wednesday at the Larry Chimbole Cultural Center to discuss declining water levels in the Valley and agree upon a set of goals that possibly would remedy the problem.
Ken Kirby, of Kirby Consulting Group Inc. in Northern California, led the meeting and emphasized the need for a commitment to specific objectives, plus the means to attain those goals by a target date. Before touching on potential solutions, he described factors that compounded the problem.
“Your demand is continuing to go up, but your supply is not,” Kirby told the crowd.
For the rest of the story from the Antelope Valley Press, click here.
A new company wants to start a water bank project in the Antelope Valley:
Western Development and Storage, a private Los Angeles-based firm, is finalizing the engineering design for a 1,500-acre “water bank,” in which water transported by the California Aqueduct would piped into manmade basins, soak into the ground and recharging the Valley’s underground water table.
For the full story, also from the Antelope Valley Press, click here.
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