Some San Diego water officials say they might consider curbing development as water customers say they won’t conserve water as long as development continues

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 31, 2007 at 11:26 am

From the North County Times:

At least two water officials said this month that they may consider ways to restrict construction in their districts next year in response to mounting pressure from disgruntled water customers who say they won’t conserve water until new development is curbed.

“There has been a fairly common response to the calls for voluntary conservation, and that has essentially been: ‘Why should we conserve just so you can sell water meters so developers can build new homes?’ ” Valley Center Municipal Water District’s general manager, Gary Arant, said in a Dec. 17 report to the board of directors.

So far, angry customers haven’t banded together in opposition, but Arant and Rainbow Municipal Water District Manager Dave Seymour said this week that their agencies have been bombarded with calls from individuals arguing that it was unfair for districts to issue new meters during drought conditions.

Together, the rural water districts encompass nearly 115,000 unincorporated acres in Valley Center, Bonsall, Rainbow and parts of Fallbrook. Agricultural use accounts for nearly 80 percent of the districts’ total water use. In addition to the mandatory 30 percent cutback in water to agricultural customers beginning Jan. 1, all North County water districts have asked ratepayers to reduce their water use by at least 10 percent voluntarily, meaning shorter showers and limited sprinkler use.

Seymour said the most frequent response he hears from ratepayers being asked to conserve “is along the lines of, ‘Yeah, I’ll start conserving water when you stop issuing new meters.’ And there’s a lot of validity in that statement, but every month you hear about some new large development being approved.”

Still, Seymour said he’s not in favor of halting all development projects. “Development and building is a huge part of our local economy as well, so we don’t want to destroy that, either. Reasonable and responsible growth would be a good place to start,” he said.

To read the full text of this story from the North County Times, click here.

December 31, 2007 · Filed Under San Diego

1 Comment

Farmer disputes federal Clean Water Act regulations regarding dried up puddle

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 31, 2007 at 11:18 am

From the Visalia Times-Delta:

A vineyard owner in San Joaquin County is battling overreaching federal regulations on his property that can negatively affect large numbers of farmers in California and elsewhere. And Congress is considering making the regulations even more burdensome.

The regulations affecting Brad Goehring’s vineyard and pasture property in Clements originated with the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) which became effective in 1972. Objections to the provisions of the act by others have resulted in one legal case that reached the U. S. Supreme Court and brought a ruling in favor of the land owner. The Army Corps of Engineers(ACE) claimed that a wetland on the property, 20 miles from any stream or tributary, was part of the country’s navigable waters.

In Goehring’s case the ACE contended that he was filling and destroying “waters of the United States” by simply disking a dried-out puddle to control weeds, restoring it to acceptable pasture use.

To show that it meant business the ACE placed a cease and desist order on the property, preventing Goehring’s use of it for any purpose. Luckily no equipment or buildings were on the property at the time, or the agency could have ordered them to sit idle as long as the order was in place. As it was he experienced financial deficits by losing the use of the land for two years until the order was lifted.

To read the full text of this story from the Visalia Times-Delta, click here.

December 31, 2007 · Filed Under Agriculture

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

The invasive Quagga muscles its way into Southern California

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 31, 2007 at 7:12 am

From the Los Angeles Times:

An invasive mussel first detected in California less than a year ago has surged across the state’s southern counties, stirring concern that its spread will inflict costly damage to public water systems and fisheries statewide.

The infamous fresh-water quagga mussel, which has wreaked havoc in the Great Lakes, multiplies so quickly and prolifically that it forms large masses that can clog water pumps, pipelines, power plant intakes and farm irrigation lines. Its rapid-fire invasion this year from Lake Mead — which straddles the border between Arizona and Nevada — southwest to San Diego is alarming water officials in a semi-arid region that heavily depends on imported water moved through a vast network of pipelines and canals. The quagga already has infested the 242-mile-long California Aqueduct, five San Diego County reservoirs and two of the three largest reservoirs in Riverside County operated by the Metropolitan Water District, which supplies Los Angeles with most of its water.

The mussel’s microscopic larvae can swiftly and invisibly move through waterways and the pest is typically found only after it has implanted itself. There is no known method to eradicate the thumbnail sized mussel, but at least one agency is attempting chlorination in the hopes of killing larvae.

Although the quagga does not make water unsafe to drink, officials are concerned that it could infiltrate the State Water Project that delivers water from Northern California to Southern California as well as expansive irrigation systems that feed the state’s agricultural industry. “All of that is subject to disruption by quagga,” said Edwin D. Grosholz, an expert on invasive mussels and Cooperative Extension specialist at UC Davis. “There’s nothing at all to limit their spread north to Northern California.”

Why are water officials so concerned?

The quagga and zebra mussels have caused an estimated $100 million a year in damages in the eastern United States and Canada, according to a May state report. Mussels can grow in densities of up to 750,000 per square meter in layers more than a foot thick, the report said.

The quagga can alter the underwater food chain, weakening fish and other aquatic species and settling on clams so densely that the clams starve. It can eat so much microscopic plant growth, or phytoplankton, that water turns clear, allowing sunlight to quicken the growth of bottom algae. That algae can cause taste and odor problems in drinking water supplies.

It can also create other problems. The FitzPatrick nuclear plant in upstate New York on Lake Ontario was forced to shut down three times this fall because of clogged filters blamed on mussel-generated algae.

To read the full text of this story from the Los Angeles Times, click here.

For more information on the Quagga mussel:
The USGS Fact Sheet on the Quagga mussel.
The California Department of Fish and Game webpage on the Quagga Mussel. Includes instructions for boaters in helping prevent the spread.
The 100th Meridian Foundation. Has an online educational program for boaters on Quagga prevention.

December 31, 2007 · Filed Under Invasive Species

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Delta Vision report: a new healthy future envisioned for the Delta, but will the Governor lead the course of action?

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 30, 2007 at 11:05 am

From the Sacramento Bee, this editorial:

The multiple perils that threaten the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta look much like those that endanger the Everglades, the Chesapeake Bay and other estuaries around the world. Fisheries are declining. Urban encroachment is adding to the historic loss of wetlands. Exotic species are forcing out native ones. Polluted runoff is contributing to the meltdown of fragile ecosystems.

Yet California’s Delta faces some stresses that set it apart from other estuaries. Unlike its counterparts in Maryland or Florida, the Delta is a direct source of drinking water for 25 million people. Farms in the San Joaquin Valley also are highly dependent on this water. Those demands add to the challenge – and the urgency – of restoring the Delta, which many scientists say is on the verge of collapse.

Is California ready to grant the Delta the recognition and protection it deserves? It might be, especially if Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders heed the final report of the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force.

To read the rest of this editorial from the Sacramento Bee, click here.

Picture of the Delta by flickr photographer Brother Grimm. Click on the picture to see it enlarged, and as an added bonus, if you go to the flickr website, there are comments inserted on it that point out various parts of the Delta shown in the photograph. You can also see other great photos from Brother Grimm & other flickr photographers.

December 30, 2007 · Filed Under Delta Issues, Delta Vision Task Force

1 Comment

Water cutbacks changing Central Valley agriculture

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 30, 2007 at 10:56 am

From the Sacramento Bee:

“For a long time, water was almost taken for granted,” said Mark Borba, his Lincoln Navigator whooshing past a field studded with railcar-sized cotton bales.

Borba, 57, has farmed the deep loam southwest of Fresno since 1976. For most of his first 15 years in the business, taxpayer-subsidized water flowed full bore from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. With rich yields of cotton and other crops, Borba built his operation to 23,000 acres. At its peak, his irrigation water could have serviced two cities the size of present-day Folsom.

Today, though, the Delta is in trouble. Fish populations are crashing, and scientists have been unable to explain why. Water quality is poor. And the exported water that farmers like Borba had come to count as almost a birthright is in jeopardy as never before.

Last summer, state and federal officials throttled back the big Delta pumps, citing an imminent threat to the Delta smelt, a tiny fish protected by the federal Endangered Species Act. Last year’s dry winter left reservoirs depleted, with deliveries for 2008 expected at half of maximum. Earlier this month, a federal judge laid out a fish-protection plan likely to trim pumping by an additional 15 percent to 30 percent.

“This is by far the most serious condition that I can remember going into a water year,” said Dan Nelson, executive director of the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority, a coalition of water districts that depend on Delta water.

Even as proposals for billions of dollars in new reservoirs and a Delta bypass swirl at the Capitol, most forecasts predict permanent cuts in the water pumped south to Borba and his neighbors. “A lot of guys are saying, ‘Do I hunker down and try to wait this out somehow, or do I really change what I do?’ ” Borba said.

To read the rest of this story from the Sacramento Bee, click here. An interesting story that unfortunately, at the time of this posting, I can’t read the second page of it unless I am a member of the Sac Bee’s press club (of which I am not).

Central Valley agriculture photo by flickr photographer dadoll. Click on the picture to see it enlarged and to visit the flickr website for more great photos from dadoll & others.

December 30, 2007 · Filed Under Agriculture

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Locals organize protest against the state’s Salton Sea restoration plan; they want canal or pipeline plan from Gulf of California to be reconsidered

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 30, 2007 at 10:44 am

From MyDesert.com:

Longtime Salton City resident Rick Davis intends to save the dying Salton Sea, one gallon of fresh water at a time. Davis is organizing a local protest against plans to modify California’s largest lake. At 11 a.m. on Tuesday, he and others will each dump one gallon of fresh water into the sea. Davis said he’ll then continue to add a gallon daily through Jan. 6; then seven gallons, for a gallon a day, every Sunday thereafter.

He’s also circulating petitions of protest that he plans to provide to state and federal lawmakers for the Salton Sea region. “We want to restore, not modify, the sea,” he said. “We want it built back to what it was in the 1960s.”

Davis said his dissatisfaction comes from years of promises, plans and ultimate inaction from local, state and federal officials - all as the sea slowly evaporates, becomes more salty, and the fish within it and the economy on its shores die.

Davis and others are unsatisfied with the state’s preferred restoration plan, which includes a much smaller sea, mostly up at the north end. They would like to see more consideration given to a pipeline project bringing in water from the Gulf of California to sustain the sea.

Dale Hoffman-Floerke, director of Colorado River and Salton Sea office of the state Department of Water Resources, addressed the concept at the Association of California Water Agencies conference in Indian Wells last month. Hoffman-Floerke said Mexican environmental officials were approached with the idea. “It was met with disdain,” she said. “They were not even remotely interested in entertaining this subject matter.”

The Colorado River Delta at the northern end of the Gulf of California is a biosphere, a nature reserve protected by both the Mexican government and the United Nations.

Emmett, however, said more negotiation could work. “You get a good salesman like Arnold Schwarzenegger down there, talking to the governor, saying, ‘Here are the economic benefits to you. We’re removing the risk of dust storms sweeping into Mexicali,’” Emmett said.

Others remain skeptical.

Edward Glenn, a professor of soil, water and environmental sciences at the University of Arizona’s Environmental Research Lab in Tucson, noted that the Salton Sea is the only known area in the world where fish-eating birds contract avian botulism. The birds become infected, Glenn said, from eating infected tilapia who feed on pileworms in the oxygen-starved sediments of the sea. “Given that history, it would not be responsible to suggest dumping Salton Sea water into the Gulf of California,” he said.

Michael Cohen, a senior research associate with the Oakland-based Pacific Institute, an environmental, economic and social equity research group, also dismissed the canal-to-Mexico concept. “It’s eight to ten times the cost of the preferred alternative,” he said. “Frankly, I don’t think the preferred alternative is going to be funded.”

Cohen said he’s encouraged citizens see the need to save the Salton Sea. But people need to be realistic about what can be accomplished at the sea, and the amount of time left in which to accomplish it, he said. “If we continue to focus on grandiose schemes like a canal to the gulf, we’re not going to get anywhere,” he said.

To read the full text of this article from MyDesert.com, click here.

Yesterday, I posted an article written by Indio resident Richard Speed, expressing his views on what would be necessary for successful negotiations with Mexico - click here.

The pipeline project has been covered on Aquafornia before:

Salton Sea pipeline - is it a feasible alternative? Original Aquafornia article - click here.
Salton Sea, (background), part 1: click here.
Salton Sea, Open waterway or pipeline from Gulf of California, part 2: click here.
Salton Sea, “Dead Sea option”, part 3: click here.

December 30, 2007 · Filed Under Salton Sea

1 Comment

Let’s turn entrepreneurs loose to invent & sell tools to help us conserve water, says Ruth Galanter

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 30, 2007 at 9:09 am

Good commentary from former Los Angeles city councilwoman Ruth Galanter, who begins by pointing out how up until the 1990’s, the average household toilet used a whopping 8 gallons per flush. A city ordinance passed during the drought required all new development use lower-flush toilets, and DWP jumped on the bandwagon, replacing over 1 million water-guzzling toilets. The result: a lot of water conserved that we don’t have to think about.

During that drought, gray-water systems were piloted, and many were purchased. But once the drought was declared over, the industry faded away. Says Ruth in this Daily News commentary:

While government can still play a major role in encouraging conservation through demonstrations like the gray-water project, government is no longer alone. The private sector, moved as always by the desire to make money, is champing at the bit.

Consider the waterless urinal, which requires government approval but not government development. Where government used to have to be the innovator, today government officials need only regulate to ensure public health and safety.

In Southern California, the drought is never over. It is time to revive the gray-water industry and turn entrepreneurs loose to invent and sell us other tools that will make us conserve - no matter how we feel about the environment.

To read the full text of the commentary from the Daily News, click here.

December 30, 2007 · Filed Under Conservation

1 Comment

Development and water: an big issue for Colorado

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 30, 2007 at 8:54 am

Like California, Colorado is grappling with the issue of planning for population growth in the face of shrinking water supplies. From the Durango Herald:

More than 4.7 million people live in Colorado today. By 2035, an additional 3 million people are expected to move here. And there are no plans to make sure they all have water. That’s because cities and counties decide how and where to grow. Water providers don’t have veto power over growth. They just look for more water to serve the newcomers.

But a small number of water experts is starting to speak up about growth. Jenny Russell, a Telluride water attorney, criticizes Front Range cities that assume the Western Slope will send them water for their future residents. “That’s irresponsible to say you have enough for now and you’re going to grow until you come to a deficit,” Russell said.

A report released in 2003 determined that Colorado can meet only 80% of the water needs of the urban growth expected by 2030. Known in the Colorado water business as “the gap”, at least two pipeline projects have been proposed to plug it. Or, alternatively, the water will have to come from farmers.

Increasingly, water managers are starting to speak up, but don’t have any authority over land-use decisions. Colorado lacks legislation requiring development to be linked to water supplies.

“When you start adding it up, where’s the water going to come from for all these home sites?” said Taylor, R-Steamboat Springs.

Others say there’s room - and water - for 3 million new Coloradans. “Colorado can handle that kind of growth, but it is going to come through smart management of our water supply,” said U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar.

Harris Sherman, director of the state Department of Natural Resources, expanded on the idea. “We can handle another 3 million people, but it will involve serious tradeoffs,” Sherman said. Those tradeoffs include a loss of farmland, and less water in the rivers for fish, recreation and scenic beauty. Water managers, counties and the state have to do a better job of helping each other understand the constraints, Sherman said.

“We need to be more realistic about where these future water resources will come from,” he said.

To read the rest of this article from the Durango Herald, click here.

December 30, 2007 · Filed Under National water news

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Center for Biological Diversity files suit to get information about MacDonald

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 30, 2007 at 8:37 am

From Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org:

Julie McDonald, a corrupt Bush administration official who resigned from her position with the Department of Interior in April during a scandal over her meddling with Endangered Species Act listings, is the subject of litigation launched against the Department by the Center for Biological Diversity on December 27.

The Center filed a lawsuit in federal district court demanding that the U.S. Department of the Interior and one of its agencies, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, hand over public documents about former Interior Deputy Assistant Secretary MacDonald. MacDonald abruptly resigned in April 2007 after the exposure of her unlawful interference with dozens of endangered species and habitat decisions by agency scientists, including at least one decision in which she stood to financially benefit.

The species impacted by “egregious corrupt or inept Interior decisions,” include the Sacramento splittail, a native member of the minnow family whose decline in recent years has coincided with those of the delta smelt, longfin smelt, juvenile striped bass and threadfin shad.

“Though this fish was listed in 1999, the decision was fought in court by state water authorities and the species was suspiciously delisted in 2003,” according to the Center’s press release. “MacDonald made over 500 edits to the final decision. At the time, she co-owned a farm in California that overlapped with habitat for the fish. The inspector general cited her for conflict of interest.”

To read the full text of this story from IndyBay.org, click here.

December 30, 2007 · Filed Under Water & Wildlife

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Bill Williams River provides valuable wildlife refuge

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 30, 2007 at 8:33 am

From Today’s News-Herald from Lake Havasu & Lower Colorado River, the annual Audubon Society Christmas bird count takes place in over 2000 locations throughout North America & the world, one of those being the Bill Williams Wildlife Refuge along the Lower Colorado River:

While only about 6,000 acres in size, the Bill Williams refuge is incredibly rich in wildlife, Blair said. “We’re the littlest refuge on the river, but we’ve got more biodiversity than all the others put together,” she said.

Blair led a small group up the Bill Williams River itself, sloshing upstream through ankle-deep water and occasionally hacking through thickets of invasive salt cedar. Joined by husband and wife Barbara and Dick Todd, volunteers at the refuge, the Blairs stopped every few minutes to listen to the whistles and clicks of birds flitting through the trees. Shallow enough to walk across, the river is nevertheless unique for the state. “This is a live river in Arizona,” Blair said. “It’s one of the last ones left.”

Created by the merging of the Big Sandy and Santa Maria rivers, and held in check by the Alamo Dam, about 40 miles upstream, the Bill Williams river is one of only two tributaries that flow into the Colorado River below the Grand Canyon. Its flow sustains one of the last remaining stands of native willow and cottonwood trees along the Colorado River, vital habitat for a variety of species that are found virtually nowhere else.

Those forests once formed a corridor 280 miles long and several miles wide, all along the length of the Colorado River. But beginning with the construction of Hoover Dam in 1933, most of these forests were either drowned under reservoirs, or dried out and destroyed by the lack of water. “That forest is now 99 percent gone,” Blair said.

What remains is sustained by the flow of the Bill Williams River, which peaks in the winter and swells in times of flood, bringing vital water to the fertile land and allowing new stands of willow and cottonwood to be seeded. “It’s amazing out here,” said Dick Todd. “You just add a little water and watch it grow.”

To read the full text of this article from Today’s News Herald, click here.

December 30, 2007 · Filed Under Colorado River Basin

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

A Salton Sea canal or pipeline requires the right negotiating team

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 29, 2007 at 9:12 am

The Salton Sea is California’s largest lake, and is located in the Imperial Valley. Created in 1905 when a spring flood on the Colorado River broke through a poorly constructed headgate, the sea has been sustained by agricultural flows from the Imperial Valley ever since. It has also become one of the nation’s prime birdwatching areas and an important stop on the Pacific Flyway.

However, recent agreements to transfer water from the Imperial Valley to urban Southern California require Imperial Valley farmers to conserve more water, thus reducing the flows into the Salton Sea, eventually causing the lake to shrink. Besides impacting wildlife, a dried up Salton Sea will cause dust storms comparable (or possibly worse) than what has been experienced in the Owens Valley, which has been the site of most of the worst dust storms in the country for many years.

As part of the QSA agreement, the state has agreed to assume responsibility for restoration of the Salton Sea, and this year, put forth a nearly $9 billion plan, which involves building dikes and creating a much smaller sea area, with dust control measures applied on the remaining surface of the lake bed. The plan has received mixed reviews from the local residents and officials.

But this is not the only option that has been presented throughout the years. Many studies have been done and one of the options that has been considered is some form of pump in/pump out option, generally to the Gulf of California. It has been determined that the route to the Gulf is feasible, but other obstacles exist. One of them would be the required negotiations with Mexico to allow the pipeline or canal to cross their territory into the Gulf.

Richard Speed is an Indio resident who feels strongly and passionately that such a solution is possible. While I may not share his optimism, I have invited Richard to submit articles on the Salton Sea, because Aquafornia is about promoting all ideas and possible solutions to our water problems, not just my own. (Click here to check out Aquafornia’s Salton Sea archive for more information).

Richard’s article today details the requirements he sees as necessary to create a successful negotiating team to deal with Mexico on this issue:

A FEW CONSIDERATIONS RELATING TO NEGOTIATIONS WITH MEXICO
By Richard Speed

My proposal for replacing the water currently in the Salton Sea with water delivered from the Gulf of California necessarily requires the approval of Mexico. I have outlined in my proposal what I consider to be a number of substantial benefits to that country if it decides to accept that idea and take advantage of the opportunity it presents.

However, securing that agreement means conducting very delicate negotiations. To be successful, negotiations of this kind must produce results that each party considers satisfactory. The final result when fully built and operational must be looked upon with pride. All of the negotiating give and take must be handled in a friendly manner and both participants must respect each other’s sensitivities. However, there are other concerns which must be satisfied even before getting started.

It seems to me that negotiations leading to a contract with a foreign government must be handled at the Federal level. I do not believe that the state of California (or any state, for that matter) would be allowed to enter into any agreement with another country. Such binding agreements can only be handled through the United States State Department, in this case through the Inter-American Affairs Office. It may be that representatives of the state could contribute technical knowledge or details but not otherwise participate. All elements of the final agreement, if one is reached, must be the result of negotiations between representatives at the Federal level.

I consider this a desirable requirement because I believe that almost any representative from the state of California would approach negotiations with Mexico with a prejudice against success, Such an individual could not be independent of the state’s position with regard to its own proposal. In my opinion that individual would be unable to be free of that bias and would, therefore, contribute to failure. It might even be that that would be his desired result so he could crow “I told you so! Mexico will never agree.” That may also be true of the state’s entire legislative and congressional delegations.

December 29, 2007 · Filed Under Salton Sea

1 Comment

Trigger specified in Wanger court ruling causes Delta water exports to be cut in half on Friday (28th)

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 29, 2007 at 8:30 am

Earlier this month, Judge Wanger issued a court ruling reducing water exports from the Delta in order to protect the endangered Delta smelt. The ruling specified certain situations that would require pumping operations to be reduced further, and according to the Sacramento Bee, one of those thresholds occurred on Christmas day:

Wanger’s ruling requires pumping reductions under certain conditions that affect the smelt. One of those triggers was tripped on Christmas Day when water clarity declined at a South Delta monitoring site. “It’s a belated Christmas present to the Delta smelt from Judge Wanger,” said Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance. “It is a historic occasion.”

DWR and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation had three days to respond after the trigger point was reached. They did so Friday morning by reducing combined pumping from 5,250 cubic feet per second to about 2,400, said Carl Torgersen, chief of operations and maintenance for the state Department of Water Resources. The goal is to minimize reverse flows in the Delta to meet a threshold set by the court. The result, Torgersen said, will be about 5,600 acre-feet of water per day not delivered to users. That’s enough water for about 10,000 average households for a year.

The cutback probably won’t have an immediate effect. Torgersen said it will hinder the ability to refill San Luis Reservoir near Los Banos, a storage point for the southbound water. But there could be long-term shortages, particularly if 2008 ends up being a drought year.

The pumping reductions must continue for 10 days unless rainfall substantially boosts natural runoff through the Delta.

To read the full text of this story from the Sacramento Bee, click here.

December 29, 2007 · Filed Under Delta Issues, Judge Wanger delta smelt ruling

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

California Sport Fishing Alliance reports on Wanger’s ruling

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 29, 2007 at 8:17 am

From IndyBay.org:

John Beuttler, conservation director of the California Sportfishing Alliance, summarizes the recent federal court ruling by Judge Oliver Wanger that mandated reductions in water exports from the California Delta at certain times of year in order to better protect Delta smelt from the impacts of the state and federal projects.

“The court’s ruling was based on the best science available, a principle the Interior Department neglected to use,” said Beuttler.

Congressman George Miller (D-Martinez) also commented on the ruling. “Today’s order is a very important step in the effort to force California’s water policy into compliance with the law. Nobody should be surprised by this order, nor should they be surprised to learn that the government must now take substantial steps to save the Delta and the Bay ecosystem.”

The ruling occurs in the context of the Bay-Delta estuary’s worst-ever ecological crisis. Four species of pelagic (open water) fish - delta smelt, longfin smelt, juvenile striped bass and threadfin shad - have declined to record levels because of increased water exports by the state and federal governments in recent years.

This court ruling is very welcome news for those of us concerned about the future of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Unfortunately Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, the worst ever government for fish and the environment in California history, continues to campaign for increased water exports from Delta that is already crashing. To provide the capacity for increased exports, Schwarzenegger and the California Chamber of Commerce are backing water bond initatives for a peripheral canal and two new reservoirs. Unless we stop the Governor and his corporate supporters in their drive to build the canal and more dams, the delta smelt and other fish species are destined for extinction.

To read the rest of this article from CSPA posted on IndyBay.org, click here. The article contains comments by Congressman George Miller, a summary of the court ruling, and information regarding the latest smelt survey.

December 29, 2007 · Filed Under Delta Issues

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Westlands plan to create smelt habitat has a few skeptics

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 29, 2007 at 8:01 am

From Stockton’s RecordNet.com:

A massive water district long targeted by environmentalists for its thirst for Delta water says it wants to help the estuary’s most infamous yet inconspicuous fish.

Westlands Water District this month purchased more than 3,000 acres of farmland in the north Delta, where it says it intends to restore wetland habitat for threatened Delta smelt. The crash of the smelt in recent years has been blamed at least in part on pumps near Tracy that ship Delta water to Westlands and other farms and cities as far south as San Diego. Smelt are caught in the current and killed at the pumps. A federal judge earlier this month ordered water exports be reduced to protect smelt.

“We entered into this to try to create habitat for the Delta smelt,” said Westlands spokeswoman Sarah Woolf. “It’s to our benefit to create that habitat. We have every intention of making this happen.”

But many doubt the effectiveness of Westland’s plan:

Stockton environmentalist Bill Jennings said Westlands’ gesture is “nice,” but he questioned how much of a difference the $12 million purchase would make. The land purchase doesn’t cancel out the harm caused by immense amounts of water diverted south, he said. “Additional habitat is a good thing. I just don’t see the benefits coming from 3,000 acres” of restored habitat, Jennings said.

To read the full text of this article from Stockton’s RecordNet.com, click here.

December 29, 2007 · Filed Under Delta Issues, Westlands Water District

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Employees support ousted Palmdale Water District manager LaMoreaux

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 29, 2007 at 7:55 am

From the Antelope Valley Press, more on the murky world of the Palmdale Water District:

Assistant General Manager Curtis Paxton has been appointed acting head of the Palmdale Water District following a 3-2 board vote to place General Manager Dennis LaMoreaux on paid leave.

Paxton’s appointment late Wednesday night is expected to be temporary, and the three board members who voted to remove LaMoreaux have not said who might fill the general manager’s position permanently. “No decision has been made on that,” said board member Jeff Storm, who made the proposal Wednesday night to put LaMoreaux on leave. “I have not discussed it with anybody outside (board of director) chambers. There’s been no names.”

Employees who spoke to the Antelope Valley Press on Thursday on condition of anonymity said LaMoreaux’s removal, in which Storm was supported by board President Dick Wells and Director Dave Gomez, has created a somber and tense atmosphere among the water district’s work force.

“They acted like a pack. It was preconceived. It’s been plotted. It’s been in the works for a while,” one employee said. “Everybody at the district knows that.”

To read the full text of this story from the Antelope Valley Press, click here. Also, see related story posted on Aquafornia yesterday: click here.

December 29, 2007 · Filed Under Other Water Agencies, Water Agency News (all)

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Climate change could bring profound changes to California

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 29, 2007 at 7:50 am

Here’s a story from the Associated Press which appeared in Colorado’s Summit Daily News:

Where celebrities, surfers and wannabes once mingled on the sands of Malibu’s world-famous beaches, there are now only sea walls defending fading mansions from the ever-encroaching Pacific.

Abandoned ski lifts from Lake Tahoe to the fire-ravaged mountains of Southern California dangle above lonely trails that are now more suitable for mountain biking during much of the winter. The Joshua trees that once extended their tangled arms into the desert sky by the thousands have all but disappeared.

And in Northern California, tourists must drive farther north or to the cool edge of the Pacific to find what is left of the region’s signature wine country.

Such is a possible peek into the Golden State’s future under scenarios put forth by scientists trying to gauge what the nation’s most geographically diverse state might look like by the end of the century, if not sooner.

As the global climate warms, California’s one-of-kind geography and the lifestyle it has made famous will not escape the consequences. From the misty redwood forests of the North Coast to the snow-fed waterfalls of the Sierra Nevada, from Southern California’s sunbather-jammed beaches to the temperamental wildflowers of the inland deserts, the changes could be profound.

To read the rest of this story from the Summit Daily News, click here.

December 29, 2007 · Filed Under Climate change & water supply

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Land subsidence in the Coachella Valley a big concern

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 28, 2007 at 11:07 am

From the Desert Sun:

Land is sinking in parts of the Coachella Valley where groundwater is being pumped out faster than it’s being replaced. If the excessive draw-down continues, infrastructure - including sewers, pipes and roads - could suffer significant damage, potentially costing taxpayers millions of dollars. That’s according to a recently released study by the Coachella Valley Water District and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Although Indio, the valley’s largest city, is being spared the brunt of this subsidence, it’s surrounded by areas in Bermuda Dunes, La Quinta and Coachella that have dropped by as much as a foot in some places. The water district provides drinking water to some Indio residences and delivers irrigation water to golf courses within the city.

Most of Indio, however, is serviced by the Indio Water Authority. The authority commissioned its own survey, with the results due on Jan. 14, said Jim Smith, Indio’s public works director. Water district and geological survey’s report released Dec. 17 studied a period between 1996 and 2005, and showed significant changes, or sinking of the land, in at least four areas: Indian Wells, La Quinta, Palm Desert and the Coachella-Indio area. “We have a problem,” said Steve Robbins, the district’s general manager-chief engineer. “It is a valley-wide problem we all have to deal with.”

To read the rest of this article from the Desert Sun, click here.

December 28, 2007 · Filed Under Groundwater

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

The murky politics of the Palmdale Water District

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 28, 2007 at 10:51 am

A recent article from the Antelope Valley Press asks, “What the heck is going on over at the Palmdale Water District?”

Whether there is any justification for it or not, the Palmdale Water District’s elected board is handling the public’s business right now in a manner that is really embarrassing. Or, at least, it should be embarrassing to the board, but examples of shameless behavior by public officials aren’t really that hard to find.

So, backing up the tape, Dexter loses narrowly in an election where the guy who wins accuses the incumbent of pursuing a “toilet to tap” water strategy for the district. Which wasn’t true at all, but that hardly matters these days.

It was true that all members of the incumbent board voted for a feasibility study of what the impact of use of tertiary water would be, but that is not the same thing. It’s a topic researched by many water agencies these days.

So, making out that Dexter was treating PWD customers like lab rats wasn’t true, but it worked. And that’s politics. Do what works.

Since the election, Storm, who returned to the board from a previous term, has unabashedly pursued the ouster of the district’s general manager, Dennis LaMoreaux. Why he is doing this, he won’t say. But his moves for the ouster are pretty bold.

This past week Storm said there was no violation of the state’s open meeting law - the Brown Act - when he circulated paperwork during a suspicious bathroom break at a budget meeting. His move - circulated like a note in class - was to call for a special meeting convened to discuss - um - getting rid of the district manager.

Hey, it worked in Lancaster. Do what works.

Now, as to the manager: Who knows whether there is a case to get rid of the guy? Certainly not the public.

But one thing is clear as potable tap water: The case for handling this maneuver in this manner is murky as brown effluent. Or Brown Act effluent.

To get the full scoop from the Antelope Valley Press, click here.

December 28, 2007 · Filed Under Other Water Agencies, Water Agency News (all)

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Planning & Conservation League sees hope for the Delta in 2008

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 28, 2007 at 9:33 am

From the California Progress Report:

After years of bad news from the Delta, the final weeks of 2008 could mark a new beginning for the largest estuary on the West Coast.

The first waves of change came out of Fresno last Friday, when Judge Wanger of the U.S. District Court issued his final order requiring State and Federal agencies to stop killing delta smelt during key periods of the year. This latest decision, specifying how his initial ruling earlier this year will be implemented, ensures that endangered smelt have a fighting chance to avoid extinction. Specifically, the order requires the following:

-The California Department of Water Resources and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation must change their operations to reduce their massive diversions of water from the Delta.

-Both agencies must increase monitoring for delta smelt near their water pumps.

-The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service must issue a new, more protective permit (Biological Opinion) for Delta smelt and Delta water exports by September 15, 2008.

The historic decision sparked a broad array of reactions (see the Fish Sniffer Online and the Fresno Bee). However, the most important review, the reaction of the delta smelt, will not be in until next year, when fishing surveys will determine whether the delta smelt and other Delta species are able to inch back from the brink of extinction.

To read the rest of this article from the California Progress Report, click here.

December 28, 2007 · Filed Under Delta Issues

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

A year end perspective on some national water issues

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 28, 2007 at 9:27 am

From the Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin, here is an article which discusses some general water issues. Although it’s not about California, it gives some good basic information about some national water issues. It’s a good read:

Farmers rely on irrigation to turn their brown fields green. Ranchers depend on fresh water for their cattle. Increasingly, city dwellers are demanding their share for everything from laundry to lawn care.

The issue isn’t new. Disputes over water have brought conflict to North America since speculators first raced to set up land claims near rivers or streams. Yet as millions of new residents flock to the Sun Belt, settling in the suburbs rather than the wilderness, the debate over who gets Mother Nature’s lifeblood is only intensifying. Water issues are a political hot potato, pitting community against community and state against state.

And as those pressures mount, more attention is turning toward the Great Lakes.
Running from Minnesota east to New York, the Great Lakes are the largest body of fresh water in the world. They hold about 90 percent of the fresh water in North America and fully 20 percent of the world’s entire fresh water supply.

The idea that Great Lakes water could somehow be pumped out of the basin and piped to Phoenix or Las Vegas may seem like something out of a 1950s edition of Popular Science. In fact, during the 1960s the North American Water and Power Alliance Plan even set out maps for massive movements of water throughout the continent. But as the Midwest continues to lose population and political influence to the Sun Belt, the Great Lakes are being increasingly viewed by some as one possible solution to looming water shortages elsewhere.

“Frankly, with the Midwest economy struggling, I’m surprised somebody hasn’t come in with the idea that we can sell off just a little bit,” says Noah Hall, a law professor at Wayne State University in Detroit.

This is a good article dealing with some national water issues in a rational way, so I give it the “recommended reading” designation. Check it out by clicking here.

Although the article isn’t really about other distant states wanting Great Lakes water, it does include this billboard, pasted from the Capital Times article:

December 28, 2007 · Filed Under National water news

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

2007 not a good year for water supplies

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 28, 2007 at 6:55 am

From the North County Times:

Nobody has worried this much about water in Southern California since 1991, when the 1987-92 drought prompted the state’s last mandatory water rationing.

When 2007 began, Southern California water officials were pretty comfortable — even though the Colorado River, which had long been the bedrock of imported water for this rain-starved region, was in its eighth year of drought. After all, new reservoirs, dams and pipelines built after the 1987-92 drought were filled with years worth of stored water. And the State Water Project that delivers Northern California rainfall and snowmelt had been reliable —- the new bedrock of Southern California’s supply.

But then 2007 hit, and now everybody is worried.

Scientists believe that the eight-year Colorado River drought could last a lot longer than once thought. The governor called a special session to talk about building more dams and reservoirs — and came up empty. The year’s biggest water news, however, was created by a tiny fish.

To read the rest of this retrospective story on 2007 water issues from the North County Times, click here.

December 28, 2007 · Filed Under San Diego

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Success: Santa Monica residents up to the challenge of saving 20 gallons a day

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 28, 2007 at 6:49 am

From the Santa Monica Daily Press:

It looks as if residents and businesses are up to the challenge of reducing their water usage by 20 gallons a day, according to figures released by City Hall that show water consumption down considerably since July.

Santa Monicans are currently using 12.45 million gallons of water a day — a 6.81 percent decrease from a month ago. In July, Santa Monica was using 15.11 million gallons, said Neal Shapiro, a water resources section supervisor and urban runoff management coordinator for City Hall.

Shapiro credits increased media attention to the record dry conditions for making people more aware about their water consumption, as well as City Hall’s “20 Gallon Challenge,” a call for residents and businesses to save 20 gallons of water each day to protect Southern California against severe water shortages next summer.

“It’s great that people seem to be embracing it, which is important,” Shapiro said. “If they don’t, then it could lead to mandatory reductions in the spring and summer, which is something we don’t want to do.”

Shapiro said part of the drop in consumption could be because of recent rains, but the numbers clearly point to a concerted effort amongst Santa Monicans to reduce water usage.

To read the rest of this story from the Santa Monica Daily Press, which includes water conservation tips, click here.

December 28, 2007 · Filed Under Conservation

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Snowmaking operations go high-tech at Heavenly Valley

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 28, 2007 at 6:46 am

From the Nevada Appeal:

Even with snow in the weather forecast, Heavenly Mountain Resort continues its snowmaking operations in an effort to open the remainder of the mountain, where three chairs remained closed because of low snowpack as of Thursday.

But the process of making snow has come a long way since veteran snowmaker Barrett Burghard picked up the trade 20 years ago. Now Heavenly’s snowmaking manager, Burghard recounted his early days with the resort’s snowmaking crew, when employees were sent up the slopes to manually check thermometers to see if conditions were right to make snow. At the time, the resort didn’t have humidity sensors, now a standard tool used to determine when to fire up snow-making guns. “We probably missed some nights here and there,” Burghard said.

Early season opportunities to make snow are rarely missed nowadays, as each of Heavenly’s 49 automated fan guns has its own remotely monitored weather station. In addition to the fan guns, “well over a hundred” air and water guns can be controlled by a computer system that boasts a variety of automation and control features previously unimaginable, Burghard said.

“I can check all the stuff from my house,” the snowmaker said, a hint of joy in the voice of a man who has spent more time than most in the midst of Lake Tahoe winters.

About 65 million gallons of water were used for snowmaking operations at Heavenly Valley last year.

To read the rest of this article from the Nevada Appeal, click here.

Picture of snowmaking operations at Heavenly Valley by flickr photographer Scott Schrantz. Click on the picture to visit the flickr website to see more great pictures from Scott & other flickr photographers.

December 28, 2007 · Filed Under Lake Tahoe & the Sierra's

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Giant vaccuum helps in battle against invasive algae on Hawaii’s coral reefs

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 28, 2007 at 6:35 am

From the Los Angeles Times:

What was intended as a noble science experiment in the 1970s has turned into a modern-day plague for the delicate coral reefs surrounding the University of Hawaii’s research station here.

A professor scoured the seas for the heartiest, fastest-growing algae to help Third World nations develop a seaweed crop for carrageenan — the gelatinous thickener and emulsifier used in such items as toothpaste, shoe polish and nonfat ice cream. The late Maxwell Doty succeeded, in one regard. His research helped the Philippines and other island nations establish multimillion-dollar industries to supply carrageenan to the food, beverage and cosmetic industries.

Yet his efforts also left an unwanted legacy. Open-cage experiments inoculated Hawaiian coastal waters with half a dozen types of foreign algae. These aggressive invaders have smothered at least half the reefs in Kaneohe Bay on Oahu’s west coast and have begun to spread to waters beyond. The sprouting problem has kept professors, graduate students and state officials busy trying to rein in the shaggy mats of thick-stemmed seaweed, which threaten coral reefs and the fish, turtles and other sea life that depend on them. After years of trial and error, scientists believe they have arrived at a solution.

It involves a giant underwater vacuum that they call the Super Sucker.

To read the full text of this story from the Los Angeles Times, click here.

Picture of Hanauma Bay by flickr photographer Ambah. Click on the picture to see it enlarged and to visit the flickr website, where you can see more great pictures from Ambah & other flickr photographers.

December 28, 2007 · Filed Under Oceans and Beaches (all), Other Oceans & Beaches Stories

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Department of Interior sued over documents related to Julie MacDonald and endangered species

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 28, 2007 at 12:23 am

From the Los Angeles Times:

A conservation group sued the Interior Department on Thursday seeking documents about decisions on endangered species the group alleges were tainted by political pressure from a former senior Interior official.

Julie MacDonald resigned as deputy assistant secretary in May amid questions about alleged interference in dozens of endangered species decisions, including at least one decision in which she stood to financially benefit.

The Center for Biological Diversity, in court papers filed Thursday, said the Interior Department and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have failed to produce records on MacDonald and failed to respond to its requests in a timely fashion. “This is a lawsuit we’ve been forced to file to receive documents that we’re entitled to that demonstrate the severity of Julie MacDonald’s involvement in overturning endangered species and habitat decisions,” said William Snape, the group’s senior counsel. Snape filed the suit under the Freedom of Information Act.

Hugh Vickery, a spokesman for the Interior Department, declined to comment on the lawsuit. But he said the department has responded to a variety of requests for information on MacDonald, including from the Interior inspector general and the House Natural Resources Committee. “We’re cooperating with all the official inquiries,” Vickery said. “As for what specific information any group has or has not received, we have FOIA officers who go through this stuff, and they do it for everybody.”

To read the full text of this story from the Los Angeles Times, click here.

December 28, 2007 · Filed Under Water & Wildlife

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

State Assemblyman Mike Feuer writes to his constituents about water issues

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 28, 2007 at 12:20 am

This is from the Bel-Air Association blog, which is a copy of the newsletter sent out by State Assemblyman Mike Feuer to his constituents. Here’s what he has to say about water issues:

We have to tackle California’s water crisis now. Here in Beverly Hills, taps flow freely, and lawns are so green that you might not detect that we face any water issues at all. But reality is about to hit home. Our state is in midst of a prolonged drought. And a federal judge recently mandated a 30% cut in flows from the Sacramento Delta, an important source of Southern California’s water supply.

Recognizing the need for action, Governor Schwarzenegger has convened an extraordinary legislative session focused on water. The Speaker of the Assembly assigned me to serve on a small working group to come up with solutions that will ensure delivery of clean water in an environmentally sustainable and economically efficient manner.

Addressing the dilemma of the Sacramento Delta is a key. That court order reducing water Delta exports is the result of years of siphoning water from a fragile ecosystem that is home to the endangered delta smelt. To protect the smelt, the court curtailed those exports. That order sent reverberations throughout our state. In addition to its intrinsic impact, the ruling highlighted the vulnerability of our state’s water infrastructure –particularly the system of canals, levees and flood plains of the Delta.

It is time to make the investment that past Californians did in our water infrastructure. We need to protect and enhance the ecosystem of the Delta, ensure a reliable, high quality water supply for Southern California (I have been working closely with the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) which provides the majority of water to Beverly Hills), to adopt the best feasible water conservation strategies, decontaminate groundwater and promote water recycling.

December 28, 2007 · Filed Under Water Legislation

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Commentary on sea level rise and politics making rounds throughout the blogosphere

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 28, 2007 at 12:14 am

Usually here at Aquafornia, I don’t really post a lot of political commentary, but this one I just have to. This commentary is, to me, a little over the top, and is apparently to a lot of other bloggers as well because it is making the rounds, let me tell you. It’s popped up on my news reader at least ten times since this afternoon. So, in order to keep you, my dear reader, up on the latest hot blogging gossip, check out this editorial by Dave Lindorff, posted on the Baltimore Chronicle website:

Say what you will about the looming catastrophe facing the world as the pace of global heating and polar melting accelerates. There is a silver lining.

Look at a map of the US.

The area that will by completely inundated by the rising ocean—and not in a century but in the lifetime of my two cats—are the American southeast, including the most populated area of Texas, almost all of Florida, most of Louisiana, and half of Alabama and Mississippi, as well as goodly portions of eastern Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. While the northeast will also see some coastal flooding, its geography is such that that aside from a few projecting sandbars like Long Island and Cape Cod, the land rises fairly quickly to well above sea level. Sure, Boston, New York and Philadelphia will be threatened, but these are geographically confined areas that could lend themselves to protection by Dutch-style dikes. The West Coast too tends to rise rapidly to well above sea level in most places. Only down in Southern California towards the San Diego area is the ground closer to sea level.

So what we see is that huge swaths of conservative America are set to face a biblical deluge in a few more presidential cycles.

December 28, 2007 · Filed Under Odds and Ends

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Maybe this Google sea level rise map is at the root of that commentary.

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 28, 2007 at 12:14 am

Check this out. Maybe this is what fed the commentary above. I found this link this morning reading the WaterWired blog - hat tip to Michael Campana.

It’s an interactive google map where you can look at sea level rise and it’s effect on the coastline.
I’ve positioned it looking at California, but the map works for the entire world.
Click here for Google sea level rise map.

December 28, 2007 · Filed Under Climate change & water supply

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Havasu National Wildlife Refuge offers haven for wildlife on the Colorado River

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 27, 2007 at 11:44 pm

From the Mohave Daily News/TriState Online:

A few minutes from Bullhead City, across the Colorado River from Needles, is a wild place set aside by the government to protect the native wildlife of the river valley. The Havasu National Wildlife Refuge consists of two main areas, Topock Marsh and the wilderness area surrounding the Needles Mountains, encompassing 37,515 acres of land.

The refuge system’s goals are not those of the National Park Service or the Forest Service. Unlike parks, where the goal is to provide recreation for people, the refuge system’s main goal is to provide habitat for wildlife. “The first priority is wildlife management,” said refuge manager John Earle. All other activities that take place on the refuge have to be compatible with this main goal.

There are six main activities compatible with the refuge’s goal: Hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, photography, environmental education and interpretation.

The refuge was established in 1941 and gets an estimated 1.5 million visitors a year. The Havasu Refuge may be the first or second most visited refuge in the system. Many of the visitors may not even know they’re in the refuge as they travel through the Topock Gorge in their power boats. But, said Earle, “they sure know they’re on the prettiest part of the river when they’re on it.

“At Havasu, we’ve got lots of wonderful opportunities,” Earle said.

To read the full text of this article from the Mohave Daily News/Tri-State Online, click here.

Photo of Havasu National Wildlife Refuge by flickr photographer Arizona Traveler. Click on the picture to visit the flickr website and see more great photos from Arizona Traveler, & others.

December 27, 2007 · Filed Under Colorado River Basin

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Every Drop Counts: Colorado River rights

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 27, 2007 at 11:28 pm

From the Cortez Journal (from somewhere in Colorado), the first in a multi-part series on the Colorado River, and how Colorado’s water rights are affected by the many laws, treaties, and other legal determinations. As the article says, “Mother Nature decides how much water will be in the river every year. The Law of the River dictates who gets that water.” From the article:

The days are getting hotter, and the snow is melting faster. The North American growing season has extended an average of two days a decade since the 1950s, mostly because of springtime warming, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The Southwest has been in a drought for seven years, and 2002 was one of the two or three driest years since the 1500s.

That’s not good news for the Colorado River Basin, which includes the Four Corners.

Some water managers have started to say what was once unspeakable: We might be running out of water.

“You don’t have to look too deeply to give yourself a good scare,” said Mark Waage, Denver Water’s manager of raw water supply. “It’s hard to ignore, all the evidence and projections coming out, particularly in the last year.” About 1.1 million people count on Waage for their water. Almost half of that water comes from the Colorado River Basin. He has read several studies that say global warming will harm the river. “A few years ago, it was almost a taboo subject in the water field,” he said.

According to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of 2,500 scientists, the Earth probably will get hotter and less snow will fall by the middle of the century.

The scientific panel relies on global computer models, which are difficult to apply to specific rivers. But half a dozen studies have examined the effects of climate change on the Colorado River. All of them say the river will have less water.

Today, it looks like there is plenty of water left in Colorado’s streams. But we might owe all of it to California, Arizona and Nevada.

To read the rest of this article from the Cortez Journal, click here.

December 27, 2007 · Filed Under Colorado River Basin

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

California needs new solutions in the new year, editorial says

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 27, 2007 at 7:48 am

From the Ventura County Star:

As the new year approaches, it’s high time for some new ideas about California’s longest-running, most intransigent and often most emotional issue — water.

Whether you believe in climate change and global warming or not, there is no doubt this state is in yet another long-running drought, the third of the last quarter century. These have typically lasted anywhere from four to seven years.

Whether you believe glaciers are receding all over the world — including atop the high Sierra Nevada — because of a natural cycle or due to human activity, no one questions the fact that snowpack in the mountains is at unusually low levels and has been for several years. Or that reservoirs like Shasta Lake, Pyramid Lake, Lake Powell and the San Luis Reservoir are extremely dry around the edges.

There’s also no doubt about California’s continuing population growth, even if it has slowed a bit from the breakneck pace of prior decades, nor is there any dispute the growth produces greater demand for water. And, there’s also little doubt that this year’s state budget will run a deficit approaching $14 billion or that future budgets will become ever harder to negotiate unless there’s some new source of revenue.

It looks like an almost unprecedented stew of bad news. But that’s not necessarily so.

To read the rest of this editorial from the Ventura County Star, click here.

December 27, 2007 · Filed Under Water Legislation

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Some urging court challenge to Wanger ruling

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 27, 2007 at 7:44 am

From the Highland Community News:

Patrick Milligan, president of the board of directors of the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District (Muni), is urging fellow state water contractors to challenge a ruling by federal court judge Oliver Wanger that seriously reduces the flow of imported water to Southern California.

Speaking at the Dec. 19 meeting of the board, Milligan said he believes that the Supreme Court would overturn the ruling and chastised the state Department of Water Resources for knuckling under without challenging the ruling. “This judge has more rulings overturned than anyone else in the country,” Milligan said. “The (Supreme) court we have now would not go along with this ridiculous ruling.”

On Dec. 14, Wanger issued a final court order and operational plan that orders the State Water Project and Central Valley Project to reduce pumping by about one-third. The ruling was issued to protect a small endangered species of fish, the Delta smelt. Agencies were ordered to come up with a delivery plan by September, 2008, that will protect the smelt.

“Instead of trying this in open court,” Milligan said, “they go behind closed doors and decide on California’s future without any consultation with those most affected.”

To read the full text of this article from the Highland Community News, click here.

December 27, 2007 · Filed Under Delta Issues

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Fixing the Delta will involve construction and conservation, editorial says

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 27, 2007 at 7:40 am

From the Los Angeles Times, this editorial, which begins by noting the release of the Delta Vision taskforce’s report:

The panel suggested that protecting the region’s ecosystem and securing the state’s water supply should be “primary, co-equal goals” in its management. In a way, this offered something for everyone. Environmentalists emphasized the worthy recommendations that water users conserve more and reduce what they take from the system. At the same time, some water users, including the Assn. of California Water Agencies, lauded the panel’s determination that “new facilities for conveyance and storage … are needed” — in other words, that the state must consider reservoirs and a canal to store and carry water around the delta.

But the Delta Vision Task Force stressed that “the delta cannot be ‘fixed’ by any single action.” In other words, building new dams or canals alone won’t solve the problem. Nor will conservation.

Figuring out a precise balance between the two approaches has eluded California for decades: Witness the peripheral canal debacle of 1982. It won’t be easy now either. But with a new year upon us, we urge state leaders to take this opportunity to work for a comprehensive set of water policies that will conserve what we have and plan for growth. The task force is required to submit an implementation plan by October. In the meantime, we urge those who are prematurely dueling over water bonds — bonds that do next to nothing to address the delta problem — to join in support of a single, rational set of plans.

To read the rest of this editorial from the Los Angeles Times, click here.

“A Day in the Delta” by flickr photographer crumj. Click on the picture to visit the flickr website and see more great pictures by crumj.

December 27, 2007 · Filed Under Delta Issues, Delta Vision Task Force

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

IID accepting applications for fallowing program

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 27, 2007 at 7:34 am

From IVLife:

The rising prices of wheat and other local crops could entice more farmers from the Imperial Irrigation District’s fallowing program this year, officials said Wednesday.

Each year more than 15,000 acres of farmland lie dormant around the Imperial Valley as landowners collect a fee from the district for not using water for farming that year. The saved water helps the district meet its allotment of the Colorado River each year and meet water transfer requirements of the 2003 Quantification Settlement Agreement.

But the district is hoping an additional $10 an acre-foot this year will entice more participants. “There was not enough participation last year. IID ended up fallowing some of its trust land to make up the difference,” said IID spokesman Kevin Kelley.

Tina Shields, an assistant water department manager, said although the fallowing program gets a lot of response early in the year when contracts are offered, only about 50 percent agree to the terms. Certain crops are rumored to be rising in prices in the agricultural community, making the fallowing program a possible risk for some farmers, Shields said.

Though the Board of Directors voted to increase the fallowing price to $85 an acre-foot, it may not be enough. “We never really know,” Shields said. “We tend to see a lot of the same people in our program and there’s some that will have to sit out for a while.”

To read the rest of this story from IVLife.com, click here.

December 27, 2007 · Filed Under Imperial Irrigation District & Imperial Valley

Share Your Thoughts - Post A Comment

Former DWR Director David Kennedy passes away at age 71

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on December 27, 2007 at 7:31 am

From the Los Angeles Times:

David N. Kennedy, who faced the challenges of a five-year drought and three major floods during his record 15 years as director of the California Department of Water Resources in the 1980s and ’90s, has died. He was 71. Kennedy died Sunday in a Sacramento nursing facility, said department spokesman Ted Thomas, who did not know the cause of death.

Kennedy was appointed director of the Department of Water Resources, California’s leading water management agency, by then-Gov. George Deukmejian in 1983. In 1991, then-Gov. Pete Wilson reappointed him to the job of managing the agency’s $900-million annual budget and overseeing roughly 2,500 employees.

When he retired in 1998, Kennedy had the longest tenure of any director in the agency’s history. The department operates the State Water Project, the largest state-run water and power system in the nation. As California’s “water czar,” Kennedy planned and managed the water resources for more than 30 million people.

“California lost a great water leader and dedicated public servant,” current agency director Lester Snow said in a department news release. “Dave’s knowledge of California’s water issues was unparalleled and his commitment to efficient and reliable operation of the State Water Project tireless. “His efforts have permanently improved water management for all Californians.”