DWR Announces Final Snow Survey Results for 2008-2009; 66% of normal

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 12:49 pm

 From the Department of Water Resources:

SACRAMENTO – The Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) final snow survey of the season indicates snowpack water content is 66 percent of normal for the date, statewide. Last year at this time snowpack was measured at 72 percent of normal, statewide.

“Today’s snowpack survey further emphasizes the importance of Governor Schwarzenegger’s statewide drought emergency declaration and our call on all Californians to reduce their water use,” said DWR Director Lester Snow. “When combined with extremely dry years in 2007 and 2008, low storage in the state’s major reservoirs, restrictions on Delta pumping, a growing population and prediction of increasingly unpredictable weather patterns due to climate change, it is clear the problems facing California will persist beyond this year and this drought.”

Manual survey results taken today at four locations near Lake Tahoe, combined with electronic readings, put snowpack water content at 66 percent of normal in the Northern Sierra, 70 percent in the Central Sierra, and 61 percent in the Southern Sierra.

California’s major reservoirs remain low. Lake Oroville, principal storage reservoir for the State Water Project (SWP), registers only 58 percent of capacity.

On February 27, 2009, the Governor declared a drought state of emergency, directing DWR and other state agencies to provide assistance to people and communities impacted by the drought. On March 30, 2009, DWR provided the Governor an update on drought conditions, recommended strategies, and called for the creation of an online drought bulletin. The monthly bulletin will provide updates about current water conditions, outline statewide reservoir storage levels, precipitation and runoff forecasts and discuss local impacts and responses to the drought. The report, transmittal letter, and first bulletin, released today, are available for viewing at http://www.water.ca.gov/drought/updates.cfm.

To assist with ongoing drought conditions, local water agencies are updating Urban Water Management Plans and DWR is facilitating water transfers through its Drought Water Bank program. Approximately $240 million in bond funding has also been released for water conservation, drought assistance and Integrated Regional Water Management programs. The money was released by the Pooled Money Investment Board following the successful sale of California infrastructure bonds in March.

On April 21, DWR and the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) launched a statewide public education program challenging individuals to do their part to “Save Our Water.” For information about Save Our Water, conservation tips and drought and water shortage information, visit www.saveourH2O.org.

Here are results from today’s manual survey at Phillips Station and other sites near Lake Tahoe:

Location	Elevation	Snow Depth	Water Content	% of Long Term Average
Alpha	7,600 feet	35.8 inches	18.6 inches	72 %
Phillips Station	6,800 feet	11.1 inches	5.7 inches	35 %
Lyons Creek	6,700 feet	45.0 inches	21.1 inches	93 %
Tamarack Flat	6,500 feet	30.8 inches	13.4 inches	73 %

 

  

Importance of Snow Surveying

Snow water content is important in determining the coming year’s water supply and final snow survey results are used to determine final allocation of SWP deliveries. On April 15, DWR increased the allocation of SWP water to its contractors from 20 percent to 30 percent of requested amounts for calendar year 2009. If the allocation remains at 30 percent, it will match the lowest historical allocation in 1991. The final 2009 allocation will be calculated in May.

The measurements also help hydrologists prepare water supply forecasts as well as provide others, such as hydroelectric power companies and the recreation industry, with needed data.

Monitoring is coordinated by DWR as part of the multi-agency California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program. Surveyors from more than 50 agencies and utilities visit hundreds of snow measurement courses in California’s mountains to gauge the amount of water in the snowpack. The following Web sites offer an overview of important snow survey information:

Snowpack Site
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snowsurvey_sno/DLYSWEQ

Reservoir Storage Site
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/reservoirs/RES

Snow Survey Illustrated
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snow/hwy50/

Updated Drought Site
http://www.water.ca.gov/drought/

The Department of Water Resources operates and maintains the State Water Project, provides dam safety and flood control and inspection services, assists local water districts in water management and water conservation planning, and plans for future statewide water needs.

 You can check out the latest reservoir conditions, drought monitor, and Metropolitan Water District’s water gauge by clicking here.

California’s dry summer – and the path forward

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 12:42 pm

From Barry Nelson, director of the Western Water Project, posted at the NRDC Switchboard Blog:

The third consecutive dry year in California has received extensive media coverage – and will receive even more attention this summer. Some simple facts and a few recent quotes from the media demonstrate the water management challenge California faces – and point the way to practical solutions.

First, thanks to litigation and advocacy by NRDC, state and federal agencies have imposed new protections for endangered fish and wildlife in the Bay Delta that will restrict water exports, particularly compared to recent record levels of diversions. Over the past decade, numerous Delta fish species have declined precipitously, including delta smelt, longfin smelt, salmon, steelhead, and green sturgeon. However, the cause of the water shortages this year is not environmental protections (as some have alleged), but rather a third consecutive dry year. Lester Snow, director of the state’s Department of Water Resources, estimates that without ESA rules on Delta water, State Water Project irrigation allocations might reach 35 percent this year, instead of 30. Federal officials give a similar estimate – the Central Valley Project’s 10 percent allocations for south-of-Delta farmers might rise to 15 percent, they say. “If the ESA goes away this afternoon, we still have a drought,” Snow said last week. Overall, although pumping has been reduced modestly to protect endangered fish, the pumps have not been turned off, and it is drought, not environmental restrictions, that are reducing water deliveries.

Read the rest of Barry Nelson’s post at the NRDC Switchboard Blog by clicking here.

Sacramento water consumptions far exceeds U.S., California averages, and even that of most other nations

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 12:39 pm

From the Sacramento Bee:

For an interesting interpretation of this chart, read the next post, or just click here. Hat tip to the On the Public Record Blog for turning me on to this chart!

California water rights and flexibility; is there a shadowy mastermind at work?

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 12:30 pm

From the On the Public Record blog, a series of posts about California’s current system of water rights. First the blog begins with laying out two defenses of our current water rights system, one by Laura King Moon of the State Water Contractors Board, given in her testimony to the Little Hoover Commission, and the other given in the position paper of the newly created Public Water Coalition: Two defenses of our current water rights system

Here is the OTPR’s quick summary of our current water rights system.

In another post, the OTPR discusses water infrastructure investments and water rights:

One of my consistent themes is that scarcity requires management. The districts whose water rights guarantee them abundance do not invest nearly enough in their physical systems. It is especially blatant for the districts with the most senior water rights, from before 1914. They have plenty, will never get cut back, and have primitive, wasteful delivery systems. The city of Sacramento, with pre-1914 water rights, doesn’t even have water meters on houses. The city of Folsom is the same. San Juan Water District is the same, and has the highest per capita water use in the state, four times as high as average. I don’t even know how they get their usage that high. Fix leaks? Why bother? With their water rights, they will never run out.

Irrigation districts follow the same pattern. The district with the largest, oldest water rights in the state, Glenn Colusa, has earthen canals and barely any controls. Here. Look. That’s a dirt ditch with the occasional flashboard check structure in it. Scroll around. The whole district is like that2. They have not invested money on tight water control. Why would they? Under our current rights system, they will not face scarcity. Spending money on their physical capital wouldn’t get them anything. This holds true for all the old, big rights holders. When people have rights to an amount of water close to what they (perceive they) need, they invest in capital to use it well. When water rights guarantee abundance, districts invest enough to move it around sloppily, but no more than that. Our current water rights system does not direct investment very well. It gives districts the security to do some investing, but it allows severe underinvestment for the most senior rights holders.

Read the full text of this post from the On the Public Record Blog: California’s Current Water Rights and Investment

In this next post, the OTPR blog expresses surprise that both defenses of our current water rights system tout flexibility:

All this talk about the great flexibility of California water rights is strange to me, because, like, they aren’t. Riparian rights can only be used on land adjacent to the river; water under a riparian right can’t be stored. Appropriative rights can only be used for the permitted point of diversion, place of use and purpose of use1. An appropriative right will have an upper limits on flow and maybe also on annual total diversion. It has permissible dates or season of diversion. Per the Constitution, only beneficial use is legal. If you stop using all or part your water right, the right is destroyed in all or part. The right can be modified for $1000, a change permit and environmental documentation, if the State Water Resources Control Board approves the change application. It is difficult if not impossible to get a new right, since most systems are overallocated; the only reallocation method between contemporary users is a full-fledged court adjudication and watermaster for the river or watershed.

I don’t think these restrictions are entirely nonsensical, although some of them are arbitrary vestiges of older laws. But this is not a flexible water rights system, nor one capable of adapting to additional users or changes in hydrology.

The blogger muses why the water ‘big boys’ are emphasizing flexibility in a system which clearly is not… is it some strategic ploy from a shadowy mastermind???

Check it out from the On the Public Record Blog: California Water Rights and Flexibility

Do you want to know more about California’s water rights? Check out the Water Education Foundation’s Layperson’s Guide to Water Rights. It’s written in plain English, and includes sections on surface water rights, groundwater rights, water transfers and more.

Senate NR&W Committee approves Wiggins’ salmon bills

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 11:54 am

From the Office of State Senator Patricia Wiggins:

Three bills by Senator Patricia Wiggins (D – Santa Rosa) to restore and protect California’s imperiled salmon populations have cleared a key legislative hurdle.

The Senate Committee on Natural Resources & Water voted to approve the measures on April 28, sending all three to the Senate Appropriations Committee for further consideration.

Senate Bill 539, which the committee approved 7-4, directs the state Ocean Protection Council (OPC) to give the Legislature a report that ranks the solutions to reversing the alarming decline of salmon and steelhead populations and lists the costs to implement those actions. The OPC is the state arm that coordinates state agencies’ efforts to protect and conserve coastal and oceanic ecosystems.

In her testimony before the committee, Wiggins said that the OPC’s mission “is to ensure California maintains healthy, resilient, and productive ocean and coastal ecosystems for the benefit of current and future generations. SB 539 enlists the OPC in restoration efforts by authorizing it to engage in the full range of activities needed to bring back salmon and steelhead.”

Senate Bill 670, which the committee approved on a bi-partisan vote of 8-3, prohibits the use of suction dredge mining equipment in rivers and streams that provide critical habitat to spawning salmon until the state Department of Fish and Game (DFG) completes its court-ordered overhaul of regulations governing the controversial recreational activity. Suction dredge mining, a recreational mining activity that disturbs streambeds, is heavily regulated in other states including Oregon. However, California suffers from surprisingly slack regulations.

In presenting SB 670, Wiggins noted that “the salmon numbers are so low that the National Marine Fisheries Service has placed a ban on all salmon fishing along the coast of California and Oregon. This ban affects the livelihoods of thousands of commercial fishermen, fish processors, and charter boat operators. Yet while fishermen are being told to stop fishing, suction dredge mining is allowed to continue. SB 670 is about equity. We simply cannot ask an entire fishing industry to stop their work while a small group of hobbyists are allowed to continue.”

Senate Bill 778, which the committee approved on a bi-partisan vote of 9-1, requires the state DFG to provide a thorough accounting of funds generated from commercial salmon fishing permits, known as “salmon stamps.” The self-taxation funds paid by fishermen are required to be spent on fisheries and habitat restoration. There is growing concern in the fishing industry that the money is not getting to top priority projects. SB 778 would incorporate measures, based on an audit, to strengthen the program and, with agreement from fishermen, will increase the price of the “stamp” in order to ramp up protection efforts during the ongoing salmon crisis.

In her testimony, Wiggins said SB 778 “continues the tradition of commercial fishermen dedicating a portion of their permit fees to help restore the salmon fisheries that sustain their industry. The dedicated portion of the fee is managed by the DFG for salmon regeneration. Because of the salmon crisis, fishermen are volunteering to raise the cost of salmon permit to $350. The bill also seeks to require the DFG to provide a better accounting for the expenditures of this fund. This will ensure that the funding goes directly to priority projects, in a timely manner.”

Wiggins, who chairs the Joint Legislative Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture, said that “it’s imperative that the Legislature, along with the responsible state agencies, do all that we can to protect these invaluable fish populations. Salmon are not just trophy and sport fish. They form the backbone of California ecosystems, tribal cultures, local economies, a commercial fishing industry and a once-plentiful, wonderful food. We must work together to give these magnificent fish a chance to recover.”

Wiggins represents California’s large 2nd Senate District, which encompasses portions or all of Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, Napa, Solano and Sonoma Counties.

Wolk bill to speed removal of abandoned vessels moves forward

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 11:54 am

On my recent trip to the Delta, I saw a number of abandoned boats, an unfortunate sign of the times.  So this sounds to me like some good news for the situation from the office of State Senator Lois Wolk:

Legislation to expedite the process by which boats and other vessels abandoned or trespassing on state waterways including the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta cleared its first hurdle at the State Capitol yesterday. Senate Bill 459 by Senator Lois Wolk (D-Davis) creates an expedited process for the State Lands Commission, the bill’s sponsor, to remove and dispose of abandoned and trespassing vessels on state waterways.

“There are an increasing number of boat owners storing their vessels on state lands without permission, even dumping or abandoning their vessels,” said Wolk. “These vessels often pollute the water and present safety issues. This problem is evident throughout the state and country’s waterways. But it is particularly acute in the Delta.”

Currently the State Lands Commission has authority to remove and dispose of abandoned and trespassing vessels on state lands. However, the process is cumbersome and requires the commission to file lawsuits through the Attorney General’s Office. This bill will permit the commission to decide the final disposition of abandoned and trespassing vessels through an administrative process.

“The commission thinks this measure will be extremely helpful in allowing the commission clean up our waterways and protect the state against potential liability,” testified Mario De Bernardo on behalf of the bill’s sponsor, the State Lands Commission.

SB 459, which passed from the Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee on an 8-1 vote, will next be heard in Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senator Feinstein applauds move by Obama administration to lift Bush administration’s consultation rule

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 11:54 am

From the office of Senator Dianne Feinstein:

Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today applauded the move by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to lift the Bush Administration’s consultation rule. This last-minute Bush rule, which was rushed through the public comment period in late 2008, excluded expert wildlife scientists from weighing in on the impacts of federal projects on endangered species.

“This is very good news,” said Senator Feinstein, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies. “Lifting the Bush consultation rule will enable the Obama Administration to take immediate action to ensure that the expert wildlife scientists are once again consulted on impacts to endangered and threatened species. I applaud Secretaries Salazar and Locke for their leadership on this key issue.

“Here’s why this is so important: under the 2008 consultation rule, agencies tasked with implementing federal development projects were put in charge of evaluating the impacts to species on the brink of extinction, rather than independent wildlife biologists in charge of protecting species. This undermined the Endangered Species Act.

“Today’s move will ensure that the Obama Administration will fully shore up the consultation process and put an end to the Bush Administration’s deficient consultation policy.”

California water shortage no issue for Coachella grape grower-shippers

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 11:52 am

From the Packer:

The Coachella Valley, grape grower-shippers say, has managed to evade the water troubles plaguing much of the Golden State.

Water availability is only a non-issue in Coachella because of the investments the industry has made in conservation, said John Burton, sales manager of Coachella, Calif.-based Peter Rabbit Farms. “Over the years, we’ve really developed good technologies in drip irrigation, and without that technology, water would be an issue in the valley,” he said. “We constantly have people working on maintaining the water we have.”

Fortunately for Coachella grape growers, drip irrigation has been a good fit, Burton said. “Commodities that can’t take drip well are in trouble,” he said.

Read more from The Packer by clicking here.

Amador County joins Pardee Reservoir expansion opponents

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 11:52 am

From YubaNet.com:

In a unanimous vote Tuesday, April 28, the Amador County Board of Supervisors joined other government agencies, organizations and individuals in opposing the proposed expansion of Pardee Reservoir on the Mokelumne River. The East Bay Municipal Utilities District has included the Pardee expansion project as part of the “preferred portfolio” in its Water Supply Management Plan 2040. EBMUD gets 90 percent of its water supply from the Mokelumne.

“We’re proud of our supervisors for standing with local people and for the Mokelumne River,” said Foothill Conservancy Executive Director Chris Wright. “They obviously recognize the importance of the river to local residents, visitors and our economy.”

As described in the related draft programmatic environmental impact report, the Pardee expansion would raise the existing level of the reservoir by 33 feet and its flood storage level by 46 feet. The project would require construction of a dam at least 400-feet high, downstream of the existing Pardee Dam.

Read more from YubaNet.com by clicking here.

Water fight heads to downtown L.A.; Sleepy Valley suit contends county improperly issued conditional-use permit

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 11:50 am

From the Santa Clarita Signal:

Sleepy Valley residents will square off against the County of Los Angeles and a local water hauler at a meeting in the Office of County Counsel’s today to try to resolve a legal battle over water.

The County of Los Angeles issued a conditional use permit to Roy Ramey, an Agua Dulce water hauler, in February. The permit allowed Ramey to pump up to 40,000 gallons a day from his well, which is about 1,000 feet from two wells owned by Sleepy Valley Water Company, a water cooperative owned by the 58 area homeowners served by the company’s wells.

When Ramey pumps his well in dry years, the Sleepy Valley wells can run dry, said Laurie Jenkins, president of the Sleepy Valley Water Company.

Read more from the Santa Clarita Signal by clicking here.

DWR’s final snow survey results later today; for now, here’s a look at reservoir conditions and the drought monitor

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 8:37 am

Today is DWR’s final snow survey of the season. Word is, recent high temperatures have resulted in a snow water content that is now only 68% of average, as measured by electronic sensors.

So to prepare for the news, here’s a look at the current drought monitor:

and a look at current reservoir conditions:

Here’s Metropolitan’s water guage:

Results from the survey should be available around 1pm. I’ll post them right away, and tweet that too, for all you twitterers….

Latino Water Coalition want to take plight to Washington, D.C.: “We need to make changes to the ESA [Endangered Species Act], and we need to make that trip to Washington to make that argument,” says coalition member

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 8:02 am

From the Fresno Bee:

Members of the California Latino Water Coalition, who recently staged a four-day protest march that drew thousands, said Wednesday that they now want to take their plight to Washington, D.C.

“We want to keep building the momentum and bring civic leaders and celebrities to Washington,” said entertainer and comedian Paul Rodriguez, a member of the coalition. “We have to keep this fight for water alive.”

Rodriguez was attending a meeting at the Fresno County Farm Bureau, where coalition members planned their next steps:

Coalition members argue that environmental restrictions have pinched water supplies, forcing growers in the Westlands Water District to fallow thousands of acres. And unemployment rates in some rural communities have reached 40%.

Mario Santoyo, a member of the coalition, said it succeeded in accomplishing one of its main objectives: drawing state and national attention to the issue. Now, he said, the coalition needs to continue to spread its message that water for Valley farms should not be restricted for the benefit of endangered species in the delta.

“We need to continue to let the entire state know that this is a problem,” Santoyo said. “We need to make changes to the ESA [Endangered Species Act], and we need to make that trip to Washington to make that argument.”

Read more from the Fresno Bee by clicking here.

Delta fix a must, speaker warns

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 8:01 am

From Stockton’s Record:

Someone must make a hard decision about how to fix the Delta, a decision that will likely involve trade-offs, a Stanford University professor of civil engineering told alumni and community leaders on Wednesday.

Delta smelt are “definitely on the way out,” Stephen G. Monismith said during a luncheon address, while other species such as striped bass and salmon also have declined. Changes to the state’s water delivery system – such as a peripheral canal, the “$10 billion experiment” – may not be enough, he said.

“We seem to be getting more and more questions,” Monismith said. “I wish it was as simple as re-plumbing the Delta.”

Read more from The Record by clicking here.

Grape-growing vs. wastewater in Wine Country

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 7:54 am

From the Santa Rosa Press Democrat:

When Jason Passalacqua, a Dry Creek Valley winery owner, heard about a plan to use highly treated wastewater to irrigate his vineyards, he thought it was a good idea. “When I first heard about reuse, I thought great,” he said. But he now considers the plan to use wastewater to grow grapes a “threat to the environment” of Dry Creek Valley and its world-class wines.

Passalacqua belongs to a coalition of grape growers, winemakers, environmentalists and others opposed to the Sonoma County Water Agency’s plan for a $385 million project that could ship recycled water primarily from Santa Rosa’s regional sewage treatment plant to northern Sonoma County for agricultural use.

On Tuesday, he helped present the results of a study critical of the Water Agency’s environmental impact report for the project, which is up for adoption by the county Board of Supervisors on May 12.

Water Agency officials said the recycling project, which is envisioned as an alternative to drawing from the Russian River and underground water supplies, is likely years away from being built and only the environmental study is up for consideration. But critics said if the study is approved, it could sit on a shelf like a “ticking bomb.”

Passalacqua and other opponents of the plan fear treatment plants do not adequately filter out chemical compounds that could affect the quality of grapes and could negatively impact wells, creeks and fish.

Read more from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat by clicking here.

Waves of change can be scary, but Marine Protected Areas are worth the ride

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 7:32 am

From Leila Monroe of the NRDC Switchboard Blog:

Getting caught at the base of a big wave can be terrifying and sometimes a little painful-the water wells up before you, you try to dive under it, but then you’re sucked up and over the falls, slammed onto your board and perhaps suffer a coral cut or even a broken nose. Most of the time, fear of the wave is much worse than any real pain from the washing machine-feeling under the wave. The experience is uncomfortable, but it’s educational, strengthens your endurance, and ultimately teaches you to be a better surfer.

I think my experience in the waves is similar to how industry opposition to the Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA) feels right now. Industry interests are in the water, watching a wave of change build before them and feeling a deep fear that they will be harmed.

The MLPA will create a network of marine protected areas (MPAs), underwater parks, throughout the state of California. Many businesses in California understand that MPAs are beneficial because they protect and improve ocean resources that are an engine of California’s economy. A minority of industry, however, fears the MLPA will harm their interests by placing certain areas off limits to fishing. The opposition faces an uncomfortable change to business-as-usual-but all the evidence from existing protected areas suggests this change will ultimately benefit their interests, improving the health and vitality of our embattled ocean so that all ocean users-surfers, divers, fishermen, and others-can enjoy California’s ocean abundance for generations to come.

Read more from the NRDC Switchboard Blog by clicking here.

Klamath River advocates ask Warren Buffett to close the deal

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 7:28 am

From Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org:

Klamath Basin tribal members, commercial fishermen, recreational anglers and river advocates have traveled to Omaha, Nebraska for the past two years to educate shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway Corporation about the urgent need to remove the Klamath River dams owned by its subsidiary, PacifiCorp. This weekend they will ask Warren Buffett, the owner of Berkshire Hathaway and the richest man in the world, to “open the river” and “close the deal.”

Last year over 30 Klamath Basin activists attended the shareholders meeting. Several members of the group spoke before the crowd of over 35,000 shareholders urging Warren Buffett to remove his dams on the Klamath River, while others unfurled banners during the meeting.

“This year, we’re as organized and determined as ever to get Klamath River people back to Omaha to call on PacifiCorp to close the dam removal deal and open our river,” according to a statement from the Klamath Riverkeeper. “While we are cautiously optimistic regarding PacifiCorp’s ongoing negotiations with local communities on a dam removal plan, we want the corporation to know we are anxious to see a final binding agreement that removes dams and protects our water quality.”

The group will be holding a film night in collaboration with Progressive Omaha to help inform members of the public on Klamath River issues, willl hold a press conference for national and international media, and will educate shareholders on the progress to date to remove PacifiCorp’s Klamath River dams. For more information, go to http://www.klamathriver.org/Omaha.html.

“This weekend we want to give the company some praise for coming to the table and doing the right thing,” said Craig Tucker, spokesman for the Karuk Tribe. “PacifiCorp has committed to negotiating the dam removal agreement. At the same time, the deal isn’t there yet. They’re still negotiating the deal and the final agreement hasn’t been forged.”

Cattle farmers, ranchers support wildlife

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 7:26 am

From the Western Farm Press:

New survey data show that America’s cattle farmers and ranchers are raising a lot more than just cattle on their ranches. From endangered species to native trees and grasses, America’s farms and ranches are hosting, and often actively supporting, wildlife, natural ecosystems and the environment.

Eighty-eight percent of cattle farmers and ranchers surveyed said their land includes areas that support wildlife. More than half report wildlife populations on their land have increased in the past 10 years. That’s important, because approximately 73 percent of land in the U.S. is privately owned, and the majority of the country’s natural wildlife habitats are found on those lands, according to information cited by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In fact, the land managed by America’s farmers and ranchers supports migratory birds, fish and other wildlife, including many threatened and endangered species ranging from whooping cranes in Nebraska to gopher tortoises thriving on a cattle ranch in Florida.

“Seeing healthy birds and animals means we’re making the right decisions with the way we manage the environment on our ranch,” says Carey Lightsey, whose family runs a centuries-old cattle farm in Florida that is home to waterways, wide expanses of oak and pine trees and animals such as bald eagles and the gopher tortoise.

Read more from the Western Farm Press by clicking here.

State agrees to resume stocking trout in Marin reservoirs

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 7:22 am

From the Marin Independent Journal:

In what he called a “big victory for fishing in Marin,” an effort by state Assemblyman Jared Huffman has persuaded the state Department of Fish and Game to resume the trout stocking program at Lagunitas and Bon Tempe lakes. Huffman said it’s possible a rainbow trout plant could be made in “a matter of weeks,” but because the stocking program is suspended during warm summer months anyway, it will certainly resume by early fall.

“It’s great news, just great news,” Huffman said.

“Oh, my god!” exclaimed veteran Bon Tempe angler Dr. Hank Simmonds, a Marin Healthcare District board member who refused to buy a fishing license this year, or a water district pass, in protest of the trout stocking ban. “I thought it was all just a ploy by the state to save money,” he said, adding, “I’ll have to go out and buy a license.”

The program that deposits trout into hundreds of lakes across California was outlawed in November in designated waters, including the Marin reservoirs and about 175 others, pending an environmental study required by Sacramento Superior Court Judge Patrick Marlette. The judge acted after a lawsuit that contended non-native fish imperil native species including the endangered red-legged frog.

But Huffman, a fisherman and former Marin Municipal Water District director, was convinced the two Marin lakes were inappropriately included in the ban, because district rangers have never found a red-legged frog in them and the lakes are “two or three dams removed” from threatened salmon and steelhead fisheries in Lagunitas Creek.

Read more from the Marin Independent Journal by clicking here.

Los Angeles water projects to get stimulus boost

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 6:46 am

From the Los Angeles Times:

The Los Angeles district of the Army Corps of Engineers plans to use its share of federal stimulus dollars to help complete a backlog of projects aimed at improving the local water supply, officials said Wednesday. The new funding includes $6.5 million for delayed repairs and improvements to the Los Angeles County river system, $5.1 million for water recycling and $17.4 million to finish a dredging project to prevent mud-choked Upper Newport Bay from becoming a meadow.

Nearly $184 million in all has been allocated to the district, which covers 226,000 square miles in Southern California, Arizona, southern Nevada and a small part of Utah. The funding is part of $4.6 billion in allocations to the corps under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which President Obama signed into law in February.

“In many cases the projects that we have on this list are projects that have kind of hung out there for a while without the necessary funds to complete them,” said Col. Thomas Magness, who commands the corps’ L.A. district. “We finally have a chance to complete the projects, put them in the portfolio as 100% and turn over the project.”

District officers estimate that the funding will create or save about 1,472 jobs directly related to the work and 2,558 positions in supporting fields, including companies that provide materials and services to the contractors. “We are very excited,” said Dave Kiff, assistant city manager for Newport Beach.

Read more from the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.

Reduced flow prompts local water budgeting; Customer budgets the ‘fairest way’ to meet conservation goals

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 6:32 am

From the Acorn:

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California announced April 14 that the flow of water to member agencies will be cut 20 percent by July. The MWD provides about half of the water districts in its six-county region with water from the Colorado River Aqueduct and the State Water Project in Northern California. Las Virgenes Municipal Water District and Calleguas Municipal Water District provide water to the Conejo Valley, Moorpark, Simi Valley, Camarillo, Oxnard and unincorporated areas in Ventura County.

Las Virgenes gets 100 percent of its water from the Metropolitan, compared to Calleguas which relies on the agency for 72 percent of its water.

Each member agency is complying with the allocation announcement differently. In Las Virgenes, the lower water flow will be handled by establishing “water budgets” for customers starting July 1. Single-family residential customers will start each eight week billing cycle with a base allotment of 16 billing units (nearly 12,000 gallons) for indoor use. An additional outdoor budget will be added based on lot size and whether the consumer is a residential or commercial user. While the indoor water budget will remain constant throughout the year, the outdoor allotment will vary according to wet and dry months.

John Mundy, LVMWD’s general manager, said the budgets are an equitable way to manage the reduced amount of water flowing to the district. “Customer water budgeting is the fairest method I know to help the district comply with its conservation targets,” Mundy said in a statement. “A simple acrosstheboard cut of 20 percent would punish those who have already been conserving water and make it fairly easy for excess water users to cut back. The budget system is not based on historical use; rather, it takes into account human needs and the parcel size of the residential lot.”

Read more from the Acorn by clicking here.

City Hall to fight Palmdale Water District

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 6:28 am

From the Antelope Valley Press:

City officials have geared up to fight water rate increases proposed by the Palmdale Water District and are urging all property owners within the water district boundaries to join the battle.

City officials plan to send a letter to all property owners within the water district, urging them to write letters of protest to the water district said Mike Mischel, director of Public Works for the city. “We feel that strongly about this issue,” Mischel said.

Under state law, the proposed rate hikes – which are expected to amount to increases of 65% to 200% for some customers – can be blocked if more than 50% of the district’s property owners protest in writing. The protests must be submitted before the end of a public hearing scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 13, in the water district offices, 2029 East Ave. Q. Protest letters must contain the tax assessor’s parcel number, which can be found on the annual property tax bill.

The decision to urge property owners to oppose the rate hike follows a letter from Palmdale City Manager Steve Williams to water district directors requesting a postponement of rate hikes until city officials and Palmdale School District administrators can evaluate the proposal.

“The formulas used to determine the rate are very complex and do not appear to be based on accurate information,” Williams stated in that letter. Furthermore, he added, neither the water district staff nor city employees were able “to calculate what the new costs will be.”

Read more from the Antelope Valley Press by clicking here.

Vista Irrigation District declares Level 2 drought

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 6:25 am

From the San Diego Union Tribune:

The Vista Irrigation District on Wednesday declared a Level 2 Drought Alert, which limits outdoor watering to certain days and times, with mandatory water-conservation measures to begin June 1.

The district provides water service to more than 123,000 people in the city of Vista and portions of San Marcos, Escondido, Oceanside, and unincorporated areas of San Diego County.

Read more from the San Diego Union Tribune by clicking here.

Water issues addressed at proposed Gregory Canyon workshop; Opponents still unconvinced that high-tech liner would prevent leaks

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 6:20 am

From the North County Times:

About 100 people attended a workshop Wednesday at Escondido City Hall focusing on the proposed Gregory Canyon landfill and how it may affect a river that provides drinking water for thousands of North County residents.

The Regional Water Quality Control Board was in Escondido to gather public comments on the first draft of a technical document released three weeks ago called “Tentative Waste Discharge Requirements.” The latest in a long history of public forums to address the dump proposal, Wednesday’s meeting gave opponents of the project another chance to sound off against the idea of placing a landfill adjacent to the San Luis Rey River. The board is scheduled to vote on the list of requirements —- essentially a permit —- in August. If approved, one of the last major hurdles delaying the project would be removed.

Gregory Canyon Ltd., the company behind the proposed 183-acre solid waste landfill, has said it will build a 6-foot-thick liner beneath the dump, and staff members with the water quality board confirmed Wednesday that the liner would be the most advanced and “conservative” in the state.

But Ruth Harber, a member of RiverWatch and long-time landfill opponent, wasn’t convinced. Holding up a household light bulb, she said the mercury inside such bulbs would make its way into the landfill, which would eventually leak toxic chemicals into the river. “We will all be glowing, all the way to Oceanside,” Harber said. “This thing is a time bomb.”

Read more from the North County Times by clicking here.

Regional agencies take lead in updated water plan; Climate change, population growth drive projections

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 6:16 am

From the Imperial Valley Press:

An updated state water plan will place emphasis on regional agencies to develop and implement water management strategies, pushing to diversify agencies’ water sources and reduce dependency on water transfers, according to officials within the state’s water department. “Think of it as a financial portfolio, and how you want to be diversified,” said Mark Stuart, the chief of the southern district of the state’s Department of Water Resources.

California is working on updating its overall water plan for 2009, and Wednesday the department held a meeting in El Centro to go over the plan’s impacts on the Colorado River Region, which the Imperial Valley is part of, and gather public input.

While the water plan is only an advisory document, it is used by an increasing array of legislators and local agencies to drive their water policy decisions, said Paul Dabbs, the supervising engineer and project manager for the water plan. “This is the only document that looks at the entire state and its problems,” Dabbs said.

In a related story, the new state water plan is anticipating factors that could drive up demand:

One of the core components in the updated state water plan claims that without conservation measures, a combination of climate change and increased population growth will drastically drive up demand.

“If the temperatures get warmer, there will be more rain and less snow, which will affect run-off in the state,” said Paul Dabbs, the supervising engineer and project manager for the water plan.

The water plan predicts that California’s mean temperature may rise 1.5 degrees to 5 degrees Fahrenheit by 2050, which could lead to an increase in water demands, particularly for agriculture. Temperature increases could also increase evaporation, which could lower stream flows and concentrate agricultural run-off and urban wastewater discharges.

Read more from the Imperial Valley Press: you can find the first story by clicking here, and the second story by clicking here.

Snake Valley water hearing postponed; Pipeline’s foes react to decision to delay hearing

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 30, 2009 at 6:10 am

From the Ely Times:

A state hearing on the last and most contentious part of the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s groundwater pipeline plan has been delayed until fall 2011. Acting State Engineer Jason King, Nevada’s chief water regulator, announced the delay in an order issued on Friday.

A four-week hearing on the authority’s groundwater applications in Snake Valley was set to convene Sept. 28 in Carson City. Late last month, authority officials requested a delay until September 2010 in order to finish a complex computer model showing the flow of groundwater in Snake Valley and neighboring basins about 300 miles north of Las Vegas.

Instead, King issued a two-year delay, in part to make sure the authority’s groundwater model matches one being developed as part of an ongoing federal environmental review of the pipeline project. Postponing the hearing until 2011 also will allow more work to be done on water and environmental studies in the area, King states in the order.

In a related story, pipeline opponents greeted the news with mixed feelings:

“I see the delay as kind of a good thing and a bad thing,” White Pine County Commissioner Gary Perea told the Ely Times on April 25.

On the one hand, the two-year delay will give the agency more time to conduct further studies of the valley’s groundwater resources. Perea, a longtime critic of the agency’s plans, thinks the additional data will show that the project is not feasible.

But Perea also said he sees a downside to the delay, which leaves the status of the SNWA’s long-standing Snake Valley water applications unsettled. “It’s stopped any kind of economic development in this valley,” Perea said. “Anytime anyone wants to drill a well (on the Nevada side), they have to get the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s blessing.”

Snake Valley rancher Dean Baker said he also shares that belief. “For at least two more years, we’re going to see economic development, agricultural development, held back,” Baker said in an April 24 statement. “Hopefully, this will give SNWA time to realize that they don’t need and won’t get the Snake Valley.”

Read more from the Ely Times – you can find the first story by clicking here, and the second story by clicking here.

Restored rule requires endangered species act consultation

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 29, 2009 at 2:36 pm

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Federal agencies again will have to consult with government wildlife experts before taking actions that could have an impact on threatened or endangered species. The Obama administration said Tuesday it was overturning a rule change made in the final weeks of the Bush presidency.

Officials at the Interior and Commerce departments said they have reimposed the consultation requirement that assured the government’s top biologists involved in species protection will have a say in federal action that could harm plants, animals and fish that are at risk of extinction. Such consultation had been required for more than two decades until the Bush administration made it optional in rules issued in December, just before the change in administrations. Environmentalists argued that the change severely reduced the protection afforded under the federal Endangered Species Act.

“By rolling back this eleventh-hour regulation, we are ensuring that threatened and endangered species continue to receive the full protection of the law” and that top science will be the foundation of the decision making, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said.

Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.

Dan Bacher commentary: Obama reverses bush rule undermining ESA protections

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 29, 2009 at 2:35 pm

From Dan Bacher, this commentary:

Under intense pressure from a broad coalition of environmental and fishing groups, the Obama administration on Tuesday restored scientific consultations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to protect imperiled species and their habitats.

Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that the two departments are revoking an eleventh-hour Bush administration rule that undermined ESA protections.

Their decision requires federal agencies to once again consult with federal scientists at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service of NOAA – the two agencies that administer the ESA – before taking any action that may affect threatened or endangered species, according to a joint statement from the two agencies.

“By rolling back this 11th hour regulation, we are ensuring that threatened and endangered species continue to receive the full protection of the law,” Salazar said. “Because science must serve as the foundation for decisions we make, federal agencies proposing to take actions that might affect threatened and endangered species will once again have to consult with biologists at the two departments.”

“For decades, the Endangered Species Act has protected threatened species and their habitats,” stated Locke. “Our decision affirms the Administration’s commitment to using sound science to promote conservation and protect the environment.”

Read more

Senate committee OKs water conservation package

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 29, 2009 at 2:23 pm

From the Woodland Daily Democrat:

The Senate’s Natural Resources Committee Tuesday voted 11-0 to advance a water conservation measure by Sen. Lois Wolk, part of a package of legislation she is authoring to help protect and improve the failing health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

“As the state faces its third year of drought conditions, water delivery restrictions, and unprecedented demands for water needs by business, the public, the environment and fish and wildlife, there is a heightened need for efficient water use,” said Wolk, D-Davis. “This bill establishes a transparent, statewide process to accomplish Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s goal of reducing California’s per capita water use by 20 percent by 2020.”

Read more from the Woodland Daily Democrat by clicking here.

L.A.’s storm-water fees: Stealth politics to quadruple costs to homeowners for L.A.’s storm-water pollution abatement program is bad policy, says editorial

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 29, 2009 at 2:22 pm

From the Los Angeles Times, this editorial:

Some neighborhood activists are still fuming over Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s plan to seek a vote of property owners to quadruple storm-water cleanup fees. They claim the move is exactly like his earlier plan, now underway, to ratchet up trash collection fees.

They’re right to fume, but they’re wrong about the comparison. The trash fees, love them or hate them, make sense. They are paid by homeowners to cover the costs of a service to homeowners, and there is no good reason for the rest of the city to continue footing their bill. Homeowners also have at least a modicum of control over their costs: They can get more trash picked up if they pay for more bins. But homeowners have no more direct control than anyone else over polluted street runoff.

The City Council was to act today to schedule an election in which only property owners vote. Sounds fair, right? If they would have to pay the higher fee, they should be the ones to get to vote. But this was to be a stealth election, conducted only by mail, requiring a simple majority and not the two-thirds of all voters that such increases usually require. The rush through council, the untried mail vote, the mayor’s insistence that this was merely “cost recovery,” the lack of public discussion — all gave the move the same sour flavor as last month’s solar power ballot fiasco.

Read more from the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.

The stripers win one; the state guts bass bill

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 29, 2009 at 2:20 pm

From Stockton’s Record:

More than 100 Delta anglers cast aside their poles for a few hours Tuesday and watched with relief as legislators gutted a proposed law that would have targeted the striped bass fishery in California. The crowd was large enough to fill the hearing room at the Capitol and spill into the hallway, observers said.

“This was the first time we’ve had such a diverse group of fishermen and fishing interests represented,” fisherman Robert Johnson said. “We take this as a total win, but we don’t think this is the end” of wrangling over the future of the estuary.

The bill by Assemblywoman Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield, would have ended funding to support striped bass, tossed out limits on how many fish can be caught and prevented any more stripers from coming into the state.

Read more from The Record by clicking here.

John Beuttler of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance posts this commentary at IndyBay.org:

The State Assembly Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife met on April 28 to hear Assembly member Fuller’s bill sponsored by the Metropolitan Water District and the Modesto Irrigation District that would have eradicated the state’s striped bass fishery if it passed the Legislature. The bill was supported by a host of water districts and associations and was poised to destroy striped bass fisheries from the Colorado River, to the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary, everywhere in the state.

Due to the significant opposition to the bill generated by the sportfishing community with support from environmental groups, during the hearing the author notified the committee that all the language in the bill would be removed regarding the striped bass fishery. Instead of stripping the striper’s sportfishing status and opening it to indiscriminate harvest, Fuller offered an amendment to require the CalFed Independent Science Panel to review all of the predation studies done in the estuary and to report their findings to the Legislature on whether or not additional studies are need to better understand all the impacts of fish predation that occurs in the estuary.

CSPA led the “opposition panel” during the hearing. We noted that the state’s leading independent science experts agree that striped bass predation does not impact the populations levels of salmon and Delta smelt. Because further study of the predation issue is highly unlikely to provide new information, CSPA recommended that it would be far more productive to pass legislation to stop the direct losses of over a million salmon annually killed by the state and federal water projects along with priority programs to restore their spawning, rearing and migration habitat.

Read more of John Beuttler’s commentary by clicking here.

Majority of Californians are concerned about reliable water supply; New statewide survey shows people willing to conserve

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 29, 2009 at 2:13 pm

From Save Our Water (www.saveourh2o.org), this press release:

A large majority of Californians are concerned about having a sufficient supply of water and are willing to do more to conserve, according to a new statewide survey released by the Save Our Water program. The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) and the California Department of Water Resources recently launched the Save Our Water program to educate Californians about the state’s water challenges and encourage greater water conservation.

Conducted by Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin & Associates on behalf of ACWA, the survey showed that water ranks in the top three issues of concern to Californians, topped only by concerns about the economy and the state budget. Sixty-one percent of Californians labeled their concern about water supply as “very serious” – a greater proportion than said the same for traffic, taxes, or population growth. The proportion calling the water issue “very serious” has gone up 10 points since 2007 and is mostly consistent throughout all regions of the state.

In response to their growing concern about the state’s water supply, people also say they are willing to take steps to help save water. According to the survey, more than four in five Californians (85%) say they are willing to make significant changes in their household activities to reduce their water use by 20% – the target called for by Governor Schwarzenegger.

Read more from Save Our Water by clicking here.

Yosemite Falls still spectacular despite state water shortage

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 29, 2009 at 8:35 am

Before we descend into the usual .. uh, news in California’s water world, let’s take a moment for this breath of fresh air from the high country by way of the Fresno Bee:

California’s drought seems like fiction up here with thundering Yosemite Falls leaving lines of gawkers soaked and shivering. The 2,425-foot trio of waterfalls – the tallest in North America – can easily be seen a mile away, but visitors can’t resist getting up close to that blast of icy water.

“This is my favorite place in the world,” said Christy Rosa of Los Angeles, who was celebrating her 60th birthday in Yosemite National Park. “I wouldn’t miss this.”

There might be quite a waterfall show this year, despite the statewide drought. The snowpack above the park’s two major rivers – the Tuolumne and the Merced – was near 90% of average on April 1.

The near-average snowpack in this part of Yosemite provides much-needed water for California, but it isn’t enough to make a big difference, state officials say. The water content in the 400-mile-long Sierra Nevada snowpack is less than 70% of average for this time of year.

Read more from the Fresno Bee, where you can check out more pictures of the waterfalls, watch a video or even download desktop wallpaper by clicking here.

And now….  back to business as usual!

Aquafornia welcomes Peter Gleick to the blogosphere!

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 29, 2009 at 8:34 am

From the Pacific Institute:

Read and discuss everything water with internationally renowned expert Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, on his new blog.

Featured on City Brights, San Francisco Chronicle’s luminary blogger site, Gleick explores the water challenges facing California, the West, and our world. Follow along as he discusses the threats to our freshwater resources and viable solutions to those threats, drawing from not only his experiences and viewpoint, but also by way of numbers: each post will include an important, unusual, or newsworthy “water number” that will highlight some piece of the water issue.

Click to check it out or join the conversation: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/gleick/index

Be sure to follow the discussion…it’s going to get interesting!

Welcome, Peter, and Aquafornia looks forward to linking to your new blog!

Government, planning and the politics of water

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 29, 2009 at 8:28 am

From IndyBay.org, this commentary by Martin Zehr:

In addressing the issue of water in the West we must be willing to address that prior solutions have not addressed the core problem. Today, we continue to base solutions through increasing supplies. In the past, it has been simply a matter of addressing increased demand for water by increasing the supply combined with conservation. Reservoirs and dams were built with wide surface areas resulting in huge evaporative losses, aquifers were pumped to the maximum, urban water conservation was voluntary and private wells were unmetered. Supply was there. Sometimes new sources, such as Owens Lake in California, or the San Juan /Chama diversion in NM were piped to urban centers to increase supply.

Supply solutions are still available. Desalination of ocean waters, dredging reservoirs and deep aquifer drilling are playing a new role in the discussions as the old sources dry up or prove unable to address increased demand. New deep water, low surface area, high altitude reservoirs can be built. Brackish water can still be tapped from deep aquifers and desalinated. Water pumped in rural areas with low demand can still be piped to urban areas. In other words, there remains the capacity to continue to address water management and administration in the same old way.

Current droughts in the West have raised new concerns. Is the drought caused by climate change? Is the drought a periodic historical episode of decreasing regional precipitation? What about the new risks of geological subsidence, ocean water intrusion into the water table and the reduction of groundwater flows to surface waters? These issues raise their raise their heads as aquifers are mined and groundwater levels decline and precipitation decrease. That being said, it is worth our while to compare the current financial crisis with the impending water crisis that has already manifested in many areas of the US.

For years, business as usual for urban residents has been to assume that municipal governments and state governments are up to the task. The water budgets of our regions have been overextended based on presumed maintenance of water supply from aquifers and surface water flows. Decisions are made based on short-term supply projections that no longer stand the test of reality. Water users are not included in the decision-making processes.

Read more of Martin’s commentary at IndyBay.org by clicking here.

Guest commentary: Contra Costa report on peripheral canal is “utter nonsense”

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on April 29, 2009 at 8:21 am

From the Pasadena Sub-Rosa blog, submitted directly to Aquafornia, here’s a rebuttal commentary to the article posted earlier this week in the Contra Costa Times, titled “Peripheral Canal No Drought Lifeline, Contra Costa Water District Finds”, which says in essence, A $10 billion plan to build a canal around the Delta would not deliver significantly more water to cities and farms if it were in place this year, new data shows.Water agencies and politicians from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on down have repeatedly stressed that water shortages this year from the Bay Area to San Diego prove the need for such a canal. It would divert water around the Delta for delivery to farms and cities. But numbers developed by a state-run planning group seeking to build the canal show it would not deliver more water in dry years, the Contra Costa Water District stated this week.

This commentary was written by David O. Powell, B.S. Civil Engineering, Cal-Tech; former U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, formerly California Dept. of Water Resources Chief Engineer of San Diego office; water and hydro-electric engineer with Bechtel Corporation; Assistant Chief Engineer Alameda County Water District; Vice-President and Chief of Planning for Bookman-Edmonston Engineering, Glendale, California; presently retired:

My reaction to the above-cited article is “what utter nonsense!”

First, the article is by a reporter who apparently doesn’t fully understand what he is talking about. For example. the article refers to

“… numbers developed by a state-run planning group seeking (emphasis added) to build the canal…” yet the thrust of the article is opposition to the plan. A later paragraph refers to “…Gary Bobker, program manager of The Bay Institute, an environmental group, and a member of the conservation plan’s steering committee.” Mr. Bobker is quoted as stating “If you build a very expensive facility and don’t improve water supply much, does that create more incentive for water agencies to weaken existing environmental and water quality standards?”

The article appears in a Contra Costa County newspaper, and liberally quotes representatives of Contra Costa Water District. Please bear in mind that Contra Costa Water District’s water supply is dependent on (water) diversions directly from the Delta.

The article states “according to water users’ estimates, new rules to protect the threatened fish cost 300,000 acre-feet of water this year…” Later it says ” in dry years the increase is small to nonexistent…” Three hundred thousand acre-feet per year during droughts is insignificant?!?!?!

The article makes reference to an $8.5 billion cost for the current plan. I would like to see the cost estimate leading to this figure. I do not remember the estimated cost of the Peripheral Canal when it was proposed for construction a quarter century or so ago. But I would be very surprised if that figure, adjusted for inflation, would come anywhere near $8.5 billion.

Let me add a few closing remarks outlining my views.

I would have to agree that the fact that there is not very much new water available for capture during drought periods is sort of a no-brainer. Although 300,000 acre feet a year is not insignificant. The real function of a Peripheral Canal during periods of drought is to enable the transfer southerly of supplemental water originating northerly of the Delta, whether that water is from existing storage, new storage in the Sacramento Valley, water purchased from farmers or diversions from North Coast streams.

The article indicates that larger supplies originating north of the Delta are available during wet years. The problem is that with current restrictions on pumping from the Delta imposed on the State Water Project and the Federal Central Valley Project, the ability to transfer water during wet periods is severely impaired.

Various statements in the article suggest that a major function of the proposed plan will be for the purpose of “… existing environmental and water quality standards…[and to]… conserve endangered species.” I would suspect that a Peripheral Canal for the purposes of getting water from the north side of the Delta to the south side of the Delta (without aggravating environmental conditions tot a state worse than would exist under natural drought conditions) would cost far less than $8.5 billion.

I think that the remarks about the capacity inadequacy and inability to refill existing storage downstream from the Delta are well taken.

Sub Rosa Note: As best as we have been able to find online the original cost of the Peripheral Canal, not including offsite levees, was $1.5 billion in 1982. Recalculated in today’s dollars at a 4% per year monetary inflation rate, would be about $4.3 billion.

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