A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 20, 2007
2. Supply
SUPPLY PLANNING:
Water agency sued over estimates; 14 groups claim Sonoma County ignoring signs of impending shortages - Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Central Valley Project increases water supply forecast - Central Valley Business Times
WATER RECYCLING LEGISLATION:
Editorial: Back Miller water bill - Contra Costa Times
SUPPLY PLANNING:
Water agency sued over estimates; 14 groups claim
Santa Rosa Press Democrat – 3/20/07
By Bleys W. Rose, staff writer
A coalition of 14 environmental and community groups is challenging
Leaders in the Sonoma County Water Coalition filed suit in Sonoma County Superior Court Monday morning seeking to invalidate the Water Agency's recently released Urban Water Management Plan.
The plan projects that
"The plan fails to develop contingency plans to address looming constraints on future growth and surface water supplies," said coalition leader Stephen Fuller-Rowell. "Instead, the Water Agency plan relies on paper water or unproven supplies."
Tim Anderson, the Water Agency's governmental affairs coordinator, said agency officials had not seen the lawsuit, weren't familiar with the claims and couldn't offer immediate comment.
When the Water Agency released its long-awaited water plan, required every five years by state law, agency officials said they expected water conservation measures, water allocation formulas for customers and efforts to replenish endangered fish to convince state regulators to grant more water.
It is a crucial planning document because it forms the basis for most
Fuller-Rowell said the lawsuit seeks to force the Water Agency to divulge data that environmentalists say shows declining water tables and contamination of the
The group alleges that Water Agency estimates are overly optimistic because they don't take into account other factors such as climate changes indicating less rainfall and more drought in the future, as well as contemporary political and legal constraints on water use.
About a dozen leaders in the Water Coalition announced filing of their lawsuit Monday during a news conference staged at the Water Agency's collector wells near the Laguna de
Dennis Hill of the Westside Association to Save Agriculture said farmers and area residents are worried that water diversions for urban use will adversely affect agriculture's use of
H.R. Downs of the O.W.L. Foundation, a Penngrove group that monitors water, said too much of the Water Agency's projections are based on groundwater availability assumptions that are threatened by signs of declining water tables in the
Jane Nielson, a retired geologist with the Sebastopol Water Information Group said her organization joined the lawsuit in an effort to prod the Water Agency to release more data about groundwater levels.
"So much of this county relies on groundwater and so much of their estimates are all future stuff with nothing based on what is known," Nielson said. #
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070320/NEWS/703200328/1033/NEWS01
Projected runoff into Shasta Reservoir has increased by nearly one-quarter, thanks to February snowfall and that has allowed operators of the state's largest irrigation project to boost their estimate of summertime water supplies.
The Central Valley Project says it expects to deliver 50 percent supplies to its farm customers south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. That's up from the previous forecast, which was for only 35 percent supplies.
But for farmers and ranchers further south in the
“It’s been kind of up and down. We started out with a lot of storage and we thought a fairly decent start to the year but then January just basically went south on us,” says Jeff McCracken, a spokesman for the Bureau of Reclamation in an interview with the California Farm Bureau news service. “We got a little wetter in February and brought us to where we are today. We’ve still got April coming up. We’ve had some pretty wet Aprils and we’ve had some pretty wet early Mays so with a little help we can kick it up a little higher hopefully.”
The California Department of Water Resources' March 1 forecast of 3.8 million acre-feet for Shasta Reservoir inflow increases Sacramento River Settlement Contractors, San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors, and contractors receiving water from the Mendota Pool to a normal 100 percent of allocation.
Higher-than-average precipitation last year has allowed CVP reservoir storage to remain at near-normal as of March 1. With the drier than normal runoff conditions projected for the remainder of water year 2007, the Bureau of Reclamation forecasts that CVP reservoir storage will be utilized this summer to support CVP operations.
But the bureau cautions that so far March precipitation has been sparse and “therefore CVP water service allocations are potentially subject to modification based on actual March hydrologic conditions.”
The water supply available for the CVP Eastside Division contractors (
Further south, farmers can begin tasting dust.
The Friant Division deliveries are projected to be 400,000 acre-feet or 32 percent of 1.25 million acre-feet, which is the recent five-year average allocation. The allocation for the Friant Division Contractors will be 50 percent Class 1 water and 0 percent Class 2 water.
The projected Friant Division delivery of 400,000 acre-feet may not happen if precipitation remains low. As of March 15, precipitation in the
“The one area that is probably having it really tough is the Friant unit. They’re down in the mid-30s right now, based on the inflows out of the
The Bureau of Reclamation says it will update the CVP-wide allocation in mid-April. #
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=4621
WATER RECYCLING LEGISLATION:
Editorial: Back Miller water bill
Contra Costa Times – 3/20/07
REP. GEORGE MILLER, D-Martinez, should be commended for introducing new water legislation to help the seven Bay Area communities increase their municipal water supplies through innovative water recycling projects.
Water recycling is an effective way to protect our environment and efficiently use natural resources.
There is no good reason to flush wastewater into rivers, bays, estuaries and the ocean if it can be treated and used again for other purposes such as irrigating parks and golf courses.
That is the philosophy behind seven Bay Area water recycling projects ready to begin once they are fully funded. They are in
The recycled water will be treated and piped to water golf courses, parks, school grounds and roadway medians, and will be used by some businesses.
Half of the money for the projects will come from local sources. One-fourth will come from the state, including Prop. 50 funds. But the remainder must come from the federal government; hence the Miller bill.
Miller made a similar effort last year, but this year made significant changes to the legislation and expanded it to include additional regional programs.
Reps. Anna Eshoo, D-Atherton, Ellen Tauscher, D-Alamo, Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, Mike Honda, D-San Jose, Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, and Pete Stark, D-Fremont are all on board.
Miller said he is encouraged that the bill stands a strong chance of being enacted now that Democrats control the Congress.
We certainly hope so because this is a bill that makes plenty of sense. Although recycling is not the only way to meet our water needs, it must be part of the solution. #
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/editorial/16939073.htm
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