A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 30, 2007
2. Supply –
Residents apparently are holding the line on consumption during the weeklong shutdown of a treatment plant.
The March to rain faltered
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Residents apparently are holding the line on consumption during the weeklong shutdown of a treatment plant.
By David Haldane, Times Staff Writer
The ominous freeway signs warning of a pending
"Overall, water demand is holding steady throughout the county," said Michelle Tuchman, a spokeswoman for the Municipal Water District of Orange County. "In some areas, the demand has decreased slightly, while in others it has slightly increased. This is good, and we are hopeful that we will be just fine."
Earlier in the week, officials had noticed an upward trend in water consumption countywide despite efforts to stave off possible shortages stemming from the weeklong shutdown of a
Expected to remain closed until late Saturday for upgrades, the Robert B. Diemer plant supplies
By Tuesday, Tuchman said, the spike in water usage was so pronounced that officials asked Caltrans to activate 35 message boards along the 5, 55, 57, 91 and 405 freeways reading, "ORANGE COUNTY WATER EMERGENCY CONSERVE WATER."
The signs seem to have done the trick, she said, by putting a lid on the spike. "We can now take a look," she said, "and as of Day 5 of our seven-day shutdown, we are in adequate shape."
Though the plant is scheduled to reopen just before midnight Saturday, Tuchman urged consumers to maintain their extra vigilance at least until Monday. "As water comes back into the plant and the facility begins treating it," she said, "it would be helpful if people didn't go running outside first thing Sunday morning to turn their sprinklers back on full-blast."
In addition to the freeway signs, which Caltrans officials said have never been used for such a purpose, Tuchman attributed the success of the conservation effort to various cities and water districts that had implemented such "operational refinements and improvements" as bringing in temporary pumps to help push water to areas where it was needed and increasing the amount of water brought in from other areas.
She said water district officials would be meeting early today to discuss when to turn off the freeway signs. "As soon as we can take them down," Tuchman said, "we will."#
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-water30mar30,1,4685217.story?coll=la-headlines-california
Bill promises end to Soboba water dispute
The Press
A decades-old dispute between the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians and several
Rep. Mary Bono said the legislation she introduced would ratify an earlier settlement that would provide millions of dollars for economic development and billions of gallons of water that would help revitalize and expand the tribe's agricultural and commercial endeavors.
Surrounding communities in the
The bill, called The Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians Settlement Act, is co-sponsored by Reps. Joe Baca, D-Rialto, and Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, and seeks congressional blessing of an agreement signed in June between the tribe, whose reservation is east of San Jacinto, and the Metropolitan, Eastern Municipal and
"I'm very proud that we've reached this," Bono, R-Palm Springs, said of the bill, which she said enjoys bipartisan support. "I know I'll do my very best to have it passed this year.
"This legislation takes the critical step to put into place a long-term plan that ensures the future water supply of the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians and all of the
Bono said the legislation still needs to go through the Congress and to the president, but she expects it to be approved by the end of this year.
Ratification of the pact would bring to a close nearly 150 years of conflict over the limited resources of the
Last year's settlement stems from a federal lawsuit filed in 2000 against the water agencies, alleging that an underground tunnel built in the 1930s to bring water through the
The settlement also calls for the tribe to not move its gambling operations from its reservation to a highly visible site near
Robert Salgado, chairman of the Soboba Band, said tribal members and
"It's not just the tribe, but the whole valley that would benefit from this," said Salgado. He said the tribe is pleased to put the dispute behind it.
"It's been, what, 70 years that we've been trying to put this to rest," he said.
The settlement also has pleased officials of the water agencies.
"The settlement provides both for a guaranteed water right to the tribe and a way to effectively manage the
Bono said the legislation culminates years of negotiations and would help assure a better future for the region.
"The significance of this legislation is impossible to measure because it secures the future of our growing population and agriculture industry," she said.#
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_H_soboba30.413bae7.html
The March to rain faltered
By MICHAEL G. MOONEY
The "D" word remains in play.
That's D as in:
Dry.
Really dry.
Critically dry.
But it stops somewhere short of the ultimate "D" word — drought, at least for the moment.
"Don Pedro Reservoir's elevation may be as high as it is going to get this year," said Maree Hawkins, a spokeswoman for the Modesto Irrigation District, referring to the water level in the lake east of
That level is maintained throughout the winter and early spring for flood control purposes.
The reservoir's elevation was reported at 797.44 feet Wednesday.
With less snow and less water content in the snow, no one is concerned about significant flooding this spring.
Hawkins said enough rain has fallen in the
To date, MID rain gauges this month have recorded 0.37 inches of rain, which is about 1½ inches below normal for the month.
"(But) the Central Sierra snowpack," Hawkins said, "is about 50 percent of average (compared with 144 percent of average at this time last year)."
Water from melting Sierra snow provides more than a third of the state's drinking and irrigation water and is the lifeblood of the State Water Project, which brings water to more than 23 million people and 775,000 acres of farmland.
The latest snowpack measurements, taken Wednesday near
The end-of-March snow survey by the state Department of Water Resources is considered the most important because state hydrologists use it to predict water supplies and deliveries for the summer.
Water content in the snowpack along the 400-mile-long Sierra-Nevada averaged just 46 percent of normal.
"If you start putting dry winters together, you deplete the reservoirs," department spokesman Don Strickland said. "We're hoping we don't run into that."
Walt Ward, the MID's assistant general manager of water operations, said the utility should have no problems meeting the water demands of its
If conditions remain dry, however, MID water deliveries in 2008 could be more problematic.
Said Hawkins: "Don Pedro could end 2007 at a significantly lower level, although how much lower is uncertain. A second year of less-than-average runoff could cause concern."
No rationing in LA
In the
"It's always worrisome in a year like this, but you're not going to see any rationing in
The
State researchers conduct five monthly snow surveys from January to May, measuring snow at 382 stations.
The snow depth Wednesday — the fourth survey of the year — at the Phillips Station along Highway 50 south of
Electronic sensors showed the snow's water content was higher in the northern Sierra, where it was 52 percent of normal.
The water content was 48 percent of normal in the central Sierra and 38 percent in the southern section of the range.
State hydrologists had hoped for a wetter March to boost the snowpack.
March storms typically add about 10 percent to 15 percent more snow in the Sierra.
Frank Gehrke, the state Department of Water Resources' snow survey section chief, said the storm that passed over the Sierra on Monday boosted the snowpack by about 2 inches but wasn't enough to recover from a dry month.
"Instead of seeing an increase of five or six inches in March, welost eight or nine inches," Gehrke said "That's a pretty bleak month."#
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/13439037p-14052811c.html
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