[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 4/5/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

April 5, 2007

 

2. Supply –

 

Opinion:

Water will be scarce

We can't ignore the looming crisis of diminishing supplies.

Fresno Bee

 

Oregon's snowpack hits 69% of average

The Associated Press

 

Snow depth less than half of average

Tuolumne watershed measured 46% of its usual April 1 total

Modesto Bee

 

____________________________________________________-

 

Opinion:

Water will be scarce

We can't ignore the looming crisis of diminishing supplies.

Fresno Bee – 4/5/07

 

The future of water supplies in California can be described in one simple phrase: increasing scarcity. As population grows and demand increases, climate change is almost certain to reduce supplies. That will dramatically alter the landscape, in more ways than one.

 

That's one of the conclusions that has emerged from the first International Water Technology Conference, being held through today at California State University, Fresno.

 

As dire as predictions for California's water future have become, we may comfort ourselves -- if that's the right word -- with the knowledge that things could get very much worse in other parts of the world.

 

In China, for instance, the astonishing pollution of rivers and lakes has led to frantic overdrafting of underground water. That has led to massive problems, including subsidence in some cities of more than six feet. As Beijing prepares to host the 2008 Olympics, one of the great concerns is whether sufficient supplies of water will be available for hundreds of thousands of visitors.

 

In Africa, pollution and drought combine to turn vast tracts of land into desert, forcing entire populations to migrate in search of water. The danger of armed conflict over water is great and growing.

 

Here in California our water wars are fought with legal briefs instead of guns -- at least today. But the potential problems are real and frightening.

That's why efforts such as this week's water conference are so valuable. Water experts from around the world came to share information and display new technologies, which will be crucial to solving the looming crisis.

 

And we had better grit our teeth for increased costs. An Environmental Protection Agency study in 2002 estimated that keeping up with the expected demand for water in 2020 could cost the nation more than a half-trillion dollars. Water is a commodity as well as a necessity, and Americans have grown used to having their water supplies heavily subsidized. That will change, and the impact will be deeply felt.

 

New storage capacity, both above and below ground, is needed, but it will be costly and take many years to bring on line. We can all begin to conserve water right now -- today -- and there is enormous potential for savings in doing so.

 

New and improved technologies like the ones discussed at the water conference have an important place in the effort. Perhaps the best thing that happens at such gatherings is the cross-fertilization that takes place between experts in different aspects of water issues. As an example, the conference heard suggestions that new irrigation techniques in agriculture may have applications for urban residential landscapes, which account for an enormous amount of the water used by city dwellers.

 

We're all in this one together, and the sooner we learn to work across the spectrum of public and private institutions and individuals, the sooner we'll see solutions we can all live with.#

http://www.fresnobee.com/274/story/39687.html

 

Oregon's snowpack hits 69% of average

The Associated Press - April 5, 2007

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

PORTLAND - Accumulations of mountain snow, the source of large portions of Oregon's drinking water and electricity, have fallen below 70 percent of average.

 

The state's snowpack usually peaks April 1, said Jon Lea, a hydrologist with the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service in Portland.

This year, it peaked about a month ago, at 93 percent of average.

 

On Tuesday, the snowpack dipped to 69 percent of average. A year ago, it was 139 percent of average.

 

``It's been the kind of year when we'll get big storms with heavy snows and then weeks with nothing, that kind of up and down,'' Lea said.

About three-fourths of the state's water for drinking, hydroelectric power, irrigation and recreation comes from winter snows that melt during the warmer, drier months, recharging streams, rivers and reservoirs.

 

In Northwest Oregon, measuring sites are at or slightly above 100 percent of average. Mount Hood is at 102 percent.

Snowpacks in Eastern and Southeastern Oregon are at 40 percent to 50 percent of average, Lea said.

 

Lea said the numbers reflect winter storms, which have been focused on Northwest Oregon and northward into Washington, where the statewide snowpack is 97 percent of average, the best in the lower 48 states.

 

The winter was relatively dry in the West. California and Nevada report snowpacks at about 45 percent of average. Colorado's is at 76 percent of average.

 

Lea said fall rains helped some reservoirs. Despite a snowpack at 40 percent of average in the Owyhee basin, rainfall since January has been 87 percent of average. As a result, the Owyhee reservoir is 81 percent full. The Prineville and Wickiup reservoirs in Central Oregon are nearly full. #

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2007/04/05/c2.or.snowpack.0405.p1.php?section=nation_world

Snow depth less than half of average

Tuolumne watershed measured 46% of its usual April 1 total

Modesto Bee – 4/5/07

By Michael G. Mooney

 

There's snow in the Central Sierra.

 

There's just not enough of it.

 

Not nearly enough.

 

"If conditions remain the same," said Wes Monier, strategic issues and planning manager at the Turlock Irrigation District, "we could be looking at shortages next summer."

 

In the Tuolumne River watershed, which supplies much of Stanislaus County's water, Monier said the average snow depth measured 46 percent of the historical April 1 average of 139 inches.

 

That number is determined by averaging the snow depth at 17 snow stations at varying elevations.

 

The deepest snow in the watershed, 72 inches, was recorded at 8,900 feet. The lowest depth, 4.8 inches, was found at a snow station at 6,500 feet.

This year's average is the lowest it has been since 1990.

 

Still, Monier said, there's enough water stored in Don Pedro Reservoir to meet this year's water needs.

 

Across the Sierra, the early April snowpack averaged 40 percent to 50 percent of normal.

 

In the Lake Tahoe basin, it was just 38 percent Monday.

 

Snow depth called dismal

The government uses the April1 snowpack depth to forecast runoff in rivers and streams this spring and summer.

 

"April 1 is typically your peak snowpack. That's why this is so dismal," said Dan Greenlee, a hydrologist with the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service in Reno.

 

Monday, Greenlee conducted the last official snow survey for the winter near Mount Rose Summit, where the snowpack was 44 percent of what it should be in early April.

 

"It's pretty sad, all in all," Greenlee said. "This year is history."#

http://www.modbee.com/local/story/13458067p-14070041c.html

 

Opinion:

Shared ideas, tech will prove crucial amid water crisis

Modesto Bee – 4/5/07

 

The future of water supplies in California can be described in one simple phrase: increasing scarcity. That theme was evident at the first International Water Technology Conference, held this week at California State University, Fresno.

 

As dire as predictions for California's water future have become, we may comfort ourselves — if that's the right word — with the knowledge that things could get much worse in other parts of the world.

 

In China, the astonishing pollution of rivers and lakes has led to frantic overdrafting of underground water. That has led to massive problems. As Beijing prepares to be the host of the 2008 Olympics, one of the greatest concerns is whether sufficient supplies of water will be available for visitors.

In Africa, pollution and drought have combined to turn vast tracts of land into desert, forcing entire populations to migrate in search of water. The danger of armed conflict over water is great and growing.

 

In California, our water wars are fought with legal briefs instead of guns — at least today. But the potential problems are real and frightening.

That's why efforts such as this week's water conference are so valuable. Water experts from around the world came to share information and display new technologies, which will be crucial to solving the looming crisis.

 

And we had better grit our teeth for increased costs. Water is a commodity as well as a necessity, and Americans have grown used to having their water supplies heavily subsidized. That will change, and the impact will be deeply felt.

 

Storage capacity, above and below ground, is needed, but it will be costly and take many years to bring on line. We all can begin to conserve water today, and there is enormous potential for savings in doing so.

 

Improved technologies have an important place in the effort. The conference heard suggestions that new irrigation techniques in agriculture may have applications in urban residential landscapes, which account for an enormous amount of the water used by city dwellers.

 

We're all in this together, and the sooner we learn to work across the spectrum of public and private institutions and individuals, the sooner we'll see solutions we can all live with. #

http://www.modbee.com/opinion/story/13458086p-14070051c.html