A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 12, 2007
2. Supply
BAY AREA SUPPLY CONDITIONS:
It's dry, but don't panic — yet; Experts say even with lack of recent rainfall, California isn't in crisis this year - Inside Bay Area
Mandatory restrictions: Water agencies say imposed summer cutbacks possible -
Dry winter produces concern about conserving Bay Area water - Associated Press
Bay Area residents warned to cut water use by 10% - USA Today
GOOD TO THE LAST DROP; Conservation tips: Although most are standard, showering with a friend still not bad idea - San Francisco Chronicle
Water conservation urged;
Vallejo has water aplenty; Area drought declaration leaves city in a quandary - Vallejo Times Herald
CENTRAL VALLEY SUPPLY:
SSJID may only have 90% of needed water - Manteca Bulletin
GROUNDWATER:
Editorial: The Valley's liquid asset - Pasadena Star News
CONSERVATION:
Editorial: Water foresight - Riverside Press
BAY AREA SUPPLY CONDITIONS:
It's dry, but don't panic — yet; Experts say even with lack of recent rainfall,
Inside Bay Area – 4/12/07
By Julie Sevrens Lyons, MediaNews staff
It's official: For the first time in 15 years, the Bay Area has entered into a drought, according to national climate experts.
In a new assessment being released today on the spread and severity of the dry spell affecting the Southwest, drought experts say most of
Despite Wednesday's stormyweather, rainfall totals in the Bay Area remain at about half what they should be this time of year, and the Sierra Nevada snowpack — the source of much of California's tap water — is faring even worse.
"This is a serious situation," said Brian Fuchs, a climatologist with the
But some state water officials said they aren't using the dreaded "D" word — yet.
Even as some local cities and water districts begin to call for conservation, we are nowhere near a crisis point, said experts with the state's Department of Water Resources.
"We call it a dry year at this point. Not that some people won't be short" on water, said Maury Roos, the agency's chief hydrologist.
State officials use a different yardstick from the national experts to determine whether a drought is present, placing much more stock in the levels of the state's biggest reservoirs. Thanks to an unusually wet winter one year ago, the reservoirs are still reasonably full. Which is why the rainfall picture is nothing to panic about, the state says. "One bad year," Roos said, "is not really going to make it a drought."
Just the same, many Bay Area water districts have grown increasingly anxious about the dearth of rainfall during this year's not-very-rainy rainy season — if they don't ration water now, they figure, they might regret it later on.
Wednesday, more than 2 million Bay Area residents were being asked to cut their water use 10 percent by June — or face mandatory water restrictions. That order affects customers of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which serves 2.4 million customers from North San Jose through
And officials at the East Bay Municipal Utility District say they are considering requesting voluntary cutbacks, with a decision expected in the next two weeks.
"If it continues to be dry the rest of this year, we have to make plans for how we're going to use the water," said Charles Hardy, a spokesman for the water district. "Because next year could be devastating if it's very dry as well."
Indeed, even though state water officials say reservoirs are above their average levels right now, officials expect they won't be by this summer, as demand for water increases. The state is experiencing a double-whammy this year, with not only low levels of rain but abnormally low levels of snow as well. Typically, the melting snow feeds into one of the state's largest reservoirs, the Hetch Hetchy system. But this year, "there just isn't very much snow to melt," said Don Strickland, a spokesman for the state Department of Water Resources.
The water content of the Sierra snowpack is now at just 30 percent of normal, a dismally low level that hasn't been seen in nearly two decades.
"You've got to go back a long way, all the way to 1988, to see that kind of figure," Strickland said. "Last year, we were at 125 percent statewide. It just goes to show you how much the weather can change from one year to the next."
Exactly one year ago, no region of
The Southern Sierra is facing "severe" drought levels.
And overall, March "was disappointing" for the state's water suppliers, with precipitation only about a quarter of average and with a loss in the snowpack, according to a state bulletin released last week.
Whether you call this a drought, it certainly hasn't been a good year.
"There are some ecological impacts already being experienced with streams that are normally flowing this time of year already dried up or low. Some trees are showing some stress in the forest from the lack of rainfall," said the
http://www.insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_5649348
Mandatory restrictions: Water agencies say imposed summer cutbacks possible
San Francisco Chronicle – 4/12/07
By Wyatt Buchanan and Christopher Heredia, staff writers
More than 2 million Bay Area water users could face mandatory water restrictions this summer if they do not cut back on consumption now, the head of the San Francisco Public Utility Commission said Wednesday.
The Sierra snowpack -- the major water source for people in
Additionally, precipitation at Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is at the lowest level since 1987 and at the fourth-lowest level since record-keeping started in 1919. The reservoir is the source
The water and snow levels are being measured every two weeks. Officials will look at the measurements at the end of May and make a recommendation on mandatory restrictions for
Mandatory restrictions could mean reducing consumption up to 20 percent. Customers who do not comply could face fines or have their water turned off.
Calls for conservation have also been sounded in the
"It's basically going to be a puddle in the lake," Sherwood said.
The agency is not looking at mandatory restrictions, but "if conditions maintain and we don't get any major rains the rest of the spring, then anything is a possibility," he said.
The East Bay Municipal Water District, which serves 1.3 million customers, hasn't decided whether to call for voluntary conservation. District staff members plan to announce any such measures at a meeting on April 24, said Charles Hardy, spokesman for the district.
"Until then, we'll just watch and wait," Hardy said, adding that the last time the district had mandatory rationing was 1989-1991 and before that the mid-to-late 1970s. "We know it's dry and could lead to voluntary conservation. We just don't know yet."
In the Contra Costa Water District, officials are encouraging people to conserve but not making a formal request that they do so.
"We'll be rolling out a higher level of awareness for people to be careful, because while the situation is tenable this year, if next year is dry, it could be much more serious," said Patty Friesen, spokeswoman for the district, which provides water to 550,000 customers in fast-growing eastern and central
Other water agencies in Marin and
Rainfall has been below average statewide, and
Previous years have seen above-average rainfalls, however, which can help mitigate that for agencies with large groundwater storage capacity, he said.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission recommends a number of water-conservation steps, including: turning off the faucet when brushing teeth or washing dishes; taking shorter showers; cleaning sidewalks with a broom and not water; washing machines only with full loads; planting drought-tolerant plants; and replacing old toilets.
The last time Bay Area residents experienced mandatory water-use restrictions was during the six-year drought that ended in 1993.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/12/DROUGHT.TMP
Dry winter produces concern about conserving Bay Area water
Associated Press – 4/11/07
The public utility that provides water to about a third of the
Following
"I'm nervous. We want to do what we can now and get people on track so we can avoid mandatory restrictions. We're way below normal," said General Manager Susan Leal.
While Hetch Hetchy is 75 percent full, the Sierra Nevada snowpack that feeds it stood at about 46 percent of normal and the Bay Area has received about half of the rain it would expect in an average year.
Regional water managers said that if wet weather does not arrive by the end of the year, the area might well be in for a repeat of its last drought, which ran from 1987 to 1992.
Worried about a long-term drought after the unusually dry winter, the city of Santa Cruz already has approved residential water use restrictions set to take effect May 1 that prohibit people from watering lawns during the day.
"We don't know what next winter's going to be like," said Bill Kocher, director of the Santa Cruz City Water Department. "If we did nothing this year with the horrible winter we had, I just think it would be careless."
Water managers in
"We are looking at water levels that will be similar, if not worse than those we saw in 1976," said spokesman Brad Sherwood.
The Sonoma County Water Agency has not set an overall reduction target, but Sherwood said, "we are asking people to do everything they can at this point."
If San Francisco-area customers do not voluntary conserve enough water by June, Leal said she would ask the Public Utilities Commission to approve its first mandatory curbs in 15 years.
Back then, the agency issued fines to customers who did not fix leaky faucets and imposed fees on those who used more than their allotted share of water, said spokesman Tony Winnicker.
Over the next two months, the utility's staff plans to evaluate which penalties would make most sense if the call for voluntary cuts in water use does not yield results.
"We are not in a crisis situation yet, and these requests for voluntary cutbacks are because we believe we don't need to be in a crisis this year," Winnicker said. #
Bay Area residents warned to cut water use by 10%
By
The utility that provides water to 2.4 million people here and in three other counties, including
"It's premature to call it a crisis, but if we have another year like we had this winter, we'd be in drought conditions," says Tony Winnicker, spokesman for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
Meager rain and snow - 27 percent of normal and the fourth-driest winter since 1919 - have left the city's main water supply, the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in
Melting snow from the
Despite the dry winter, some
But
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-04-11-san-fran-water_N.htm
GOOD TO THE LAST DROP; Conservation tips: Although most are standard, showering with a friend still not bad idea
San Francisco Chronicle – 4/12/07
By Steve Rubenstein, staff writer
It must be serious, because the authorities say it's OK to shower with your spouse again.
Same for baths, assuming everything fits.
Rain and snow were so sporadic this winter that water could be scarce this summer. Water districts around the state have begun calling for "voluntary conservation,'' as if a two-person shower was an activity hard pressed for volunteers.
Unfortunately, many of the water-conservation tricks from past droughts will no longer work.
With most toilets, for example, it's no good any more to put a brick into the tank to take up space and save water. That's because modern low-flow toilets already use the minimum amount of water (1.6 gallons per flush) and using less will result in unfulfilling flushes.
Modern shower heads are low-flow, too, using 2.5 gallons per minute. Many already feature shut-off valves to allow patriotic folks to take "Navy showers" (soap up with the water off).
Older showers can be fitted with new, low-flow shower heads. At venerable Cole Fox Hardware on
Of course, said hardware salesman Jon Pogorelskin, a high-flow shower can be turned low-flow with a 5-cent washer, which is good for conservation if not for the hardware trade.
Shorter showers and less-frequent showers also save water. So does reusing water, buying an on-off garden hose nozzle, running washing machines and dishwashers only when full and turning off the faucet while shaving and toothbrushing. Also good is building a backyard rainwater cistern which, Pogorelskin said, is a fancy name for an old trash barrel.
Voluntary conservation is the official term for the step before mandatory conservation, also known as rationing. On Wednesday,
Some water users said they had learned from past droughts and were ready to pitch in again.
To keep his large lawn in
"We reused bathwater by using our tub only -- no showers -- then siphoned the used water downstairs into the washing machine for reuse on laundry,'' he said. "Then we pumped the water from the washer out to the lawn.''
Other water fans said they were already doing all they could. Herbert Marshall of
"I could quit bathing, but my neighbors might complain,'' he said.
Kenneth Baird of
At
"Succulents and cactus can be very beautiful,'' Garcilazo said. "And you're going to spend less time in the garden.''
The main problem with cactus is what happens when all the water comes back. Also, there are the stickers.
"You have to be careful,'' Garcilazo said. "No special secret. Just don't touch them.''
Washing cars from the garden hose is a traditional water-waster, but washing cars at most commercial car washes isn't, because most recycle their water.
"Water's still good the second time around,'' said Patsy Vargas, cashier at South City Car Wash in South San Francisco, where a wash costs $20 -- air freshener, dashboard cleaning and tire goop extra.
"We filter everything,'' she said. "Goes down the drain and gets processed and comes back. Same water, only brand new.''
As for the double-occupancy shower, deputy operations chief Pam Jeane of the Sonoma County Water Agency said a drought is no time to be shy. The government fully approves of whatever consenting adults do to reduce consumption.
"Absolutely,'' she said. "Shower with a buddy. Everything helps.'' #
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/12/BAGDDP78EG1.DTL&hw=water&sn=001&sc=1000
Water conservation urged;
Santa Rosa Press Democrat – 4/12/07
By Glenda Anderson, staff writer
“It’s real scary,” said Judy Hatch, the Russian River Flood Control and Water Conservation Improvement District president. The agency holds
The lake currently holds 69,392 acre-feet and has a capacity of 117,232 acre-feet.
But water officials are predicting the lake will drop to 8,000 acre-feet by October unless use drops and more rain appears. The lake has never been that low, said Barbara Spazek, executive director of the
“We’re looking at new territory,” she said.
The dire prediction is based on current water storage in the lake and the rate of water decline between April and October in 2002, according to the Sonoma County Water Agency, which oversees water release.
In the past few years, the diversion that shunts
The Sonoma County Water Agency’s primary charge is to ensure there is enough water for
“We’re going to go to the regulators and ask them what they want to do,” said water agency engineer Chris Murray.
During the drought of 1977, the lake measured 12,122 acre-feet of water in October. There was so little water on the
Officials of both the
“Conservation needs to happen,” said Pam Jeane, Sonoma County Water Agency’s chief engineer of operations.
She said she doesn’t know if it would be physically possible to take water from the lake if it drops to 8,000 acre-feet. But water removal is not authorized at that low level, she said.
While the future looks dry,
“We’ll see. It doesn’t take a lot of rain to get the tributaries flowing into
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070412/NEWS/70412002/1033/NEWS01
Santa Rosa Press Democrat – 4/12/07
By Bleys W. Rose, staff writer
Alarmingly low levels in water reservoirs that supply 600,000 people in
They want you to:
Limit use of tap water.
Stop watering lawns and plants unless using irrigation controllers that automatically adjust for weather conditions.
Cut out the car wash.
Buy high-efficiency appliances such as low-flow toilets and showerheads, as well as front-loading clothes washers.
Water Agency officials said Wednesday that the lack of rainfall has caused low flow levels on the
In
The Water Agency’s warning on “dangerously low water supply levels” came the same day that the public utility providing water to a third of the Bay Area announced water consumption reduction measures aimed at avoiding drought limits later this summer.
Hetch Hetchy reservoir stands at 75 percent full, but the Sierra snowpack that feeds it is only 46 percent of normal.
Sonoma County Water Agency officials plan to detail a full package of their own water conservation measures at a news conference today at 10:30 a.m. at
“These little forecasts of rain are not going to help us,” Water Agency spokesman Brad Sherwood said. “Water conservation efforts by water contractors, customers and agricultural community are required.”
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is asking customers to cut water use by 10 percent. Its advice to Bay Area residents includes installing low-flow shower heads, using drought-tolerant plants and watering gardens at night when evaporation is slower. #
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070412/NEWS/70412003/1033/NEWS01
By Matthias Gafni, staff writer
It's officially a drought. Now make sure to run your sprinklers, your dishwasher and take long showers.
Sound odd? Welcome to
As climate officials today officially declare the Bay Area in a drought for the first time in 17 years, Vallejo finds itself flush with water, and walking a tightrope of encouraging wise use - but not too wise.
"It's a very touchy topic," said Water Superintendent Erik Nugteren. "I wouldn't suggest anyone waste water, but given our population and the normal water we use, ` we can't be quite as proactive in conserving because it's slightly self-destructive."
Bottom line, the water official said: "Water sold is money."
Even as the state's snowpack and rainfall numbers are down, Vallejo has "more than sufficient" water for this year and next year, even if there's a drought again next year, Nugteren said. "We're not even close to declaring a requirement for conserving," he said.
In fact, the city would be worse off if residents cut back too much on water usage, he said. "If conservation goes at a rate unnecessary, it will basically bankrupt the reserve fund," he said.
In 2004, after years of frozen water rates, the city raised them by as much as $3 per month per household.
The move was to restore the depleted reserve fund, which had dried up after years of covering the water department's dwindling revenue. The idea of the back-up fund was to provide a buffer in the event of a catastrophic drought, allowing rates to stay level, Nugteren said.
A little over two years after the water rate increase, the city has established a paltry $2 million reserve fund, Nugteren said, nowhere near where it should be.
Vallejoans use about $15 million to $17 million worth of water each year, he said.
If all residents cut water use by 25 percent,
If the snow and rain stay away for a couple more years in a row, he said, conservation then would be considered.
The city's water conservation plan, under that scenario, would launch mandatory restrictions and reductions, and also have water rate increases as an option.
Even then,
"Our predecessors did a pretty good job of getting multiple sources for the city," Nugteren said.
The situation isn't as rosy for
American Canyon Public Works Director Robert Weil expects to hear from the state Department of Water Resources by the end of the month on how much water the city will get from the Delta water supply.
According to the city's Urban Water Management Plan, its water supply could drop as much as 72 percent in as little as one dry year. If it used its
In the past,
An added concern is half the city's raw water goes toward Valero's oil refinery to cool its towers. Officials have looked into using wastewater instead, and the city has also said it would ask the refinery to cut production during a severe drought.
A late call to
http://timesheraldonline.com/todaysnews/ci_5650307
CENTRAL VALLEY SUPPLY:
SSJID may only have 90% of needed water
By Dennis Wyatt, Managing editor
Water deliveries to South San Joaquin Irrigation District farms and cities could end up being 90 percent of normal this year.
Projections made by the managers of Tri-Dam — a joint dam and power system operated by SSJID in conjunction with Oakdale Irrigation District on the Stanislaus River watershed — anticipate water supplies to be 10 percent less than a normal year.
That has prompted SSJID leaders to start exploring ways to minimize the impact on customers.
“We don’t want anybody to panic,” said SSJID General Manager Steve Stroud. “We believe there are things that we can do to conserve that can ease the impact.”
The official Department of Water Resources projection for the
Even if it shows a rosier outlook than Tri-Dam operators anticipate, Stroud said it will still be a good exercise to explore conversation options.
“Anytime you can conserve water it’s a good thing,” Stroud said.
Stroud said if it is done right and the district can only deliver 90 percent of normal water supplies, it could probably be done by adhering to scheduled irrigation runs every 10 days.
“You sacrifice some customer service for efficiencies,” said Stroud. “That means if they are not ready for water when the run starts they can’t make arrangements for a special run a few days later. They’ll have to go 10 days before the next run to get water.”
Stroud said it may require growers to manage their crops and orchards a bit differently to be ready for the irrigation runs every 10 days.
Three cities receive all or part of their domestic water supplies from SSJID —
It is doubtful that
The city operates on a dual surface water and well water system. Ground water would be able to make up any potential shortfall in
SSJID receives 3000,00 acre feet of water a year from New Melones Reservoir. Ninety-percent delivery would amount to 275,000 acre feet. Because SSJID’s share is almost entirely based on inflow into New Melones and not the storage capacity, the district’s water share is susceptible to potential problems such as cool, dry winds in the Sierra that would trigger severe evaporation while taking away from run-off. #
http://www.mantecabulletin.com/articles/2007/04/12/news/news3.txt
GROUNDWATER:
Editorial: The Valley's liquid asset
DROUGHT-stricken Southern California got some good news Tuesday: The aquifer beneath the
The
While water experts predict this won't last, the glass-half-full lesson is this: We are sitting on the
While Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the state Legislature focus on getting more water from the Sacramento Delta, or building more above-ground reservoirs, they miss the fact that we already have the most vast "reservoir" in the state, a natural one that exists underground, one that doesn't need a huge investment of expensive steel-and-concrete supports, one in which the water it holds is not subject to evaporation.
The importance of the
The local aquifer is not used up to its potential for a couple reasons. First, pockets are polluted from industrial solvents, dry cleaning fluids and rocket-fuel carelessly spilled into the drinking water source by hundreds of companies for the past 60 years.
For our own water security, and to put the
Second, if the aquifer is to be used more efficiently, there needs to be more spreading grounds and recharge of both local and imported water.
Currently, water from the State Water Project is piped into our basin about 30-60 days out of the year, when an excess is available. The state should invest in piping in more water from the Delta to store in the
While use of the aquifer to meet other areas' water demands would require a large investment, it should be considered as part of the solution for the state's water needs. #
http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/opinions/ci_5645060
CONSERVATION:
Editorial: Water foresight
Riverside Press
A future of hotter weather and water shortages does not have to mean catastrophe for
A report released last week by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change clearly explains the stakes for
By mid-century, arid regions such as
Such changes would have profound effects on
To start addressing these dynamics,
Local and regional water agencies can also help stockpile water. Efforts to boost water storage in the
And conservation can pay enormous water dividends. City and county policies that encourage water-efficient development can stretch supplies through water-saving appliances, drought-resistant landscaping and irrigation with recycled water. And every Californian can take such basic steps as turning off lawn sprinklers during rainy weather and fixing leaky faucets.
A drier climate and shrinking water supplies pose big challenges. But Californians are better off pursuing solutions now, rather than waiting until a crisis descends. #
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