A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 26, 2007
2. Supply
WATER CONSERVATION:
Dry times ahead; It's not a drought just yet, but there's talk of conservation and some fear that a second dry winter could spell disaster for the Valley - Fresno Bee
Snowpack at 19-year low; Some Bay Area water districts call for immediate conservation -- no shortages expected this year because reservoirs are nearly full - San Francisco Chronicle
Water conservation measures ordered - Sonora Union Democrat
PROPOSED WATER SUPPLY PROJECTS:
Projects aim to boost area water supplies; No new construction needed - Monterey Herald
ALTERNATIVE STORAGE PLANS:
State water recipients put on alert; Judge threatens to shut down delta pumps that serve Pismo, Morro and other local agencies - San Luis Obispo Tribune
MOKELUMNE RIVER WATER RIGHTS:
Officials work to keep Mokelumne River water rights - Lodi News Sentinel
WATER CONSERVATION:
Dry times ahead; It's not a drought just yet, but there's talk of conservation and some fear that a second dry winter could spell disaster for the Valley
By Mark Grossi, staff writer
Only half of their irrigation water from the
"It's bad," said Ron Jacobsma, general manager of the Friant Water Users Authority, representing growers working 1 million farmland acres. "But it will be really bad if we have back-to-back dry years."
A second bad winter probably would lead officials to consider this dry spell a drought, says state Climatologist Mike Anderson in
But drought anxiety still weighs on farmers, cities and water-system managers all over
"We need to have a drought mentality," said Lon Martin, assistant director of public utilities for
One silver lining is the leftover water from the snowmelt bonanza last spring and summer. The Sierra snowpack last year was 150% of average. With the extra water,
The snowpack in this part of the Sierra, however, is now a scant one-sixth the size of last year's monster accumulation. It already is melting away, so irrigation districts will have short delivery seasons this summer.
The scenario is an uneasy reminder of the six-year drought that gripped farms and cities in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Many Valley cities, including
Twice during the last drought, farmers in the 600,000-acre Westlands Water District could get only 25% of the water they wanted from the federal government.
This year, Westlands will receive a 50% supply of river water, which comes from
Huron-area farmer Ted Sheely, a Westlands board member, said he will have to pump underground water to make up for the loss.
The power bill for pumping water can drive up his irrigation costs by 20%. At some point, he may need to buy extra water on the open market, where it might go for triple the usual cost.
"Water makes or breaks our operation," he said.
On the east side of the Valley, grower Harvey Bailey in the Orange Cove area said farmers will help neighbors who don't have ground-water wells. Thirty years ago, east-side farmers endured a similarly dry season.
"Those who do have wells will probably use well water so that they can trade or give [river] water to others," he said. "I've been involved in drilling close to 100 wells in the area. Half of them were dry holes."
During a typical summer over the last few years, east-side farmers have received most of their irrigation water from the
Farm water officials said the dry year is another reason to discuss building a larger reservoir in the foothills above
They said a larger reservoir would hold more water, providing extra supplies in dry seasons. Millerton has long been considered an undersized reservoir.
Even though it is considered too small, Millerton will not fill up this year, according to Tony Buelna, chief of operations at Friant Dam for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, owner and operator of the dam.
"Last year, it filled in the first week of April," he said. "Any way you stack it up, it's not a good year." #
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/44043.html
Snowpack at 19-year low; Some Bay Area water districts call for immediate conservation -- no shortages expected this year because reservoirs are nearly full
San Francisco Chronicle – 4/26/07
By Jane Kay, staff writer
The water content of the
The size of the snowpack -- the source for most of the state's drinking water -- has already prompted calls for immediate conservation. And orders to curtail use of water could become mandatory this summer or next year if 2008 is also dry.
Usually the biggest accumulation of snow occurs around April 1. But this year the snowpack didn't grow after the first week in March.
Elissa Lynn, senior meteorologist at the California Department of Water Resources, called the 2007 snowfall "pretty dismal.''
"It was a very dry March, the sixth driest on record. There was a lot less snow falling and a lot more snow melting,'' she said.
But the state water agency isn't expecting shortages this summer because the reservoirs are relatively full after three years of wet weather.
"The impacts on a water supply don't become evident until you have multiple dry years. A single dry year is not particularly a big deal,'' said Frank Gehrke, chief of snow surveys for the Department of Water Resources.
His team will go out Tuesday to take the last manual measurements of the snow season. The April 1 reading was 40 percent of the average snowpack size. Right now electronic monitors show the snowpack is 38 percent of average.
Comparable record-keeping began in 1976, when the snowpack was 35 percent of average. Since then, the driest year was 1977, when the snowpack was 25 percent of average. In 1988, it was 30 percent of average. Every year since 1988 has been wetter.
Each of the state's main sources of river water -- the east side of the Sierra and watersheds of the
The state Department of Water Resources has no plans to reduce water allocations to the 29 contractors that buy from the State Water Project. That water system sends Northern California water down the California Aqueduct to the Central Valley and
But the federal Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the Central Valley Project, has cut by 50 percent its water allocations for farmers south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Towns south of the delta will get just 85 percent of their federal water supply.
Two weeks ago, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission asked for conservation from its city customers and 28 other Bay Area agencies that buy water from the agency. There was a dry winter in the
"We're hoping that a voluntary effort now will help us avoid mandatory rationing later this summer,'' said city PUC spokesman Tony Winnicker. "There's a real possibility we'll have to impose mandatory cuts on both city and regional customers.''
Representatives of the Santa Clara Valley Water District, East Bay Municipal Utilities District and Zone 7 Water Agency, among others, are asking their customers to conserve water. None has indicated that there will be mandatory cuts.
But water managers say they are aware of findings by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which cites studies projecting droughtlike conditions and an increased number of heat waves in Southern California, the Southwest and the upper
Two years ago, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger formed a Climate Action Team, which is made up of state agencies and coordinated by Cal-EPA. The agencies are keeping abreast of research indicating long-term patterns in climate change and how it could affect the state -- including the water system.
As for the low snowpack in 2007, it would be "too speculative to try to connect an individual year or an individual event with long-term climate change,'' said
"But it does provide perhaps a sneak preview of what climate change will bring and what we may be seeing on a more frequent basis in the future," Andrew said.
For the state Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention, the threat of wildfire will come sooner, in May and June.
Daniel Berlant, an agency spokesman, said the preparations statewide are already under way.
"This definitely has been a very dry year," he said.
Firefighters are asking people to clear away dead trees and plants and remove leaves from gutters.
"Here in
Online resources
More water-saving tips:
Tips for conserving water
-- Cut back on watering your lawn. Look for wilting and only then irrigate. Install sprinkler timers, and water only in the early morning. Make sure sprinkler heads are aimed on grass and not concrete.
-- Shower with someone else. Shut off the water when you're soaping up. Take shorter showers or bathe with the tub a third full.
-- Replace inefficient appliances and toilets. Most water agencies have rebate programs to help with the cost.
-- Turn the water off when you brush your teeth. Don't unnecessarily flush the toilet.
-- Defrost food in the microwave or refrigerator instead of using running water.
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/04/26/NOWATER.TMP
Water conservation measures ordered
Sonora
By Mike Morris, staff writer
A low snowpack and subsequent low water runoff has prompted the Tuolumne Utilities District Board of Directors to implement water-conservation measures starting today.
Directors unanimously voted Tuesday night to cut the district's total water usage by 20 percent, based on the amount the district used this time last year.
"We have to act now," TUD Director Jim Costello said before voting in favor of the restrictions.
The district will cut back on the water it sells to agricultural customers by 20 percent, encourage residential customers to limit outside watering and ask restaurants to only serve water on request.
TUD customers who live at an address ending in an even number are asked to water only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Odd-numbered addresses can water on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. There are no restrictions on Mondays.
"The odd-even watering is an attempt to get residential customers to limit the amount of water they use," TUD General Manager Pete Kampa said. "This is targeting the people who run water everyday. We want to restrict that to three or four days a week.
That's the goal of this."
If the voluntary conservation measures don't meet the 20 percent goal, then Kampa said he will ask the board to make the conservation mandatory, possibly in June. In doing so, TUD's roughly 13,000 customers would be charged higher water usage rates and violators could be fined for not conserving.
TUD's water rules and regulations require district directors to consider water-conservation measures when the predicted runoff from the state's snowpack is less than 50 percent of normal.
Kampa told the board that this is the sixth driest year the county has seen in the past two decades.
If conservation efforts aren't made and the snow melt produces no more runoff after May 1, the district would have to buy an estimated $647,000 worth of water from PG&E at the end of the year, Kampa said. #
http://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=23304
PROPOSED WATER SUPPLY PROJECTS:
Projects aim to boost area water supplies; No new construction needed
By Kevin Howe, staff writer
A series of water reclamation and recycling projects could provide upward of 12,500 acre-feet of additional water per year in California American Water's
None of them involve construction of a major water processing system, and some of them are already under way,
Five projects could be completed by 2011,
· Fixing leaks in the Cal Am pipe system, an ongoing project that would save 300 acre-feet per year.
· The
· The
·
· Recharging the Seaside aquifer, currently in the planning stage and scheduled to come online in 2011, providing 2,400 acre-feet per year.
In addition to this first phase of projects,
· The second phase of
·
· Expanded recharge of the
· Treatment of "wash water" in
In addition, Marc Lucca, general manager of the Marina Coast Water District, presented a proposal to "wheel" water from Cal Am's proposed Coastal Water Project through joint development of a distribution system that would handle desalinated, reclaimed and potable well water.
The water company is under the gun to come up with additional water supplies.
In 1995, the state Water Quality Control Board advised Cal Am that it was taking 10,730 acre-feet per year more than was legally allowed from the
The river is the major source of water for Cal Am customers on the Peninsula as well as the Monterey Peninsula Airport District,
The water board ordered Cal Am to develop another source for water it provides beyond the 3,376 acre-feet per year from the river aquifer, and until then, to reduce annual pumping by 20 percent.
In 1998, the state Legislature required the Public Utilities Commission to develop a long-term water supply contingency plan to meet the needs of
Cal Am is pursuing plans for a regional seawater desalination plant and a distribution and storage system based on the PUC plan published in 2002.
A court hearing is scheduled at 9 a.m. today in
George Riley of Friends of Locally Owned Water contends the permit violated the county's ordinance stipulating that desalination plants in the county should be owned by public entities. #
http://www.montereyherald.com/search/ci_5754142
ALTERNATIVE STORAGE PLANS:
State water recipients put on alert; Judge threatens to shut down delta pumps that serve Pismo, Morro and other local agencies
San Luis Obispo
By Sona Patel and AnnMarie Cornejo
A Bay Area judge’s recent ruling that could shut down or severely limit state water deliveries this summer has local communities and agencies that receive some of that water planning how to make up the loss.
Cities and agencies in
The possibility of a stoppage in service to those and other agencies comes after Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch ruled in March and then reaffirmed last week that California must stop pumping water out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta within 60 days unless it complies with environmental laws protecting fish.
Roesch’s order restates his position that the California Department of Water Resources does not have the proper per-
mits or authority to operate a key pumping station, which allows water to flow from the delta into the California Aqueduct.
Environmental groups have argued for years that the pumping station sucks in and kills certain species of threatened fish, including chinook salmon and delta smelt, which are protected under the California Endangered Species Act.
State officials are asking the California Department of Fish and Game for an authorization to continue operating the plant. A decision is expected by May 9.
Challenge to
Locally,
Every year during routine maintenance of the state water pipelines,
Late last year during that maintenance period, though, the city found six wells with levels of nitrates that were higher than allowed for consumption by environmental regulations.
Residents were urged not to drink tap water for a few days while the city started up its seawater desalination plant to dilute the nitrates.
However, because the city has 2,290 acre-feet of water saved up through the state system, the desal plant would not have to be used for at least 12 to 18 months, according to Public Services Director Bruce Ambo.
Sources such as wells and the
“If up and down the state that source of water is taken away from us, it will cause some agencies more angst than us,” Reiss said, but “we would definitely have to ask people to conserve.”
The Oceano Community Services District receives about 750 acre-feet a year. But the agency gets water from other sources, too. So customers likely wouldn’t see their service affected should state water be shut down. #
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/183/story/26405.html
MOKELUMNE RIVER WATER RIGHTS:
Officials work to keep
By Ross Farrow, staff writer
In an effort to show state authorities that water districts mean business and plan to actually use the water allocated to them, several water purveyors are negotiating an agreement they hope will salvage 16,000 acre-feet of
The State Water Resources Control Board's staff has threatened to eliminate the entitlement to nearly all the 20,000 acre-feet allocated to the North San Joaquin Water Conservation District during years of normal to heavy rainfall.
Water Resources' reason for removing the water right is that
With the appeal hearing in mind,
In an informal meeting last week, State Sen. Mike Machado, D-Linden, Kevin Kauffman, general manager of the Stockton East Water District and Dennis Diemer, general manager of the East Bay Municipal Utility District, drew up a draft agreement to share
The draft agreement calls for EBMUD, which uses Mokelumne River water for domestic use in parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties, to allocate up to 20,000 acre-feet during wet years to the Eastern Water Alliance, a coalition made up of the North San Joaquin, Central San Joaquin and Stockton East water districts.
That is, if the Water Resources Control Board doesn't remove
The agreement also calls for EBMUD to actively support developing a mutually beneficial inter-regional project to access the 20,000 acre-feet that would go to the Eastern Water alliance.
In exchange, North San Joaquin and Stockton East water districts would dismiss their protest against EBMUD's application to extend its water right, and EBMUD would rescind its protest against
However,
"It's just to get the conversation running," Gerald Schwarz, EBMUD's Central Valley liaison, said at Tuesday's
Steffani requested that EBMUD support a proposal to divert
Steffani also requested that EBMUD allow the Eastern Water Alliance collect
"If you add
Zolezzi and Karna Harrigfeld,
http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2007/04/25/news/7_mokelumne_070425.txt
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