A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 27, 2007
2. Supply
ANTELOPE VALLEY ISSUES:
Board aims to keep AV from going dry - Antelope Valley Press
Private firm plans Valley 'water bank' -
Potential Solution to Colorado River Water Crisis - KLAS Channel 8 (
ANTELOPE VALLEY ISSUES:
Board aims to keep AV from going dry
By Alisha Semchuck, staff writer
PALMDALE - The
A group representing water purveyors, agricultural users, builders and government agencies intends to keep the water table from running dry by implementing the Antelope Valley Integrated Regional Water Management Plan, a comprehensive measure.
Approximately 50 stakeholders met Wednesday at the
Ken Kirby, of Kirby Consulting Group Inc. in
"Your demand is continuing to go up, but your supply is not," Kirby told the crowd. Therein rests the dilemma. At the current rate of consumption versus replacement in the aquifer, a single dry year - no precipitation - would pose a hardship in the Valley.
In 2010, cutbacks from the State Water Project would have some impact, but groundwater levels really would suffer.
"You'd have some groundwater, but a big deficit of 231,000 acre-feet," Kirby said. An acre-foot equals 326,000 gallons, the amount used in the average single-family home in one year. The situation grows worse as time passes, the consultant said.
By 2035, Valleywide demand could reach 406,000 acre-feet in a year, but groundwater would yield only 178,000 acre-feet, resulting in a deficit of 228,000 acre-feet. That's the outcome of a single dry year now.
Slight amounts of rain and snow won't compensate, according to Robert Beeby, vice president of engineering services for SAIC Engineering Inc. in Carpinteria.
"Anything less than eight inches in Mojave precipitation does not contribute to groundwater," Beeby said.
"One of the first things that's going to happen if surface water is not available - rationing," said Claud Seal, assistant general manager and district engineer for the Rosamond Community Services District.
Kirby's recommended list of objectives included providing a reliable water supply to meet the region's expected demand between 2010 and 2035, the critical period when demand is expected to run high and groundwater is expected to run low. He suggested providing adequate reserves to supplement the average condition during dry years. According to Kirby, the process of building up a supplement should begin in 2009, with which the group overall seemed to agree.
"I don't know how we'll bring more water in by a year and a half," said Neal Weisenberger, vice president of the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency board of directors and a professor of agriculture and water usage at
"It's not likely."
Weisenberger said even if water use plans change, he believes most water board directors and city council members in the Valley would be reluctant to approve going to ratepayers for more money to import additional water.
"I know, right now, it's not politically palatable to spend more money to bring more water in," Kirby said. "But neither is (implementing) a moratorium," an action resorted to in a dire situation.
Kirby said the group also must establish a contingency plan to meet water supply needs if State Water Project supplies are disrupted. Furthermore, he pointed out, they must develop a plan to "stabilize groundwater levels at current conditions. My guess, this is not going on."
Kirby said if efforts had been made in that direction, the Valley would not be dealing with adjudication in the courts right now.
He also addressed the need to provide drinking water at a quality that meets consumers' expectations and ensuring the aquifer is protected from contamination.
Many steps are needed in advance to head off potential disaster, based on Kirby's assessment of the Valley's condition.
Kirby said, "Do you wait until you get sick to buy insurance?"
"You'll either pay now or later." #
http://avpress.com/n/26/0426_s10.hts
Private firm plans Valley 'water bank'
By Alisha Semchuck, staff writer
One company took the initiative to turn a water-banking "dream project" into reality.
Western Development and Storage, a private Los Angeles-based firm, is finalizing the engineering design for a 1,500-acre "water bank," in which water transported by the California Aqueduct would piped into manmade basins, soak into the ground and recharging the Valley's underground water table.
"In 2001 we decided that we wanted to create a water banking project from scratch," said Andrew Werner, Western's project engineer. "And we wanted to choose the absolute best location south of the Bay Delta."
Western Development has purchased 1,700 acres from Van Dam Farms: between 150th and 170th streets west, from Avenue A north to Holiday Avenue, west of Rosamond. The concept has moved from the talking stages to a pilot project to environmental impact studies and testing over the past six years. Werner believes the company will be ready to break ground sometime this year.
Their search for a prime location to create their
"After we focused on the
Western's primary interest is forming partnerships with local water agencies like Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency, Los Angeles County Waterworks District 40, Palmdale Water District, Quartz Hill Water District and Rosamond Community Services District, which would be able to draw on the stored water during droughts.
Curtis Paxton, assistant general manager of the Palmdale district, said it's one of many banking projects needed in the Valley.
"It seems like they've done a significant amount of testing to move their project along, so they can either partner with a public agency, or sell their project to a public agency," Paxton said. "I'm hopeful it can be incorporated into a broad portfolio of options that's available for the
Claud Seal, assistant general manager and district engineer for Rosamond district, said the project has helped the
Seal said the Rosamond district has been providing Western with information about well locations and water depth of wells in the area. "We plan to work with WDS and AVEK to utilize some of that banked water in the near future."
AVEK General Manager Russ Fuller said water agencies and farmers "together stored 100,000 acre-feet in that same area in the '80s, and another 300,000 acre-feet in surrounding areas back then and it worked very well." The land Western purchased is over the Valley's Neenach "sub-unit," an underground basin surrounded by three semi-impermeable faults that help contain the water, Werner said. That way the company can track the water it puts into the ground and the water it removes without infringing on the groundwater of other Valley water users.The area meets the criteria both hydrologically and economically, Werner explained. It's close to an existing pipeline infrastructure, meaning that Western won't have as much pipeline to construct to reach the water source. There will be lower pumping costs because water will "flow into our project via gravity. To get it back out, we'll have to pump," Werner said. "We're downhill from the aqueduct."
Werner said the area can store at least 500,000 acre-feet of water. An acre-foot equals 326,000 gallons, or the amount of water used by an average single-family home in the Valley in one year. They will put 100,000 acre-feet a year into the ground and can draw that same amount out of the bank each year.
The idea is to maintain the maximum 500,000 acre-feet to carry the Valley through a five-year drought, Werner said.
"At 100% capacity, we could recharge 1,200 acre-feet per day," Werner said. "We did not find any clay layers that would impair the travel of water from surface to aquifer. Out of 150 (water) samples we never detected arsenic." #
http://avpress.com/n/24/0424_s3.hts
Potential Solution to
KLAS Channel 8 (
Edward Lawrence, Reporter
Eyewitness News has learned about a major breakthrough in negotiations that may help
If the federal government approves the deal, the state could get double the amount of water it currently gets from the
A quick look at
General Manager Pat Mulroy, with the Southern Nevada Water Authority, said, "There are no more winners and losers in this game. We either all win or we all lose."
Mulroy says an environmental assessment on the drought will be delivered to the secretary of the interior next week.
It will re-organize who gets how much water from the river and provide a plan to maneuver through the drought years.
Recommendations in the report are expected to be signed by all seven states relying on the Colorado River water, including
If those recommendations are accepted,
"The days of someone benefiting at the expense of someone else have to come to an end," Mulroy added.
The price of cooperation may be a tough pill to swallow. The original agreement in 1922 did not account for the explosive growth in
Cooperation from the
Executive Director Gerald Zimmerman, with the Colorado River Board of California, said, "It's not taking water from somebody that they will need to meet their critical supply needs."
With each state on the
The recommendations from each state will be submitted by Monday, April 30th. Through Nevada's urging, all seven of the states involved are expected to sign recommendations as a group to show support that they are working together to beat the drought.
It's up to the secretary of interior to decide if he will accept the recommendations.
A decision is expected in September. #
http://www.klas-tv.com/Global/story.asp?S=6434415
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