A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
June 7, 2007
2. Supply
L.A. urges conserving water in dry spell - Los Angeles Times
City: Cut water use by 10% -
Rationing: IID eyes saving water rights -
Feds to release preferred plan for Colorado River use - KVOA News 4 (
Feds working on solutions as river runoff remains low - Grand Junction Sentinel (
By Hector Becerra and David Pierson, staff writers
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's call for conservation — the first water-reduction goal the city has issued in more than a decade — comes as water agencies across
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which supplies water to communities across the region, immediately backed the mayor's conservation push, and officials said they hope residents in the rest of
The agency has embarked on a large water conservation campaign inspired not only by little rainfall but also by unusually small snowpack in the eastern Sierra Nevada and continued drought along the
Adding to the uncertainty is the state's decision last week to temporarily halt water pumping to the Southland from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in an effort to protect an endangered fish.
Jeffrey Kightlinger, the water district's general manager, said that if dry conditions continue, the agency may consider steps such as greatly reducing the amount of water delivered to agricultural businesses and increasing their rates next year.
"We have unprecedented dry conditions," Kightlinger said. "We know the
That could mean more aggressive conservation efforts, including mandatory rationing — something that hasn't occurred in
The region imports about half of its water. The rest comes from local underground aquifers, which are still in reasonably good shape thanks to the 2005 rainy season, which was the second-wettest on record.
Those reserves are giving
"If we have another dry year next year, and even the year after, we'll really feel the impact as far as the water supply," said Jayme Laber, a hydrologist for the National Weather Service in
Forecasters offer no reassurance. A so-called La Niña condition is forming in the
"With this late developing La Niña, that's not good for Southern California or the
(Since July 1 of last year, downtown
Patzert and others also said this summer is expected to be as hot, if not hotter, than last summer, during which several record-breaking heat waves were blamed for the deaths of more than 100 people across the state.
Even if the dry spell continues, water officials said,
Back then, officials ordered mandatory conservation, requiring a 15% cut in water use.
The L.A. City Council, for example, passed an ordinance that prohibited lawn watering during the middle of the day, automatic serving of water in restaurants and hosing down sidewalks.
A crew called the "drought busters" went around the city issuing citations to water customers who violated the ordinance.
Since that drought, water agencies have worked to improve reserves and better tap groundwater supplies. In addition, many residents have taken steps to conserve, including purchasing more water-efficient toilets and washing machines.
"Hopefully if we're all doing our job right, we've planned for this. We won't go under in one dry year," said Gina DePinto, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Water District.
Water officials have been saying for months that the region could face several years of drought conditions.
The mountain snowpack vital to water imports from
But in general, water agencies recommend taking shorter showers, fixing leaking faucets, using a broom rather than a hose to clean driveways and installing water-conserving sprinklers.
"
"We can all try, I mean, we really need to in this weather," said Renaux, 79, holding the end of her green garden hose. "Everyone in
But it won't be easy. She has a soft spot for the yellow roses in her courtyard, which were brown and shriveled and looked as if they were begging for regular watering.
"I guess I could take a shower every other day instead," Renaux said.
Jewel Thais-Williams said she is already conserving water but hopes the new conservation effort will prompt others to follow suit.
The 68-year-old Mid-Wilshire resident said she takes short showers, brushes her teeth with the faucet off and draws water in the sink to rinse her dishes.
She also does her laundry in one large load rather than smaller loads and waters her plants with a smaller spout to prevent wasting water around the edges.
"We have to protect our city," she said. #
City: Cut water use by 10%
By Dana Bartholomew, staff writer
ENCINO - Splash-and-dash showers. Sweeping, not hosing, off the driveway. A little less water on the lawn and shrubs.
Record low rainfall, scant snowpack and a potentially searing-hot summer led Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on Wednesday to urge residents to employ these measures and more to cut water use by 10 percent.
In addition, the city announced an aggressive program to waste less agua.
"Angelenos, there is a perfect storm on the horizon," Villaraigosa said during a news conference at the Woodley Lakes Golf Course, which last month began using reclaimed water. "We need to change course and conserve water.
"It is almost a crime that cities use water for drinking on that golf course - and we are here to change that."
While city officials stopped short of calling for a repeat of the mandatory water rationing of the early 1990s, they said conservation measures are a must.
Rainfall since July has been just over 3 inches - about the annual equivalent of
With
But with ample water reserves available to meet customer demands, the alarm isn't tolling - yet.
"The water that we save today could be the water that we need tomorrow," said Councilwoman Wendy Greuel of the
"We are simply asking people to reduce their water (use) by 10 percent."
For its part, the city has launched a citywide program to conserve water at parks and golf courses with reclaimed water, with plans this summer to irrigate all of the
Now, about half the 50 million gallons treated each day at the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant ends up in the
In July, the DWP will install "smart sprinkler controllers" that water only when needed at 55 parks.
To encourage residents to save water, the department is now offering to rebate $250 to residents who buy a high-efficiency washing machine, which can save up to 30 gallons of water per load.
Earlier this year, the DWP increased water-saving incentives for businesses, including the use of high-efficiency toilets and urinals.
The DWP also budgeted $3 million this week to reclaim the polluted aquifer beneath the Valley - enough water, officials say, for 1 million residents.
"At the DWP, we need to take the lead to make sure that this cleanup takes place," said David Nahai, president of the DWP board. "To have this enormous resource not to be used because of this pollution is disgraceful." Despite a population increase of 1 million in the city since 1970, conservation through the likes of 1.3 million low-flush toilets has kept water use the same.
For his part, Villaraigosa said he's giving his Getty House manor an energy makeover and he's decided to primp a little less each day.
Said the usually dapper mayor: "I'm going to take shorter showers." #
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_6079296
Rationing: IID eyes saving water rights
By Darren Simon, staff writer
As the demand for water has already started to outpace supplies in the
“The board could declare an imbalance” in water supplies versus demand this month, Kevin Kelley, the district’s spokesman, said.
During a meeting Tuesday, Director James Hanks said the district may have little choice but to implement a plan called equitable distribution, which is a form of water rationing.
“Our backs are against the wall,” Hanks said.
He was referring to the mad dash the district finds itself in to save water over the next six months as the Valley is facing its second year of using more than its share of the
That is water the Valley has to be pay back into the
The question is will rationing be a temporary step as it was first intended or will it become a permanent action?
Then, there is a question of whether water rationing will impact cities, which use a small portion of the Valley’s supply of
Such issues have yet to be fully addressed but answers could start to come later this month.
ASSIGNING WATER
Equitable distribution is a program where specific amounts of water would be assigned to acres of land.
It is a controversial issue, as some have argued the system equates to assigning water ownership to landowners, but IID officials have argued that is not the case.
All the district would be doing, officials have said, is assigning landowners the right to use a set amount of water.
“It does not equate to giving ownership of the water” to landowners, Hanks said.
Months ago the district approved a methodology for equitable distribution, but a final rationing plan was not finalized.
At that point equitable distribution was designed to be a plan that would only come into play in emergency situations.
THE DEBATE
Some IID board members are suggesting an equitable distribution plan needs to be put in place now and should remain in place.
“IID’s water supply is capped at 3.1 million acre-feet per year. That’s it. We are not going to get anymore water,” Director John Pierre Menvielle said.
“If we set up a baseline that works in the farming community and we can stay under the cap, we will look at it every year, but it will be permanent.”
Board President Stella Mendoza does not agree with that.
“What was to be temporary is now permanent,” she said. That was not the way the plan was intended to be used, she said.
Two issues are driving a new push to start rationing now and to keep it in place.
First is the fact the Valley is overusing its water supply
Second, the district as per a 2003 water pact, must conserve water for transfer to San Diego County Water Authority and Coachella Valley Water District.
To save water, the district will be implementing a system of on-farm conservation.
An equitable distribution program may be the way to measure the water savings, some board members say.
Menvielle said whatever actions the board will take on equitable distribution, it all comes down to protecting the Valley’s water rights.
http://www.ivpressonline.com/articles/2007/06/07/news/news01.txt
Feds to release preferred plan for
KVOA News 4 (
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is working on a final environmental impact statement on dealing with water shortages on the river that provides water to seven Western states and
The final guidelines, expected to be released in September, will also look at coordinating operations between
The draft impact statement, released earlier this year, featured five management options but didn't say which one the federal agency preferred. The draft documents usually identify a preferred alternative.
Terry Fulp of the Bureau of Reclamation and part of the team writing the plan said Wednesday that federal officials didn't recommend anything because they wanted to give the states and others a chance to weigh in. He said the guidelines might be a blend of the various proposals.
Members of a 1922 compact dividing use of the river are
A consortium of environmental groups submitted a separate plan that stresses compensating water users for voluntarily cutting back to spread out the impacts of shortages.
The move to modify the compact follows rising tensions due to a drought gripping the region since 2000. Former Interior Secretary Gale Norton said she wanted a plan for averting shortages by the end of this year after the upper basin states _
Less rain and lower snowpack have decreased flows and lowered the levels in Lake Mead and
Fulp said additional moisture in some of the river basins should boost the
In
Despite that, Fulp said: "We're still making all our deliveries."
Water managers in
The states' proposal would allow the upper basin to deliver less water during droughts and includes incentives for conservation, improved efficiency and ways for users to bank water in the reservoirs.
Under the compact, the upper basin states must deliver 75 million acre feet every 10 years to the lower basin states. In practice, at least 8.2 million acre feet of water have been released annually from
The rest of the water is split with
An acre foot of water is about 326,000 gallons, or enough for two households for one year. #
http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=6623265
Feds working on solutions as river runoff remains low
By Gary Harmon, staff writer
The
“This is a pretty bleak runoff year,” said Terry Fulp, Boulder Canyon Project Office area manager for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
While he characterized the state of flows into
“We’re still making our deliveries” of water to the
The bureau is in the process of setting guidelines for the operations of the reservoirs after Interior Secretary Gale Norton in 2005 chose to let water out of
Federal officials this month expect to identify a preferred alternative for river management under shortage conditions, Fulp said.
That alternative will be subject then to public comment, and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne is to sign a record of decision in December.
That decision will allow the Bureau of Reclamation to manage the river and its reservoirs under the new guidelines next spring, Fulp said.
The bureau’s preparations suggest it is planning to manage the river conservatively for a long-term drought, said Chris Treese of the Colorado River Water Conservation District in Glenwood Springs.
Conservative management of the river might not prevent the possibility of a call on the river by lower-basin states, but it could soften the effects of it, Treese said.
“I see this as good news and an appropriately conservative approach,” he said.
One possibility the upper basin would welcome is operating Mead and Powell reservoirs jointly, so the upper basin isn’t penalized when the Bureau of Reclamation releases water from Powell downstream into Mead. #
http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/06/07/6_7_1a_Colorado_River_update.html
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