[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 6/14/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

June 13, 2007

 

2. Supply -

 

EDITORIAL

L.A.'s dry 'perfect storm'

Little rainfall, minimal snowpack and a receding Colorado River seriously threaten the city's water supplies. -

Los Angeles Times

 

Saving water: How much is 10 percent?

AUTHORITIES OUTLINE PAINLESS WAYS TO DELAY A CONSUMPTION CRISIS -

San Jose Mercury News

 

________________________________________

 

EDITORIAL

L.A.'s dry 'perfect storm'

Little rainfall, minimal snowpack and a receding Colorado River seriously threaten the city's water supplies.

Los Angeles Times – 6/14/07

 

LOS ANGELES IS facing a "perfect storm" of drought, as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has put it. All of the city's major water sources are running dry. Rainfall is the lowest it has ever been: just over three inches downtown this rainy season. The snowpack in the eastern Sierra Nevada, which usually supplies about half of L.A.'s water, is at its second-lowest level ever. The Colorado River also is in the midst of a severe drought and unlikely to rebound for several years.

Villaraigosa has called on Angelenos to voluntarily cut water use by 10%, recommending 10 common-sense household strategies — taking shorter showers, sweeping sidewalks instead of hosing them down — and touting three new technology initiatives: a "smart sprinkler" program, improved rebates for water-conserving appliances such as efficient washing machines and water recycling for irrigation and industry.

It's a good start, but it might not be enough.

We're not yet in the midst of the kind of multiyear drought that led Los Angeles to ban serving water unless requested in restaurants in the 1970s. But even if precipitation conditions improve, the water supply will remain endangered. The regulatory tangles that recently shut down the pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (through which two-thirds of the state's water supply flows) won't go away until the State Water Project is re-engineered, a task that has proved a challenge for decades. The Metropolitan Water District may need to draw as much as 600,000 acre-feet (about 23%) from its reserves to meet demand this year. That won't be so easy in 2008 if we have another bone-dry winter.

Villaraigosa is a master of promising much and asking little. This time, city officials should be prepared to expand the call for conservation. Past efforts, such as adopting low-flow toilets and showerheads, have let Los Angeles blithely evade mandatory water restrictions. But such restrictions are historically commonplace in Northern California and should be on the table here too. In a city built on arid land, we must regard water with mindful respect and prepare for sacrifice if needed.#

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-drought14jun14,0,3322903.story?coll=la-opinion-leftrail

 

Saving water: How much is 10 percent?

AUTHORITIES OUTLINE PAINLESS WAYS TO DELAY A CONSUMPTION CRISIS

San Jose Mercury News – 6/14/07

By Saqib Rahim and Patrick May

 

Drip, drip, drip ...

The water-conservation clock is ticking.

 

Hoping to cut usage by 10 percent, Santa Clara Valley water officials and city leaders laid out a smorgasbord of tips Wednesday to change the way Silicon Valley bathes, showers, sprays and flushes.

 

Their message: voluntarily conserve now, or risk mandatory cutbacks down the road.

 

"We're not asking people to let their lawns die or to stop taking baths," said San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. "Just take a shorter bath, or water the lawn less often."

Faced with a wimpy Sierra snowmelt and the unexpected shutdown of giant pumps bringing water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the South Bay's water stewards say reductions now are an insurance policy against more drastic measures in the event of water-delivery interruptions or a prolonged drought. The voluntary appeal is the latest in a series, as water agencies in San Francisco, the East Bay, Santa Cruz and other areas have sought cutbacks from their users.

 

"We're in pretty good shape, but we want to get ahead of the curve," said Tony Estremera, chairman of the Santa Clara Valley Water District. "The snowmelt this winter was 50 percent of normal levels, and we want to be able to deal with any further shortages so we don't end up in a crisis if 2008 is another dry year."

So how tough would a 10 percent cutback be?

 

50 gallons for an average family of four using 400-500 gallons a day - a big fat 10 percent.

 

Just watering the yard early in the morning instead of when the sun is shining could translate into a savings of between 3 and 9 percent.

 

And simply replacing leaky faucets could save at least 10 gallons a day, or one-fifth of a household's 10 percent goal.

 

"Ten percent could be completely painless or very noticeable, depending on how people use water and how they choose to respond to the request for savings," said Peter Gleick, president of Pacific Institute, an Oakland-based think tank. "A person replacing an old inefficient toilet with an efficient toilet could save a great deal of water, with no change in behavior. On the other hand, someone could take shorter showers or let the lawn go brown or not wash their car; that would save water but would also be somewhat intrusive."

 

Already cutting back

 

Based on a reporter's informal drive-by on Wednesday, many county residents have already climbed aboard the conservation bandwagon.

 

Divina Heidelberg, a 55-year-old caretaker who watches after an elderly woman in San Jose, says her employer is careful to conserve water - she's installed low-flush toilets and low-flow shower heads. Heidelberg has joined in on the act, watering the garden as little as once a week - even though she knows the downside of skimping on irrigation.

 

Heidelberg gestures at the plants that fill the yard. Most look healthy from a distance, but a closer look reveals that they're dry and flaky from thirst and heat. She points to a large rose bush that hasn't been watered since Sunday.

 

"See! It's dying because I didn't water it," she says.

 

Arlene Herrick, 61, says she picked up many of her water-conservation tricks during a seven-year stint in hot and dry Redding. She uses a drip-sprinkler system at her home near 13th Street that switches on at 5:30 a.m. She waters the rest of her garden by hand. Inside the house, she uses water-efficient appliances and makes sure to use the dishwasher and washing machine only when necessary.

 

That might seem like a lot of trouble if you're not a "child of the '60s," as Herrick calls herself. But she says everybody has to go that far.

"If everybody did a little bit," she said, "I think that would make a big, big difference."

 

Saving, not suffering

 

Conservation doesn't have to hurt, Gleick said. In fact, long-term savings achieved by replacing an inefficient appliance could end up putting money in the water-pincher's pocket.

 

"If you replaced a 6-gallon-per-flush toilet with a newer 1.6-gallon-per-flush, you'd save 75 percent of the water you use to flush toilets," he said, adding that toilets are the largest indoor water user in our homes. And that's not even counting the $125 rebate the water district hands out for upgrading to a high-efficiency toilet.

Technology is also on the conservationist's side. The newest-generation commode, for example, uses as little as 1 gallon of water per flush, significantly less water than the standard 1.6-gallon model. Better yet, Gleick said, "some are even dual-flush, which use different amounts of water for liquids vs. solids. They are standard equipment in Singapore and Australia; they need it here."

 

Residents aren't the only ones being asked to conserve water, said Susan Siravo, a water district spokeswoman.

 

"Businesses have a lot of areas where they can cut back, too," she said. "A lot of them haven't yet converted their toilets to low-flow. They also use a lot of water for landscaping. And places like hospitals and laundromats that use washing machines can convert them to higher-efficiency models."

 

In addition to rebates for more efficient appliances, the water district is reaching out to customers, offering homeowners and businesses free water-usage audits, and even free low-flow shower heads. More information is available at the district's Web site (www.valley water.org).

 

Will it work?

 

With the help of new monitoring tools, district officials hope to know by next month whether voluntary cutbacks are working. A mandatory conservation order in the future is also a possibility, Siravo said, especially if the massive pumps that have been partially idled to protect endangered delta smelt aren't turned back on soon. Santa Clara officials warn that if water levels at the San Luis Reservoir continue to drop, deliveries could be limited as soon as early July.

A mandatory cutback, Siravo said, "could potentially be discussed down the line, especially if the state or the federal government that supply our water call for rationing."#

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_6137273?nclick_check=1