A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
June 18, 2007
2. Supply -
Delta water flow levels getting back to normal
State to turn pressure back up starting today, peaking next week -
The
Drought, pump shutdowns have water officials worried about 2008 and beyond -
Opinion:
Bank on the groundwater measure to store the liquid gold in
______________________________________________
Delta water flow levels getting back to normal
State to turn pressure back up starting today, peaking next week
The
By Paul Rogers, STAFF WRITER
The announcement came as a major relief to water agencies across the state, but particularly in Silicon Valley and the
"This means that we have dodged a bullet. We'll be able to sidestep any draconian cutbacks," said Ted Thomas, a spokesman for the state Department of Water Resources.
On May 31, Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources, ordered the delta pumps shut down after they were found to have killed an estimated 212 smelt during the previous week.
The smelt, tiny translucent fish that migrate every year from the Bay to the
After 10 days, Snow ordered the pumps back on when water agencies in
of their supplies, said they were about to impose dramatic cutbacks on wineries and possibly residential customers. But the pumps were turned on only to 100 cubic feet per second, about 3 percent of normal volume.
On Sunday, they will be cranked up to 1,000 cubic feet per second, and then turned up again next week to 2,500 cfs, Thomas said.
"We are hopeful and optimistic the pumps will not have to be shut down again this summer," he said. "But if it unexpectedly became necessary because of a significant take of delta smelt, then we would take whatever protective actions are necessary."
Susan Siravo, a spokeswoman for the Santa Clara Valley Water District, also noted that environmental groups have filed lawsuits against the state and federal governments seeking more protections for the smelt. Those could result in future cutbacks of Delta pumping.
"We wouldn't say the Delta problems are solved," she said. "It's an ongoing issue that is going to need further attention."
Meanwhile on Thursday, Schwarzenegger, who has called for $4 billion in state spending to build two large new reservoirs in
A similar project was rejected by state voters in 1982 after Northern Californians called it a water grab by
http://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_6163693
Drought, pump shutdowns have water officials worried about 2008 and beyond
By: GIG CONAUGHTON - Staff Writer
NORTH COUNTY ---- It's still a polite request, and not a demand. But the historically quiet call for people to find ways to use less water is about to get a little noisier.
Last week,
And, while regional water officials say the region has plenty of water to get through this summer, Metropolitan is not alone in its call.
The reason for the conservation call is simple.
The region in general, and the
Friday afternoon, state officials announced they planned to ramp back up to full pumping to
Jeff Kightlinger, Metropolitan's general manager, said the agency still believed that it would get all of the State Water Project water
But officials say they're still worried that another dry year, or more shutdowns, could wreak havoc next year and beyond.
Voluntary or mandatory?
Water leaders said last week that despite the threats to regional water supplies, they weren't inclined to push for mandatory cuts for several reasons.
Most importantly, they said, the region has a lot of stored water that can sustain it for the immediate future. Kightlinger said last week that in 1991 ---- the height of
"Now we have a little over 2.5 million acre-feet," he said.
An acre-foot of water is roughly 325,900 gallons, enough to sustain two households for a year.
Other water leaders said that implementing mandatory water rationing could have a chilling effect on businesses, and the economy that relies upon a stable water supply.
"You don't want to create an economic panic if there's no need for it," Greg Quist, a longtime
Kightlinger and others also said that implementing mandatory cuts while there were still backup supplies could impose needless sacrifice. After all, Mother Nature could still bail the region out.
"For all we know, it could be a wet year next year," Kightlinger said, referring to the fact that despite seemingly lengthening droughts and uncertainty, the heavens could open up and drench Southern California with rain and the
For example, in 1991, in
Other officials said the public would be less than happy if they endured mandatory cutbacks while there was ample storage, only to have the rain and snow finally reappear before supplies ran out. The public could blame water leaders for mismanaging the system.
Even worse, they could lose their trust in the water system, one official said.
George Loveland, who spent six years on the San Diego County Water Authority board before retiring 2 1/2 years ago, said if water agencies implement mandatory cuts too soon, the public could think that water officials "were crying wolf" ---- and then ignore future calls for voluntary conservation.
Environmental groups such as the Sierra Club have pushed water agencies for years to increase calls for conservation, and continue to do so, whenever water leaders ask to build new dams and reservoirs that would increase backup storage.
But even it said last week that it did not find fault with water leaders' decision to make their conservation calls voluntary, rather than mandatory, in the current situation.
"I think we need to trust our water purveyors," said Bill Allayaud, the California Sierra Club's legislative director.
Looming
Still, the system seems to be cracking, and water officials appear more worried about the region's water supply future than they have for years.
That is due in part to the state's recent shutdown of the pumps that send water from
Kightlinger and others said the most worrisome part of the State Water Project shutdown was that it was not because of a natural drought, but because of a "regulatory" drought ---- created to save the fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta ecosystem. He said real and regulatory droughts may not hurt
Kightlinger said that Metropolitan had already stopped using its current water supplies to restock its storage. It also expected to withdraw between 200,000 and 600,000 acre-feet from its backup supplies to sustain the summer demand.
Indoor, outdoor
Meanwhile, regional and local water officials said that even though Californians had actually done a lot since the 1991 drought to conserve ---- there is still plenty of room for people to cut back even more.
San Diego County Water Authority officials said that during the last 16 years, Californians had cut indoor water use drastically by installing low-flow shower heads, improved toilets and other devices.
However, officials said, as much as 60 percent of residential water use is outdoors ---- and that now the push will be for people to cut that by planting low-water-using plants, improving irrigation systems and the like. Metropolitan and the Water Authority have already had Web sites for a number of years offering people tips on how to save water ---- indoors and outside.
Metropolitan officials said the current calls for conservation were a gentle reminder that water in the West is a precious resource.
But Ken Weinberg, water resources manager for the Water Authority, said that people in the region needed to "rethink our lifestyles."
"The major message in long-term conservation is that we don't live in an area that can support the kind of landscapes that we have," he said. "We are talking about lifestyle changes. We're not saying it all has to be rocks and cactus, but we have to be making smarter, more efficient choices."#
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/06/18/news/top_stories/61707181720.txt
Opinion:
Bank on the groundwater measure to store the liquid gold in
Groundwater banking planned in
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein has introduced a measure that would augment state and local efforts to build and operate an underground storage facility under the auspices of the Madera Irrigation District. Companion legislation has been introduced in the House by Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa.
The idea is to have the Bureau of Reclamation participate in the design and construction of the project, and support that with federal dollars, to a maximum of 25 percent of the cost, or $22.5 million, whichever is less. Such federal participation is essential if this much-needed project is to become a reality.
Groundwater banking is one of the important elements — along with new surface storage and dramatically increased conservation efforts — that are essential if we are to meet the demand for water in a region growing faster than the rest of the state.
In addition, the groundwater storage could be used to offset losses of water for farmers under the San Joaquin River Settlement, which seeks to restore a year-round flow, as well as historic salmon runs, in the river.
Feinstein's bill also would mandate that 10 percent of the water placed in the underground facility would be left there to percolate into the valley's aquifer. That's important because for years we've been drawing down the aquifer at a faster pace than nature is able to restore it.
The underground project in
http://www.modbee.com/opinion/story/13701663p-14289773c.html
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