[Water_news] 3. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: WATERSHEDS - 6/8/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

June 8, 2007

 

3. Watersheds

 

Little Fish Trouble Points To Big Water Issues

Long Beach Gazette – 6/7/07

By Harry Saltzgaver, Executive Editor

 

A 3-inch long fish is demonstrating how precarious Southern California’s water supply can be.

 

On May 31, the state Department of Water Resources announced it was shutting down pumps in the Sacramento Delta that feed the State Water Project. The shutdown was caused by deaths of juvenile Delta smelt, an endangered species.

 

That’s important in Long Beach because about 60% of the city’s annual water supply is imported, and two-thirds of that comes from the State Water Project. In other words, without water from the Sacramento Delta, Long Beach will be a very dry city.

 

“It all depends on how long they keep the pumps shut off,” said Kevin Wattier, director of the Long Beach Water Department.

 

“It could be anywhere from 10 days to six weeks. If it’s only 10 days, it will have minimal impact. If it’s six weeks, it’s going to be much tougher.”

 

The Delta smelt population has been declining steadily over the last few years, and both state and federal courts ruled this spring that the State Water Project and other water users were not in compliance with state and federal endangered species acts.

 

Lester Snow, Department of Water Resources executive director, said in a release May 31 that there are many reasons why the smelt population is declining, with most out of his department’s control. But actually killing young smelt at the nets protecting the entrance to the intake pumps was something he could control, he added.

 

Only A Sign

 

While the smelt issue has become a short-term nuisance, it is an indicator of the trouble Southern California faces by relying on water from Northern California.

 

Last year, the levies protecting the delta were under serious scrutiny, with fears that one or more would fail (much like what happened in New Orleans in 2005). If that occurred, salt water from the ocean would mix with the fresh water from the Sacramento and San Joquin rivers, making the water unusable.

 

If such a catastrophe took place, it would take six months to a year to get the water project back on line, experts said last year. Given that Southern California (through the Metropolitan Water District) brings in about 1.3 million acre-feet a year — half the annual supply — from Northern California, the impact would be devastating.

 

The basic problem, Wattier said, is that what naturally was a fluctuating delta — salt water half the year, fresh water the other half — has been forced to become fresh water year round. That has caused a change in the environment, including invasive fish species and other problems.

 

Last year, the Public Policy Institute of California issued an in-depth report about the Sacramento Delta. The results were sobering, Wattier said.

 

“Basically, it says the delta is broken, and can’t be fixed,” he said. “It can’t do everything; supplying water and sustaining the environment. Any solution to the delta essentially requires an end to the fresh water delta.”

 

Controversial Canal

 

There is, and for some time has been, one solution to continue to provide water to the State Water Project from the Sacramento basin. It is called the Peripheral Canal.

 

That canal is proposed to run from the area where the Sacramento River enters the delta around to the southern end of that delta, where it would connect with the State Water Project transport system. It was proposed decades ago, but was defeated by landowners and others.

 

“The Peripheral Canal is back front and center,” Wattier said. “Everyone is looking at it, talking about it. The problem is, even if everyone agreed, best case scenario is it would take 15 years.”

 

That is a long time to keep fingers crossed that an earthquake or other disaster doesn’t cause one of the levies to break.

 

There is money for levy maintenance and repair as part of a massive infrastructure bond approved by voters last year. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger also has appointed a Blue Ribbon Task Force to recommend actions to achieve a sustainable delta, but no report has been made so far.

 

In Long Beach

 

Lessening dependence on imported water has been a primary goal of Long Beach Water for more than a decade. The push took on urgency around 2003, when Southern California’s share of Colorado River water was drastically reduced due to a renegotiated Colorado River Compact.

 

Before the turn of the century, Long Beach received two-thirds of its imported water from the Colorado River and one-third from Northern California. Those roles have reversed.

 

“And for seven out of the last eight years, the Colorado has received below normal precipitation,” Wattier said. “There is only a very, very slim chance that we will ever get more water from the Colorado than we are now.”

 

Another motivator is the cost of imported water. Long Beach currently pays about $500 per acre-foot (about enough to supply a family of four for a year) for imported water. That price is sure to rise as supplies dry up.

 

In response, Long Beach Water created a four-part plan to reduce dependence on imported water.

 

The first, creation of aquifer storage underground that can be pumped with the city’s groundwater wells, is essentially at capacity now, Wattier said. The city increased storage capacity by 17,000 acre feet in two projects partnering with MWD and the city of Lakewood.

 

The second is increasing use of recycled water for irrigation rather than fresh water. Many of the city’s parks now use recycled water exclusively, and the city has more than doubled use of recycled water (9,000 acre feet from 4,000 acre feet) in the last five years.

 

The splashiest effort is seawater desalination. The Long Beach Water Department has built the largest desalination research facility in the country, with hopes that the process eventually will supply up to 10% of the city’s water.

 

But perhaps the most effective method, as well as the one that impacts residents the most, is conservation. Through efforts from giving out low-flow toilets to hosting xeriscaping workshops, the department has reduced per capita water consumption by 20% over the last decade.

 

Currently, conservation efforts are voluntary. But that could change if the drought continues for another year or there is trouble with the Northern California water supply.

 

“We’re in pretty good shape this year with the water in storage,” Wattier said. “But if next winter is as dry as this one was, particularly in Northern California, we could be in fairly serious trouble. We don’t expect any mandatory watering restrictions or anything this year, but maybe next year if it stays dry.” #

http://www.gazettes.com/watersupply06072007%20.html

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