A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 31, 2007
2. Supply
City's PUC accused of water grab - San Francisco Chronicle
DELTA WATER:
Water from Kern Delta staying in the county - Channel 29 News (
City's PUC accused of water grab
San Francisco Chronicle – 7/31/07
By Peter Fimrite, staff writer
Two major conservation groups accused the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission today of trying to siphon more water out of the
The Tuolumne River Trust and the Pacific Institute has released a 51-page report that says the PUC has overestimated future water demands and underestimated the effectiveness of conservation when coming up with its water plan for the next 23 years.
At issue is where the water will come from to serve 2.4 million residents and thousands of businesses in four counties -
"What we found is that all the increased water demand is from the wholesale customers, mostly for outdoor landscaping," said Eric Wesselman, executive director of the trust. "So we're talking about diverting water from a wild and scenic river and using it for lawns."
The issue stems from a $4.3 billion plan to rebuild the Hetch Hetchy system, the labyrinth of pipelines, pumping stations and tunnels built in 1923 that brings Tuolumne River water from O'Shaughnessy Dam to San Francisco.
The 10-year upgrade of the 167-mile aqueduct, which starts in
As part of that plan, the commission issued a draft environmental report last month on how it would meet water demands through 2030 of the 28 water agencies that buy its water.
The problem for conservationists is that the PUC's preferred plan calls for 25 million gallons of more water a day to be diverted from the
"One of the purposes of doing an ... environmental review is to look at the alternatives to meet the needs of our customers," said Tony Winnicker, spokesman for the PUC. "We have a responsibility to meet the projected water supply needs of the region for the future, but we also have a responsibility to protect the
The PUC delivers an average of 265 million gallons of water a day to customers. By 2030, the demand is expected to average 300 million gallons a day, Winnicker said.
The plan, as it stands, is to get 10 million gallons of that through conservation, recycled water and new groundwater projects. The rest would come from the
But the Tuolumne Trust report says the PUC used flawed data when it projected that water demand in its Bay Area service territory would increase 14 percent by 2030. It also said all the extra water would go to wholesale customers in
Heather Cooley, a senior research associate for the Pacific Institute think tank, said the PUC erroneously projected uniform growth in various industries. The commission also used different models for retail and wholesale customers, she said.
"The bottom line is that the analysis they did is inadequate," Cooley said. "There is still a tremendous amount of water conservation and efficiency that is possible and they should look at these before they consider going to the
The issue is particularly serious now, as climate experts warn global warming will cause smaller snowpacks - the source of most of the state's river water.
The Tuolumne winds 162 miles through mountains and wilderness before it joins the
Some 60 percent of the river's water is already being diverted for agricultural or urban uses. Environmentalists say any plan to increase reliance on such a sensitive river would be suspect. Making matters worse, though, according to Wesselman, is the fact that the long-term water sales agreement between
That means whatever plan is adopted now will be set in stone until 2030, even if a prolonged drought hits the region, he said.
"I think it is common knowledge that relying on this one source will be less reliable with global warming," Wesselman said. "We should be a leader in sustainable water use. Even if it turns out we do need more water, the cheapest and fastest way to meet our needs are through conservation and recycling locally."
Winnicker said several alternatives are under consideration, including more conservation and recycling.
Which plan is adopted, he said, will be hashed out in five public meetings in September. The 90-day public comment period for the environmental report ends Oct. 1.
Online resources
Learn more about the San Francisco PUC's water plans:
Read the report released today
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/31/BA5KR9UBQ2.DTL&hw=water&sn=001&sc=1000
DELTA WATER:
Water from Kern Delta staying in the county
Channel 29 News (
The City of
Friday, Judge Glen Reiser of the Ventura County Superior Court ruled the Kern Delta Water District can't radically change the use of the
The ruling says that Kern Delta violated state law by failing to review the impact of the change on the local environment and the community.
This comes in the midst of increasing worries over state water supplies in response to environmentalists' concern over delta smelt. #
http://www.eyeoutforyou.com/news/local/8778952.html
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