[Water_news] 1. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS - Top Item for 8/3/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment

 

August 3, 2007

 

1.  Top Item

 

Water storage funds may face Bush veto

Pasadena Star News – 8/3/07

By Fred Ortega, staff writer

 

Federal funds to help agencies stockpile water supplies for the San Gabriel Valley in the event of future droughts are facing a veto threat by the president.

 

The Water Resources Development Act, passed by the House late Wednesday, includes $5 million for a network of pipelines and connections that would divert surplus imported water from the Colorado River and Northern California and pump it into the Valley's vast underground aquifers for storage and future emergency use.

 

The $5 million provision, inserted in the bill by Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, would benefit Pasadena's Raymond Basin, the Chino Basin and the San Gabriel Basin, which provides more than 90 percent of the drinking water for the entire San Gabriel Valley.

 

The program is particularly relevant considering the current statewide drought, which has led local agencies to raise water rates and enact strict conservation measures, said Carol Williams, executive officer of the Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster.

 

"This particular year (because of the drought) there is no surplus," said Williams. "But it is great to be able to take water when it is available and store it for later use."

 

Williams said officials can already recharge San Gabriel Basin with imported water, but that capacity is interrupted every time the San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District reroutes water to power generating stations in San Dimas.

 

The $5 million will be used to design a connector that would ensure continuous flow of surplus Metropolitan Water District water to existing spreading grounds in Azusa, where the liquid naturally trickles down into the basin's aquifer.

 

But the money will also be used to plan a pipeline that would carry excess water to the Raymond Basin. There is currently no way to recharge that aquifer, which serves the cities of La Ca ada Flintridge, Pasadena, Altadena and Sierra Madre, with anything other than rain or natural runoff from the San Gabriel Mountains.

 

"This bill means that we could capture more rain when the supply from Northern California is plentiful, and when it is not plentiful we don't have to depend on the north or the Colorado River," Schiff said.

 

But there could be a stumbling block to getting the money.

 

President Bush has threatened to veto the entire $20 billion water bill, saying that he could only support a bill of $14 billion or less.

 

Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, typically a staunch supporter of the president, broke ranks with the White House and voted in favor of the bill.

 

"This bill has been in the works for many years, and Congressman Dreier believes it needs to move forward," said Jo Maney, Dreier's spokeswoman. She added the bill would also provide $20 million in water infrastructure improvements for the cities of Sierra Madre and Arcadia.

 

Schiff said it was imperative for the president to sign the bill.

 

"This bill actually deals with nationwide challenges in terms of infrastructure and water resources," he said. "We have the potential to expand our existing water basins to give us a more reliable water source."

 

If Bush signs the bill into law, officials could have the San Dimas connection completed within two years, though the pipeline to Sierra Madre could take considerably longer, Williams said.

 

In the meantime, she said the San Gabriel Basin's massive reservoir - capable of holding nearly 3trillion gallons of water - still has more than enough water in it to maintain current levels for at least another year.  #

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_6532043

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