A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
September 6, 2007
1. Top Items
Schwarzenegger administration promotes new dams as delta fix - Associated Press
Water plans back on tap; Legislators have a week to craft state-financed deal after
Delta canal, dams on table; Pumps decision may give proposal by governor life - Stockton Record
Editorial: Governor’s water plan too costly; Bond money could be better spent elsewhere - Marysville Appeal Democrat
Schwarzenegger administration promotes new dams as delta fix
Associated Press – 9/6/07
By Samantha Young, staff writer
But it seemed doubtful that the Democrat-controlled Legislature - long-opposed to new dams - would go along in the waning days of its 2007 session.
At a Capitol news conference flanked by city water leaders, farm and building industry representatives, Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman said an Aug. 31 ruling by a federal judge in Fresno could cut water flows out of the delta by about a third while doing little to protect the threatened delta smelt, a small fish that is threatened with extinction.
The pumping limitations could leave farmers in the
"This decision is proof that the delta is indeed broken," said Chrisman. "What it also points out is the need to safeguard our water system."
Both Chrisman and Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow urged lawmakers to immediately reconsider a $5.9 billion water facilities bond plan that the governor offered in January.
A Senate committee rejected Schwarzenegger's plan earlier this year, and it has remained in the background ever since.
Schwarzenegger's proposal includes two new dams and the study of a canal to route fresh water from the
But Assembly Democrats have shown little willingness to consider water facilities legislation this year. They refused Wednesday to go along with a procedural move by Senate President Pro Temp Don Perata, D-Oakland, to advance his own $5 billion dam proposal, which includes $2 billion to help restore the delta.
Steve Maviglio, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-
"When the Senate wants to discuss a deal on a water bond, then the legislative leaders need to sit down and do that," Maviglio said.
Perata urged Schwarzenegger to convince the Assembly to pass a water bond this year in light of the federal judge's decision.
The court ruling, issued by U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger, came in response to a 2005 lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The suit complained that the massive pumps used by the State Water Project and federal Central Valley Project were driving the threatened delta smelt to extinction.
Those pumps are the hub of
Under the ruling, pumping limits will be put in place from Dec. 26, when the fish are about to spawn, until June, when young fish can move into areas with better habitat and more food.
Exactly which areas of
"It introduces a great deal of uncertainty into the water supply," Snow said.
Further complicating matters was the judge's instruction to state, federal and environmental officials to put his oral ruling into a written order by Oct. 22. Any decisions to appeal the pumping restrictions would come after the judge finalizes his order later this year, Snow said.
Tim Quinn, who heads the Association of California Water Agencies, said the ruling could cut delta water deliveries by 2 million acre feet next year. That's enough water for more than 1 million acres of farmland or 8 million households, he said.
In
The ruling compounds an already dry year in which communities around the state have ordered conservation measures.
Less water pumped out of the delta could spur additional, mandatory conservation strategies as communities draw upon local groundwater and storage supplies. It could also force farmers in the
State officials and water contractors said the pumping reductions would do little to help the 2- to 3-inch-long, silver-colored fish, which is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
"Clearly the judge is focusing on a particular stressor in the delta," Snow said. "There are so many other stressors in the delta system that we still have to address."
In court, lawyers for the state and federal governments and water contractors argued that water pumping was only a minor part of smelt's record decline. They also pointed to invasive species, toxic runoff, wastewater dumping and an antiquated plumbing system in the delta.
But when he made his ruling, Wanger said the "the evidence is uncontradicted" that the pumps hurt the smelt and "the law says something has to be done about it."
The court's ruling is meant to be effective until federal wildlife officials complete their own plan about how to protect the smelt. That plan is expected next spring. #
http://www.sacbee.com/114/story/362819.html
Water plans back on tap; Legislators have a week to craft state-financed deal after
By E.J. Schultz, staff writer
But with only about a week left in the legislative session, time is running out to strike a compromise on one of the most politically charged issues in the state.
Lawmakers must find common ground on competing proposals by Gov. Schwarzenegger and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland.
The governor's $5.95 billion plan includes money for two state-built dams. Perata's $5 billion proposal frees local water agencies to spend money how they see fit -- for dams, ground-water storage or water recycling, for instance. Both plans seek to put a bond on the ballot in 2008, possibly as soon as the Feb. 5 primary election.
Perata, who has been in negotiations with the governor, on Wednesday morning gave the strongest indication yet that he was prepared to strike a deal, even if it means dropping his long-held opposition to state-financed dams.
A ruling Friday by a federal judge in
Yet finding consensus on a water plan has proved tough.
The governor's plan failed to get by a legislative committee earlier this year. Meanwhile, Perata has yet to get his plan in legislative form. Perata's press office on Wednesday accused the Assembly of blocking his proposal.
Steve Maviglio, a spokesman for Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-
Schwarzenegger spokesman Aaron McLear said there's work to be done, but "we're still negotiating and the talks are going well."
The legislative session ends a week from Friday, though the governor has said he would consider calling a special session to address major issues.
The new urgency follows a decision last week by U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger, who ordered less pumping in a bid to protect the delta smelt, an endangered, 3-inch-long fish considered to be an indicator of the delta's health.
State officials say the decision could lead in average years to a 35% cut in deliveries to
At a Capitol news conference Wednesday, farmers, building-industry officials and regional water managers warned of major economic consequences. In the San Joaquin Valley, farmers will be forced to leave open land idle and make major changes to irrigation plans, resulting in crop losses, said Stephen Patricio, a Firebaugh melon grower and chairman of the Western Growers Association.
The decision will result in up to 236,000 acres of farmland taken out of production, a decrease of as much as $294 million in production revenue and up to 4,000 farm jobs lost, according to a forthcoming study by the association. The study looks at what the court decision would mean in an average water year.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is exploring major conservation efforts that could lead to water rationing, officials said.
Schwarzenegger's plan includes $4 billion for two dams, including $2 billion that would be paid by growers and others who would benefit. The preferred sites are Temperance Flat east of
Department of Water Resources director Lester Snow said at the news conference that the state needs to strengthen delta water channels so that water inhabited by smelt does not mix with water sucked by the pumps. One controversial proposal would pipe water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to
New dams, Snow said, would allow the state to save more water in wet years that could be used in dry years.
But such wet years only occur about once a decade, so investing state money in a new dam has questionable merits, said Barry Nelson, a senior analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Siding with environmentalists, Democrats have argued that local water users -- such as the Valley's agricultural community -- should commit to picking up some of the cost before a bond is put before voters.
A dam at Temperance is estimated to cost about $2 billion. Under the governor's plan, users would not be asked to chip in until after the bond passes. #
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/130737.html
Delta canal, dams on table; Pumps decision may give proposal by governor life
By Hank Shaw, staff writer
Flanked by builders, farmers and water contractors, officials in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration said the decision - made in an attempt to save the ecosystem in the West's largest estuary - is the best argument yet for the Legislature to enact Schwarzenegger's water plan.
But with the annual session in its waning days, that may prove difficult.
U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger's decision in
Bay Area residents and
"There's no way (the judge's decision) is going to do anything but hurt - and hurt a lot," said Tim Quinn of the Association of California Water Agencies.
State Department of Water Resources chief Lester Snow said passing the governor's plan, or something like it, would let the state get a jump on building more long-term water supplies, which would take years. The governor's proposal would borrow $4.5 billion to help local authorities build two large dams, add groundwater storage sites and enhance conservation and recycling efforts.
Senate President Don Perata, D-Oakland, has sponsored a similar proposal, and the two are said to be close to a deal. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez remains unconvinced, however.
"Given that there have been no negotiations and the sand is running out of the hourglass, it appears unlikely that the Legislature will approve billions of dollars of spending on environmentally questionable projects this session," Nuñez spokesman Steve Maviglio said.
Snow says the two dams - along the Sacramento River in
Critics of the governor's proposal note that the state's own studies show that
The Central Valley lags behind
Snow said water use tends to drop by about 20 percent once residents know they're being charged depending on how much water they use. He also said the state will put additional emphasis on projects that promote conservation when it hands out grants from the Proposition 84 bond money voters approved last fall.
Snow said he thinks a deal might still be reached before the legislative session ends next week: "Hope springs eternal," he said. #
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070906/A_NEWS/709060338
Editorial: Governor’s water plan too costly; Bond money could be better spent elsewhere
Marysville Appeal Democrat – 9/4/07
As budget talks screeched to a halt in
Now that the budget’s signed and the Legislature is back in session for its final weeks, that ambitious plan is back under discussion in the Capitol, where it will determine the core priorities of any legislation purporting to solve California’s water crisis, as some have called it, passed in the final weeks. Those priorities – specifically, the emphasis on two, incompletely studied dams – should be re-examined before Californians are asked to back it with their children’s tax dollars.
To begin with, to the extent that
There are native species that are in crisis, like the Delta smelt; whose protection may require drastically reducing water flows to
Then there’s the biggest crisis of all, the swamp of ecosystem, flood protection and water-supply problems that is the home of the smelt and the hub of
Yet the debate over Schwarzenegger’s proposal naturally focuses on the simplest and biggest expenditure. Most of the money – $4 billion from just under $6 billion of proposed bond money – would go toward building two dams, one in the
In the short term, such dams offer obvious financial and ecological costs without solving immediate problems of water quantity, water quality or ecosystem health – which is to say, most of the problems listed above. Long term, they can offer a range of benefits, most notably flood protection and water storage.
For some regions, the benefits outweigh the costs, and in those regions dams have been financed by immediate beneficiaries rather than the state. A Democratic counterproposal to Gov. Schwarzenegger’s, while vague, calls for bonds to be spent on more such regional projects.
Schwarzenegger’s dam plan, in contrast, is to designate funds before beneficiaries have been identified, costs and benefits have been tallied, or the plans themselves have even been finished; the studies for one of the dams won’t be complete until 2009.
Moreover, half of that $4 billion in bonds would be paid out of the taxpayer’s pocket, in exchange for the “statewide,” “ecosystem restoration” benefits of the dams. Such benefits are contradicted by environmentalists but are difficult to argue with since, again, complete studies and plans are still forthcoming. Instead of letting regions weigh these costs and benefits, the governor’s plan would have bureaucrats confirm his dams’ cost effectiveness, while rendering them “cost effective” in part by shifting costs to state and (the state hopes) federal taxpayers.
There are many worthy, cost-effective regional water projects, from groundwater cleanup and storage to agricultural/urban transfers.
There are even important statewide projects; most importantly, fixing the Delta, on which both Schwarzenegger’s and the Democrats’ proposal agree. However, by insisting on a single “comprehensive” bond measure that includes “everything” – even vague, expensive, controversial dams – we worry that a chance to address these important problems could be squandered. Then
Whether legislation is passed this session – as looks increasingly unlikely – or in the next, we urge the Legislature not to make an attachment to doing “everything” become an excuse for doing nothing. #
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/water_53592___article.html/dams_california.html
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