A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
September 18, 2007
2. Supply
LONG TERM FORECAST:
More dry times in forecast; If La Nina forms in Pacific, rain will be scarce in winter - LA Daily News
DEVELOPMENT ISSUES:
Aguirre calls for moratorium on developments pending water crisis - San Diego Union Tribune
BIG TUJUNGA DAM UPGRADE:
$100 million dam upgrade to boost groundwater - LA Daily News
RESERVOIR:
Demolition of Santa Cruz reservoir causes concern - Associated Press
WATER CONSERVATION:
Editorial: H2O halt; City must shore up water supply before expanding - LA Daily News
Editorial: Righty tighty;
LONG TERM FORECAST:
More dry times in forecast; If La Nina forms in Pacific, rain will be scarce in winter
LA Daily News – 9/17/07
By Dana Bartholomew, staff writer
Following its driest weather season in history,
That means more concerns for firefighters facing already critically dry brush as well as Southland cities considering water rationing.
"Right now, we have a developing La Nina - the demon diva of drought," said Bill Patzert, a research oceanographer at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Canada Flintridge, who predicted less than 10 inches, down from the normal 15 inches in
"If it's a dry winter, that means a higher frequency of Santa Anas. In terms of a fire season ... it's a potential monster coming out of the
This month, the
The 8,000-mile current can push the storm-bearing jet stream north, dumping buckets of precipitation on the
But it can also rob the Southwest - now in its eighth year of drought - of rain needed to refill aquifers, rebuild the snowpack and replenish dangerously dry brush after last year's 3.2 inches of rain and 78 days of howling Santa Anas.
"A typical La Nina pattern means drier, and warmer, weather than normal for
With thousands of firefighters battling two blazes near
"I'm still worried about this fall when the Santa Anas kick off," said
"It may mean more work for us firefighters."
With
Water imports from
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California warned this month of mandatory rationing for the first time since 1991.
This spring, city officials called on residents to cut water use 10 percent by taking shorter showers, using less water on the lawn and by sweeping, not hosing off, the driveway.
In addition, the DWP is conserving through greater use of reclaimed water, storm-water capture and "green" buildings designed to save water.
Because of increasing conservation, the Department of Water and Power reports that water demands have been steady for 25 years - despite a million new residents.
"At this moment, we clearly have adequate storage, and there's no present need to move toward more drastic measures such as rationing," said David Nahai, president of the DWP commission.
"But we must be watchful that that isn't necessary. ... The amount of (potable) water that goes on lawns, parks, golf courses and freeway medians is a criminal waste for us, and we have to rethink it."
Today, the city is expected to sign an agreement with the county to triple the holding capacity of Big Tujunga Dam to 6,000 acre-feet to capture more storm water.
In
Across the state, officials say, 70 percent of water is used for crops, with the remainder used by residents. At home, about 70 percent of water goes on lawns and shrubs.
For that reason, many see many more turns at the spigot to effect conservation.
"If we stopped watering the streets, sidewalks and driveways, we wouldn't have to ration water," Patzert said.
For the
This year's heavy blanket of acorns, according to Indian folklore, means a heavy rain winter, which was the accurate forecast in 1997-98 and 2004-05.
La Nina, however, portends another dry season.
"At night, it sounds like a machine gun of acorns on my redwood deck," Patzert said. "The folklore tells us greater than 20 inches, but the facts suggest less than 10." #
http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_6922674?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com
DEVELOPMENT ISSUES:
Aguirre calls for moratorium on developments pending water crisis
“We have taken our water system to the breaking point,” Aguirre said.
He also called for mandatory water conservation in the city.
“The city of
Ninety percent of the water used in
There are five to seven proposed projects in the pipeline in
Aguirre called for a halt to residential projects with 500 or more units, shopping centers larger than 500,000 square feet and office buildings with more than 250,000 square feet.
The city attorney again urged the public and elected officials to embrace a plan to use reclaimed water to augment
Mayor Jerry Sanders has repeatedly said he is opposed to using treated sewage to supplement drinking water supplies.
Sanders has said it would take the city a decade to build the necessary infrastructure to implement the city attorney's proposal and cost
“The city attorney's proposal for recycling sewage into drinking water would slam the city ratepayers with double-digit rate increases for years,” according to a statement from the mayor's office.
Sanders said Aguirre's plan would require
“Indirect potable reuse is not a silver bullet to fix all of the region's water needs,” the mayor's office stated.
The mayor's office did not comment on Aguirre's call for a development moratorium or mandatory recycling.
Aguirre called Sanders' cost estimate “made up,” and chastised him for “not doing his homework” when it came to the issue of reclaimed water.
The city attorney acknowledged that a reclamation program would contribute only a “marginal” amount to the city's reservoirs, but that immediate action was needed to ensure ample water supplies.
Aguirre said
Recycled water is now being used in
The City Attorney's Office has scheduled a Sept. 27 “community forum” on the issue, at 6 p.m. at City Hall. #
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070917-1422-aguirre-water.html
BIG TUJUNGA DAM UPGRADE:
$100 million dam upgrade to boost groundwater
LA Daily News – 9/17/07
By Kerry Cavanaugh, staff writer
A long-awaited $100 million upgrade to the seismically unstable Big Tujunga Dam will bring an unexpected benefit - boosting
The 76-year-old dam doesn't meet current seismic standards, so state dam safety officials have only allowed it to hold 25 percent of its capacity. The rest of the water is released to flow to the ocean.
But the Los Angeles County Public Works will begin construction in November to retrofit the dam, enabling it to hold its maximum of 6,000 acre feet of water.
The county then can slowly release the water, allowing it to gently flow down the Big Tujunga
Under an agreement expected to be approved today, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power will contribute $9 million to the $100 million project.
"What this project will do is triple the capacity of the Big Tujunga Dam," said H. David Nahai, president of the Board of Water and Power Commissioners.
"In a very rainy year, you have to think of this as a large pot that can be emptied and refilled. You may be able to refill it and empty it several times, which in turn would really make it a significant."
The retrofit is part of DWP's plan to replenish the region's dwindling groundwater supply by increasing the capacity of the dam and ponds in
Besides being the cheapest source of water, groundwater is becoming increasingly important as
"Given the fact that we are facing a water shortage right now, given the fact that climate change brings greater unpredictably, and given the fact that we may have another bone dry winter, it behooves us to look at these other strategies," Nahai said.
DWP officials estimate that when the dam repair and spreading-pond improvements are completed in five years, the city will be able to store up to 20,000 acre feet of water a year. That's enough for 40,000 families.
Built in 1931, Big Tujunga Dam was deemed seismically unsafe after the Sylmar Earthquake in 1971. Since then, the state has ordered the county to store no more than 1,500 acre feet of water at the dam. #
http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_6922637?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com
RESERVOIR:
Demolition of
Associated Press – 9/18/07
The city told customers from
Reservoir demolition begins next week as part of a $25 million project to replace the aging reservoir with two concrete tanks to hold treated water.
Water director Bill Kocher said the reservoir will be drained Monday, leaving the city without a buffer water supply until four temporary tanks are installed in January.
"We're vulnerable, no question about it," Kocher said. "We're cutting down our safety net, and we're just not used to doing that."
Water will be pumped from the
WATER CONSERVATION:
Editorial: H2O halt; City must shore up water supply before expanding
LA Daily News – 9/17/07
IN a city whose government is consumed with expansion - densification! taller buildings! - Los Angeles City Councilman Dennis Zine seems to be alone in asking an obvious question: Do we have the water?
This isn't an academic inquiry. Earlier this month, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that, in the interest of protecting the delta smelt, an endangered fish, the state would need to start endangering
Meanwhile, the city of
"We have a serious problem statewide and before we get to mandatory rationing here, we need to know where we stand," says Zine, stating what should be, but isn't, the obvious in City Hall. "We need to look at all new developments, conversions and additions to make sure we have enough water."
Seems pretty self-evident, no?
You can't have a city without adequate water, and
But that reality seems to be lost on city leaders, who continue with
Zine proposes that the Department of Water and Power, along with city planning and building agencies, review all new developments and additions to determine the impact on the water supply. That's a decent start, but he should go further.
What
http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_6922660?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com
Editorial: Righty tighty;
After months of urging voluntary compliance, the
The water board did the responsible thing by acting before supplies from
The alternative to all of this is true rationing and potentially higher prices. The Long Beach Water Department is anticipating a drop-off in new supplies - reserves are said to be healthy - as the state grapples with a federal court ruling aimed at preserving the endangered delta smelt up north. The court order limits how much water can be pumped from the delta , which supplies much of this area's water , in order to save the fish.
Other water departments said that they would likely follow
In the meantime,
http://www.presstelegram.com/opinions/ci_6921793
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