Department of Water Resources
California Water News
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
October 31, 2007
2. Supply
WATER POLICY:
Guest Column: California water crisis demands action by the Legislature - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
ELECTION ISSUES:
Four vie for three seats on water board serving Oak View - Ventura County Star
NATIONAL WATER SHORTAGE ISSUES:
Water Feud Catches Bush in a Bind - Associated Press
WATER POLICY:
Guest Column: California water crisis demands action by the Legislature
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin – 10/31/07
By James V. Curatalo Jr., president, Randall James Reed, vice-president, and directors Jerome M. Wilson, Kathy Tiegs and Ron Sakala comprise the Cucamonga Valley Water District Board of Directors
You may have noticed a recent media blitz on television describing a mounting water crisis. Over the past year you may have also seen an abundance of newspaper articles and opinion pieces outlining how the state of California's water supply is in dire straights and the need to conserve is paramount.
In fact, some water agencies, such as Long Beach water department, have already implemented lawn-watering restrictions for their customers in the face of what could shape up to be a precarious year for water providers throughout the state and particularly here in Southern California.
We can no longer deny some of the basic facts and events that are before us today relating to our water supply. Last year was one of the driest on record. In fact, extended periods of drought increase other negative effects on our environment such as the widespread wildfires we have just experienced, which could become a regular occurrence in the future. The environmental degradation of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, an estuary that over 20 million Californians rely on for their water supply, is at a breaking point. In May of this year a federal judge issued a ruling requiring reductions in water exports from the Delta to protect an endangered species of fish known as the Delta Smelt. The Cucamonga Valley Water District receives nearly 50 percent of its water supply from imported water that comes from the Delta. In recent years, our customers have already experienced first hand what it is like without our imported water source for short periods while the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has closed the pipeline to conduct routine maintenance or emergency repairs.
Finally, the intricate levee system within the Delta is in an extremely fragile state and most experts agree that it's not if, but when a levee breech occurs this source of water supply would be lost for years before it could be restored. Most experts have compared a breech in the Delta levee system to have disaster-like effects such as to Hurricane Katrina.
Recently, a special legislative session was called by the governor in order to address water infrastructure issues. To our chagrin, the Legislature failed to come to a compromise that addressed the looming water crisis in California.
One of the deal-breaking points was the philosophical discussion of whether or not it makes sense to construct new, large above-ground surface water storage projects in California. The surface water storage projects included in the governor's proposal provided benefits to regions north and south of the Delta with some ancillary benefit to Southern California associated with the capture of storm water run-off and the ability to better manage rising water levels in the Delta.
We understand that any water bond proposal will need to provide benefits to a wide variety of interests in California in order to receive a wide range of support from all voters. As a local water provider we are supportive of bond proposals that provide funding for a variety of different alternatives to generate water supply.
More specifically, our region is focused on the need to expand the use of recycled water for landscape and industrial purposes as well as the increase in programs that capture and recharge storm water, recycled water and imported water into local groundwater basins.
Funding local supply development projects is cost-effective and ultimately decreases our dependence on imported water supplies that pass through the Delta.
As a region we are moving toward reducing our reliance on imported water; however, we realize that CVWD and other local and regional agencies may always rely, to some extent, on imported water supplies to supplement local water supplies in the future.
Therefore, it is important to increase the reliability of our water supply from the Delta by ensuring that any future bond proposal includes funding to develop a conveyance system that diverts flows around the fragile Delta levee system, thereby reducing the vulnerability of California's water infrastructure.
So as you wake up tomorrow morning and you turn on the faucet to brush your teeth or take a shower, think about what it would be like to use 50 percent less water. Is it possible? Consumers in our region need to understand that the issue of water supply reliability and sustainability of the Delta is of paramount importance, and that steps must be taken now to restore the integrity of the state's water system.
CVWD urges its customers to stay engaged and focused on this issue as the legislative process moves forward during the coming months. #
http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_7325535
ELECTION ISSUES:
Four vie for three seats on water board serving Oak View
Ventura County Star – 10/31/07
By John Scheibe, staff writer
With Southern California in the midst of another drought, the four candidates for the Ventura River County Water District Board of Directors agree a way must be found to better secure the water supply for the 2,200 homes in the Oak View area that the district serves.
The district gets most of its water from wells. But lack of rain and a drying aquifer have forced the district to buy water from the Casitas Municipal Water District. To cover the added costs, the Ventura River County Water District has had to pass along a surcharge to its customers.
Newcomer George Galgas, seeking one of three board seats up for grabs in Tuesday's election, said there's no question the district will have to conserve water, given the drought conditions.
He said the district needs to consider mandatory water restrictions that would prohibit residents from topping off swimming pools. The district should also consider restricting outside-water usage under a zone system, he said. Residents living in one zone could use water outside their homes only on even days, and those in the other zone on odd days.
Galgas also said he will not accept any money for attending meetings during his first six months in office if elected. Board members receive $160 a month. "I hope to encourage the incumbents to follow my lead and not accept their monthly fees for the same period of time," he said.
Galgas said he's particularly upset that board members voted themselves a 60 percent raise but did not give employees a pay raise. "We need to take care of our employees first," he said.
Matt Bryant, the district's general manager, said the board voted itself a 60 percent increase in attendance fees, and it took effect in January 2006. Bryant also said the district's five employees received a 5 percent cost-of-living adjustment July 1.
Incumbent Marvin Hanson said the district already is taking steps to conserve water by asking residents to refrain from watering lawns during the hotter afternoon hours. Still, Hanson said, more needs to be done.
"We need to be mindful about not wasting water," he said.
If re-elected, Hanson said, he will work hard to find new sources of water for the district. Hanson said he has learned much about water during his two decades on the board. He said he also spent many years working as a hydrographer.
Incumbent Thomas Jamison said he will work hard, if re-elected, to make the district more self-sufficient. This includes looking at water conservation.
"We also need to continue to look at other ways to get water," he said. That might include digging more wells.
But when it comes to mandatory conservation, Jamison said, he would need to see more evidence that the district is facing a severe water shortage before he would support compulsory cutbacks.
Jamison said he enjoys serving on the board. "It helps keep me active in civic affairs," he said.
Incumbent Eddie Ramseyer said he's running again in part because "water is my favorite interest." Ramseyer said the district needs to make sure it has enough water not only for today and tomorrow "but 50 years from now as well."
He wants the district to look at getting water from Oxnard through the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
"Doing so will ensure that we have enough water should Lake Casitas ever dry up," he said.
Ramseyer also does not think mandatory conservation is a necessity. "We are studying various options right now," he said.
He said the state needs to build more water-storage facilities. "Right now, the state is too dependent on the (Sacramento-San Joaquin River) Delta," he said. "If something were to happen to the delta, it would be very serious for all of Southern California." #
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/oct/31/four-vie-for-three-seats-on-water-board-serving/
NATIONAL WATER SHORTAGE ISSUES:
Water Feud Catches Bush in a Bind
Associated Press – 10/31/07
By Ben Evans, staff writer
Presidents like to deliver good news in times of disaster. Yet three governors heading to Washington to lobby for water rights amid a potentially catastrophic drought are likely to put the Bush administration on the spot.
If the administration decides to bolster Georgia's drinking supply, Alabama and Florida may claim it's crippling their economies to satisfy uncontrolled growth around Atlanta. If it continues releasing water downstream to Alabama and Florida, Georgia could argue one of the nation's largest cities is being hung out to dry.
Making matters worse for President Bush: All three states have Republican governors whose reputations could rise or fall based on their handling of the crisis.
"It does put him into a bind," said Rep. Lynn Westmoreland, R-Ga. "I think there's some give and take on everybody's part, and I think the president is the only one that can sit down with these three governors and say, 'Look guys, we got a problem ... we're all looking bad.'"
Leaders from the states are scheduled to meet Thursday to try to hash out a temporary arrangement and later head to the Interior Department for a meeting with Secretary Dirk Kempthorne, who was sent to the region last week by Bush.
In an interview Tuesday, Kempthorne said the administration has not made any decisions on the dispute, which dates back to the late 1980s.
"If it were easy it would have been solved 18 years ago," Kempthorne said. "There have been good-faith efforts, but there's also been millions of dollars spent in the courts and we do not have a solution. ... There needs to be something where everyone says we gained here while we know we may have had to give up something else."
At issue is how much water the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should capture in federal reservoirs near the head of two river basins in north Georgia that flow south into Florida and Alabama.
The fast-growing Atlanta region relies on the lakes for drinking water. But power plants in Florida and Alabama depend on healthy flows in the rivers, as do farms, commercial fisheries, industrial users and municipalities. The corps also is required to release adequate flows to ensure habitats for several species of mussels and sturgeon that are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Georgia officials have argued that the corps is turning a blind eye to a potential humanitarian crisis in Atlanta by ignoring warnings that the city's main water source, Lake Lanier, could have just a few months worth of water remaining. The state sued the corps earlier this month, arguing that Georgia has sacrificed more than other states and that the federal government is putting mussels before people.
That posture that riled neighboring leaders, who said it ignored their needs.
Alabama Gov. Bob Riley accused Georgia last week of "watering their lawns and flowers" all summer and expecting Washington to "bail them out." Florida Gov. Charlie Crist wrote President Bush to say his state is "unwilling to allow the unrealistic demands of one region to further compromise the downstream communities."
At a speech in Montgomery Tuesday, Riley held up a poster-size map of Alabama and Georgia and showed that the exceptional drought area in Alabama is much larger than in Georgia. He said the state's economic prosperity is at stake.
"This is about whether Alabama gets its fair share and whether we are going to have to lay off people in Alabama," he said.
The Interior Department and the corps are now exploring options for adjusting water releases, trying to determine how they might capture more water in the lakes while continuing to meet the demands downstream. But each state already accuses the corps of ignoring its interests, so any significant change would likely be met with further litigation.
"It's only going to antagonize somebody," said Charles Bullock, a political scientist at the University of Georgia. "You have three Republican governors. The delegations in Congress of these states are predominantly Republican, so it's not easy politically. There's really no easy way out of it."
According to the National Drought Mitigation Center, almost a third of the Southeast is covered by an exceptional drought, the worst category. #
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/10/31/national/w001156D20.DTL&hw=water&sn=019&sc=439
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