[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 10/25/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

October 25, 2007

 

2. Supply

 

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RESERVOIR LEVELS:

South state blazes imperil water supply, officials say - Contra Costa Times

 

WATER SUPPLY PLANNING:

Water shortage a ‘wake-up call’ - Highland Community News (San Bernardino County)

 

 

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA RESERVOIR LEVELS:

South state blazes imperil water supply, officials say

Contra Costa Times – 10/25/07

By Lisa Friedman, MediaNews Washington Bureau

 

WASHINGTON -- As wildfires continued to rage Wednesday in parts of Southern California, water officials warned that the blazes may threaten the state's long-term supply.

 

"We are rapidly draining our reservoirs," Jeff Kightlinger, general manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, told congressional aides and lobbyists at a Capitol Hill briefing.

 

He and others said unequivocally that California has more than enough water to combat the fires, which have raged across the state for four days.

 

"The question is, how do we replace it?" Kightlinger said. "Everyone is out there with a hose trying to blanket everything with water. We are watching our reservoirs just plummeting right now."

 

The Metropolitan Water District serves 18 million people in six counties throughout the Southern California, but droughts, growth and climate change are placing a growing strain on the water supply for the entire state.

 

Problems with the ailing Delta, the hub of the state's water supply, are worsening.

 

A low snowpack in the Sierra this past winter left many reservoirs below normal levels. And now, water officials said, firefighters are pumping out hundreds of thousands of gallons a day.

 

"Our first priority is lives. But we've got all kinds of implications that can emanate from this disastrous fire," said Brad Hiltscher, the water district's representative in Washington.

 

Earlier this month, state lawmakers missed a deadline to strike a compromise on a $9 billion bond measure to fix the state's water system.

 

The governor and some lawmakers want to put the measure on the Feb. 5 primary ballot, arguing that problems with the state's water supply are urgent.

 

Republicans and Democrats have sparred, however, on whether reservoirs or a mix of conservation and underground storage represent the best method of saving the supply.

 

Kightlinger called the gridlock "unfortunate," but said he remains hopeful the Legislature will resolve its differences.

 

In the meantime, he and others urged Congress to continue funding desalination and other water recycling projects.

 

Bill Maile, a spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, declined to comment on concerns that the wildfires are affecting the state's water reservoirs.

 

"California's short- and long-term water supply is critical, and a top priority for the governor," Maile said. "Right now he is focused on the aggressive response effort." #

http://www.contracostatimes.com/bayandstate/ci_7276589?nclick_check=1

 

 

WATER SUPPLY PLANNING:

Water shortage a ‘wake-up call’

Highland Community News (San Bernardino County) – 10/25/07

By Charles Roberts, Editor, Highland Community News

 

The state's water delivery system to Southern California is not up to the job, and only billions of dollars can fix it. And we're off to a late start.

That's the conclusion of Tim Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies.

“We need to take this as a wake-up call to invest heavily in a system that will do what we need to do,” Quinn told the board of directors of San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District (Muni) last week. “We need to invest in our system so we can do both -- protect the environment and still meet the needs of your customers. And that system cannot do that today.”

Muni Board President Pat Milligan suggested that the governor could issue a directive to the Department of Water Resources to immediately begin work on the controversial Peripheral Canal, a trans-delta conveyance that would both improve the Sacramento Delta and provide a more reliable source of water for Southern California without killing off endangered fish.

Milligan noted that no bond would be needed for that project, since it would be paid for by the 29 state water contractors who import water from northern California. However, Quinn said it might take “different approaches.”

“Quite frankly,” Quinn said, “the DWR does not have the engineering staff it had 40 years ago when it built the State Water Project.”

Of more immediate need, he said is how the state water contractors like Muni will manage the coming shortages.

“If you don't create it yourselves,” he said, “it's going to be imposed on you because there's no way to avoid it under the circumstances.”

Board member Mark Bulot lectured Quinn about ACWA's lack of leadership, and suggested pulling the state contractors together for a common cause instead of supporting an expensive statewide bond issue in which the various agencies would be in competition with each other.

Quinn thanked the board for its $102,000 contribution to the ad campaign being aired by ACWA on television, and promised continued work on behalf of member agencies.  #

http://www.highlandnews.net/articles/2007/10/25/news/03muni.txt

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