A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
October 29, 2007
2. Supply
IRRIGATION ISSUES:
Irrigation irritations plague cities; As drought-conscious Southern California cities urge water conservation, too many city- and state-owned watering systems waste millions of gallons on roadways - Los Angeles Times
IMPERIAL IRRIGATION DISTRICT:
Farmers hardest hit by proposed water limits - Imperial Valley Press
Guest Column:
Las Vegas : Leader in sustainability?; Experts at UNLV conference call city's newness, willingness to embrace change real advantages - Las Vegas
NATION-WIDE WATER SHORTAGES:
Many States Seen Facing Water Shortages - Associated Press
Column: Dried up; As
DESALINATION:
Editorial: No more delays; Desalination plant merits approval -
Poseidon Resources Announces Carlsbad Desalination Plant to be Carbon Neutral; First major California infrastructure project to voluntarily commit to eliminating its carbon footprint - News Release: Poseidon Resources
IRRIGATION ISSUES:
Irrigation irritations plague cities; As drought-conscious
By Deborah Schoch, staff writer
When
In call after call, citizens asked: Why are public sprinklers spewing water across sidewalks? Why do sprinklers run in parks at times that residents are barred from watering their own lawns? Why do some freeway sprinklers water in the rain?
As drought-conscious
Cities throughout the region and Caltrans said their errant sprinklers pose an embarrassing quandary.
But upgrading public irrigation systems is so expensive that most can only aim for piecemeal improvements.
"When people hear a message from the government, telling them to conserve, and they see the government wasting huge amounts of water, it makes people very cynical," said Matthew Lyons, planning and conservation director at the Long Beach Water Department. "It sends the wrong message."
Large cities with antiquated systems are struggling to solve irrigation problems, while others have made progress:
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* Only a fraction of reclaimed water is used by the largest of cities and Caltrans because of the high cost of running pipes to antiquated sprinkler systems.
In
In
Although modernized irrigation systems save a city water and money in the long run, the initial investment can be daunting.
A computerized "smart" system, which can detect weather conditions and adjust water usage accordingly, can reduce water use by 20% to 40%, said Rick Capitanio, vice president of sales at California Sensor Corp., a Carlsbad-based firm that makes such city systems.
His system, however, does not include new pipes and other equipment, he said.
"That," he said, "is going to cost a lot of money."
Some water experts say that it might be time to stop growing grass on median islands and replace it with drought-resistant plants.
"It's very difficult to come up with an efficient irrigation system for a long, narrow lawn. It's crazy to even try," said Rick Soehren, chief of the Office of Water Use Efficiency and Transfers at the state Department of Water Resources.
He believes that cities should invest in conservation-minded landscaping because the sight of leaking sprinklers along streets and freeways "sends a message to so many people."
But without funding for costly systems, most cities can only undertake small projects.
Most of the
Modern sprinkler systems in city parks could save enough water to serve about 4,774 households, according to calculations based on Department of Water and Power statistics.
About 75% of the sprinklers on the city's 330 acres of landscaped median islands are leaky, broken or capped largely because cars have run over them, a public works official said.
In the past five years state-of-the art sprinklers have been installed on about 35 acres of medians, but there are no plans to replace the entire median system.
So-called smart irrigation controllers have been installed at 35 of Los Angeles' 400 parks and plans call for 45 more parks to be outfitted next year, officials said.
"Our goal is that every irrigation system in every park will be on weather-smart irrigation," said Michael Shull, superintendent of planning and development for the city Department of Recreation and Parks.
"We have a goal to reduce our water usage over the next five years by 25%."
Local cities have no control over some of the most high-profile leaking sprinklers in the state -- those along state freeways maintained by Caltrans, which oversees the broadest expanse of landscaping of any entity in
Caltrans is not required to comply with water restrictions in
"The state is not bound by city regulations, however Caltrans waters at night whenever and wherever possible," she stated.
The number of sprinklers that can run at one time depends on water pressure, however, "and sometimes this means that some sprinklers go on during other hours of the day."
A July 2006 Caltrans policy manual states, "Caltrans should comply with local agencies' water conservation guidelines for watering times and use.
During drought conditions, it is important to find out the local agencies' watering practices [and] recommendations."
Caltrans has been using water-conservation methods since the 1980s, reducing its water use with new equipment such as seasonal and programmable timers, Bonfilio said.
All landscaping since the 1990s, she wrote, has featured drought-resistant plants.
Last month, the Metropolitan Water District board approved $15 million to help area cities install more water-stingy equipment and conduct audits.
But in
City officials estimate that a new system could save enough water to serve 904 households for a year.
Some valves on the city's median islands are so old that maintenance workers are forced to drive by to turn them on by hand, one by one -- leaving them spouting and then circling back to shut them off, one by one.
While many modern systems automatically shut down leaking lines,
"I'm glad people are calling," Shippey said.
"I just wish they weren't so angry with me." #
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-sprinkle27oct27,0,4346315,full.story?coll=la-tot-callocal
IMPERIAL IRRIGATION DISTRICT:
Farmers hardest hit by proposed water limits
By Brianna Rusk, staff writer
Cities and industries are expected to grow next year and farmers are predicting a solid year with wheat prices at a 20-year high.
But development is putting a strain on resources as the Imperial Irrigation District is experiencing growing pains and the water supply is stretched beyond its limits.
The district’s proposed plan to balance the supply and demand in 2008 was unveiled Tuesday, the first time in recent history water usage will be limited.
“Doing nothing is not an option,” IID spokesman Kevin Kelley said.
At issue is the district’s proposed plan that has to be in place by January to allocate water among cities, industry and agriculture.
The district is struggling to stay within its designated 3.1 million acre-feet of water from the
The controversial pact was meant to prevent water wars among entities that rely on the
The proposed solution to the water shortage makes water for city and industrial growth a priority, increasing the allowed usage next year.
While most residents in the Valley will remain unaffected, farmers would have to make do with less as their water usage would be cut.
“Agriculture accounts for 97 percent of total water use in the Valley,” Kelley said.
Farmers would have 5.13 acre-feet of water available per acre of farmed land, down from the average of six acre-feet currently.
Farmers who find themselves with more water than they need would be able to sell the water via an internal exchange.
IID would only help coordinate the transactions between farmers but would not set the prices.
A last resort supply, which could also be sold privately by the IID, would be available to prevent farmers from price gouging or water hoarding their supply each year.
Kelley said the last resort supply would be available to all farmers eligible to receive water from IID and it would “promote market honesty and integrity.”
Economist Rodney Smith said the program is designed to use all the water, otherwise that surplus would be transferred to another water district.
The board unanimously adopted the straight-line approach, dividing the water equally among all farmers, last year although cutbacks were not expected to be necessary so soon.
Those in the agriculture industry are concerned, Nicole Rothfleisch said, as limiting the water supply to farmers immediately “would cause severe hardships.”
Rothfleisch, the executive director of the Imperial County Farm Bureau, said farmers whose crops and soil types require more than the proposed 5.13 acre-feet would be impacted the most.
The bureau has proposed an alternative plan that calls for a 10-year transitional period before a straight-line program is fully functional.
“This would give farmers time to adjust to this new way of farming and planting,” Rothfleisch said.
In the weeks to come the board will continue to look for the public’s input as the deadline to adopt a water usage plan for next year nears.
A 15-member citizens’ panel comprised of farm bureau representatives, citizens and members of the Water Conservation Advisory Board will also comment on the plan.
The board is expected to vote on a final plan in November.
Meanwhile, the district is already on track to exceed this year’s water allotment by 50,000 acre-feet, a sign of the times as conservation is no longer an option but a necessity.
“The era of limits on the
http://www.ivpressonline.com/articles/2007/10/25/news/news05.txt
Guest Column:
By Timothy Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies, a coalition of 450 public water agencies
When the rest of the world thinks of
Because the entire region depends heavily on this important resource, there is growing concern about how the region's economy, quality of life and environment will fare in the face of a deepening, statewide water crisis. Experts are warning that
State leaders and environmental authorities agree that
With nearly 18 million residents, the
One of the biggest worries is the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the single-most important link in
While the Delta funnels water to 25 million Californians, it is also an important environmental resource that is home to 750 distinct species of plants and wildlife, including the threatened Delta smelt. Recently, a federal court ordered the state's two largest water systems to cut deliveries by one-third next year to protect the fish — potentially the largest court-ordered water-supply reduction in
There is no doubt that Southland residents will experience a significant reduction in water supply because of the court order. In fact,
These challenges, combined with the demands of a growing population and the effect of climate change, create a water-supply and delivery crisis that we cannot disregard. With water reserves already low for many agencies following a 10-day halt in deliveries from the Delta this summer to protect smelt, the situation will be dire if dry conditions continue.
Drought is a serious worry to state water managers. This year was one of the driest years on record, and weather experts are now predicting a La Niña — a "demon diva of drought" — this winter, which could result in two-thirds less rainfall than normal.
Another record-dry year, combined with the cutbacks, will spell disaster for a system that already struggles to meet the needs of people and the environment.
Never before has
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/oct/28/california-in-grip-of-demon-diva-of-drought/
Las Vegas
Las Vegas
By Phoebe Sweet and Charlotte Hsu, staff writers
Perhaps the last place you would look for leadership on sustainability: the city that's a monument to consumerism, a model of urban sprawl, a water-guzzling man-made oasis in a desert.
But that's just what
And UNLV, which last week hosted 400 academics and community leaders at a conference on the topic, wants to place itself at the center of the conversation.
Last week's event, Shaping the Future of Southern Nevada: Economic, Environmental and Social Sustainability, was the first of what the university hopes will be twice-annual conferences. The gathering was meant in part to help stakeholders develop a better understanding of what sustainability is. Future conferences will focus on more narrow topics such as water consumption.
This year the school launched a campaign to foster collaboration between UNLV and the community in solving quality-of-life challenges Las Vegans and Nevadans face.
"(We) feel as though we have a professional responsibility to reach out to the community and state because , after all, it's the taxpayers who support this university and we owe that to our region," said Ron Smith, UNLV's interim vice president for research and graduate dean.
The university, he said, already has invested $30 million in research dealing with renewable energy sources.
For the future, UNLV is looking to craft a graduate-level urban planning degree that would incorporate sustainability.
One environmentalist said he hopes the next conference will create a larger discussion among members of the public and academics, executives and politicians.
"I'm thrilled UNLV is taking a leadership role on this in our community. They're going to have to take a role," said Scot Rutledge, executive director of the Nevada Conservation League. "This is a great first step."
As the university steps up to be a leader on sustainability, it appears
Since 1998 about 10 percent of new development in the
And the region has alternative-fueled city fleets of cars, buses and maintenance vehicles, heralded water conservation programs and massive commercial developments such as CityCenter that are going green.
Both planners and residents of young cities are less set in their ways and more able to adapt to new technologies that promote sustainability, said Arthur Nelson, director of Virginia Tech's Metropolitan Institute and a speaker at the conference.
While
But speakers at Wednesday's conference - environmentalists, academics and public employees - said there's still work to be done.
"Sustainability will lead to a stronger economy and a better quality of life," Rutledge said. "It's not some token project that should be left in the halls of academia or the science journals. It should be how we live our lives." #
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2007/oct/29/566622763.html?water
NATION-WIDE WATER SHORTAGES:
Many States Seen Facing Water Shortages
Associated Press – 10/27/07
By Brian Skoloff, staff writer
The government projects that at least 36 states will face water shortages within five years because of a combination of rising temperatures, drought, population growth, urban sprawl, waste and excess.
"Is it a crisis? If we don't do some decent water planning, it could be," said Jack Hoffbuhr, executive director of the Denver-based American Water Works Association.
Water managers will need to take bold steps to keep taps flowing, including conservation, recycling, desalination and stricter controls on development.
"We've hit a remarkable moment," said Barry Nelson, a senior policy analyst with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The last century was the century of water engineering. The next century is going to have to be the century of water efficiency."
The price tag for ensuring a reliable water supply could be staggering. Experts estimate that just upgrading pipes to handle new supplies could cost the nation $300 billion over 30 years.
"Unfortunately, there's just not going to be any more cheap water," said Randy Brown,
It's not just
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a United Nations network of scientists, said this year that by 2050 up to 2 billion people worldwide could be facing major water shortages.
The
Coastal states like
Little land is left to store water during wet seasons, and so much of the landscape has been paved over that water can no longer penetrate the ground in some places to recharge aquifers. As a result, the state is forced to flush millions of gallons of excess into the ocean to prevent flooding.
Also, the state dumps hundreds of billions of gallons a year of treated wastewater into the
"As these communities grow, instead of developing new water with new treatment systems, why not better manage the commodity they already have and produce an environmental benefit at the same time?" Sole said.
Floridians use about 2.4 trillion gallons of water a year. The state projects that by 2025, the population will have increased 34 percent from about 18 million to more than 24 million people, pushing annual demand for water to nearly 3.3 trillion gallons.
More than half of the state's expected population boom is projected in a three-county area that includes
"We just passed a crossroads. The chief water sources are basically gone," said John Mulliken, director of water supply for the South Florida Water Management District. "We really are at a critical moment in
In addition to recycling and conservation, technology holds promise.
There are more than 1,000 desalination plants in the
The Tampa Bay Seawater Desalination Plant is producing about 25 million gallons a day of fresh drinking water, about 10 percent of that area's demand. The $158 million facility is
Californians use nearly 23 trillion gallons of water a year, much of it coming from
Experts also say the
California, like many other states, is pushing conservation as the cheapest alternative, looking to increase its supply of treated wastewater for irrigation and studying desalination, which the state hopes could eventually provide 20 percent of its freshwater.
"The need to reduce water waste and inefficiency is greater now than ever before," said Benjamin Grumbles, assistant administrator for water at the Environmental Protection Agency. "Water efficiency is the wave of the future." #
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gsBhi0vfVCHr-E0eSckT5ZnADWxwD8SH50DO0
Column: Dried up; As
Santa Rosa Press Democrat - 10/27/07
With the exception of people living in the arid West, most Americans think of drought as something that affects farmers, not urban communities. Americans also think of drought as an aberration -- not a normal part of the weather cycle.
On a recent "Morning Edition" program on National Public Radio, Michael Hayes, director of the
"There is severe to extreme drought somewhere in the
He also noted that what Atlantans are experiencing this year -- as the
Noting that this year's lack of rainfall in the southeast isn't unprecedented, Hayes said, "What's different about
In that statement, Hayes could be talking about thousands of communities throughout the
Indeed, the current debate in the California Legislature regarding a state water bond illustrates the difficulty of balancing the needs of many different water users.
In
One solution is proposed by Heal the Bay founder Dorothy Green in a commentary on today's Opinion Page. Green and co-writer Jamie Simons argue that the state could meet all its water needs with better conservation and reuse practices.
Another, proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, includes the construction of dams to increase storage opportunities.
While the governor called the special session to address water and health care issues, he hasn't been in
Given the fact that Southern California is in the midst of a drought (a key factor in this week's wildfires) and that someday soon another one will hit
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20071027/WIRE/710270324/1033/NEWS01
DESALINATION:
Editorial: No more delays; Desalination plant merits approval
If the State Lands Commission follows the recommendation of its staff, the desalination plant that Poseidon Resources Inc. proposes in
Given the past week's horrific reminder of the ravages of drought, denying the region a water source invulnerable to dry years – or decades – would be folly. Commission staff says Poseidon has met all legal requirements. The commissioners have no reason to court folly. They have this county's 3 million residents as reason to approve this permit, and the certainty of ever more as reason not to delay approval past their meeting today.
The permit comes, of course, with conditions, chief among them mitigating the loss of ocean life in the desalting process. The loss is minimal, about three pounds a day of very populous fish.
As mitigation, Poseidon proposes, and commission staff supports, a plan that makes Poseidon the steward of the Agua Hedionda Lagoon, preserving and improving its water quality, recreational opportunities, native habitat, and research and commercial value. In addition, Poseidon will restore 37 acres of coastal wetlands, long used for fill or agriculture, to again support native species.
With the use of state-of-the-art equipment, a solar energy system and other measures, all aspects of the Poseidon project will be as “green” as possible, and its net carbon footprint zero.
Environmental activists aren't satisfied, but may never be. Meantime, agency after agency agrees that Poseidon's project passes muster with state laws, including the California Environmental Quality Act, activists' prime tool for demanding more than the law allows and making the permit process, nevermind the project itself, too expensive to complete.
This region direly needs more water supplies. The largest is due west. A desalination plant on the Pacific coast, as proposed by Poseidon, can be built and operated with minimal impact on ocean and coastal environments. The State Lands Commission should heed its staff and approve the permit. #
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20071029/news_mz1ed29botto.html
Poseidon Resources Announces
News Release: Poseidon Resources – 10/26/07
Poseidon is proud to be the first major
Poseidon is applying rigorous, internationally accepted protocols adopted by the state’s Climate Action Registry to measure the
The Carlsbad Desalination Project is one element of a much broader regional strategy the San Diego County Water Authority (Authority) is pursuing to improve the diversity and reliability of the region’s water supply by reducing the dependence on imported water. The implementation of the Authority’s Regional Water Supply Master Plan will result in an overall reduction in the total energy needed to acquire and treat water for the
Quantifying the ultimate carbon footprint of the
“Poseidon’s voluntary commitment to make its
From a portfolio of initiatives, including state-of-the-art efficiency measures, green-building design and solar panels, purchasing renewable energy credits and funding carbon offset projects to reduce carbon emissions from other sources, Poseidon will reduce the plant’s overall energy requirements and eliminate the
“Our Climate Action Plan will analyze every available and legitimate means of negating the carbon impacts from the
The Carlsbad Desalination project has undergone exhaustive environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act; the project’s final Environmental Impact Report was certified by the City of
Poseidon Resources specializes in developing, financing and managing water infrastructure projects, primarily seawater desalination and water treatment plants. These projects are implemented through innovative public-private partnerships in which private enterprise assumes development and financial risk for infrastructure projects that provide a public benefit. For more information on Poseidon Resources and the
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