Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
November 19, 2007
1. Top Items
Plan suggests canal is crucial to Delta revival - Contra Costa Times
San Joaquin water manager floats peripheral canal plan - Stockton Record
Plan suggests canal is crucial to Delta revival
Contra Costa Times – 11/19/07
By Mike Taugher, staff writer
Government biologists have concluded the most promising way to save the Delta is to divert water around it through a canal -- an idea often derided as a
Wildlife agencies recently told planners that a
Voters rejected the canal in 1982, and opposition was fierce in Contra Costa because of the threat a canal poses to the local water supply.
By siphoning water out of the
If built, however, a new canal probably would be operated and managed in conjunction with the existing state and federal intakes near
The call for in-depth study of a
If the biologists and the state's largest water users agree on a deal, it could carry more weight than several other initiatives to fix the state's vexing water problems because the other plans, by themselves, cannot change the way California's water supply is managed.
The Bay Delta Conservation Plan is different. If adopted -- and state officials are shooting for a target date of 2009 -- it would set the ground rules for how water will be delivered and how Delta fish will be protected for the next 50 years.
"This is the only one that will allow the state to move forward," said John Engbring, assistant manager for water and fish in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's regional office in
Negotiations for the plan have been under way for a year as officials seek ways to reverse the Delta's ecological decline, stabilize the water supply, bolster the region's crumbling levees and, more generally, straighten out the mess that is the state's water policy.
Delta fish populations are plummeting, and courts this year put water agencies on notice that they are violating endangered species laws by overpumping and operating without proper permits. A federal judge soon will order limits on water deliveries that could cut Delta water supplies by as much as a third, even as much of the state is weathering a drought.
For the state's biggest water agencies, the conservation plan negotiations hold the promise of solving their two biggest problems:
A pact would remove the threat that water supplies would be cut to conserve protected fish species while also giving a major boost to their campaign to build an aqueduct to deliver cleaner, more reliable water.
In theory, the plan would also have wide-ranging benefits for the environment, but some environmentalists are skeptical.
Hundreds of such habitat conservation plans have been developed across the country, and few, if any, are as complex as the one being proposed for
And the results from habitat conservation plans are mixed. Environmentalists say they provide guarantees for developers but often fail to deliver the environmental gains they promise.
"It is very difficult to measure the performance of these plans," said John Kostyack, director of wildlife conservation and global warming for the National Wildlife Federation.
"These plans are not purely conservation plans. They are plans to balance conservation needs with development needs," said Kostyack, who sued to overturn a similar plan for the Natomas basin near
Since the early 1990s, the pumps that deliver Delta water to the
Those permits, which are supposed to prevent fish extinctions, have allowed water supplies to increase without adequately protecting fish, courts have ruled. Biologists say Delta smelt could be close to extinction, and as a result, a federal judge is restricting water deliveries from the Delta by as much as one-third.
Most observers say it is unlikely that permits could be written in a way that would restore Delta water supplies to the levels they were at before U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger ordered the cutbacks.
The conservation plan, which would replace the permit system, is a new approach to the problem.
In essence, water users would pay for measures such as the aqueduct, wetlands restoration or other projects in return for a guaranteed stable water supply.
Once the broad outlines of a plan are in place, government biologists, water users, environmentalists and others would turn their attention to how a new system would operate, how much water could be taken from the Delta and how much it would cost to build and maintain.
"We wouldn't be at the table unless we thought there was hope to find a long-term solution to the ecosystem and water supply challenges facing the Bay-Delta," said Ann Hayden, a water policy analyst with Environmental Defense who is participating in the talks.
Although it is in its early stages, development of the Bay-Delta plan is moving fast, and negotiators are coalescing around an approach that would include a
"We think Option 4 (the
McCamman noted that the state wildlife agency has favored a
The compromise approach under consideration, called "dual conveyance," would use a canal in conjunction with the existing delivery system for a couple of reasons.
First, early studies show that a
Second, having two locations to take Delta water from adds flexibility that could make it easier for government biologists to protect fish. For example, if a school of fish is congregating near one intake, officials could order a switch to pump water from another intake.
For customers of the Contra Costa Water District and others, a new canal poses a threat because it would reduce the amount of fresh water coming into the Delta from the
But government fish biologists like the idea because tapping into the
That's a myopic view, said Greg Gartrell, assistant general manager of the Contra Costa Water District.
"They're focused on the entrainment issue (where fish are trapped and killed at the pumps) and how that affects them," Gartrell said. "Water quality is key. I think they're being shortsighted and overlooking a lot of problems so far."
Gartrell added that the negotiations will be strongly influenced by science, and for that reason he is confident agencies will address the water quality and fish protection problems posed by a canal before going forward.
But, he said, the state's biggest water users will probably have to settle for less water because scientific studies likely will show that more water will have to flow from the Delta to the
And that is the key question: Will new plumbing increase the water supply, or will the Delta deliveries remain at lower levels mandated by court rulings?
Regulators are noncommittal, saying that question cannot be answered until more studies are done.
At least some water agencies insist that water supplies must increase under the plan.
"The notion of less exports is entirely inconsistent" with the plan's goals, said Jason Peltier, assistant general manager of the Westlands Water District, a sprawling farm district in the
But some environmentalists and others say cutting water exports is the only way to maintain water quality standards and protect the environment.
No one has actually endorsed the plan. But participants in the negotiations, including environmentalists, say dual conveyance -- the canal and the pumps -- is the most promising approach and that it should be studied further.
"We are not supporting any particular solution at this point," said Hayden, of Environmental Defense. "We are supporting evaluation of this dual conveyance approach."
But what if the plan does not work and the ecosystem continues to decline while water agencies continue to draw unabated on a guaranteed supply?
Engbring said the plan will contain flexibility through something called "adaptive management," which would allow officials to change course in response to a decline.
"That is the line that they give in all these plans," said Kostyack.
It was the adaptive management provisions in the federal endangered species permit for Delta smelt that led Wanger to find that the permit was illegal. Those provisions gave water agencies too much authority and environmental regulators too little, he ruled.
But supporters of the plan say that even if it is not perfect, it is likely to be better than the status quo.
"Even if it's not 100 percent successful, it's going to be better than not doing anything at all," said Laura King Moon, assistant general manager of State Water Contractors, an association of water agencies that includes some of the state's largest.
"Maybe we have a chance of getting it right this time," she said. #
By Alex Breitler, staff writer
An east
And that does not sit well with Delta advocates, who steadfastly oppose any kind of peripheral canal.
Ed Steffani, head of the Lodi-area North San Joaquin Water Conservation District, recently presented his canal plan to a group of east-side water districts. Those districts and Delta water attorneys will meet Monday to discuss Steffani's idea, details of which have not been made public.
The debate illustrates that while
Currently, freshwater travels from the Sacramento River in the north through the Delta to giant pumps near Tracy, which send the water to cities in the Bay Area and Southern California, and farms in the San Joaquin Valley.
But the Delta's levees are marginal, experts say. They could crumble during an earthquake, tainting the water supply for millions. A peripheral canal would allow water to be diverted around the Delta, rather than through it.
The concept being refined by Steffani calls for water being sent both through the Delta and around it. It is a "compromise," he said recently.
"Maybe we can send some around the Delta, and some around the east side," Steffani said, thus protecting the Delta and providing water for east
He declined last week to talk more specifically about his plan, pending Monday's meeting.
Delta farmers fear that once a canal is built there will be no reason to fix the levees, and the entire estuary could revert to marshland or a great inland sea.
The promise of at least some water being sent through the Delta rings hollow to them.
"What part of the system do you think they (state water managers) are going to use when the going gets rough?" said Dante Nomellini, an attorney representing Delta farmers. "They'll run good water through the canal and let the Delta go."
That would "put us out of business in the central and south Delta," said Alex Hildebrand, a south Delta farmer.
Signs of these divergent viewpoints emerged last month when Steffani told Delta advocates that fighting for the status quo in the Delta could mean losing.
"We shouldn't take a hard position on (the status quo) or nothing else," Steffani said.
Delta interests bristled at the suggestion.
"We've got a good chance to protect ourselves" by continuing to fight, said John Herrick, an attorney who represents south Delta farmers. "We're trying to survive."
If they pursue Steffani's idea, east-side farmers would not be the first
So did the Stockton East Water District. But the 43-mile canal, nicknamed the "Dracula Ditch" because it would suck out the Delta's lifeblood, was soundly rejected by voters.
Stockton East General Manager Kevin Kauffman said Friday that this time around the district has not said yes or no, and wants to discuss Steffani's plan with Delta interests in search of "common ground."
Some friction between west-side and east-side water parties is inevitable since both rely on water from some of the same sources.
Delta farmers need fresh water to irrigate their crops; water districts in the east county need surface water from rivers and streams because the groundwater has declined.
Mel Panizza, who heads the Stockton East board of directors, said officials have tried to work through disputes.
"There are some really deep differences over water usages and needs, but frankly, all things considered, we're not doing that badly" at putting water to the best use, he said.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071118/A_NEWS/711180322/-1/A_NEWS
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