A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
November 20, 2007
2. Supply
Water shortages on the horizon; Drought, environmental concerns create supply woes - North County Times
WATER CONSERVATION:
Vista Irrigation District considering tighter water-use restrictions - North
SUPPLY PLANNING:
No Money Drought - Santa Clarita Signal
Water shortages on the horizon; Drought, environmental concerns create supply woes
By Gig Conaughton, staff writer
For decades, desert-like Southern California has relied upon two main sources for its life-sustaining water: the Colorado River and
Both sources are being challenged like they haven't been since
The Colorado River, which is replenished by
Meanwhile, in September, a federal judge in
Water officials say the bay delta ruling is the bigger threat to regional water supplies, for a couple of reasons.
First, Southern California started relying less on the Colorado River and more on the State Water Project in 2003, when
Secondly, because the threat to the State Water Project is a court-ordered mandate and not a lack of rainfall or snow melt, Mother Nature won't be able to "fix" that shortage.
In fact, some state water officials have suggested the pump shutdowns could be worse next year if the State Water Project is "flush" with water from a heavy
Ken Weinberg, water resources manager for the San Diego County Water Authority, said Monday that regional officials don't think they'll have to impose mandatory water cutbacks for homeowners and residents in 2008. Weinberg said that's because
However, Weinberg and others say the current court impasse could last for several years, meaning that
"The real challenge is how do you manage (backup) storages when you know the delta isn't going to be fixed in the next couple of years," Weinberg said. #
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/11/20/news/top_stories/1_03_5611_19_07.txt
WATER CONSERVATION:
Vista Irrigation District considering tighter water-use restrictions
By Craig Tenbroeck, staff writer
In the next few weeks, perhaps as soon as Wednesday, the Vista Irrigation District's board will discuss whether it's appropriate to declare a Stage Two water alert -- something the agency hasn't done since the early 1990s, officials said.
For
The
The water wholesaler, the San Diego County Water Authority, and its supplier, the Metropolitan Water District, haven't imposed mandatory restrictions, aside from agricultural cuts. The water authority is estimating it can meet the county's water needs at least through 2008.
However, officials said, that could change if people don't take conservation seriously.
"We're not recommending mandatory cutbacks or mandatory conservation right now," said Ken Weisberg, water resources manager for the water authority.
"But that doesn't alleviate the need to conserve water," he added. "Because if we can't do it voluntarily, we're going to have to do it on a mandatory basis."
If that happens, the Vista Irrigation District doesn't want to be caught off guard, board member Paul Dorey said.
"There are not any good signs," Dorey said. "We're just getting prepared."
Years of drought, along with a recent federal court decision, have raised the specter of possible water cuts in
"I think it's a serious situation," said Roy Coox, the Vista Irrigation District's assistant general manager.
In September, the Fallbrook Public Utility District became the first local water agency to declare a Stage Two alert. However, Fallbrook's Stage Two is roughly equivalent to the Vista Irrigation District's Stage One alert, according to a
A spokeswoman for the Fallbrook district said their Stage Two recommendations aren't extreme.
"It's basically just common-sense restrictions," said the spokeswoman, Noelle Denke. "We're not putting out the water cops. We're asking people to do ... voluntary things that they really should be doing all the time."
When the agency has received complaints about violations, it has been able to correct them simply by meeting with the customers, she said.
By bumping its alert level, the Vista Irrigation District -- which provides water to the city of
Under its Stage Two alert, the goal is to slice water use by 10 percent. The alert lists several restrictions, including prohibiting hotels and motels from changing linens for multiple-day customers daily unless requested.
District staff members wouldn't be hunting for violations, but if they're notified of repeat offenders, citations could be issued, said Brett Hodgekiss, an administrative manager with the Irrigation District.
At the moment, however, it's unclear whether the Vista Irrigation District board is ready to move to Stage Two.
"We want to be proactive. ... But there's another school of thought that we don't want to lose our credibility by crying wolf," Coox said. "I think the board recognizes there are two schools of thought, and I 'm not sure if a majority of the board is leaning one way or the other."
Board president Howard Williams said Monday that he doesn't expect the Irrigation District to raise the alert level immediately.
"There's no need to stampede on this," Williams said. "We don't know what the rainy season's going to bring yet."
The Irrigation District board is slated to discuss its "water shortage options" at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at district headquarters,
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/11/20/news/top_stories/1_02_4911_19_07.txt
SUPPLY PLANNING:
No Money Drought
Santa Clarita Signal – 11/20/07
By Jim Holt, staff writer
A booming Santa Clarita community of water users has pumped more than $20 million into the pockets of the Castaic Lake Water Agency over and above what the agency collected a year ago.
The extra money, which brings the agency’s total revenue this year to more than $95 million, comes from homeowners paying property taxes and from water companies paying more for the water they supply to homeowners.
“In a nutshell, we’re fortunate in that we have multiple sources of revenue,” agency General Manager Dan Masnada said Monday. “And, that works for us from an overall standpoint.”
The 27.79 percent jump in revenue over last year’s reported revenue, is one of the highlights of a financial report expected to be tabled today at a meeting of the water agency’s Finance and Administration Committee.
The meeting is open to the public and takes place at the Rio Vista Water Treatment Plant overlooking
Collecting more than $95 million in revenue over the past year is a way of fulfilling its mandate, ensuring a more reliable flow of water for the future as Santa Clarita continues to grow, says one of the agency’s top managers.
“You can see there’s growth and plans for growth in this community, we coordinate with the city and the county on those plans,” said Valerie L. Pryor, the agency’s administrative services manager.
She explained that the $20 million collected in extra revenue this past year came from two primary sources: Property owners who pay 1 percent of their assessed property value to the state (of which the agency receives a portion), and from local water retailers who paid more for their water.
“We increased our wholesale water rate by 15 percent,” Pryor said.
As a result, Santa Clarita’s four water retailers — the agency’s own Santa Clarita Water Division, the Valencia Water Co., the Newhall County Water Agency and Los Angeles County’s Waterworks Agency No. 36 — ended up kicking in about $9.1 million to the agency’s overall revenue.
As well, property taxes accounted for $31.2 million of the agency’s total revenue.
Pryor said it’s essential to plan now for water needed in the future.
“Not only do we have to have the funds to properly maintain what we have,” she said. “If we build pipelines now, for instance, even though it will cost us less over this year and the next, what we have to do is regularly maintain (the pipelines) over the long term.”
According to independent auditors at the Charles Z. Fedak & Company who put together the annual report, the Castaic water agency also saw notable increases in both its net assets and its expenses.
A growing community has meant higher costs and a larger revenue base.
Auditors preparing the report noted: “Recently, the service area (along with most of
Assets, they note in the report, increased by $24.27 million over last year — an 8.87 percent increase in assets over last year — which contributed to almost $300 million worth of assets by year end.
Topping the list of newly acquired assets is the Sand Canyon Pumping Station and its pipeline, Pryor said.
On the other side of the balance sheet, the agency paid out $8.17 million in expenses this year over last, an increase of more than 13 percent. #
http://www.the-signal.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=51806&format=html
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