A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
December 4, 2007
2. Supply
Local water cup is 3/4 empty - Napa Valley Register
CONSERVATION ISSUES:
City, water district may pool conservation efforts - Desert Sun
WATER SHORTAGE:
RV water board may declare emergency - Ukiah Daily Journal
CLIMATE ISSUES
Editorial: Ask not for whom the global warming bell tolls; Bali is far away, but a new report makes it clear why climate change is a local issue - Sacramento
NEED FOR FURTHER CONSERVATION:
Editorial: We still need to conserve - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Local water cup is 3/4 empty
By Kerana Todorov, staff writer
Wanted: rain and snow.
That's the buzz in
Unless the Sierra Nevada mountains see heavy rain and snowfall this winter, American Canyon -- along with Napa, Yountville and Calistoga -- could receive only a quarter of the water they hoped to import from the Delta next year.
The California Department of Water Resources' initial announcement on water allocations this year was the lowest since 2003.
Unlike the other cities,
The cities could still receive more water if the state's water reservoirs fill up with rainwater and snowmelt.
"It's all up to Mother Nature," DWR spokesman Don Strickland said Monday.
If the dry weather continues,
Felix Riesenberg, water resources engineer for the Napa Flood and Water Conservation District, the agency that represents the cities before DWR, and Phil Brun,
The fear, Riesenberg said Monday, is that dry weather conditions continue.
In the meantime, water contractors throughout the state are looking for new water sources.
Unlike
The county's annual water entitlements from the State Water Project change ever year.
http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2007/12/04/news/local/iq_4250088.txt
CONSERVATION ISSUES:
City, water district may pool conservation efforts
Desert Sun – 12/4/07
By Marcel Honore, staff writer
La Quinta could approve today the
The city's "Cooperative Landscape Water Management" project, a joint effort with the Coachella Valley Water District, aims to reduce runoff and over-watering through several new approaches across La Quinta.
The partnership would be the first of its kind in the valley, desert water officials say.
"It drives most of us in the
The new plan would build on a 2005 pilot program to install efficient weather-based irrigation controllers and curb excess watering across the district's territory. The program saves millions of gallons a year, officials say.
"We're trying to build on the success," said Dave Koller, the district's conservation coordinator.
Koller said the La Quinta program would add four tactics to help conserve water within the city's limits. It would:
Study and implement improvements to save water on public property, such as redesigning median landscaping.
Provide incentives for residents to change their landscaping to better save water, like moving sprinklers away from the street.
Offer low-interest loans to homeowners associations, to change the community landscaping to help save water.
Offer free audits to golf courses and suggest ways they can conserve turf irrigation.
The program's price tag is estimated at more than $100,000, Koller said. The City Council will consider setting aside $50,000 during its regular meeting today.
The water district's board is set to review the plan Dec. 11, Koller said.
The proposal comes as state water officials warn of a looming water supply crisis in
The valley is tapping more local groundwater than it should, Koller said, and these efforts in La Quinta would help stop the flow.
"It's clear that (water supply) security shouldn't be taken for granted," Kirk said. #
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007712040317
WATER SHORTAGE:
RV water board may declare emergency
Ukiah Daily Journal – 12/4/07
By Ben Brown, staff writer
The Redwood Valley Water District Board will hold an emergency meeting on Dec. 11 to discuss the declaration of a water emergency.
The board has been considering emergency measures since last week when the Sonoma County Water Agency notified them that the level of storage in
According to the agreement, if the level of
As of Sunday, storage in
If the board votes to declare an emergency, it will be able to activate an ordinance passed earlier this year which would allow the board to take mandatory conservation measures, up to strict limits on how much water would be available to a household per month.
Redwood Valley Water District General Manager Bill Koehler said, currently, the board will be enforcing a mandatory shut-off of agricultural water but will only ask residential customers to increase voluntary conservation to 40 percent through the month of December.
A letter to that effect has been sent by the board to all water district customers.
The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Dec. 11 at the Redwood Valley-Calpella Fire Station at the intersection of
http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_7632028
CLIMATE ISSUES
Editorial: Ask not for whom the global warming bell tolls; Bali is far away, but a new report makes it clear why climate change is a local issue
Sacramento
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize this year, recently released its latest report summarizing the consensus of IPCC scientists on the Earth's warming atmosphere. Its findings are daunting for every nation of the world, for
Think the weather has seemed relatively warm in recent years? According to the panel, 11 of the last 12 years (1995-2006) rank among the 12 warmest years in recorded history, dating back to 1850, for global surface temperatures.
The IPCC is unequivocal in concluding that greenhouse emissions, largely from the burning of fossil fuels, are contributing to warming temperatures and rising oceans. Sea levels have risen about a half-foot in the last century, and are now rising even faster because warmer temperatures are melting ice sheets and expanding molecules in sea water.
How high will these oceans rise? Some computer models show that, without a significant reduction in greenhouse gases, the
Yet even with less dire projections, the future does not bode well for our local area. Earlier this year, some people scoffed when the Independent Science Board of the Bay-Delta Authority said the state should prepare for 28 to 39 inches of sea level rise by 2100. The latest IPCC report suggests that those forecasts are on target, with perilous consequences for the Delta and the state's water systems.
By strengthening its levees over time,
Although scientists acknowledge that it's difficult to forecast regional (as opposed to the worldwide) impacts of climate change, they expect
The average yearly snowpack is likely to decrease. That means that big rains will fall on barren (and possibly fire-charred) Sierra slopes. The velocity of runoff coming off the mountains will increase because there will be less snow to buffer it.
For the next two weeks, delegates from the
These talks may seem far removed from the lives of everyday people, but their outcome matters. The consequences could be as fundamental to our lives as the weather, our water supply and our public safety.
That's one reason
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/540250.html
NEED FOR FURTHER CONSERVATION:
Editorial: We still need to conserve
OUR VIEW: Rain doesn't end need for faucet thrift.
Finally, our high pressure gave way to a rainy weather system from the north, splashing
What does this do for the drought? Does it mean one more storm in the Southland and we can all go back to overwatering our lawns and brushing our teeth with the faucet running? No.
Conservation is what put
It's true.
Now - or ever - is not the time to abandon conservation efforts. That means homeowners planting more xeriscapes and using drip irrigation systems or systems they can "pause" before, during and after a storm. That means homeowners buying more low-flush toilets and water-stingy washing machines and dishwashers, and then running those machines only when full. Conservation should be a way of life.
After all, the
Still, we're much better prepared than we used to be.
After 1992's "March Miracle," the water engineers were saying the huge storms that broke that drought cycle weren't enough.
That the rain was falling mainly on the plain - i.e. here in
That was then. Now, there's more storage and more water saving.
We give the water folks credit. They've built in more water conservation by flooding the market with low-flow toilets and low-flow showers. Giveaways have been common at many water agencies. In the last 15 years, MWD and others have invested in some extensive water storage systems, both above and under ground. This has increased water storage here in
In addition to that new reservoir, underground basins like those in the
Better water collection systems, combined with more water conservation and water recycling, will sustain life in our region. And oh yeah, occasional gifts of rain from Mother Nature. #
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