A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
December 11, 2007
2. Supply
Banking on a wet winter; But ski resorts, water agencies may be in for another dry year - Ventura County Star
CLOUD SEEDING:
Cloud seeding decision delayed; Water board wants more data -
WATER CONSERVATION:
Water sales hit historic peak; Calls for conservation appear to be failing to soak in - North County Times
WATER RIGHTS USEAGE:
Rainfall helps IID’s estimated excess usage decrease - Imperial Valley Press
Banking on a wet winter; But ski resorts, water agencies may be in for another dry year
By Zeke Barlow, staff writer
A combination of the first sizable snowstorm of the year, mixed with high numbers of eager skiers clicking on the site to find out if it was time to break out the ski boots, made the site temporarily go down.
"It's white up here," said spokeswoman Laura Johnson. "It's a great thing."
Ski resorts and water managers across
But with La Niña predicted for the winter and snowpacks around the
"When La Niña shows up, the fix is in for drought," said Bill Patzert, a climatologist with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
He predicts another dry year in Southern California, while in
Last year's meager snowfall makes this year's snow all that much more important, said Kelly Redmond, interim director of the
"Starting from a deficit situation is not the kind of position you like to be in as a water manager or firefighter or anyone else who is interested in having enough water," he said last week from his office, where he could see bare mountains that normally are covered with snow this time of year.
Snow-making equipment has been used whenever the mercury drops low enough, and before the recent storm was the only thing keeping some mountains open.
"We couldn't survive in
The mountain recently sweetened the pot to lure in more skiers and snowboarders by giving away two lift tickets with every season pass purchased. He said even when the mountain is making plenty of snow, people are still hesitant to go skiing when it feels as if a drought is under way.
At Heavenly Mountain Resort, the largest ski hill in the
His mountain is a bit more "weather-proof" than others because visitors, many from out of state, plan for trips months in advance.
But not everyone sees the snowy mountains as a potential playground.
"I look at it as a big frozen reservoir. That's all it means to me," said Don Kendall, general manager of Calleguas Municipal Water District, which serves the cities of
He's hoping the forecast of
Early next year, the board of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which distributes State Water Project water to member agencies in
It will be up to the individual agencies if they want their customers to ration water, Muir said.
Every one of the three water sources for Metropolitan has issues now. Beyond the weak Sierra snowpack, the
"We are praying for snow," Muir said. #
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/dec/11/let-it-snow-let-it-snow-let-it-snow-banking-on-a/
CLOUD SEEDING:
Cloud seeding decision delayed; Water board wants more data
By Daniel Lopez, staff writer
The winter rain season may be well under way before local water officials meet again to discuss the possibility of seeding clouds.
The Monterey Peninsula Water Management District board voted 6-1 on Monday to take the issue up again when it meets again next month.
Kristi Markey, who logged the opposing vote, said she believes the public got the wrong idea that district would definitely pursue cloud seeding and perceived the concept as "rain dancing."
Seeding would involve introducing an ice-forming agent such as silver iodide into cloud regions to cause supercooled liquid water droplets to freeze. Frozen, the droplets expand, producing more raindrops when they melt and fall to the ground.
The board's vote that will allow more time to gather more information on the process came after a brief presentation by Mark Solak, vice president of North American Weather Consultants.
Based in
The river provides 70 percent of the
Director Regina Doyle asked about the potential objections the public may raise to the proposed project, especially concerning health issue and the environment.
Solak said objections are typically tied to a need for information and that the concentrations of silver iodide released are low and difficult to detect.
Other board members raised questions about the potential benefits and costs associated with cloud seeding.
Darby Fuerst, the district's water resources manager, has said that under ideal conditions, seeding done from December to March could increase rainfall by 2 to 3 inches, up to 20 percent.
The project would cost about $150,000 for a ground application that would require setting up hilltop stands on plots of about 10-by-10 feet, equipped with flares, said Fuerst.
The flares, which shoot the silver iodide into the weather fronts, are triggered remotely by meteorologists who monitor storms moving through the region, said Solak.
The district does not have any money specifically for cloud seeding, but Fuerst said there is money in the district's flood/drought reserve budget that could be applied.
Fuerst said the potential benefits could be the production of enough water to recharge the
David Dilworth, director of the group Helping Our Peninsula's Environment, told the board it should not trust the figures of potential increased rain they were presented because Solak has a vested financial interest.
"This is not real science," he said, comparing cloud seeding to rain dancing.
Solak told the board that seeding operations takes place on all continents except
The board will meet Jan. 24.
Meanwhile, the next chance for rain on the
That high pressure ridge is expected to weaken by Sunday, giving way to the rain.
As of Sunday for the winter season,
"We can make that up in one single storm," he said. "No need to panic yet," he said. #
http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_7689660?nclick_check=1
WATER CONSERVATION:
Water sales hit historic peak; Calls for conservation appear to be failing to soak in
By Gig Conaughton, staff writer
According to San Diego County Water Authority records, the agency chalked up its second highest July water sales in six years in 2007 -- just a month after asking residents to cut water use by 20 gallons a day.
Officials say it's too soon to tell, but these wholesale water sales figures suggest that many local residents may not be paying much attention to calls asking them to cut back water use because of looming supply shortages.
As San Diego County's regional wholesaler, the Water Authority supplies nearly all of the water that pours out of county residents' taps, flows to businesses, fills tubs, toilets, and washing machines and waters lawns, gardens and landscapes. The agency buys water and sells it to 24 member cities and agencies.
In addition to the July sales, the Water Authority's August water sales were its highest in history for the month since it started keeping records -- more than 26.8 billion gallons. And local water demand through October is 6.6 percent higher than it was in October 2006.
Meanwhile, officials from the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District said its water sales also are high despite a water-conservation campaign. Metropolitan is
However, Brandon Goshi, a Metropolitan analyst and manager, said water-sales numbers could be affected by many variables, from retail billing practices to buying water to store rather than use, weather changes and population increases. He said because of that, it was not possible to say that increasing sales meant that people were ignoring conservation calls.
Last week, Water Authority board members voted to spend $206,000 on a "more aggressive" public conservation campaign. Spokesman John Liarakos said the money could include hiring an advertising consultant, increasing TV and video marketing and sending staff representatives to community events.
Water agencies across the state -- including Metropolitan -- have started public campaigns asking people to cut water use because drought and environmental worries have the state on the brink of its worst water supply shortages since the 1987-91 drought.
Historically, Southern California has relied on two main sources for its life-sustaining imported water: the Colorado River and the State Water Project, the latter a 600-mile series of dams, reservoirs and pumps that sends
Supplies from both are threatened. The
Ken Weinberg, resource manager for the Water Authority, said there were signs that
Weinberg said the agency's water demand was lower in September and October than in 2006. But he said water officials are not sure how to measure October's figures because hundreds of thousands of residents were forced out of their homes ---- and away from their regular water-use patterns ---- when evacuated during the firestorms.
Weinberg also said that the agency had conducted telephone surveys that indicated that local residents were at least aware of the conservation messages.
"I think they're getting the message," Weinberg said. "It takes time to change patterns of behavior." #
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/12/11/news/top_stories/1_03_5012_10_07.txt
WATER RIGHTS USEAGE:
Rainfall helps IID’s estimated excess usage decrease
By Brianna Lusk, staff writer
It has been called a sign of the times as the Imperial Irrigation District attempts to live within its water rights.
It has stirred up debate in the agricultural community about the how and when water rationing will begin.
Then along came the rain.
Since the IID board declared a supply demand imbalance in June, predicting to use more than 75,000 acre-feet than allowed, that number has diminished.
In the past week that number has dwindled from 10,000 acre-feet to less than 5,000 acre-feet with recent rainfall in the area.
But the IID is still pushing forward with a pilot program for water rationing, primarily affecting the farming industry, called equitable water distribution.
“Even though the risk of an inadvertent overrun has largely been removed … it would be a mistake, in my opinion, to return to the status quo,” said interim General Manager Mike Campbell.
“It is clear we are living in a changed environment,”
And while the district may not actually exceed its water allotment at all this year, the board is moving forward with equitable distribution for 2008.
“This is not in concrete,” Director John Pierre Menvielle said. “We’re going to work the bugs out of it with the farmers’ help.”
Disagreement over the proposed program continued at a workshop held Monday, as the district is nearing the deadline of Dec. 31 to have a plan in place.
The proposed plan calls for 5.13 acre-feet to be designated for an acre of land, straight across the board. The Imperial County Farm Bureau wants a historical method of supplying the water, giving farmers time to transition and conserve to meet the water restraints.
Other components of the program include penalties for hoarding water, and questions about a water exchange program among farmers have yet to reach a consensus.
The program is scheduled to go online Jan. 1 and some are still calling for the board to institute the program July 1, which would align with a majority of the agricultural years. Director Anthony Sanchez asked whether that was possible.
IID water attorney David Osias said unless the board cancels the supply demand imbalance the program will begin Jan. 1.
“We want to see how it works. Even on a pilot basis, we need to test the system,” Osias said.
Holtville farmer John Vessey said the implementation date of Jan. 1 would be a disaster.
“You’re going to change the historic precedence. It would cause chaos,” Vessey said. #
http://www.ivpressonline.com/articles/2007/12/11/local_news/news02.txt
####
No comments:
Post a Comment