Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
January 29, 2008
1. Top Item
Threats to imported water supplies make clouds welcome sight
By Gig Conaughton, staff writer
That prediction is obvious but more complicated than it appears.
In most years, pouring rains would have little direct effect on local water supplies.
Even in the wettest years, eight out of every 10 glasses of water in
This year, however, the region could lose up to 30 percent of its supplies from
Because of that, water officials are hoping that rains will keep local residents from watering lawns and gardens for weeks. That will help keep backup stores filled and ready to be tapped when hotter weather arrives.
Local farmers already have suffered mandatory 30 percent cutbacks. They signed deals to buy water at discounted rates in return for taking the first supply cuts in emergencies.
But the recent rains are helping them. If farmers don't use all the water they're allowed now, they'll be allowed to use it later this year - in hot months when there will be little rain.
"For us, this is like pennies from heaven,"
Gary Arant, general manager of the Valley Center Municipal Water District, which serves hundreds of farmers, said the district had sold a lot less water this year than a year ago because of the rains.
"In December of 2006, we delivered just over 2,000 acre feet," Arant said. "This year it was about 860 acre feet. That's a significant drop, and I'm sure it's connected to farmers taking advantage of the rain."
An acre foot of water is 325,900 gallons, enough to sustain two households for a year.
Officials from the San Diego County Water Authority said the rains also could help local residents by protecting backup stores of water in huge reservoirs like Temecula's
Water Authority officials said that, so far this month, 3.26 inches of rain had fallen at Lindbergh Field. That was 60 percent more than the average January total of 2.05 inches.
Even so, the recent rains have brought the county's overall rain totals to roughly their average.
"Don't put any water on your lawn," said Ken Weinberg, the Water Authority's water resource manager. "Because of that federal (court) ruling, we're not going to be able to bring as much water down as we used to (from
Weinberg and others said all of
They revolve around how much water can be shipped through the State Water Project - the 600 mile series of reservoirs, dams, pipelines and pumping stations that deliver
That supply comprised two-thirds of
But in August, a federal court ruled that the pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta - the heart of the State Water Project - must be cut back in 2008 to protect the endangered delta smelt, a tiny fish.
Because of that, supplies could be cut to
State water officials said Monday that just as rains have been falling in
Maury Roos, a hydrologist with
"Things look good for the first of the month," Roos said. "We've more than doubled the snowpack."
Roos said resources officials will take new field measurements Thursday, and could increase the paltry supply estimates the agency released in November.
At that time, resources officials predicted that
Roos said the recent snows were good news for the system.
But he and other officials said the court ruling still hangs like a cloud over the water-supply picture.
No one will know until later this spring how much the federal court ruling will cut into the State Water Project's supplies.
"That's a limit we haven't had before," Roos said. #
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/01/29/news/top_stories/21_59_461_28_08.txt
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