A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
January 10, 2008
2. Supply
Water supplies low despite recent rain -
SIERRA SNOWPACK:
Winter storms help increase snowpack - Reno Gazette Journal
WATER CONSERVATION:
Landscaping for low water use; Finding an experienced landscaper is key - Agora Acorn
WESTERN WATER ISSUES:
Expect it to rain less - but when it does, watch out; Global warming will bring longer periods of dryness, more downpours, report says - Las Vegas Sun
Water supplies low despite recent rain
By Melissa Pamer, staff writer
Officials across the region continue to struggle with low water supplies and prepare for potential rationing despite the recent rains.
Many cities in the
Last year's winter - the driest in 130 years of record keeping - is in large part to blame. That parched season has had a continued impact on water supplies in the
"We're just praying for more rain right now," said Kirk Howie, assistant general manager with the Claremont-based Three Valleys Municipal Water District. "If we do have another dry year as we did last year, then ... there are going to be some hard decisions that need to be made."
The region has received more than 7 inches of precipitation since the rainy season began, putting rainfall above average for this point in the winter. But the past weekend's storms are just the beginning of what's needed to make up for the deficit caused by last year, experts said.
"It's a drop in the bucket," said Bill Patzert, a climatologist with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Ca ada Flintridge. "We crept into this drought and we will crawl out even more slowly."
A recent court ruling restricting water deliveries from Northern California, an eight-year drought on the
In the San Gabriel Mountains, the reservoirs that supply much of the Valley and replenish its groundwater were almost dry before the recent rains,
The giant spigots in the San Gabriel Dam haven't opened in more than a year, and the flow of the
Without natural replenishment, underground water levels have dropped by up to 60 feet in some areas.
And the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California - itself facing restrictions on supplies from the north - has long since cut off the water that local utilities rely on to refill groundwater basins.
"Everybody is looking for more water," said Joseph Hsu, director of utilities at Azusa Light and Water, which instituted mandatory conservation measures in May 2007.
The city, like others, has passed the extra costs along to water customers - in the form a surcharge on bimonthly bills.
In neighboring
City officials are writing a mandatory conservation measure that should go before the City Council in February.
Water levels are at historic lows in
"We've never bought this much before," said Randy Carter,
In addition,
"We'll go down until we find something," said Public Works Director Dave Davies.
In
Other, more stringent measures are also being discussed, officials across the region said.
Unless this winter is very wet, water rationing is a possibility beginning next summer. That hasn't happened since 1991.
But officials will first have to wait for word from the MWD as to how much water it can deliver. The MWD distributes water from the
The MWD board will consider plans to implement rationing in February or March, spokesman Bob Muir said.
"We're going to put a water supply allocation plan together in case we do face those same challenges (as in 2007)," said Muir, adding that is was too early in the year to predict what conservation or rationing measures would need to be taken.
The MWD had been struggling with a long-term drought on the
The cumulative effect of the last season's drought and supply cutbacks made 2007 uncomfortably memorable for water officials.
"Last year was a horrible, horrible year for water supply," said Carol Williams, executive director of the Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster, a court-created agency that monitors groundwater use in most of the
The basin that Williams controls is a vast underground "bathtub" that supplies water to communities from South Pasadena east to San Dimas and from the foothills to La Puente. A gauge in
Groundwater is also dropping in the
Many water agencies are urging residents to voluntarily curb water use, saying conservation is a crucial tactic in combatting the shortage.
"If the public actually starts conserving water, we will be in fairly good shape," said Brad Boman, engineering manager for Pasadena Water and Power. "If people don't conserve, it could turn into a crisis."
At this point, few cities have required mandatory conservation. But whether new rules are to be instituted on a wider basis may depend in large part on how much rain the region gets in the coming months.
"If we have another year like we did last year," Williams said, "everybody is going to start feeling the pinch." #
http://www.sgvtribune.com/news/ci_7928145
SIERRA SNOWPACK:
Winter storms help increase snowpack
By Martha Bellisle, staff writer
The weekend blizzard turned around the Sierra snowpack.
"It brought us from a pretty bleak situation to being in pretty good shape for this time of year," Dan Greenlee, a hydrologist with the U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service, said after measuring the snow Wednesday at the Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe resort.
Two weeks ago, the snow pack was about 2 feet, he said, and most of the snow averages in the region were in the 50 percent ranges.
But today, it's a different story.
Using an aluminum snow tube, Greenlee dipped into the white surface and found more than 6 feet of snow, about
100 percent of normal.
The
On Jan. 1, Lake Tahoe was at 53 percent of average, the
"This is a great recovery," Greenlee said. "We basically more than doubled the snowpack. We just need to keep the storms coming for the rest of the year."
The snow survey program, 100 years old in 2006, measures the water content of snow. From that information, hydrologists issue stream-flow forecasts for the coming spring and summer.
"We forecast how much water Lake Tahoe will receive and how much water will flow through the
Each month, he issues reports to gauge the snowpack. The Wednesday measurement at
Greenlee and others use an extensive network of automated sites to track the snow on an hourly basis through the Internet. But they also physically measure the snow on a monthly basis to ensure that the automated measurements are accurate, he said.
Last year at this time, the snowpack was half this year's measurement on this date, with Lake Tahoe at 56 percent of normal and the
Those low numbers led to an extremely dry year in the Sierra, he said.
"We were in very bad shape last year," he said.
But starting out with 6½ feet of snowpack could forecast positive things for the rest of the year, he said.
"This is good stuff," he said. "We're in good shape." #
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080110/NEWS16/801100341/1321/NEWS
WATER CONSERVATION:
Landscaping for low water use; Finding an experienced landscaper is key
Agora Acorn – 1/10/08
By Joann Groff, staff writer
After living in Steeplechase for five years, Kathryn Palmer and her family bought a house in Calabasas' Deer Springs development three years ago. She immediately noticed a neighborhood tendency to overwater.
"Even in the height of summer, the gutters were all wet," Palmer said. "In many places there were kinds of algae growing because it was so wet, and I'm talking about days when it was 100 degrees."
Palmer decided to permanently turn off the sprinklers in her new yard. The Palmers let their lawn die off naturally, without using pesticides, and Palmer's husband and brother rototilled the front yard.
Then Palmer began designing her new yard based solely on what would use the least water. She logged on to the Internet site BeWaterWise.com, which helps residents choose the best plants for their needs.
The site, run by the Metropolitan Water District and the Family of Southern California Water Agencies, provides yard design tem- plates, a where-to-buy guide and a database with more than 1,500 plants that require minimal water.
Palmer chose to cover her slopes with creeping red fescue and incorporated the drought-resistant California pepper tree, columns of rosemary plants and wood chips to preserve the roots and conserve water.
"I designed, I bought, I schlepped- I did everything except the actual labor," Palmer said. "I am thrilled. It's exactly how I pictured it in my mind. And it requires minimal water."
The yard was finished Nov. 5. During this time of year, Palmer said, her sprinklers are off and they only water the landscape as needed. When days get warmer, they may water for about five or six minutes twice a day.
Bharat Shah, manager of Agoura Hills'
"Most drought-resistant plants don't want much water, so if you have an automatic sprinkler system watering the lawn, or there is a lot of rain, people have some trouble," Shah said. "People ask for the plants a lot, but in the summer, for example, creeping red fescue turns brown, and some people don't like that."
Shah said red fescue and iceplant work well for people who live on hillsides. And he gets a lot of requests for geraniums, which bloom beautifully but don't need too much water. But as far as an entire yard, the best assurance that it will prosper is to put in a fair amount of maintenance time, Shah said.
"When people come in here asking for drought-resistant plants I ask them how much time they spend in their yard," Shah said. "If they don't put in the time, it's really hard. Especially when most maintenance is done by gardeners and they don't have the extra money or time to water plants separately and really do it right."
Palmer agreed that finding an experienced landscaper is the key to success. She hired Raymundo Mandujano of Ray's Lawn and Garden Service.
"He really knows what grows and what doesn't," Palmer said. "He's very knowledgeable and really worked through the designing with me- that really helps."
The increase in interest comes on the heels of a Las Virgenes Municipal Water District announcement that it wants to see a 10 percent cutback by residential and commercial water customers. The district also notified agricultural customers in its service area that as of Jan. 1 they had to reduce potable water use by 30 percent.
Water district officials said the actions stem from a need to refill depleted storage reservoirs. Also, water managers face a courtordered 30 percent reduction in the amount of supplies they receive from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The LVMWD receives all its water from the delta via the state water project.
"We just didn't want to contribute to all the water that flows in the creek," Palmer said. Palmer worked for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy for seven years and considers herself an environmentalist. She is also an avid scuba diver. "Even though the drains have the Heal the Bay sign on them, a lot still ends up in the ocean. I think it's up to the government to make it easier to do the right thing."
Somehow it needs to be easier to conserve water, she said, using as an analogy the days when recycling bins began to become available.
District officials recommend reducing irrigation times, watering on alternate days and shutting down sprinkler systems during periods of rain. Other suggestions include repairing leaking toilets and faucets, taking shorter showers and washing only full loads of dishes and laundry.
"People don't think about what they do at home and how it's going to affect the bigger picture," Palmer said.
"Everything we all do affects the environment and the planet."
The LVMWD is offering its customers free wateruse surveys to help them meet the goals. Conservation information can be found at the district's website, www.LVMWD.com. For more information about water-friendly plants, visit BeWaterWise.com. #
http://www.theacorn.com/news/2008/0110/Community/027.html
WESTERN WATER ISSUES:
Expect it to rain less - but when it does, watch out; Global warming will bring longer periods of dryness, more downpours, report says
Las Vegas
By Phoebe Sweet, staff writer
Residents of the Southwest have heard the refrain that droughts caused by global warming will worsen the region's already serious water shortage.
But hotter, drier weather won't be the only way that climate change affects the water supply, according to a report released last month by the nonprofit advocacy group Environment America.
It also will mean stronger, albeit less frequent, storms rather than light rain throughout the year.
The study found that extreme downpours have increased 29 percent in
Scientists say these increased deluges will hurt, not help, the long-term water picture.
Not only could they mean more flooding, soil erosion and pollution runoff into waterways, but also less ground-water recharge, the process in which water soaks into the ground and moves to deeper layers to replenish aquifers.
So an increase in the number of downpours does not necessarily mean more water will be available.
"Scientists expect that extreme downpours will punctuate longer periods of relative dryness, increasing the risk of drought," the report said. "In the Southwest, for example, total annual precipitation is projected to decline - amplifying the impact of periods of little rainfall between heavy storms."
Exacerbating the condition in
"That will mean the flows of rivers like the
A spokesman for the Southern Nevada Water Authority said the agency could not comment on the report before analyzing its underlying data. He did say, however, that the authority "is keenly aware of the implications of climate change not only on the amount of precipitation our watershed receives, but the frequency, form and intensity of that precipitation."
"We applaud research efforts that help us better understand, prepare for and - to the extent possible - avert the consequences of climate change."
Madsen said 40 states showed statistically significant increases in deluges over the past 60 years, meaning this problem will be faced nationwide.
"Climate change means we have to worry not only about how much water we get, but how we get it," said Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in
Gleick said global warming and accompanying extreme weather will mean droughts and floods.
The increase in extreme rains is caused by two factors, according to the report. Increasing temperatures of land and oceans cause water to evaporate faster, and rising air temperature allows the atmosphere to hold more water vapor.
Clouds become richer with water, making downpours more likely.
Kenneth Kunkel, acting chief of the Illinois State Water Survey, whose research was used in the report, said it is not certain that the increase in extreme rains is linked to global warming or that water supplies will be affected by the increase in extreme rains.
But he is certain the increase could mean more loss of life and property from floods, like one near
"Our exposure to the risk of flood is there and hasn't gone down over time," he said.
During the 20th century, floods caused more property damage and loss of life than any other natural disaster in the
Kunkel said the report's findings that extreme rains have increased and will continue to do so echo conclusions from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and are consistent with those across the globe. #
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/sun/2008/jan/10/566649270.html
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