A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
January 31, 2008
2. Supply
DRAFT SWP DELIVERY RELIABILITY REPORT RELEASED:
Report: Water supplies will dwindle in
As Water Conservation Gets Tougher, City Spends Less - Voice of
DRAFT SWP DELIVERY RELIABILITY REPORT RELEASED:
Report: Water supplies will dwindle in
January’s series of storms merely masks a deeper problem that will see the amount of fresh water available to Californians dwindling year after year, a report from the Department of Water Resources says.
Its “Draft State Water Project Delivery Reliability Report 2007” updates estimates of its ability to maintain current (2007) and future (2027) State Water Project delivery reliability.
The report, issued every two years, also identifies factors that may impact water availability and changes that can be made to improve future water supply reliability.
It says continued declines in water supply reliability are likely if water delivery through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta remains unchanged.
Delta pumping restrictions imposed by a federal court to help protect threatened and endangered fish and the near-term effects of climate change are two of the major factors.
Based on historical data, the analysis shows that annual SWP deliveries would decrease virtually every year in the future, and by as much as 20 percent from current levels one-quarter of the time.
“This sobering assessment of the state’s water situation serves as a reminder that, despite the recent rains, the problems in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta remain unresolved,” says Timothy Brick, chairman of the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
“We face a new reality in
He says a new conservation strategy needs to be developed for the Delta and the state “should commence feasibility studies of various new ways to move water supplies across the Delta.”
The Delta supplies most of the fresh water used by some 23 million Californians. #
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=7707
As Water Conservation Gets Tougher, City Spends Less
Voice of
By Rob Davis, staff writer
Thursday, Jan. 31, 2008 | When a major drought hit
As the threat of another water shortage looms, that effort is shifting outdoors, an area where water managers say saving water is harder. At the same time that shift is occurring, though, the city of
The city's Water Department will spend $2.7 million this year on everything from a staffer who investigates complaints of water waste to educational campaigns. Spending is down 20 percent compared to last year (and 5 percent compared to 2006).
The cut comes at a time when attention is increasingly focusing on the region's precarious water supply. Court-ordered reductions in water exported from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and an almost decade-long drought on the
That drought launched water conservation efforts throughout
Since that drought, the city says it has taken steps to conserve about 30,000 acre feet of water annually -- enough water for 15,000 homes. (An acre foot is equal to about 325,000 gallons.) That has helped drive down the average San Diegan's daily water consumption from 201 gallons each day in 1989 to 162 gallons last year. That represents a 19 percent cut and has kept overall demand steady despite the city's population growth.
Other cities have had more conservation success than
Residents there use about 25 percent less water than they did when that historic drought began in 1987.
"In terms of the big picture, [per-capita water use] is what people need to focus on," said Matt Lyons, the Long Beach Water Department's director of planning and conservation. "
The region's water conservation began in earnest near the end of the 1987-1992 drought. Hundreds of thousands of showerheads and toilets were replaced with low-flow varieties -- often with subsidies from governments. Building codes were written to mandate the inclusion of low-flow fixtures in new housing.
The city of
As the potential of another water shortage draws near, the focus for water conservation is shifting outdoors -- slowly.
Water managers say saving water outside has proven to be more challenging than giving out showerheads and toilets, requiring more active involvement from homeowners -- monitoring irrigation, turning it off during stormy weather and ensuring lawns aren't given too much water.
Since 1991, the San Diego County Water Authority, the region's water wholesaler, has increased conservation to 52,000 acre feet annually. By 2010, the authority aims to conserve another 28,000 acre feet. That's a benchmark en route to saving 100,000 acre feet in 2030. Ken Weinberg, the authority's director of water resources, said he doesn't expect to meet the intermediate goal -- but believes the 2030 goal can be achieved.
"It's got to come in the landscape," Weinberg said. "It's not like installing a toilet or showerhead. You have to make people change their behavior, their choices in plants and do it over the long term. We don’t underestimate the challenge of doing that."
The city of
"Can we do more in saving water? Yes, we can," said Luis Generoso, the city's water conservation program manager. "The new frontier is outdoors. But we just don’t know how much water we can save there."
Environmentalists say the city can achieve more than it has been. Bruce Reznik, executive director of San Diego Coastkeeper, an environmental group, said he did not believe the city's conservation efforts were bold enough.
Reznik pointed to a host of options for the mayor and City Council: Strict ordinances on watering, rebates for rainwater harvesting systems or gray-water recycling, which allows sink or shower water to be recycled for irrigation, or a water billing system that penalizes excessive residential water use.
"You can do it economically, you can do it with mandate," Reznik said, "but it has to be a serious commitment, and it isn’t there." #
http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2008/01/31/environment/901conservation013108.txt
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