[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 1/8/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

January 8, 2008

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People

 

Despite drenching, a plea to save water; Drought anxiety persists among lawmakers, officials

San Diego Union Tribune – 1/8/07

By Michael Gardner, staff writer

 

SACRAMENTO – The weekend wave of winter storms that plowed through California drew a sigh of relief from drought-weary water officials, but it didn't completely wash away their anxiety.

 

Early reports are promising, with as much as 10 feet of fresh powder blanketing the upper peaks of the northern Sierra – a major water source for the San Diego region.

 

The powerful storms, which flirted with record territory, delivered the equivalent of 3.5 million acre-feet of water – enough to meet the needs of 7 million average households for a year, according to state figures.

 

But one punch cannot fully replenish the state's reservoirs, which have been drained to dangerously low levels by years of drier-than-normal winters and increasing demands, water officials warned in reissuing pleas for conservation.

 

“We're just at a huge deficit. It's going to take years to recover,” said Ken Weinberg, who tracks supplies for the San Diego County Water Authority.

 

The storms tailed off yesterday, just as state lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger split over how and when to approach voters with a multibillion-dollar water bond.

 

The Democratic president of the state Senate and the Assembly Republican leader separately suggested that voters may be not be willing to commit to billions in new spending at a time when a state budget crisis is expected to force painful cuts in services.

 

“We probably just want to hold our dice,” said Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland.

 

Assemblyman Michael Villines, R-Fresno, said, “It's a very tough sell.”

 

Perata and Villines are concerned that voter rejection of a water bond this year could indefinitely delay new funding for improvements in the state's water supply and restoration of the environmentally and economically important Sacramento delta.

 

Lawmakers deadlocked over building new reservoirs last year, frustrating efforts to put a water bond on the Feb. 5 ballot. Perata said yesterday that the Legislature should restart negotiations, perhaps with a November 2010 ballot date in mind.

 

Schwarzenegger, who campaigned across the state last year hoping to rally grass-roots support for reservoirs, dismissed any thought of sidelining a bond measure, according to a spokesman.

 

“Solving the budget is the top priority right now, but we cannot allow a difficult budget to halt progress on other state priorities,” said Aaron McLear, the governor's press secretary. “Water will become more of a crisis and cause more economic strain if we don't act now.”

 

State Sen. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, who carried one of the bond measures, also is pressing for action now.

 

“Water is too important of an issue to put on the back burner until the Legislature can learn to balance a checkbook,” Cogdill said.

 

Moving swiftly, the state Senate yesterday passed legislation to spend $611 million in previously approved bond funds for the delta and other water projects.

 

The round of storms that started Friday was one of the biggest in a half-century.

 

“It was a big one,” said Maury Roos, a state hydrologist. “It was certainly in the top 10.”

 

However, Roos, who has monitored the weather for 50 years, quickly dampened his own enthusiasm by pointing out that past storm patterns lead him to believe the statewide dry spell cannot be declared over.

 

“It's not in the bag by a long shot. . . . I still have a feeling it will be a little less than an average season when we're done,” he said.

 

Nevertheless, the immediate outlook is promising. A weaker storm system is expected to move into Northern California today, bringing nearly 2 feet of new snow.

 

That should build on the 111 percent of average the state enjoyed as of yesterday morning, according to the National Weather Service.

 

Northern California ski resorts reported significant new snow. At Kirkwood, the storm dropped between 100 and 132 inches. Measurements at Soda Springs indicated between 89 and 115 inches.

 

That doesn't mean California is now awash in water, said Roger Patterson, who monitors conditions in the Sierra and along the Colorado River for the giant Metropolitan Water District.

 

“Right now we're sitting at just about where we were last year,” Patterson said, referring to snow levels. “Last year, it turned out to be really dry from now until mid-February. Last year turned out to be a below-normal year.”

 

Metropolitan's board of directors yesterday reviewed draft plans for potential rationing should shortages persist.

 

“Our message is to continue conservation,” Patterson said.

 

But even if snow covers the mountains in the coming weeks, deliveries to Southern California will remain constrained by a federal order to slow pumping water out of the Sacramento delta to protect a tiny endangered fish.

 

There is brighter news along the vast Colorado River system, where snowfall is at about 115 percent of normal. The river feeds Lake Mead, a vital source of water for San Diego and all of Southern California. Both are only about half full.

 

“A good couple of weeks certainly helps,” said San Diego's Weinberg. “But it doesn't get us out of the woods.” #

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20080108-9999-1n8water.html

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