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[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 2/4/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

February 4, 2008

 

2. Supply

 

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WATER SUPPLY:

Experts: Expect drought to linger; More water shortages seen for Southland - Pasadena Star News

 

SNOWPACK:

Above-average Sierra snowpack deepens - Nevada Appeal

 

Snow's water content looking good; Figures for Sierra are higher than average - Modesto Bee

 

Snow accumulation makes it harder to measure snow - Modesto Bee

 

Storms improve outlook for water - Sonora Union Democrat

 

Editorial: Hits and misses - Chico Enterprise Record

 

NAPA VALLEY WATER LEVELS:

Reservoirs drink in the rains; Local water officials hopeful for a ‘good water year’ - Napa Valley Register

 

LAKE MENDOCINO LEVELS:

Lake levels begin to rise - Ukiah Daily Journal

 

RAINFALL LEVELS:

Column: Deluge of respect for what was once just rain - Contra Costa Times

 

WATER CONSERVATION:

Editorial: Water conservation never out of season - Woodland Daily Democrat

 

GROUNDWATER SUPPLY:

Water search yields results; City-backed project still must determine amount available to be pumped, salinity - San Diego Union Tribune

 

Officials to tap aquifer - North County Times

 

WESTERN WATER ISSUES:

Scientists see looming water crisis in western U.S. – Reuters

 

50-year snowpack drop may herald water shortages - Arizona Daily Star

 

 

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WATER SUPPLY:

Experts: Expect drought to linger; More water shortages seen for Southland

Pasadena Star News – 2/1/08

By Elsie Kleeman, staff writer

 

Southern California's current drought is just the beginning.

 

Models of the West's future and studies of its past, including one announced Thursday in the prestigious journal "Science," forecast a coming crisis in water supply.

 

With so much at stake, scientists - including a panel recruited by Southern California's powerful Metropolitan Water District - are warning policy makers that an entirely new approach to water management is needed.

 

"There is a sense of urgency here, this is not something we can wait 10 years to address," said Tim Barnett, a marine physicist at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. "There's no shortage of potential solutions and ideas, somebody just has to take the reins and do it."

 

Barnett and his colleagues set out to identify what caused the West's changing climate during the last 50 years. By comparing climate models with historical records of snow and river conditions, the team estimated that as much as 60 percent of shifts in water supply were brought about by human pollution.

 

"The answer came out quite clearly that it's us," he said.

 

The climate models also predict a coming "train wreck" of water shortages and steep drops in electricity production as dams empty, Barnett said.

 

In addition to climate change, California's swelling population, environmental battles and fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta levee system combine to make the state's water delivery system far more susceptible to shortage than once thought.

 

"One of the things that sticks out like a sore thumb is we have to be more reliant on local sources, our groundwater," said Bill Patzert, a JPL climatologist and member of MWD's seven-member science panel. "The good news is that we have great aquifers."

 

But groundwater is not an unlimited resource, and in some places - such as much of San Diego County - it's not available at all.

 

"It's a big mess, and there are many solutions, but the obvious one is conservation," Patzert said. "Building a conservation program, as soon as possible, will benefit all of California."

 

The panel's report also calls for more water recycling and reclamation efforts, greater collaboration with scientists and a broader awareness of the historical, social and environmental factors that make California's water resources much less reliable than once thought.

 

"It's a clarion call that we need to do more," said Tim Brick, MWD's chairman. The scientists' report, he said, is part of a larger effort by the agency to incorporate more research into its long-term planning.

 

MWD, a consortium of Southern California cities and water agencies, distributes water to 18 million people.

 

"What the science panel did is in many ways set the tone and provide some guidelines" for MWD's water management plan, now in the midst of a large-scale revision, Brick said. It is expected to be completed next year.

 

One thing the scientists agree on is that water districts' use of only the last 100-or-so years of data to prepare for natural fluctuations - a policy known as stationarity - is no longer adequate.

 

"Stationarity is dead," asserted the headline of a second article published in Thursday's issue of Science.

 

Even ignoring the effects of human-induced global warming, geologists have found reason for concern about our water supply just by looking futher back in natural records of river flow.

 

Studies have shown the Colorado River has seen multiple droughts lasting as much as 50 or 100 years - "droughts that are much deeper than any droughts that we've seen in the last 100 years, including the Dust Bowl droughts," said Johnnie Moore, a geologist on the MWD panel.

 

"The concern that many of us have is that water management is based on this concept that is on very poor ground now," said Moore, of the University of Montana.

 

Add to this human effects that cause much more variability in supplies, and providing enough water to satisfy the millions living in the West "is really going to take a major effort at the policy level," he said. "This is not going to be easy."  #

http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_8146630

 

 

SNOWPACK:

Above-average Sierra snowpack deepens

Nevada Appeal – 2/3/08

By Julie Brown, staff writer

 

January’s continuous stream of stormy winter weather left behind above-average snowpacks — good news for those watching the water supply, but a mixed-bag for local businesses.

Results from the California Department of Water Resources’ snow survey completed on Jan. 31 near Echo Summit on Highway 50 revealed snowpacks that were more than seven feet deep, or 123 percent above average for this time of year.

There is 75 percent more water in the snowpack this year than there was at the same point last season, the survey said. And across the entire Sierra Nevada the snowpack is 111 percent of average.

Data paints a similar picture for North Lake Tahoe and Truckee. The snowpack is 121 percent and 108 percent above average respectively, according to the Western Regional Climate Center at the Desert Research Institute.

Readings in Tahoe City showed 15 inches of water in the snowpack on Feb. 1, said Dr. Kelly Redmond, a regional climatologist with the research institute. Data taken on same day in 2007 showed only 5 inches.

“We’re sitting pretty good right now,” Redmond said. “But we have had a number of years in the past where it shut off in the spring.”

Elissa Lynn, a senior meteorologist for the Department of Water Resources, said that while it’s too early to project how this winter’s snowpack will ultimately affect the state’s water supply, the storms in January were a boost for the Sacramento Valley and the San Joaquin Delta.

“Last year was dry to critical for our [snow] runoff,” Lynn said. “One month is good, but we need a good full season to make up for last year’s deficit.”

The Department of Water Resources will be compiling an official report on the projected water supply, based on the snowpack data, at the end of the month, said Lynn.

Good for business?


Business owners throughout the Tahoe Truckee area had a lot to say about how the storms affected their business.
For some, the massive amounts of snow will double their revenues. Others reported quite the opposite.


Patty Baird, owner of the Cedar House Sport Hotel in Truckee, said her lodging is practically booked on every weekend through March, with only a few of her 42 rooms available at times.


Baird said her revenues doubled last month compared to the prior year.


“I have to attribute it to both snow and also word of mouth,” Baird said. “More people know of our presence here.”


But Tahoe City business owner Maria Baruh, who owns the women’s fine clothing store, La Panache, said the treacherous snow storm conditions are keeping out-of-town visitors off the roads and out of the area. The people who are coming into town are coming to ski not to shop, Baruh said.


“Most of us have had a lot of zero days — and it’s not just me,” Baruh said.


Monte Webb, who owns Jason’s Beachside Grille in Kings Beach, said the traffic flow in his restaurant has been pretty normal. But he expected things to pick up when the skies clear.


“I’m just expecting it to get better with as much snow as we’ve got,” Webb said. “I’m hoping anyway.”


Barb Cohen, who owns the Shore House bed and breakfast in Tahoe Vista, also expected more people to come up once the roads are in better condition.


“[The visitors] want the new snow,” Cohen said. “But they don’t want to drive in the mess on the roads.” #

http://www.nevadaappeal.com/article/SS/20080203/NEWS/768419288/-1/REGION

 

 

Snow's water content looking good; Figures for Sierra are higher than average

Modesto Bee – 2/1/08

By Inga Miller, staff writer

 

Surveyors are trudging through the mountains to find out just how much snow there is, at least at spots they can get to.

 

The sheer number of snowstorms and the accompanying avalanche risk are keeping the snowshoe-clad surveyors and their helicopters out of some of the most remote areas. The state Department of Water Resources still expects surveyors to submit results early next week for the monthly snow survey.

 

The information that has come in looks good, said Elissa Lynn, senior meteorologist for the state Department of Water Resources.

 

Early estimates suggest that the water content of snowfall in the central Sierra is 103 percent of normal. That's the watershed for the Tuolumne and Stanislaus rivers. The southern Sierra, which is the source of the San Joaquin River, is estimated at 124 percent of normal. The statewide average is 113 percent.

 

"That is very good news because last month we were at 60 percent of average (for the state)" Lynn said. "And last year at this point, we were at 40 percent of average, so this is great."

 

That information comes from automatic snow sensors placed throughout the Sierra and from results already submitted for some areas. Surveyors started their work as much as a week ago. They push hollow, metal tubes into the snow and then measure the weight. Then surveyors use the weight to calculate the snow's water content.

 

"But it has got to keep coming," Lynn said. "There are still some drought conditions in the central and southern parts of the state, and that isn't going to be eliminated yet. For that to happen, we still have to get all the way through the season at or above average.

 

"At this point, we're not making drought conditions any worse, but we have to see where the rest of the season goes.

 

We still have a few months."

 

The Department of Water Resources surveys the snow through May. #

http://www.modbee.com/local/story/198365.html

 

 

Snow accumulation makes it harder to measure snow

Modesto Bee – 1/31/08

 

Snow surveyors are trudging through the mountains this morning to find out just how much snow there is -- at spots they can get to.

 

The sheer number of snowstorms and accompanying avalanche risk are keeping the snow-shoe clad surveyors and their helicopters out of the most remote areas. So the state Department of Water Resources expects surveyors will still be submitting results early next week for the monthly snow survey, which would usually finish by the end of the weekend.

 

But what data has come in so far looks good, said Elissa Lynn, senior meteorologist for the state Department of Water Resources.

 

Early estimates suggest the water content of snowfall in the central Sierra is 103 percent of normal. That’s the watershed for the Tuolumne and Stanislaus Rivers. The southern Sierra, which feeds the San Joaquin River, is estimated at 124 percent of normal. The statewide average is at 113 percent.

 

“That is very good news because last month, we were at 60 percent of average (for the state)” Lynn said. “And last year at this point, we were at 40 percent of average, so this is great. It is certainly better than last month and much better than last year.”

 

That information comes from automatic snow sensors placed throughout the Sierras and from results already submitted for some areas. Surveyors started their work up to a week ago. They push hollow, metal tubes into the snow and then measure the weight. Then surveyors use the weight to calculate the snow’s water content, or the amount of water it will melt into.

 

The snow estimated would translate to 19 inches of water for the Tuolumne, Stanislaus and Merced Rivers and 18 inches for the San Joaquin River.

 

“But it has got to keep coming,” Lynn said. “There are still some drought conditions in the central and southern parts of the state, and that isn’t going to be eliminated yet. For that to happen, we still have to get all the way through the season at or above average.

 

“At this point, we’re not making drought conditions any worse but we have to see where the rest of the season goes. We still have a few months.”

 

The Department of Water Resources surveys the snow through May. Information wasn’t available on how many more inches of snowmelt reservoirs need to rebound from last year’s dry spell. But Lynn said the mountains would need more snow for that to happen. #

http://www.modbee.com/local/pmupdates/story/197344.html

 

 

Storms improve outlook for water

Sonora Union Democrat – 1/31/08

By Lenore Rutherford, staff writer

 

December and January storms pushed the Sierra snowpack above average — but area water experts say the area still needs more.

 

"It's certainly improved since the storms of late December through January," said Larry Diamond, assistant manager of the Calaveras County Water District. "It appears now we'll have adequate supplies to meet our needs."

 

Most reservoirs in the foothills are at or above average for this time of year, according to information from the California Department of Water Resources.

 

"We are conducting this year's first formal statewide survey of the snowpack this week," said Arthur Hinojose, chief of hydrology for the department. "We have sensors that are a good indicator of what we will find, and they show us at about 110 percent of average right now."

 

The weather year runs from July 1 through June 30, and the snowpack is currently 65 percent of average for the year, the sensors showed.

 

The department typically conducts three snowpack surveys a year — around the first of February, March and April — to determine whether there will be an adequate supply of water for the coming summer and fall. Sometimes an additional survey is made around May 1 if there is an exceptionally wet April.

 

January has been above average, Hinojose said, but precipitation in November and December was below average.

"I know it's been really wet and cold this month, and a break would be nice," he said. "but we still need a couple of months of wet weather. All I ask is one good storm a week."

 

He said water planners were concerned before the January storms because the 2006-07 year was about half of average. It looks now as if there will be a healthy water supply this summer, he said.

 

New Melones Reservoir had 1.5 million acre feet of water in it Wednesday. That's 107 percent of average for this time of year.

 

"The snowpack was about half of average at this time last year, but the good news was that the previous year (2005-06), was well above average," he said. "Most of the reservoirs had a very healthy supply of water going into last year, which really helped."

 

The January storms included several days of low-elevation snows in the foothills, causing some to question theories about global warming.

 

"We are talking about a slow change over 50 to 100 years," said Maury Roose, another hydrologist with the California Department of Water Resources. "There will continue to be some colder years, and some warmer years."

 

He said researchers have recommended the governor plan for a 25-percent decrease in the Sierra snowpack by 2050.

 

"It could be higher or lower," he said, "but we have suggested the governor take a middle approach and plan for 25 percent."

 

Roos said the amount of precipitation will be about the same as it has been historically, but because of warming temperatures, more of it will come in the form of rain.

 

Historically, the Sierra snowpack has provided a natural water storage base of 15 million feet, Roos said.

That water may have to be stored some other way in the future.

 

He said there are many theories about why it's getting warmer, including natural weather cycles, the use of fossil fuels and the fact that so much land is covered in pavement and buildings.

 

The biggest danger in the foothills is a longer dry season, which means more fire danger, he said. Closer to the coast, rising sea levels encroaching on land would cause another set of problems.

 

"The important thing is that we plan for the changes," he said. "We have to make the best projections possible and plan for water storage where we need it and can get it. We are also going to need more water because of the growing population."  #

http://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=25645

 

 

Editorial: Hits and misses

Chico Enterprise Record – 2/2/08

 

HIT — A wet and wild January has erased the specter of drought in California, at least for now.

 

State water officials took their regular winter snow surveys this week and reported the Sierra snowpack is above average for this time of year. That's great news and it was reported widely throughout the state.

 

Let's hope giddy urban residents realize there's still a problem and don't start wasting water or don't forget about the long-term water storage crisis that must be addressed in this state.

 

Though the snowpack this week ranged from 115 percent to 123 percent of average in the Sierra, compared with last year's winter total that was 40 percent of average, lakes are still horribly low.

 

The three most critical Northern California lakes — Oroville, Shasta and Folsom — are not even half full. Oroville is at 37 percent of capacity. Folsom is only about one-quarter full. We still need much more rain.  #

http://www.chicoer.com//ci_8148357?IADID=Search-www.chicoer.com-www.chicoer.com

 

 

NAPA VALLEY WATER LEVELS:

Reservoirs drink in the rains; Local water officials hopeful for a ‘good water year’

Napa Valley Register – 2/1/08

By Kerana Todorov, staff writer

 

The recent rains have replenished the county’s water reservoirs, but more is needed, said local water officials Thursday.

Napa’s water department general manager, Phil Brun, was cautiously optimistic about the wet weather.

The city’s main reservoir, Lake Hennessey, is 76 percent full, Brun said. Lake Milliken, the city’s other water reservoir, is full.

Lake Hennessey has filled up enough that on Wednesday the city re-opened the public boat launch off Sage Canyon Road for the first time since October. The city closed the boat launch Oct. 8 because low water levels forced boaters to wade into the lake to move their crafts on and off their trailers. The city of Napa does not allow people in the waters of Lake Hennessey because it is a water supply reservoir.

Still, Brun hopes more rain.

“There is still room” for more water, he said.

American Canyon, unlike the other county cities, relies almost entirely on the State Water Project for its supplies of Delta water via the North Bay Aqueduct, a state Department of Water Resources system.

On Nov. 2 the state Department of Water Resources in issued the lowest initial water allocations since 2003. The final water allocations are expected later this year.

American Canyon Public Works Director Robert Weil said he was hopeful that the rains will boost the city’s water allocation, now at 25 percent.

“It looks like it’s going to be a good water year,” Weil said.

St. Helena is retaining its water conservation measures even though Bell Canyon, the city’s main reservoir near Angwin, began spilling over Monday, said Jonathon Goldman, St. Helena’s director of public works. Bell Canyon provides 80 percent of the city’s water, he said.

“That’s certainly good,” said Goldman. “(But) I’d like to see it spilling into March or even April before we relax a little,” Goldman added.

Watering of landscaping, vineyards and fields will continue to be restricted to three times a week.

People water their lawns even when it rains, Goldman said.

In Calistoga, Public Works Superintendent Warren Schenstrom said Kimball Reservoir, which supplies half of the city’s water supplies, is full.

Calistoga, like Napa, American Canyon, and Yountville also depends on the state’s Water Project for potable water.

On Thursday, DWR announced the latest snow survey show that the snowpack levels are above normal.

“January is typically the wettest month of the year, said DWR Hydrology Branch Chief Arthur Hinojosa in a written statement, “and this month’s storms have been an excellent shot in the arm to the state’s water supply.” #

http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2008/02/01/news/local/doc47a2c76cadb47835922779.txt

 

 

LAKE MENDOCINO LEVELS:

Lake levels begin to rise

Ukiah Daily Journal – 2/4/08

By Ben Brown, staff writer

 

Lake Mendocino has received a lot of attention over the last year for its role as a reservoir for drinking water, but at midnight on Friday, control of the lake releases changed hands so that the lake could be managed for it's primary purpose.

 

Although the lake is well known in it's role as reservoir for Sonoma County, Park Ranger Merle Griffin said the lake is maintained primarily for purposes of flood control.

 

For part of the year, releases from Lake Mendocino are managed by the Sonoma County Water Agency, which owns the water rights to the majority of the water in the lake.

 

For the rest of the year, the Army Corps of Engineers controls the releases.

 

"Whenever it goes into flood pool," Griffin said.

 

The flood pool state occurs when the elevation of the lake surface exceeds a specific amount. This amount is not fixed, but changes from day to day based on the supply of water in the rivers both upstream and downstream, as well as the amount of water in Lake Mendocino.

 

"It's a moving target," Griffin said.

 

On Friday, the elevation of the lake was a foot above the flood pool stage of 737.5 feet. Griffin said managing the lake is a balancing act, trying to keep the elevation close to flood stage, but also making sure not to release so much water as to cause problems downstream.

 

Gauging stations run by the United States Geological Survey let the Army Corps know how much water they can let out.

 

Releases from the lake can be handled manually, but Griffin said most of the water release is done by computer, either at the Army Corps offices or from a central station in Sacramento.

 

"We can even do it from a laptop," Griffin said.

 

Recent outflows have been below 100 cubic feet per second, while inflows have stayed high, largely due to a series of storms that have swept over the county since late December.

 

"We've had to get all the little islands covered," Griffin said.

 

Over the summer, a combination of lower than average winter rainfall and reduction in the flow of water through the Potter Valley Project and into the lake caused storage in the lake to drop precipitously.

 

By November, storage in Lake Mendocino had dropped below 30,000 acre feet, prompting the declaration of a water emergency by the Redwood Valley Water District Board.

 

Since then, storage in the lake has more than doubled to approximately 68,000 acre feet of water, most of which came from winter rains.

 

In the month of January, more than a foot of rain fell on the county and rainfall levels in the county are just shy of the average for this time of year.

 

Rain is expected to continue Monday, before the county gets a break for the early part of the week. #

http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_8163908

 

 

RAINFALL LEVELS:

Column: Deluge of respect for what was once just rain

Contra Costa Times – 2/4/08

By Pat Craig, columnist

 

There are any number of things that should be taken for granted:

 

- You will break a shoelace when you're late for something important.

- A large-size rental tuxedo will have the smell of wretched excess no matter how well it's been dry-cleaned.

- When you're in a biker bar you will be unable to overcome the irresistible urge to order a glass of rain-cooled  Taittinger.

 

You never give things like that a second thought.

 

All of a sudden, though, simple things we have taken for granted for years are drawing our attention and getting a little more respect.

 

Like rain.

 

Until recently, we took the idea of rain in January and February completely for granted. Rain in January and February was as expected as it was 10 minutes after you had your car washed.

 

Rain at the first of the year was as normal and reliable as the rain that was sure to fall after an automotive encounter with Mr. Bubble and his cheery towel men.

 

It was a rule of nature.

 

Not anymore. Maybe it's because people are worried about global warming. Or maybe it's because, up until a couple of weeks ago, we had spent months being able to wash our cars without fear of a downpour.

 

Suddenly, though, people are treating rain like a rich uncle who might get mad and go away unless we are nice to him.

 

"Jeez, this rain, I'm so sick of being ... I mean, well, I suppose we do need it, you know, for the watershed and farmers and everything. And to keep everything green."

 

It's like if we say something bad about the rainstorms, the rain will decide to stop falling and the Great Flood and Noah's Ark will be nostalgic reminders of the good old days.

 

"Hey, remember those clunky old yellow raincoats we used to wear? Nah, I guess you're probably too young."

 

And, if the rain goes away, concerned parents will take their young children outside on cloudy-but-not-wet afternoons and draw pictures of puddles on the sidewalk.

 

"Yeah, it's called a puddle, it's made of water, and we'd splash each other on the way home from school."

 

I can't bring myself to believe rain will completely disappear. But, on the other hand, I don't understand why people seem to be treating this current deluge as something special. The other night I saw a TV weather forecaster nearly in tears as she reported that we are 103 percent above normal.

 

Probably it's the novelty. I know if I were a weatherman on TV, I would go crazy telling people we are in for another day of moderately pleasant weather with highs in the high 60s and lows in the low 50s. That's kind of like working in an ice cream store that's run out of everything but vanilla.

 

In fact, there's a good chance that by the time you read this, newspapers, television and radio will be filled with flood warnings, reports of dangerously high tides and charming feature stories about kids who have lived their entire lives to date without ever seeing a completely dry day.

 

"Sunshine is only a rumor for little Tommy Davis of Orinda, who still hasn't learned all the ways his diapers can get wet."

 

It won't be long before people can complain about rain without any guilt.

 

Farmers will be sitting in coffee shops denying the rain is any good for them at all. Gardeners will complain about swampy backyards and tender poetic souls will begin whining about how the gentle pitter-pat of raindrops keeps them awake all night.

 

And then it will be summer, we'll say it's too hot and dry and start wishing for some rain.

 

Fun fact: In its more than 40-year history, this column has never been rained out. #

http://www.contracostatimes.com/search/ci_8162993?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com

 

 

WATER CONSERVATION:

Editorial: Water conservation never out of season

Woodland Daily Democrat – 2/3/08

 

At Issue:

Rainy days don't mean letting up on saving water.

 

Our Opinion:

Despite all the water, remember to do your part and conserve.

 

Rain, rain, rain. There's been lots of it in January. And more is coming this next week. Again!

 

This month's drenching has helped local precipitation and reservoir levels reach higher-than-normal levels - a welcome change from drought conditions a year ago.

 

But that doesn't mean you should take longer showers or run the dishwasher half-empty.

 

Water conservation is still needed over the long run, especially in a state where supply is limited at worst and unpredictable at best. California still faces serious water challenges as its population and economy keep growing, and it faces global warming that could shrink the Sierra snowpack. So using water efficiently and wisely is a good practice any time, even without a crisis.

 

You certainly don't have to look far for signs of fragility in California's water supply. Last year, the governor and state lawmakers were unable to craft an overall water strategy. The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta faces environmental crisis, jeopardizing water supplies for 25 million Californians. And the amount of water pumped from the delta has been curtailed under a court order protecting the Delta smelt.

 

So even as you keep your umbrella handy, don't let up on water conservation. Keep the showers short. (A household of four that commits to five-minute showers can save 10 percent of its water use.) Run the dishwasher and washer only when they're full. Turn off the faucet while you're lathering up. Install low-flow toilets, shower heads and drought-tolerant landscaping.

 

Whether it's short-term or long-term steps, make water conservation as second nature as waste recycling. #

http://www.dailydemocrat.com//ci_8157534?IADID=Search-www.dailydemocrat.com-www.dailydemocrat.com

 

 

GROUNDWATER SUPPLY:

Water search yields results; City-backed project still must determine amount available to be pumped, salinity

San Diego Union Tribune – 2/2/08

By Mike Lee, staff writer

 

BALBOA PARK – Federal hydrologists yesterday announced the discovery of an aquifer far beneath Balboa Park that San Diego officials may tap to irrigate nearby flowers and lawns.

 

Fueled by concerns about the region's water inventory, the U.S. Geological Survey and three public water agencies are scouting for groundwater – particularly in areas that have been overlooked. San Diego has very few sources of groundwater, which is a serious problem when water supplies are as tight as they are this year.

 

“We have a 600-foot-thick aquifer that we didn't know was here. Bingo,” said Wesley Danskin, project chief for the geological survey team.

 

Danskin and other hydrologists have spent the past few weeks drilling a monitoring well at Balboa Park near the golf course at Pershing Drive and 26th Street. They don't expect the aquifer there, or others in the county, to substantially reduce the region's reliance on the Colorado and Sacramento river systems.

 

But even small sources of water have become increasingly significant as prices for imported water rise and factors such as drought make out-of-town supplies less reliable.

 

How much water could be pumped from the Balboa Park site and that water's salinity won't be known for a few months. Danskin's team must first sink five giant straws into the 1,500-foot-deep hole and test the water. If the salt content is too high, the water would have to be treated before it could be used for irrigation.

 

The uncertainty didn't take the shine off yesterday's announcement for city officials, who have agreed to pay for most of the $300,000 well project.

 

“We are encouraged that this investment has shown there is water here,” said Bob McCullough, a planning manager for San Diego's water department.

 

He said a new and local water source would be especially helpful in Balboa Park, where gardens and golf courses are irrigated with drinking water.

 

Groundwater accounts for about 2 percent of the county's water supply, according to the San Diego County Water Authority. The agency wants to triple the use of local groundwater by 2020. Several of its member water districts, including San Diego and the Sweetwater Authority, are contributing to that goal.

 

“We can't be asking people for water outside the area if we have not made the most of what we have here,” said Dan Diehr, a senior resource specialist at the County Water Authority.

 

He was excited about the geological survey's announcement of the new aquifer. “It offers the biggest potential for groundwater production above and beyond what we already are producing,” Diehr said.

 

Outside Balboa Park, the federal hydrologists are trying to complete what would be the most comprehensive study of San Diego County's groundwater resources. They are mapping aquifers such as the San Diego Formation, a large subsurface field of sand and gravel from which water can be extracted.

 

Danskin's study area spans a few miles wide along the coast and stretches roughly from La Jolla to Rosarito Beach in Mexico. That swath has the best likelihood of yielding groundwater because most other parts of the county have shallow bedrock that limits water storage.

 

The federal study involves eight monitoring wells, and hydrologists hope to drill 10 others in the next few years.

 

“I think of it as something like a jigsaw puzzle,” Danskin said. “We have one very clear piece here in Balboa Park and others around the region. We are trying to fill in the balance so that we can see the picture clearly.”  #

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080202/news_1m2water.html

 

 

Officials to tap aquifer

North County Times – 2/2/08

 

SAN DIEGO --- City officials seeking a solution for San Diego's chronic water shortages may be standing right on top of a partial solution, it was reported today.

Federal officials say a 600-foot-thick layer of usable groundwater is sitting under Balboa Park, ready to be tapped for watering thirsty park lawns and golf courses.

 

A $300,000 drilling project has found the aquifer sitting about 1,500 feet beneath Florida Canyon, just downhill from the Navy's hospital at the park's southern edge.

 

The underground water may be brackish or salty, and further tests will be needed to see how much treatment will be needed to make it suitable for watering landscaping. Officials do not believe it is clear enough for domestic use.

But San Diego water managers say every drop counts in a time of drought and legal problems that are restricting the amount of water from the Colorado Rover and Sacramento delta that can be delivered to southern California. #

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/02/03/news/sandiego/22_04_042_2_08.txt

 

 

WESTERN WATER ISSUES:

Scientists see looming water crisis in western U.S.

Reuters – 1/31/08

By Will Dunham, staff writer

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A water supply crisis is looming in the western United States thanks to human-caused climate change that already has altered the region's river flows, snow pack and air temperatures, scientists said.

 

Trends over the past half century foreshadow a worsening decline in water, perhaps the region's most valuable natural resource, even as population and demand expands in western states, researchers led by a scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography wrote in the journal Science on Thursday.

 

Up to 60 percent of changes in three key factors affecting the West's water cycle -- river flow, winter air temperatures and snow pack -- are due to human-caused climate change, they determined using multiple computer models and data analysis.

 

"Our results are not good news for those living in the western United States," wrote the team led by Tim Barnett, a climate expert at Scripps Institution, part of the University of California at San Diego.

 

"It foretells of water shortages, lack of storage capability to meet seasonally changing river flow, transfers of water from agriculture to urban uses and other critical impacts."

 

Barnett said computer models point to a looming crisis in water supply in the coming two decades.

 

It has been clear for some time that the climate has been changing in the western United States, and the question was whether it was due to natural variability or driven by climate change related to human-produced greenhouse gases and aerosols, the scientists said.

 

The researchers tracked water flows in three major western river systems -- Columbia, Colorado and Sacramento/San Joaquin rivers.

 

Changes over the past half century have meant less snow pack and more rain in the mountains, rivers with greatly reduced flows by summer and overall drier summers in the region, they noted.

 

"At this point in time, there's not much we can do to change that," said Barnett, who worked with experts at the U.S. government's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, the University of Washington in Seattle and the National Institute for Environmental Studies in Japan.

 

"We're going to have to adapt our infrastructure and some of our societal needs to fit the way the world is changing," Barnett said in a telephone interview.

 

"Water shortages throughout the west, hydroelectric power reductions, heat waves -- the whole litany of things that go with global warming."

 

Another group of researchers, writing in the same journal, said leaders who set water policies worldwide must take climate change into account when planning for the future.

 

Until now, water policies have relied on the premise that historical water patterns could be counted on to continue.

 

But human-induced changes to Earth's climate have begun to shift the averages and the extremes for rainfall, snowfall, evaporation and stream flows, Christopher Milly of the U.S. Geological Survey and colleagues said.

 

"Our best current estimates are that water availability will increase substantially in northern Eurasia, Alaska, Canada and some tropical regions, and decrease substantially in southern Europe, the Middle East, southern Africa and southwestern North America," Milly said in a statement. #

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSN3132180520080131?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0

 

 

50-year snowpack drop may herald water shortages

Arizona Daily Star – 2/4/08

By Tony Davis, staff writer

 

Researchers say a new study linking global warming to a five-decade decline in Western snowpack levels gives more credibility to earlier predictions the region will face water shortages.

 

Those forecasts said higher temperatures will cause sharp declines in the next few decades in supplies for the Colorado and other Western rivers.

 

In response, Arizona's top water official, Herb Guenther of the state Department of Water Resources, said he would approach with caution such a forecast based on computer models.

 

Although Guenther said he agrees action is needed to curb carbon-dioxide emissions linked to global warming, he said, "I'm not going to get too excited about a computer model's ability to predict weather patterns for the next 30 years."

 

A University of Arizona climatologist, however, called the latest findings, coupled with earlier reports, "a wake-up call."

 

These reports show the need to make better use of existing water supplies and improve forecasting to reduce uncertainties about future supplies, said Gregg Garfin of the UA's Institute for the Study of Planet Earth.

 

The new study, published Friday in the journal Science, found that human-caused warming was responsible for about 60 percent of reduced snowpack and earlier spring river runoff that occurred from 1950 to 1999.

 

The researchers found that snowpack declined by a range of 10 percent to 40 percent across the West in that time.

 

Specifics weren't available late last week for the Colorado River basin, which supplies Central Arizona Project water to Tucson and Phoenix.

 

Although no noticeable change occurred in precipitation trends in that time, the precipitation that did fall came as rain more than snow, the study found. The snow that fell melted faster, ran off earlier and left less water in reservoirs for storage.

 

That can force water managers to release water earlier from a dam to avoid floods, leaving less for hotter, drier times when it's needed more.

 

Looking back at 1,600 years of weather data, the researchers could find no evidence that any changes since 1950 in snowmelt and runoff had natural causes.

 

They looked at natural changes in total precipitation, volcanoes and sunspot activity, but ruled them out as factors.

 

For Arizona, a snowpack decline isn't as troublesome as for other states because the state has two large dams — lakes Mead and Powell — that aren't half full.

 

They can store plenty of extra water for use in drier times if the runoff starts earlier. California, by contrast, must walk a tightrope between holding and releasing runoff because it doesn't have as much reservoir space, Garfin said.

 

But given this study's results, it's reasonable to conclude that computer models predicting future declines in river flows because of warming are valid, said the study's principal author, Tim Barnett, a climate scientist for the Scripps Institute for Oceanography in San Diego.

 

This study used the same computer model as an earlier study by Barnett and others that predicted river flow declines from warming.

 

That report, published in 2004, said that by the mid-21st century, reservoir levels along the Colorado would be reduced by one-third, water releases would be cut 17 percent, and electric power generation from the dams could be cut 40 percent.

 

The report concluded that the Colorado River system was at the "brink of failure," and that any reduction in rainfall by natural or human causes would lead to the river being unable to provide all the water legally available to every river basin state including Arizona.

 

Since then, many other researchers have also predicted, using different computerized forecasting models, that the Colorado and other Western rivers will have less water because of warming.

 

Predicted declines range from 10 percent to 40 percent.

 

"We're using all the water that is available in the West, by and large, right now, and the predictions are for less water with a building boom in the future," said Barnett in an interview Friday. "All the climate models agree on that."

 

He added, "The picture painted is quite grim, so it's time to collectively sit down and get our act together." Officials might need to consider curbs on construction, he said.

 

In response, Guenther said there is no chance construction will be curbed. "It won't happen. It just won't happen. You might as well get ready to respond to the continued growth."

 

He suggested reasonable caution. "It's a good tool to give you some ideas on what to start planning for, but it is not where you would get excited and running around and looking for the sky falling," said Guenther, the water department's director.

 

"It has been very difficult with the historical record, using tree-ring studies, to get any definitive patterns of water shortages and flooding even though we have 400 years of records," he said.

 

But a number of other studies that predicted decreases in Colorado River runoff rely on the same fundamental issues that Barnett and his colleagues cite: increased rainfall compared to snowfall, earlier snowmelts and increasing temperatures, UA's Garfin said.

 

The researchers have disagreed on how much of a decrease will occur. Some are trying to reconcile the disagreements in a separate study.

 

"It's a matter of details," Garfin said.

 

"Those details count to water managers, because we're talking about millions, if not billions, of dollars in infrastructure that might be needed depending on the final amount. You've got to get that right."  #

http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/223502

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