A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 17, 2008
2. Supply
WATER SUPPLY
Water watchers think ahead; A wet year doesn't ease officials' worries about future supplies - Ventura County Star
WATER RATE HIKES:
Met price hike to float local water rate increases - North County Times
WATER PROJECT:
City woos AVEK for water project - Antelope Valley Press
WATER TRANSFERS:
Unsure of Availability, NID Delays Decision on Surplus Water Sales - YubaNet.com
SNOW SURVEY DATE ANNOUNCED:
DWR Snow Survey March 26 - News Release: Department of Water Resources
WATER SUPPLY
Water watchers think ahead; A wet year doesn't ease officials' worries about future supplies
By Scott Hadly, staff writer
Last month, Don Kendall started his discussion about
As general manager of the Calleguas Municipal Water District, which provides water to three-quarters of the county's population,
Calleguas — mirroring other
The district's water conservation campaign slogan is "Put a
Farmers, who make up about 10 percent of Calleguas' customers, are being asked to cut their water use 30 percent.
"There's a lot we can do and are doing,"
Calleguas isn't alone in its effort. The massive Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, of which Calleguas is a member, last week approved a rate increase as did
The rate hikes and conservation efforts appear inconsistent with the weather, however. Back-to-back winter storms have filled many local reservoirs and stacked snow in the Sierra Nevada, pulling
So what gives?
While the state dodged a drought this year, a little fish has taken a big gulp out of
A federal district judge ruled last year that state and federal agencies must reduce their take of fresh water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta by about one-third for almost six months per year to protect the sardine-sized delta smelt.
The delta, where water runoff from the Sierra Nevada runs down the state's two major rivers, is at the heart of
It's part of an intricate plumbing system that siphons water out of the estuary to supply 25 million Californians and irrigate more than 2 million acres of farmland. The delta is also an essential source of water for
In general, the county's water users can be broken down into three geographic areas. Calleguas serves
And the communities from the city of
More risks projected
But the decision to protect the delta smelt — considered by some as an indicator species of the overall health of the 740,000-acre delta — points to something beyond the environmental harm of sucking too much water from one part of the state and sending it to another,
It illustrates the vulnerability of the state's water supply in the long term and how arid
Risks are outlined in projections that suggest that there will be more droughts, a rise in sea level, damaging effects from global warming and reduced Sierra snowpack. Beyond that is the threat of a catastrophic failure of the delta's aging levee system in an earthquake, which could cripple the water supply and cost $40 billion to repair.
The "solution" talked about most by water officials involves conservation, recycling water, better and more storage for dry years and, more significantly, possibly re-engineering the delta.
That might mean a peripheral canal, defeated by voters 30 years ago, or some way to divert some river water around the delta, according to county water agency officials.
To buffer the effects of drought or cutbacks in supply for other reasons, Calleguas Municipal Water District has worked on building more water storage capacity.
The district has
Calleguas places even more importance on its underground water storage system, called the Las Posas Aquifer, where the district injects water 1,500 feet underground. There's now about 100,000 acre-feet of water stored there, but the aquifer will eventually hold about 300,000 acre-feet, a huge hedge against future drought,
Yet local water agency officials are concerned about the state's water supply.
"There needs to be a long-term solution,"
In the meantime, local agencies are pushing for conservation, innovative use of recycled water and even desalination of reclaimed water to bolster supplies.
Some water agencies are having their water meter readers report excessive runoff from lawns, while others give out incentives if a homeowner installs low-flow toilets. Farmers are being encouraged to install high-tech irrigation systems in an effort to conserve water.
At Craig Underwood's orchards in the Somis area, a little weather station makes an automated cell phone call every 15 minutes to a computer in his office.
Along with recording temperatures and humidity, the remote weather station sends data from soil moisture sensors buried in the ground among Underwood's 130 acres of lemon and avocado trees.
The $5,000 sensors are designed to make the irrigation system more efficient by predicting when and how much water should be applied to the trees.
"We think we're efficient, but we don't know for sure," Underwood said. The idea is to be as precise as possible in how to use an increasingly precious commodity.
In
About a decade ago, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, a consortium of 26 water agencies in six counties, offered discounted water rates for farmers who agreed to mandatory water cuts during dry years. The cuts kicked in this year, with participating farmers forced to use less water. In addition, MWD purchased about 200,000 acre-feet of water from farmers to augment its supply.
Local water supply monitored
Along the
"We depend only on local sources of water," said Ron Merkling of the Casitas Municipal Water District.
The district provides water for about 70,000 people and farmers in west
On average, the district distributes about 23,000 acre-feet of water a year. It also oversees
The situation is a drastic contrast to last year, when the Ventura River County Water District saw a record low level of rain that triggered a push to cut water use.
The district, which uses groundwater to serve customers in Casitas Springs, Meiners Oaks, Mira Monte and portions of Ojai, drew down wells so low that it ended up taking deliveries of water from Casitas, which costs substantially more, according to Matt Bryant, general manager of the Ventura River district.
The district has teamed with other water agencies to conduct water audits and encourage residents to install low-flow toilets and limit outdoor watering.
Craig Underwood relies on moisture sensors to detect when and how much water should be applied to his lemon and avocado trees in his Somis orchards.
Those are the same kinds of measures, Jeff Reinhardt, now the manager of customer services and outreach for Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, helped to push during the drought of 1991 when he worked for the city of
"Generally, it wasn't extremely painful," he said.
Like many cities in
Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, which has 65,000 customers in
The district now conducts audits to help homeowners conserve water, and it is pushing to reduce landscape irrigation, which accounts for about 70 percent of the water used in a home. The district's meter readers watch out for homes where they see water runoff, for instance.
But over the long term, something more needs to be done, said John Mundy, general manager at Las Virgenes.
"We may see the ocean level rise, resulting in more saline intrusion (in the delta); you may have the impact of global warming on the snowpack and the legal constraints of pumping in the delta," Mundy said. "We may have to reinvent to some degree how we manage water supply." #
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/mar/17/water-watchers-think-ahead/
WATER RATE HIKES:
Met price hike to float local water rate increases
By Bradley J. Fikes, staff writer
It's a near-certainty that households, businesses and farmers will pay more for water next year. But it will be months before they know exactly how much.
Metropolitan Water District,
Regional agencies such as the San Diego County Water Authority buy from Metropolitan and other sources. These agencies sell water to local water districts, the direct suppliers to most end users. In this bucket-brigade system, costs follow along with the water. Only when all the agencies have completed their budgets will end users know what they'll be paying.
The county Water Authority will set its rates by June, spokesman John Liarakos said. Then the 24 agencies that buy from the authority will need to determine how the rates affect their own finances.
"Once it gets to the member agencies, it's 24 separate games played," Liarakos said.
Metropolitan estimates that the typical household in its district will pay about $1.50 a month more for its water. But this is just an average across Metropolitan's vast service area, which extends from
Metropolitan said it needed to raise rates because it is paying more for electricity; to protect an endangered fish in the Sacramento Bay Delta area; and to remove the Quagga mussel, a fingernail-sized mussel that invaded
The agency approved a rate increase of 5.8 percent for water bought during this fiscal year.
About 75 percent of the
In the city of
Mann said the hike would be probably noticeably less than Metropolitan's increase, because the cost of Metropolitan's water is a fairly small portion of the end cost to the consumer. Treatment and delivery costs probably won't increase to the same degree, she said.
Moreover,
The city expects to end up paying $16.2 million in this fiscal year for water from Metropolitan via the San Diego County Water Authority, Mann said. That's an increase from $14.1 million in the 2006-07 fiscal year. The large increase in the current year had a lot to do with unseasonably dry, hot weather last summer. People used more water for their fields, groves and lawns, which were getting less rain, and
Carlsbad Municipal Water District, one of the local agencies that buys from the
Businesses in the district are more concerned with the reliability of their water supply than the cost, Stone said.
Agricultural customers are the opposite of other business customers ---- they are extremely price-sensitive. Some, such as those who grow avocados, choose to be first in line to lose water from Metropolitan when supply is insufficient. In return, they get a rate cut, which amounts to about 33 percent in the most agriculturally intensive areas of
Tom Bellamore, counsel and a senior vice president for the California Avocado Commission, said the commission wants Metropolitan to continue that discount program. Some cities and water districts that are Metropolitan members have suggested that the practice be ended, Bellamore said.
"We're working very hard to have the program remain in place," Bellamore said. #
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/03/16/business/news/8_48_983_15_08.txt
WATER PROJECT:
City woos AVEK for water project
By Alisha Semchuck, staff writer
PALMDALE - City officials continue on their mission to lure partners for the design and construction of a water recharge project. In that quest, they hope help will come in the form of money.
So Leon Swain, Palmdale's director of Public Works, presented the city plans for the Upper Amargosa Recharge and
That project carries a price tag of $14.5 million, and Palmdale has committed to paying $2.5 million of the cost.
Swain said the city is seeking $3 million from Proposition 50 funds and hoping for another $350,00 in an Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Grant from the state for highway landscaping and urban forestry projects.
But an $8.6 million shortfall remains and the share sought from partners has not yet been determined.
Swain described the merits of the water recharge project.
"It meets all five water management strategies" cited in the Antelope Valley Integrated Regional Water Management Plan, he said.
The plan involved a meeting of the minds of representatives from all Valley water suppliers, government agencies at city, county and state levels as well as members of the building industry.
Swain identified the following management strategies the
"This is exactly what the Valley needs," Swain said.
He called the plan a "strategic planning document developed by "some of the best minds in the
The biggest benefit would be to correct a deficit between water supply and demand in the Valley.
If nothing is done, experts agree that by 2035, there won't be enough water to meet residential as well as business needs.
The project is on roughly 75 acres of land at
In addition to recharging the water table and providing a water bank for dry years, Swain said the plan would include constructing a park and nature trail at the site. The city intends to restore the native habitat at the site, he said.
With
Swain said he didn't come to the meeting to tell the board what to do. He told board and staff, "We definitely want your technical expertise. And we're hoping we can get some partners to help us out."
"If AVEK was willing to contribute funding," Director Keith Dyas asked, "would we be allowed a certain amount of capacity in the water bank?"
"We're treading new ground here," Swain said. "This could be worked out. It's one of the most important projects we've ever done."
"I agree it's a great project," Dyas said. "But remember, the mission of the city of
http://www.avpress.com/n/15/0315_s3.hts
WATER TRANSFERS:
Unsure of Availability, NID Delays Decision on Surplus Water Sales
YubaNet.com – 3/17/08
By Susan Snider, staff writer
March 17, 2008 - Early each year, Nevada Irrigation District awaits notification from Pacific Gas & Electric on the status of the giant utility's surplus water reserves. And so do farmers in
Operating under a contract with PG&E that allows the
But PG&E has yet to notify NID if surplus water will be available this year.
As a result, directors at the Mar. 12 NID board meeting narrowly voted to postpone a decision to commit surplus water, until confirmation is received from PG&E.
Staff advised board members that notification from PG&E is expected by April 1.
This information didn't please directors George Leipzig and Paul Williams.
"Then South Sutter won't hear anything until the first week of April,"
Once NID is notified by PG&E of surplus water availability, then a recommendation must come through a separate committee to the board for approval.
"I don't think this is fair to South Sutter," Williams objected. "I don't want to see this going back to committee."
Many
http://yubanet.com/regional/Unsure-of-Availability-NID-Delays-Decision-on-Surplus-Water-Sales.php
SNOW SURVEY DATE ANNOUNCED:
DWR Snow Survey March 26
News Release: Department of Water Resources – 3/17/08
Contacts: Elissa Lynn, Senior Meteorologist, (916) 574-2221; Don Strickland, Information Officer, (916) 653-9515; Ted Thomas, Information Officer, (916) 653-9712; Frank Gehrke, Snow Surveys Office, (916) 952-4044 (on-site cell phone number on day of survey)
Monthly measurements are made through May to help forecast the amount of spring runoff into reservoirs. The fourth survey, normally conducted during the last week of March or the first week of April, is generally considered to be the most important in gauging how much water is being held in the Sierra snow pack.
The latest posting of electronic sensor readings put the statewide percentage of normal for this date at 103 percent.
Reporters can find the statewide water content figures posted on the Internet at
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snow/DLYSWEQ.
Historic Phillips Station, Highway 50 and Sierra at
Media representatives are advised to bring snowshoes or cross-country skis and to park only in the permitted area along Highway 50…not along Sierra at
Importance of Snow Surveying
Snow-water content is important in determining the coming year's water supply. The measurements help hydrologists prepare water supply forecasts as well as provide others, such as hydroelectric power companies and the recreation industry, with much needed data.
Monitoring is coordinated by the Department of Water Resources as part of the multi-agency California Cooperative Snow Surveys Program. Surveyors from more than 50 agencies and utilities visit hundreds of snow measurement courses each month to monitor the amount of water in the State’s snowpack.
The Department of Water Resources operates and maintains the State Water Project, provides dam safety and flood control and inspection services, assists local water districts in water management and water conservation planning, and plans for future statewide water needs.
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