Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 6, 2008
5. Agencies, Programs, People
WATER POLICY:
Editorial: Water grumbling - Riverside Press
Guest Column: Studying several options is a wise approach to state’s water crisis - Capitol Weekly
WATER POLICY:
Editorial: Water grumbling
Riverside Press
Jump-starting work on creating a reliable state water system is worth the cost of a little legislative uproar. Gov. Schwarzenegger's decision to move ahead on water plans last week caught legislators off guard, but the governor's sense of urgency is justified. The state faces significant challenges in ensuring a sufficient water supply, and further partisan stalemate only delays progress.
The governor last week released a set of proposed actions for addressing the state's water needs, after an eruption from the state Senate. Democrats feared the governor was bypassing the Legislature to start work on a canal to move water around the troubled Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a proposal with a history of bitter politics. A court ruling last year over an endangered fish slashed water exports from the delta, which supplies water to two-thirds of the state's population and irrigates 3 million acres of agriculture.
Schwarzenegger quelled the criticism by offering a more complete explanation of his plans, which turned out to be far more comprehensive than just a new version of the peripheral canal idea of the 1980s. Most of the proposals require legislative approval, anyway; the governor is merely trying to spur action on water policy after progress bogged down last year in a partisan dispute over new dams.
And while a canal around the delta might be politically touchy, the state clearly cannot continue using the delta as a conduit for the state's drinking water and keep the estuary from environmental collapse. The governor proposes studying the prospect of a canal as well as other approaches recommended in January by the blue ribbon task force on the delta.
Starting environmental studies of those ideas is not unilateral action, as Democrats feared, but a way to save time. The delta options are limited, and whatever solution the state settles on will likely be one of those the governor proposes to study.
The governor also wants the state to complete feasibility studies of the proposed dams, which will add fact to a debate now largely driven by knee-jerk politics. Knowing basic information about costs and benefits would shift the focus from partisan agendas to the merits or flaws of the projects. Either way, the state will need to store more water, as long-term climate changes bring more winter rain and decrease the mountain snowpack the state relies on for water storage.
Schwarzenegger also proposes a 20 percent per capita reduction in water use by 2020. Conservation is the simplest, most cost-effective way to stretch water supplies, and can free up more water than any other step the state can take.
The governor pushed out ahead of the Legislature, but the legislators responsible for last year's stalemate have little grounds to complain. Besides, prompt action on the state's water issues matters far more than who made the first move. #
Guest Column: Studying several options is a wise approach to state’s water crisis
Capitol Weekly – 3/6/08
By Timothy Quinn, Executive Director of the Association of California Water Agencies
Normally at this time, a healthy Sierra snowpack means a good year is in store for local water agencies and their customers. Not so in 2008.
Despite above-normal rain and snowfall, we're facing serious water challenges that no amount of precipitation can resolve. That makes the Legislature's water debate more critical than ever.
For the better part of the past year, legislative leaders and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have been trying to hammer out a comprehensive water bond that would address those challenges. While there is broad agreement on many elements of the package, negotiations continue on the most urgent problem: the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
Time is not our friend on this issue. The delta is in an ecological crisis that imperils species as well as our water supply. Every day that goes by without a solution is another day of lost water supply and further deterioration of the environment.
The Association of California Water Agencies is urging lawmakers to move ahead with a comprehensive plan that includes improvements to the current system for conveying water through the delta. Changes are needed to allow the system to protect the aquatic environment and still provide adequate water supplies for the economy.
The need for action has never been more acute. In December, a federal judge ordered significant reductions in water deliveries by the state's main water projects to protect a threatened species, the delta smelt. Another recent action involving long-fin smelt may further tighten the screws. The projects convey water through the delta to more than 25 million Californians and more than 2.5 million acres of prime agricultural land.
Pumping restrictions ordered by the court will reduce water deliveries by as much as 30 percent this year - and similar restrictions are likely every year until we fix the underlying problem. That means local water agencies will have less water available for their customers and will have to rely on extraordinary conservation (even mandatory rationing) and emergency reserves. They will also have less water available to replenish already low reservoirs and groundwater basins for use in future years.
The impacts of the court ruling already are being felt. For example, decisions on new housing and retail developments in
In northern
ACWA strongly supports a comprehensive solution that includes improvements in the delta's water conveyance infrastructure to reduce conflicts between environmental and economic needs for water. Fortunately, there are two very good public processes under way to study and recommend specific improvements to achieve that goal.
The Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force and the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan are on track to issue major decisions during 2008. In the meantime, Gov. Schwarzenegger has wisely directed state agencies to move ahead with a number of near-term actions as well as longer-term initiatives such as water quality improvements and a plan to significantly expand water conservation efforts to achieve a 20 percent reduction in per capita water use statewide by 2020.
The governor also directed state agencies to begin analyzing four options for addressing delta conveyance, a move designed to get the ball rolling on what will be a very lengthy environmental documentation process for whatever solution emerges from the two public processes under way.
Given the urgency of the delta crisis, the direction is a sound one provided there is opportunity for the environmental studies to be informed by negotiations in the Legislature and within the Delta Vision and Bay-Delta Conservation Plan processes.
Delta improvements are just one part of the picture. The comprehensive solution must also include substantial investments in local water resources, including expanded conservation, water recycling, local and regional surface water and groundwater storage projects, and desalination. These strategies - along with improvements to our statewide water storage infrastructure - are critical to meeting our water supply reliability needs now and in the future.
The ball remains in the Legislature's court. For the sake of
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