A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 11, 2008
2. Supply
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AG ISSUES:
SWP ALLOCATIONS:
Official: Rainfall's just drop in bucket -
WATER SUPPLY PLANNING:
Report: Water conservation critical; Peninsula demand to exceed Hetch Hetchy supply by 2010 -
DESALINATION:
Desalination Plant Could Help Soothe Santa Cruz Water Woes - City on a Hill Press (
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AG ISSUES:
By Darryn Bennett, staff writer
They said they should be allowed to buy domestic meters that would deliver full-priced, unrestricted water to their homes, leaving 100 percent of their discounted water for agricultural use.
But domestic-meter purchases could be viewed by the state water agency as a way for growers to circumvent the 30 percent mandatory reductions that began Jan. 1, Valley Center Municipal Water District General Manager Gary Arant said.
More importantly, any policy that allows growers to pay full price to increase water deliveries to their property could bolster the argument to end the agriculture program completely, water officials said.
Some officials at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which administers the program, have said there's no rationale for selling water to growers at a discount when no surplus exists.
"I'm working to preserve the (agricultural program) to the benefit of our growers, " Arant said. "Its existence is what keeps agriculture possible in this district."
Under the Interim Agricultural Water Program, growers pay $250 less than residential or commercial ratepayers per acre-foot of water. In exchange, they agree to mandatory reductions in emergency situations. An acre-foot is 326,000 gallons, enough to sustain two households for a year.
Water agencies statewide, including Metropolitan and the San Diego County Water Authority, have said that the region faces serious water shortages because of drought and an August court ruling to protect an endangered fish, which limits water deliveries from
Ben Holtz, whose family has grown avocados on Circle R Drive in
"As agriculture customers, we're just as qualified to buy (domestic) water as some guy who's going to put in 10 houses," he said.
Under Metropolitan's guidelines, any water delivered to a property participating in the agricultural program is subject to the supply cut, even if some of the allocation is used for domestic purposes.
Based on that, the
"What good would that do me?" Holtz said. "I'd like some water so I can continue my business."
Arant said if residential water deliveries increase to properties where agricultural supplies have been capped, Metropolitan officials would "catch on" and penalize the rural district.
"We are the single largest participant in the (agricultural) program," he said. "We are being watched, and we are being audited."
Holtz and others said they'd be willing to forgo the discount if they could get out of the program and buy more water.
But Arant warned that leaving the program and paying full price for water wouldn't necessarily shield growers from supply cuts, because Metropolitan was created to supply water for municipal and industrial customers, not for agriculture.
"Growers could lose their discount and still be subject to mandated cuts," he said. "We have to fight to maintain the (agricultural) program as long as possible."
Robert Polito, a
"I like that (agricultural) discount," he said. "Without it, I don't see a future for my business."
Growers who signed up for the program before Dec. 31, 2006, are locked into it until Metropolitan ends the discount or the water shortage is corrected, agency officials said. #
SWP ALLOCATIONS:
Official: Rainfall's just drop in bucket
By Alisha Semchuck, staff writer
PALMDALE - Unless May brings some "miracle" rainstorms, State Water Contractors will not get one more drop of water from the California Aqueduct than the 35% already allocated this year by the Department of Water Resources, a top local water official says.
There's "little chance" for a change in this year's allocation despite all the rain in January and February, because March was such a dry month, Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency General Manager Russ Fuller told the agency board Tuesday night.
His assessment of state water woes reinforced comments in a news release issued by State Water Contractors Inc., a nonprofit association of 27 public agencies throughout the state that provide water from the State Water Project to more than 25 million residents and 750,000 acres of agricultural land.
"Urban water users and farmers are already feeling the pinch from restrictions imposed by an unprecedented federal court ruling that has slashed California's water supply by 600,000 acre-feet of water in the first quarter of 2008," the news release from State Water Contractors' Sacramento headquarters said. An acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons, the amount used by the average single-family home in one year, according to water experts.
The news release referred to the December ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger that ordered the pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta slowed down, reducing the amount of water that flows into the 444-mile aqueduct - water that residents use for drinking, cooking and bathing and that farmers use to grow fruits and vegetables. Wanger ordered the slowdown in an effort to save an indigenous species of fish, the delta smelt, whose population dwindled as they got sucked into the machinery and died. Smelt are vital to the delta ecosystem, scientists say.
The news release said the amount of water lost to member agencies in the first three months of 2008 "is enough to serve more than 4.8 million people for one year."
State Water Contractors have not been limited to a 35% allocation "since the severe 1991 drought," the release said, noting that precipitation so far in 2008 is low for the second consecutive year. "We are experiencing a dry year shortage that is being exacerbated by regulatory restrictions," said Laura King Moon, assistant general manager of State Water Contractors. "Our water system is being strangled, and there is no end in sight unless we change how we move water across the state and fix the broken delta."
AVEK and the Palmdale Water and Littlerock Creek Irrigation districts - the three State Water Contractors in the
Fuller called the shortage "the cumulative effects of the Wanger decision" and a spring 2007 order by Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch to shut down the pumps. "Without this, our allocation would be 45% or 50%," he said.
"This news continues to underscore the need for a comprehensive fix for the delta," said Curtis Paxton, assistant general manager for the Palmdale Water District.
Tom Barnes, water resources manager for AVEK, said the notice from State Water Contractors reflects "exactly what we've been telling people." He quoted Lester Snow, director of the Department of Water Resources, who cautioned state residents to not "be fooled by the rain. We're in a water emergency."
Any hope of securing water from other sources remains uncertain.
AVEK has been trying to negotiate with rice farmers north of the delta, trying to convince them to sell the water they use for agriculture at a profit rather than grow their crop this year.
Fuller described the water situation, especially in
http://www.avpress.com/n/11/0411_s11.hts
WATER SUPPLY PLANNING:
Report: Water conservation critical;
Inside Bay Area – 4/11/08
By Julia Scott, staff writer
Such was the conclusion shared at a news conference held Thursday by
The 2008 report devotes a special section to the county's water supply and demand, and officials at the meeting were at pains to point out the many success stories — cities that have installed low-flow toilets in government offices and homes, installed artificial turf grass and launched education programs to encourage the use of drought-resistant gardening plants.
The spotlight was on
"We're reducing our demand in precious drinking water that we're not going to get any more of. That's just a reality in this part of the world," said Peter Ingram, interim city manager, standing next to a recycled water marsh in front of the water treatment plant.
That reality, according to the report, is that the allotted supply of Hetch Hetchy water sold to
By 2030, demand for water, driven by population growth on the
"Don't count on more water coming from that source. That is tapped out," said Art Jensen, general manager of the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency, which distributes water to 27 cities across the region.
The only real solution, according to Jensen, is water conservation — and water recycling projects are a big part of that.
The member agencies of BAWSCA have committed to water conservation projects that will collectively save 58 million gallons of water per day by 2030, according to Jensen. For comparison's sake, that amounts to two-thirds of the water
Among the most notable positive trends in the county last year were good air quality and lower carbon dioxide pollution. Rising gas prices meant fewer people were driving, although driving times increased as traffic worsened. Gang-related homicides were at their lowest level since 2002. More cities adopted green building plans. And in 2006, the most recent year available, the Ox Mountain landfill received the lowest amount of total solid waste for any year since 1997.
On the down side, some of the most important indicators of a community's overall health — housing, poverty and health care — saw negative trends in 2006 and 2007. The subprime loan crisis had no effect on the
To learn more or order a copy of the report, contact
http://www.mercurynews.com//ci_8888782?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com
DESALINATION:
Desalination Plant Could Help Soothe Santa Cruz Water Woes
City on a Hill Press (
By April Short & Michele Lanctot, staff writers
Imagine not having enough water to brush your teeth. That could be a reality if
The results, according to Bill Kocher, director of the Santa Cruz Water Department (SCWD), would be devastating. “We are talking businesses shutting down,” he said.
After years of research, an ideal source of additional water remains elusive. Options like dams, reservoirs, and diversions would not be adequate because they are highly intrusive and costly. Since the late 1990s, the SCWD has been working on an Integrated Resources Plan (IRP). The plan identified seawater desalination as the best option.
Desalination is the process of converting ocean water into safe drinking water. Located at UC Santa Cruz’s Long Marine Laboratory, the
The most common form of desalination is reverse osmosis, which uses high pressure to force saltwater through extremely thin membranes, separating the salts and minerals from the potable water.
The process requires excessive energy, but the plant uses devices that recycle the water and create less work for the pumps, explained Erik Desormeaux, a scientist involved in developing the pilot plant and testing the methods of reverse osmosis desalination.
“The energy-capturing devices can cut energy cost up to 60 percent at their full potential,” Desormeaux said.
The pilot plant compares conventional and innovative pretreatment methods. The process will combine the “slow sand method” — a biological process in which unpressurized water is passed through a sand filter — with reverse osmosis.
“This is an extremely green process,” Desormeaux said, “but requires more space than the others — a minor tradeoff.”
In another effort to minimize environmental impact, the pilot plant has tapped into the
Legislation was recently passed to expand and add new protections for the national marine sanctuaries of
“The task force involved is actually being incredibly mindful here,” said Shauna Potocky, manager of the
Because of
The proposed full-scale plant will produce 2.5 million gallons a day. Soquel Creek will use this during the year to stockpile its groundwater, and if a drought hits,
The plant’s $4 million bill is being reduced by two grants from the Department of Water Resources and the State Water Resources Control Board. The two districts will split the rest of the cost. If a full-scale desalination plant were to be put into place, it would cost approximately $35 million.
“Desalination of ocean water is not a plan to encourage growth by any means, but it is a good backup if growth happens,” Kocher said. “Our goal is really just to provide the needed backup water supply in case of a dangerous drought situation.” #
http://www.cityonahillpress.com/article.php?id=1134
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