A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
May 8, 2008
2. Supply –
New Dam Proposals restart 1970’s era Fights -
Earth News
Officials begin the 20-day process of replenishing the neighborhood landmark after cleaning up contamination. -
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New Dam Proposals restart 1970’s era Fights
Earth News – 5/8/08
By Colin Sullivan
“Water,” he said famously. “It’s about the water.”
Stegner’s truism is relevant now more than ever. Climate change is giving the largest state economy in the
Spurred by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), long-dormant fights over new dams and reservoirs have returned to prominence lately as the state plans for an accelerated spring runoff brought by warmer winter temperatures, the looming threat of extended drought and an increasingly water-constrained future. The state’s Department of Water Resources is studying five multibillion-dollar projects, with two — the Sites Reservoir and the Temperance Flat Dam — favored by the governor.
John Andrew, the manager of the climate change program at the state Department of Water Resources, said the case for new dams is built on a single principle: flexibility. New dams, he argued, could help ease the pressure on a system that is overtaxed and already unable to serve California’s needs, by expanding surface storage capacity, improving flood control and capturing early runoff, fresh water that would otherwise flow out to sea.
“We’re going to need to have more water supply options of all kinds,” Andrew said, mentioning dams in the same breath as groundwater, conservation, wastewater and desalination projects. “We should be looking at all of them.”
Snow melts sooner, rising seas threaten fresh water
Andrew conceded that it is too soon to say whether climate change will add more or less precipitation to the state’s natural snowpack storage system in the
But several effects are already clear. The snow is melting sooner, for one, and sea level rises along the coast are beginning to threaten inland fresh water supplies as seawater intrudes. “We’re already seeing a shift from snow to rain,” Andrew said. “We’re already seeing stresses on the broader water system.”
So Andrew and others at the DWR, including its director, Lester Snow, are pushing the “portfolio approach” supported by the governor, agricultural interests and many Republican lawmakers in
“The only thing we can say [about climate change] is it’s going to bring more uncertainty,” Andrew said. “It’s one more layer of uncertainty to a system that is already stressed, and we can’t put all our eggs in one basket.”
So projects like the Temperance Flat Dam, for instance, are seen by some as a means to defend the state’s crucial agricultural lifeblood in the
“We really don’t have an alternative but to increase our ability to store and to transfer water,” said Andrew House, a legislative aide to Nunes. “You have a finite supply of water resources and a growing demand.”
Nunes is pushing a bill that would authorize funding to study Temperance Flat as a candidate for the first federal dam construction in a quarter of a century, since construction stopped and never restarted on a dam outside of Auburn, Calif. The congressman wants to see if the Temperance Flat project is economically feasible and then proceed with the debate if the results favor a new dam.
“We would pursue, based on the outcome of the study, a federal authorization of construction,” House said. “We have to find ways to be creative and get more water.”
Environmentalists see ‘no evidence’ to support new dams
While the climate may be changing, environmentalists who battled against the dams proposed in the 1970s have not. They argue that dam advocates are trotting out climate change to “greenwash” the same kind of projects that they stopped in the 1970s. They also insist that the users of the water — local water agencies and big farms — are not willing to pay for the projects themselves and only favor new development when the cost is covered by federal or state entities.
“What’s happening is climate change is the latest reason trotted out by the same old interests who want their activity subsidized by taxpayers to build new dams,” said Steve Evans, conservation director for Friends of the River.
Evans and others point out that the DWR studies have been ongoing for years and did not secure state funding in the current fiscal year (the studies are currently frozen, Andrew admitted). So accurate assessments of economic feasibility have not been supported by engineering facts, he said.
“There’s absolutely no evidence that building new dams would alleviate the problems associated with climate change,” Evans said. “Why do we build multibillion-dollar dams on the lack of information?”
Evans said the current system of 1,400 federal and state-run dams in
The Sites Reservoir, for example, north of
“One of the reasons dam studies are frequently delayed is because the analysis doesn’t tend to look very promising,” Nelson said. “They are just not very promising investments.”
As for Temperance Flat, Nelson said the debate “is completely premature.” The Bureau of Reclamation hasn’t decided if the project is feasible, and sources there admit the federal government will not likely foot the bill. Furthermore, Nelson said urban water agencies and agricultural water agencies have come to the conclusion (though they won’t say so publicly) that these projects are a waste of their money.
“No water user has stepped forward and said ‘I’m willing to write a check,’” Nelson said. “Taxpayers shouldn’t be asked to do it.”
“The bottom line is, building dams doesn’t cause rain,” Nelson added. “Climate change is just the newest coat of paint in an ancient fight.”
Fighting entrenched opposition and getting reluctant water users to pay
Andrew’s role in
Even if a dam got through the engineering and economic analytical stage, lawsuits would likely delay the projects for years, said Don Strickland, a spokesman at the DWR. “It’s not even close, politically,” he said. “Anytime you propose to build anything new in
So are new dams a nonstarter? Nelson thinks so.
“As the dominant technology for meeting water needs, the dam-building era is over,” said Nelson, arguing that groundwater storage alone in the Central Valley and in Southern California is comparable to the entire storage capacity of the dam at Mount Shasta in
“Dams were the predominant water supply technology of the 20th century,” he added. “That era is done.”
At least one official from a local water agency seemed to agree. Tim Anderson, of the Sonoma County Water Agency, said his agency was able to cut water deliveries by 21 percent last summer through urban water conservation and better groundwater use. He sees a potential long-term savings of 20 percent through such programs.
Still,
“There are areas in
Convincing farmers to change their crops is easier?
Peter Gleick, president of
Gleick said a common misconception is that crops grown as food for humans consume the most water in
“Those four crops produce only 15 percent of farm income … but consume half the water,” Gleick said. “We should grow less of those things and free up the water.”
The state should examine how much water is required to push a dollar of income for a farmer and encourage a shift in the agricultural economy to the fruits and nuts that pay off in the long run, Gleick argued. “Almonds are much better than alfalfa,” he said.
As for climate change, Gleick said the evidence does not support building new dams as a solution to increased runoff. Rather than new development, Gleick advocates adjusting the timing of when reservoirs are filled up and released.
“We couldn’t possibly build enough storage to equal the volume of snow we’re going to lose,” he said. “The traditional thinking has been to build another dam, but that’s not going to work anymore.”
He added: “Suppose we build two more dams, like the governor proposed; does anyone think the water problems we have today would disappear? The answer is no. The dams are a diversion from effective solutions.”
The answer, then? Gleick said the research points to smart management of surface water and groundwater facilities, to recharge aquifers in wet years and use them in dry years. He also believes in conservation and better wastewater management, at least until the cost of desalination comes down.
In this environment, he added, new dams may be the closest solution to a nonstarter.
“Let me put it this way: I’m not worried that we’re going to build these dams.”#
http://www.earthportal.org/news/?p=1106
Officials begin the 20-day process of replenishing the neighborhood landmark after cleaning up contamination.
By Francisco Vara-Orta, staff writer
The reservoir got its first drink in months when officials turned on the water Wednesday to start the 20-day process of refilling its 600-million-gallon, clay-based shell.
The emptying of the reservoir began in January. Water officials said the action was necessary to eliminate contamination by bromate, a carcinogen formed by the interaction of sunlight, chlorine and natural bromides in groundwater.
Workers had spent the last few weeks cleaning the clay shell of debris and other matter.
The empty reservoir revealed hundreds of golf balls, articles of clothing and even one wedding ring -- a simple uninscribed gold band -- which is now being worn by one of the biologists who helps maintain the water.
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power spokeswoman Terry Schneider said the goal is to replenish the basin for the summer demand of drinking water.
On Wednesday morning, Los Angeles City Council members Eric Garcetti and Tom LaBonge and DWP General Manager David Nahai gathered around the reservoir as water spewed from a pipe inside a tower.
The reservoir holds drinking water for the central and southern parts of the city.
For a time in the early 1970s, officials considered abandoning and filling in the reservoir or replacing it with water tanks. But after much debate, Silver Lake Reservoir survived.
Now, the DWP is in talks with city officials and residents on what to do with its reservoirs. Few cities still have uncovered reservoirs, which are prone to bromate formation and susceptible to contamination of other types, such as bird droppings, Cole said.
With construction underway on enclosed tanks for drinking water, some have proposed converting the
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-reservoir8-2008may08,0,6651405.story
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