[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 5/21/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

May 21, 2008

 

2. Supply –

 

 

 

Desalination, for a World Short of Water: Nearly half the world's population could soon be at risk. Many companies are poised to supply equipment for massive desalination efforts

Business Week – 5/21/08

 

 

Wastage of food means wastage of water

The Economic Times- 5/20/08

 

 

NID Revises Outlook on Seasonal Reservoir Capacity: No EIR planned for mercury-laden sediment removal from Combie Reservoir
YubaNet- 5/20/08

 

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Desalination, for a World Short of Water: Nearly half the world's population could soon be at risk. Many companies are poised to supply equipment for massive desalination efforts

Business Week – 5/21/08

By Vaughan Scully

 

With oil over $120 a barrel; prices for corn, wheat, copper, and steel close to record highs; carbon dioxide emissions causing climate change; and the world economy slowing, the last thing anyone needs is another crisis. Yet one is brewing now, in the U.S. and many other countries, where dwindling supplies of the world's most precious commodity—fresh, potable water—threaten the health and welfare of billions of people.

 

Already, 2.8 billion people—or 44% of the world's population—live in areas of high water stress, according to a March report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD). This figure is expected to rise to 3.9 billion by 2030 unless major new water-use policies are implemented. Much of the stress will occur in India, China, and other parts of the developing world, but water stress will also rise in more developed nations.

 

An investment of $10 billion annually is necessary to halve the number of people without adequate access to freshwater and sanitation by 2015, the OECD said. The economic consequences of forgoing that investment could be much greater.

 

Evaporation or Reverse Osmosis

To create more freshwater, many areas are turning to desalination, in which seawater or brackish groundwater is purified, either through evaporation or by being forced through a filter under high pressure, a process known as reverse osmosis. About 13,000 desalination plants are in operation around the world, mostly in the Middle East, but also in the U.S., Western Europe, and Japan. In addition, many projects are under construction or in planning stages.

 

Water consultant Global Water Intelligence estimates that worldwide desalination capacity will more than double, from 52 million cubic meters a day in 2008 to about 107 million cubic meters by 2016. At the same time, wastewater purification capacity will triple, to 60 million cubic meters per day. Spending on construction of desalination plants during that period will reach $64 billion, the firm says.

 

Desalination plants are expensive, create local opposition, and produce a stream of highly concentrated waste that is difficult to dispose of. Still, they offer the ability to produce freshwater where there is none, and water is one of the few items in daily life that has no substitute. An April, 2008, report by the National Academy of Sciences called desalination "a realistic option for increasing water supplies in some parts of the U.S.," which "will probably have a niche in the nation's future water management portfolio." Albuquerque, Las Vegas, Orlando, San Antonio, and San Diego are all currently considering desalination plants.

 

Worth Their Salt

The desalination market is dominated by a few large industrial conglomerates that either build desalination plants, manufacture the filter membranes that remove impurities from the water, or both.

 

General Electric (GE) vaulted into the top tier of desalination suppliers in 2004 when it paid $1.1 billion to acquire Ionics, which builds desalination plants and makes filter membranes. Paris-based Veolia Environnement (VE) is a major desalination plant builder and membrane supplier, as well as a water utility operator, getting about 34% of its revenue from water-related businesses. The Hydranautics division of Japanese chemical company Nitto Denko (6988.T) was the world's largest membrane supplier as of the end of 2005, according to Wangnick Consultants, followed by Dow Chemical (DOW), DuPont (DD), and GE.#

http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/may2008/pi20080520_622344.htm

 

 

Wastage of food means wastage of water

The Economic Times- 5/20/08

WASHINGTON: A new report by the Stockholm International Water Institute has determined that the wastage of food means wastage of a large amount of water.

According to a report in Discovery News , given that crop production uses about 1,800 trillion gallons (1,700 cubic miles) of water a year, almost 40 per cent of which comes from irrigation rather than rainwater, that loss represents a lot of water.

The report says that in the United States itself, up to 30 per cent of food is tossed out each year, worth about 48.8 billion US dollars, which is equivalent to flushing 10 trillion gallons of water down the drain.

"There's a very low awareness about the size of these figures," said report lead author Jan Lundqvist. "I think most people don't realize that the loss and the wastage is at that level," he added.

The report shows that these losses together make up more than half of the total. The remaining losses come from crops grown for animal feed that don't end up as calories in animals because of animals' inefficiencies in converting food into body mass.

"About 1.2 to 1.4 billion people are living in areas where all of the water is committed," said Lundqvist. "There is simply no more water to take. So if people want to have more water, they either have to take it from someone else, or we have to make more efficient use of it," he added.

According to Meena Palaniappan, an international water specialist at the Pacific Institute in Oakland, California, "When we're talking about ways to reduce or conserve water, obviously agriculture has to be the place where attention is paid," she said.

"This issue of efficiency of agricultural production is incredibly central to any environmental outcome over the next century, not just water," said Marshall Burke of the Program on Food Security and the Environment at Stanford University.

"Wastage is one clear, clear inefficiency where, if you could reduce it, it would have really useful effects for water, for nitrogen use, and for land use," he added.

In areas like Africa and many parts of Asia where upstream wastage dominates, waste could be reduced through better harvesting technology, storage and transport, according to Lundqvist.

Reducing meat consumption, and overeating in general, could also contribute in reducing the amount of food wastage, he added.

"It's not possible to reduce wastage and losses altogether, but we think a realistic target is to reduce losses and wastage by 50 per cent by 2025," said Lundqvist.#

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Earth/Wastage_of_food_means_wastage_of_water/articleshow/3056969.cms

 

 

 

NID Revises Outlook on Seasonal Reservoir Capacity: No EIR planned for mercury-laden sediment removal from Combie Reservoir
YubaNet- 5/20/08

By, Susan Snider

 

GRASS VALLEY, Calif. May 20, 2008 - Following two of the driest spring months on record, a May 1 snow survey indicates that Nevada Irrigation District's upper division reservoirs will not fill to capacity from natural runoff.

According to NID Water Operations Manager Don Wight, Bowman and Jackson reservoirs will likely run 10,000 to 12,000 acre feet short as the district faces its dry, summer season.

Wight also warned NID directors at a recent board meeting that recreation will suffer in the district's lower reservoir system, noting that some boat ramps at Rollins Lake would likely be dry by Labor Day.

In the case of Scotts Flat Reservoir, Wight indicated that the district hopes to keep boat ramps wet through the holiday weekend.

While hydroelectric production could be impacted, Wight assured the board that NID would make full deliveries within the district.

"We will run a tight water delivery system, keeping an eye on every stream and canal to make sure we are allocating water conservatively," Wight added.

Carryover supplies -- water remaining in NID's upper division storage system at the end of the district's regular irrigation season -- will also suffer as a result of reduced runoff.

According to Wight, NID could possibly exercise options with PG&E to purchase additional water to maintain storage in the district's upper division.

Green Light for E-George Expansion Project
In the absence of any public comment and following contentious discussion among board members about landscaping and noise levels, NID directors last week unanimously approved plans to expand the district's Elizabeth George Water treatment plant.

A mitigated negative declaration along with a mitigation monitoring and reporting program (MMRP) for the project were also approved.

Initial contact by NID staff and consultants with neighbors adjacent to the project revealed two primary concerns: noise and visual impacts.

Of the two, residents expressed greater concern over increased visibility of the plant's infrastructure.

NID staff advised board members that drought-resistant and native species would be planted throughout the expanded project area for purposes of screening and camouflaging.

In response to Director Scott Miller's comments that NID should practice more stringent water conservation through Xeriscape planting, Water Operations Manager Wight told the board that the landscape plan was very water efficient.

"The plants must be watered while small but when established they might not need water," Wight observed.

Director Nancy Weber noted that two Master Gardeners were consulted who recommended native plants that are not only good for screening but are also drought tolerant.

"These plants are not Xeriscape, but basically the other plants suggested wouldn't survive," Weber told the board.

NID staff also assured board members that noise baffles would be placed on equipment and any complaints regarding noise beyond stated mitigation measures would be addressed.

The goal of the project is to increase capacity required to address future demand.

Sierra Nevada Conservancy Awards NID Grant Funds
NID plans to use a $100,000 Proposition 84 grant from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) for completion of CEQA documentation and acquiring permits on the district's proposed mercury remediation project at Combie Reservoir.

Formed with provisions to provide financial assistance to Sierra Nevada businesses and public agencies like Nevada Irrigation District, SNC will not have an active role in the project.

According to Assistant Manager Tim Crough, the $100K grant should fund the project's initial phase which will assess the impacts of removing mercury-laden sediment from Combie Reservoir.

The water district also plans to seek more money from SNC for future phases.

Phase 2 -- implementation of the mercury removal project -- is anticipated to cost approximately $2 million.

Under SNC's grant agreement, the project scope calls for NID to "conduct an environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act to remove mercury-laden sediment from Combie Reservoir by use of innovative technology and to restore riparian habitat in the upper Bear River watershed."

The agreement further states that, "The environmental analysis is a critical step in determining the feasibility of removing large quantities of sediment with mercury from a reservoir such as Combie."

However, according to Crough, NID does not plan to produce an environmental impact report on the project.

"We are not going for an EIR, it doesn't appear we will need to at this time," Crough informed the board.

"We are well on our way to preparing a negative declaration on the project but there are still some fisheries studies to conduct."

The upper stretches of Bear River are cited on the 2002 Clean Water Act list of polluted watersheds because of mercury contamination. Natural as well as human driven factors including mining and upstream dredging have contributed to a buildup of mercury-laden sediments in NID's Combie Reservoir.

NID Braces for Possible Mussel Invasion
Fearing the arrival of invasive quagga and zebra mussels, NID Board President George Leipzig recommended to staff and district directors that NID close its upper division reservoirs for a year.

"With our system of water distribution we are a big target," Leipzig warned. "We can't put men up there and police it."

Leipzig was referring to the process of inspecting boats and trailers. Some California government agencies like the Lake County Board of Supervisors are requiring that boats be inspected before entering recreational reservoirs.

Inspections are time consuming and costly. In counties such as Santa Clara where the county handles the recreational aspect of reservoirs while Santa Clara Water Agency controls water distribution, debate surrounds who should bear the financial burden of these inspections.

But NID controls both recreation use and water distribution at its reservoirs. So who would incur the cost of possible inspections?

As a cost of doing business, ratepayers come to mind.

In areas where quagga and zebra mussels become epidemic, treatment to remove the nasty bivalves has lead to increased utility bills.

Additionally, this is an important question because of new legislation pending in the state assembly that would allow the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) to quarantine and close state lakes and reservoirs.

NID opposes AB 2065 not only because of the financial implications -- there is fear that the cost of DFG inspections would be passed on to water agencies -- but also because closing some of NID's upper division reservoirs might impact their current FERC relicensing process.

NID legal counsel Jeff Meith reminded Leipzig and other board members that the district should contact FERC prior to closing any of these reservoirs.

In spite of the risk of mussel invasion from the south to NID's lower division reservoirs, Leipzig did not advocate closure of Scotts Flat or Rollins.

Invading local waters, quagga and zebra mussels clog power plant and public water intakes and pipes. They coat piers and ruin boat motors.

Sharp-edged, quaggas and zebra mussels slice through fish navigating narrow ladders alongside dams. They have also disrupted the traditional aquatic food chains of many inland lakes by depleting food sources for other endemic species, especially fish.

Wreaking havoc in the Great Lakes since the 1980s, these invasive and destructive bivalves have reached California. They have been found in over 17 bodies of water in the state, mainly throughout Southern California.

NID board meetings are scheduled at 9 a.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of every month. The public is encouraged to attend.#

http://yubanet.com/regional/NID-Revises-Outlook-on-Seasonal-Reservoir-Capacity.php