[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 5/29/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

May 29, 2008

 

2. Supply –

 

 

Dry year fuels early water war

Delta farmers, coalition spar over water diversion

The Record

 

Opinion:

Daniel Weintraub: Old idea that’s new again: Rainwater harvesting

Sacramento Bee

 

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Dry year fuels early water war

Delta farmers, coalition spar over water diversion

The Record – 5/29/08

By Alex Breitler, staff writer

 

A coalition of water users claims that farmers in the south Delta are illegally diverting water and asks state regulators to step in and protect water supplies during this dry year.

 

The San Joaquin River Group, representing mostly irrigation districts south of the Delta, said in a letter to the state earlier this month that it is "well known" that farmers in the south Delta take water to which they are not entitled. At times, not enough water flows down the San Joaquin River to irrigate all those farms, the May 12 letter says.

 

Delta farmers responded with a letter of their own earlier this week, calling the accusations "unsupported and false."

 

"It's just rubbish," Manteca farmer and water engineer Alex Hildebrand said Wednesday.

 

Tides ensure that there is always at least some water in the south Delta that can legally be diverted for crops, the Delta farmers say. The effect of these diversions is far less than the nearby state and federal pumps that send water as far south as San Diego, Hildebrand said.

 

Both letters were sent to the State Water Resources Control Board for review; the board has some authority over water right disputes.

 

State law says that landowners with riparian water rights - most often those whose land directly abuts waterways - can take as much water as they reasonably need without permits. But if there's not enough water for everyone, they must share.

 

"The water rights structure in California needs to be followed," said Allen Short, who heads the Modesto Irrigation District and is coordinator of the river group. "There are laws in place. Follow them. If you're diverting when you shouldn't be, don't."

 

The upstream water users say that excessive Delta diversions also deplete dissolved oxygen in the Stockton Deep Water Channel, potentially harming fish. Water sent downstream specifically to help fish and push back salt intruding from San Francisco Bay has been instead swallowed up by farmers, the group alleges.

 

The Delta farmers counter that water quality problems begin with the massive state and federal pumps, which suck hundreds of thousands of tons of salt into the San Joaquin Valley each year, according to John Herrick, an attorney representing the farmers.

 

This water is used on farms, then drains back into the San Joaquin River, which returns to the Delta. South Delta farmers, therefore, are drawing water that is already loaded with salt from upstream users, Herrick argues in his Tuesday letter.

 

"To identify local Delta diversions as a contributing cause of these problems is to wholly ignore history," the attorney wrote.#

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080529/A_NEWS/805290324/-1/A_NEWS07

 

Opinion:

Daniel Weintraub: Old idea that’s new again: Rainwater harvesting

Sacramento Bee – 5/29/08

By Daniel Weintraub

 

With California on the edge of drought and water restrictions already beginning in some areas, the state might soon be looking toward an ancient practice that is attracting renewed interest around the world: rainwater harvesting.

 

In Australia, rainwater harvesting has been widespread for years, and in parts of the country it is the only source of fresh water. The government of Texas is an aggressive proponent of the idea. And in Washington's San Juan Islands, residents have overwhelmed a state agency that grants permits for the installation of harvesting systems.

 

But in California, the notion of capturing rainwater for use in irrigating landscape still has not reached the mainstream. Using rainwater for toilet flushing or even drinking is almost unheard of.

Dylan Coleman would like to change that. Coleman, from the town of Mount Shasta, is a consultant and seller of rainwater harvesting equipment. With his wife, he also runs a nonprofit foundation – Save The Rain – that raises money to pay for the installation of rainwater harvesting systems in Africa.

 

Lately, he has been much busier with the Africa project than he has been selling systems here under his company's Wonder Water brand.

 

"I've become more of an educational institution than an actual business," Coleman told me. "I do a lot of talks. Rainwater harvesting has skipped over a couple of generations. We've lost the knowledge. We are having to be reawakened to what it can do and how effective it can be."

 

Dan Carney, water conservation manager for the Marin Municipal Water District, says Californians have a sense of entitlement when it comes to water.

 

"We come from a history of feeling like there was an unlimited amount of water in the West," he says. "There was this idea that there was an unlimited amount of gold, of silver, of water, that it would never run out."

 

The gold and silver are mostly gone now, and while water is still abundant, attitudes about its use might soon be changing. The past two winters have been relatively dry, and this year's Sierra snowpack had only 67 percent of its average water content on May 1. With environmental laws and court orders diverting more fresh water to protect wildlife habitat, one more dry year would likely leave the state in a water emergency. Already, cities from Roseville to Walnut Creek are under at least some form of water-use restrictions.

 

The growing interest in global warming might also contribute to pressures on water use. Water use – from pumping to distribution and treatment – consumes an estimated 20 percent of the electricity generated in California, and power plants are a major source of the greenhouse gases that are believed to be the cause of global warming.

 

Rainwater harvesting wouldn't be a panacea, but for many people, it might at least be the difference between having a green yard or a brown one, or provide enough water to wash their car when they want to. A more ambitious application of the technology could do a lot more.

 

The typical harvesting system is not very complicated. The best ones begin with a metal roof with a baked enamel finish, which stays fairly clean, but the method can be used with any roof style. Gutters collect the water, which usually flows through a fine screen to keep out debris and filter some contaminants. A diverter sends the first few gallons that come off the roof into a drainage system, and the rest is captured in cisterns, which can range in size from a few hundred gallons to several thousand.

 

That water can be used directly for irrigation. If the house has parallel water systems installed – one for drinking, bathing and kitchen use, the other for laundry and the toilets – rainwater can be easily used indoors, too. If it is filtered further or decontaminated with an ultraviolet light, it is safe to drink.

 

In Australia, the city of Melbourne is installing a 260,000-gallon underground tank to store water that will be used in a public park, and the city's design guidelines encourage the installation of water harvesting systems on all new construction.

 

In Texas, a state law directed the government to establish standards for the domestic use of harvested rain water. A commission that studies the issue found that 2 billion gallons of water could be captured annually in Dallas – and 38 billion gallons statewide – if just 10 percent of the roof area were used for harvesting. The state recently established a "rain catcher award" to recognize the systems that best save water and money, and benefit the environment through innovative uses of the technology.

 

In Washington, the city of Seattle actively encourages harvesting. And on the San Juan Islands in Puget Sound, where many residents have little or no fresh water supply, interest in harvesting has surged, overwhelming a state agency that issues permits for the systems. In response, the agency granted "island-wide" approvals for the residents of Shaw and Lopez islands.

 

California has a reputation as a leader in environmental innovation. But when it comes to capturing the rain, the state seems to be behind the curve.#

http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/972737.html