A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
June 11, 2008
2. Supply –
Farmers hit with unexpected water cutbacks
Chino
City sifts water meter options
The
What Drought?
The
Water District in
New York Times
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Farmers hit with unexpected water cutbacks
By Kate Campbell, Assistant Editor
Westside processing tomato farmers Jim and Tod Diedrich walk their fields near Mendota trying to figure how to keep their crop alive with very limited water or whether to just let it die.
Federal officials told hundreds of
The reductions affect farm customers of the federal Central Valley Project in both the
The sobering news caught many who farm on the west side of the
This additional cutback, which has never before occurred so late in a crop year, was explained during a congressional briefing in Los Banos. Hosted by Congressmen Jim Costa, D-Fresno, and George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, the event drew hundreds of farmers, water district representatives and officials from all levels of government, including state Food and Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura, as well as members of the press.
Riverdale farmer Mark Borba, who relies on water from the Westlands Water District, said crops produced within the district, like almonds, tomatoes and cotton, will suffer.
"Yields will fall, quality will decline, fields will be abandoned, trees may die and unemployment will skyrocket," he said.
"This unexpected cutback comes at the time of highest demand for water. In the next three months, our crops will be facing triple-digit temperatures and yet we'll have a third less water to work with.
"For us, every day is another day lost in solving this problem," Borba said. "What we don't need from
Processing tomato grower Jim Diedrich, a Westside farmer who relies on federal water deliveries, said after the meeting that there was a lack of specific detail in the information presented at the briefing.
"That's a concern because they keep talking about getting a little more water here and there, but we have less than a week to figure out what's going on, if we'll get a little more or have to let 1,000 acres of tomatoes go.
"We already have $1.2 million invested in establishing the crop and getting it to this point. Based on what they're saying today, we may only be able to save 200 of those acres."
Diedrich said he has taken a number of steps in recent years to reduce water use and better manage irrigation.
"We put in drip systems, so now, instead of using 3.5 acre-feet of water, we're down to 2.1," he said. "But there's no way we can make up through water management techniques for the kind of cuts they're talking about. And, there's no groundwater where we are so that's not an option.
"We need water today, but an even bigger concern is that they also aren't talking about what we're going to do next year. Based on what I heard today, I'm not too eager to rush out and put a million dollars in the ground next year.
"I just hope if we have a problem with water supplies next year that they'll come out and say so sooner," he said. "That way we'll know early?before we get a crop planted."
Diedrich's son Tod said, "We've already told three-quarters of our workers to go home. We shut down the water meters. We've tried to keep on the employees who've been with us the longest and the ones with families, but it's possible in a week there won't be any water so there won't be any work.
"We'll have to save what we can by ourselves?me, my dad, my kids and a foreman. We'll focus on trying to save our almond trees. That's the only way I can see to survive."
The day following the briefing, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a statewide drought (see story on Page 18). The Westlands Water District, which operates in the western
Westlands officials said the district now is conducting a survey of its growers to determine the extent of its losses. Although the results are still coming in, Westlands said it's apparent that millions of dollars worth of tomatoes, melons, onions and other produce are at risk of being abandoned because there isn't enough water to sustain them.
"In the next few weeks, we expect to have a more complete analysis of the potential impact these water cutbacks will have on the state's economy and on the people who live and work in the valley," said Sarah Woolf, a spokeswoman for the district.
She said the situation the district faces is unprecedented, "but it's a perfect illustration of the extreme vulnerability of the water system as a whole to a changing environment, judicial decrees and a flawed delivery system that is long overdue for improvement."
In opening the briefing last week in Los Banos, Costa said the challenge facing
"That includes below-average rainfall. The last three months are the lowest in recorded history," he said. "Combine that with previous below-average water years and the limitations placed on us by a state water system designed for 20 million people that has to serve 37 million people today and you start to see the problem.
"We've managed to stretch that thin water supply, but we've reached the limits. We have problems in the delta, judicial decisions that impact our ability to comply with the Endangered Species Act. This is the perfect storm."
But, Costa stressed that all of these issues notwithstanding, political leaders at the state and federal levels have not been able to provide the increase in water supply that Californians need.
Underscoring to the congressmen the urgency of the problem, Westlands Water District General Manager Tom Birmingham said, "Half the people in this room are going to go broke. This is a crisis that has to be fixed now."
Westlands, which covers 600,000 acres, accounts for more than $1 billion in agricultural production, about 20 percent of the total farm production for Fresno County, the nation's No. 1 farm county.
"Something has been unleashed that we can't get our arms around," said Mike Houlding, a Cantua Creek grower. He said the sharp reduction in water supplies comes on top of skyrocketing fertilizer and fuel costs.
Radanovich said that while the current water crisis is painful and he's tired of agriculture bearing the brunt of an antiquated delivery system, if there's any good in the situation, it's the whole state is going to feel the pinch of this water shortage.
"That will help us to do what we have to do?get a conveyance system through or around the delta and more surface storage, such as the proposed Temperance Flat reservoir," Radanovich said. "It's the only thing that's going to get us out of this. It has gotten to the point where we can no longer live like this."
Earlier this month, residents in Alameda and Contra Costa counties were required to reduce water use by 19 percent after the East Bay Municipal Utility District imposed water rationing. Golf course managers were required to cut water use by 30 percent.
In some
Fresno County Supervisor Phil Larson, who also is a former Fresno County Farm Bureau president, said the crisis is extending beyond farms and pointed out that it will affect small businesses that rely on farming and the jobs they provide.
"In
Although farmers and water district leaders pressed for specifics on how much water the bureau would be able to deliver, none of the officials could give a specific number on the amount of water that actually will be available through the end of the crop year.
The State Water Project (SWP) also is scrambling to meet its south-of-delta demands, officials said. The state is dealing with the worst projected Oroville carryover storage since 1977. SWP operators intend to minimize moving Oroville water south by maximizing the use of water stored in the San Luis Reservoir. This will leave no opportunity for the CVP, which shares the reservoir, to borrow SWP storage at the low point.
Chris Hurd, who farms about 30 miles south of Los Banos and grows tomatoes and other row crops using drip irrigation, said he's trying to come to grips with what the cuts will mean to his operation.
"The real problem is that even with the rationing, the bureau may not be able to physically get the water to us," Hurd said. "I have trees, permanent crops that I'm having to decide about turning the water off because there won't be enough water to go around."
Gustine farmer Steve Bell said, "What concerns me is the bureau is doing the best they can, but they don't seem to know exactly how much water they really have. That worries me a lot.
"We're going to get this by fallowing some ground and putting in a couple more small wells to keep things going. Out of about 400 acres, we're going to have to let 50 acres go. That's not a lot considering what some people will lose, but it matters to us." #
http://www.cfbf.com/agalert/AgAlertStory.cfm?ID=1062&ck=CD89FEF7FFDD490DB800357F47722B20
Chino
Inland Valley
By Neil Nisperos, staff writer
The city plans to repair well No. 10, at the Phillips Reservoir, to provide 1,250 acre-feet of water per year, officials said.
An acre-foot of water is about 325,000 gallons - approximately the amount of water used by a family of four in a year.
If all goes without delay, the newly repaired well should begin operating in six to eight weeks, said Jose Alire, director of public works.
The water from well No. 10 contains nitrates which will be treated at the Benson Nitrate/Perchlorate Water Treatment Plant at the Benson Reservoir.
According to a city report on the well, "Growing water demands, dry weather conditions, and the Metropolitan Water District's call for reduction in the use of surface water supplies require the city to develop new groundwater sources or reactivate existing water quality-impaired groundwater facilities."
Work to reactivate the well has long been a part of a master plan, Alire said. The well reactivation comes just as officials have declared a statewide drought.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's June 4 drought declaration comes after two straight years of below-average rainfall, low snow melt runoff and court-ordered water transfer restrictions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region.
An executive order signed by Schwarzenegger last week directs the Department of Water Resources to help local water districts and agencies improve water efficiency and conservation, among other measures.
The Metropolitan Water District Board of Directors also ramped up calls for conservation by issuing a Water Supply Alert on Monday.
As part of a long-term plan to deal with future water needs,
The new aquifer storage and recovery well on the corner of
"We're not doing this because of the current drought conditions," Crosley said. "We're doing this as part of our master plan to be prepared for potential water supply shortage conditions."
That well, and other wells in the area run by the Monte Vista Water District, would refill the aquifer's supply capacity more quickly and store more water for future need.
When all four wells are in operation later this year, injection would increase storage capacity in the
http://www.dailybulletin.com/news/ci_9545753
City sifts water meter options
The
By Denny Boyles, staff writer
Those meters, known as fixed automated reading systems, were part of a presentation on a metering plan to the Fresno City Council on Tuesday.
The meters will start to appear later this year as city officials begin compliance with a state law and an agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation that requires the city to charge a metered rate by 2010.
Another 24,000 meters installed in older homes also will have to be replaced.
All new homes built since 1992 have water meters, and meters were installed in some homes before that date.
On Tuesday, the City Council got its first in-depth look at how the metering program would work, and how the meters could be monitored.
Garth Gaddy,
Gaddy offered a range of options from traditional meters that would be read by meter readers, to an automated system that monitors usage on a continuous basis.
Gaddy recommended the automated system, saying it would be cheaper in the long run.
The council is expected to vote on the plan in two weeks.
With more than 100,000
The city will sell bonds to finance the cost of buying and installing the meters.
When operational and billing expenses are added, total costs jump to between $131 million and $164 million over 20 years, depending on the type of meters chosen.
The automated system allows officials to constantly monitor water usage citywide without a meter reader having to visit each home.
The system is expected to cost about $51 million to install, or $131 million for installation and operation for 20 years.
Traditional meters would cost about $164 million to install and operate for 20 years.
Gaddy said the automated reading meters will cut staffing costs, and cut emissions by reducing the number of public works vehicles needed by meter readers.
The meters also will help the city cut water usage, Gaddy said. Right now, each
In
"That's a huge savings, both in terms of water and in terms of the electricity or natural gas used to pump that water," Gaddy said.
Constantly monitoring the meters through the automated system also allows the city to quickly detect leaks and better plan for water needs, Gaddy said. "Conservation, customer service and billing are all also improved."
Council Member Mike Dages said the automated meter-reading system seemed to make the most economic sense.
"We should use the best technology available," Dages said. "Even if it costs more to install, it's easy to see it will save us much more in the long run." #
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/659863.html
What Drought?
The
By John McCreadie
While many parts of the state feel the impact of two straight years of below-average rainfall, very low snowmelt and the largest court-ordered water transfer restrictions in state history, Placer County remains drought free – at least for 2008.
But Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s June 4 drought proclamation and executive order takes immediate action to address “a dire situation” where numerous
Statewide, the lack of water has created other problems, said the governor, including extreme fire danger due to dry conditions, economic harm to urban and rural communities, crop losses and the potential for degrading water quality in some areas.
But not in
“This year is not a lot different than last year for those of us here in the Sierra foothills,” he said. “We got through last year just fine and we plan to get through this year just fine.”
Breninger said that while it’s been a below-average year for rainfall, it’s been “an average year in terms of meeting the demands” of our region. In fact, combined storage capacity is up slightly for June, compared to the same time last year, at two reservoirs that serve the county – French Meadows and Hell Hole.
Additionally, large commercial growers in the county west of Lincoln, who sometimes get less water than they desire, will have “an abundant amount of water to meet all of their needs” this year, Breninger said.
Regardless, state and regional water officials continue to urge communities to conserve water whenever possible, especially now when landscapes and lawns soak up 50 percent of water used during the summer months.
“All of us should be looking to apply water-use efficiencies and best-management practices – kind of a conservation ethic, if you will,” said Breninger. Water officials applaud Schwarzenegger’s proclamation for making a splash with water consumers by raising awareness that voluntary conservation statewide is important.
But his proclamation of drought and stated readiness to declare an official State of
The governor’s 2008-09 budget proposal includes an $11.9 million water bond for water management investments to address population growth, climate change, water supply reliability and environmental needs. It includes $3.5 billion dedicated to developing additional water storage and $2.4 billion to help implement a sustainable resource-management plan for the San Francisco Bay-Sacramento Delta region.
For many
PCWA, along with many other water agencies located “above the Delta,” are not affected by the environmentally troubled maze of waterways.
But with several proposed state initiatives dealing with water-management issues targeting the November ballot, history suggests statewide bond measures often dredge up bad blood between Northern California – where most of the state’s water resources reside – and
One of the state’s most polarizing ballot initiatives pitted North against South in 1982 with a proposal to develop the so-called
“That battle never goes away, especially here in the north, anytime (a statewide) drought is mentioned,” said Lisa Amaral, water conservation administrator for the City of
On April 30,
While
Other communities around the state have taken similar actions, but increasingly, government officials believe more long-term solutions are required.
“I don’t see water as a political issue,” said the governor, responding to media questions during his drought-proclamation press conference. “I think that there are Democrats that want to drink safe and reliable water, and there are Republicans that want to drink safe and reliable water. ... So this is why I think Democrats and Republicans must get together and solve this problem once and for all.”
As the state continues to beat the drought drums loudly, water officials expect the issue likely will rise as reservoir levels sink later this year.#
http://www.auburnbuzz.com/content/view/1343/67/
Water District in
New York Times – 6/11/08
By Rebecca Cathcart
LOS ANGELES — The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California issued a water alert on Tuesday, asking communities to modernize and toughen their water conservation rules.
The district, the wholesale supplier of water to urban centers in six counties in
Tuesday’s alert follows the governor’s declaration of a drought last week and is the last step before water rations and fines for noncompliance, said Bob Muir, a spokesman for the water district.
In 2009, the district “will assess reserve levels and supply from the
In a normal year, California’s water reserves are at 2.2 million acre feet. Last year, the water district pulled half a million acre feet from the reserves, said Jeff Kightlinger, the district’s general manager. Mr. Kightlinger said he expected to match that amount this year if city ordinances and outreach efforts did not reduce demand. That would bring state reserves to emergency levels in the next two years, he said.
As part of Tuesday’s alert, the board of directors for the water district is urging municipal governments to update their water conservation ordinances, for example by limiting outdoor water use at certain times or encouraging showers of no more than three minutes. At this stage the district itself can only make recommendations, although municipal governments can enforce new ordinances or regulations.
Most existing ordinances were written during the last drought in the late 1980s and have not been enforced since 1991, Mr. Kightlinger said. After lying dormant for almost two decades, many are no longer relevant to current conservation needs, he said.
In the late 1980s, water use was cut by 30 percent when many Californians replaced appliances like toilets and shower heads with more water-efficient ones, Mr. Kightlinger said. Those changes fixed mechanics but not behavior, he said.
“We’ve already picked that low-hanging fruit,” Mr. Kightlinger said. “People have to take more serious measures if they want to save water.”
Up to 70 percent of water in
“In the past, residents have responded to a call for action,” Timothy F. Brick, chairman of the water district’s board, said in a statement on Tuesday. “We are depending on their help again to stave off the need to allocate supplies in the future.” #
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