[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 6/13/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

June 13, 2008

 

2. Supply –

 

 

Water emergency declared in Kern County

The Bakersfield Californian- 6/12/08

 

A water emergency declared Wednesday means Kern County is essentially closed to cities or outside agencies looking to make new water deals here.

 

Agencies will continue to honor existing water deals, said Kern County Water Agency board member Gene Lundquist. And they will engage in “water neutral” deals.

 

But the emergency declaration will stop any new transfers out of the county. The agency approved the emergency declaration at a special meeting.

 

“People all over the state are scrambling for water and they’ve gotten the idea that Kern County is the place to get it,” Lundquist said. “It isn’t.”

 

Kern County Water Agency General Manager Jim Beck said the county will continue to move water through the various state and federal systems in order to help other cities and ag districts as long as it doesn’t cost Kern any water or money.

 

Neutral water exchanges will be accommodated, he stressed.

 

A similar resolution was passed last year after the massive pumps that bring water south from the San Joaquin/Sacramento Delta were shut down for several weeks to avoid killing the endangered Delta smelt.

 

But that was short-lived.

 

“(The declaration) might have more affect this year,” Lundquist acknowledged.

 

This declaration is different, Beck agreed.

 

This year, California has endured two below average winters and the driest spring on record. And a federal judge ordered that state water deliveries be cut to 35 percent of normal in an attempt to protect the smelt. All of which means water supplies are extraordinarily tight. Kern, for example, received only 35 percent of its normal allotment this year.

 

About 100,000 acres of permanent crops, trees and vines, are being underirrigated, meaning farmers are giving them just enough water to keep them alive but not produce as much. Anticipated financial loss is $51 million.

 

And 45,000 acres of non permanent crops have already been plowed under for a loss of $46 million to the county in crop value and jobs.

 

Next year is already shaping up to be worse. Beck said initial water allotment projections from the state system are 5 percent to 15 percent, the lowest since the drought of the 1970s. That means our reservoirs are starting at the same levels they were when the State Water Project experienced the worst conditions in its history.

 

“This emergency action is in response to our current situation, but it will also help us plan for next year,” Beck said. The resolution passed by the water agency's board Wednesday also calls for greater conservation methods and sets aside $100,000 for a public awareness campaign.

 

Kern is home to several water banks where local agencies stockpile water in wet years, giving us a buffer against dry years. The banks also store water for outside cities and agencies.

 

But without a continuing influx of state and other water, withdrawls on those banks could deplete our supplies too quickly. Hence the emergency declaration.

The Kern County Board of Supervisors will be asked on Tuesday to pass a similar resolution.#

http://www.bakersfield.com/102/story/470150.html