A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
June 30, 2008
2. Supply –
Editorial
Delta is worth saving
Contra Costa Times- 6/27/08
Editorial
Approval of urgent Delta projects long overdue
Contra Costa Times – 6/28/08
Water shortage could get worse for south O.C.: Limits on supplies and aging infrastructure threaten water supplies.
The Orange County
California
The Times UK- 6/28/08
Lack of water threatens San Joaquin Valley
The Packer- 6/27/08
Editorial
Even as fires rage, we can't forget the Delta's potential for devastating floods
The
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Editorial
Delta is worth saving
Contra Costa Times- 6/27/08
THE DELTA IS one of the great resources in
Yes, we're talking about quite a tightrope to walk, but this is definitely an area that needs to be explored now, a daring long-term plan put in place and implemented soon before Mother Nature and a population explosion collide in the Golden State. We detailed some short-term steps that are needed in Sunday's Times, but this group should be giving us some longer-term answers.
The initial plan from the task force takes a steady equitable course as the environment and the Delta's water supply are given equal treatment. The task force addressed a sort of rebuilding of the Delta in three key areas — improving the ecosystem, build a canal or pipeline to move drinking and irrigation water around the Delta, and strengthen the region's levees.
None of this will be cheap. The task force estimated the cost between $12 billion and $24 billion over the next 10 to 15 years alone and costs could run as high as $80 billion. Based on previous state estimates of construction projects we think $80 billion could be a conservative figure.
But we have to start somewhere. This is not an area we can afford to lose, and it's slipping away. The water supply is being cut off because the ecosystem is deteriorating. Geologists also have stated the shaky nature of the region's levees under extreme weather conditions or a major earthquake. All of this isn't going to improve on its own.
Yes, it's costly. Over the next four months, there will be many debates on this plan. In October, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will receive a final blueprint and he will carry the responsibility of moving forward.
It's true the state budget is in awful shape, but the Delta is key to our water supply and our ecosystem, and it's the driving force behind our agriculture industry.
We're not suggesting that we spend $80 billion now, but we need to move forward with a comprehensive plan to save the Delta. The Delta is worth it. It's important to all Californians.#
http://www.contracostatimes.com/opinion/ci_9725744?nclick_check=1
Editorial
Approval of urgent Delta projects long overdue
Contra Costa Times – 6/28/08
IN NOVEMBER 2006,
84 was a $5.4 billion measure for water infrastructure projects, while Prop. 1E approved $4.1 for new and upgraded levees, and other flood protection projects.
The Contra Costa Water District identified several short-, medium- and long-term projects to protect the Delta from earthquake damage and flooding.
Many of the short-term projects won widespread support from local, regional and statewide interests, including water districts, environmentalists and water users.
Despite voter approval of the money, broad support by virtually all interested parties and the urgency of the projects, no Prop. 84 funds were allocated.
As a result, four much-needed projects were delayed. They include:
* Stockpiling rock to be used to quickly block salt water from inundating fresh water in the Delta in case of an earthquake.
* Strengthening weak levees to prevent Katrina-like flooding, which is a very real threat with heavy rainfall.
* Screens at Clifton Forebay to allow for adequate pumping of fresh water without harming fish.
* Other projects to improve conditions for Delta smelt and water quality.
There is no good reason why these projects were not under way in 2007.
Again in 2007, the CCWD urged actions on projects that were needed immediately to safeguard the Delta, which 23 million Californians rely on for their water, and help provide adequate supplies.
To its credit, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 1002 with bipartisan support to include the necessary Prop. 84 funding the voters approved.
Amazingly, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed the bill. His "reasoning" was that he did not want to approve any water measure that did not include reservoirs.
We appreciate the governor's support of new water storage facilities. We have long advocated for new water storage because
However, building reservoirs is a long-term vision. Funding Prop. 84 is a critical short-term necessity. The governor should not have killed funding that could be used right now to meet urgent Delta needs in order to try to get approval for building reservoirs a decade or more from now.
So here we are, 19 months after voters approved Delta project money, some of which should have been used for a new water intake for CCWD, and nothing has been done.
With a threatening drought, low snow pack runoff, and a judge's order slowing down water pumping from the Delta, the Prop. 84 projects have become vital. Yet senseless squabbling continues in
The governor, who may have realized the mistake he made in vetoing SB1002, put Prop. 84 funds in the budget. So finally the money is on its way? Not so fast.
This time, legislative leaders want to take the money out of the budget and place it in a special funding bill, Sente Bill XX1. The measure is stalled in the Assembly.
What a ridiculous display of partisanship and counterproductive concern about who is going to take credit for Delta water projects. Outside of a few folks in
While our representatives in
However, the district is taking a $30 million risk by moving ahead with the intake project, hoping to get repayment from state revenues later on.
We gave editorial support to Prop. 84 based on the assumption that if the voters approved it the money might actually be used.
The state's performance thus far on this issue gives us pause. The long, unnecessary delays in using $9.5 billion in available money that has been approved by voters and water interests on emergency projects is unforgivable.
At the very least, the Legislature needs to pass SBXX1, and the governor needs to sign it — now. Then the work can begin, and CCWD can get the $30 million it deserves from the state.#
http://www.contracostatimes.com/opinion/ci_9733088?nclick_check=1
Water shortage could get worse for south O.C.: Limits on supplies and aging infrastructure threaten water supplies.
The Orange County
By MARK EADES
Drought, hot weather and an aging infrastructure are making it more difficult for
That's the message representatives from three water districts were trying to get out at a meeting Friday morning with the South Orange County Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Bob Hill, general manager of the El Toro Water District, said that if water supplies are cut off from the Colorado River or Northern California due to natural disaster,
"Bottom line, we are in a water crisis," Hill said.
Hill said there are now 3 million acre feet in reserves — compared to 200,000 acre feet during the drought from 1987-1992 — but those reserves are being drawn down and if there's an emergency, could disappear.
The Bay Delta in
In addition, he said the aging levees that control the water supply in the Delta are in worse shape then the levees were around
"We have to fix the plumbing in the state of
Getting the attention of legislators is difficult when it comes to water issues, according to Charley Wilson, vice-president of the Santa Margarita Water District's board of directors.
"If we do not act as a community, water will get more expensive,"
In a recent study, according to
"As water gets more expensive, it impacts the economy on all levels,"
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California imports water from the Delta and the
The drought has affected the
The Department of Water Resources said that runoff from the
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/water-wilson-county-2079216-delta-california
California
The Times UK- 6/28/08
Chris Ayres in Los Angeles
In
The £400,000 cloud-seeding project will involve injecting clouds above the
“We are helping Mother Nature along a bit,” said Don Griffith, the president of North American Weather Consultants, which has held various cloud-seeding contracts with
Critics have argued that conservation is a more effective strategy and that the rainmaking experiments will take place too close to residential areas, leaving them vulnerable to flooding and mudslides.
The chemistry involved in cloud seeding was discovered in 1946 by a meteorologist named Vincent Schaefer, who worked at the research division of General Electric.
It was refined by Bernard Vonnegut, the brother of the late author and Second World War veteran Kurt Vonnegut, and was used in an experiment in the 1960s known as Project Stormfury, which attempted to modify the course and severity of hurricanes.
A report published by the US National Academy of Sciences in 2003 said that the science remained unproven despite more than 30 years of trying. It said: “There is still no convincing scientific proof of the efficacy of intentional weather modification efforts.”
It is believed that rainmaking experiments by the RAF in 1952 caused 90 million tonnes of water to fall into the Lynmouth valley in
Survivors said that the air smelt of sulphur and that the rain fell so hard that it hurt people's faces. Any knowledge of such weather experiments has been denied by the Ministry of Defence.
Even
Because the water system in
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article4228167.ece
Lack of water threatens San Joaquin Valley
The Packer- 6/27/08
By Don Schrack
The future of
“If this trend continues, the ability of
The problem is a lack of irrigation water. The California Department of Food and Agriculture’s preliminary crop loss estimate, released June 25, puts the total at more than $167 million. Hardest hit, according to the estimate, are the valley counties of Stanislaus,
A combination of factors created the severe irrigation water shortage, especially along the west side of the crop-rich
Compounding the problem was a federal judge’s ruling to reduce pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta into the
As a result of the ruling, state officials notified water districts in late January that they could anticipate receiving, on average, about 25% of their normal allotments. The dry spring changed all that.
The food and agriculture department’s June 25 report indicates about 20,000 acres of row crop land has gone unplanted or has been abandoned.
Growers in the Fresno-based Westlands Water District, the state’s largest, will receive in June, July and August two-thirds of an acre foot of water per acre versus the nearly 2.5 acre feet anticipated in January, said Sarah Woolf, a spokeswoman for the district.
“This is absolutely Mother Nature’s way of giving us a wake up call and saying, ‘I’m not kidding,’” said Barry Bedwell, president of the California Grape & Tree Fruit League,
The dilemma may be a long-term problem for the growers — and their customers, retail and foodservice.
“It’s speculation at this point, but from what I’ve heard from the water experts and officials, 2009 has the potential to be far worse than what we’re dealing with now, especially if we don’t have a wet winter,” said Erin Field, California government affairs manager for Western Growers, Sacramento, Calif.
Supply gaps are a distinct possibility this fall and again in the spring, Field said.
“The
“With the flooding in the
The bulk of the San Joaquin Valley’s tree fruit, citrus and table grape crops are grown on the valley’s east side, where water supplies are adequate, Prieto said. Irrigation supplies are still limited, however.
“The Chowchilla Water District normally delivers water up to nine months a year, but has notified growers it will deliver only for 10 weeks this year,” said Jay Seslowe, assistant agriculture commissioner in
It’s the west side that faces the greatest obstacles.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency June 13 for the most affected counties. The order permitted the pumping of salty well water into the aqueduct. It may be little more than a band aid approach.
“We now have one landowner who has passed all water quality tests and is able to pump well water into the aqueduct,” Woolf said June 26. “We anticipate we’ll have more, but probably fewer than six.”
The additional water will be helpful, but it won’t fix the problem, she said.
“The landscape of the west side has changed over the years from row crops to permanent crops, almonds, pistachios and wine grapes,” said Rich Matoian, executive director of the Western Pistachio Association,
Some growers have secured water at what Matoian called incredibly high prices. The cost of buying irrigation water for one large grower, Matoian said, was $900,000.
“That’s above and beyond his normal cost of irrigation water, and he said he couldn’t make that investment again next year.” Matoian said.
Growers who have tried to have wells drilled are meeting with limited success.
“I’m getting calls complaining the waiting list is up to six months long,” said Mike Mortensson, executive director of the California Groundwater Association,
The association represents the state’s licensed drilling contractors, who Mortensson said are getting calls from growers at all hours of the day. Getting a well drilled is just one facet of the problem.
“The cost of a west side well is often upwards of $500,000,” Woolf said. “Pumping is expensive, too, about $200 per acre foot just to get the water to surface.”
“You’re going to be on a waiting list for at least a year just to get the hookup,” Prieto said. “Pacific Gas & Electric doesn’t have the energy capacity to serve you.”
Grower-shippers are not encouraged about the long-range view.
“Even a wet winter would not solve the dilemma,” Woolf said. “We still would be limited due to the endangered species ruling.”
The overriding problem, Bedwell said, is that politicians and bureaucrats have been squabbling while the state’s population zoomed to more than 34 million people.
“Take agriculture out of the mix,” he said, “and the reality is this is not good policy to keep ignoring the fact that we are going to need more water. We have not worked on our plumbing for almost five decades.”#
http://thepacker.com/icms/_dtaa2/content/wrapper.asp?alink=2008-141513-747.asp&stype=topstory&fb=
Editorial
Even as fires rage, we can't forget the Delta's potential for devastating floods
The
It's pretty hard to think about floods when fires fill the air with smoke.
That's understandable.
Dry lightning-sparked wildfires, hundreds of them, have reminded all of us in
This year seems worse than most. Stocktonians, of course, have seared in their collective memory the terrible
All those fires, and now the dire warnings about the dangers of July Fourth holiday fireworks, have focused Californians on the annual seasonal threat of living in a hot, dry state.
Each year, the attention of Californians, at least those of us living in the Valley, swings from the threat of fire in the dry summer months to floods in the wet winter months.
While understandable, it's also unfortunate. Even as we in the Valley were suffering with smoky skies, Americans in the
Study after study has warned that the levees that contain and channel the Delta waters are hopelessly inadequate, poorly maintained and a jurisdictional nightmare.
It is important to remember - even in the summer heat, with fires raging and the memory of the driest spring ever recorded still fresh - that the Delta represents no less threat to Stockton and Sacramento than Hurricane Katrina represented to New Orleans.
It also is important to remember that the last significant Delta levee collapse did not come in the winter after days of rain and wind. It failed in June 2004, weeks after the last rain of the season.#
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080630/A_OPINION01/806300303/-1/A_OPINION
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