Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 14, 2008
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
Editorial
State's water system at breaking point
7/13/08
Crews remove tons of sand for All American Canal
The
Editorial
Aviva Imhof: Big dams are not the answer to world's energy needs
The
Polluted water politics leaves state up a creek
The
Rancher: Water dispute may get more hostile: Adjudication ongoing for decade, hundreds involved
The
Proposed cut infuriates farmers
The
Drought ignites artificial turf wars: Residents hoping to install fake lawns to save water and get rebate are hampered by city bans and restrictions.
The
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Editorial
State's water system at breaking point
7/13/08
It is an extensive rearrangement of the existing natural order, created by the ingeniousness and will of man because of their use of one of our most precious natural resources: Water.
Unfortunately the original plumbing designed years ago to make our city, county and state what it is today isn't doing the job.
For years, inept politicians have failed to resolve the water issues that will eventually bring
In the late 1990s,
Many say conservation is key to solving our water crisis. I agree it is a small piece of the puzzle, but it cannot solve our growing water crisis alone. A long-term, sustainable approach to
Sen. Dianne Feinstein recently said, "I have just one statistic, one only, and that is 25 million people depend on Delta water for drinking water of the state. And the probability of a big earthquake over 6.7 is 75 percent in the next 30 years. And if that were to happen, there are all indications that the Delta could collapse, the water would be gone, there would be no water for drinking, there would be no water for agriculture, and there would be no water for fish, marsh, and ecosystems."
A scary comment from someone who truly knows the effects of our broken water system.
Investing in
We must all encourage our elected leaders to find quick and sensible solutions to more water storage and better water conveyance issues. Politicians and stakeholders must leave their egos and agendas at the door when developing a common sense plan to benefit all. For the future of our state and county, we must work together to address these issues.#
http://www.bakersfield.com/1435/story/496337.html
Crews remove tons of sand for All American Canal
The
BY JOYCE LOBECK, SUN STAFF WRITER
Shape-shifters in the form of huge, lumbering earth movers have been busily at work on the dunes west of
The project includes construction of a 23-mile concrete-lined segment of the
A reservoir also is being constructed near Gordon's Well to hold about 8,000 acre-feet of water, mainly to regulate the lower
It is considered one of the largest water conservation programs in the nation, said Kevin Kelley, spokesman for Imperial Irrigation District, which operates the canal under a contract with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
Built in the 1930s, the
Replacement of the 23-mile eastern segment of earthen canal with the lined canal is expected to save 67,700 acre-feet of water a year. That would be enough water to supply the annual needs of about 500,000 people in
That segment of the 82-mile canal was selected for the work because it winds across the sand dunes, resulting in substantial water loss from seepage through the sandy soil.
"That's the section with the greatest identifiable seepage," Kelley said.
Work began on the project in July 2007. Kelley said it's now about one-fourth finished and is expected to be completed in the fall of 2010 at a cost of about $285 million.
Funding for the project's two phases is being provided by the state of
Two contractors are working simultaneously on different sections of the canal, Kelley said: Kiewit Corp., with a staging area near Sidewinder Road, is working on the stretch closer to Yuma; Ames Caufman is working near Gordon's Well.
About 30 million cubic yards of sand will be excavated, followed by the concrete lining operation.
Once the new canal becomes functional, the old waterway will be kept for habitat and future water storage, Kelley said.
The project was delayed a year because of legal challenges issued by environmentalists and businesses on both sides of the border. They claimed that the seepage from the canal was a vital water source for the
Congress passed legislation (HR 6111) in December 2006 to start the project "without delay." The president signed the bill that same month, and the Ninth Circuit Court lifted its injunction on the project based on the federal legislation.
The
Of that allocation, Imperial Irrigation District is entitled to up to 3.1 million acre-feet, of which the vast majority is used for agriculture. Water saved through the canal project will help ensure a reliable water supply for the region in years to come.#
http://www.yumasun.com/news/canal_42933___article.html/american_busily.html
Editorial
Aviva Imhof: Big dams are not the answer to world's energy needs
The
By Aviva Imhof - Special to The Bee
How to generate electricity without selling out the climate is one of the pressing issues facing humanity today. But don't worry; the international hydropower industry says it has the situation covered. It's using the threat of global warming as a pretext for promoting a new generation of big dams in developing countries.
But investment in hydropower dams will not only increase our vulnerability to climate change, it will also sell out some of the last remaining wild places on Earth, and the lives and livelihoods of tens of millions of people.
This week, more than 2,000 people will come to
It's time for the industry and its lobbyists to admit that this is the wrong climate for big-dam hydropower. A changing climate means more frequent and more severe droughts and floods. River flows will see major changes as glaciers and snowpack melt, and rain and snowfall patterns are drastically altered.
Unprecedented floods will hasten the rate at which reservoirs fill with sediment. Meanwhile, worsening droughts will mean dams will fail to meet their power-production targets. Scores of poor countries are already overly dependent on hydropower and have suffered serious power shortages in droughts.
Water scarcity-induced power cuts in 1999-2000 in Kenya – which got four-fifths of its electricity from hydropower at the time – cost the country at least $1.4 billion a year, equal to one-sixth of its gross domestic product.
Not only that, but an emerging body of science indicates that reservoirs, especially in the tropics, are a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions from rotting soil and vegetation. Such reservoirs can have a greater impact on global warming than fossil fuel plants generating equivalent amounts of electricity. Yet projects of this nature continue to be built, with no one keeping track of their emissions.
As if all this were not bad enough, the locations where large dams are now being planned – along the Mekong in Southeast Asia, the Amazon basin, the rivers of Chilean Patagonia and the Congo River in central
The Brazilian government, together with the powerful Brazilian hydropower industry, plans to build 60 to 70 large dams, converting the world's largest and most biologically diverse river ecosystem into a series of slack-water reservoirs. These dams will flood vast areas of the rain forest, cause great ecological harm and destroy the lives of indigenous people and others who live off the rivers' rich bounty.
Real solutions exist that can cut climate pollution: they are affordable, clean and sustainable, and don't destroy the livelihoods of the rural poor or sacrifice some of Earth's last wild places. These solutions don't involve grandiose infrastructure plans, the benefits of which will flow to those who can afford to pay, while the poor bear the effects. They do involve investment in "no regrets" measures that provide climate security as well as energy security.
Developing countries have massive unexploited potential for new renewable technologies such as wind, solar, geothermal and modern biomass energy, as well as low-impact, non-dam hydropower. Such technologies are much more suited to meeting the energy needs of the rural poor, as they can be developed where people need the power and do not require the construction of massive transmission lines.
Large-scale renewable sources of energy are also an attractive and affordable solution to many countries' needs. The cost of wind power in good locations is now comparable to or cheaper than that of conventional sources. Both solar photovoltaics and concentrating solar power are rapidly coming down in price and could soon be competitive with conventional sources.
But these are not the discussions that will be taking place in
If we are to significantly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and protect some of the last wild places on Earth, we need an industry that looks forward to a new paradigm of energy production, not one dependent on environmentally destructive, inefficient and inequitable models. It is a new world out there and the hydro industry needs to develop a brave new HydroVision to deal with it.#
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/1080326.html
Polluted water politics leaves state up a creek
The
By Jim Boren
In the debate over the state's precious water, the talking points are very clear. It's a battle over helping wealthy corporate farmers or saving the fish. You are either for the big guys or those who want to save the planet. There's no middle ground.
But like most difficult public policy questions, the issues are not so black and white when it comes to dividing up
A handful of state legislators had that lesson reinforced at a hearing last week in Mendota. It's a
When corporate agriculture is hurting, the farmworkers and communities that rely on farming are hurt even more. Punish the big guy, and you slay the little guy.
The problem for lawmakers is that the ones who are wary of helping farmers get water for their crops are also the ones who express concern about the plight of farmworkers. Somehow, the smartest people in the Capitol don't see how they are connected.
And the lawmakers who only want to build dams don't seem to care about the environment, or how the degradation of our resources affects humans. They call those who want to restore the
No wonder the Legislature fails each year to find solutions to our water crisis. Our lawmakers are so locked into their tired political thinking that compromises on water policy are unthinkable.
Now the pressure is on
It could be solved simply if those with the clout to make water policy would be willing to find common ground. Sure, a water package would be expensive, but not more expensive than delaying solutions year after year.
They hide behind their talking points, and farmworkers suffer. We learned how much at the Mendota hearing called by Assemblyman Juan Arambula, D-Fresno, to allow his colleagues to see first-hand the damage caused by their inability to find a water solution.
The west side of the
But there's another reason besides the high cost of gas. The drought has left so little work that's there's a run on the jobs available. If they sleep in the fields or on the side of the road near the fields, they may be lucky enough to get work the next morning. Many wait and are turned away.
"It breaks my heart when I hear these stories," Arambula said in an interview. His hope is that lawmakers from around the state will finally realize that being AWOL on water solutions hurts some of the state's poorest residents. If agriculture thrives, farmers, farmworkers and Valley communities thrive.
That's why Arambula invited his Democratic colleagues to the Mendota hearing on a hot Valley afternoon last week. Three of them took him up on the offer.
Assembly Members Anthony Portantino, D-La Canada-Flintridge; Jose Solorio, D-Santa Ana; and Sally Lieber, D-Mountain View; were told how the lack of farm water is hurting everyone.
Riverdale farm labor contractor Piedad Ayala laid out the issue succinctly in The Bee story on the hearing: "This problem is not affecting just farmers or farmworkers, but also the consumer. We're seeing ground turned into desert, seeing food in the supermarkets that is imported."
The story also quoted Miguel Arias of the
There are broader issues that will affect much of
There are many reasons to fix the water problem in
But maybe we shouldn't be surprised. Lawmakers have ducked every tough problem that has come their way. Their lack of action on water has hurt many people over many decades.
Maybe they just don't get it.#
http://www.fresnobee.com/columnists/boren/story/727060.html
Rancher: Water dispute may get more hostile: Adjudication ongoing for decade, hundreds involved
The
By ALISHA SEMCHUCK , Staff Writer
PALMDALE - Hostility is likely to grow worse between farmers and public water providers as the
In order to achieve satisfactory results for everyone, Lancaster alfalfa rancher Gene Nebeker has asked the Palmdale Water District board of directors to "minimize the role of lawyers and technical advisers" in the adjudication, which has dragged on nearly a decade.
The legal snarl began in October 1999 when Diamond Farming Co. filed suit against Lancaster, the Antelope Valley Water Co., the Palmdale Water District and three other water purveyors. Since then, hundreds of entities and individuals have joined the suits and counter-suits.
People lack confidence, Nebeker told the board, that "the judge or any court" could arrive at a knowledgeable ruling to establish equitable groundwater pumping rights.
"They will come knocking at your door, incredibly angry, if they realize your board will set them back to less than 50% of their pumping," Nebeker said.
In a show of unity, members of the Los Angeles County Farm Bureau and other landowners packed the water district boardroom on Wednesday night as Nebeker presented their position to the board. He said farmers and other landowners, whether or not within the water district boundaries, will be adversely impacted by this case, especially if limited to half of their current pumping capacity.
Nebeker estimates that between 150,000 and 160,000 acre-feet of water gets pumped from the ground each year; others in the Valley put the figure closer to 120,000 acre-feet. Each acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons, the amount of water used in an average
The alfalfa rancher wants his estimate used as a basis for the adjudication equation, and then raised or lowered depending on data gathered from a monitoring system.
He admonished the water district for joining forces with a group dubbed Public Water Suppliers, which includes the Quartz Hill Water District, Littlerock Creek Irrigation District and Rosamond Community Services District. Nebeker claims the group has waged battle with or will initiate a lawsuit against the owners of 190,000 parcels of land in the Valley.
"That's the number of parcels in the adjudicated area," Nebeker said. "Community concerns? They're taking away property rights and using ratepayer and taxpayer money to do this. Now the (Pubic Water Suppliers) are trying to rush us to court on Oct. 6," the date set for the next phase of the adjudication hearings.
"Most landowners won't have time to prepare for that."
Water district attorney Tim Gosney reminded Nebeker that "the Public Water Suppliers did not start this. The landowners started this about 10 years ago," he added, referring to the Diamond lawsuit.
"This process seems to be keeping the landowners in the dark," Nebeker said, because the judge wants the Oct. 6 trial at a courthouse in
Attorney Thomas Bunn, who represents the Palmdale and Quartz Hill water districts in the adjudication, on Friday defended the judge's decision.
Bunn said when the case first went to Santa Clara Superior Court Judge Jack Komar, the Palmdale district suggested that court sessions be scheduled at the Antelope Valley Courthouse in
However, the judge decided to split the hearings between downtown
Bunn said there's a reason that none of the Public Water Suppliers objected to the location for the upcoming trial.
"For our witnesses,
Bunn said attorneys representing Palmdale resident Rebecca Willis come from
The mutual water companies are represented by a lawyer from
Nebeker said Palmdale Water District directors should instruct their attorneys "to have meaningful settlement negotiations" with the farmers and landowners.
"You can't have meaningful settlement negotiations with the Oct. 6 date hanging overhead," Nebeker said. "You might want to disengage yourself from the Public Water Suppliers to do this."
Otherwise, Nebeker said, litigation could go on for years and "throw the Valley into chaos" without protecting the groundwater basin.
"There's a lot of people who pump," Juniper Hills Town Council President Vance Pomeroy said. "My concern (is) the hundreds of people who live up there.
"The settlement that has been discussed cannot take place with the looming court date," Pomeroy said. "This process has been largely directed by attorneys. I would ask Palmdale Water District to take the lead."
PWD Director Raul Figueroa pointed out that in 2004, the water district hired a consultant to come up with a groundwater management plan and tried to get other area water agencies to join in.
"I believe Quartz Hill Water District was the only agency that put out a resolution of support," Figueroa said. "I too wish we could come to some kind of agreement without the attorneys.
"We're at the mercy of the judge, too. We're hoping he'll be fair to everyone."#
http://www.avpress.com/n/12/0712_s4.hts
Proposed cut infuriates farmers
The
By ALISHA SEMCHUCK , Staff Writer
PALMDALE - Half the normal amount of water to grow crops means half the yield at harvest, which amounts to a 50% financial loss, according to some
They worry their livelihood will take a huge hit if the judge's determination in the Antelope Valley groundwater adjudication case favors the counties, cities and water suppliers such as the Palmdale Water District.
Julie and Gailen Kyle raise hay and alfalfa on nearly 1,600 acres at several sites on the east side of Palmdale and Lancaster. Richard Miner grows alfalfa and hay on 400 acres in the Willow Springs area of
"If you cut my water in half, you cut my income in half," said Gailen Kyle, whose family has farmed in the
Though Miner's "hay operation" is about a quarter the size of the Kyles', he said his concerns are just as significant.
Miner has been working his farm on
Julie Kyle said they use about the same amount of water per acre each year as Miner does but have nearly four times the land.
"If the cities think the farmers will accept a 50% cut, this (adjudication) will go on a long time," Gailen Kyle said.
So far, no one has said officially the water cuts to farmers would be that deep. Still, the unofficial word has growers fuming.
"If it's true they would make a proposal to cut our water in half, what business could we go to in Lancaster or Palmdale and say, 'We're going to cut your business in half' "? Kyle said.
Julie Kyle said they've heard through the grapevine that farmers will have to agree they won't grow the volume of crops that they used to.
"Are they not going to charge me property tax on that other half of land?" Gailen asked.
The Kyles rely completely on groundwater - indoors and out - at their home near
"Everything we farm, we pump. It's well irrigation," Julie Kyle said. "We don't have access to the aqueduct or other surface water. If we had rain, we'd take advantage of that.
"My husband's family has farmed here 75 years. We have about 15 employees working for us. My husband Gailen works in the field. My son Jacob, 17, works in the field. And he wants to farm. He wants to continue on. He's fourth generation here."
The Kyles and Miner say they are frustrated and angry at not receiving official notice from the county about the upcoming trial set to begin Oct. 6 in
"We were told by Gene Nebeker, who works with us in the Antelope Valley Groundwater Association group. That group consists of just about every Valley alfalfa and onion farmer," Julie Kyle said. "We're the old farmers - Calandri and Nebeker and Miner and Scott Harter. Bob Jones and the Goddes. They've been here since the 1800s.
"It's very unfortunate that the majority of landowners are not being informed," Julie Kyle said. "How can you defend yourself if you don't even know what's being brought against you?"
"I can't imagine that the court date would be in
"The reason he's so passionate about this is because our livelihood is on the line," his wife said. "He's baled hay since he was 12 years old."#
http://www.avpress.com/n/12/0712_s5.hts
Drought ignites artificial turf wars: Residents hoping to install fake lawns to save water and get rebate are hampered by city bans and restrictions.
The
By MELANIE HICKEN
GARDEN GROVE – Strangers often pull over and admire Cookie Smith's front yard. The lawn is green, plush and looks too good to be true.
That's because it is.
"We've had a water problem for a long, long time in
But now Smith is caught in a bind. A
Synthetic turf opponents often cite aesthetics as a primary reason for the restrictions.
So far, seven of 97 county households have been denied water rebate applications because of some sort of synthetic turf ban, said Darcy Burke, spokeswoman for the water district. Other households have not installed turf in the first place because of the bans.
Synthetic turf can save around 45 gallons of water a year per square foot of grass replaced, which can add up to thousands of gallons per household, experts say.
"Synthetic turf is just one option a homeowner or a business could pursue,'' Burke said. "We as the water district respect that each agency and the city have unique needs.''
Ewles and the association have reached a financial settlement, but he said something needs to be done about synthetic turf on a statewide level to help clear the confusion.
"There needs to be some kind of legislation that takes it out of the hands of associations,'' he said.
Smith expressed shock that cities and homeowner associations would ban a water-saving device at a time when
Smith is among those across the country taking part in the rapidly growing artificial turf industry. Her high-quality turf, which looks similar to real grass, cost about $10,000.
Some OC cities are embracing the new high-quality turf.
"We're trying to look at our water quality, how much water we are using," she said.
"This has brought it to light for
He acknowledged that synthetic turf available these days looks much better than in years past.
But Jones said he does not want to be hasty in getting the ordinance changed. The key if the turf ban is lifted, he said, would be in making sure that there are guidelines ensuring high quality and a layout that keeps runoff from washing contaminants into the gutter and to the ocean.
"It's unfair because every city is a member of the water district," he said. "During these times of water conservation, this all seems so silly."
As for Smith, she recently she began a letter-writing campaign to government and city officials calling for the ban to be lifted. To her, it's about water conservation, not the rebate check. In the meantime, no one has told her she has to remove her prized turf. But if they do, she's ready.
"I'm a child of the 60s," Smith said. "If I have to lie in my lawn when they try to come and tear it up, I will." #
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/turf-water-synthetic-2090129-smith-grove?slideshow=1
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