[Water_news] 1. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS - Top Item for 8/22/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment

 

August 22, 2008

 

1.  Top Items -

 

 

 

 

Editorial:

Water bond? Not if it's hurried: VOTERS ARE LIKELY TO BE SKEPTICAL OF RUSHED PLAN FOR BILLIONS IN DEBT

The Sacramento Bee- 8/22/08

 

Editorial

California can't afford to wait on the water bond

The Desert Sun- 8/22/08

 

Conservation plan gets underway

The Antioch Press- 8/21/08

 

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Editorial:

Water bond? Not if it's hurried: VOTERS ARE LIKELY TO BE SKEPTICAL OF RUSHED PLAN FOR BILLIONS IN DEBT

The Sacramento Bee- 8/22/08

 

Will we have a water bond this year? It's an important question, but not the only one that should be swirling around the Capitol these days.

 

Others are: Should lawmakers pass a multibillion-dollar water bond with so much borrowing already on the November ballot? Can they overcome missed deadlines for getting it on the ballot?

 

If the answers are yes, then other questions arise: Can such a proposal get any form of public vetting before law- makers approve it? If not, why should taxpayers believe they will be investing in cost-effective solutions to the state's water challenges?

 

These latter questions are important because, as the impasse over the budget drags out, it is increasingly likely that a water deal will become grease for a budget deal.

 

Republican votes are needed to pass a budget, and many – including the GOP leadership in the Assembly and Senate – come from the water-short San Joaquin Valley. There, the farm industry has lost water because of court decisions, light snowpack this year and the fact that some growers have junior water rights. There's a strong sense of entitlement among farmers there that the government "owes" them water because environmental laws have limited what they can use for irrigation.

 

Earlier this week, the Capitol witnessed the spectacle of Assemblywoman Nicole Parra, D-Hanford, proudly being evicted from her office because she insisted on a water deal to buy her budget vote. Yet it's doubtful Parra is the only lawmaker playing this card. She's just been the most public one.

 

Does this mean lawmakers should dither in the face of drought and hardships faced by certain communities? Hardly. But a new bond issue isn't the only response. Right now, there's hundreds of millions of dollars available from Proposition 84 and other past bonds that could be used to allocate more water from existing reservoirs, resolve conflicts in the Delta and assure greater reliability of water in 2009.

 

 That money should be targeted on immediate solutions, not held hostage for a larger deal.

 

There's also a strong argument for waiting until next year to assemble a comprehensive water bond proposal that will win wide support.

 

By then, we'll have numbers on the costs and benefits of Temperance Flat, Sites reservoir and other storage projects that proponents want taxpayers to help finance. We'll also have final recommendations from the governor's Delta Vision panel. Those reform proposals must be coupled with investments, or the reforms will not happen.

 

It's understandable that lawmakers want to do something – anything – in response to dry conditions. But billion-dollar decisions that could affect water rights, fisheries and the state's debt load shouldn't be hatched in the dead of night.

 

If they are, this page will not support them. Neither, we suspect, will a majority of California voters.#

http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/1176527.html

 

 

 

Editorial

California can't afford to wait on the water bond

The Desert Sun- 8/22/08

 

California is in a water crisis.

 

Our population is growing, but global warming is affecting our snowpack. For the last two years, runoff into our reservoirs has subsided considerably. We need to store water during wet years, so we have enough during dry years.

 

We need above-ground water storage. We need to replenish underground aquifers and we need to do a much better job conserving water.

 

It's only going to happen if lawmakers show the political courage and put a water bond on the November ballot.

 

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sen. Dianne Feinstein unveiled a $9.3 billion water bond that would help:

 

Provide more water storage, including reservoirs and groundwater storage.

 

Improve water quality and quantity.

 

Restore the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

 

Improve rivers and watersheds, including the Salton Sea.

 

Clean up contaminated underground reservoirs.

 

Increase conservation programs.

 

The plan deserves serious consideration. But stiff opposition over the proposed dams and spending is mounting and threatens the plan.

 

A canal around the Sacramento delta will be a sticking point. While the bond doesn't provide construction funds to build the canal, it would fund programs to clear a path. Water users would pay to build the canal, which is needed to protect the delta. The delta provides two-thirds of the state's drinking water and is facing severe environmental problems associated with protected fish and invading plant and animal species.

 

Legislative Democrats will likely hold up the process because they haven't had time to come up with an alternative plan. This has angered Feinstein, a senior Democrat, who has demanded they get on board.

 

Also, everyone has been focused lately on not coming up with a budget. Nevertheless, time is running out. Saturday is the deadline for placing measures on the ballot. We strongly urge lawmakers to place the water bond on the November ballot.

 

Ongoing drought conditions and environmental impacts to the delta should be enough to make lawmakers put the question before voters.

 

We hope it is. But if not, consider this: California's water crisis is also a threat to our economy. “Farmers are fallowing prime agricultural lands, building permits have been put on hold and thousands of jobs in both urban and rural areas are being lost,” Schwarzenegger and Feinstein have warned lawmakers.

 

Given the budget shortfall, Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny, D-San Diego, said now may be a bad time to put this plan before the voters.

 

She suggested 2010 as a more suitable time to pass a major water bond. But others disagree. Officials of both local water districts, the Desert Water Agency and the Coachella Valley Water District, say polls show the plan has voter buy-in and it should be moved forward now.

 

“We need the water bond to go through, so the economic engine can go through,” said Peter Nelson, CVWD board president.

 

Some political experts predict a special election on the water bond. Because the state is facing a $16 billion shortfall and we're nearly two months into a new fiscal year without a budget, their instincts may be correct. But that scenario would be unfortunate. A special election will cost the state more money it obviously doesn't have and will move the start date for a water plan further into the future.

 

California must increase its water supply and action must be taken now. Even if, by some miraculous feat, the bond issue makes it to the November ballot and voters pass it, it will still take somewhere in the neighborhood of a dozen years to acquire some of the water storage that is needed.#

http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080822/OPINION01/808220353/1026/news12

 

 

 

Conservation plan gets underway

The Antioch Press- 8/21/08

By Dave Roberts

 

A study to save the Delta’s ecosystem while still providing water to 25 million Californians and 3 million acres of farmland is about to kick into high gear, a process that could eventually lead to construction of a peripheral canal.

 

The Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) is the latest attempt to find the best compromise between thirsty water agencies seeking an abundant, quality water supply and environmental groups and others seeking to ensure the health of a fragile, troubled Delta ecosystem.

 

The plan might call for the construction of a peripheral canal that takes fresh water from the Sacramento River in the north Delta and conveys it south along the east side of the Delta. That possibility worries local officials, who fear it would lead to a worsening of water quality, including an increase in salinity.

 

The first step in putting together the plan is the preparation of environmental impact studies that will identify the most environmentally friendly option or options. Officials from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) traveled to Antioch last week to meet with Delta landowners to let them know that they might be seeking permission to go onto their land to conduct some of the studies beginning in early 2009.

 

DWR Deputy Director Richard Sanchez kicked off the Aug. 14 meeting in the flower hall at the county fairgrounds, which was as steamy as a greenhouse.

 

“We are here to work with you,” he said. “We are very concerned with the Delta. There’s various issues: whether it’s water supply reliability, ecosystem restoration; fishery counts are down; flood protection is an issue. We are here to work with you on solutions.

 

“We have a lot of study areas we are looking at. There’s also a lot of gaps. We have to fill those gaps with additional information, whether biological, engineering, surveying. We want to minimize those impacts (to your property) when we get that data. We are open to your suggestions.”

 

DWR Deputy Director Jerry Johns provided the context for the launching of the conservation plan for the Delta, a body of water that supports about $400 billion of California’s $1 trillion economy.

 

“In 2005, the fish agencies said, ‘The fish are not doing as well as we thought. We are not happy.’ We said we are not happy as well,” said Johns. “We need to do something different related to the Endangered Species Act. It’s the trigger regulating activities in the Delta one species at a time.

 

“We need something that’s much more realistic; look at the Delta, look at the ecosystem and develop a holistic plan. We recommended that we do a habitat conservation plan … focusing on the aquatic ecosystem and the things the fish need to support their habitat.”

 

One of the biggest determinants in supporting that habitat is figuring out the best way to take water from the Delta. The current system, to avoid sucking fish into pumps south of Byron, results in a daily fish taxi service from Byron to Sacramento.

 

“We do that several times a day – every day,” said Johns. “Some of the fish like this ride. Some aren’t crazy about the ride. Some get eaten. And that’s a concern. The fisheries were designed in the ’40s and ’50s. We have better technology today.”

 

A new water conveyance system is needed to better protect fish, he said. The Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force has recommended a dual conveyance system with a peripheral canal in order to ensure the quality of the water heading to central and southern California, even if there’s a levee failure in the Delta.

 

“This is not anything that’s rocket science,” said Johns. “It’s based on the risks. We haven’t had a levee failure due to earthquake. It is basically a flip of the coin when we will have an earthquake where we will lose levees in the next 20 to 30 years. We have got to do something. And we can do something.”

 

And that something is the conservation plan, which is expected to be completed in mid-to-late 2010. So far, there is not a preferred conveyance alternative, whether an isolated peripheral canal, dual conveyance from both the north and south Delta or continued conveyance through the Delta but in an improved system.

 

David Gutierrez, a DWR director for the FloodSafe program, said nearly $750 million is planned to be spent on improving Delta levees, many of which were built 100 years ago and with much cruder materials than today’s levees.

 

“There is a potential for risk associated with failure of those levees, and there always will be,” said Gutierrez. “We want to understand from the experts exactly how the levees behave. Hopefully, that will lead to improving the levees and figuring out the best way to improve these levees.”

 

To deal with levee failures and other emergencies, the DWR is leading the effort to prepare the Delta Emergency Preparedness Plan, which is scheduled for completion in mid-2010.

 

For more information on the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, go online to www.resources.ca.gov/bdcp.#

http://antiochpress.com/article.cfm?articleID=20237