[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 8/19/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

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August 19, 2008

 

2. Supply –

 

 

 

Conserve or we'll do it for you, state says: Gov.'s panel gives tough warning.

North County Times- 8/18/08

By BRADLEY J. FIKES, Staff Writer

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Conserve water or the government will do it for you.

That's the blunt message of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan for improving California's water supply, which went on the road for a series of community meetings Monday.

"Conservation ---- boring as it is," alone can provide rapid results, said Phil Isenberg, chairman of the governor's group studying the issue. He spoke in a Monday morning conference call before that evening's meeting in San Diego on the governor's Delta Vision Strategic Plan.

The plan calls for environmental improvements in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, source of much of California's water. Water shipments from the Delta have been cut because of threats to an endangered fish, the delta smelt. The pumps used to move water south are believed to suck in the fish's young, killing them.

And the whole Delta ---- filled with wet, unstable land ---- is vulnerable to an earthquake that could totally cut off water supplies.

Conservation can buy time to make the needed fixes to the Delta, Isenberg said.

Getting people to step up conservation may take some persuading. So far, state and local water officials have relied mainly on persuasion to reduce water consumption and eliminate waste. But more reductions in water use are needed.

In North County, farmers already are living with strict water restrictions ---- cuts as large as 30 percent.

But so far, other businesses and homeowners mostly have been unaffected by mandatory measures.

Business responses to warnings of a water supply crisis differ by industry.

San Diego County's large biotech and biomedical industry is solidly behind the call for conservation, said Joe Panetta, president and chief executive of the trade group Biocom. That industry has long maintained that a reliable water supply is vital, and is willing to accept increased water rates in exchange for reliability.

Biocom met with the governor a year ago in San Diego and endorsed his stance on water supply, Panetta said, including a state bond to pay for improvements.

"Water is of supreme importance to the industry," Panetta said. "Without water, there wouldn't be a biotech industry in San Diego."

Some industries however, shrug at the warnings.

While tourism-related businesses understand that San Diego's water has to be imported and supplies are strained, "it's not yet hit that urgent status," said Bob Rauch, chair of the San Diego North Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Isenberg said water managers, especially in Southern California, are running out of options to voluntary measures because of the growing severity of the shortage.

Schwarzenegger has called for the state to reduce per-person water consumption by 20 percent by the year 2020, Isenberg noted.

"It's the first time in history, I believe, that any governor has said anything like it," Isenberg said.

For more information on the plan, visit http://deltavision.ca.gov.#

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/08/19/business/zc8d1942ddd5896eb882574a9005627f6.txt