Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
September 5, 2008
1. Top Item -
The
California
The
State gets serious about deepening drought
The
Drought conditions lead to creation of water bank
San Jose
Water transfer to be tapped
The
California
Reuters- 9/4/08
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The
By Nancy Vogel, Staff Writer
Saying California's water reserves are all but gone, state officials on Thursday announced the revival of a dormant 17-year-old program to buy water from Sacramento Valley farmers and sell it to the thirstiest Southern California agencies in case this winter brings a third year of skimpy precipitation.
"We're hoping for the best, that we're going to have a good storm season and be able to meet the needs of California," said state Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow. "However, we would be negligent if we didn't prepare for the worst."
The bounty of the state's biggest reservoirs, which supplied the state through the last two dry years with Sierra and Cascade mountain snowmelt, is disappearing. Major reservoirs, including
"There are a number of scenarios where we do not regain our snow pack," Snow said, "and because our storage is low, we're really in a lot of trouble."
State officials said long-range climate predictions indicate that this winter may bring average precipitation or less.
"We do have time as we go through the season to make up for the last two years," said state water resources meteorologist Elissa Lynn, "but it would take a wetter-than-average year. None of the climate models that we have right now suggests a very wet start to the season."
The state last used a water bank in 1991 and '92, the final critically dry years in a six-year drought. The state served as broker and deliveryman. The Department of Water Resources found volunteer farmers who either skipped growing crops, switched to less thirsty crops or pumped groundwater instead of diverting river water. The state then purchased the freed-up water for prices ranging from $30 to $125 an acre-foot (roughly enough water to supply the annual needs of two households).
Most sellers were farmers within districts that hold generous, century-old water rights on the
Metropolitan expects to tap the bank again if next year is dry, said general manager Jeffrey Kightlinger.
"We will definitely participate in it," he said.
But there may not be so many willing sellers in the coming year.
Farm commodity prices are high, giving farmers more incentive to grow crops, especially rice. And several
No water district sold more water to the state water bank in 1991 than Western Canal Water District, which serves rice farmers in
He noted that in February his district had arranged to sell water at $200 an acre-foot to
"I just don't know how much water we're going to be able to make available to make a difference," Trimble said.
As the broker, Snow said, the state will sell first to districts struggling with drought-related health or public safety problems.
"We as a state entity looking out for the broader good," he said, "are not going to allow somebody to have 100% supplies and be hosing off sidewalks while a community has no fire protection and poor quality water to drink."#
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-me-water5-2008sep05,0,481931.story
California
The
By Matt Weiser
Hedging against the risk of a third dry year in 2009, state officials on Thursday unveiled a "drought water bank" to help thirsty cities and farms cope.
The water bank, managed by the Department of Water Resources, will be prepared to move as much as 600,000 acre-feet of water from willing sellers in the north to buyers in the south.
That's enough to serve more than 1.2 million homes for a year – if used carefully.
DWR officials cautioned the outlook for this winter isn't uplifting. Though still early for such predictions, long-range forecasts based on computer modeling hold no hint of a break from the drought.
Even an average winter will not refill the state's depleted reservoirs to normal levels.
"We would be negligent if we didn't prepare for the worst," DWR Director Lester Snow said.
The water bank is the first established by the state since the last major statewide drought, in 1991.
The bank will comply with state and federal environmental laws, Snow said. It will be governed by an environmental impact study already in place for an existing state-federal water transfer program.
Typically, water will be sold by farmers in the
The agency will also rank buyers according to need. Cities with water-related health and safety problems will get first dibs, with farm crops a lower priority. To qualify, urban buyers must have a conservation program adopted to cut normal water use by 20 percent.
As Snow put it, "we don't want farmers selling water so people can hose off their sidewalks."
The program, however, depends on the ability to pump water out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the hub of the state's water system, where DWR and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation operate diversion pumps and canals.
Their operations are already limited by environmental concerns in the Delta, where the massive pumps alter water flows and kill millions of fish.
Assuming the water bank becomes necessary next year, DWR will look for safe "windows" within the multitude of environmental factors governing the Delta in which to move the water.
That will be challenging.
"If we get average precipitation next year, we may not be able to move even all of our own (existing) water," said Jerry Johns, DWR deputy director.
For more information, visit www.water.ca.gov/drought/.#
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1211925.html
State gets serious about deepening drought
The
Anticipating another bone-dry winter,
The initiative, known as the 2009 Drought Water Bank, harkens back to measures taken during the long dry spell of the late 1980s and early 1990s and underscores the state's efforts to squeeze every drop out of a system strained by climate change, a booming population and environmental rulings that have slashed pumping out of the linchpin Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
On Thursday, the state Department of Water Resources announced the formation of the water bank during a "drought summit" in
Faced with forecasts showing a period that could resemble either the short, deep drought in the late 1970s or longer drought of the late 1980s, officials said they must plan for the worst. Already, many of
"There are a number of scenarios where we don't regain snowpack and because the reservoirs are low, we're in a lot of trouble - and that's what we're down to," said Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow.
Because of the uncertainty surrounding the winter rainfall, many of the details surrounding how the water bank will work - including when the transfers would take place, how much buyers may pay for water and which districts are willing to sell - remain unclear. However, most observers agree that water prices are rising quickly. At Thursday's announcement, one official said a rice farmer may be able to sell his water for as much as $200 per acre-foot - up from $50 per acre foot not long ago (1 acre-foot of water is about 326,000 gallons and enough to cover 1 acre of land in 1 foot of water).
While water officials said they would not be able to control water prices across the state, deputy director Gerald Johns hopes the bank will help keep prices rational.
Despite its name, the water bank is not a giant storage tank or reservoir. Rather, the system works more like a large-scale water reallocation program. The Department of Water Resources would purchase water from those with full reservoirs, those who can draw on wells, or farmers who may leave their grounds fallow or who switch to less thirsty crops. Generally, those supplies would come from
Without those users' demand, the state would then sell the "extra" water to those areas with the largest need. Beyond uses for health and safety, there are also rules for environmental and economic interests.
For instance, the drought has already cost the agricultural industry about $260 million. As a result, the department said no more than 20 percent of a county's crop acreage could be idled. In addition, water transfers cannot be made if "unreasonably affecting fish, wildlife or other in-stream beneficial uses."
On the buyers' side, users must slash their consumption by 20 percent to participate in the program. Earlier this year in making a statewide drought declaration, Gov. Schwarzenegger called on all Californians to cut water use by 20 percent. Some areas, including the East Bay Municipal Utility District, have instituted mandatory water rationing.
"If we're looking at a really bad situation, we're not going to allow someone to have 100 percent water supplies and they're hosing down their sidewalks, while another area has no fire protection and poor quality water to drink," Snow said.
A trade group representing nearly 450 public
"Done correctly, a water bank can provide a short-term relief from water shortages while protecting water rights and the long-term interests of water suppliers," said Tim Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies.
Farmers on both the buying and selling sides will be watching the workings of the water bank quite closely. None more closely than rice growers, though, who have enjoyed high prices for their crops, but increased scrutiny due to their large water demands.
Jim Morris, spokesman for the California Rice Commission, said his 2,500 members support the idea of a water bank.
"We participated in the last water bank, and we will again this time," Morris said. "A key part of this, though, is that we support it if you have willing sellers and willing buyers."
A look at the drought
-- For the Northern Sierra, this spring and summer were the driest on record since 1921. In addition, 2007 and 2008 made up the ninth driest two-year period in 88 years of record keeping for the Northern Sierra.
-- Statewide precipitation for February through July 2008 was 45 percent of average, making it the fourth driest of 114 years on record.
-- State reservoirs are at severe lows, with Folsom at 31%, Shasta at 34% and San Luis at 13%.
-- The California Department of Food and Agriculture reports the result of the drought is a $260 million loss to the state's agricultural industry this year.
Source: Department of Water Resources#
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/05/BAJT12OAMA.DTL
Drought conditions lead to creation of water bank
San Jose
By Mike Taugher, Times Staff Writer
Fearing next year could bring a worsening drought, state water officials on Thursday said they would create the first drought water bank in
The bank would allow water users, primarily in the
Following two dry years, key reservoirs such as Shasta Reservoir and
The lake levels are so low that even a normal winter might not refill them. And a wet winter will not necessarily end the drought in parts of the state because new restrictions on Delta water pumping will make it more difficult to send water from Northern California to reservoirs and groundwater basins in the
"We're going to be ending this year with very low carryover storage," said Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow. "We're hoping for the best. However, we would be negligent if we didn't prepare for the worst."
One of the most hard-hit water districts in the state this year, the East Bay Municipal Utility District, which serves 1.3 million customers in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, is unlikely to buy water from the bank next year because its north Delta water intake will not be completed.
But the Contra Costa Water District probably will buy water from the bank, said assistant general manager Greg Gartrell.
The Concord-based district, which serves about 550,000 people, would buy water to keep possible mandatory water rationing to a manageable level, which Gartrell said could be around 15 percent to 20 percent.
"It's possible that even in a normal (water) year, we could be in that situation," Gartrell said.
In addition to creating the drought water bank, state water officials plan to promote more statewide water conservation, provide financial help for drought programs and other measures.
State meteorologist Elissa Lynn said it is too early to make accurate predictions of how much rain and snow next winter will bring, but climate models so far are not encouraging.
"If anything, they look normal to drier than normal," she said.
The drought water bank would likely obtain water from willing sellers, including rice farmers.
Because rice prices are high, though, water officials said they expect farmers would ask a relatively high price for their water, which would be made available in part by planting less rice.
"The rice farmers will help urban customers and other farmers in times of drought," California Rice Commission spokesman Jim Morris said.
Also, water officials warned that there was only about a 50 percent chance the drought water bank purchases could be delivered through the Delta next year because of pumping limitations.
Water users that buy water but cannot take delivery would be allowed to store the purchased water in Northern California reservoirs for delivery in later years but they also run the risk that water would be spilled, or essentially erased from the books if the reservoirs fill up.#
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10383608?nclick_check=1
Water transfer to be tapped
The
By E.J. Schultz, Bee Capitol Bureau
With
The Department of Water Resources will act as a broker to help growers and cities in the
For Valley farmers, the "drought water bank" will not take effect until next year's growing season begins in earnest -- and even then it is likely to be used only as a worst-case safety net should the state not emerge from the two-year drought.
"We're hoping for the best, that we're going to have a good storm season and we're going to be able to meet the needs of
Statewide precipitation in the past two years has dropped to 70% of average, leaving many state reservoirs less than half full. Preliminary forecasts for the new water year, which begins Oct. 1, suggest the pattern might continue, though water officials cautioned that could change.
"We don't have a strong indicator," said Elissa Lynn, a state meteorologist. But "right now the outlooks for this coming winter are to be average or drier than average, which would not put our water supply to where it should be."
Thursday's action only covers agencies that get water from the delta, delivered though canals using state and federal pumps. The city of
One of the biggest delta water users is the 600,000-acre Westlands Water District on the Valley's west side. The dry conditions have led some growers in the district to abandon crops.
The district will consider using the drought bank program, said spokeswoman Sarah Woolf.
"If there's an opportunity to buy water, I'm sure we would take advantage of it, if it were at the right price," she said.
Water officials said prices would be set by the private market, but estimated a range of $50 to $125 per acre-foot. Westlands now pays about $100 an acre-foot for water from the federally run Central Valley Project, Woolf said. The state would handle compliance with environmental laws.
Some water agencies have already negotiated private deals. Any new deals must now be negotiated through the state-administered program, officials said.
Priority will be given to agencies that have strong conservation programs. Deals also will be approved based on need. Water for health and emergency uses will take precedence. For farmers, water for high-value permanent crops, such as orchids, will be favored over water for field crops.
The state last used the drought bank in 1991-92, the last couple of years of the last major drought, which began in 1987.
This year, growers are dealing with drought and pumping cutbacks ordered by judges to protect threatened fish in the delta. Snow, the water department chief, said the restrictions will complicate water-bank deliveries, but he is confident water can still be moved.#
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/845465.html
California
Reuters- 9/4/08
By Jim Christie
Schwarzenegger in June declared the most populous
The delta area east of
The last time
"We will be paying closer attention to ... making sure water is being used for the greatest and highest public service. We're not going to let people take water and use it for frivolous reasons," Martin told Reuters by telephone.
She noted that agencies buying water through the bank will have to commit to a 20 percent reduction in overall water use.
Schwarzenegger said the program will help ease water shortages if
"
"While we are taking action to address the state's drought situation, there remains an urgent need for Californians to step up conservation efforts and for the legislature to pass a comprehensive water plan that will ensure
The Republican governor has threatened the Democrat-led legislature he will not sign any of its bills until it crafts a state budget -- now more than two months overdue -- but he will make an exception for legislation approving state debt for water infrastructure, which he wants to put to voters as a ballot measure, said spokeswoman Lisa Page.
Schwarzenegger and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, have teamed up to promote a $9.3 billion plan to lawmakers that would address the delta's environmental problems while expanding the state's water works.
Their plan and rival plans have been sidelined in the legislature as lawmakers haggle over a state budget.
"Right now the No. 1 priority is passing a responsible budget. No talks are taking place on water," said Alicia Trost, a spokeswoman for Senate President pro Tem Don Perata.#
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