[Water_news] 1. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS - Top Item for 9/29/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

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

 

September 29, 2008

 

1.  Top Item -

 

Q&A: Governor's top water exec is hot for $10 billion bond

Sacramento Bee

 

Species law could be altered

Conservationists decry proposed changes to act

Stockton Record

 

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Q&A: Governor's top water exec is hot for $10 billion bond

Sacramento Bee – 9/29/08

By Kevin Yamamura, staff writer

 

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a drought emergency this summer, and he is negotiating with Sen. Dianne Feinstein and state lawmakers on a $10 billion bond for water storage and conservation.

 

In the midst of it all is Lester Snow, 57, who has served since 2004 as Schwarzenegger's director of the Department of Water Resources. The aptly named Snow, a Democrat, previously led the California Bay-Delta Authority, then Cal-Fed, and the San Diego County Water Authority.

 

Where do things stand on water bond negotiations?

 

I believe some good progress was made late in the session within the Assembly Democratic and Republican caucuses based on the (Schwarzenegger-Feinstein) draft. There's very little question, especially given the water circumstances now, about getting the bond before voters in the most expeditious way, whether it's a bond bill at the beginning of session or an initiative.

 

How much of California's water problems are a matter of supply and how much are demand?

 

I don't think you can separate the two. Our approach is that we have to have a lot more conservation going on in California, especially the growing (residential) areas where we're adding houses and new landscaping. And our supply issue is one of managing the irregularities of water supply in California, which are getting more extreme. Climate change has already happened and continues to happen, which makes our water supply more erratic.

 

Why are some areas in California rationing water and others, like Sacramento, not?

 

The difference you're seeing across the state is between those who have a reliable water supply and those affected by the reduced snowpack this year. East Bay Municipal Utility District gets the majority of its supply from Pardee Reservoir and Camanche, and there's just not good runoff there. Sacramento has very senior rights on the American River and is able to meet all its demands. The potential is there for 2009 to be as bad as this year. If it is, 2009 could be the worst drought in California history, and everyone will feel the effects.

 

The worst in history?

 

If you go back in time, you could probably find droughts that were drier. But since then we've added millions and millions of people. We have more protections for endangered species, so you have less flexibility for when you can pump water.

 

Final question: Your last name is Snow; is there any job better suited for you?

My name is Lester, and I don't let people call me Les. Because that would be Les Snow, and that just doesn't work in this business.#

http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/1272939.html

 

Species law could be altered

Conservationists decry proposed changes to act

Stockton Record – 9/29/08

By Alex Breitler

 

A crashing Delta ecosystem suggests that now is not a good time to tweak the Endangered Species Act, conservationists argue.

But federal officials are proposing the first changes in two decades. In a plan up for public comment, the Bush administration wants to grant federal agencies the power to sometimes decide themselves whether a project, such as building a bridge, is likely to harm threatened or endangered species.

Normally those agencies consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Skipping that step would cut down on paperwork and speed up the process.

 

It would also speed up the demise of animals, birds, fish and plants, the environmentalists say.

"Many aspects of how and when and how much water is moved through the Delta, as well as pollutants that are discharged into the Delta ... might very well no longer be covered" by the Endangered Species Act, warned Chris Shutes of the Stockton-based California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, in written comments submitted to the federal Department of Interior.

 

Over the decades, the 35-year-old act has weathered other attempts to change it - "gut" it, critics would say. In 2005, former Rep. Richard Pombo of Tracy made endangered species reform a primary goal during his tenure in Congress, but the law didn't change.

 

The Department of Interior calls the latest proposal "common sense."

Skipping the consultation step would eliminate thousands of reviews that are a "tremendous workload" for wildlife agencies, according to a notice published in the Federal Register.

 

The new rule also would make it clear that climate change is not a factor that requires consultation. For example, a road builder need not consult wildlife agencies whether emissions from vehicles on that road would reduce habitat for polar bears thousands of miles away.

 

All in all, the changes aren't likely to harm species, nor change significantly how the law is administered, said Reed Hopper, an attorney for the property rights advocacy group Pacific Legal Foundation, based in Sacramento.

 

"The arguments that these changes are gutting the act are hyperbole - a gross overstatement," Hopper said.

 

But critics say the endangered species consultations remain important and should not be eliminated, even in cases where it's unclear that a species would be harmed.

"Wildlife is a great indicator to what's happening out there," said Lydia Miller, head of the San Joaquin Wildlife/Raptor Rescue Center in Merced. "We still do not understand what happens on the ground, how it affects wildlife and how it affects us."

 

In the Delta, there is no one cause for the decline of smelt and other fish, Shutes said. The problems are "systemic;" the cumulative impacts of many projects must be considered.

 

He predicted that altering the act would result in the disappearance of salmon, steelhead and sturgeon from many rivers and streams in the Central Valley.

"(The changes) seek to weaken the ability of scientists to protect our natural resources," Shutes said.#

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080929/A_NEWS/809290307/-1/A_NEWS

 

 

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