Department of Water Resources
California Water News
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
October 31, 2008
1. Top Items -
Calif. to cut water deliveries to cities, farms
Associated Press
Authorities call for more conservation efforts, storage
San Diego Union Tribune
California water shortages could lead to rationing, officials say
Water agencies could get as little as 15% of their allocations next year unless rain and snowfall return to normal levels in the coming months.
Los Angeles Times
Drought may cut state water delivery in 2009
Sacramento Bee
State to cut water deliveries
Mandatory rationing considered if winter is dry
Stockton Record
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Calif. to cut water deliveries to cities, farms
Associated Press – 10/30/08
By SAMANTHA YOUNG, AP
(10-30) 19:04 PDT Sacramento, Calif. (AP) --
California said Thursday that it plans to cut water deliveries to their second-lowest level ever next year, raising the prospect of rationing for cities and less planting by farmers.
Crude heads for worst monthly Nymex decline 10.31.08
The Department of Water Resources projects that it will deliver just 15 percent of the amount that local water agencies throughout California request every year.
Since the first State Water Project deliveries were made in 1962, the only time less water was promised was in 1993, but heavy precipitation that year ultimately allowed agencies to receive their full requests.
The reservoirs that are most crucial to the state's water delivery system are at their lowest levels since 1977, after two years of dry weather and court-ordered restrictions on water pumping out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. This year, water agencies received just 35 percent of the water they requested.
Farmers in the Central Valley say they'll be forced to fallow fields, while cities from the San Francisco Bay area to San Diego might have to require residents to ration water.
Mike Young, a fourth-generation farmer in Kern County, called the projections disastrous.
"For the amount of acres we've got, we're not going to have enough water to farm," he said.
Young said he will be forced to fallow a fifth of his 5,000 acres. Water will go to his permanent crops — pistachio, almond and cherry trees — but most of his tomatoes and alfalfa will not get planted.
"We've got to start spending money on next year's crop now," Young said.
Jim Beck, general manager of the Kern County Water Agency, noted that fewer plantings would yield fewer crops and a decrease in the number of farm hands hired.
"We're seeing a phenomenon in the Central Valley where growers who have been in the business of agriculture are laying off workers who have been with them for 20 or 30 years because they don't have the water," Beck said. "It's one thing to see brown lawns and shorter showers in urban areas. The real impact in the Central Valley is people are having to find new jobs."
In Southern California, the Metropolitan Water District — the agency that supplies water to about half the state's population — has depleted more than a third of its water reserves. The agency's general manager, Jeff Kightlinger, said Californians must immediately reduce their water use to stretch what little water is available.
"We are preparing for the very real possibility of water shortages and rationing throughout the region in 2009," Kightlinger said, adding that his board will consider rationing during its meeting next month.
The State Water Project delivers water to more than 25 million residents and 750,000 acres of farmland.
In 2006, water agencies received their full allotment, in part because of heavy rains and a thick Sierra snow pack that year. But last year, a federal court limited water pumping out of the delta to protect the threatened delta smelt.
Even with Thursday's dire projection, a wet and snowy winter could mean that cities and farms ultimately get more water, said Ted Thomas, a spokesman for the state water department. But that wouldn't affect the court order.
"We are anticipating drastically reduced water supplies, regardless of weather conditions," Laura King Moon, assistant general manager of the State Water Contractors, said in a statement.
Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow said the bleak outlook underscores the governor's call to retool California's massive water storage and delivery system.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger favors building more dams and designing a new way to funnel water through or around the environmentally fragile delta. The proposals have failed to gain traction in the Legislature.
Schwarzenegger this year called on water agencies to voluntarily cut water use 20 percent by 2020. He stopped short of issuing a mandatory conservation order, a strategy yet to used by the state, Snow said.
"The governor has sounded the wake-up call, and the clock is ticking," Snow said in a statement.#
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/10/30/financial/f104642D40.DTL
Authorities call for more conservation efforts, storage
San Diego Union Tribune – 10/31/08
By Michael Gardner
SACRAMENTO – California water officials warned yesterday that the state's water supplies continue to shrink, using the bleak forecast to call for more aggressive conservation and advocate for new storage.
The Department of Water Resources told its city and farm customers that a persistent dry spell and depleted reservoirs could sharply limit deliveries next year, perhaps to just 15 percent of need.
However, the amount the state eventually delivers in 2009 could rise depending on how much snow falls. For example, last year the final allocation was 35 percent of the amount requested – a 10 percent increase above the preliminary estimate.
“Unless Mother Nature is extremely kind, we are going to experience serious water supply challenges,” said Maureen Stapleton, general manager of the San Diego County Water Authority. The authority counts on the State Water Project for roughly a third of its supply.
Rationing, however, is months away, if at all, Stapleton said. The water authority will wait until its main provider, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, finalizes its delivery plans before determining whether rationing is warranted – unless the early winter is “ultra dry,” she said.
Meanwhile, the authority will push voluntary conservation even harder. For example, residents are being asked to adjust automatic sprinklers when clocks are turned back early Sunday to save on outdoor watering.
Metropolitan plans to take up a mandatory conservation strategy in November, but is not likely to immediately implement cuts to city customers, hoping for abundant rain and snow this winter. Nevertheless, the outlook is grim.
“We are preparing for the very real possibility of water shortages and rationing throughout the region in 2009,” said Jeff Kightlinger, general manager of Metropolitan. The giant Los Angeles-based wholesaler draws 30 percent to 70 percent of its annual supplies from the State Water Project.
Metropolitan's major reservoir, Diamond Valley, is at 60 percent of capacity. The San Diego water authority's pools range between a dismal 7 percent at Henshaw (Vista Irrigation District) to 61 percent at Hodges (city of San Diego) to 86 percent at Olivenhain (Olivenhain water district).
The state has released an initial allocation projection lower than 15 percent only once, in 1993. However, that 10 percent forecast jumped to a full 100 percent of supply requests thanks to a bountiful winter.
But the overall water picture is even more bleak today than it was in 1993. Reservoirs are half-full. Court-ordered protections to save the rare delta smelt in the Sacramento delta will divert as much as 660,000 acre-feet of water, enough for 1.3 million households a year. And climatic changes threaten to further reduce snowpack.
Last year started out promising, but finished with the driest March-through-May ever recorded. The previous year also produced skimpy amounts of snow.
“We have the potential in a third year to have the worst drought in California history,” warned Lester Snow, director of the Department of Water Resources.
Snow said it is clear that the state needs more storage and a canal to carry water through the Sacramento delta, which could minimize threats to fish.
“The clock is ticking,” he said.
Farmers, already reeling from being forced to idle land this year, say another round of cuts would be devastating. In Kern County alone, 50,000 acres may be left unplanted because there is no water for irrigation.
The State Water Project serves more than 25 million Californians and irrigates 750,000 acres of farmland. #
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20081031-9999-1n31water.html
California water shortages could lead to rationing, officials say
Water agencies could get as little as 15% of their allocations next year unless rain and snowfall return to normal levels in the coming months.
Los Angeles Times – 10/31/08
By Bettina Boxall
State water deliveries could be slashed next year if California continues its dry streak, a move that could lead to widespread rationing.
California Department of Water Resources officials Thursday said water agencies could get as little as 15% of their State Water Project allocations, although that figure could go up if Sierra Nevada rain and snowfall return to normal in the coming months.
"We're clearly making a major call for extra conservation, but also permanent conservation," said water resources director Lester Snow, who renewed the Schwarzenegger administration's call for the construction of new reservoirs.
Officials at Southern California's major water supplier, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, say its board soon will discuss whether to initiate cutbacks.
"We are preparing for the real possibility of water shortages and rationing," said Jeff Kightlinger, the MWD's general manager.
Last spring was the driest since 1921 in the northern Sierra, depleting reservoirs in the State Water Project, which provides about a third of urban Southern California's water.
A court ruling to protect delta smelt has reduced pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the crossroads for sending water south to the San Joaquin Valley and the Southland.
Snow said state reservoirs are starting the rainy season at their lowest levels since 1977, when California was hit by a severe drought.
But state records show that if all the reservoirs that supply California, including major ones on the Colorado River, are taken into account, the picture is not so bleak.
The overall water storage is roughly 70% of the average for this time of year.
This year's flows into Lake Powell, which catches water from the upper Colorado River Basin, were above average, easing a long-term drought on the river.
Storms are expected statewide in the next few days and state meteorologist Elissa Lynn also said there is a potential for more precipitation this rainy season than last.
Water agencies rarely get their full allotment of deliveries from the State Water Project, which promises more water on paper than it usually has the ability to deliver.
Initial state project allocations, such as the 15% figure announced Thursday, also can change dramatically over the course of a year.
The lowest was in 1993, when the state anticipated that it would deliver only 10% of its customers' water requests. But conditions improved and contractors wound up getting 100%.
Two dry years in a row in the state, delta pumping cutbacks and an eight-year drought on the Colorado River led to scattered urban rationing this year and irrigation cutbacks in the San Joaquin Valley.
The MWD, which supplies water to agencies that serve 19 million people, mounted a voluntary conservation program that Kightlinger said has reduced water use by 8% to 10%.
But the MWD's Diamond Lake reservoir is nearly half empty and the agency's water reserves are down by a third.#
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-water31-2008oct31,0,6585688.story
Drought may cut state water delivery in 2009
Sacramento Bee – 10/30/08
By MATT WEISER
Ongoing drought conditions mean that just 15 percent of normal supplies are expected to be available from the State Water Project in 2009, state officials said Thursday.
The state Department of Water Resources made the initial allocation forecast earlier than usual to warn Californians of the peril that awaits if the coming winter is another dry one. Historically, the predicted allocation increases as winter unfolds and water managers get a better grip on the volume of the state's critical snowpack.
But DWR Director Lester Snow said even an average winter this year won't pull California out of an ongoing drought. That's because reservoirs and groundwater are already depleted after two years of drought - and because the state's population is much bigger than the last statewide drought in the early 1990s.
"We have the potential in a third (dry) year to have the worst drought in California history," said Snow.
Thursday's 15 percent allocation is the second-lowest initial forecast in the history of the State Water Project. Only 1993 was lower at 10 percent, but that later increased to 100 percent after a wet winter. The initial forecast last year was 25 percent, which later increased to 35 percent.
Sacramentans are not directly affected by the forecast, because they don't depend on the State Water Project for their deliveries. The forecast primarily affects water users in the Bay Area and Southern California.
Yet Sacramento should take heed, because it also depends on the parched Sierra Nevada Mountains for most of its water supply. Snowmelt stored in California reservoirs is at its lowest level in 14 years.
"In fact, the entire state is wrestling with very serious drought conditions," said Tim Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies. "Wherever you live in California, start conserving water because you are going to be affected if drought conditions persist."
Rain is predicted throughout Northern California Friday and Saturday. But these early season storms can't be expected to alleviate the drought because they usually do little to build up the Sierra snowpack. #
http://www.sacbee.com/capitolandcalifornia/story/1358397.html
State to cut water deliveries
Mandatory rationing considered if winter is dry
Stockton Record – 10/31/08
The state said Thursday it could cut water deliveries next year to their second-lowest level ever, prompting warnings of water rationing for cities and less planting by farmers.
Such cuts would primarily affect areas south and west of the Delta. Statewide mandatory rationing will be considered if the drought worsens, Department of Water Resources Director Lester Snow said.
Much depends on rain and snow this winter, although other factors are in play, including court-imposed reductions on how much water can be exported from the Delta.
With another dry winter, "We have the potential ... to have the worst drought in California history," Snow said.
The state announced Thursday it will deliver just 15 percent of the amount that water agencies throughout California request every year. That marks the second-lowest projection since the first State Water Project deliveries were made in 1962.
Farmers in the Central Valley said they will be forced to fallow fields, while cities from the Bay Area to San Diego might have to impose mandatory rationing.
Mike Young, a fourth-generation farmer in Kern County, called the water projections disastrous.
"For the amount of acres we've got, we're not going to have enough water to farm," he said.
Of course, it is only October, and the state's projections could very well change. An average snowpack could increase allocations to about 50 percent, Snow said. A wet year could bump that number to 75 percent.
This year, water agencies received just 35 percent of the water they requested.
Lake Oroville, California's second-largest reservoir, is usually half-full this time of year but is at 30 percent capacity.
In Southern California, the Metropolitan Water District - the agency that supplies water to about half the state's population - has depleted more than a third of its water reserves. The agency's general manager, Jeff Kightlinger, said Californians immediately must reduce their water use to stretch what little of the resource is available.
"We are preparing for the very real possibility of water shortages and rationing throughout the region in 2009," Kightlinger said.
Stockton-area water officials repeatedly have said over the summer that this area has enough water to get by, but that the coming winter will be critical for next year. San Joaquin County as a whole has had difficulty finding new sources of water, and the groundwater on which the area has heavily relied is dropping.
The State Water Project delivers water to more than 25 million residents and 750,000 acres of farmland.
In 2006, water agencies received their full allotment, in part, because of heavy rains and a thick Sierra snowpack. But last year, a federal court limited water pumping out of the Delta to protect the threatened Delta smelt.
Snow said the bleak outlook underscores the governor's call to retool California's massive water storage and delivery system.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger favors building more dams and designing a way to funnel water through or around the environmentally fragile Delta, including a peripheral canal. The proposals have failed to gain traction in the Legislature.
"The governor has sounded the wake-up call, and the clock is ticking," Snow said.
Earlier this year, Schwarzenegger also called on water agencies to voluntarily cut their water use 20 percent by 2020. He has stopped short of issuing a mandatory conservation order, a strategy that has not been used by the state, Snow said.
Even with Thursday's dire projection, a wet winter could mean cities and farms ultimately get more water, said Ted Thomas, a spokesman for the state water department.
That was the situation in 1993, when the state promised contractors just 10 percent of their requests, the lowest initial projection on record. That later was revised to 100 percent after the state received heavy precipitation.
Unlike then, state and federal water agencies are under a court order to cut pumping from the Delta because a federal judge last year ruled that the giant pumps were harming threatened fish.
"We are anticipating drastically reduced water supplies, regardless of weather conditions," said Laura King Moon, assistant general manager of the State Water Contractors.
Farmers also are making decisions now on what to plant next year. Based on the state's initial projection, Young, the Kern County farmer, said he will be forced to fallow a fifth of his 5,000 acres.
The little water coming to him will go to his permanent crops - pistachio, almond and cherry trees - while most of his tomatoes and alfalfa will not get planted.
"We've got to start spending money on next year's crop now," Young said. "Anyone who's pulling water off the State Water Project is going through the same thing."#
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081031/A_NEWS/810310325/-1/A_NEWS03
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
DWR's California Water News is distributed to California Department of Water Resources management and staff, for information purposes, by the DWR Public Affairs Office. For reader's services, including new subscriptions, temporary cancellations and address changes, please use the online page: http://listhost2.water.ca.gov/mailman/listinfo/water_news. DWR operates and maintains the State Water Project, provides dam safety and flood control and inspection services, assists local water districts in water management and water conservation planning, and plans for future statewide water needs. Inclusion of materials is not to be construed as an endorsement of any programs, projects, or viewpoints by the Department or the State of California.
