[Water_news] 1. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS - Top Item for 10/16/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

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

 

October 16, 2008

 

1.  Top Items -

 

 

Water official: Drought here to stay for awhile

Imperial Valley Press – 10/15/08
By MEGAN BAKKER, Staff Writer

California’s drought isn’t going away any time soon, even if the state experiences a record-setting wet year, a state Department of Water Resources official said.

DWR statewide drought coordinator Wendy Martin, speaking at a hearing on the state’s drought conditions Wednesday in El Centro, said because so much of the state’s stored water supply was used, normal winter rains won’t be enough to replenish the water supplies.

And, according to early weather predictions, Martin said, “normal” is the best the state could hope for.

“Nothing is showing an indication of wet,” Martin said.

The hearing, held by state Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny, D-San Diego, focused on what effects a protracted drought would have on California, as well as actions taken by local agencies to relieve drought conditions.

This is the second dry year for the state, Martin said.

“The state’s reservoirs are considerably lower than they should be at this time of year,” Martin said.

Spring and summer were also the driest on record, dropping the reserves by 50 percent from the previous year’s levels.

The protracted drought means severe economic impacts. The most visible effect has been fires. During the past two years, at least 16,000 fires have burned more than 1.6 million acres, costing the state nearly $1 billion.

But one of the hardest hit industries has been agriculture. Ellen Sanders Way, a board member of the Western Growers Association, said it was important for Californians to take care of their food supply, and to do that, farmers needed water.

“This is the issue for agriculture in California,” Way said.

So far this year, Martin said, the agricultural industry has lost $260 million statewide as almost 80,000 acres were left unplanted or abandoned. The hardest hit sectors were rangeland for cattle and cotton, which lost $95 million and $62 million, respectively.

Also, many local governments have restricted or delayed new development because of limited water supplies. While the Imperial Valley has not banned growth, the Imperial Irrigation District is working on creating a resource management plan so incoming businesses will have access to water.

Mostly, Martin said, the state as a whole was going to have to work on conservation efforts.

The state has been talking with Australia about conservation ideas, Martin said, as that country is in its ninth year of extreme drought.

Australia has cut its urban water use to an average of 50-70 gallons per household per day, compared to the 200 gallons per day that a California household uses.

“I think there’s an opportunity for us to learn,” Martin said.

On a local level, the IID is working on its equitable distribution plan to conserve water.

IID board President John Pierre Menvielle said the IID is also “the chief catalyst for water-saving measures on the Colorado River system” such as the Quantification Settlement Agreement.

The QSA is a water-transfer agreement with San Diego County Water Authority and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, sending them a certain amount of water a year.

It also includes several water conservation measures, such as on-farm conservation.

Menvielle said the QSA would eventually lead to 300,000 acre-feet a year in conserved water. Also, the lining of the All-American Canal is projected to save 67,700 acre-feet a year.

“The IID is doing its part to respond to the changing circumstances in which the entire state now finds itself,” Menvielle said.#

http://www.ivpressonline.com/articles/2008/10/16/local_news/news04.txt

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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.