[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 11/17/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

November 17, 2008

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People –

 

Press Release:

DWR Hosts 2009 Winter Outlook Workshop

 

Editorial: Two big water deals now gain traction

Sacramento Bee

 

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Press Release:

DWR Hosts 2009 Winter Outlook Workshop

11/17/08

 

Sacramento -  As part of efforts to address the state’s drought, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) will hold its first ever Winter Outlook Workshop on

Nov. 21 in San Diego.  The Winter Outlook Workshop brings together nationally known scientists to provide state water managers with the most accurate prediction possible for water year 2009 that runs from October 1 through September 30.

 

California is potentially facing yet another dry year.  The past two water years have been critically dry, and storage in the state’s reservoirs are at a 14-year low.  Court-ordered restrictions on water deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta have further contributed to the lack of water in some parts of the state.  Many local communities have placed mandatory or voluntary restrictions on water use.  An accurate long-range forecast for 2009 precipitation is a critical tool for water managers throughout the state.

 

The Science of Forecasting

The primary source for seasonal weather outlook is currently the El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycle.  Researchers have been seeking to correlate other ocean-atmosphere patterns such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation or Madden-Julian Oscillation with observed climate conditions.  The relationships among these patterns offer further predictive guidance.   Additionally, the relatively short period of measured hydrologic records can be augmented with paleoclimate reconstructions for a more reliable outlook.   Using these methods, WOW presenters will offer the most accurate prediction possible concerning the likelihood of a wet, average or dry 2009.

 

 

Event Details

 

November 21, 10 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

San Diego Westin Hotel

Diamond I Room

400 West Broadway

San Diego

 

Speakers will include Jerry Zimmerman, Colorado River Board of California; Dave Meko, Laboratory of Tree Ring Research, University of Arizona; Klaus Wolter, NOAA/Western Water Assessment, University of Colorado; Dan Cayan, Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Mike Dettinger, U.S. Geological Survey/Scripps; and Jeanine Jones, DWR.

 

The WOW workshop is a free event, but attendance is limited to 75.  Please email anorris@water.ca.gov to RSVP.  For those who can’t attend, the workshop will be webcast live at  http://cawater.rmxpres.com/webcast/data/winoutlook2009112108/msh.htm

 

For background on droughts and drought preparedness, see: http://www.water.ca.gov/drought/.  #

http://www.water.ca.gov/news/newsreleases/2008/112108winteroutlook.doc

 

 

Editorial: Two big water deals now gain traction

Sacramento Bee – 11/17/08

 

Will Barack Obama bring peace to Western rivers?

 

No, we are not that audacious. Nor do we presume the president-elect is spending much time getting briefed on Western water politics.

 

But it's hard not to notice that, just two weeks after the election, negotiators have announced breakthroughs on once-stalled talks to restore two California rivers.

On Thursday, federal officials, environmentalists, Indian tribes and others announced agreement with a utility, PacifiCorp, to remove four dams that block the Klamath River. This pact could potentially end years of litigation and fighting over the Klamath, while restoring salmon to a river that once was a major fish factory.

Two days earlier, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced a final deal among parties that have been trying to implement a restoration settlement for the San Joaquin River.

 

Feinstein hopes to get the pact approved by Congress in the lame duck session, capping 18 years of litigation that has pitted environmentalists against irrigators that get their water from Friant Reservoir.

 

The two deals have their differences. The San Joaquin pact is further along and would produce results more quickly. If approved by Congress, it would restore water to the river in 2009 and possibly return some salmon by 2012.

 

The Klamath deal, by contrast, is more of a framework than a binding agreement. It has a goal of starting to remove the dams by 2020. Although some have criticized this 12-year lag, negotiators say it will give PacifiCorp time to replace power lost by the dismantling of hydroelectric dams.

 

The common thread between these deals? The Bush administration supported both. And both included parties that, after years of hard bargaining, saw more advantage in cutting a deal than awaiting the uncertainties of a new president and Congress.

 

So, for better or worse, Obama's election is already shaking up the inertia of Western water. More changes are sure to flow in the years ahead. #

http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/1402960.html

 

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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.