[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY -1/21/09

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

January 21, 2009

 

2. Supply –

 

Westlands: zero surface water likely for growers

The Hanford Sentinel

 

 

Key O.C. water supply suffering drought

The Orange County Register

 

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Westlands: zero surface water likely for growers

The Hanford Sentinel – 1/20/09

By Seth Nidever

Responding to worsening drought conditions and pumping cutbacks to protect endangered fish, Westlands Water District informed growers Monday that they will likely receive no surface water for irrigation during the summer months.

The district normally pumps water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta southward to thirsty farmers an the dry western side of the San Joaquin Valley.

The announcement was confirmed by Westlands spokeswoman Sarah Woolf, though she cautioned that it was a preliminary warning to help growers decide what to plant.

The official announcement would have to be issued by the Bureau of Reclamation and won't come until mid-February, Woolf said.

Water allocations typically begin March 1 for the summer season, Woolf said.

 

Approximately 30,000 acres of Kings County farmland at Lemoore Naval Air Station and in areas west of Highway 41 and north of Interstate 5 is in the Westlands Water District.

One of those growers is Mike Kochergen, owner of Kochergen Farms, which comprises 1,300 acres of citrus and almonds along the Avenal Cutoff Road in Kings and Fresno counties.

Kochergen said he heard about in a conference call at 1 p.m.

"I wasn't expecting zero, but I guess it is what it is," he said.

Last year, Kochergen used some of his 40 to 45 percent Westlands allocation to plant winter wheat in addition to watering his citrus and almond trees.

This year, if the drought holds, he'll let the open ground lie fallow and use well water to keep his trees alive.

"We were hoping for heavy rains and a good snowpack. We've still got the end of February and all of March, so we'll see," Kochergen said.

Other Kings County growers in the district couldn't be reached Monday for comment.#

 

http://www.hanfordsentinel.com/articles/2009/01/20/news/doc49761ed828adc544507825.txt

 

Key O.C. water supply suffering drought

The Orange County Register – 1/21/09

By Gary Robbins

 

The California Aqueduct transports runoff from the northern Sierra to consumers in Southern California.

 

The northern Sierra — which provides about half of Southern California’s water – is experiencing a dry year that might be made worse by La Nina, says Elissa Lynn, a senior meteorologist at the California Department of Water Resources.

 

“We average 9 inches of precipitation in the northern Sierra in January and have only gotten about 1.5 inches,” Lynn says. “We’re only expecting about a half-inch of precipitation (from a storm today), and that could be it for the month.

 

“January is a hard month to miss; it represents 18 percent of the whole season.”

 

The state hydrological season runs from Oct. 1 through Sept. 30. Since the start of the current season, 15.4 inches of precipitation have fallen in the northern Sierra. The historic average — dating back more than a century — is 24 inches. Precipitation during the previous two seasons also was below average.

 

“Theoretically, it’s possible to make up for the precipitation that we haven’t received. But that’s hard once you get beyond January,” Lynn says.

 

Meteorologists say conditions might be made worse, over the long term, by La Nina, a natural, periodic climate change that can result in below average rainfall in California.  La Nina has been getting stronger in the equatorial Pacific.

 

The Northern Sierra and the Colorado River provide varying amounts of water to 19 million people in Southern California. The Sierra’s annual contribution varies from 30 to 70 percent of the region’s imported water.

 

The National Weather Service says that about one-quarter inch of rain could fall in Orange County by early Thursday. And a bit more could be produced by a second system late this weekend. But forecasters say the two storms might only bring the county to average levels for the entire season. Since July 1, (the official start of the rainy season), John Wayne Airport has recorded 4.96 inches of rain, a half-inch below average.#

 

http://sciencedude.freedomblogging.com/2009/01/21/key-oc-water-supply-suffering-drought/15788/

 

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