[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 2/18/09

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

February 18, 2009

 

2. Supply –

 

Storms not enough to end water worries

The San Francisco Chronicle – 2/18/09

By Matthew B. Stannard

 

Her light-green umbrella wind-twisted into uselessness, Alexis Alexander ducked into a Powell Street storefront to buy a dour black replacement as cold water spattered the sidewalk outside.

 

"I really don't do the rain. It is not a good look," said Alexander, 21, in San Francisco from Antioch to pick up supplies for her upcoming birthday celebration. "I'm having a party on Saturday. It's ruining my barbecue."

 

But her friend, Che Coleman, 21, defended the precipitation.

 

"It's good, we need the rain. It's filling up the reservoirs," she said. "We're in a drought. We need the water."

 

Alexander and Coleman probably summed up the mixed feelings of many Bay Area residents Tuesday: The past week of cold, wet weather hasn't been fun, but at least it's helped ease the state's drought problem. Right?

 

"Not even close," said Elissa Lynn, a senior meteorologist with the state Department of Water Resources. "In spite of the fact we had all this precipitation, we're still very, very dry."

 

It's not that there hasn't been a lot of rain the past few days, said Brian Tentinger, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

 

"Downtown San Francisco has had a total of 4.41 inches" since last Wednesday, Tentinger said. "That's almost 20 percent of what we get for a whole season."

 

And most of the Bay Area has gotten about 4 inches of rain over the same span, Tentinger said. In addition, Mount Hamilton received 9 inches of snow Monday night alone. More importantly, the Sierra, the source of water for Bay Area reservoirs, also saw some pretty solid snowfall, Lynn said.

 

A water shortage still

State water officials measure that snowfall in snow water inches, the amount of water that the accumulated snow would represent if it melted. Between Thursday and Tuesday, as storms swept the Bay Area, the snow water equivalent in the northern Sierra increased about 25 percent to 16 inches, Lynn said.

 

"It's an improvement. It's in the right direction," she said.

 

But even with that, the northern Sierra snow water equivalent level is just 69 percent of normal to date. Total precipitation in the northern Sierra - including both snow and rain - is only 74 percent of average to date, Lynn said. Last year at this time, the total was 86 percent of average, and the year before, precipitation by this time had reached 91 percent of average.

 

"Looking ahead, even though there's a little bit more in the forecast, by March 1 we may be about 77 percent of normal," Lynn said.

 

More importantly, she said, the numbers for runoff - water that actually makes it from the mountains into the reservoirs - have been "excruciating" for three years and are not looking much better today.

 

Two seasons ago, runoff was only 53 percent of normal, Lynn said. Last season was 57 percent of normal, and the projection for this season - the water year extends from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30 - is also 57 percent.

 

As a result, the reservoirs at Shasta, Oroville and Folsom are all at about one-third or less of their capacity - about half or less their average at this time, Lynn said.

 

Still no time to waste water

Blame January, which was extra dry and left behind thirsty soil and empty underground aquifers that drank up water that would otherwise have filled Northern California reservoirs.

 

"This January was the eighth driest on record for the state," Lynn said, and it followed a similarly dry fall. "What we're seeing now, that's nice, but it's late, and we should have seen this for the whole past six weeks."

 

Now, water officials worry that the week of wet will lead people to start hosing off sidewalks once again when ideally they should be preparing for desert conditions to come. The current drought is as bad as any in recent memory, Lynn said, if not quite as dry as the drought of 1976-77.

 

"Keep saving," Lynn said. "And do your rain dance."

 

Meanwhile, Tuesday's heavy rain flooded roads and freeways throughout the Bay Area, according to the California Highway Patrol. Caltrans crews scrambled to alert motorists and to do their best to clear the roads of water and mud.

 

Road closures weren't the only weather-related problem. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. reported about 2,600 Bay Area customers were without power after the storm passed through Tuesday morning, but that number had been reduced to about 740 by mid-afternoon and officials predicted all weather-related outages would be restored by Tuesday evening.

 

The National Weather Service expects drier conditions through Friday, then a chance of more rain beginning Saturday.#

 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/17/MNPM15VN67.DTL&feed=rss.news

 

IID: Farmer actions endanger allotment
The Imperial Valley Press – 2/17/09

By Megan Bakker

Continued drought in California means the Imperial Irrigation District is facing increased pressure to turn over its water, and the equitable distribution plan is key to stopping that pressure, IID board members said during Tuesday’s meeting.

“My fear is if we don’t move forward that the day is going to come when we have no options,” IID board president Jim Hanks said.

But farmers, by not signing or returning their water cards, will derail the equitable distribution process, IID spokesman Kevin Kelley said.

The equitable distribution process was put in place as a way to ration water during a year that the district is expected to over-use its allotted amount. Under the program, farmers are given 5.25 acre-feet of water per acre, and are expected to turn unused water into a water bank, where farmers who use more than 5.25 acre-feet per acre can withdraw it.

But in order to know how much water a farmer is planning on taking, in addition to other information necessary to the program, tenant farmers and landowners must sign and return their water cards.

Not doing so, said IID spokesman Kevin Kelley, means “you don’t have a program.”

Farmers have listed several reasons why they disagree with the new water card, but the chief among them is a clause that reads: “This is an important legal document. Complete with care.”

Mark Osterkamp, president of the Farm Bureau, said since the IID has said repeatedly that the regulations for the equitable distribution program may change, then he does not feel comfortable signing his name and agreeing to the regulations.

“Unfortunately the Farm Bureau at this point in time does not feel it can sign the water cards as written,” Osterkamp said.

Jeff Garber, an attorney for the IID, said during the meeting that the water cards are only good for one year, so farmers would not be held to this water card in future years.

Mark McBroom, another member of the Farm Bureau, said that if the district was concerned about other water agencies making a water grab, then it would be smarter to rescind the equitable distribution program.

McBroom said since the IID used 48,000 acre-feet less than its 3.1 million acre-feet water allotment in 2008, and since the equitable distribution program will encourage further conservation and another underrun, then there’s the possibility that other water authorities will start claiming that the IID does not need its full 3.1 million acres.

Craig Elmore, a farmer from Brawley, said his solution was going to be to send the water cards to the district with all the information filled out for the district, but lacking his signature.

“How can we be asked to sign a potential legal document when we don’t even know what’s in it?” Elmore said.#

http://www.ivpressonline.com/articles/2009/02/18/local_news/news03.txt

 

Peripheral canal — What would it do to Thornton?

Some residents worry it could destroy farmland

The Lodi News-Sentinel – 2/18/09

By Ross Farrow

Residents throughout San Joaquin and nearby counties are concerned that the proposed peripheral canal will remove water from, and destroy the quality of water in the Delta. However, Thornton residents have yet another concern: What would the canal do to their community?

"I'm not sure if it's going to run through my house," said Frances Vasques, who lives on Walnut Grove Road, just west of Interstate 5.

Recent maps released by the California Department of Water Resources indicate that the peripheral canal, if built at all, could run through farmland just west of I-5 — not far from the residential and small commercial area in Thornton. The proposed canal would transport additional water from the Sacramento River, around the Delta, and south to the southern San Joaquin Valley and Southern California.

"I don't know that much about it," said Marlene Corbitt of the Thornton Municipal Advisory Council. "I heard it will turn farmland around here into marshland."

That's exactly what concerns some Thornton residents. They've heard rumors that the canal could go through the Thornton area, but they don't know how true it is and if it will harm the community.

"We realize that Thornton is an agricultural town, and the people in Thornton aren't just in the community center themselves," said Paul Marshall, a principal engineer with the Department of Water Resources. "We would possibly, if we went with an eastern alignment, have an effect on Thornton farmers."

State officials are exploring several locations for the controversial peripheral canal. The easternmost alignment is on Thornton's western edge.

 

Information on the peripheral canal

The California Department of Water Resource will schedule informational meetings about the peripheral canal — including the possibility of the peripheral canal coming through the Thornton area — in several communities for midto late-March. Dates and locations have not been set.

A draft environmental impact report/environmental impact statement on the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan, which includes the peripheral canal proposal, is expected to be ready for public review by early 2010.

Bay-Delta Conservation Plan representatives will hold an online Webinar to provide an in-depth orientation to the plan from 9 a.m. to noon on Wednesday. The web link to access the Webinar will be available on Wednesday by visiting www.resources.ca.gov/bdcp. The public may also attend the meeting at the Natural Resources Building Auditorium at 1416 Ninth St., Sacramento. Photo identification will be required.

 

The options are outlined in the proposed Bay-Delta Conservation Plan, a document developed by federal, state, fishery and water agencies, environmental organizations and other groups.

The effect on local farm land is definitely on James Cotta's mind. He has 110 acres of winegrapes in the area of Blossom Road and Beaver Slough.

"It's always been the crux that the water will be above ground level," Cotta said. "It's really going to upset the farming on both sides of the canal. The water table would be so high that you can't grow anything on it."

Marshall said the canal, if it is constructed, will not cause seepage on residential property because initial plans call for the canal to be lined with clay and keep the waters under control as it is shipped south.

"If they're going to line the ditch, that's one thing," Cotta said. "We're definitely thinking about it."

Marshall said the peripheral canal location is far from decided. The state will pay fair market value to property owners for any land that is damaged, he said.

Like others in Thornton, Cotta said there's a lot that he doesn't know. That's the rub.

Many questions remain about how the canal would affect Thornton, one of them being if it would cause seepage along the front yards if the water elevation is 10 feet above the ground, according to Dante Nomellini, attorney for the Central Delta Water Agency.

"You know how women hate wet carpets?" Nomellini quipped.

A half-dozen Thornton residents interviewed recently by the News-Sentinel, however, hadn't heard about the peripheral canal proposal, especially as it applies to Thornton.

Informational meetings will be scheduled for midto late-March throughout Northern California, Marshall said, but the dates and locations haven't been scheduled. Vasques said she'll probably attend one of those informational meetings.#

 

http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2009/02/17/news/1_canal_090217.txt

 

 

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