[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 2/27/09

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

February 27, 2009

 

2. Supply –

 

Water shortage no surprise in the south
The Capital Press

 

Editorial: How dry it is – and may continue to be

The Sacramento Bee

 

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Water shortage no surprise in the south
Up to one million acres of farmland won’t receive a CVP water allocation
The Capital Press – 2/27/09

By Cecilia Parsons

Even though the zero-water delivery wasn't official until Feb. 20 and recent storms have helped with the Sierra snowpack, farmers south of the Delta were already preparing for the worst. The projected water delivery announcement on Friday by water officials wasn't a surprise.

No Central Valley Project water will be delivered to Westlands, Panoche and San Luis water districts and Tranquility and James irrigation districts along with 17 other districts along the Valley's west side.

Friant deliveries to east side growers amount to 25 percent of normal, but they are in jeopardy if districts with senior water rights claim a share.

In the south valley, Kern County Water Agency reports it will only receive 15 percent of its State Water Project allotment.

These are record low surface water delivery amounts and follow two years of short deliveries caused by drought and court-ordered pumping restrictions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Based on the Feb. 1 forecast for runoff, up to one million acres of farmland won't receive a CVP water allocation this year. Growers with groundwater will turn to pumping to sustain crops. Others can try to buy water, but both options add to the cost of production and may not be feasible.

"These are challenging times, and Reclamation will continue to explore all options within our authorities to minimize the impacts to those affected by this water shortage," said Donald Glaser, regional director for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Glaser, Ron Milligan of the Sacramento bureau office and Michael Jackson from the Fresno bureau office delivered the water supply forecast for farmers south of the Delta in Fresno on Feb. 20.

Growers in the highly productive Westlands water district plan to fallow up to 300,000 acres of open ground this year - meaning less food for the nation's dinner table. Even some permanent crops will be abandoned.

"They're pushing out older almond groves; some aren't using bees this year, and others are going to prevent fruit set," said Westlands spokeswoman Sarah Woolfe. Row crops in the highly productive district will take a bigger hit.

Woolfe said spring and fall lettuce crops wouldn't be planted. Melons, onion, garlic and other vegetables that can't be grown with lower quality groundwater won't be planted. Processing tomatoes, which can handle the higher salinity water, will be grown.

To the east, Friant water users can only expect 200,000 acre feet, or 25 percent of normal deliveries, in a year - and that's Class 1 water. Class 2 water, for those with access to ground water or other sources, won't be available.

For the first time in the history of the Friant division, there looms the possibility that the four San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors - with historic river water rights - will claim their share.

Ron Jacobsma, general manager of Friant Water Authority, said there is grave concern that east side irrigation districts that receive Friant water will be impacted by claims by west side water districts.

"If we don't have to lose that water to exchange contractors we'll just squeak by," said Jacobsma of the 200,000 acre feet allotted to Friant.

Dan Nelson, executive director of the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority said the supply announcement shows how broken California's water system is. Three years of drought is part of the problem, but Nelson pointed to the Delta pumping restrictions and water supply systems.

"When this drought breaks we will still have water shortages in California until we fix our storage, conveyance and management systems," Nelson said. "There are actions that can be taken now to more efficiently manage the constraints placed upon our water supply system on order to protect endangered species."#

 

http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?SectionID=67&SubSectionID=616&ArticleID=49135&TM=17879.52

 

Editorial: How dry it is – and may continue to be

The Sacramento Bee – 2/27/09

 

Even with the recent storms, California is likely to finish this winter with water supplies as austere as the economy.

With reservoirs already low after three years of weak precipitation, the impact will be harsh on every aspect of the state – its farm industries, its environment and people who live in wildfire zones.

 

Some communities are now taking steps to cut back water use, and the Department of Water Resources has urged everyone to reduce water consumption by 20 percent. Yet officials are often delivering these messages with the suggestion that this will be a temporary drought — one that we can get through if we all make some short-term sacrifices.

 

That may be wishful thinking. Whether or not you believe in global climate change, the chances are great that California could be entering a period that is much drier than the last 150 years.

 

Scientific studies have found evidence of past droughts in the West that lasted hundreds of years. The tree stumps found at the bottom of Lake Tahoe suggest that the lake shrank to dramatically low levels during a drought that started in the early 1200s and lasted a century, allowing forests to grow where there is now deep water.

 

California not only gets its liquid assets from the Sierra; it imports trillions of gallons yearly from Lake Mead on the Colorado River. If weather patterns hold or get drier, scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography think it's possible that Lake Mead will drop too low within a decade to provide water or generate power.

 

Scripps scientists and other groups have coined a term to describe this daunting scenario: the "new normal." Use of the term suggests that water managers should not make plans based on the hydrology of the past, but on a much more stingy future.

 

Conservation, improved efficiency and recycling of water must all be in this mix, along with cost-effective methods of increasing supply. But investments in new water projects must recognize the reality: The Pacific storms that have blanketed the Sierra and fed the Colorado River may not be as generous in the 21st century as they were previously. The "new normal" will require a rethinking of every aspect of water management in the West. #

 

http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/story/1657077.html

 

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