Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
March 16, 2009
Top Items–
Few sellers lining up for Drought Water Bank
The Oroville Mercury-Register – 3/14/09
By Heather Hacking
The state is shopping for water for the Drought Water Bank, but a variety of factors has supplies drying up.
Despite a hefty price for the sale of water, environmental constraints and good prices for commodities have far less
On paper, the state has conducted a California Environmental Quality Act review for more than 500,000 acre-feet of water to be transferred through the Drought Water Bank.
But those numbers are the maximum. The actual amount of transferred water will be much less.
The Drought Water Bank is a way for the state to broker water from north to south. The program was revived this year and was last used in the early 1990s.
Priority is given to buyers who need water to meet health and emergency needs, and then to permanent crops that could be lost due to drought.
However, "This year, because of constraints in the Delta, there is less flexibility in the water delivery system," said Teresa Geimer, head of the Drought Water Bank for the Department of Water Resources.
The water bank deals with willing buyers and sellers, and this year the negotiating price appears to be about $275 an acre-foot of water, growers said. One acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons, enough water for two households for a year.
That price for water is a dramatic jump from just a few years ago. In 2005, for example, the price was around $125 an acre-foot.
There are three ways for water to be made available from
One big hurdle for people along the
Geimer said buyers will have very little chance of getting water through the Delta except during July to September.
Rice growers use water earlier than that, but if they didn't plant, buyers in many cases would need to pay for water in May and June as well.
Groundwater substitution would be different, because growers could use their surface water in May and June and then pump for the rest of the crop season.
Crop prices are another factor. Right now the price of rice is high, making it less attractive to sell water.
The "call date," or the date to decide on a transfer, is April 21, which is later than many farmers, especially rice growers, need to get going in their fields.
"Trying to get growers to commit is difficult," said Thad Bettner, manager of Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, the largest water district in
Glenn-Colusa is down on paper for up to 50,000 acres of crop idling or crop substitution. However, those numbers were turned in months ago.
Bettner said he's projecting his district will sell less than 15,000 acre-feet.
He said he would be surprised if the Drought Water Bank was able to move 100,000 acre-feet this year, "which is unfortunate. We're trying to do what we can."
"There are so many moving parts," Bettner said, including multiple government agencies that need to give the go-ahead.
"We're in the middle of March and the call date is April 21. That's a month away and the program is still up in the air," Bettner said.
That puts water users in the
Lewis Bair is manager of Reclamation District 108, which serves growers in northern Yolo and Colusa counties. He said water transfers can benefit the state, particularly if water is transferred from lower-valued crops for use in crops that have a higher value.
In years when certain crops in the
Bair has been talking to growers and estimated in his district only about 600 acre-feet would be offered from crop idling and shifting, and only about 2,000 acre-feet from groundwater substitution.
The district is about 50 percent rice land and 50 percent row crops such as beans and tomatoes.
For some growers, it will make sense to shift to crops that use less water, such as sunflowers, and market the rest.
But for rice, even with the increased price for water, the numbers would be better if they grew. Bair said the land in his district is very productive.
Farmers have other factors to consider, such as their long-term lease arrangements and permanent employees.
On the Feather River, things are slightly different, because water can be stored behind
However, even at Western Canal Water District, which gets water from the Feather, there are restrictions.
Ted Trimble, manager at Western, said the rules for the environment take out about a third of the acreage that could be fallowed for sale of water.
Restrictions for the giant garter snake limit water sales from land within a mile of a refuge.
"We have the Upper Butte Basin Wildlife Area and the Howard Slough Unit," Trimble said. "Then bordering our boundary is the Llano Seco National Refuge."
There likely will also be restrictions for lands adjacent to creeks.
Also, "right now, any land fallowed last year for any reason is not eligible," which takes out another 4,500 acres of Western's 46,000 acres. #
http://www.orovillemr.com/news/ci_11915996
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