Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 2, 2009
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
Editorial: Larger Los Vaqueros Reservoir would ease Bay Area water problems
MediaNews editorial – 3/1/09
AN EXTENSIVE environmental report issued last Monday makes clear what should have been known years ago: A larger Los Vaqueros Reservoir near
The report by the Contra Costa Water District and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation comes at a critical time when the state and region are in the third year of a drought.
Although the drought is not particularly severe, water supplies are low enough to cause water districts in the area to consider rationing later this year.
Adding to the area's water problems are court orders to sharply reduce supplies to farmers and other users of water coming from the Delta to protect the estuary's ecological balance.
It isn't only farmers and urban water users who are suffering. The numbers of many species of fish in the Delta have declined to the point where they are threatened with extinction.
The cause of all the area's water problems is a lack of dependable fresh water supplies during dry periods, much less periodic droughts.
Even with extensive conservation and more efficient use of water by farmers, there simply is not enough stored water to meet urban, agricultural and environmental needs.
Continued conservation, desalination, and use of underground aquifers can help ease water shortages, but these alone will not solve a serious and worsening threat to
What has been needed for some time is more aboveground water storage in new or enlarged reservoirs. That conclusion is supported by the latest environmental report, which examined four options to increase the capacity of Los Vaqueros reservoir. Three of them would boost the reservoir's capacity from the current 100,000 acre feet to 275,000 acre feet. A fourth option would add 60,000 acre feet to Los Vaqueros' capacity.
All four options call for adding to the current dam. An earlier proposal to increase Los Vaqueros to 500,000 acre feet would have required an entirely new dam and is no longer in contention.
The most extensive option in the environmental report, and the one that looks the most promising, would add 175,000 acre feet of storage capacity to Los Vaqueros Reservoir.
It is designed to improve both environmental water management and water supply reliability to several water districts in the Bay Area.
This option would include the largest number of potential beneficiaries (and cost sharing) of the reservoir expansion. Also, it would protect Delta fish with improved screening of water diversions.
Under this plan, water would move thought the enlarged reservoir into the State Water Project system at Bethany Reservoir, which serves all three
However, by far the largest portion of the added storage capacity would be used for environmental purposes, increasing the flow of fresh water into the Delta during dry months and dry years.
This would reduce salinity, which is a major suspected cause of fish depletion.
The estimated cost of the water would be about $330 per acre foot. That is considerably less than the cost of other water supplies, conservation, recycling or desalination.
The total cost of a 275,000 acre-foot Los Vaqueros Reservoir is estimated at $900 million.
The fate of the project depends on potential financing from Bay Area water agencies that benefit as well as state and federal water agencies and environmental regulators.
We believe it is an investment well worth pursuing. A larger reservoir could be built in three years after environmental studies and permits have been approved. The sooner action is taken the better. The area's water problems are only going to get worse — far worse if nothing is done.#
http://www.contracostatimes.com/opinion/ci_11792151?nclick_check=1
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