[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 4/21/09

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

April 21, 2009

 

2. Supply –

 

Wet March may improve Central Valley water allocations

The Redding Record Searchlight

 

Antioch announces 15 percent reduction for water users

Contra Costa Times

 

Pittsburg approves water conservation program

The Contra Costa Times

 

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Wet March may improve Central Valley water allocations

The Redding Record Searchlight – 4/19/09

By Dylan Darling

 

The biggest rush of water into Lake Shasta in almost three years could lead to increased water allocations for north state agriculture.

 

"We are anticipating an upward bump," said Brian Person, manager of the Bureau of Reclamation's Northern California Office at Shasta Dam.

 

Early this week, bureau officials plan to release updated allocations for the Central Valley Project - which runs 500 miles from Lake Shasta to Bakersfield - based on weather, lake inflow and other factors in March.

 

Snowfall in February and rain in March gave the lake its biggest boost in years.

 

More than 1 million acre-feet, or enough water to flood a million acres a foot deep, flowed into Lake Shasta in March, according to state Department of Water Resources data. It's the biggest influx into the 4.5 million acre-foot capacity reservoir since April 2006.

 

After a dry December and January, the bureau had announced in February that the Central Valley Project could receive only half of its usual 6 million acre-foot allocation - the most drastic cutback since a drought in the early 1990s.

 

The projected allocations included no water for agriculture land north of Sacramento supplied through contracts made after Shasta Dam was finished in 1945.

 

But stormy weather in February brought revised allocations last month, providing those contracts with 5 percent of the normal supply.

 

Now bureau officials are analyzing weather, snowpack and storage changes in March to determine if and how to revise the allocations.

 

"There's a possibility (they) could change," said Pete Lucero, bureau spokesman in Sacramento.

 

The rush of inflow into Lake Shasta brought a big rise to the lake that had hit a 16-year low last fall. In March, the lake rose about 48 feet, bringing it to 66 percent full, said Larry Ball, operations chief for the bureau at Keswick Dam.

 

March brought the lake to the same level it was at this time last year, about 60 feet below its high waterline.

 

Ball said this year's allocations will still be lower than last because less water is available from the Trinity River.

 

Along with the likely increase in allocations, the wet March also has improved the outlook for the lake at the end of the summer. Ball said the lake is expected to bottom out at about the same 157 feet below crest next fall. Earlier in the year, he had said the lake could hit 200 feet below.

 

"That's far better than the original estimates were in that dry January," Lucero said.

 

A workshop for growers looking to keep their crops going with reduced water supplies is set for Tuesday evening at Shasta College.

 

The workshop, hosted by the University of California Cooperative Extension, starts at 6:30 p.m. in Room 1632, said Larry Forero, extension director in Shasta County.

 

Topics for discussion include maintaining pasture, preserving nut and fruit trees, and saving vines despite reduced irrigation deliveries.

 

There also will be a discussion on federal drought aid, Forero said, but the workshop will not be a forum to debate water policy, endangered species or water deliveries in the past year.#

 

http://www.redding.com/news/2009/apr/19/wet-march-may-improve-central-valley-water/

 

Antioch announces 15 percent reduction for water users

Contra Costa Times – 4/20/09

By Hilary Costa

Water users in Antioch will be asked to cut their consumption by 15 percent this summer.

 

The mandatory reduction comes because the Contra Costa Water District, from which Antioch purchases some of its water, has notified its customers of a decrease in available water this year, according to a city news release. This is the third consecutive year of below-normal rainfall in California.

 

Antioch residential, business and irrigation customers will have to cut their usage by 15 percent; industrial users will have to cut back by 5 percent.

 

The reductions will be based on 2005-2007 consumption for individual accounts, said Julie Haas-Wajdowicz, the city's environmental resource coordinator. Customers who repeatedly fail to meet the reduction goals may have a flow-restriction device installed on their meter, and be subject to an excess use charge, according to the news release.

 

The easiest way to cut back, according to officials, is by irrigating less often. #

 

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_12185330?source=rss

 

Pittsburg approves water conservation program

The Contra Costa Times – 4/21/09

By Paul Burgarino

Pittsburg residents are being asked to be mindful of the water use.

 

On Monday, the City Council approved a city-wide water conservation program that imposes penalties on the city's heaviest water users.

 

Single-family residents that use more than 1,000 gallons per day will be charged a penalty of $3 per hundred cubic feet, which equates to 748 gallons. About 3 percent of residents use that much water, said Walter Pease, Assistant Public Works Director.

 

The average Pittsburg residence used about 350 gallons per day, he said.

 

The mandatory reduction comes because the Contra Costa Water District, from which Pittsburg purchases some of its water, has notified its customers of a 15 percent decrease in available water this year. This is the third consecutive year of below-normal rainfall in California.

 

The decrease means Pittsburg must reduce its use by that amount. To help the city meet the cuts, the program also sets some restrictions on nonessential water uses including water use for decorative fountains, outside watering that leads to excessive flooding, and irrigation between 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

 

For more information about the city's water conservation efforts, go to the city's Web site at www.ci.pittsburg.ca.us. A mailer will also go out to residents in May, Pease said.#

 

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_12187977?source=rss

 

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