[Water_news] 3. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: WATERSHEDS - 4/13/09

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

April 13, 2009

 

3. Watersheds –

 

Bay Area's tricky choices about delta's future

The San Francisco Chronicle

 

For want of water: Another dry winter could push Trinity River too far

The Eureka Times-Standard

 

Hyacinth hazard hangs heavy over Freedom Lake

The San Jose Mercury News

 

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Bay Area's tricky choices about delta's future

The San Francisco Chronicle – 4/12/09

By Ellen Hanak and Jay Lund

 

Ellen Hanak is director of research and a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California. Jay Lund is the Ray B. Krone Professor of Environmental Engineering and co-director of the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis. The report "Comparing Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta" is available at www.ppic.org.

 

Something must be done about the failing Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

 

Continuing to supply the Bay Area and other water users directly from the delta is the worst long-term strategy for native species and a poor strategy for California's economy. The most promising long-term strategy for native fishes alone is to end water exports entirely, at a still greater water supply and economic cost.

 

The most promising strategy to restore the delta's native fishes and ensure a reliable water supply for 22 million Californians is to build a suitable peripheral canal with substantial additional habitat investments.

 

These are the conclusions of our recent analysis, published by the Public Policy Institute of California.

 

The delta - part of the largest estuary on the West Coast - is the Bay Area's largest single water source. Since late 2007, water supplies from the delta have been reduced for many Bay Area users, due to declining populations of endangered native species, worsening the effects of a multiyear drought. Yet the current problem is small compared with the risk of a major earthquake, which would probably destroy many fragile levees, causing a rush of seawater toward the pumps that supply water to the Bay Area, Southern California and San Joaquin Valley and delta farms. The Bay Area as a whole could face a 30 percent loss of water supply for months or years.

 

Even if such a catastrophe is averted, the rising sea level and flooding of many islands will make the delta's water saltier over time, reducing its suitability as a source of drinking water. These factors make current water management policies for the delta unsustainable.

 

Bay Area residents depend on water from the delta. Much of the Bay Area's population growth since the 1970s has been supplied by water pumped through the delta. While 30 percent of the region's supplies are now channeled through these pumps - serving much of Santa Clara, Contra Costa, Alameda and Solano counties - an additional 40 percent is diverted from tributaries located upstream.

 

This diverted water flows through San Francisco's Hetch Hetchy aqueduct and East Bay Municipal Utility District's Mokelumne River aqueduct, serving San Francisco and parts of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. Both direct and indirect diversions from the delta have contributed to the decline of its native species, including the delta smelt and Chinook salmon, and the resulting cutbacks in water supplies.

 

Our recent analysis showed that efforts to maintain the delta in its current condition would be costly and largely ineffective for both native species and water users. Fundamental changes are inevitable for much of the western and central delta. Sooner or later, many of the islands that lie below sea level will flood permanently, returning to aquatic habitat.

 

Continued viability of native species and continued water exports will require major changes in how we manage both water and the ecosystem. There are two long-term alternatives: End water exports from the delta, or divert water around it using a peripheral canal.

 

Ending exports entirely would probably be the best solution for the native fishes. But it would entail significant costs to the state's economy and reduce Southern California's interest in financing restoration of the delta ecosystem. A peripheral canal is the best strategy for simultaneously improving conditions for native fish and continuing water supplies.

 

In a 1982 referendum, Bay Area voters rejected a peripheral canal intended to greatly expand water diversions, fearing such a canal would harm the delta environment. Today we know that a well-managed peripheral canal would be much better for the fish than the current system. A peripheral canal would allow water to be managed separately, and more beneficially, for the different needs of native fish and humans. A peripheral canal would allow fresher Sacramento River water to be channeled to the pumps, improving water quality for cities and farms, and reducing the risks of water outages from earthquakes and floods. It also would allow the return to a more natural flow of water within the delta. Sending fresh water to the pumps has reduced the natural variability of water flow and water quality, creating better conditions for harmful invasive species. The large pumps also have distorted the direction of flows, disturbing the food web, putting fish in the wrong places and trapping some fish in the pumps.

 

Of course, the many Northern Californians who voted against a canal in 1982 will need to be convinced that this is not a "water grab." Safeguards are needed to ensure that water exports do not increase and that the canal is managed to benefit native fish. One option is to allocate a share of canal capacity to the fish, allowing water flow to be managed for their habitat. When more water is needed in the delta, much of the canal would remain empty; at other times, the fishes' share of the canal could be leased to water users, generating revenue to support environmental investments.

 

To make this work, cities and farms would probably need to commit to reducing water use from the delta - at least until fish populations recover - and support significant expenses for the restoration of aquatic habitat, destroyed by decades of managing the delta for water supplies and farming. Funds will also be needed to ease the transitions in the delta economy as some islands flood.

 

As major direct and indirect users of water from the delta, Bay Area water utilities are likely to see higher costs and diminished water supplies from the delta in the coming years. But these costs will be higher if California does not act to get ahead of the inevitable changes in the delta. California and the Bay Area need to prepare for the coming changes. The politics and controversies of the delta are difficult, but ultimately physical reality will prevail.#

 

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/12/IN6P1701BN.DTL

 

For want of water: Another dry winter could push Trinity River too far

The Eureka Times-Standard – 4/12/09

By John Driscoll

California's drought may push the Trinity River close to crisis this year, and it will take a lot of rain next winter to prevent that plight from getting far worse.

 

When Trinity Lake falls below a certain level, it may no longer be able to provide the frigid water to the river that's needed to keep salmon and steelhead healthy during a hot summer. Depending on whether the region sees more rain this spring, the lake could be drained close to that critical point -- but probably not until, fall when temperatures drop.

 

It is this coming winter that may spell real trouble. Should the drought continue, Trinity Lake won't fill up enough to meet demands on the system: the diversion to the Sacramento River and the Central Valley, the electricity that diversion produces, and fish in the river. What water there is may be too warm to ensure that salmon are protected in the river, as well.

 

”It will be difficult to meet all the requirements next year throughout the system,” said Brian Person, area manager for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the project.

 

The Trinity River Division of the Central Valley Project was completed in the 1960s to ship water to the Sacramento River, which is tapped for farms in the San Joaquin Valley. Early on, the diversion was as much as 90 percent, leaving the Trinity's fisheries in jeopardy. After years of deliberations and litigation, a federal record of decision was put in place in 2001 that mandated the diversion be no more than 52 percent in an effort to restore salmon and steelhead.

 

That decision calls for a yearly determination on how much water should be released down the river and when. Extremely wet years call for huge releases of water in the spring meant to reshape the river and improve fish habitat, while dry years are meant to provide enough cold water for spawning and rearing needs.

 

Last week, the Trinity Management Council, which makes that determination based on a series of forecasts on snow and rain figures, classified the year as a “dry year.” That means 453,000 acre feet -- or 147 billion gallons -- is scheduled to be sent down the river, most of it during the spring.

 

If there is no more rain this year, that and the diversion to the Sacramento River will draw Trinity Lake down to about 600,000 acre feet by late fall. That's not likely to trigger a problem this year. But with the lake that low, it will take millions of acre feet of water flowing into the lake over the winter to bring the lake up far enough to keep it from falling below that level in the summer of 2010.

 

It's happened twice before. In 1977, the lake was far below that 600,000-acre-foot level and thousands of fish at Trinity River Hatchery died from diseases. In 1991, it dipped just below that level. The wetter years that followed, however, replenished the reservoir.

 

”You have to tackle these things on a year-to-year basis,” said Mike Hamman, executive director of the Trinity River Restoration Program run by the Bureau of Reclamation.

 

Some familiar with the complex operation of the project, however, are concerned that there is no real contingency plan to deal with an extended drought in the face of possible climate change. There are so many operational and regulatory constraints on the project that balancing them could be increasingly challenging in the future.

 

Among them are that the bureau must make sure that the water released down the river from Lewiston Dam is cold -- about 48 to 50 degrees -- in order to protect fish. It also has temperature requirements on the Sacramento River, and Trinity River water is used to help keep that river cold, too.

 

The plumbing of the project creates problems for meeting those requirements. Because water released to the Trinity River must first move through shallow Lewiston Lake, where it warms up during hot weather, more cold water must be released to dampen that effect. So summer flows of about 450 cubic feet per second to the river require that 1,500 to 1,800 cfs be released into Lewiston Lake.

 

The warmer the water released from Trinity Lake, the more difficult it is to keep that water cool. It may be possible to take water from the bottom of Trinity Lake, where it's coldest, but that bypasses the power plant. Even that won't be effective if Trinity Lake gets too low and too warm.

 

Trinity River fisheries advocates say that the problem could be avoided by keeping more in the lake each year, something they say the bureau is reluctant to do.

 

”There is no plan for the future to avoid a crisis,” said Tom Weseloh with California Trout.

 

Weseloh said that the group of stakeholders that make recommendations on operations recently suggested that the Trinity Management Council ask the bureau how it intends to comply with a 1990 State Water Resources Control Board order intended to protect the river. It demands that temperature requirements must first be met on the Trinity River.

 

National Marine Fisheries Service Arcata Area Office Supervisor Irma Lagomarsino said that if the lake is drawn down to below that 600,000-acre-foot level, the Bureau of Reclamation must confer with her agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. But there is no hard-wired process to follow beyond that, Lagomarsino said.

 

Lagomarsino said that long-term discussions are necessary to address how much water is flowing to the Sacramento River and the Central Valley, adding that the diversion and river flows have exceeded the amount of water flowing into Trinity Lake for the past two years, which may constrain the operation of the system in the future.

 

”All of this is risk management,” Lagomarsino said.

 

The current scenario is something that former Trinity County Senior Planner Tom Stokely was warning about several years ago. Stokely now works with the California Water Impact Network, and said that the bureau has a number of regulatory issues that need to be cleared up before there is assurance that the Trinity River is protected in dire circumstances.

 

Included in those, he said, are that the releases called for in the 2001 record of decision have not been written into key water rights permits.

 

”Until that's done,” Stokely said, “the Trinity's cold water supply remains at great risk.” #

 

http://www.times-standard.com/localnews/ci_12127103

 

Hyacinth hazard hangs heavy over Freedom Lake

The San Jose Mercury News – 4/12/09

By Joel Isaacson

 

FREEDOM -- A group is lobbying the county to restore Freedom Lake, worrying that inaction on the hyacinth choked waterway could lead to floods, disease, fouled water systems and destruction of wildlife habitat.

 

The small lake lies along the west side of Freedom Boulevard, just north of the intersection with Corralitos Road.

Freedom Lake was alive with fish and water fowl in 2004. Santa Cruz artist Nita Hertel, 54, a member of Friends of Freedom Lake, went there year after year to watch birds from her canoe, but that's all over now.

 

In 2005, a county vector control agent noted that 10 percent of the lake was covered with water hyacinth, a pernicious invasive plant. By 2007, he reported nearly 90 percent coverage. Today, hardly any of the lake's surface is visible. >From Freedom Boulevard it looks more like a waterlogged pasture than a lake.

 

The common water hyacinth is among the fastest growing plants in the world, known to double its population in two weeks. It reproduces both through runners that form new plants and by seeds that remain viable for up to 30 years. When it dominates a lake, it interferes with water flow and prevents sunlight from reaching native aquatic plants. Fish and other animals die, as the weed consumes all the oxygen dissolved in the water.

 

"Mosquitoes were never a problem before," said resident Bill Cane, 73, a founding member of Friends of Freedom Lake. "There are more of them now, and everybody knows they're the vector for West Nile virus."

 

In fall 2007, county parks department staff contracted with an ecological consultant to conduct surveys of the lake and produce a report for environmental review, according to the county. Staff researched the best methods for hyacinth removal and prepared a management plan for initial removal and follow-up monitoring and maintenance. The documents were submitted to the county Planning Department and permits for the project were issued last month.

 

Last year, the state Coastal Conservancy along with the county parks department submitted a grant to U.S. Fish and Wildlife's National Coastal Wetlands Conservation Program for funding to restore Freedom Lake. Although the application was unsuccessful, Fish and Wildlife grant coordinators encouraged the agencies to apply again this year.

 

It is unclear when the hyacinth was introduced to the lake, according to county officials, who also said water hyacinth is commonly sold in local nurseries. The plant is also a nuisance in the California Delta. The California Department of Boating and Waterways has spent $25 million over 22 years on water hyacinth control in the Delta alone.

 

Freedom Lake first entered history in 1769, when the Portola expedition camped on its shore. Father Crespi named the lagoon Laguna de las Calabasas, for the calabash, or water gourd he found growing there. Calabasas Lagoon, which covered a larger area in earlier years, has been known variously as Corralitos Lagoon, Chandler Lake, Johnson's Lake and today, Freedom Lake.

 

Don Chandler, 94, knows the lake well. His parents bought it in 1920, when he was 5. From then until 1959, the Chandlers drained the lake every spring when the rains stopped and farmed the rich soil.

 

"First we just grew potatoes," Chandler said. "Later on, we started growing lettuce and vegetables. I'd deliver them to local shops after school. Back in '48 and '49 we grew nothing but cabbages."

 

When Chandler's parents bought the lake, they discovered a redwood flume buried 2 feet under the lake bottom. It was a pressure-activated siphon drain. When a sufficient amount of water accumulated in the lake, it kicked in, draining off about two-thirds of the water -- early flood control. Nobody knows who built it. The Chandlers installed a pump to achieve complete drainage and eventually plugged the old redwood flume when it rotted and ceased to function.

 

In 1959, Chandler barely managed to harvest his crop before 8 inches of rain flooded the lake and everything around it.

 

"That's when I called it quits. There was always floods here, even before the hyacinth," Chandler says. "The lake is nothing but the lowest spot around here. A big creek flows into it and a little ditch flows out; what do you expect?"

 

Chandler sold the lake to a man named Johnson, who rented out rowboats on it until a drowning put an end to his business. Johnson sold the lake to Bert Scott, former chief executive officer of Granite Construction, who deeded it and some other nearby property to Santa Cruz County in 1971. He wanted it developed as a stable sanctuary for fish and water fowl and as a recreation area. The county developed the adjacent Scott Park.

 

Bill Cane and the Friends of Freedom Lake are trying to get the county to act. They've put up banners saying "Stop Freedom Lake Dying" and encouraged people to call their supervisor about the issue.

 

Cane worries the drainage channel could get blocked by hyacinth in the next flood.

 

"There are 16 homes that will be flooded when -- not if -- the lake floods again," he said. "The county will face multimillion-dollar lawsuits."#

 

http://www.mercurynews.com/centralcoast/ci_12125841?nclick_check=1

 

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