[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 4/27/09

 

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

April 27, 2009

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People –

 

Lester Snow and Timothy Quinn: Conservation is best, easiest water policy

The Sacramento Bee

 

SSJID seeks federal funds for water saving effort

The Manteca Bulletin

 

Water controversies boil over

The Sacramento Bee

 

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Lester Snow and Timothy Quinn: Conservation is best, easiest water policy

The Sacramento Bee – 4/26/09

By Lester Snow and Timothy Quinn

 

Lester Snow is the director of the California Department of Water Resources. Timothy Quinn is the executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies, a coalition of 450 public water agencies. For more information about how to conserve water or about the "Save Our Water" public education program, please visit www.saveourH2O.org or join the effort on Facebook and Twitter.

 

It's easy to see why so many people call California home. We are blessed with stunning mountains and coastlines, the most productive agricultural land in the world, and innovative industries that drive technology and entertainment trends all over the globe.

 

But one of our most important resources is in trouble. Our state is facing severe water challenges, and many communities and ecosystems are suffering as a result.

 

Environmental problems, the pressures of a growing population and the effects of climate change are making it extremely difficult to keep water flowing reliably. On top of that, we are facing our third consecutive year of drought, and we can't assume the dry conditions will end anytime soon.

 

One look at Australia, which is in the midst of a 10-year drought, offers a glimpse at what our future could be if multiyear droughts and extreme weather patterns become the norm for California. We have to not only prepare for more dry years but also think strategically about our water use and take every action possible to ensure a reliable water supply in the future.

 

California's leaders are working hard to develop long-term solutions, including investments to improve the state's water infrastructure and environment protections. But in the meantime, we need a survival strategy. The biggest tool in our toolbox right now is water conservation. Doing everything we can to save water will go a long way toward stretching water supplies today and into the future while we move ahead with the necessary long-term fixes.

 

The good news is that it's not difficult to save water in our daily lives. Just as Californians have embraced compact fluorescent light bulbs and recycling, it's easy to get in the habit of reducing our water use every day. As our efforts on energy conservation have shown, small changes in our daily habits can add up to a big difference for California.

 

This is why the California Department of Water Resources has joined with the Association of California Water Agencies – 450 public water agencies throughout the state – to kick off a new statewide conservation and education program called "Save Our Water." This new effort will educate Californians about the state's ongoing water supply challenges and promote conservation at home and in the workplace.

 

There are many ways to save water with very little inconvenience. Taking shorter showers, turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth and watering your lawn two or three times a week are just a few examples.

 

The Save Our Water effort comes at a critical time. Water is in short supply for many cities, farms and businesses. More than 20 water agencies have imposed some form of mandatory water rationing. Farmers are fallowing crops, and unemployment in rural areas is on the rise. The ongoing water shortage threatens our agricultural industry, which produces food for our state, the nation and the world.

 

In February Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed a statewide emergency due to drought and asked all Californians to reduce their individual water use by 20 percent. But even when normal rains return, California's water problems will not go away. As our population grows, water conservation must be a way of life.

 

Indications are that Californians are overwhelmingly willing to conserve if you tell them why it's needed and how to do it. A recent public opinion poll showed that 85 percent of Californians are willing to do significantly more to save water because they recognize our water supply reliability as one of the most pressing issues we face.

 

The public appears ready and willing to help. The Save Our Water program is here to give Californians the tools and information they need.

 

We encourage everyone to join us. Plant water-wise landscaping, install a "smart" irrigation controller, and take shorter showers. Look at how you use water inside and outside your home, and do what you can to save. Together, we can make a difference. #

 

http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/story/1808468.html

 

SSJID seeks federal funds for water saving effort

The Manteca Bulletin – 4/26/09

By Dennis Wyatt

 

Two months ago South San Joaquin Irrigation District flipped the switch on what is being heralded by green energy folks as the world’s largest tracking thin-panel solar farm that could revolutionize the approach to renewable energy in the sun-rich but dust laden Central Valley.

Now the SSJID is ready to move forward with the Bureau of Reclamation views as a demonstration project to reduce use of water while increasing agricultural production, improving air quality and saving energy.

And just like with the solar farm, the SSJID board will be doing it in such a manner that it maximizes return to its constituents while reducing upfront out-of-pocket costs.

The board on Tuesday is expected to authorize spending $28,410 to retain the services of URS Corporation Americas to help the district fast track an application for the Bureau of Reclamation’s Challenge Grant Program connected with the Recovery Act of 2009 Water Marketing and Efficiency Grants.

The application is due May 22 and targets projects that are ready to turn dirt.

The district hopes to secure 40 percent of the cost of the Division 9 pressurize irrigation line project that will cost $9.1 million.

The district was already planning to use the benefits of the Tri-Dam Project – the $12 million plus a year the district pockets as its share of proceeds after costs of running three hydro-electric plants on the Stanislaus River. The district financed the 50-year bonds to pay for the project through wholesale power sales. It now is using that revenue to position the district to deliver retail power in Manteca, Ripon, and Escalon while delivering savings of at least 15 percent across the board compared with what PG&E charges.

 Division 9 – generally southwest of Manteca – has been plagued with salinity problems due to the need of some farmers to irrigate with ground water. There are also pressure issues since it is at the absolute end of the SSJID system.

The price tag includes installing a pressurized irrigation line suitable for drip irrigation as well as associated instrumentation, reservoirs, and other facilities.

Such a system is expected to reduce ground water pumping considerable which will allow salt laden water not to be applied to roots which can be fatal to plants. It will increase irrigation efficiency as water can be directed to precise locations instead of field flooding. The pressurized system would allow everything from drip lines to sprinklers for vineyards and orchards to be put in place.

Such closed systems also can be used to apply fertilize further increasing efficiency, increasing crop yields, and reducing application of fertilizer. All of those are considered goals that will end up reducing water use, increasing production, lowering energy use by eliminating pumping, and improve the environment by cutting air pollution needed to run pumps.

The SSJID board meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday at the district office, 11011 East Highway 120.#

 

http://www.mantecabulletin.com/news/article/3389/

 

Water controversies boil over

The Sacramento Bee – 4/26/09

By Matt Weiser

 

Any doubt that California is hip-deep in an epic struggle for water was put to rest earlier this month when an estimated 10,000 farmers and farmworkers marched 50 miles across the gasping San Joaquin Valley.

 

The goal was to heighten awareness about their water shortage, brought about by a third year of drought in California and environmental problems in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Their alliance is surprising, given a long history of acrimony between farm owners and laborers. It demonstrates the shifting alliances and simmering tensions that emerge when people fight over water.

 

We're likely to see more struggles over water, both locally and worldwide. The next big conflict in California is a proposal for a canal built around the Delta, designed to secure a water supply for Central Valley farms and Southern California cities while also improving the environment of the West Coast's largest estuary. Critics worry that it's simply a tool to drain the Sacramento River.

 

Preventing a water grab paradoxically requires us to set aside turf battles and focus instead on how the so-called peripheral canal will be managed. Who will be in charge of turning the water valves on and off? When and why? These questions, more than how much water is transferred south, hold the solution to managing future shortages.

 

In coming years, 46 nations risk violent conflict over water and climate-related crises, and 56 other countries face political instability, according to a study by International Alert, a British advocacy group. The United Nations says water wars may be more likely in the future than wars over oil.

 

"Water will … become one of the defining limits to human development and a compounding factor in human misery," Achim Steiner, director of the U.N. Environment Programme, said during the World Water Forum, attended by more than 30,000 government officials and nonprofit leaders last month in Istanbul, Turkey.

 

A key message at the forum: There is probably enough fresh water available to meet human needs, despite climate change and population growth. However, the problem is poor management of water, which results in scarcity and conflict.

 

Fights over water – some small, others as large as California – are occurring across the globe. I recently visited a rural area in Ethiopia, where a breach of trust left two villages without a secure water future.

 

Near the mountainous town of Ticho, about three hours south of Addis Ababa, a group of villagers washed clothes and gathered water at a natural spring. Many filled ubiquitous "jerry cans" – 6-gallon yellow plastic jugs used to fetch water from creeks or public taps.

 

As we approached, an older man ran up shouting and gesturing for us to leave. He accused us of coming to steal the springwater, we learned through our translator.

 

The banks of the spring, deeply shaded by trees, were littered with animal feces, the water cloudy and gray. A half-finished wall surrounded the spring – an effort to cap the source and pipe the water to two villages. A contractor had been hired by the state government to develop the spring to serve his nearby village and another, 37 miles away.

 

Once construction began, the locals learned that all the water would go to the distant village. They would get none. So they kicked out the contractor, halted the project and drove away a state official who later tried to negotiate a compromise.

 

They told us the spring was holy and refused to let us take pictures or talk to anyone from the village.

 

"If I were them, I would too," said Shibabaw Tadesse, a local coordinator with WaterAid, a British charity that funds projects in Ethiopia. "Such kind of resource cannot be capped. It's amazing, really. Amazing."

 

An apparent bungling of the construction contract – a case of mismanagement – sowed the seeds of distrust.

 

In the San Joaquin Valley, where 40 percent of America's produce is grown, farmers have been told they'll get only 10 percent of their contracted federal water supply this year. Cities in the Bay Area and Southern California, which receive water from the state, expect only 30 percent of normal deliveries. UC Davis economist Richard Howitt predicts losses of at least 40,000 farm-related jobs and $1.15 billion in income. Thousands of acres of crops have already been fallowed.

 

It's too simple to call this a water shortage problem. Shortage and conflict exist, at least in part, because of numerous complex water management problems in California, where the seeds of mistrust have grown for decades.

 

The most recent case in point is the proposal to build a canal around the Delta. The canal would divert a portion of the Sacramento River directly to state and federal water export pumps near Tracy. It is hoped this will eliminate environmental problems caused by pumping directly from the estuary.

 

The controversial plan has shifted some alliances. The Nature Conservancy, for instance, recently announced its conditional support for the canal amid groans from other environmental groups. Other groups have joined with Delta farmers who oppose the canal, which, in turn, puts them in conflict with farmers in the San Joaquin Valley.

 

Many environmentalists oppose the canal because California does not manage its water judiciously. Other conservationists are reluctant to support the canal and new reservoirs without guarantees that the water will be used more efficiently.

 

Graywater is one example of how California doesn't do a good job of managing its water. Neighboring states allow homeowners to use water from sinks, showers, bathtubs and washers to irrigate landscaping without special permits or regulations.

 

In California, however, you're breaking the law if you apply graywater to landscaping without a permit from your local health department or building inspector. The plumbing industry still views graywater as a sewage disposal issue. This outdated perspective appears to be dominating a process under way at the Department of Housing and Community Development to update graywater rules. As a result, it seems unlikely California will fully embrace graywater as a resource that could prevent wasting fresh water.

 

California could save 140,000 acre-feet of water – enough to serve 300,000 homes for a year – if just one in 10 households irrigated with graywater.

 

Another example of inefficient water management: California reservoirs must follow flood-control rules written, in some cases, 50 years ago by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The rules require dam operators to release water for flood control as late as May 31 – regardless of actual flood risk.

 

This is largely why we see so much water flowing in the American River and other rivers today. Reservoir managers must maintain space for water behind a dam in case they need to store floodwater. Hot weather last week means even more crucial snowmelt was released from dams.

 

In the future, Sierra snowpack is expected to shrink due to climate change, which will force California to find ways to store more winter rainfall. If the state is required to follow 50-year-old rules on managing water, that's another battle lost.

 

A program called "forecast-based operations" has been discussed for years as a means to guide the operation of reservoirs according to the weather. Simply put, if forecasters say floods are likely next week, dam managers would release water. Otherwise, they retain water.

 

But forecast-based operations have not replaced the old rules at a single California dam.

 

"From the standpoint of new surface storage, it is the easiest thing to do," said Ron Stork, a senior policy advocate at Friends of the River, a Sacramento-based environmental group.

 

Another example: Half of California farmland is irrigated by flooding fields, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. It's a cheap but crude practice that is increasingly difficult to justify in a dry state.

 

The Pacific Institute, a nonpartisan research group in Oakland, estimates that shifting California farms to more efficient irrigation could save 5 million acre-feet of water annually. That's about equal to all the Delta water pumped in a typical year.

 

Solutions range from microsprinklers and drip irrigation to computerized soil sensors and weather triggers to deliver optimum supply for a given crop.

 

Mike Wade, executive director of the California Farm Water Coalition, attacked the Pacific Institute study, saying only farmers should decide how to use their water. But when pressed, he said water savings are possible if farmers had help and agreed with the Pacific Institute that tax credits would help farms adopt efficient irrigation.

 

In California and worldwide, there reigns a cultural fixation that water is ours to use as we please. Magnified across the globe, this notion breeds poor water management and conflict, whether in California or rural Ethiopia.

 

Kidanemariam Jembere, of the Ethiopian Country Water Partnership, has mediated water disputes in the headwaters of the Blue Nile, where conflicts have flared between families, religions, farmers and villages. Solving these conflicts, he says, requires us to accept that water doesn't belong to anyone. It belongs to all.

 

"We can use conflict as an opportunity to create partnership. That's my belief," Jembere said. "But we have a very big problem raising that issue of water as a shared resource." #

 

http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/story/1808446.html

 

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DWR’s California Water News is distributed to California Department of Water Resources management and staff,  for information purposes, by the DWR Public Affairs Office. For reader’s services, including new subscriptions, temporary cancellations and address changes, please use the online page: http://listhost2.water.ca.gov/mailman/listinfo/water_news . DWR operates and maintains the State Water Project, provides dam safety and flood control and inspection services, assists local water districts in water management and water conservation planning, and plans for future statewide water needs. Inclusion of materials is not to be construed as an endorsement of any programs, projects, or viewpoints by the Department or the State of California.