[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 5/14/09

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

May 14, 2009

 

2. Supply –

 

Scientists Urge Global Action to Preserve Water Supplies for Billions Worldwide
YubaNet.com

 

Water supply outlook improves - El Dorado Irrigation District Says
Hazel Meadow restoration project wins award
YubaNet.com

 

Atwater City Council holds first hearing on water restrictions

The Merced Sun-Star

 

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Scientists Urge Global Action to Preserve Water Supplies for Billions Worldwide
YubaNet.com – 5/13/09

May 12, 2009 - Melting glaciers, weakening monsoon rains, less mountain snowpack and other effects of a warmer climate will lead to significant disruptions in the supply of water to highly populated regions of the world, especially near the Himalayas in Asia and the Sierra Nevada Mountains of the western United States, according to an international group of scientists who met for three days at the University of California, San Diego.

More than two dozen international water experts participating in the "Ice, Snow, and Water: Impacts of Climate Change on California and Himalayan Asia" workshop held at UC San Diego issued a conference declaration May 6 that noted heavy rains in Indian deserts, a recent drought in what is typically one of the wettest place on earth along the foot of the Himalayas, and other extreme weather events in recent decades.

Major rivers in both regions, like China's Yellow River and the Colorado River in the southwestern United States, routinely fail to reach the ocean now. These extremes are signs of the climate- and societally induced stresses that will be exacerbated in the future under continuing climate changes, threatening massive and progressive disruptions in the availability of drinking water to more than a billion people in the two regions.

The workshop was convened by UC San Diego and the University of Cambridge and coordinated by UC San Diego's Sustainability Solutions Institute (SSI) and Cambridge Centre for Energy Studies (CCES) based at Judge Business School. The workshop seeks to use the intellectual resources amassed at these and other universities -- ranging from climate change research at Scripps to the computing power of the California Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2), and bringing social sciences together with physical and biological sciences - to promote solutions to the world's most pressing sustainability issues.

"Solutions to immense problems have small beginnings and we began here," said SSI Senior Strategist Charles Kennel, who served as director of Scripps from 1998 to 2006.

"I continue to be impressed by what a small group of dedicated people can achieve."

Workshop leaders plan to present the declaration at the 2009 Forum on Science and Technology in Society in Kyoto, Japan, taking place in October. Additionally, the University of Cambridge will continue the discussion of the global water crisis when it hosts in September a companion workshop focused on African water problems.

Research performed at Scripps and at other research centers around the world have indicated that global warming and particulate air pollution, especially in the form of black carbon (essentially soot), are already disrupting natural supplies of water by raising air temperatures and by increasing the light absorption of snow and ice as pollutants darken the frozen surfaces.

Participants at the workshop held May 4-6 at Scripps Oceanography's Robert Paine Scripps Forum for Science, Society, and the Environment presented methods used by California researchers to study water supply from the Sierra Nevada, the state's largest source of water for municipal and agricultural users. Scripps and California state officials project possible 40- to 90-percent declines in Sierra Nevada snowpack by the end of the century.

Chinese experts characterized water quality problems affecting many of the country's major rivers and lakes and outlined government plans to protect water supply. Representatives from Nepal reported on the dangerous spread of mountain moraines, masses of debris left by retreating glaciers, which have become unstable reservoirs created by rapid glacial melt. Himalayan glaciers supply more than 1 billion people in Asia with drinking water.

Participants also discussed methods by which water resource management solutions that are equitable can be achieved. They concluded in the conference declaration that more resources must be committed to detailed climate modeling and collection of high-resolution data to more rapidly understand threats to water supplies. Declaration co-authors said that water availability can be doubled or tripled in some areas with a combination of conservation, technology, planning, and changed behavior, but that the most effective solutions would likely need to originate at the regional level.

Workshop experts represented the United Nations World Climate Research Program, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Indian Space Research Organization, the British Antarctic Survey, the California Department of Water Resources as well as several American universities.#

 

http://yubanet.com/regional/Scientists-Urge-Global-Action-to-Preserve-Water-Supplies-for-Billions-Worldwide.php

 

Water supply outlook improves - El Dorado Irrigation District Says
Hazel Meadow restoration project wins award
YubaNet.com – 5/13/09

 

Placerville, CA May 13, 2009 - During their May 11 meeting, the El Dorado Irrigation District (district) board of directors received an update on water supplies throughout the watershed and in Folsom Lake. "Conditions are much better than they were at the last board meeting in late April," reported David Witter, the district's director of natural resources. "By May 20, we should have the final decision from the Bureau of Reclamation about how much water we can take from Folsom Lake this year. That will be an important factor in determining whether the drought declaration might be lifted earlier than anticipated."

On March 23, the board declared a stage 1 drought for the district's service area, primarily because at that time the Bureau of Reclamation-operator of Folsom Lake-had announced it would cut back the district's allotment from the lake by as much as 45 percent. More recently, the cutback was reduced to 35 percent.

"We anticipate that the greatly improved conditions at Folsom Lake mean the Bureau may allot the full amount we're entitled to," Witter said. "That would signal a positive change in our overall supplies this year."

Project at Sly Park recognized by statewide group

The district has earned the California Environmental Protection Award from the California Rural Water Association for the Hazel Meadow restoration project. In a report to the board, Dena McCann, EID environmental review specialist and project manager for the restoration, said the award makes the district eligible for national recognition. "We are now a candidate for the National Environmental Protection Award given by the National Rural Water Association next February," McCann said and added, "This project would not have been successful without grant funding from the California Department of Fish and Game and the Sierra Nevada Conservancy and the support of community groups and EID's board and staff."

The meadow, located in Sly Park Recreation Area-owned and operated by the district-is undergoing a major transformation aimed at rejuvenating its natural qualities, including its ability to filter out sediment and trap any pollutants that might otherwise flow from the nearby road and campground into Jenkinson Lake at the center of the park. The project is a component of the Sly Park master plan, adopted by the board in 2007.

Work began last fall and to date includes the removal of a large spoils pile and sediment dredged from the lake in the 1970s by the Bureau of Reclamation. Teams also reconfigured a culvert and inefficient drainage system to form a meandering swale, planted 4,155 native plants-with help from Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, and constructed a wooden bridge and pathway that comply with the American with Disabilities Act and accommodate equestrians and their horses.

The next steps are to finalize the Sierra Nevada Conservancy grant funding contract, build a boardwalk and viewing platform through the meadow to the edge of the lake, and install educational signage. McCann said the project is expected to be completed in October.#

 

http://yubanet.com/regional/Water-supply-outlook-improves.php

 

Atwater City Council holds first hearing on water restrictions

The Merced Sun-Star – 5/14/09

By Jonah Owen Lamb

 

A proposed water conservation ordinance that went before the Atwater City Council for the first time Monday night could severely restrict water use on the eve of state mandated metering that will cost residents millions over the next two decades.

 

The ordinance would limit watering to certain days of the week, restrict the watering of driveways and discourage water wasting.

 

"The state's in a water emergency," said David Church, public works director. "We want to do our part."

 

The city's water may come from wells, he said, but groundwater levels have been dropping for years and there is a real need for a long range plan.

 

Not everyone thought there was an immediate need for water conservation.

 

Jim Murphy, who is running for city council in the May 19 special election, voiced concern over the effectiveness of the ordinance.

 

There is little enforcement as it stands, he said, and putting into effect no-water days would just promote overwatering when people were allowed to water.

 

City Attorney Dennis Meyers questioned whether there was a need for such strict measures.

 

"It just assumes that we have a problem with water," he said of the proposal. "I think it's a little drastic."

 

The ordinance was just part of a larger overhauling of the city's water system that will soon include mandatory metering.

 

Currently, more than 2,000 homes are metered, said Church, but because of a state mandate, by 2011 all homes built after 1991 will have to be metered at an estimated cost of $600,000. By 2025, all homes will have to have meters. The cost for the metering of the town's 4,000 houses built before 1991 is estimated to run from $5 million to $6 million, said Church.

 

All of these costs will be paid for by taxpayers when the new rate structure goes into effect, he said.

 

The current flat rate of $15 a month has not been raised since 1992. So even without the state- mandated metering, the city's water fund would be in the red.

 

On May 26, the City Council will have a second public hearing on the ordinance.#

 

http://www.mercedsunstar.com/106/story/840427.html

 

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