A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
June 16, 2009
2. Supply –
Farmers protest along I-5
Wet weather could be from El Nino
Tahoe Daily Tribune
The Reign of Rain Barrels Beginning
Reuters
Water supply shifts as global climate changes
Marin water report: Real solutions or false promises?
Marin Independent Journal
Stage 2 water restrictions imposed in San Antonio
The
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Farmers protest along I-5
By Seth Nidever
Farmers angry over water shortages clogged Interstate 5 with farm equipment this morning as they protested a new ruling that protects endangered fish species in the
Two groups of farm equipment pulled onto the freeway. One got on at
The other entered from
The protests began at 7 a.m.,
Farm vehicles slowed traffic along Interstate 5 earlier today as farmers demonstrated against an endangered fish species court ruling. (Contributed)
The California Highway Patrol said that is legal for farm equipment to travel on the interstate with the signs and flashers.
Reports of accidents associated with the slow-moving farm equipment couldn't be confirmed this morning.
He said it was designed to raise public awareness of their plight.
Farmers face more reductions in their water supply based on a study released June 4 by the National Marine Fisheries Service. The study indicated that more water deliveries from the delta will have to be cut back to protect endangered species.#
http://hanfordsentinel.com/articles/2009/06/16/news/doc4a368b1d6824a324862517.txt
Liset Marquez
A mandatory water conservation plan with stricter guidelines and monetary penalties is expected to get approved tonight by the City Council.
The ordinance, which is broken into four stages, will help the city manage its water supplies, Councilman Jim Bowman said.
"It certainly raises the level of awareness in the community - we are in a dire water situation throughout the state of
Earlier in the year, the council urged its residents and businesses to voluntarily reduce water consumption by 10 percent, he said.
The steepest measure in the plan proposes residents do away with refilling or filling pools and spas, Bowman said.
Multiple violations can result in a fine up to $500.
Tonight, the council will also:
- Accept a $292,658 grant from the Office of Traffic Safety. The grant will be used to reimburse the city for $268,158 in overtime and $24,500 for equipment and training for driving under the influence and excessive speed enforcement programs.
-Accept a $96,286 grant to purchase fire operations and safety equipment. The grant, which comes from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, requires a 20 percent matching fund from the city.#
Wet weather could be from El Nino
Tahoe Daily Tribune-6/15/09
Northern Nevada's unusual cool, wet weather in June could be related to an El Nino forming in the
But whether the ocean condition will bring winter storms to build the Sierra snowpack and ease the drought remains to be seen.
An El Nino is evidenced by warming of surface water temperatures near the equator. Its opposite, La Nina, is characterized by cooler water temperatures. Both can influence weather patterns.
Kelly Redmond with the
“It kind of took me by surprise,” he said.
The waters began to warm in May, with conditions shifting this month toward El Nino. The federal
Experts said El Ninos typically form later in the year, and the early arrival could signal a strong one.
“When you do have a quick summer season increase, those do have the potential to become strong, well-constructed El Ninos,” said Jeff Underwood,
June already is one of the wettest on record for
“This is very unusual,” Underwood said. “This is probably coinciding with the warming of the Pacific.”
“It may turn out that in retrospect, when we look back, there is some relationship,”
“The month of June is usually completely quiet. This is a real unusual situation and it's unusual to see this any time in the summer. You have to go back 40 or 50 years.”
But whether the condition brings hefty winter snows after three years of lackluster snowpack is unpredictable.
The Reno-Lake Tahoe region is near the dividing line of an El Nino's influence. It can cause heavy precipitation to areas south, and drier conditions to the north.
“We're kind of at the tipping point,”
The last El Nino of any consequence was in 2002-2003, a dry year. A stronger El Nino occurred in 1998, when heavy rain and snow came to the region, producing an above-average snowpack.
A strong El Nino in 1983 caused widespread flooding and mudslides in the Reno-Tahoe area and for the first time alerted climate experts about how important the phenomenon can be in influencing weather.#
http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20090615/NEWS/906159994&parentprofile=search
The Reign of Rain Barrels Beginning
Reuters-6/15/09
Rain barrels are all the rage this summer. More and more, retailers like Lowes and local hardware stores are seeing an increase in demand. Consumers are purchasing these large ceramic or rubber barrels to collect late winter and early spring rains.
The rainwater is stored for later use in dry, drought-ridden summers.
Multiple applications are possible whether it is for conservation or for environmental stewardship. Homes use the collected water to maintain gardens, lawns, and even for washing a car. Golf courses and public parks can use large-scale rainwater collection facilities, conserving freshwater supplies for drinking.
After the cost of the barrel, collecting water and reusing it in the summer is free of charge- no hose to rewind and no water bill to avoid opening.
There are just a few technical functions to the water collecting system; for instance, place on level ground so a full barrel doesn't tip over and nix your collected water.
Collecting water can provide a substantial environmental benefit to local watersheds, reservoirs, and in general, water supplies. If municipalities provided incentives for rainwater collection, specifically in locales frequently under drought conditions, such as
During rainy seasons, municipal sewer systems are inundated with rainwater in addition to regular resident and business sewer flows, and when mixed with the debris and waste rain often brings to a sewer pipeline, reducing runoff means less energy to process that extra water, and less strain on pipes to carry that water.
Of course, there are some limitations to turning a green leaf. For example,
Originally, the law was established to protect water users downstream in effect, preserving water for those users as opposed to collecting it all and hording it away. Prior to official city water collection systems, the law may have had a purpose.
However, now the law is downright silly and no longer applicable. Considering that
Rain barrels: coming to a store or city giveaway near you.#
http://www.reuters.com/article/mnGreenBuildings/idUS410319813520090615
Water supply shifts as global climate changes
By Scott Canon
Many of the world's great rivers are becoming less so.
Yet in the
So says a study that finds global climate change shifting weather and water patterns around the planet.
"In terms of water, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer," said Kevin Trenberth, head of climate analysis at the
And, he said, the poverty of precipitation is more dramatic than the wealth of water around the world.
He's a lead author of a study that looked at the flow of water in 925 rivers over 50 years.
The researchers found significant shifts in about a third of the large waterways, with most seeing less rainfall in their basins and consequently less water washed out to sea.
The drop-off in all the river water dumped into the Pacific Ocean between 1948 and 2004 nearly equals the amount that was flowing from the mouth of the
But in the giant basin that feeds the
While the researchers accounted for various human diversion of water for city and farm use - the sort of uses that shrink the Colorado River from a whitewater gusher in the Grand Canyon to a mere trickle by the time it reaches the U.S.-Mexican border - climate mattered more.
"Human activities on yearly stream flow are likely small," the researchers wrote, "compared with that of climate variations" created by the buildup of greenhouses gases in the atmosphere.
With the atmosphere warming and able to hold more evaporated water - on average 4 percent more today over the world's oceans than in 1970 - that means much of the world's more arid regions are becoming drier.
The study's authors say the trend could set up increased competition to tap into the world's lakes and rivers.
The study, published this month in the American Meteorological Society's Journal of Climate, noted rivers that serve large and fast-growing populations - such as the Colorado River in the southwest
The study said that is "in sharp contrast to the perceived but unjustified notion" that the amount of water a river ultimately spills into an ocean should rise with warmer temperatures. Instead, the global warming trend keeps more evaporated water vapor suspended in the atmosphere.
There was one dramatic exception. In the Arctic, the researchers found "an earlier onset of spring ... induces earlier snowmelt and associated peak stream flow in the western
The amount of fresh water poured into the
In the Atlantic, Amazon River declines were offset by high flows in the
Meanwhile the Northwest's
The
"If it's increasing," said the corps' Paul Johnston, "it's not enough extra to be noticed."
Even if the region saw slightly more precipitation, disputes are not likely to dry up between upstream
"There will still be plenty to fight about," said Richard Opper, the former executive director of the Missouri River Basin Association. "It's not just a question of total rainfall. What you really need is snowpack, and the long-term trend is that's diminishing. Snowpack can be doled out over the course of the summer by controlling the dams. Rain is quick and doesn't necessarily come where and when you need it."
Still, water is not nearly as scarce in the
Those sorts of developing water crises might make the
"Some areas are beginning to see real limits," said Heather Cooley, a researcher at the Oakland, Calif.-based Pacific Institute. "I don't think you're going to see population shifts right away, but that might be a long-term consequence."#
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/environment/story/1097846.html
Marin water report: Real solutions or false promises?
Marin Independent Journal-6/14/09
Opinion
By Richard Rubin
Just as the MMWD shows promise of firmly grappling with the county's murky water future, up pops a report misnamed, "Sustaining our Water Future," whose principal aim is to debunk desalination in favor of conservation-only solutions.
The authors are a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, few have ever heard of, known as the Food & Water Watch. It turns out this is a Ralph Nader-spinoff funded specifically to preach the virtues of conservation as the sole means of ensuring water supply and has targeted places such as Marin which are flirting with desalination.
The problem is not merely the disinformation, misconceptions and inadequate cost/benefits analysis, but its ability to fuel the flames of those who have almost a visceral reaction at the mere mention of the word desalination.
Hopefully it is but a momentary distraction for a water board sometimes swept under by the currents of questionable public opposition.
Let's try to dispose of several of the report's very radical solutions: It is suggested that landscape watering be scaled back 40 percent.
The district has already set an ambitious goal to curtail overall water use by an additional 10 percent to 15 percent - and this in a county which has adopted very aggressive conservation measures over many years.
What the report fails to point out are the costs of achieving such self-imposed rationing through recommended rain water catchments and more cisterns, which on a dollars-per-gallon basis would be three
times the cost of desalination, according to district General Manager, Paul Helliker.
If conservation were the only means used to reduce our water deficit by just 50 percent it would require an expenditure of $45 million by the district and $75 million by customers, says Helliker.
And this presumes replacement of 80 percent of older toilets with the more efficient low-flow variety.
As of now, says Helliker, we are expending $10.50 per customer in pushing conservation-far more than our closest competitor.
Even with the best intentions, history has shown that conservation by itself is a little like extreme dieting.
It works for awhile and then old habits return if not brought back under control.
In short, there is no evidence whatsoever that the most stringent conservation measures over prolonged periods would be sufficient in and of themselves to meet the county's ongoing water needs as the report implies.
It is much more likely that in periods of severe drought mandatory water rationing would be required, as it was in 1976 and 1977, and when that occurs, there would be no reliable back-up water supply, which desalination offers.
The county's anti-growth philosophy long ago created an environmental paradise that is the envy of the nation.
But this also resulted in the construction of under-sized reservoirs with capacities that are insufficient even during periods of the highest rain fall and whose expansion, also touted by the report, is a non-starter.
A further distortion is the report's citing of 2005 and 2006 as baselines for water demand-wet years of very low use.
Helliker labels them "anomalies."
Sounds like this report may have some conversational value, but not much more.#
http://www.marinij.com/opinion/ci_12589872
Stage 2 water restrictions imposed in San Antonio
The
The city imposed Stage 2 water restrictions Monday after the Edwards Aquifer dipped below 650 feet over the weekend because of drought conditions.
It's the first time in nine years that the aquifer has dipped below that level so early in the year and the first time for Stage 2 restrictions since 2006.
Residents can water their lawn with a sprinkler, soaker hose or irrigation system on certain days and only from 3 a.m. to 8 a.m. and from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. They can use a hand-held hose anytime.
Anne Hayden, a spokeswoman for the San Antonio Water System, said in the San Antonio Express-News that water cops will be out patrolling neighborhoods.
Offenders must go before a judge.#
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
No comments:
Post a Comment