Department of Water Resources
California Water News
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
August 26, 2009
1. Top Items–
Fixing Delta comes with high price tag
Contra Costa Times
The Conversation: Saving the Delta
What's at stake: Water supplies, wildlife, flood control, farming, recreation
Sacramento Bee
Plans for the San Joaquin delta meld policy with plumbing
L.A. Times
S.J. wants canal out of plans
Stockton Record
Council OKs funds for Delta pumping
Stockton Record
Plan to divide Delta must give more thought to residents
Tracy Press
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Fixing Delta comes with high price tag
Costs could total $54 billion, a consultant estimates
Contra Costa Times-8/25/09
by Mike Taugher
The Delta fix supported by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and many of the state's largest water agencies could carry a staggering price tag of $23 billion to $54 billion, a consulting economist was planning to tell lawmakers Tuesday.
The estimate, provided in a paper by Steven Kasower, appears to be the first time that potential costs of different pieces of the proposed fix — storing and moving water, offsetting environmental damage caused by those projects and restoring habitat — have been compiled in one place.
But he emphasized that the numbers were very preliminary and that lawmakers would be foolhardy to pass a package of bills before better numbers are available.
Some critics of Delta planning efforts have observed the state could end up committing money for new water and environmental solutions that could otherwise be used for programs that have been hit by budget cuts.
"It is astounding that at the same time the Legislature is slashing funding for education, health and public safety, they're considering a multibillion-dollar package with no critical analysis of how much it will cost," said Jonas Minton, a water policy analyst at the Planning and Conservation League, a conservation group.
The annual cost to finance such a massive public works project could run from $1.5 billion to $3.4 billion a year for projects that are most likely to be paid for through water rates and $416 million a year from taxpayers
to repay general obligation bonds, Kasower's report states.
A top water industry representative said the numbers were not surprising and a reasonable price tag considering earlier generations spent about $50 billion in today's dollars to build the state's major water delivery projects.
Those projects were good for delivering water cheaply but were not designed to protect the environment. The next phase of investment is to modify the water delivery systems to work in a more environmentally friendly manner, said Tim Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies.
"Water costs will go up, but it probably doesn't cost as much as cable television in this state," Quinn said. "It's going to be expensive, but our grandchildren will be better off for it."
The figures compiled by Kasower included $4.2 billion to build a new aqueduct around the Delta and $9.8 billion to maintain levees to allow water agencies to continue taking water from the Delta. They also include rough estimates for environmental projects and new dams. The high end, $54 billion, would be reached if the state tunnels under the Delta to move Sacramento River water to the south instead of moving it through a new aqueduct.
Kasower came up with the very rough estimate that a Delta tunnel would cost $33 billion by comparing the project to the cost of the Chunnel, which connects Britain and France beneath the English Channel.
The Delta is the largest remaining estuary on the West Coast and a key supply of water for much of California. Two million acres are irrigated by water delivered from the Delta major export pumps near Tracy and two in three residents get at least some of their water from the Delta, ranging from the Contra Costa Water District which is virtually 100 percent dependent on the Delta to Southern California, which gets about one-third of its water from the Delta.
Since 2000, water deliveries out of the Delta hit record highs and Delta fish populations collapsed. The diversions were a likely cause of the environmental decline but not the only cause. Pollution, particularly from sewage treatment plants, and invasive species are also culprits.
Lawmakers meant to address the twin water supply and environmental crises this year but their intentions were trumped by the budget mess. Now, in the waning days of the legislative session lawmakers are trying to come up with a fix in the coming weeks.
"I don't think that's realistic, not given these kinds of costs," said Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, chairwoman of the Senate Select Committee on Delta Stewardship and Sustainability.
The package of bills addresses how the Delta's environment and water diversions would be balanced and policed; mandates that a new plan be written to address the environment and water demands in the Delta; creates a conservancy to protect land in the Delta; sets statewide water conservation goals, and regulates groundwater.
It is unclear whether the package can pass, and if it can whether Schwarzenegger will sign it. He's threatened to veto it unless major changes are made, including that lawmakers meet his demand that financing be made available for new dams.
Wolk has scheduled a hearing for today on how to pay for the Delta plans.
She said the costs are so high, and the state is so strapped, that it might make sense to put off decisions on dams and canals and that those plans might have to be scaled back because the state might not be able to pay for them.
"The numbers are astronomical, and they're incomplete," she said. "Back to the drawing board."#
http://www.contracostatimes.com/politics/ci_13202064?source=rss
The Conversation: Saving the Delta
What's at stake: Water supplies, wildlife, flood control, farming, recreation
Sacramento Bee-8/25/09
Hosted by Daniel Weintraub
Opinion
The Delta is in crisis. All the water that flows from the northern Sierra and the Cascades to Southern California and parts of the Bay Area moves through the Delta, and the movement of that water south is blamed for damage to habitat that has threatened chinook salmon and Delta smelt. The courts have curtailed water shipments to save the fish.
Scientific experts also have warned that sea-level rise in the coming decades will flood the freshwater Delta with salt water, permanently changing its composition and rendering the current system of pumps obsolete.
Farming could become impossible in much of the region. Finally, an earthquake could easily damage Delta levees, allowing ocean water to flood the area in a few hours, ending freshwater shipments to Southern California for years.
All of these long-term threats have combined with a third year of drought in California to bring the issue to a boil.
Here is a quick look at five major issues at the center of the debate.
1. Governance
Democrats in the Legislature want to create a seven-member Delta stewardship council to oversee the region, now governed by a patchwork of state and local agencies. The new council's mission would be to ensure a reliable water supply while protecting, restoring and enhancing the Delta ecosystem. The council would be in charge of planning, financing, building and operating new facilities needed to accomplish those goals. A "water master" appointed by an independent scientific panel would control all water diversions within the Delta watershed.
2. Groundwater
The Democrats' plan would step up state monitoring of groundwater use, which has become a bigger issue as surface water shipments have been reduced. The Department of Water Resources would act as a statewide clearinghouse for groundwater information and designate local agencies to monitor and report on groundwater levels in their basins. In basins where no local agency was tracking the groundwater, the state would do it.
3. Conservation
The Democrats' package would require the state to reduce water use by 10 percent per person by 2015 and 20 percent by the end of 2020. The goals would be enforced by the Department of Water Resources, and local water agencies would have to comply to remain eligible for grants and loans from the state. Agricultural water users would also be forced to comply with new water efficiency rules.
4. What to build
The Democrats' plan leaves to the stewardship council decisions on what to build to restore and protect the Delta, store water and move it through the region. The governor and other Republicans are pushing to approve construction of two reservoirs and possibly a new canal to move water through the Delta for export to the south. A canal is possible under the Democrats' plan, but it would have to be approved later by the stewardship council.
5. Paying for it
The Democrats' package would empower the Delta stewardship council to charge fees to anyone or any agency that receives water through the State Water Project or the federal Central Valley Project, or anyone who diverts water within the Delta watershed. The governor and Republicans in the Legislature want at least some of the work financed by bonds that would be repaid by taxpayers rather than only those who use the Delta's water.
Daunting task, but Delta issues manageable
By Jay Lund, Peter Moyle and Ellen Hanak
The Delta is transitioning into a different place.
The new Delta will have more open and sometimes saltier water in its central and western portions, with diverse, wildlife-friendly farmland nearby. The estuarine ecosystem will likely be healthier. And regions relying on Delta exports may receive somewhat reduced, but cleaner and more stable water supplies.
This transition will cause disruptions, but in the long term it can create a healthier and more stable economy for the Delta region, with more recreation and an attractive, productive agricultural landscape.
But bipartisan legislative leadership is needed to oversee this enormous transition. The state needs to move from acrimony to action and develop a successful policy strategy for the Delta. Such a strategy must recognize that, no matter what we do, much of this region will change:
First, many islands in the central and western Delta will become permanently flooded from sea level rise, land subsidence, earthquakes and climate change.
This inevitable change has profound implications for the management of Delta levees, land use and the ecosystem, as well as water exports.
Fortunately, with modest levee investments, farming can continue to be profitable indefinitely in much of the less-subsided northern, eastern and southern Delta.
Second, this impending physical change will provide opportunities for improving conditions for native fish and wildlife, as well as water-based recreation. But taking advantage of these opportunities and ending the decline of native species will require substantial and well-managed financial investments – and water flows.
Third, sea level rise and the failure of western Delta islands will make water exports at current locations and quantities unsustainable. Our analysis shows that some form of water conveyance around the Delta best meets the twin objectives of ecosystem improvement and statewide economic benefit, provided that this approach is well implemented. Otherwise, policies and funding will be needed to end or greatly reduce Delta water use in the Bay Area, the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California.
The Legislature needs to weigh in on Delta realities because stakeholders have been unable to resolve these issues on their own. The following steps are essential to a forward-looking policy package for the Delta.
Design a new Delta levee policy
Rather than fixing each levee every time it fails, the state needs to move to a new levee policy, integrated with water-export and habitat-restoration efforts. Mechanisms and institutions are needed both to prioritize and fund levee investments, and to allow some islands to return to flooded conditions.
Settle on an approach for Delta water exports. There are four choices:
• Continue to draw water through the Delta.
• Build a peripheral canal to convey water around the Delta.
• Pursue dual exports (a combination of a peripheral canal and through-Delta exports).
• End water exports altogether.
Redevelop Delta habitat
Without a well-implemented habitat-redevelopment policy, desirable Delta fish and wildlife – and water exports – will remain at risk, regardless of other Delta policy decisions. Habitat redevelopment will require substantial financial investment, continued research and ongoing adjustments, but implementation can begin immediately.
Protect environmental water flows
Habitat for native aquatic and terrestrial species, as well as remaining Delta agriculture, will require freshwater flows, varying seasonally and annually. These flows must come from natural river runoff, which is reduced by upstream diversions as well as Delta exports. A governance structure will be needed that allows adjustment of these flows as conditions change and as understanding of the Delta ecosystem improves.
Support economic and social transition
Although most economic activity within the Delta will not be substantially affected by these transitions, some areas and groups will be highly affected, particularly farmers in the central and western Delta. Programs to ease the transition are highly desirable.
Ensure water-user financing
Given state and federal fiscal constraints, water users will need to fund most costs of any Delta solution, as they have funded most water infrastructure in California in the past. Their enthusiasm for supporting habitat improvements is likely to increase with the quality and quantity of water exports.
Develop strong Delta governance capacity
Implementing a new Delta policy will be complex, costly and controversial, and it will involve uncertainties. But inaction will be even more costly to the state's economy and the Delta environment. Delta governance will need strong decision-making capabilities, a substantial and reliable budget, and an ability to manage a range of actions in a context of evolving scientific understanding. Uncertainty can no longer justify maintaining the deteriorating status quo.
The new Delta poses different conflicts and opportunities than those traditionally discussed by state policymakers and stakeholders. Legislative leadership is essential to establish a long-term policy and framework for the new Delta – and to advance beyond the routine discussions of this decades-long stalemate.#
Jeff Mount and Richard Howitt contributed to this article. Lund, Mount, Moyle and Howitt are with the Center for Watershed Sciences at the University of California, Davis, and Hanak is with the Public Policy Institute of California in San Francisco.
http://www.sacbee.com/740/story/2130207.html
Plans for the San Joaquin delta meld policy with plumbing
L.A. Times-8/26/09
By Timothy F. Brick
Opinion
A generation ago, Southern California water managers thought they had the solution for dealing with the hub of the state's water system -- the magnificent Northern California estuary known as the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. They wanted to build a canal from the delta to the existing aqueduct system that sustains San Joaquin Valley agriculture and Southern California.
They were wrong. And now we finally have the chance to do it right.
Five draft bills as part of an overall plan have been introduced in the Legislature that could lead to better governance in the delta and wise water management statewide. Like all drafts, some areas need refining. Like all complex packages, there are voices calling to delay and to defer. But delaying and deferring are no longer options. The Legislature in the coming weeks must put the delta on a path to recovery for the sake of the environment and the state's $1.8-trillion economy.
In 1982, I was an activist and among the critics who successfully fought the so-called peripheral canal in a historic statewide election. Why? The solution's sole purpose was water supply. There was no visible effort to conserve water, to diversify supplies through recycling or to restore the delta itself. To paraphrase a fellow critic, the plan was all plumbing and no policy.
The Legislature now finds itself in another delta debate brought to the forefront by a generation of gridlock, half-steps and a true environmental crisis. That has brought us to these new plans for a delta water conveyance system -- whether it will be a canal, a tunnel or some combination is still to be decided. But this time, there is also a plan to mandate water conservation statewide and one to bring water management and the collection of water-use information into the 21st century.
Most important, there is a proposal to restore tens of thousands of acres of delta habitat to provide much-needed shelter and food for salmon and other threatened species. Its scope and sophistication are precisely what the delta needs at this critical moment. Dwindling fish populations have triggered new and extraordinary delta water-supply restrictions. They threaten to indefinitely keep Southern California and much of the state in shortage or near-shortage conditions.
There is no hiding that "the canal" remains a lightning rod, given the 1982 battle, which was arguably the most regionally divisive issue in state history. Any sustainable conveyance system, which would be funded by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and other water agencies and not the state general fund, needs to be large enough to capture some of the runoff during the occasional big storms. The system, however, also has to be carefully operated and legally linked to a real habitat strategy for the delta.
California has never had a comprehensive plan like this for the delta. But it will, hopefully by the end of 2010, in conjunction with the Legislature and through a state and federal effort known as the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, which is supported by several key environmental groups and many water districts. The BDCP's goal isn't just bare-bones compliance with the Endangered Species Act but rather species recovery, the highest bar of any environmental law in the country.
As the provider of delta water supplies to a six-county region, the MWD seeks to meet and exceed that goal. We also support legislation mandating statewide water conservation, including more in our own backyard, better reporting of water use and better science in the delta.
Southern California doesn't seek more water from the delta. But it is obvious that a major investment in a new and better way to move water supplies across the delta is necessary to maintain something close to our traditional supply.
The alternative is to risk losing this supply altogether through additional environmental restrictions or a collapse of the system from a large earthquake that seismologists predict for the coming decades.
The region's water system depends on reliable baseline supplies to make emerging strategies work, such as recycling, conservation and groundwater cleanup.
For the delta, chances like this don't come along very often. We've never seen an entire package like this that advances water policy and makes the responsible plumbing changes. We're at the brink of a sustainable water future for California -- if we seize the moment.#
Timothy F. Brick is chairman of the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, representing the city of Pasadena.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-brick26-2009aug26,0,6459448.story
S.J. wants canal out of plans
Stockton Record-8/26/09
Water-related legislation under discussion in Sacramento is, for the most part, not what San Joaquin County wants to see become law, a county consultant said Tuesday.
At least one of the bills wending through the process during the final weeks of the legislative session would set the stage for a peripheral canal, said Terry Dermody, the county's water attorney.
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta provides water to about 25 million Californians.
Opposition to a canal that would divert river water around the Delta on its way to trans-state delivery pumps near Tracy appeared in the county's legislative framework, a document approved by the Board of Supervisors in April.
The framework's purpose is to state where the county stands on various issues as bills move through the legislative process.
"We don't need those bills right now. There's no need to rush through this," Dermody said. "(Legislators) should take the time and do it right."
Based on the framework, the county could support only one of five closely watched bills related to water, Dermody said.
That bill, by state Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, would create a Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy and strengthen local representation on the Delta Protection Commission. Wolk's district includes a portion of San Joaquin County.#
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090826/A_NEWS/908260328/-1/A_NEWS06
Council OKs funds for Delta pumping
Stockton Record-8/26/09
By David Siders
The City Council awarded $184 million in contracts Tuesday to build the Delta Water Supply Project, Stockton's bid to pump drinking water from the Delta.
It is the largest public works project ever undertaken by City Hall.
"This is one of the most important days in Stockton history," Municipal Utilities Director Mark Madison said.
The project is to divert 33,000 acre-feet of water annually from the San Joaquin River. The council's action Tuesday allocated most of the project's estimated $217 million cost. The council has endorsed the project for years and in July ordered water rates raised to pay for it.
Construction will begin next month, and the project is to be operational by February 2012, Madison said. It was once expected to be operational this year but was delayed in part because of the city's inability until recently to obtain permits to build and operate it.
The project is to pump water from the San Joaquin River in northwest Stockton to a treatment plant north of Eight Mile Road and west of Lower Sacramento Road. From there, the water is to be piped to homes, relaxing Stockton's reliance on groundwater and water from east of Stockton and serving new development, officials said.
"It's important for the future of Stockton," City Manager Gordon Palmer said.
The project has had little opposition, in part because the Municipal Utilities Department's budget is separate from the general fund, the account at the center of Stockton's financial crisis.
The council voted 7-0 to pay CDM Constructors Inc., a Rancho Cucamonga arm of Cambridge, Mass.-based CDM Inc., $166.5 million to build a water treatment plant and pipeline, and to pay Preston Pipelines Inc. of Milpitas $16.2 million to build an intake and pump station at the river.
It voted to pay Phoenix-based Carollo Engineers $1.6 million for construction management and inspection services.
Officials said the project will put almost $80 million into the local economy, including labor and materials.
The only member of the public to address the council on the subject Tuesday was Bobby Bivens, president of the Stockton branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He called on the city and CDM Constructors Inc. to employ minorities.
Mayor Ann Johnston said the project will involve opportunities for "a lot of people" throughout the city.#
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090826/A_NEWS/908260325/-1/A_NEWS06
Plan to divide Delta must give more thought to residents
Tracy Press-8/25/09
by Jan McLeery
Opinion
I was told recently about the two gates “fish protection” project, a proposal to install two large water gates in the Delta. The gates will automatically close two key waterways between Bethel Island and Discovery Bay for six hours at a time, twice a day during the winter, cutting the southern side of the Delta in half.
The gates can’t be opened during that time, because they will have the weight of the rising tide against them.
My husband and I live in Discovery Bay — a Delta waterfront community. We are here because we love the Delta. Our weekends and vacations involve traveling by boat to various areas of the Delta, Bethel Island, Stockton, Sacramento and even San Francisco or beyond.
Unlike people who jump in their cars on weekends to go on an outing or for a drive, our waterways are our roads. We chose to build our retirement home in Discovery Bay because of its access to the beautiful Delta.
But these gates will cut off our access! Currently, we have year-round 24-7 access from Discovery Bay to the Delta. But once these two gates are in position, the only route from Discovery Bay to elsewhere in the Delta requires boats to go through the Bacon Island Bridge, which only operates from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and breaks periodically.
Today, if we miss the bridge’s hours or if the bridge has a maintenance issue and can’t open, we can take a different route. And if we’re traveling in the evening, today we can get still home.
But those alternate waterways will be blocked by the gates. When these gates automatically close at the same time during half the year, boaters who venture out will be stranded. This affects not only Discovery Bay, but all marinas on this side of Bacon Island Bridge. It will make any winter boating very difficult.
And, we’re not even sure larger boats like a 6-foot keel sailboat can get through these gates during the summer, so the gates could become a year-round problem.
There are many unanswered questions about this project that need answers before the project is rushed to completion.
The stated goal of this project is to protect the endangered Delta smelt, but someone would have a hard time convincing me that blocking fish (the smelt, bass, salmon, etc.) as the tide goes in and keeping them from their freshwater spawning grounds is “protecting” them.
What’s truly impacting the fish is poor water quality and getting caught in the pumps that send water south. If the goal really was to protect them, then the best option is to shut down the pumping stations a few times in the winter during spawning season.
Those of us who live in the Delta know when the pumps shut down, our water quality improves dramatically. But water districts want more water, not less, pumped out. The rush to install the two gates is really about how much water can be taken out of the Delta and sent to Southern California.
We need answers to questions about boater safety, reliability and usability and about boaters stuck on one side of the closed gates. Before these gates are installed, there needs to be a reliable plan for 24-7 access to Discovery Bay.#
Jan McCleery is a resident of Discovery Bay and an avid San Joaquin Delta boater.
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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.
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