Department of Water Resources
California Water News
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
August 13, 2009
2. Supply –
As India water and power dry up, the people revolt
L.A. Times
New 100-acre lake for recycled water proposed in Hemet
Riverside Press-Enterprise
Last public boat ramp on Lake Travis closes
Oakland Tribune
Water use down in Albuquerque metro area
Oakland Tribune
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As India water and power dry up, the people revolt
L.A. Times-8/13/09
By Mark Magnier
The rage surged through the crowd, mixing with the heat, the sweat and the frustration to create a volatile stew, as several hundred locals incensed over power and water shortages blocked the main Alwar Road here Wednesday.
Most residents said they hadn't seen a lightbulb's worth of energy come through their wires in the last 60 hours, and this after suffering protracted cuts for the last month. With no power to pump well water, some said they had to walk miles to find a hand pump. Others said they were paying up to a third of their meager incomes to price-gouging drivers of water trucks.
Localized eruptions like this one, most unreported, occur hundreds of times each week across India, where this year the situation has been made worse by unusually light monsoon rains. The states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar and Rajasthan are among the hardest-hit areas.
Experts say the shortages could be the result of global warming or natural cycles. That hasn't provided much solace to farmers like these in eastern Rajasthan as they watch their crops die, their livelihoods wither, their children go thirsty.
Rajasthan, which abuts Pakistan, is heavily dependent on hydroelectric power, as are many other drought-hit states. With water levels down, turbines aren't turning, taxing India's overextended infrastructure and fraying tempers.
Blocking roadways is a time-worn way to draw a response from officials, particularly for rural communities. A protest last year in Rajasthan over access to government jobs shut down the national highway for a month.
"No one ever listens to us unless we block the road," said Kishan Saini, 27 and unemployed, one of the leaders of the 2 1/2 -hour protest here Wednesday. "This is the worst shortage I've seen in my lifetime. We'll keep doing this for as long as it takes to get some action."
As the standoff continued, the logjam of trucks, buses and horse carts grew, eventually extending for hundreds of yards in both directions.
At the epicenter of the protest, a dozen men squatted in the road, surrounded by hundreds of supporters and onlookers. Thirty feet away, two dozen women with red, orange and green head scarves sat on boards among the potholes, forming a second line of defense.
Eventually, a local official showed up, along with seven policemen in beige berets, their long bamboo canes at the ready should things turn violent. As the crowd swelled, onlookers jostled for position on roadside manure piles and rooftops to get a better view as a camel, unhitched from its wooden cart, stared impassively from beneath a tree.
"Sure you're angry," the local official said. "But why didn't you lodge a complaint?"
"We've tried for the past two weeks, but no one does anything," shot back a man wearing a gray T-shirt.
With no meeting of the minds and traffic backing up, the official called in reinforcements: Ashok Sharma, a subdivisional district magistrate.
Sharma carried on where his colleague had left off. "You've filed no report, you can't just block the road like this," he told the crowd. "We officials are also suffering. I've been working on nothing but this problem for the past two days."
This drew jeers.
An old man piped up, spitting with anger, egged on by the cheering crowd. "We pay our electric bills. We pay late fees and fines. Yet there's no power. What's the point of paying?"
Sharma shifted gears, attempting to get the crowd on his side. He told them he had discovered that some 72 megawatts of electricity from the local transmission station were going to a nearby city and that he had persuaded higher-ups to divert a portion to their area.
The crowd now listening, Sharma pressed his advantage. "As a compromise, we'll cut power six hours a day but keep the power on for the other 18 hours."
"We're ready to endure six hours," several in the crowd responded, even as a few got up from the road. "But can we trust that the power will stay on for the remaining 18?"
Sharma pledged his word.
Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, senior editor with the Hindustan Times and an Asia Society senior fellow, said scenes like this are played out every day in India and do little to resolve the basic problem: There simply aren't enough resources to go around, particularly during times of natural calamity.
"Ultimately, a lot depends on how much political clout you have locally and whether you can grab what's available before others get it," he said. "And blaming the problem on the city always plays well with villagers."
With Sharma in the home stretch after 30 minutes on the scene, and with much of the yelling down to a dull roar and locals starting to wander off, the savvy official delivered his coup de grace.
"I've told you the situation," he said. "I'm not holding out on you, and I can't create power. Keep shouting like this, and maybe you'll get the gods to open the clouds for you."#
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-monsoon-rage13-2009aug13,0,3636835.story
New 100-acre lake for recycled water proposed in Hemet
Riverside Press-Enterprise-8/12/09
By Michael Perrault
Two water districts and the city of Hemet are considering plans to create a nearly 100-acre lake with recycled water about a half-mile east of the vast Diamond Valley Lake freshwater reservoir.
The proposed lake would hold about 1,700 acre-feet of recycled water, enough to supply about 3,400 households during a year, said Behrooz Mortazavi, assistant general manager of resource development for Eastern Municipal Water District.
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which owns the 4,500-acre Diamond Valley Lake, has collaborated with Eastern Municipal and Hemet officials on a preliminary study. The proposed lake is on city land and near existing water district pipelines.
Story continues below
Mortazavi laid out plans to Hemet City Council members Tuesday morning in hopes of gaining their support for a two-year, $1 million demonstration project.
If Hemet officials give the OK, an area next to Diamond Valley Lake would be filled with recycled water. If the demonstration lake proves cost-effective and environmentally sound, it could become permanent and one day supply recycled water to nearby golf courses and parks and for other needs during dry summer months.
Hemet Public Works Director Mike Gow said the goal is to make the best use of recycled water in the San Jacinto Valley and increase storage capacity, particularly during the winter.
Officials with the water districts -- which will foot the bill for the demonstration project -- would like to get it up and running by November to begin storing recycled water that accumulates during the winter.
Mayor Eric McBride and other council members said they want assurances the project will offer decent, long-term recreational opportunities before they agree to sign an agreement with the water districts.
"I think this is just giving our chips away to (Metropolitan Water District)," Councilman Jim Foreman said, noting that previous promises of recreational amenities at Diamond Valley Lake have never materialized.
Councilwoman Robin Lowe said she wants the city to continue "serious negotiations" with the hope the project could take on a broader scope and provide more recreational features.
Initial plans call for as much as 70 acres of the lake to be used for recreational activities such as boating and fishing. Another 30 acres, possibly divided and filled with potable water, may be used for water skiing or swimming.
"The concept and its implementation need to be refined," Mortazavi said.
Another option being considered is a 70-acre lake with recycled water on the west side of Diamond Valley Lake.
If the demonstration lake proves a viable long-term resource, the water districts eventually expect to invest more than $60 million on pipelines and other equipment, Mortazavi said.#
http://www.pe.com/localnews/desert/stories/PE_News_Local_E_ediamond12.469ba8c.html
Last public boat ramp on Lake Travis closes
Oakland Tribune-8/13/09
The last public boat ramp still operating at drought-affected Lake Travis (Texas) has closed due to dropping water levels.
Thursday was the first full day of the closure of the ramp at the Mansfield Dam Recreation Area.
The Lower Colorado River Authority in Austin says barriers have been erected to block access to the ramp. The boat launching point was shut down after staffers Wednesday discovered dislodged rocks and scrape marks from trailers on some submerged rocks.
LCRA says the boat ramp at Mansfield Dam was the last of 12 public boat ramps that had been usable due to falling levels at Lake Travis.#
Water use down in Albuquerque metro area
Oakland Tribune-8/13/09
The Albuquerque area has surpassed its water conservation goal for July despite little rainfall.
The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority says customers used 18.39 billion gallons of water through the end of July. That's 749 million gallons under the year-to-date conservation goal of 19.14 billion gallons.
The water authority's conservation officer, Katherine Yuhas, said this is a significant achievement considering the lack of rain. She said the utility's water by numbers system is working.
Under the program, customers pick their own days to water while limiting landscape irrigation to once a week in March, twice a week in April and May, three times a week in June, July and August, twice a week in September and October and once a week in November.#
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