Department of Water Resources
California Water News
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 4, 2009
2. Supply –
Despite heavy rainfall, water remains in short supply
The San Jose Mercury News
S.J. board: County too parched for too long
The Stockton Record
Lack of water leads to more land fallowing
The California Farm Bureau Federation
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Despite heavy rainfall, water remains in short supply
The San Jose Mercury News – 3/4/09
By Bruce Newman
IIt has been nearly a week since Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger dropped the bomb, laying out a doomsday drought scenario so starkly apocalyptic he sounded like Dr. Strangelove. And yet, Justina Pillado endured weather Tuesday in the teeth of the governor's state of emergency that made her toes curl.
"This rain sucks," she said, stepping into another puddle in downtown San Jose. "My socks are completely drenched." Her hair was matted by the lunchtime downpour, and she shook it with a mixture of suspicion and derision when she heard a severe shortage of rain might bring about mandatory water rationing later this month. The governor has strongly urged Californians to begin conserving water.
"It's wet out here, man," said one of Pillado's friends as the group splashed off. "Everywhere we go there are puddles."
Unfortunately, puddles were what Northern California's five largest reservoirs continued to resemble as of Monday, standing at a collective glass-half-empty 46 percent of capacity, far below the 76 percent that's normal for this time of year.
Sometimes you need a divining rod just to locate the truth about how bad things are. As welcome as it is when the skies open up and peal rain, what accumulates on the ground in places like Sacramento is part science and part politics, as water managers wring their hands over three successive dry years, and politicians push for new dams and canals. In the balance hangs the fate of the most complex water storage and distribution system in the nation.
Coming restrictions
The dirty little secret of the current drought emergency is that San Jose got slightly more than five inches of rain in February. That is twice the average amount for the month, and more than doubles the total for the local rain season.
"It's been raining quite a bit," said Brian Tentinger, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Monterey, "and when you compound that with the fact that we hadn't gotten a lot before that, it makes it seem like even more."
The only thing thicker than the rain clouds that were expected to bring waves of scattered showers to the South Bay through the end of the workweek were dire warnings from the state's water nerds. Poring over statistical abstracts about what's pouring from the clouds — and what will later trickle down from the Sierra snowpack, now at 80 percent of normal — hydrologists can find the lead lining in any silver cloud.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District, which will vote whether to recommend water restrictions on March 24, sees the current haze of rain as a mirage. "We have short memories, and it's been raining on and off for three weeks," said Susan Siravo, spokeswoman for the water district. "So it's hard for people to remember back to January, when it was bone dry and 80 degrees outside. This rain we're getting now needs to last all the way to next November."
As local reservoirs rise toward their thirsty brims, the water district is coping with a two-thirds reduction in the water it imports from state and federal sources, which account for half its annual supply. With that spigot nearly shut, the only hope of avoiding bleached bones in the spray fountain at Plaza de Cesar Chavez this summer may be water rationing.
Skepticism reigns
Monica Holm, who was dodging puddles Tuesday on her way to lunch, carefully monitors the state's water level on the news every morning as she gets ready for work. Has she started taking shorter showers in response to governor's warning? No, she acknowledged, she's not conserving yet. "But I'm not using extra!" she said. "This is not like the droughts we had when I was young, and you couldn't water your lawn."
Reminded that those are exactly the kinds of restrictions that could be coming in a matter of weeks, she appeared crestfallen. "That's not on my mind right now," Holm said. "I'm thinking, 'Let's go skiing.' So there is a disconnect, absolutely."
Larry Koepke, who had washed his restored 1976 Olds Cutlass 442 in the rain Tuesday morning to reduce his use of city water, thought conservation could be a tough sell this time. "A lot of people think they've already done what they can," he said. "They've installed low-flow toilets, they've put in drip systems, some have even gotten rid of lawns. It's like, 'What more can I do?' I think human beings in general are selfish, and until we're forced to give up the comforts, we're not going to."
Dressed in a bright yellow slicker and pushing a broom up Santa Clara Street, Clifford Vaughn was not about to let a little rain — or a drought, for that matter — stop him from doing what must be done for the city's Groundwerks program. "I love the rain," Vaughn said, "because we need it. When July comes around, we're all going to be looking for a rain cloud."
Just then he looked up, and one opened on top of him, the fat drops coursing down his cheeks like tears.#
http://www.mercurynews.com/localnewsheadlines/ci_11829740?source=rss
S.J. board: County too parched for too long
Water conservation ordinance in works
The Stockton Record – 3/4/09
By Zachary K. Johnson
STOCKTON - Even though rain clouds filled the sky Tuesday morning, it was gloomier inside the County Courthouse as officials declared a drought in San Joaquin County after hearing recent storms have not made up for previous dry years.
Largely symbolic, the declaration doesn't trigger any response, but the Board of Supervisors also told staff to come back with an aggressive water-conservation ordinance, which would make possible mandatory water reductions of 15 percent or more, depending on the level of drought.
Only a small percentage of water used in San Joaquin County passes through the 32 water districts with 6,000 service connections in unincorporated county. Supervisors also gave the nod to phasing in water meters and coordinating with other water providers to get the word out on how to save water during a drought.
Recent storms brought some water, but precipitation levels and water piling up in the Sierra snowpack and local reservoirs are still below normal, said Mel Lytle, water resources coordinator for the county. "It will take a miracle March and April to bring us out of this drought," he said.
It's the beginning of the third year of drought, and already the groundwater level in eastern San Joaquin County is at the same level as it was at the end of a five-year drought that occurred from 1987 to 1992. "This is a big area of concern," Lytle said.
San Joaquin County is not alone in its water concerns. On Friday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state drought emergency.
On Tuesday, the board directed its staff to work with other water providers in the county to pool resources in public outreach efforts and coordinate regional water conservation.
As it now stands, the county's conservation rules fall short of those other water agencies.
Proposed changes to the county ordinance would establish four tiers of water conservation, depending on drought conditions:
» Stage 1: Follow regular conservation measures prohibiting wasteful use during normal years.
» Stage 2: Reduce water use, voluntarily, by 10 percent in below-normal years.
» Stage 3: Reduce water use by 15 percent in serious drought years or pay surcharges.
» Stage 4: The board can declare mandatory reductions of 30 percent or more during critical water shortages.
Staff will return with a revised ordinance at a later meeting. Tuesday's declaration of drought would have called for Stage 3 measures, Public Works Deputy Director Steve Winkler said.
It will not require further action for the county to start phasing in meters at its water districts. Most county water is drawn from wells.#
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090304/A_NEWS/903040320/-1/rss02
Lack of water leads to more land fallowing
The California Farm Bureau Federation – 3/4/09
By Steve Adler
Facing the probability of a zero allocation of Central Valley Project water deliveries, many western San Joaquin Valley farmers will abandon plans for planting annual crops like cotton and processing tomatoes in order to divert whatever water they have to permanent crops like almonds, pistachios and grapes.
That's what Mendota farmer Mike Wood and his brother, Doug, are doing. Partners in Wood Brothers Farming, located some 15 miles west of Mendota on farmland adjacent to the California Aqueduct, the Woods are fallowing about 750 acres of the 2,000 that they farm. Their primary effort will be focused on keeping alive the 300 acres of 4-year-old almond trees that they own and another 500 acres of almonds that they manage for a neighbor.
Similar decisions by farmers throughout the Central Valley who rely on federal and state water deliveries could lead to some 847,000 acres of farmland laying idle this year because of water shortages, according to an estimate from economists at the University of California, Davis.
In its initial projection of water supplies last month, the CVP warned its agricultural service contractors of a potential "zero allocation." The State Water Project estimates it will deliver only 15 percent of requested water.
The UC economic study estimates the water shortages could lead to the loss of as many as 80,000 jobs in the Central Valley, and up to 95,000 jobs statewide.
Mike Wood knows first-hand about the loss of jobs. He said he thinks the general public is sympathetic to the plight of the farmer, but most people don't see the extent of the problem.
"There is a domino effect here of people losing their jobs. People who believe that what's going on isn't going to affect them are probably not as well informed as they should be," he said.
He noted for example that at this time of year he usually would be employing 10 full-time irrigators. This year he has two. Of his two full-time tractor drivers, one currently works on an "as needed" basis and Wood says he doesn't know when, or if, he will be able to call back the other driver.
"Last year we didn't fallow anything, but it is a lot more complicated this year," Wood said. "This year going in, not knowing just what we will get in the way of water deliveries, we went into survival mode. Whatever canal water we manage to obtain will be dedicated to the trees."
There are four wells on the farm that provide some water, but of very low quality. Wood says it is akin to seawater. And it is expensive to pump from a depth of 650 feet, using 600-horsepower diesel engines. Last year when diesel fuel hit $4 per gallon, it cost about $250 an acre-foot to pump well water. Fuel prices have come down, but it is still cost-prohibitive for extensive pumping of well water and Wood said he's heard rumors that fuel prices will skyrocket again this summer.
"It's a two-edged sword for us because the crops we can grow with well water are not cost effective to grow because of the low commodity prices. Cotton is completely out this year for the first time in the history of this ranch. Fifty-eight years, and this will be the first year ever without cotton," he said with a shake of his head.
In their quest for alternative crops that can handle the salinity of well water, the Woods this year are planting 500 acres of oats for seed, 200 acres of alfalfa for seed and 175 acres of garlic. All will be irrigated with well water.
"This is the first time that we've ever grown oats. A person just has to start branching out in order to come up with a crop that might work in the worst-case scenario," he said.
Wood said he knows that California is in the midst of a drought, but he also said that dry weather forms only part of his region's water dilemma.
"We have a double whammy going on now. We are in the midst of a truly meteorological drought and also in the midst of a regulatory drought with the Endangered Species Act," he said.
ESA protection for fish species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta restricts movement of water from delta pumps operated by the CVP and the state project.
"In the absence of our legislators actually getting a clue as to what is going on out here and doing something about it, our hopes of being sustained for a long period of time are very grim," Wood said.
It takes about 3 1/2 acre-feet of water to produce an almond crop and about 1 foot of water to simply keep trees alive. For Westside growers who don't have wells, the situation is very serious, he said.
"There are people within a five-mile radius of here who are not going to survive this. It's depressing, there's no other way to put it. The anxiety level is high out here," he said. "I'm very concerned about other people, but one reaches the point where your focus turns inward and you ask yourself, 'How do I survive?'"
As part of their survival mode, the Woods are hesitant to take on any additional expenses this year. When their almonds were younger, they were able to farm them using their row-crop equipment, but now that the trees are four years old that has become more difficult.
"We are in a position now where we need low-profile tractors, we need to buy a spray rig and maybe some harvest equipment. My brother and I sat down and had a heart-to-heart talk about where we were going to go with this and we decided we are on hold with any purchases. There is no reason to cover our business with that kind of debt when we really don't know what kind of longevity we are going to have with regard to our livelihood," he said.
"The other change is that my brother and I find ourselves doing some of the tasks that we'd sworn off years ago because they were tasks we grew up doing and we thought we graduated to a higher job description, to put it that way. We find ourselves driving spray rigs, road graders for ditches, all of these things that are part and parcel to the survival mode. We are trying to hang in there and keep going," he said.
Wood says there have been rumors going around that because of the recent storms adding to the Sierra snowpack that farmers may end up with a small allocation of federal water.
"Ten percent is the highest number I've heard, but it will more likely be in the neighborhood of 5 to 7 percent, but that is just a guess on my part. The other part of that issue is that by the time those decisions take place it may be too late," he said.
Mike and Doug Wood both have sons in their mid-20s who are college graduates and who hope to take over management of the farm when the two brothers retire.
"They will both come back here as fourth-generation farmers," Mike Wood said, "if the farm is still here." #
http://www.cfbf.com/agalert/AgAlertStory.cfm?ID=1247&ck=E6D8545DAA42D5CED125A4BF747B3688
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