LA Aqueduct Development

From the LA Times, via today's Water News:

A court order requiring the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to restore the parched Lower Owens River shows that even powerful public agencies must abide by rules intended to protect the environment, state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer said Tuesday.

"Even the mighty DWP has to obey the law," Lockyer said. "This department has a reckless history of stepping on others' property rights and environmental considerations while trying to stick straws in every available water supply in the region to feed growth in Los Angeles."

The saga of lawsuits and angst between LA and the Owens River and Mono Lake people continues.

Fed up with the DWP's delays in acting on court orders to bring a 62-mile stretch of the river back to life, Inyo County Superior Court Judge Lee E. Cooper on Monday barred the agency from using a key aqueduct unless it met certain conditions.

Among the conditions is that the DWP reduce its groundwater pumping in the Owens Valley by a third. Cooper also imposed fines of $5,000 a day until water is flowing again in the river. The fines will begin accruing Sept. 5.

Failure to comply with those conditions would result in a permanent ban against using the so-called Second Los Angeles Aqueduct. The Lower Owens River was sucked dry in 1913 when the Owens River Aqueduct began delivering water to Los Angeles. The Second Los Angeles Aqueduct opened in 1970.

This is just one step in a battle that has continued for over 100 years. It was 1904 when representatives from Los Angeles began buying up the water rights of Owens River valley farmers. There have been lawsuits ever since.

In previous long legal battles in the eastern Sierra, the DWP has been forced to give up significant amounts of water to steady water levels in Mono Lake, and to re-water parts of the dry Owens Lake to prevent dust storms.

Los Angeles Councilman Tony Cardenas said Tuesday that the loss of any water by the city was notable because most other Western cities are trying to find additional water sources or firm up the sources they have.

New Azusa Pipeline

From the Pasadena Star, via today's Water News:

After three years of negotiations, the cities of Pasadena and Azusa, along with Los Angeles County, have reached an agreement to allow the completion of a $1 million pipeline to provide water to thirsty customers in the East San Gabriel Valley.

The final piece of the complicated, multi-jurisdictional puzzle fell into place Monday night when the Pasadena City Council granted Azusa Light and Water the right to build the last 300 feet of the pipe through Pasadena-owned land.

Pasadena will be paid $13,415 for its part in the deal.

Meeting Planned to Discuss Co. River's Future

From The Review Journal, via today's Water News:

The Bureau of Reclamation will hold a public meeting in Henderson today on the future of the Colorado River, and a Utah environmental group plans to be there to call for an end to North America's second largest man-made reservoir.

Moab-based Living Rivers wants the federal government to tear down Glen Canyon Dam and allow Lake Powell to drain downstream, a move the group argues would save water and revitalize the Grand Canyon.

"We've got to do something because it's obvious the Colorado River doesn't have any more to give," said John Weisheit, Living Rivers conservation director.

But state and federal water officials insist the dam and the reservoir behind it are far too important to simply dismantle.

Future Water Needs

From SacUnion.com, via today's Water News:

California’s thirst for water will jump by 40 percent over the next 25 years at current rates, with much of the water going for landscaping in the hot, dry inland valleys that will see the bulk of the population growth, a new study warns.

The nonprofit Public Policy Institute of California plotted future use from current water consumption, population growth estimates and demographic projections in the study released Wednesday. Fourteen million more people will each be using 232 gallons each day by 2030, at the current pace.

But the institute says conservation, water planning and recycling can help meet the demand as the West struggles with continuous water shortages.

Hetch Hetchy Briefing and Workshop

From the Daily Business News:

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) will conduct a media briefing and public workshop on Thursday, July 14, 2005, regarding the State's Hetch Hetchy Valley Restoration Study.

Beginning at 9 a.m., the press briefing will take place in the first floor media room of the Joe Serna Jr.-Cal/EPA Building at 1001 "I" Street, Sacramento.

Some background on the Hetch Hetchy Restoration:

Following a fierce nationwide debate led by John Muir, the City of San Francisco was authorized by the U.S. Congress, in the Raker Act of 1913, to construct a dam and reservoir on the Tuolumne River in Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park. Construction of the O'Shaughnessy Dam was finished in 1923 and, ten years later after the necessary pipelines were completed, San Francisco began using water from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir for its public water supply. Electrical power had already been generated prior to the completion of the dam itself.

In 1987, President Ronald Reagan's Secretary of the Interior, Donald Hodel, proposed the restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley. At the time, he stated: "Restoration of Hetch Hetchy Valley to its natural state may be a dream, but it is our obligation as concerned Americans to discover if this dream can become a reality. It is for our generation to decide that this is an investment for future generations . . . If we succeed, America can once again boast its position as a world leader in the care, improvement, and restoration of our National Parks."

In 1988, under Secretary Hodel's direction, the Bureau of Reclamation (administratively within the Department of Interior) completed a preliminary study for the National Park Service, "Hetch Hetchy Water and Power Replacement Concepts" that outlined several possible scenarios for restoring Hetch Hetchy and allowing the Bay Area continued reliance on the Tuolumne River for water and power.

Management Integration in San Diego

From The Village News:

The San Diego County Water Authority approved a resolution for an Integrated Regional Water Management Plan grant application during the CWA’s June 23 board meeting. The application, which seeks Proposition 50 funding from the California Department of Water Resources, includes a $2.5 million request for land acquisition along the Santa Margarita Corridor. “They will award us money based upon the quality of our plan and how all the projects work together,” explained CWA principal water resources specialist Vickie Driver. “It’s not just the bottom line rating evaluation for any single given project but how it fits in.” The elements of the Integrated Regional Water Management Plan include land acquisition, land restoration (most prominently removal of invasive species), facilitation, infrastructure, local supply and water quality.

Integrated regional water management was a major thrust of the recently published Update to the California Water Plan, as well as in Prop 50:

Proposition 50 was passed by the state’s voters in November 2002 and includes several chapters under which funding is provided for water-related projects. Chapter 8 allots $380 million to promote integrated water management to protect communities from drought, improve water quality and reduce dependence on imported water.