Sites controversy

Something new on the proposed Sites Reservoir from RecordNet via today's BC:

A hardscrabble valley 10 miles west of the Colusa County town of Maxwell has become the Promised Land for Republicans in the Legislature.

That's the proposed location for Sites Reservoir, an artificial lake three times the size of Camanche Reservoir that supporters say could supply hundreds of thousands of homes with drinking water, help salmon and steelhead populations and relieve pressure on the Delta during floods and droughts.

But creating Sites would require siphoning water from the Sacramento River into a dammed-up Antelope Valley - and California has not built any new dams in a generation.

As negotiations surrounding Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $35billion waterworks proposal move through the Legislature, Sites is fast becoming something of a deal breaker for Republicans.

For many Republicans, the deal is simple: no Sites, no "aye" vote. And any bond proposal needs six Assembly Republicans and two GOP senators to pass.

Even the Republican sponsor of the water bill - Grass Valley Sen. Sam Aanestad, whose district includes the Antelope Valley - said he would only carry the legislation on the condition it contains money to build surface storage.

"I told the governor I need bulldozers moving things and fixing things - not planting trees - or I'm out of here," Aanestad said.

Republicans are adamant about the need for more water storage. California's population is growing and, by some estimates, will need an additional 2million acre-feet of water by 2020. An acre-foot is enough to supply a family of four for a year.

According to RecordNet, many environmentalists don't support the dam:

"It's a big nonstarter for the environmental community," [Jim] Metropoulos [of the Sierra Club] said. "We're very much opposed to spending $1billion or more on a reservoir with little or no public benefit."

Environmentalists and their Democratic allies say building the Sites Reservoir would destroy precious archaeological sites, kill threatened plants and animals and waste taxpayer dollars.

Metropoulos and other critics say groundwater storage - flooding farm fields and letting water percolate back into aquifers - conservation and desalination of seawater are all more cost-effective than building a new dam.

Antelope Valley is also near the Great Valley Fault, which Metropoulos said was the site of a magnitude 6 or 7 earthquake in neighboring Willows in 1892.

Colorado drought agreement

From AZCentral via todays BC News:

Seven states share the Colorado River, but a final agreement about how to manage the waterway in times of drought may turn on a truce between just two of them: Arizona and California.

A rift between the neighboring states, which have battled over the Colorado since before Arizona joined the union, nearly derailed work on a drought plan agreeable to all seven states. Representatives from the states continue meeting today in Las Vegas to take one last shot at producing such a plan.

If they fail, the Interior Department will move ahead and impose its own water-use guidelines on the states by the end of 2007. That's a best-case situation. The worst case is the one the states fear most, a courtroom standoff that could drag on for years, putting water supplies at risk if drought returns. The original Arizona vs. California case, which began in 1931 and set the river allocations for Arizona, California and Nevada, still reverberates in water discussions.

More from AZ Central:

Arizona and California settled several key issues late last week about how the river's major reservoirs will be operated but were forced to abandon talks on other points, said Herb Guenther, director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources. That means the final plan will cover less ground than the states hoped.

The crux of the disputes, the one between Arizona and California and the ones that reach across the river basin, is who should suffer most if drought leaves the Colorado unable to supply full allotments. The law offers only one concrete answer: Arizona, which agreed nearly 40 years ago to give up senior status to more than half its share in exchange for the Central Arizona Project canal.

California has resisted Arizona's attempts to change that law, arguing that a deal is a deal. Other states have been willing to talk about ways to postpone declaring a shortage as long as possible, thus protecting Arizona, but only until low water levels put them at risk.

What's the timeframe?

A seven-state proposal is due to the Interior Department this week. The Bureau of Reclamation plans to begin developing a range of alternatives for a shortage-sharing plan almost immediately, with a goal of releasing a first draft by March.

Possible new water storage projects

According to Lester Snow's presentation on Tuesday to the CA Senate, new statewide storage projects could include the Sites Reservoir and Temperance Dam on the Upper San Joaquin river.

According to the Northern California Water Association, a joint MOU has been signed between Federal, state and local agencies for the approximately $1 billion proposed Sites Reservoir in the Antelope Valley. More from NCWA:

The proposed location of the Sites off-stream storage project is approximately 10 miles west of Maxwell in Antelope Valley. The reservoir would have a storage capacity of 1.9 million acre-feet (possibly larger) and would enhance water management flexibility throughout the state. Sites reservoir can greatly increase reliability of water supplies in the Sacramento Valley and other areas of the state by reducing water diversions on the Sacramento River during critical fish migration periods. In addition, by providing additional storage and operational benefits, Sites reservoir would be a critical component of an integrated water management and water development program for the Sacramento Valley.

Sites reservoir, as an off-stream project, would be filled primarily by pumped diversions from the Sacramento River. Water would be diverted into the reservoir during peak flow periods in winter months (for example, during flood years like 1997 and 1998). To minimize potential impacts of existing diversions on Sacramento River fisheries, Sites would release water back into valley conveyance systems (such as the Glenn Colusa Irrigation District Canal and Tehama Colusa Canal) in exchange for water that would otherwise have been diverted from the Sacramento River. This undiverted summer water could become available for other downstream uses in the Bay-Delta.

Legislature balks at governor's plan

The governor's proposition to invest billions in water infrastructure is essentially a plan to fund the DWR's California Water Plan.

According to the slides from Lester Snow's presentation before the Senate on Tuesday (Jan 24), $35 Billion would be invested over the next 10 years, with around 2/3 of that to be spent on "Water Management", and the balance on flood control. According to the slides, the governor's initiative is leveraging funds to implement DWR's existing California Water Plan. Approximately 2/3 of the flood control measures would be spent on the Delta. Of the funds designated for Water Management, $5.5 billion are dedicated to the Regional Program, which would be spent on such strategies as reduction of water demand, improving operational efficiency and transfers, increasing water supply, improving water quality, and practicing resource stewardship (see slide 35). $3.5 billion in bond and WRIF funding would be allocated to the Statewide Program, which is divided between water quality, storage, new technology and science, and resource stewardship (see slide 38). The idea is that the bonds and WRIF funding will "create incentive" for local investments ($17.5 billion) and obtain federal cost-sharing funds ($2 billion). No slides in the presentation explain how this $20 billion balance would be spent.

The legislature was apparently not convinced by Snow's proposal. From KTLA on Tuesday:

A power struggle is emerging over Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $222-billion public works package. Democratic leaders say legislators and local governments would be required to cede too much influence in deciding how to remake California's roads, jails and waterways.

More from KTLA:

The governor's $10-billion water bond proposal is an area of particular concern. Senate officials say that state water agencies would be given the authority to decide such politically sensitive issues as whether to build a canal to route water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to agricultural and urban areas in Central and Southern California. California voters rejected such a project, known as the Peripheral Canal, in 1982.

The only way?

From the ContraCosta Times, two weeks ago:

Professor Jeff Mount, director of UC Davis' Center for Watershed Studies, outlined a half-dozen strategies to address the many problems facing the Delta and the 23 million Californians who depend on it for water supplies.

Most of Mount's ideas have been suggested in the past at one time or another. However, by placing a variety of alternatives before business leaders, Mount hoped to begin a discussion on how to preserve the Delta ecosystem, provide adequate water for users and avoid a costly and divisive water war.

Each of the six ideas had something to offer, but one stands out as the most effective way to assure adequate and reliable water supplies to both users and the Delta environment. That is Mount's suggestion that major new reservoirs be built south of the Delta.

These reservoirs would be filled during wet months, when there is more than enough water flowing into the Delta to preserve the ecosystem and provide high-quality supplies to users.

If the reservoirs are large enough, they would have enough stored water for release during the dry months and droughts.

It is the only feasible way to provide enough fresh water for environmental, agricultural and urban use throughout the year.

Wow, that's pretty strong.

Letter to Bush

From YubaNet:

U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today urged President Bush to provide $92.4 million in his 2007 budget to fund "urgent flood control needs" in Sacramento and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

"A major levee breach could imperil hundreds of thousands of people and endanger most of the State's water supply," Senator Feinstein said. "We believe that the best course of action is to proceed expeditiously on the projects that will provide the most protection to population centers and infrastructure."

CALFED Diagnosis

From MercuryNews a few weeks back:

The biggest[CALFED] failure, many observers and participants say, was institutional unwillingness to confront the big conflicts in California water.

When push comes to shove, who gets delta water? Farmers? Cities? Fish?

And who should pay to fix levees? The farmers protected by them? Taxpayers? Water utilities?

Are the levees even viable? Should the state build a peripheral canal around the delta? Should it build new reservoirs? Who should pay for them?

Idling alternative for fish protection

From BusinessWire:

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) will host a February 7, 2006, public workshop on the "No Crop Idling Alternative," which is being considered as part of the environmental review for the Environmental Water Account (EWA).

The "No Crop Idling Alternative" will analyze the effects of other measures other than crop idling or land retirement to further protect fisheries.

The EWA is part of the long-term comprehensive plan adopted in the CALFED Bay-Delta Program Record of Decision (ROD). CALFED agencies identified a need in the ROD for fisheries protection measures above and beyond existing regulatory measures to speed the recovery of at-risk Delta species. Establishment of the EWA was a key component of this additional protection.

Agencies that participate in the EWA are DWR (lead state agency), Department of Fish and Game (responsible agency and trustee agency), United States Fish and Wildlife Service (co-lead federal agency), National Marine Fisheries Service (cooperating agency), and United States Bureau of Reclamation (co-lead federal agency).

The EIS/EIR for the Short-Term EWA Program addressed the potential use of crop idling as an alternative to other measures being considered for analysis. The Long-Term EIS/EIR will analyze a number of alternatives including the "No Crop Idling Alternative" to meet the objectives of the EWA.

CALFED EIR case

From Lawfuel:

The California Supreme Court has granted review in a second important case relating to water supply planning and the analysis of water issues in environmental impact reports under the California Environmental Quality Act. On January 25, the court granted review of In re Bay-Delta Programmatic Environmental Impact Report Coordinated Proceedings (Case No. S138975).

This case involves multiple legal challenges to the extremely lengthy environmental impact report that was prepared for the "CalFed" muliti-agency program to develop a plan to protect water quality in the Sacramento-San Joaquin delta while also promoting water supply and conservation goals. The Third District Court of Appeal rejected the EIR on several grounds, including a claim that the EIR should have evaluated project alternatives that included substantially reduced water exports from the Delta to Southern California.

The court's decision to grant review is significant; it means that two cases are now before the California Supreme Court dealing with how environmental impact reports must evaluate water projects and water supply issues for other development projects. In the other case, Vineyard Area Citizens for Responsible Growth v. City of Rancho Cordova, Case No. S132972, the Supreme Court is considering whether an EIR for a large development project adequately evaluated the future availability of water and the impacts of supplying water to the project. Briefing in the Vineyard Citizens case is nearly complete.

Both of these cases should be particularly important to all stakeholders in the CEQA process, as it has been many years since the California Supreme Court has considered a CEQA case involving the substantive requirements for environmental impact reports. Also, while there have been a number of Court of Appeal decisions on the application of CEQA to water issues, the Supreme Court has not yet ruled on these important issues.

Skepticism regarding CALFED reordering

From RecordNet:

Tom Graff has doubts the new guardians of California's Delta will be any improvement over the old.

"It's not like we did so well under the existing regime," said Graff, the regional director of the nonprofit group Environmental Defense.

Graff and other environmentalists are concerned about the reorganization of the California Bay-Delta Authority, the coalition of state, local and federal agencies charged with balancing the Delta's health with water needs. Two in three Californians depend on Delta water for drinking or irrigating farmland.

The authority, which runs the CALFED Bay-Delta Program, faced mounting concern in recent months that it was failing taxpayers. Board members last month adopted sweeping changes that could kill the agency and replace it with a new one run by public officials.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to announce his own plans for CALFED within the next week or two. Schwarzenegger spokesman Darrel Ng wouldn't comment on speculation that a new water czar would take charge of the CALFED mission, but environmental concerns "will be considered by the governor's office as we work on the final product," he said.

Levee maintenance money

From the Tri-Valley Herald:

Big bucks are being poured the into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta levees, a topic discussed Wednesday in Stockton at a community forum with elected officials and water resource experts.

There are 1,600 miles of levees on the Delta, many of which are in need of repair.

A map of the Delta levees provided by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shows that most do not meet basic levee standards set by CALFED, the California-Bay Delta Authority.

To amend that, the Corps will get $90 million in federal money to spend on urgent levee stability projects, said Lynn O'Leary, project manager.

The Corps is asking that local reclamation districts — responsible for maintaining levees — send in proposals for levee improvements that could include raising or making them wider.

However, O'Leary said the $90 million is only a drop in the bucket and will not make every levee meet CALFED's standards.

In addition to the Corps' money, Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, and Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., helped secure $40.9 million from the 2006 Energy and Water Conference Report to strengthen California levees and flood control. A Delta levee assessment, costing $500,000, will be paid with that money.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to push through a bond measure for either the June or November 2006 ballot for $210 billion. If approved by voters, that money would go toward erosion repairs and sediment removal. Specifically, the Central Valley would get new flood plain maps because the current maps are woefully inaccurate.

Met behind CALFED reform plan

From BusinessWire:

he first step toward a sweeping overhaul of environmental restoration efforts in the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that would provide up to $60 million for various projects and studies over the next two years was ratified today by Metropolitan Water District's Board of Directors.

A key element of a proposed agreement is the development of voluntary habitat conservation plans for the recovery of listed and endangered species in the Bay-Delta watershed that would help provide regulatory assurances for water delivery projects over the next 40 years. The largest estuary on the West Coast, the Bay-Delta is an important drinking water source for Metropolitan and 18 million Southern Californians.

Metropolitan's board endorsed the principles of an agreement that refocuses the environmental restoration efforts under CALFED, the state and federal effort charged with developing and implementing a long-term comprehensive plan to restore the Bay-Delta's ecological health and improve water reliability and quality.

"This action directly answers the widespread criticisms that CALFED's current approach toward environmental restoration is too broad and overextended," said Metropolitan board Chairman Wes Bannister. "Establishing a new process for overseeing and funding restoration efforts allows CALFED to focus directly on endangered and listed species that are of the greatest concern and cause the most conflict in the Bay-Delta."

According to CBS on January 18, the Santa Clara Water District is also behind the statement:

The Santa Clara Valley Water District Board of Directors agreed Tuesday to back a large-scale planning effort to protect fish, wildlife and water quality in the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

The Delta provides Santa Clara County with about half of its annual water supply, according to the water district.

By approving a "statement of principles" at its Tuesday meeting, the board agreed in principle to help develop environmental conservation plans for the Delta and its upstream basin. This is part of a larger state and federal effort -- the CALFED Bay-Delta Program -- to develop and implement a long-term, comprehensive restoration of the Bay-Delta environment and enhance water-supply quality and consistency, the water district reported.

Water contract negotiations

From the Fresno Bee two weeks ago:

Federal officials are reopening negotiations on the renewal of some farm water contracts after hearing critical comments from environmentalists and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The comments pointed out that farmland may be taken out of production in the future, yet the contracts do not allow flexibility to change the water supply numbers.

"We want to address that issue," said Bill Luce, area manager for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which runs the Central Valley Project.

A negotiating session is scheduled for 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday [Jan 17] at the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority Board Room, 842 Sixth St., Los Banos.

The contractors include Pacheco, Panoche, San Luis and Westlands water districts as well as Westlands Water District Distribution District No. 2.

The proposed long-term water service contracts are for the delivery of up to 1.38 million acre-feet of water per year via the San Luis Reservoir in western Merced County.

The contract renewals will cover the next 25 years.

Temecula Supply Strategy

From The Press-Enterprise:

Water consumption throughout much of Temecula and Murrieta -- demand that tripled over 25 years -- is expected to double again before the area's growth ebbs by about 2050, local officials predict.

To meet this new demand, Rancho California Water District directors will rely heavily on a privately-owned lake and a network of groundwater basins, key assets cited in a $300,000 strategy aimed at boosting local supplies and limiting the area's dependence on costly water that is imported from the Colorado River or Northern California and then treated at a Lake Skinner plant.

District officials say the recently adopted resources plan will allow them to meet future residential and commercial demands while providing a more reliable supply for vineyards and avocado and citrus groves.

"This gives us the road map on where we're going in the future," said Ben Drake, president of Rancho's seven-member board. "What we're trying to do is design a system that will allow us to meet that future demand."

And while the plan calls for $78.1 million to be spent on new wells, pipelines, pump stations and other projects, little of that is expected to come from current or future customers.

More demand, less supply

From HeraldToday.Com:

California's thirst for Delta water is increasing at a time when the Delta's health is failing.

Two out of every three Californians get at least some drinking water from the Delta. In a state of 37 million people, one in every four gallons of water consumed by the state's farms, factories and people comes from the Delta.

And California's population is expected to climb to 48 million by 2030.

Meanwhile, the state's use of its second-largest water source, the Colorado River, is being curtailed as upstream states and the federal government begin to more strictly enforce the 1922 interstate treaty that limits California's share.

CalFed promised water agencies in the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California that they would be better able to rely on the Delta to provide the water they need.

But water managers say the CalFed program adopted five years ago has failed to deliver.

"Water supply reliability out of the Delta - I don't think you could make the case that CalFed has improved that," said Steve Hall, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies, which represents nearly all of the state's urban and agricultural water agencies. "Ultimately, we have to be able to export water more reliably out of the Delta without necessarily increasing the amount."

That effort suffered a blow early this year when scientists confirmed a dramatic decline in Delta fish populations. Pumps that siphon water out of the Delta could be contributing to the decline, although there are other possible causes. In response, state water officials delayed plans to increase the capacity of Delta pumps until at least 2009.