Posted on 09/06/2007 12:29:05 PM PDT by BurbankKarl
Southern California water officials are drawing up plans that could force rationing in some cities as early as next year, officials said Wednesday.
For now, residents are being asked to voluntarily use less water, but the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California warned that mandatory rationing could become necessary for the first time since 1991.
The immediate trigger for concern arose from U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger's ruling last week that to protect the delta smelt, a small fish threatened with extinction, water imports from Northern California must be cut by up to 30 percent.
Officials said the threat of earthquakes and flooding, saltwater intrusion and aging levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta compound the problem.
"We have further evidence that the delta is in crisis, if there was any doubt about it," said Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources.
Officials said Wednesday that they are still trying to sift through Wanger's ruling to determine how much water they will be able to move through the delta and into Southern California.
Wanger did not specify how much less water could be pumped from the delta. Instead, he focused on protecting the smelt by slowing the water that flows into the pumps. Tim Quinn, president of the Association of California Water Agencies, said that in a dry year there could be a 25 percent reduction in the amount of water pumped from the delta.
The MWD is preparing an allocation plan that would spell out how much water it might be able to provide the 26 cities and water agencies that it serves in six counties, including Los Angeles and Ventura counties, said Roger Patterson, the district's assistant general manager.
If the district tells its members it has less water to provide them, it would be up to them to decide how to ask residents to cut back.
"The question is how soon do we need to go into that kind of decision-making. Do we have to do that in 2008, or do we rely on our reserve account - or (banked water) savings - to not do that in 2008? Those are the policy decisions that will be made."
The district imports about 50 percent of the water used by member agencies. About two-thirds of the water comes from the delta and the rest from the Colorado River.
The amount of water the district stands to lose from the court decision amounts to more than 10 percent of all the water its members use in a typical year.
In the city of Los Angeles, which relies on the district for nearly 70 percent of its water, officials already are asking residents to use 10 percent less water this year. But it's a voluntary program.
"If we have rationing in Los Angeles, it won't be the first time that that has happened," said David Nahai, president of the board of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Commissioners. "If that is what will be needed in order to safeguard our water supplies, well, so be it. But we'll have to see just what this plan is that Metropolitan Water District will be putting forward."
The MWD plans to present its allocation plan to the board in the fall. But Patterson said officials will hope for plenty of rainfall this winter and voluntary conservation before they seek mandatory cuts.
Well I was just speculating but I bet it’s not far from the truth. Seems like the Owens Valley could be like the Central Valley if they’d left the water where it belonged.
Sheer nitwittery. Just wait 'til these eco-nuts and their friendly "judges" get an entire city reservoir put off-limits due to some "endangered" species living there.
It is beginning to look that way again...there was a video of the river this year....looks good.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-owens8jul08,0,3409046.story?coll=la-home-center
watch that video for the Owens River
We lived with 30 gallons of water a day during the drought of the 90's before our well went dry.
I wonder if anybody in CA could do that? LOL
That is substantial water usage, IMO.
...and the people who live in the Owens Valley could have LAWNS...and FLOWERS...and POOLS.
Sorta’ like they have in LA since they stole it from them.
have you ever you ever been to denver
and watched the water cops issue tickets?
p.s.
if this is “a topic that doesn’t interest me much” why post scads of do do behind people’s backs?
That statement is entirely correct.
Southern California - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal or the South Land, .... From high school sports to professional, SoCal numbers many successful sports ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_California - 143k - Cached - Similar pages
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=socal&btnG=Google+Search
where have you been?
sorry, i did not see your post earlier.
yes, there is a “colorado river water compact” of 1922. the u.s. federal government moderates the fights between the cities and states over the water.
see:
http://cobweb.scarymonsters.net/~corleyj/azca/compact.html
i only know what i read occasionally about it in the los angeles times.
I am sure that they will blame all of this to global warming. But many should blame this on Mr. Mulholland who stole water rights from farmers in order to pipe in water.
“””i’ve lived in socal for over 20 years.
i’ve never seen any water conservation. people waste water here.”””
Simply isn’t true, see post 38. As a plumbing contractor and resident, the dramatic swing to water conservation has been very good for my business, and challenging for me as a resident.
I think you’re right. They should all move out of the desert and move in next to you.
They oughta just build a combination nuclear power/desalination plant. There! All problems solved!
And there is the Pacific Ocean right off the CA coast. If those geniuses can’t put 2 + 2 = 4 together.....
Insufficient water resources should cause a halt in new building, but the dumb asses in the construction industry won't hear of it. Neither will the politicians who want the property tax revenue. Water rights in Idaho put an effective limit on development. If you don't have sufficient water rights to cover the number of proposed new housing units, you can't get a permit to build. That's a key reason why Idaho is so sparsely populated. We have been in an extended period of drought that has put the water rights of "senior" holders ahead of "junior" holders. Parts of the "Magic Valley" area were threatened with water cutoffs earlier this year. There is constant bickering over use of surface water and subsurface water.
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