SAN FRANCISCO — California officials are studying whether a 35-mile tunnel under the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta might help solve some of the state’s water supply problems.

Teresa Engstrom, chief of the delta engineering branch at the California Department of Water Resources, confirmed that the agency is conducting feasibility studies on an “all tunnel” option that would route water under the Bay Delta from rivers and reservoirs to the north of Sacramento to farms in the south.

The idea to build a tunnel sprang from a handful of public workshops the department held recently on how to approach California’s long-running fight over water rights in the northern part of the state. A tunnel, she said, could theoretically offer a way out of the vexing maze of water supply, endangered species and farming issues facing the state.

“We had a lot of comments that said, ‘Why don’t you go under?’” Engstrom said. “So we thought we would take a look.”

Engstrom stressed that the all-tunnel option has no more weight at this point than competing ideas to build a canal around the delta or new levees along the water’s current route through the middle of the delta region. All are under consideration.

DWR engineers conducting environmental and geotechnical studies expect to have a draft environmental report completed by the end of the year on all three proposals, Engstrom said. A final public draft would then be ready next year.

The new wrinkle comes as lawmakers, farmers, commercial fishers and environmentalists continue to bicker over whether to build major new infrastructure to both protect endangered fish and improve water deliveries to farms in the Central Valley. Pumping through the region is currently restricted to protect endangered delta smelt and salmon, much to the ire of struggling farmers.

Jonas Minton, water policy adviser for the Planning and Conservation League, called the tunnel proposal and the council bad ideas. He estimated that such a tunnel would likely stretch beyond 50 miles, making it “longer than the Chunnel connecting England with France.”

“The Department of Water Resources says it has no idea how much the tunnel would cost,” added Minton, guessing it would easily surpass the $13 billion spent 15 years ago to build the tunnel connecting France and England.

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Source: New York Times

“This drought is having a devastating impact on our people, our communities, our economy and our environment – making today’s action absolutely necessary,” Governor Schwarzenegger said. “This is a crisis, just as severe as an earthquake or raging wildfire, and we must treat it with the same urgency by upgrading California’s water infrastructure to ensure a clean and reliable water supply for our growing state.”

The governor’s order directs that by March 30, the Department of Water Resources will provide an updated report on the state’s drought conditions and water availability.

If the emergency conditions have not eased, the governor said he could start mandatory water rationing and mandatory reductions in water use.

Schwarzenegger said he could order reoperation of major reservoirs in the state to minimize impacts of the drought. He also could provide additional regulatory relief or permit streamlining as allowed under the Emergency Services Act.

The governor called for a statewide water conservation campaign and asked all urban water users to immediately reduce their individual water use by 20 percent. He asked all Californians to reduce their water use as much as possible.

“Even with the recent rainfall, California faces its third consecutive year of drought and we must prepare for the worst – a fourth, fifth or even sixth year of drought,” he said. “Last year we experienced the driest spring and summer on record and storage in the state’s reservoir system is near historic lows.”

The DWR and the California Department of Food and Agriculture are ordered to recommend, within 30 days, measures to reduce the economic impacts of the drought, including water transfers, through-Delta emergency transfers, water conservation measures, efficient irrigation practices, and improvements to the California Irrigation Management Information System.
Low water in Littlerock Reservoir, Littlerock, California (Photo by David Steele)

The drought conditions and water restrictions are causing additional devastating economic and business losses. Agricultural revenue losses exceed $300 million to date and could exceed $2 billion in the coming season, with a total economic loss of nearly $3 billion in 2009.

In his proclamation, Governor Schwarzenegger directs the Department of Water Resources to expedite water transfers and related efforts by water users and suppliers.

The governor also directs the DWR to implement short-term efforts to protect water quality or water supply, such as the installation of temporary barriers in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta or temporary water supply connections.

He asks the state water agency to offer technical assistance to agricultural water suppliers and agricultural water users and provide information on managing water supplies to minimize economic impacts and implementing efficient water management practices.

He asks local, state and federal agencies to immediately implement a water use reduction plan and take immediate water conservation actions.

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Source: Environment News Service

As they’ve been doing since June, they’ll blast and dig straight down into the limestone surrounding the reservoir that supplies 90 percent of Las Vegas’s water. In September, when they hit 600 feet, they’ll turn and burrow for 3 miles, laying a new pipe as they go.

The crew is in a hurry. They’re battling the worst 10-year drought in recorded history along the Colorado River, which feeds the 110-mile-long reservoir. Since 1999, Lake Mead has dropped about 1 percent a year. By 2012, the lake’s surface could fall below the existing pipe that delivers 40 percent of the city’s water.

As Las Vegas’s economy worsens, the workers are also racing against a recession that threatens the ability to sell $500 million in bonds so they can complete the job.

Patricia Mulroy, manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority, is the general in this region’s war to stem a water emergency that’s playing out worldwide. It’s the biggest battle of her 31-year career.

‘We’ve Tried Everything’

“We’ve tried everything,” says Mulroy, 56, who made no secret of her desire to become secretary of the U.S. Interior Department before President Barack Obama picked U.S. Senator Ken Salazar of Colorado in December.

“The way you look at water has to fundamentally change,” adds Mulroy, who, after 20 years of running the authority, said in January she’s ready to start thinking about looking for a new job, declining to say where.

Across the planet, people like Mulroy are struggling to solve the next global crisis.

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Source: Bloomberg

This would be the first time in more than 15 years such a move was taken. The state predicts a loss of more than $1 billion and an elimination of as many as 40,000 jobs if this takes place.

The Western Growers Association says as of December 2008, the drought has cost California’s agriculture industry more than $308 million. Local city leaders say the Central Coast water supply is OK, but across the state it is a different story.

“Well, it’s the lifeblood of agriculture. We irrigate virtually all of our crops with water,” said Richard Quandt, president of the Grower-Shipper Association.

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Source: MSNBC

Dry conditions are preventing the Department of Water Resources from increasing its State Water Project delivery allocation for the first time since 2001. This year’s allocation will remain at just 15 percent of SWP contractors’ requests.

“Despite recent storms and more rain expected later this week, water conditions in the state remain severe,” DWR Director Lester Snow said in a prepared statement. “Californians must conserve now to ensure there is enough water to meet the state’s basic water needs for the future.”

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Source: MSNBC

About 20 water agencies up and down the California coast seem to think so.

From Marin County to San Diego, small and large projects that turn seawater into tap water are gaining favor, propelled by events unprecedented in California’s history: worsening drought, dwindling species of freshwater fish, crumbling plumbing systems and unyielding demand.

“People are worried about water supply,” said Michael Carlin, assistant general manager of water at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. “Desalination is for drought supply, for an emergency, and it augments existing supply — it’s another tool in our toolbox.”

But critics argue that desalination is an expensive, environmentally questionable last resort in a sprawling state that misuses one of its greatest assets.

“People are looking for an easy solution, and they look to the ocean,” said Linda Sheehan, executive director of the California Coastkeeper Alliance, a watchdog group. “They’re ignoring the opportunities we have for conservation, storm-water reuse and water recycling.”

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Source: Seattlepi.com

Learn more about water conservation

The measure bars restaurants from serving water to customers unless it is specifically requested. And the ordinance will quadruple fines for large customers of the Department of Water and Power, mainly businesses, that break the city’s water-waster law.

“L.A.’s future depends on our citizens to adopt an ethic of conservation,” Villaraigosa said.

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Source: Los Angeles Times

For more information on water conservation, visit www.nuprana.com

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Source:  San Francisco Gate

SANTA ROSA- For the second consecutive year, water conservation efforts are paying off in the North Bay area. The Sonoma County Water Agency is meeting its goal of reducing the amount of water it takes out of the Russian River by 15 percent, allowing water to be stockpiled in Lake Mendocino for release during the fall salmon run.

For more information on water conservation, visit www.nuprana.com

Hundreds of people from local government, the building industry and water agencies gathered at the Ontario Convention Center Thursday to discuss solutions to the state’s looming water crisis. Gov. Schwarzenegger declared a statewide drought in June, and a recent court order reduced the amount of water available to Southern California from the Central Valley and State Water projects.

Panel speakers agreed that there needed to be a coordinated effort to address the problem: builders installing water-efficient fixtures; municipalities passing ordinances to require permeable paving surfaces to reduce water runoff; homeowners cutting lawn watering by half and using water-controlled shower heads and water-efficient washing machines.  “Everybody’s in the water business,” said Celeste Cantu, Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority.

Schwarzenegger has set a goal for the state to reduce per capita water consumption by 20 percent by 2020. Several panel speakers Thursday said the goal was achievable.  Asked whether economic development and conservation can co-exist, Kirby Brill, general manager of the Mojave Water Agency, said “absolutely. … without a doubt.”

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Source:  The Press-Enterprise