[env-trinity] San Diego UT: Southern Cal resists water rationing

[Tom Stokely]

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/jan/30/brown-drought-water-rationing/

Southern Cal resists water rationing
By Michael Gardner9:32 a.m.Jan. 30, 2014Updated5:36 p.m.
The San Vicente Dam has now reached its new full height of 337 feet. The San Diego County Water Authority raised the dam 117 feet to more than double the reservoir's capacity using roller-compacted concrete. The process involves laying the concrete in layers from the bottom up, completely covering the original dam on the dry side. The dam owned by the city of San Diego, now has an additional capacity of 152,100 acre-feet of water for potential emergency use and for storage during wet years for use in subsequent dry years. — John Gastaldo
SACRAMENTO — Under intensifying pressure, leading Southern California water managers promised Gov. Jerry Brown on Thursday that they will take more aggressive steps to encourage conservation after weeks of caution.
With the Sierra snowpack meager and reservoir levels rapidly shrinking, Brown has implored Californians to cut use by as much as 20 percent.
“Every day this drought goes on we’re going to have to tighten the screws on what people are doing,” Brown warned. “It’s voluntary now, but we’ll keep monitoring the situation every day.”
Water agencies in San Diego and Southern California have said adequate reserves will allow them to keep conservation efforts mostly voluntary even though districts up north already have imposed rationing in the wake of punishing shortages exacting a heavy toll.
In Sacramento, where two mighty rivers merge before massive pumps push flows south to Los Angeles, residents have been ordered to cut use by 20 percent. The tiny Redwood country town of Willits has imposed a 150-gallon per day limit on household uses and a 35 percent reduction on businesses.
Elsewhere, cattle ranchers plan to thin their herds because feed is sparse and farmers in the San Joaquin Valley may be forced to idle thousands of acres — potentially tossing field hands out of work and leading to higher prices at the grocery store.
With their own supplies tight, some water officials in the north have privately complained about Southern California’s hesitancy to promote conservation more forcefully. That was one of the reasons driving Brown to make his first-ever appearance at the Los Angeles headquarters of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.
The governor also offered the public some practical tips like turning off the water while shaving and taking short showers. “Don’t flush more than you have to,” Brown added.
On a more serious note, Brown praised Metropolitan for its “excellent conservation — a real example to other areas of the state.” He added that Metropolitan has “invested resources in storage in ways other parts of the state have not.” But he said more is demanded given the drought could last years, if not decades.
Southern California is using less water than it was nearly a quarter century ago. Metropolitan reduced demand by 9 percent between 1990 and 2012, despite a 23 percent increase in population, according to its figures. The San Diego region used 578,000 acre feet for a population of 2.5 million in 1991. In 2013, water use dropped to 574,000 acre feet despite adding 600,000 more people, the authority said.
Southern California has vast reserves thanks to the adoption of a determined — and costly — “never again” philosophy after the region was decimated by the harshest of dry spells in 1976-77. The 1987-92 drought only reinforced the aggressive spending, which produced the Diamond Valley reservoir, a new aqueduct and deals to pay farmers to conserve in exchange for a share of the saved supplies. Moreover, Metropolitan hs used its political capital to negotiate more favorable access to unused water at Lake Mead in Nevada. Also, the Colorado River system — a key source — is showing improvements after paltry runoff much of the past decade.
The San Diego County Water Authority has been equally persistent, driven by memories of deep cuts in past droughts and a thirst for independent supplies. The authority secured a hard-fought agreement to buy water from Imperial County, is expanding San Vicente Reservoir and has embarked on an expensive ocean desalination project in Carlsbad. All bring higher rates, but a more reliable supply.
Both agencies also have pushed conservation even during times of plenty. Rebate programs and other incentives to entice residents and businesses to use less are offered.
Against that backdrop, and fully aware of north-south feuds over water dating back to his own failed Peripheral Canal plan of 1982, Brown met with Southern California water officials to review whether more conservation should be pushed and debate whether their reserves should be shared with the rest of the state.
Metropolitan General Manager Jeff Kightlinger subsequently pledged to double the agency’s commitment to conservation incentives — to $40 million from the current $20 million. The district also plans to issue a more formal, but still voluntary, conservation directive. Those steps, and a look at how the district might be able to help water-short regions elsewhere, will top the board’s Feb. 11 agenda.
San Diego County Water Authority officials have been mapping out proposals to bring to the board of directors Feb. 27. The authority, a wholesaler to some two dozen member agencies, does not have the power to directly impose rationing on homes and businesses, but can reduce sales to local districts. Rationing is up to individual districts in the region.
In an earlier interview, San Diego County Water Authority Director Elsa Saxod wondered whether the board should issue a stepped up call for voluntary compliance given the pain roiling across the state.
“I am not truly convinced whether we should or should not. I am still trying to find out for myself,” said Saxod, who is one of 10 to represent the city of San Diego on the authority board.
Saxod said a decision would be better made after the final snowfall tallies. February, and sometimes March, can deliver storms with punch. Authority officials also said they want to follow Metropolitan’s lead.
The fresh storm in Northern California this week — the first in nearly two months — is welcome, but not a drought-buster by any means. The state’s second snow pack survey of the season on Thursday came in at a paltry 12 percent of normal for this date.
Snowpack measurements, along with reservoir levels, help determine how much water the state delivers to farms and cities. The current delivery figure is just 5 percent of usual.
“That is the lowest ever. We’ve never been this low, this late,” Kightlinger said.
So why not lay down mandatory conservation orders now?
“We don’t know how long it (the drought) will last,” he said. “People don’t like it when you cry wolf,” Kightlinger said, explaining that a rush to rationing would come with weeks of winter still in the wings. He said the public generally responds to persuasive urging, rather than direct orders.
During past droughts, Metropolitan has been one of those in line wanting to buy water from those who have excess supplies — particularly in Northern California. But don’t expect a role reversal.
“Our board has never done that outside our service area,” he said. “We are just going to have to be nimble. We want to work with the state so that dislocation is kept at a minimum.”
Both Metropolitan and San Diego credit ongoing conservation — drought or no drought — for being in a good position despite three straight dry years.
The Encinitas-based Olivenhain Municipal Water District is one example. After issuing mandatory restrictions a few years ago, its board decided to keep voluntary guidelines in place and continue to promote conservation heavily, from landscape audits to workshops on how to use rain barrels and gray water.
In 2008, the per capita use at the district was 340 gallons per day. Today, even after restrictions were lifted, use is down to 269 — below the district’s 2020 goal of 283 gallons per day per capita.
“Our customers stepped up to the challenge,” said Kimberly Thorner, the general manager.
But she worries about the price tag for them if the drought persists and mandatory rationing returns.
“Every additional drop is harder,” she said.
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