[env-trinity] Ag-Urban Conflict Over Governor's Drought Cut-Back Order:

[Tom Stokely]

Drought-stricken California will enforce a mandatory water cutback of 25 percent for urban residents because the state's situation is dire, officials said yesterday after Gov. Jerry Brown (D) issued an executive order with numerous water savings edicts.


California for the spring and summer likely will be forced to rely on stored water, they said, to meet the needs of cities and farms."This really spells out the fact that the situation is unprecedented and critical, and requires the actions of all-hands-on-deck," Mark Ghilarducci, director of the California Office of Emergency Services, said during a conference call with reporters and state officials. "Over the last year this drought has taken a toll on our cities, our farms and our natural environment."State officials in calling for shared sacrifice stressed multiple times that it's not an issue of penalties for residents while agriculture drinks up most of the state's water unfettered. This came as journalists peppered the department heads with questions about water use by farms and other large businesses.
Greenwire

DROUGHT: 

Calif. water-use crackdown exposes rift between cities, farms 
Anne C. Mulkern, E&E reporterPublished: Thursday, April 2, 2015 Drought-stricken California will enforce a mandatory water cutback of 25 percent for urban residents because the state's situation is dire, officials said yesterday after Gov. Jerry Brown (D) issued an executive order with numerous water savings edicts.On the same day that a reading of the state snowpack showed the lowest level in recorded history, California leaders in charge of water, agriculture, fish and game, and other resources painted the outlook as grim. The state is entering its fourth year of drought, and there is no forecast for precipitation in the near future.California for the spring and summer likely will be forced to rely on stored water, they said, to meet the needs of cities and farms."This really spells out the fact that the situation is unprecedented and critical, and requires the actions of all-hands-on-deck," Mark Ghilarducci, director of the California Office of Emergency Services, said during a conference call with reporters and state officials. "Over the last year this drought has taken a toll on our cities, our farms and our natural environment."State officials in calling for shared sacrifice stressed multiple times that it's not an issue of penalties for residents while agriculture drinks up most of the state's water unfettered. This came as journalists peppered the department heads with questions about water use by farms and other large businesses."Drought is not an issue over who is impacted the most, but rather drought is impacting all of us," said Chuck Bonham, director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. "It's not about people or the environment, fish or farms. The task in front of us is how we make it through together."Brown in his executive order directed the state Water Resources Control Board to impose the 25 percent water use reduction compared with last year. Local agencies will decide how to get customers to reduce consumption, state water board Chairwoman Felicia Marcus said. Higher rates for greater use is one likely option.When asked whether rationing now would be used, Marcus didn't respond directly but said that "there will clearly be some sort of limits." Local agencies will "need to limit it to meet the targets that we set for them."A statewide 25 percent cutback is the goal, but a "sliding scale" will be developed to factor in that some places already have conserved more than others, Marcus said. Regions that haven't yet voluntarily cut back therefore could face mandates to reduce by more than one-fourth. The board will develop rules over the next month.City agencies will be put in charge because "it's not like we can chase after everybody and their backyard from the state level," Marcus said. The state can access $10,000-per-day penalties on local bodies that fail to enforce water cutbacks, she said."We do have that authority, and we won't be afraid to use it," Marcus said. However, when asked whether municipal agencies would face a $10,000 fine for their first offense, Marcus said: "We may well do progressive enforcement. It just depends on the situation."California on average uses about 140 gallons per person per day, while in Australia -- which endured an extended drought -- it's 54 gallons per person per day, said Heather Cooley, water program director at the Pacific Institute, a research group.Marcus yesterday said higher use in California mostly stems from outdoor watering. The state could significantly cut its water use by reducing irrigation, she said. It will be up to local agencies to crack down on golf courses, people refilling swimming pools, mega-mansions and other big users.The state will roll out incentives directed at replacing 50 million square feet of lawns with drought-tolerant landscaping, said Mark Cowin, director of the California Department of Water Resources. Many local agencies already have been offering money to eliminate lawns, such as "cash for grass" in Los Angeles (Greenwire, July 2, 2014). The state will aim to help underserved communities, Cowin said. There is no dollar amount set yet.The California Energy Commission will offer financial incentives for people to replace inefficient toilets, urinals and faucets, said commission Chairman Robert Weisenmiller. The amount available hasn't been determined.
'Balancing act'
Brown's edict appeared to unmask some long-simmering tensions between urban and agricultural demands. University of California, Los Angeles, law professor Jonathan Zasloff in a blog post responding to the executive order asked, "Are California's new mandatory water restrictions an April Fool's Day joke?""It's important to keep one number in mind: one-sixth. That is the amount of California water that goes to one crop: alfalfa," Zasloff wrote. "It's a pretty low-value crop. And it is not even for human consumption directly; it is used for cattle feed. It could be grown much more easily in the better-watered eastern US, but why should farmers worry about it? They are getting free water based on antiquated water rights law."The Imperial Irrigation District, based in Southern California's Imperial Valley where alfalfa is grown, owns close to one-third of the state's water rights, he said. California's complicated water rights law prioritizes those who were first in line with privileges preceding 1914, when the current allocation structure was created.During the conference call with state officials, there were questions about the reason for targeting urban users when the agricultural sector consumes 80 percent of the water for human use.State officials said it's not accurate to say there's not enforcement against farms because water deliveries have been dramatically cut. The federal government's Central Valley Water Project has reduced its deliveries to zero. The State Water Project, a mammoth system of canals and pumps that transports water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to Southern California, has cut its allocations to 20 percent."The enforcement in this case is that we are curtailing water available to them," Cowin said.For farmers, "it's a much harsher world that they live in," Marcus said, adding that water cutoffs have led to the fallowing of fields.State officials during the call also were asked about growers of almonds and pistachios, which are reputed to be big water consumers. California Department of Food and Agriculture Secretary Karen Ross said they are "very efficient users of water," although she said she did not have exact information on how much water almond crops use.California-grown almonds are one of the state's most lucrative crops and a top agricultural export, going to China, Spain, India, Germany and the United Arab Emirates, according to the California drought report.Asked about the tension between water consumption by nut growers and the 25 percent mandatory cut on urban users, Ross said it was a "balancing act." She noted that the nut crops "have high demand, high markets, and are not grown in many other places in the world.""The use of water is required for all things that we do in the state. It's required for our economy. It's required for growing food crops. It's required for our very quality of life," Ross said. "As people move to more and more plant-based proteins and nutrient-rich foods, that has driven high demand for the very crops that we grow here in California."
Surcharges planned
As the state looks to local districts to enforce the 25 percent cut, the biggest water wholesaler is planning changes that will mean higher costs for those who use more.The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), a consortium that supplies water to 19 million people, starting July 1 will impose surcharges on member agencies that exceed their allocation. MWD supplies water to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Municipal Water District of Orange County and San Diego County Water Authority among others.Under the new structure, agencies that use 100 to 115 percent of their allocation will pay a surcharge of $1,480 for each acre-foot over their limit (an acre-foot is water covering an acre up to a foot high).The municipal agencies are likely to pass those costs along to ratepayers, MWD spokesman Bob Muir said.MWD can't ration, he said, because it just supplies to the agencies, which in turn provide water to households and businesses."We don't actually cut off water. It will be a price signal," Muir said.The pending surcharge comes as MWD debates how much it will reduce the supplies it delivers to agencies this summer. The wholesaler is the largest customer of the State Water Project, which at one point sent more than a billion gallons of water per day from the delta to Southern California (E&E Daily, March 27).This year, however, delta deliveries dropped by about two-thirds, leaving MWD facing tough decisions about how much of its own resources to use up. MWD directors on April 14 will decide how much water the wholesaler can afford to withdraw from its reserves. That in addition to Brown's executive order will influence the amount municipal agencies must cut."You're definitely going to see a reduction," Muir said.
Delta barricades
Brown's executive order also instructs the Department of Water Resources to plan for installing rock barriers in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which supplies water to two-thirds of California, in order to prevent salt water from entering the rivers due to low flows. The option had been considered last year as well but was never implemented (Greenwire, April 10, 2014).The move is unpopular with environmentalists and delta residents because it would have the effect of blocking river flows for fish trying to make it through the delta, including the threatened delta smelt. The barrier would also interfere with boating and recreation."It's much worse this year because the impacts would be worse this year on water quality," said Barbara Barrigan-Parilla, executive director of Restore the Delta, a nonprofit composed of fishing, farming, development and environmental interests. Water levels are lower, so temperatures will be higher due to stagnant water. "The impacts are really quite frightening," she said.Cowin with the Department of Water Resources said that "if we do not see additional precipitation in April, we likely will have to pursue installation of these barriers."Reporter Debra Kahn contributed.Twitter: @annecmulkern | Email: amulkern at eenews.net


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