California is home to many of the world’s most advanced and innovative technology companies. Yet, while Silicon Valley and up-and-coming Silicon Beach are cutting-edge, another critical component of California’s economy – agriculture – is hobbled by outdated systems, particularly when it comes to how water is delivered and used.
California’s top water manager said Monday that the problem-plagued Oroville Reservoir will have a new spillway in place to prevent potentially dangerous outflows of water in time for the next rainy season. The pledge follows concern that the reservoir’s concrete main spillway, which fractured in February, would require more than the dry summer and fall months to fix because of the extent of damage.
By every wet indication, California is about to lift the drought state of emergency order imposed in January 2014. So we thought this would be a good time to talk to Felicia Marcus, the chairwoman of California’s Water Resources Control Board (you can call her the Water Czar.) This interview has been edited and condensed. Do you think these past three years have produced permanent changes in how Californians use water?
Local civic and business leaders have launched a “Stop the Spending” campaign when it comes to water rates. The agency is calling on one of its main suppliers – the Metropolitan Water District – to stop unnecessary water rate increases. San Diego gets 41 percent of its water from the Metropolitan Water District, but the city has been working on increasing local water supplies.
Re “State’s plan for river flows spells disaster” (Page 7A, March 20): Restore the Delta agrees that Gov. Jerry Brown’s Delta tunnels proposal and the San Joaquin water plan by the State Water Resources Control Board will be a disaster economically and ecologically for the Delta, and that the State Water Board ignores the Delta’s area of origin rights (Water Code Sections 12200-12205). But we disagree with San Joaquin County Supervisors Chuck Winn and Katherine Miller’s treatment of fish issues.
Jason Tucker’s job title is facility manager at the Glen Canyon Dam. But you could also say he’s also a kind of banker. Colorado River water flows into his bank – the reservoir behind the dam. He can then loan it out to create electricity. Some even call the dam here a kind of “savings account,” tapped as needed to replenish Lake Mead and the Hoover Dam, which lie past the Grand Canyon to the west.
The decades-old Encina Power Station, site of a 400-foot-tall smokestack that looms over Carlsbad’s skyline, may not shut down operations by the end of this year after all. State officials are considering keeping the facility open through the end of 2018, when a new power station, the 500-megawatt Carlsbad Energy Center, is expected to be completed and replace the old Encina plant. Keeping Encina open means the controversial process called “once-through cooling” that kills marine life will continue for now.
This is northern California’s wettest year of record, so far. The Yolo Bypass has been flooded for most of this wet season, and is still flowing. Are Delta water exports going to exceed the previous record exports from 2011 (6.5 maf)? The figure above compares this year’s Delta water exports compare with other years before and after the 2007 Wanger Decision, and the drought years (2012-2016). So far, the State Water Project and Central Valley Project together have pumped a little less than in 2011, 2006 (another wet year), or 2007. They are all pretty close (with most of these highest-export water years falling after CVPIA and Endangered species restrictions on Delta pumping).
Just because those on the Poway City Council recently eased local water restrictions doesn’t mean residents shouldn’t be mindful of their H20 use, officials said. “(It) isn’t an invitation to turn our backs on lessens learned during the drought,” a March 23 post on the community’s Facebook page said. “Learn what the current ‘Water Shortage Watch’ means and why you still need to turn off your sprinklers when it rains.” The message is in reference to a Poway City Council-adopted resolution earlier this month that lets up on outdoor watering restrictions for local customers.
With all the downpours and flooding across California this winter, it might seem that the pressure to begin managing the state’s precious groundwater supply would ease up a bit. Instead, the state is pushing to quicken the pace of implementing groundwater regulations. “To protect critical water infrastructure, we need to think about what we can do at a faster pace” than the long-term deadlines now in groundwater law, said Jeanine Jones, a Department of Water Resources manager, citing new aerial images pinpointing severe over-pumping.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
