California just agreed to significantly cut its Colorado River water use, but the deal might not be the conservation boon that it seems.
The seven states that share the Colorado River’s water celebrated some conservation wins at their annual meeting here this week but quickly began sparring over who will bear the brunt of future pain that they agree a drying climate will dole out.
Southern California has agreed to conserve enough water in Lake Mead to support upwards of 300,000 single family homes for a year under an agreement struck with the federal government.
A new landmark water exchange agreement will increase water levels in Lake Mead, fight upward pressure on wholesale water rates, and create a new template for water management in the arid West.
The one-year agreement was announced on Friday, December 1 by the San Diego County Water Authority. The agreement is supported by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and executed in coordination with the Imperial Irrigation District (IID) and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan). Funds to facilitate the deal are from the federal 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
The new agreement highlights ways water agencies can work together under existing laws and agreements to adapt to the changing climate.
“This is a great example of what happens when we collaborate and work together. Cooperation by all three water agencies and the Bureau of Reclamation produced a creative solution that helps sustain the Colorado River,” said Water Authority Chair Mel Katz. “Today’s announcement is an innovative win-win-win solution that helps us all meet the incredible challenges we face.”
The agreement builds on the groundbreaking 2003 Quantification Settlement Agreement (QSA). It achieves several goals by helping California meet conservation obligations under the Bureau of Reclamation’s Lower Colorado River Basin conservation program, supporting financial viability for participating agencies, and reducing the chances for more shortages. The Colorado River system has suffered drought-induced decline for more than 20 years.
The new arrangement is expected to save the Water Authority a projected $15 million to $20 million (depending on hydrological variables), which will help offset the impact of inflation and other factors on water rates.
Officials recognizing the Quantification Settlement Agreement 20th Anniversary (L to R): Jim Barrett, Coachella Valley Water District GM, Miguel Luna, Chair of the Legal and Claims Committee with the MWD Board, State Assemblyman David Alvarez (D-80), Water Authority GM Dan Denham, Colorado River Board of California Vice Chair and Water Authority board member Jim Madaffer, Water Authority Board Chair Mel Katz, Jamie Asbury, IID GM, MWD General Manager Adel Hagekhalil, IID GM Alex Cardenas. Photo: San Diego County Water Authority
The Water Authority, Metropolitan, and IID have been working together for several months on ways to capitalize on current water supplies. Due to a historically wet year, the State Water Project is delivering full supplies to Metropolian, refilling reservoirs and reducing demand for imported Colorado River water. The Metropolitan Board of Directors approved the agreement in November, and the IID Board followed with its approval on December 1.
“This partnership between Metropolitan, Imperial Irrigation District, the San Diego County Water Authority, and the Bureau of Reclamation is another example of how solutions developed collaboratively can benefit everyone,” said Adán Ortega, Jr., chair of the Metropolitan Board of Directors. “Our individual efforts to reduce our reliance on the Colorado River can be magnified by our growing and mutual interdependence leading to creative and lasting solutions, where the people we all serve win, as does the environment.”
In October 2003, the San Diego County Water Authority, Coachella Valley Water District, Imperial Irrigation District, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, State of California, and U.S. Department of the Interior completed a historic set of agreements to conserve and transfer Colorado River water.
The Water Authority will leave 50,000 acre-feet of conserved QSA water in the Colorado River. This helps raise the level of Lake Mead, which has dropped in recent years. The volume is equivalent to the amount of water used in a year by approximately 150,000 single-family homes.
The Water Authority agreed to buy 50,000 acre-feet from Metropolitan to meet current and future demands. The Water Authority’s cost savings result from the difference between the Metropolitan rate and the rate for IID’s conserved water through the QSA. The Bureau of Reclamation will cover the cost of the Water Authority’s QSA supplies left in the river.
“This transfer is an example of how Southern California water agencies are leading with creative water management,” said Water Authority General Manager Dan Denham. “This agreement is based on decades of working together through the QSA, and it makes good on our collective commitment to the river. While this is a one-year arrangement, it will open the door for additional talks between partnering agencies in 2024.”
If you don’t already know, it will surprise you to learn that for all the attention that our state’s water supply receives in California – for all the worry and effort it takes to make sure there’s enough for our 40 million residents, 24 million acres of farmland, countless acres of natural environment, and status as the world’s fifth-largest economy (of which its agriculture and environment are huge parts) – no statewide goal exists to ensure a sustainable water supply for California’s future. What big, bold vision has ever been achieved without first setting a goal?
Noah Cross, the sinister plutocrat of the movie
“Chinatown,” remarked that “politicians, ugly buildings and whores all get respectable if they last long enough.”
He might have added public works projects to that list: If they get talked about long enough, sometimes they acquire the image of inevitability. That seems to be the case with the Sites Reservoir, a water project in the western Sacramento Valley that originated during the Eisenhower administration.
With climatologists predicting the potential for above-average precipitation in the months ahead due to the El Niño weather phenomenon, it’s an ideal time to take advantage of the County of San Diego’s upcoming rainwater harvesting workshops and rain barrel rebates.
The County’s Waterscape Rebate Program will host free rainwater harvesting workshops in Fall and Winter 2023. Workshops help residents learn how to capture rainwater to supplement their irrigation needs, save money on water bills, and protect our region’s environment by preventing pollutants from spilling into regional watersheds.
The County of San Diego holds free rain barrel rebate workshops at different locations. Use the QR Code for the latest schedule. Photo: County of San Diego
The next scheduled workshop is Wednesday, November 8, at 1 p.m. at Tractor Supply, 27444 Valley Center Road. Future workshops will be listed on the County of San Diego Waterscape Rebate Program website.
At the end of the workshop, residents who live in unincorporated areas of San Diego County may be eligible to receive a free rain barrel. Participants in incorporated areas can check their rebate eligibility on the San Diego County website’s interactive map.
The County of San Diego Watershed Protection Program (WPP) partners with the San Diego County Water Authority and Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (through SoCal WaterSmart) and can assist residents in determining which program benefits are available.
During San Diego County’s limited periods of rainfall, any rainwater captured from your roof and property saves money. It also helps the region maintain its water supplies.
Directing downspouts into water-collecting features in your landscaping makes use of rainfall. Photo: County of San Diego
Workshops introduce residents to several beautiful, efficient ways to save rainwater. In addition to rain barrels, directing downspouts to fill containers lets you choose how to use the rainwater you capture. The overflow should empty onto your yard or a landscape feature to infiltrate the excess flow into the soil. Rain chains can assist with this.
The Countyl of San Diego is committed to protecting the water quality in county creeks, streams, and coastal areas. Runoff from irrigation, storms, and even faulty septic systems can bring pollutants to county waterways and threaten public health.
When businesses and households make changes to reduce water use and use rainwater in their landscapes, it helps preserve healthy, safe waterways and more reliable water supplies.
After buying rain-saving containers or other items eligible for rebates, and have installed them, residents can apply for rebates. Current rain barrel rebates are $35 and are limited to two per household for most San Diego County residents. Multiple projects are eligible. Details at: Socal WaterSmart.
Making use of rain barrels is good for the environment and good for your household budget. Photo: National Audubon Society
Whether or not El Niño results in increased rainfall, even light rain can provide enough water for later use. A roof with a 2,000-square-foot surface area can capture 300 gallons from only a quarter inch of rain.
Stored water can be released gradually into landscaping between winter rainstorms, building up the soil sponge and ensuring that native plants get adequate water during the winter months when they need it most. If additional water is needed in the summer, captured and stored water during the winter could be used as supplemental irrigation.
The Solana Center For Environmental Innovation website has additional information on rain barrels and rebate programs.
As the Biden administration kicks off a years-long negotiation process to divvy up the shrinking water supply of the Colorado River, there are finally some signs of optimism after several bleak years.
A record-breaking winter snowpack last year halted a precipitous downward spiral on the river and raised water levels at the nation’s two largest reservoirs, Lakes Mead and Powell.
After years of dealing with drought conditions, the region’s water supply is in good shape, ready to meet the demand for 2024, according to the San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA).
“Last year we were starting Water Year ‘23 in really heavy drought conditions with state mandatory reductions and this year there’s no mandatory water use reductions… there’s a lot of water in storage in Northern California, reservoirs are full,” said Efren Lopez, water resources specialist with SDCWA.
That’s because of all the storms over the past year that drenched California, delivering above-average amounts of rain and snow with the Sierra snowpack reaching 200% above average.
Would a proposed Salton Sea Conservancy help efforts in the troubled region? Elected officials and local organizations are split, with some saying it will just add another layer of bureaucracy to already mired efforts.
California Senate Bill 583, authored by state Sen. Steve Padilla, D-San Diego, and coauthored by Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella, would create the Salton Sea Conservancy, “tasking it with coordinating management of all conservation projects in the region to restore the shrinking sea and reducing the negative health impact the Sea imposes,” according to Padilla’s office. There are currently 10 similar state conservancies under the California Natural Resources Agency, including the local Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy.
The Water News Network is San Diego County’s source for water news and information.
