California Drought Update
by Patrick Ruckert
June 18, 2015
http://www.californiadroughtupdate.org
https://www.facebook.com/CaliforniaDroughtUpdate
Our report this week will focus on two topics: First, how the state’s criminal and incompetent policies are turning this water crisis into a catastrophe, as virtually daily, announcements of new water restrictions and the cutting off of water to entire communities and large groups of farmers are made by the State Water Board. Second, desalination, over the past few weeks, is moving forward– at least in terms of increased press coverage of it as now being the required option. But, lets first look at this beautiful graphic representation of why California farmers are irreplaceable: (The graphic “Grown in California” will not reproduce here. I’ll try to get it on this site later).
Governor Brown Water Boards more farmers
The farmers of the Central Valley of California are being “waterboarded,” as week by week, more and more of them are being cut off from their water supplies by the appropriately named “Water Board.”
The shocker to farmers this week was the announcement by the Water Board on June 12, that senior water rights holders would be cut off.
The worst drought in recorded California history became a water crisis after no new water infrastructure had been built for more than 40 years, while the population of the state almost doubled. The Franklin D. Roosevelt built Central Valley Project and the Governor “Pat” Brown built California Water Project, completed in 1972, had ensured enough water for California all the way into the 1990s. The shift of the U.S. economy after the assassination of President John Kennedy from building the infrastructure future generations would require, to gambling by Wall Street, along with the rise of the anti-human environmentalist movement, as represented by the current Governor Jerry Brown, turned a foreseeable drought into a full-blown crisis. The Kennedy era projects, building nuclear-powered desalination plants and the North American Water and Power Alliance, were canceled, thus canceling the water supply foreseen as needed after 1990. Rather than returning to that building for the future, Governor Brown insists that the crisis is the new normal that people must get used to. And, as he said on June 9 in Los Angeles, the state has too many people.
As reported by Maven News on June 12, “the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) announced today that there is insufficient water available for senior water right holders with a priority date of 1903 or later in the San Joaquin and Sacramento watersheds and the Delta.” The order affects 276 pre-1914 appropriative water rights holders.” Those with water rights older than 1903 are not affected, yet. The Water Board, in its statement, warned that more cuts are coming.
As reported by Capital Press on June 12, “But holders of even more senior rights may be next, said Tom Howard, the water board’s executive director.
“’We anticipate every one or two weeks through the summer we’ll be issuing another batch of these as the supply of water declines and demands continue,’” Howard told reporters in a conference call.”
During all of 2014, the Water Board issued curtailment notices to more than 5,000 water rights holders in the state. During April and May this year the Water Board had already issued curtailment notices to more than 9,000 junior water rights holders in the two watersheds and the Delta. Today’s announcement begins the cutting off of senior rights holders for the first time since the 1977 drought.
These cuts will expand fallowing of cropland in the affected areas, adding to the more than 600,000 acres already fallowed so far this year.
The notices come with teeth, as the Water Board warns: “Diversion of water when water is not available under the right holder’s date of priority is unauthorized and unlawful. Violations are subject to fines up to $1,000 per day and $2,500 per acre-foot of water unlawfully diverted, cease and desist orders, or prosecution in court.”
Usefully, for those unfamiliar with California State water law, the statement from the Water Board defines California water rights law:
“California water rights law is based on seniority. In dry years, when there isn’t enough water in the system to serve all water right holders, those with more junior rights are required to stop diverting water from rivers and streams before restrictions are imposed on more senior right holders. The Water Commission Act of 1913, which took effect in 1914, created California’s system of water rights and the distinction between junior and senior appropriative water rights.
“Senior water right holders are those claiming appropriative water rights established prior to the Water Commission Act, and riparian water rights. Riparian water rights are rights granted to owners of land abutting a stream or river.”
KQED warned on June 15:
“With the state facing a long, dry summer, officials warned that these may not be the last cutbacks.
“Curtailment notices for other watersheds and for more senior rights holders in these watersheds may be imminent,” warned the water board’s Trgovcich.
“That could even affect San Francisco. The city’s Public Utilities Commission has rights dating back to 1901, after the city’s mayor famously claimed water in the Tuolumne River by nailing a sheet of paper to a tree.”
Everyone expects a flood of lawsuits by senior water rights holders.
KCRA – Sacramento reported:
“We will vigorously defend our rights,” said Rick Gilmore, general manager of the district, which has been ordered to cut off water to 160 farmers, including the famed Frog Hollow Farms, which supplies organic citrus to farmers markets around the Bay Area.
“All our sweet corn and tomatoes — they won’t make it to harvest. Almonds and cherries will suffer damage,” he said. “They’ll lose the water they need for July and August.”
Water from Lake Shasta to be cut by 20 percent
On June 17, state and federal officials announced that releases of water for downstream deliveries would be cut by 20 percent, setting off new panic among the farmers of the Sacramento Valley who depend on that water for their crops. The Appeal Democrat reported on June 18:
“Fueling the change in releases is concern for the 2015 winter-run Chinook salmon run, which was devastated by warm river temperatures in 2014.
“The announcement that the release plan from Shasta would be reduced sent waves of anxiety through farmers along the Sacramento River who were counting on the April release schedule when they planted their crops. Now those crops are in the ground, but the water supply is suddenly in question….
“Bettner said that crops dying from lack of water was a possibility. Other farmers will increase groundwater pumping to make up for the decline in surface water availability.
“Sean Doherty, a rice and almond farmer in Sutter, Colusa and Yolo counties, also said there is a potential for crop loss as a result of the reduced releases.
“This is probably the last notch in the belt,” Doherty said. “Everything will be tightened up. If people have wells, we’ll be asking them to run their wells.”
“The situation is unprecedented.”
On the Russian River, too
On June 17, the State Water Board imposed for the first time restrictions on well water use near the Russian River. A few paragraphs from area press on this development are given here to indicate how the state’s criminal and incompetent policies are creating, as even some press put it, “ a water war,” where people are beginning to revolt, but also to fight one another. Other symptoms include the Nazi-like turning in of your neighbors for wasting water, called drought-shaming, which is becoming a wide-spread practice.
As reported by The Chronicle, June 17:
“The emergency regulation passed by the State Water Board requires 13,000 Sonoma County property owners near four Russian River tributaries to cut back on water use and report how much water they suck up from their wells beginning July 3.
“The crackdown, which affects landowners near Santa Rosa, Healdsburg and Sebastopol, is one of a few recent efforts by the state to regulate the use of groundwater, a practice that biologists believe is siphoning water away from the streams that endangered coho salmon need to survive.”
And the Press Democrat, reported, also on June 17:
“The emergency regulation will apply, starting July 3, to about 10,000 landowners on 130 square miles across four watersheds: Dutch Bill and Green Valley creeks in the west county, Mark West Creek north of Santa Rosa and Mill Creek west of Healdsburg. About 13,000 properties will be covered by the rules.
“Residents and businesses, including wineries, will be prohibited from using water drawn from creeks or wells for sprinkling lawns or washing cars, while irrigation of other landscaping, such as trees and plants, will be limited as it is in many cities.
“Irrigation for commercial agriculture is exempt from the water conservation rules, an issue that prompted harsh criticism from several county residents attending the meeting and was acknowledged by Felicia Marcus, the water board’s chairwoman.
“Farm Bureau representatives also objected to the requirement that all landowners submit detailed water use reports to the state. The water board, sensitive to those complaints, agreed to postpone that part of the order until a series of public meetings is completed in Sonoma County in early July.”
“The irrigation exemption for agriculture drew some of the sharpest public comments on the day.
“Woicicki accused the state of turning a “blind eye” as “grape growers have been sucking water out of our aquifer.” The apple grower said his well water level has dropped 20 feet in the last seven years as grapes were planted near his property.
“Farming interests strongly protested the mandatory reporting of water use, a step that state officials have acknowledged could serve as the foundation for tighter restrictions.”
Ban grapes, then what?
The Los Angels Board of Supervisors this week imposed a temporary ban on new or expanded vineyards in the Santa Monica Mountains. The people of Malibu are not too happy. They have been heard to whine, “It’s not our fault.”
The war begins: Farmer vs. farmer
Maven reported on June 16, this statement from the State Water Contractors:
The State Water Contractors (SWC) filed a complaint today requesting the State Water Resources Control Board take action to protect State Water Project releases from unlawful diversions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta). Every day this summer, public water agencies will release billions of gallons of freshwater from storage to maintain environmental and water quality standards in the Delta. Substantial, unlawful diversions by water diverters south of the San Joaquin River threaten to increase the burden on limited stored water supplies, affecting both the environment and other water users.
“These landowners in the Delta have long-standing water rights that entitle them to water when nature provides it—but those rights do not entitle them to stored water paid for by others and intended for the environment. If nature ran its course, the Delta would not be suitable for drinking or farming this summer,” said Stefanie Morris, acting general manager of the State Water Contractors.
And rich vs. poor
In a widely reported article by Rob Kuznia on June 14, “Rich Californians balk at limits: ‘We’re not all equal when it comes to water,’” he quotes Steve Yuhas of Rancho Santa Fe, complaining that he, because he is rich, should not have to cut his water use. Yuhas believes that because he has money he should not have to suffer a brown lawn or golf course and summarized it nicely, “And, no, we’re not all equal when it comes to water.” Another denizen of Rancho Santa Fe complained that the value of his nine-acre plot plummet from $30 million to $22 million, because it has acres and acres of grass. It must be all those poor people who drink too much water every day.
But he may not get what he wants. The Santa Fe Irrigation District, which provides water service to Rancho Santa Fe may not tolerate such behavior. Kuznia quotes Jessica Parks, spokeswoman for the district:
“‘It’s now more of a ‘This is the amount of water you get within this billing period. And if you go over that, there will be high penalties.’ ”
Residents who exceed their allotment could see their already sky-high water bills triple. And for ultra-wealthy customers undeterred by financial penalties, the district reserves the right to install flow restrictors — quarter-size disks that make it difficult to, say, shower and do a load of laundry at the same time.
In extreme cases, the district could shut off the tap altogether.
Don’t forget the immigrants
A few weeks ago we reported on an anti-immigrant group airing commercials blaming immigrants for the water crisis. The group was Californians for Population Stabilization, which blames immigrants and “over-population for every problem, including your cat peeing on your rug.
If the law gets in the way….
On June 11, reflecting the Brownshirt view of the law and the Constitution, California Attorney General Kamala Harris asked the state’s Supreme Court to strictly limit a lower court’s ruling that local water rates designed to encourage conservation are unconstitutional. A couple of months ago the 4th District Court of Appeals ruled that the tiered water rates applied by San Juan Capistrano were illegal under California law. The 1996 initiative 218 limited the prices water districts could charge customers to what it cost the city or water district to deliver it. Tiered pricing charges higher rates for those customers who use the most water.
Damage is beginning to pile up
The drought is serious, not only for farmers, but also for urban areas, especially in the Central Valley, as demonstrated by a USA Today article on June 17, identifying the nine large urban areas that have the worst drought conditions in the country. All nine are in California and all but one are in the Central Valley. They are: Hanford, Merced, Modesto, Fresno, Yuba City, Lancaster-Palmdale, Chico, Sacramento, and Bakersfield.
As reported by FM89 on June 4, Kern County and the major city of Bakersfield is nearing a critical situation on its water supply. The Kern River is heading for its lowest level since record keeping began in 1894, and the city will not get any new water from the river the rest of this year.
The Los Angeles Times reported on June 18 that the Southern California cherry crop has been devastated by a combination of the drought and a winter heat wave, piled on top of a late frost and the damage caused by ravens and bark beetles.
An article examining the damage to California agriculture by Dan Kowalski, Economist and Director of CoBank Knowledge Exchange on June 12, published on Agprofessional.com, while covering a lot of ground, reports the following items I think are worth repeating:
“While damages caused by the drought in 2015 will be worse than they were a year ago, losses are not yet expected to reach catastrophic levels. The situation does present an ongoing war of attrition with the state’s water supply, however, as water tables will continue to fall with each successive year of drought, and each year bringing additional financial stress to the producer.
“For livestock producers – especially those in the dairy sector – the continued deterioration of pasture conditions and reduced feed and forage availability will hit particularly hard. California dairy producers typically import 50 percent of their feed sources during non-drought years, but feed imports increase to 60 to 70 percent during drought years. With milk prices down as much as 40 percent from 2014 levels, 2015 could be a particularly painful year for dairy producers.”
Environmentalists kill trees
By blocking over the past 40 years the policies of the Kennedy administration to ensure the state’s water supply well into the 21st Century, environmentalists and their Wall Street allies have produced a crisis that, in addition to the hardships now suffered by the people of the state, has allowed the drought to kill more trees in the state than any logger could ever dream of cutting down. Of the several articles on the destruction of the Western and Canadian forests by pine beetles over the past few months, I have excerpted the one by Jim Steinberg of The Sun, “Bark beetles pose greater fire danger in fourth year of California drought,” published on June 13. Dead and dying trees, as the article points out, are ideal fuel for fires:
“The proliferation of bark beetles in the Western United States forests “is the largest insect outbreak in the history of the planet … at least in recorded history,” said Diana L. Six, professor of forest entomology and pathology at The University of Montana in Missoula, Montana.
“Earlier this spring, an aerial survey of Southern California forests showed that about 2 million trees have been killed by the bark beetle, leaving 164,000 acres scarred with mostly dead trees.
“That compares with 4,000 acres identified in an aerial survey in July 2013.
“A separate aerial survey for the Central Coast and Southern Sierra Ranges showed 835,000 acres with high tree mortality and an estimated 10,450,000 dead trees.
“That is up from 140,000 acres of tree mortality in a survey done last July and 80,000 in 2013.
“Bark beetles and their larvae feed on the inner bark of pine trees, impairing its ability to transport nutrients, says a U.S. Department of Agriculture publication on the insect.
“Low rainfall and higher temperatures have created large stands of weakened trees in much of the American west.
“A healthy tree will secrete resin — which kills invading bark beetles.
“But drought weakened trees can’t produce that defensive response, forest scientists say.”
Desalination: Its time has come
Over the last two weeks I count at least at least a dozen articles on desalination, or quotes from political figures who mention it. Even Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi in her weekly press briefing last week, said desalination is one option for California. This was after she questioned the claim by Governor Brown and President Obama that the drought was caused by man-caused global warming.
Perhaps the most interesting article was reported by the San Luis Obisbo Tribune on June 3 thetribunenews.com, “Can Diablo Canyon’s desal plant help ease SLO County’s water crisis?”
The General Electric's Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant currently produces 675,000 gallons of fresh water per day from the Pacific Ocean for the operation of the plant's two reactors and to provide drinking water for the employees. But GE field area manager, Terence East, reports that the plant limits the amount of desalted water because it doesn't need any more. In fact, he says, it is licensed to produced 1.5 million gallons of fresh water per day. Running at full capacity, the plant could supply water to 7,600 of the residents of San Luis Obispo County. For the next four months, the county's Drought Task Force and plant operator Pacific Gas & Electric will study the feasibility of installing a pipeline from the plant to transfer water to the county. Since the desalination process is highly modular, additional components could be added easily to expand production, the experts state. A pipeline could be installed later this year. And the Santa Barbara City Council voted to go ahead with restarting its mothballed desalination plant on June 15.
Other articles report on how both that the owners of the Carlsbad desalination plant, scheduled to come on line in November, claim that this will change how the state looks at its future water supply, and how more people in the state agree. Since the company Poseiden is an Israeli owned company, other articles report on how Israel began its desalination program in the late 1990s and now gets 40 percent of its water from the four major plants that were built.
Interestingly a couple more articles report on desalination of brackish water in the San Joaquin Valley. A Fresno Bee article, “Who needs an ocean? San Joaquin Valley projects give new life to salty water,” noted these projects last week. Another article in the Fresno Bee on June 6 by Mark Grossi, “Could desalted water soothe California’s drought wounds?,” states:
“But don’t get the idea that the ocean is the only source of salty water. In fact, it’s not even the most common source. There are far more projects inland, dealing mostly with brackish, underground supplies, especially in places where irrigation has taken place. There are 23 such projects currently in California.
“The majority of these small, inland projects are scattered throughout Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino and Orange counties.”
The Los Angeles Times on June 4, reporting on the Carlsbad plant noted that San Diego is the world center for desalination technology and will be the host for the upcoming conference of the International Desalination Association.
