Special Commentary: Kevin Wattier, GM, Long Beach Water

Not Enough is Being Done to Forestall or Lessen the Impact of Imminent Water Supply Shortage in Southern California


1. - The initial allocation for the State Water Project for calendar year 2009 was set at only 15% of contractual amounts in late October, and has not changed since then
- The primary storage reservoir on the State Water Project, Lake Oroville, is currently only 28% full. Lake Shasta, the primary reservoir on the federal Central Valley Project,
is 29% full. In both cases, this is less than half of normal for this time of year. The only other time Lake Oroville was this low in December in its 40-year history was in 1977.
- In 2007 and 2008, two dry years, the Metropolitan Water District used over half of it's dry-year storage to offset the difference between supply and demand in Southern California.
- Southern California has lost over 30% of it's access to imported water due to endangered species issues (State Water Project and Los Angeles Aqueduct), competition from
other states (Colorado River Water), and drought (all three supplies).

2. - In 2007, federal judge Oliver Wanger in Fresno ruled that the Biological Opinion to protect the delta smelt, a threatened species under the federal Endangered Species Act, was
invalid. He subsequently implemented interim protections, which had the affect of restricting the amount of water that can be pumped out of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta by the
state and federal water projects by 20 to 30%. The US Fish and Wildlife Service is scheduled to announce a new, permanent Biological Opinion by Monday, December 15th, as ordered
by Judge Wanger.

3. - Populations of several fish species in the Delta have declined precipitously in recent years, most notably the delta smelt and its cousin the longfin smelt. These two species are critical
elements of the food web and ecosystem in the Delta. Consequently, there are currently several actions under way to further protect these two species:
- The US Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a petition to change the status of the delta smelt under the FESA from threatened to endangered, a more protective classification
- The US Fish and Wildlife Service is considering a petition to list the longfin smelt under the FESA
- The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is considering a petition to list the longfin smelt under the CESA, and issued emergency regulations in November to provide
interim protections. These interim protections have the potential to reduce water supplies from the Delta by another 10 to 15%. A final listing decision is expected in February 2009.
- Populations of salmon spawning in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and their tributaries have also decreased dramatically in recent years, prompting the Department of Commerce
to ban all commercial salmon fishing off the California and Oregon coasts in 2008.

4. - All water agencies and cities in Southern California should take immediate actions to permanently reduce their water demands by at least 10%. This is what is needed to correct the imbalance
that currently exists between water demands and water supplies in Southern California. Just as the reductions in supply are expected to be permanent, the reductions in demand need to be
permanent, not temporary. Mandatory prohibitions on the wasting of water should be a minimum, combined with an aggressive public education campaign to educate all water users of
the need to conserve. Encouraging conversions from grass to California-friendly landscapes through whatever means necessary is the best way to accomplish this reduction in water demand.