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Regional Water Issues
Tunnels to bring water to parched Southern California
A massive mechanical mole surfaced on Wednesday from a nearly 5-year journey under mountains in the final stages of a $1.2 billion tunnel project that will supply extra water to drought-hit Southern California. The 3.8-mile (6.1-km) tunnel, 1,500 feet below the San Bernardino Mountains, is the last piece of a 44-mile (71-km), three-tunnel system that will bring an additional 650 million gallons a day to 19 million Southern Californians, water officials said. Twenty years in the making, the tunnels will almost triple the amount of water in Southern California's half-empty reservoirs when the project is up and running in 2010. The Inland Feeder, one of biggest water engineering projects in the state since the 1960s, nears completion at a crucial time in California which is facing one of the worst droughts in its history. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state-wide drought emergency in June because of forecasts of yet another drier than normal winter, record lows in some reservoirs and population growth. California now has about 38 million people, up from 32 million during a big drought 15 years ago. Reuters_ 8/20/08
Hugo, Oklahoma, signs agreement to ship water to Irvine, Texas; Court approval needed
After watching approximately 25 million gallons of valuable water escape each day for three decades and losing millions of dollars in potential revenue, City of Hugo officials took action Thursday during special meetings of both the city council and the Hugo Municipal Authority, to approve a contract for the sale of surplus Hugo water to the City of Irving, Texas. Thursday evening, Irving city officials also voted unanimously to approve the proposed sale. In order to move the contract forward, the City of Hugo made two lawsuit filings in the Eastern District Federal Court in Muskogee, Okla., Friday morning, asking the court to grant it temporary relief from what it alleges is a violation of the city’s constitutional rights under the Interstate Commerce portions of the U.S. Constitution and another action asking the court for declaratory judgement granting the city permanent relief from what it believes are illegal state actions. In the water sale agreement between the two cities, Irving has pledged to spend up to $500,000 to cover Hugo’s legal costs to seek relief from the state actions through the federal court. The 60-year contract could bring the city as much as $195 million. Hugo Daily News_ 8/8/08
Salt Lake and Utah counties have appealed a Nevada water official's decision to keep them out of a project that would tap groundwater under Snake Valley and the west desert to feed growth in Las Vegas. Last month, Nevada State Engineer Tracy Taylor denied the two counties' request for "interested party" status, saying the counties should have filed a formal objection in 1989 to the Southern Nevada Water Authority's plans to build a $3.5 billion, 285-mile pipeline. In a lawsuit filed this week in Nevada state court, the Utah counties allege siphoning water from an aquifer that lies under the two states to feed Las Vegas would cause vegetation to die. If that happens, winds could pick up the destabilized soils and send them in dust-storm clouds to a Wasatch Front already struggling with particulate pollution. Salt Lake Tribune_8/8/08
Southern California water agencies should work together to help off-set drought
A study released Monday found that local and regional water agencies and water companies must jointly develop a strategy to avoid water shortages now that the Southland's traditional sources are drying up. The recommendation was among the preliminary findings of a study, "Where Will We Get The Water? Assessing Southern California's Future Water Strategies," conducted by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation Consulting Practice for the Southern California Leadership Council, a business advocacy organization founded in 2005, and other sponsors. The study was designed to identify and compare water supply and reliability options for the region in light of the declining supplies from traditional water import sources -- the Colorado River, the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta, and the Owens River. CBS_ 7/28/08
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Las Vegas urges early hearing on importing more water from Utah-Nevada border area
The main water supplier for Las Vegas, already allowed to pump more than 19 billion gallons of water a year from rural Nevada, pressed Tuesday for a January hearing on its bid for another 16 billion gallons from a valley on the state's border with Utah. But opponents of the Southern Nevada Water Authority pumping plan for Snake Valley said they need more time to prepare, and asked state Engineer Tracy Taylor for a hearing delay until late 2009. SNWA's application for the Snake Valley water is a key element in its efforts to start delivering rural groundwater through a 200-mile-long pipeline network to Las Vegas by 2015. AP/Salt Lake Tribune_ 7/15/08
Despite protests, Nevada official OKs water pipeline for Las Vegas
Nevada State Engineer Tracy Taylor on Wednesday ruled that the Southern Nevada Water Authority may take 18,755 acre-feet of water annually from three Lincoln County valleys that are part of the basin that includes Snake Valley in Utah. Taylor also declared that Salt Lake and Utah counties - which sought to be heard on the matter - won't be allowed special status during hearings on the Vegas pipeline proposal because the counties did not file official protests in 1989, when SNWA first unveiled its plan. The water agency considers both decisions victories, said spokesman Scott Huntley, though the water drawdown in Cave, Dry Lake and Delamar valleys is by far the most significant. Though the water agency's original request was for nearly twice that much water, "that definitely was the number we were hoping for," Huntley said. Water experts say that the 285-mile, $3.5 billion Las Vegas pipeline could cause the basin's water table to drop far enough to kill off the vegetation that now holds the soil in place. Salt Lake Tribune_ 7/10/08
Moving water rights around in the west, a tradition that may be more profitable than growing crops
Washington regulators approved Ray Colbert's plan to sell 80-acres of apple orchards--and the water rights--so he could retire. Colbert lives in northern Washington and the buyer in southern Washington and the water rights just moved down the Okanogan River. If deals like Colbert's become a trend, local officials are concerned area farms will be nothing but dry land. Local officials are concerned about the implication for area farms. On a bigger scale, such trade-offs have been going on for decades, and underlie some of the west's biggest water fights. Northern California water is shipped to southern California for agriculture and drinking water; the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana is negotiating to sell its Missouri River water rights and Las Vegas is battling to import rural water so it can keep growing. AP_ 6/21/08
Las Vegas or Utah, who should get underground water?
As Nevada jockeys for water to quench a thirsty, growing Las Vegas, officials in Utah have spent about half of a $3 million budget to study valuable aquifers along the border. Utah Geological Survey researchers are midway through a project that involves digging monitoring wells south of the Dugway Mountain range and near Nevada's Great Basin National Park to study the quality, quantity and connectivity of aquifers that for decades have supplied Utah water rights holders. Western water historically has gone to whomever began using it first. Monitoring will continue, with results up until now showing that two aquifers studied are flowing from one to the other and that the quality is good. Jordan said they'll be looking closely at how spring runoff impacts the volume of those aquifers, which have yet to be tested by any large-scale pumping project. Deseret News_ 6/7/08
Republican River states 'have issues'
Disputes between Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado, the three members of the 1943 Republican River Compact, will be placed in the hands of an arbitrator. A settlement agreement for the Kansas v. Nebraska lawsuit gave each state the right to seek nonbinding arbitration. It’s a required step before the case could be returned to the U.S. Supreme Court for resolution. Tri-Basin Natural Resources District General Manager John Thorburn of Holdrege, who attended this week’s compact administration meeting in Lincoln, said all three states agreed Friday to invoke the right to arbitration “because each state has issues." A resolution approved Friday by the three compact administration commissioners, one from each state, outlines the issues: Kansas wants Nebraska to stop overusing its compact allocations, Nebraska disagrees with its water credits and other compact accounting procedures, and Colorado wants approval of its compact compliance plan. Kearney Hub_ 5/17/08
Could Florida's drought be over by year's end?
Don't crank up the lawn sprinklers yet, but state water officials say they see signs that Florida's latest drought — which has been going on since 2006 — may finally be easing up. Florida's wet season typically begins in late May or early June and continues for about five months through Nov. 1, producing two-thirds of South Florida's annual rainfall. "The outlook is much more optimistic (for the rainy season) than it was this time last year," said Ben Nelson, state meteorologist for the Division of Emergency Management. "If we have a typical wet season, we should be out of the drought by the end of the year." For the past 22 months, Florida's skies have been mostly dry. So during 2006 and 2007, when the Tampa Bay region should have received 53 inches of rain a year, only 43 inches fell in 2006 and 41 inches in 2007. Meanwhile South Florida's counties saw the driest consecutive years in the region since recordkeeping began in 1932. Statewide, the "rainfall deficit" is the largest since the mid 1950s, according to the state Department of Emergency Management. St. Petersburg Times_ 5/12/08
Colorado legislators approve $60.6 million Republican River pipeline loan
Colorado lawmakers, who end their 2008 legislative session this week, approved a $60.6 million loan to eastern Colorado farmers to build a compact-compliance pipeline that will deliver Republican River water to the state line. They also endorsed spending upwards of $15 million to meet the three-state agreement on protecting endangered species along the South Platte River and preventing the spread of zebra mussels from Pueblo Reservoir to other Colorado lakes and ponds. And anyone who wants to donate a water right to the Colorado Water Conservation Board to improve in-stream flow for recreation and fish habitat can now do so under the Healthy Rivers Act that Gov. Bill Ritter signed into law last month. But northeastern Colorado’s lawmakers couldn’t overcome long-held grievances over past well depletions from the South Platte River to help Front Range farmers take advantage of this winter’s heavy snowpack. A late bill that would have allowed the well users to irrigate and augment at the same time never made it out of committee. Journal-Advocate_ 5/6/08
San Antonio, Texas, Water System (SAWS) agrees to share regional scientific data for groundwater desalination plant
San Antonio Water System (SAWS) formed a new regional science advisory committee with officials from Bexar and Atascosa counties to jointly examine data related to SAWS' planned brackish groundwater desalination project. Following a meeting between San Antonio Mayor Phil Hardberger, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff and Atascosa County Judge Diane Bautista, elected officials and water purveyors agreed to review scientific findings together. The elected officials want to work with SAWS to ensure that the project does not adversely affect local water supplies in the Carrizo Aquifer or the much deeper Wilcox Aquifer from which the brackish water will be drawn. Brackish water has too high a salt content to be drunk. By removing the high salt content, SAWS believes that it may be able to tap into a new source of potable drinking water for the region. The committee's goal is to ensure that Atascosa County residents have their questions answered adequately and openly regarding the project. The proposed plant has an estimated price tag of $299 million. SAWS provides water and waste water services to more than 1 million residents in the San Antonio area. San Antonio Business Journal_ 3/25/08
Officials prepare to buy more water for the Republican River
Groundwork is being laid for possible use of surface water to enhance Republican River flows this year, if water supply forecasts predict that 2008 will be a water-short year. Directors of Nebraska's Lower Republican Natural Resources District were told at their Alma meeting Thursday that state Department of Natural Resources officials are talking to representatives of three irrigation districts upstream of Harlan County Dam about water purchases or a delay in deliveries to farmers. Those measures won’t be needed if federal Bureau of Reclamation estimates of lake levels in the basin at the start of irrigation season are accurate and this isn’t a water-short year. As of Wednesday, Harlan County Lake was at 87 percent of capacity — about 3 feet from full — and up 13 feet from the same time in 2007. Only Lake Bonny in Colorado and Keith Sebelius Lake at Norton, Kan., are lower now than a year ago. The Republican River begins in Colorado and cuts across Nebraska and Kansas. Kearney Hub_ 3/14/08
For decades, the Lower Colorado River Authority has insisted that it is obliged to sell its water to all comers as long as the supply in the river and the Highland Lakes holds out. The issue is fundamental to the issue of growth in Central Texas, where it will go and how — or whether — it will be managed. Traditionally, the vast majority of its water is sold "raw" — untreated — and in large quantities to cities such as Austin, developers, industrial plants and farmers. Since the 1990s, the LCRA has also treated and sold water on a retail basis to subdivisions, country clubs and the like, delivered by water lines from the river authority's treatment facilities, now scattered over 11 counties. Because some feed suburban sprawl, these systems are the LCRA's most controversial water enterprises. They also might be the least defensible. Austin American-Statesman_ 3/3/08
February, 2008
A report released today by the Great Lakes Commission and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative (Cities Initiative) and funded by the Joyce Foundation, concludes that local governments in the U.S. and Canada invest an estimated $15 billion annually to protect and restore the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River, but cannot keep pace with the one-two punch of escalating threats to the resource and ongoing cuts in federal restoration programs. “This report clearly demonstrates that our cities and other communities are ready and willing partners in the protection and restoration of the Great Lakes – St. Lawrence ecosystem,” said Michigan Lt. Gov. John Cherry, chair of the Great Lakes Commission. “Their contributions at the local level play a key role in the environmental health and well-being of the entire system, and they need and deserve federal support in those efforts." The report is expected to build support in the United States for federal legislation to implement recommendations of the 2005 Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy to Restore and Protect the Great Lakes – the product of a year-long initiative among federal, state and local governments, tribes and other stakeholders that was established by a presidential executive order. Among the Strategy’s foremost recommendations to protect and restore the Great Lakes is increased federal investment in storm-and wastewater treatment, to supplement the substantial local investment documented in the report. News Release_ 2/27/08
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle turns up heat to get Great Lakes water compact passed
Speaking near the shore of Lake Michigan at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's WATER Institute, Doyle accused Assembly leadership of playing political games with what he considers Wisconsin's best chance to both protect and capitalize on the state's grandest natural resource. The compact is an agreement all eight Great Lakes governors signed in Milwaukee over two years ago that essentially blocks new water diversions outside the Great Lakes basin, with limited exceptions for communities and counties that straddle the basin dividing line. The compact requires approval from all state legislatures and Congress before it becomes law, and has already been approved by four state legislatures. Journal-Sentinel_ 2/22/08
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels signs Great Lakes water-use compact
The measure allows Indiana to join a regional compact intended to prevent water-needy states from tapping into the Great Lakes. The General Assembly had passed the bill that protects water from being siphoned out of the watershed surrounding the five Great Lakes to drought-stricken states or areas that need water for growth. Indiana lies in the Lake Michigan and Lake Erie watersheds. After all the affected states enact it, Congress must ratify it. Minnesota and Illinois have also ratified the agreement. The Ohio House signed off on a version of the compact on Tuesday and sent it to the Senate, which is set to begin hearings. Some Ohio Senate leaders said they are concerned that the wording of the bill opens up private property across the northern part of that state to government control. The Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec have approved separate but similar agreements. AP/Louisville Courier-Journal_ 2/21/08
Regional plan to protect U.S. Great Lakes water hitting a snag
Two Great Lakes states have balked at an agreement that would keep outsiders from siphoning off the lakes' water, raising fears that the long-sought water plan could be in danger. Proponents tried Monday to regain momentum for the water-use agreement, the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact. Unless the eight U.S. states and two Canadian provinces abutting the lakes unanimously enact the agreement, it will be non-binding. The pact also needs to be approved by the U.S. and Canada governments. Building that kind of consensus is difficult. It took governors and resources advocates more than four years just to write the Great Lakes water-use plan in 2005, then years more for a handful of state legislatures to sign on. Only Illinois and Minnesota have ratified the pact. This month, Indiana and New York entered the home stretch after the plan was approved by the legislatures and is awaiting the governors' signatures. But last week, proponents say, Wisconsin and Ohio threw a wrench in the works. Chicago Tribune_ 2/18/08
Regional Florida water managers want new homes near Miami rejected
Regional water managers say Miami-Dade County doesn't have enough water to support new homes, offices and a big-box hardware store proposed at the county's western fringes. The South Florida Water Management District, citing an ''inadequate'' supply that won't be bolstered for years by planned new alternative sources, wants state regulators to reject three projects proposed beyond the Urban Development Boundary -- the imaginary line limiting westward suburban sprawl to protect farmland, the Everglades and other sensitive open lands. ''If you move the UDB, you're creating a new population area,'' said Eric Buermann, chair of the district's governing board. ``What you're really doing is taking water supplies away from other infill areas in the county." Only three months ago, water managers granted Miami-Dade a permit intended to meet water needs over the next two decades -- but Buermann said moving the line was never discussed or contemplated during years of negotiations with the county. To get the long-term permit, Miami-Dade committed to a $1.6 billion overhaul of a water supply system that has largely relied for decades on the cheap, clean Biscayne Aquifer. Under the district permit, Miami-Dade can pump up to 60 million more gallons a day by 2027 -- but most of the additional water must come from ''alternative'' sources, meaning recycled wastewater and deeper underground aquifers. Miami Herald_ 2/9/08
Nevada: Arguments continue over Las Vegas plan to import rural water
Backers and foes of a plan to pump billions of gallons of water to booming Las Vegas differed Thursday over the economic prospects of the rural Nevada valleys that would have to give up the water. Proponents of the Southern Nevada Water Authority plan to draw more than 11.3 billion gallons of groundwater a year from Delamar, Dry Lake and Cave valleys maintained that a population boom in the isolated area is unlikely no matter what. Foes of the proposed pumping, part of SNWA's $2 billion-plus project to pipe water across the water to Las Vegas, countered that growth has occurred before in the areas and can again -- but only if there's available groundwater for development. The project is backed by casino executives, developers, union representatives and others who point to water conservation efforts in the Las Vegas area and who warn of an economic downturn affecting the entire state unless the city has enough water to keep growing. The project is opposed by the Great Basin Water Network, a group of ranchers and farmers, local irrigation companies, a water board, the Sierra Club, Nevada Cattlemen's Association and White Pine County which borders the county where the valleys are located. The valleys are all in central Lincoln County, which initially opposed the plan but reached an agreement with the water authority that states which groundwater basins can developed. The agreement also allows for use of the pipeline, for a price, by the county. AP/Yahoo_ 2/8/08
January, 2008
More Great Lakes cleanup needed
The Great Lakes are less polluted than in the past, but U.S. efforts to improve water quality are hampered by unclear lines of responsibility and inadequate funding, a witness told lawmakers Wednesday. "The future of the Great Lakes is uncertain," said Irene Brooks, acting chair of the U.S. section of the International Joint Commission. The commission, made up of U.S. and Canadian members, works to resolve and prevent disputes between the two countries on the Great Lakes and rivers that straddle their borders. The Great Lakes basin includes parts of eight states and two Canadian provinces. "Our view is that to speed up the cleanup, accountability is paramount," Brooks told the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment. The panel plans to consider legislation to toughen water-quality standards for the Great Lakes and authorize more money to control industrial pollution, wastewater discharges, agricultural runoff and invasive species, and to tackle contaminated sediments in the harbors along the lakes. Brooks said the United States and Canada must make "a bold commitment" to improve water quality and ensure that fish, water and beaches are safe. Detroit Free Press_ 1/27/08
South Florida's tougher new water restrictions will start Tuesday
Once-a-week watering limits beginning Tuesday are intended to trigger what regulators call a "change in culture" needed to protect South Florida's water supply. After the driest back-to-back years on record, South Florida water managers are imposing their most far-reaching restrictions ever, covering most homes and businesses from Orlando to the Keys. The South Florida Water Management District contends habits have to change this year because the strain on water supplies continues to worsen. Half of South Florida's public water supply is used for landscape irrigation, according to the district, and the tougher restrictions are intended to conserve for what is forecast to be a drier than normal winter and spring. South Florida Sun-Sentinel_ 1/14/08
Metropolitan Water District may cut water to Southern California cities
The Metropolitan Water District is considering a contingency plan to cut water deliveries to its member cities using a new formula that critics contend favors faster-growing areas while penalizing older, poor communities. The district's staff is recommending the plan in case the agency, which serves 18 million people in six counties, is forced to slash water deliveries this spring in the event of continuing shortages. The current discussion signals growing worries that the region's water supplies cannot meet demand, due to last year's record dry weather, an eight-year drought in the Colorado River Basin and a federal court order last month that sharply reduces water deliveries from Northern California. The MWD is also considering rate hikes of 10% to 20% for next year, in part to buy more water to shore up supplies. The formula recommended by the MWD staff would be the first adopted by the 80-year-old district, which manages the delivery of water to cities from Ventura County to the Mexican border. It acts as a water wholesaler, importing water from Northern California and the Colorado River and selling it to its 26 member cities and water districts. The agency did not use a formula during the droughts of the late 1970s and early 1990s, instead cutting deliveries by a set percentage across the board. The formula has been debated privately since last summer by MWD staff and officials from water districts throughout the region. Los Angeles Times_ 1/7/08 (logon required)
