Conservation tops federation agenda

By Stephanie Bertholdo  bertholdo@theacorn.com

Lester Snow

Lester Snow, director of California Department of Water Resources, drove home the urgent need for water conservation while speaking at the Las Virgenes Homeowners Federation installation dinner on April 18.

Snow, who was the keynote speaker at the event, pointed out the severity of the water shortage in California and the repercussions of a 2007 federal court ruling on water availability and delivery.

In 2007, U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger ordered a massive reduction in water supplies from the state's two largest water delivery systems--the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project--to protect the Delta smelt, an endangered fish species.

According to Laura King Moon of the State Water Contractors, the public agencies that deliver supplies to 25 million Californians, the restriction is the largest court-ordered water supply reduction in California's history.

Snow said the federal court ruling that was meant to protect Delta smelt resulted in a drastic reduction in how much water the California water agencies are entitled to receive.

Snow also blamed the water disruption on climate changes. When large ice shelves melt, coastal aquifers and deltas are affected. A simple 2-degree shift in temperature can destroy habitats and "change all ecosystems," he said.

"Temperatures will still continue to rise over the next 100 years," Snow said. "We can't turn back the clock."

The snowpack in the Sierra Mountains, which is the source of Southern California's water, is down by more than 20 percent this year and could be reduced up to 40 percent by the year 2050, he said.

Conditions already felt

According to the State Water Contractors, the agencies are receiving only 35 percent of their annual allocations from the State Water Project. The sanctions reportedly haven't been this severe since the drought of 1991.

Critics say the problem has been compounded by the new regulatory restrictions that are making it difficult to transport water even when it's available.

The State Water Contractors and the Central Valley Project move water through the Sacramento/San Joaquin River Delta to urban and agricultural water users in northern, central and southern California.

So far, 600,000 acre-feet of water have been cut. One acre-foot of water is enough to meet the needs of two typical families for a year. The amount of water cut because of the recent ruling is enough to serve 3.8 million people living in Los Angeles for more than a year, Moon said.

To help cope with the reductions, but also to help save the delta habitat, urban water use must be reduced by 20 percent by 2020, Snow said.

Interim measures are being discussed, he said.

Water storage systems must be increased, and a more comprehensive, statewide emergency response plan must be implemented. Improving the quality of water and the levees that control the water is on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's to-do list, he said.

Water management, Snow said, will be decentralized, so each region in the state will have to become self-reliant. Despite the urgency of the situation, there is no "silver bullet" to fix the problems, he said.

"Our system is being strangled, and there is no end in sight unless we change how we move water across the state and fix the broken delta," Moon said. "This untenable situation puts all Californians at risk. We are digging into our drought reserves to protect fish.

"What we need are not short-term actions of the courts, but long-term conveyance and habitat restoration measures," Moon said.

Former Assemblymember Fran Pavley of Agoura Hills told federation members that the water shortage will be "the next big crisis" in California.

At the event, Assemblymember Julia Brownley swore in the 2008 federation officers: President John Low, Vice President Kim Lamorie, Secretary Kathy Berkowitz and Treasurer Joan Yacovone.