Officials: Be ready for low [California] water supply

Valley Press ^ | Tuesday, May 6, 2008. | ALISHA SEMCHUCK

[BenLurkin]

SACRAMENTO - All indications point to water cutbacks this summer and probably next year, based on reports from the governor's office, the state Department of Water Resources and Antelope Valley water agencies. The most recent assessment of California's water plight resulted from the final snow survey of 2008: Department of Water Resources officials announced last week that water content in the Northern Sierra Nevada snowpacks is at 67% of normal for the beginning of May.

"Snow depth and water content declined since April," the Department of Water Resources said. Electronic sensors registered the water content in the snowpack at 82% of normal on April 15, although March brought no measurable rain. Now Lake Oroville is at 48% of its capacity, meaning more severe water shortages this summer statewide and in the Valley.

Lake Oroville, 70 miles north of Sacramento in the Sierra Nevada foothills, is the main storage reservoir for the State Water Project, which supplies the Antelope Valley and other parts of Southern California through the California Aqueduct.

Lack of rain in March and April caused the driest record of precipitation in the Northern Sierra since 1921, when documentation of those statistics began, the Department of Water Resources said.

These conditions "further underscore the need for immediate action to solve California's water supply and delivery problems," said Lester Snow, director of the Department of Water Resources. "We must take immediate steps to protect the (Sacramento-San Joaquin River) Delta ecosystem, conserve more water and develop additional groundwater and surface storage facilities to meet our future needs."

That delta provides drinking water to some 25 million people throughout the state, including Antelope Valley residents, via the 444-mile California Aqueduct. It is also the surface water source for business and agriculture.

[Abathar]

Well, when you build millions of homes in a desert you are going to run into things like this I guess....

[BenLurkin]

Wouldn't matter if those homes had been built in Malibu — there'd still be a water shortage.

On the other hand, were it not for millions of illegals....

[kellynla]

With all the water in the world on our doorstep,
does the word “desalination” ring any bells with the politicians in Sacramento? LOL

[BenLurkin]

I’d say desalination is an excellent idea. Now if government would just get out of the way and let the marketplace move on it.

[Truth29]

"Wouldn't matter if those homes had been built in Malibu — there'd still be a water shortage.

On the other hand, were it not for millions of illegals...."

Great observation. If a third of the state is illegal, how much water do they use?

[Redleg Duke]

But, they can solve all of this by just draining the Hech-Heche Reservoir and tearing out the dam!

[count-your-change]

This is from the Cal. Dept. of Water Resources page.
“California agriculture uses roughly 30 million acre-feet of water a year on 9.6 million acres. California's vast water infrastructure was developed to provide water for irrigation with agriculture using 80% of California's developed water supply.”
How much is 30 million acre-feet? About a thousand trillion gallons. (326,000 x 30,000,000)
So if Cal. gets low on water will agricultural use be curtailed? And will this result in higher prices for produce coming from Cal.?

[NormsRevenge]

82% is better than 67%, another number I saw recently somewhere, no late rains this year. oh well, the lawn is long since gone anyway. ;-)

[calcowgirl]

But, they can solve all of this by just draining the Hech-Heche Reservoir and tearing out the dam!

Ya... that will work. ;-)

[count-your-change]

At The price of $.50 a cubic meter (264 gal.) would it be economically possible?

[Wavrnr10]

Running out of water
Running out of money
Running out of space due to illegals

I am starting to like Lex Luthers plan more and more

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Uh, hello CA - you’re adjacent to the largest ocean in the world. Here, let me speak slowly - Buuuiillld several pipelines, desalination plants, tell the envirowackos to take a hike, and presto! Drinking water for all!

[kellynla]

“I’d say desalination is an excellent idea. Now if government would just get out of the way and let the marketplace move on it.”

And the concept I reeeeeeeeely like are the co-generation nuclear power plants that not only desalinate water but also generate electricity!

[ckilmer]

Hoover Dam

.jpg

Well I’ve had a little time to think about the MSSC Desalination Summit in Las Vegas Jan 16-18. I asked the same kinds of questions at this meeting as I did last August at the annual American Membrane Association conference. The effect was almost the same. Almost — but not quite. Patricia Mulroy, General Manager of the Southern Nevada Water Authority communicated the urgent need for action over the next 10 years. Also, it seemed a few of the guys at the conference caught a glimmer of what I was getting at.

Also, I had the impression that the Bureau Of Reclamation is moving toward taking a bigger role in water desalination research.

During one of the Q&A’s I mentioned that the Australians had responded to their drought by appropriating 250 million over 7 years to cut the cost of water desalination in half. What I didn’t mention was that their confidence that they could do so — came in part from American research. The announcement that they were going to appropriate 250 million for desalination research came four months after a visit by LLNL scientists to Australia to show how their carbon nanotubes could desalinate water without energy intensive pumps. Fresh water just passed through their membranes. That story was printed in every provincial Australian newspaper. In the USA that story never made it out of the science journals.

Pat Mulroy mentioned the relationship between energy and water. Everyone in desalination knows about this but nobody else does. It would be very helpful if Nevada people especially could be buttonholed to finance three sets of commercials for the Washington DC TV market–that made the link between water and energy. As well, a link should be made between the effects of climate change on the water supplies in the west, the southeast and even in the northeast. As mentioned in the conference even New York City has begun to think of the effects of sea water intrusions into their pristine water supply. The point is that climate change and population growth are not a regional problem. Finally a commercial for the Washington DC market should emphasize that the water solutions of the New Deal are no longer adequate for the growing populations and climate change that characterize the 21st century. The future is not what it used to be. These commercials would run for a year.

As mentioned in the Thursday morning Congressional Video Link Up–Washington staffers and congressmen know precious little about the desalination business. Therefor they don’t understand the link between energy research–for which there is a great deal of money available–and water desalination research–for which there is precious little money available for research. Some commercials establishing the link would make selling the link easier–and thereby ease the task of obtaining R&D funding.

One reason its important to make this link is that the likelihood of multi billion dollar increases in energy related R&D is increasing dramatically. Hillary has stressed the need for a significant increase in green research without being too specific. Sen. Barack Obama has called for “serious leadership to get us started down the path of energy independence.” All the republican candidates have stressed the need for energy independence. Mayor Giuliani said

“that weaning the United States off foreign oil must become a national purpose, that doing it within 10 to 15 years would be a centerpiece of a Giuliani presidency. The federal government must treat energy independence as a matter of national security,” he said, comparing it to the effort in the 1950’s and ’60’s to put men on the moon”

Sen. John McCain has declared, “We need energy independence”

He promised to make the U.S. oil independent within five years.The Senator says he’ll make it happen quickly, with a program like the Manhattan Project. That was the big push the U.S. made to build an atomic bomb before Germany could get one.

Notice the reference to the Manhattan project and the Moon Shot.

In the last couple of weeks, Mitt Romney has put up a dollar number for increasing increasing energy R&D. Romney

advocates increasing federal investments in energy, materials science, automotive technology and fuel technology from $4 billion a year — its current level — to $20 billion a year.

Why the the reference to war time projects like the moon shot and the manhattan project? And why have the time frames been shortened to 5-10 years? Its not just environmental or national security concerns. Now even big oil is buying into the peak oil argument. Shell Oil CEO Jeroen van der Veer this week wrote “Shell estimates that after 2015 supplies of easy-to-access oil and gas will no longer keep up with demand.” That means that unless crash programs are enacted to bring down demand for oil–especially in the USA–oil prices are going to the moon. One way or the other a radical rewrite of the energy picture is coming.

The picture of Hoover Dam tells pretty much the same story for water–and in the same time frame. Supplies are not keeping up with demand.

Mike Hightower of Sandia Labs mentioned on Thursday that alternative energy over the next couple years would become more economical than traditional energy sources. He said something similar happened to desalinized water 10 years ago.

After the American Membrane Association meeting last August I proposed spending 3 billion over 7-10 years– to research ways to collapse the cost of water desalination and transport so that desert water costs nearly the same as east coast water… And the east and gulf coasts would have a new source of cheap fresh water. In the context of current presidential campaign promises–my numbers now don’t seem so extravagant.

Its remarkable how water and energy production go hand and hand across several fields. The Hoover Dam produces both power and water. Waste heat from power plants on the coast will be used for desalination.

The same is true for research.

imho the primary targets for for desalination research: catalysts and semipermeable membranes are the same for hydrogen production. It may well be that both will see a need for smart pipelines.

These are things to consider as the water levels fall behind the Hoover dam. With water levels down officials are also considering the effects of water being so low the electrical generators may have to be shut down.

Looks like there will be a good snow pack this year in the Sierra Nevadas and the Rockies. If all goes well that will add one foot to lake levels. That’s a good year. But not so much when you consider that the lake is down 120 feet. At the conference we learned that current climate models in the southwest call for three in ten years as being good for precipitation. It used to be seven in ten years.

[BenLurkin]

Very interesting post.

Thank you for taking the time.

Another poster mentioned something I have long wondered about — whether there is an economical benefit to associating desalinization and nuclear power generation. Your thoughts?

[BenLurkin]

You might find this of interest.

[Czar]

** ping **

[BurbankKarl]

there will be plenty of water once they ban watering the lawns...and make it legal to bath in public fountains....

oh yes, and the LA Dept of Sanitation releases 26 millions of gallons of reclaimed water to the ocean each day.....because the liberals didnt want it placed back into Hansen Dam, where it would take 7 years to filter back into the water table.

[BurbankKarl]

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/commentary/la-op-haefele26aug26,0,4061309.story

[kellynla]

That’s what they been doing in Irvine,CA for years and no one has died from the water. LOL

[Czar]

"...the LA Dept of Sanitation releases 26 millions of gallons of reclaimed water to the ocean each day..."

How novel. A problem made worse by local government rather than federal or state government...