Court Orders State Water Project to Cut Water Deliveries to Protect Delta Fish

California Water Supply Reduced Up to Nearly One-Third

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Dec. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The State Water Contractors,
an association of 27 public water agencies in the Bay Area, Central and
Southern California, today reacted to the largest court-ordered water supply
reduction in California history, citing statewide impacts to farms, businesses
and people.
Today, federal judge Oliver Wanger issued a final court order, issuing an
operational plan that orders the State Water Project (SWP) and Central Valley
Project (CVP), the state's two largest water delivery systems, to reduce
pumping operations by up to nearly one-third. The two projects direct water
through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta) to urban and
agricultural water users. The operational plan, formalizing a preliminary
framework issued by Judge Wanger on August 31, 2007, calls for the massive
reduction in water supplies to protect an endangered fish species, the Delta
smelt. The court has specified that reduced operations will last until
September 15, 2008, while federal agencies develop a revised federal
biological opinion for Delta smelt that will ensure the projects' compliance
with Endangered Species Act requirements.
"To have such a large reduction in statewide water supplies is not only
significant, but unprecedented," said Laura King Moon, assistant general
manager of the State Water Contractors. "For the next nine months, the
backbone of the state's water system will be operated based on a lawsuit.
Reducing water supplies through the courts won't solve the fundamental
problems in the Delta. We need a smarter water system so that the courts don't
face this situation in the future."
Local water agencies will have to rely on contingency and emergency
sources of water, including local groundwater and storage supplies, to lessen
direct impacts on their customers. However, by doing so, they will exhaust or
significantly limit supplies that would be needed for a drought or major
catastrophe, such as an earthquake, major flood event, etc. Local agencies are
particularly concerned about depleting their back up reserves during the
current drought -- 2007 has been the driest year on record for parts of
California.
"We have already faced enormous challenges this year and will undoubtedly
face more in the coming year," added Moon. "This court-ordered reduction will
only place further hardship on water agencies throughout the state and
ultimately, consumers, businesses, farmers and the economy as a whole. This is
an expensive way to try to restore Delta smelt, and likely won't succeed
unless there is a comprehensive program addressing all the stressors on this
fish species."
This significant reduction in water supply will be experienced in the Bay
Area, Central and Southern California. The SWP alone, a critical source of
water for the majority of California, provides water to two out of every three
people, irrigates 750,000 acres of prime agricultural lands and directly
supports $400 million of the state's trillion-dollar economy.
The most immediate impacts of the court ruling will be felt in
agricultural communities as farmers in the San Joaquin Valley, Inland Empire
and San Diego region are forced to abandon crop planting this winter and
spring. Urban water users will need to conserve water during this critical
time period. In some regions, consumers may be asked for more stringent water
restrictions, including rationing, and may experience increased costs.
Throughout the coming weeks, local public water agencies will be assessing
direct impacts of the final court order to their regions and customers,
including potential impacts on local economic growth.
As background, a federal court ruled, in May 2007, that the existing 2005
biological opinion for Delta smelt, issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Agency, did not comply with the Endangered Species Act. The biological
opinion guides pumping operations for the CVP and SWP to ensure no long-term
jeopardy to the health and habitat of Delta smelt. Until a revised biological
opinion is prepared by the federal agencies, the court has ordered certain
"remedies" or actions to protect the endangered fish species. Those remedies,
imposed in the court-ordered operational plan, collectively amount to the cut
in statewide water supply. While the court order will last until September of
next year, these kinds of reductions will likely continue until the Delta
system is fixed.
"Every day it becomes increasingly clear that we must decide on a solution
for our broken water delivery system," added Moon. "Moving water through the
Delta is an outdated method of delivering water to 25 million people. We need
to look at ways of moving water around the Delta to help secure the state's
water future and protect the ecosystem."
The Delta's failing condition has made it an increasingly unreliable
pathway for delivering water to 25 million Californians, businesses and farms
throughout the state. Aged and deteriorating levees, climate change, mounting
regulatory uncertainties such as this most recent event and a struggling
ecosystem plague the Delta more so today than ever before. These unprecedented
challenges need to be addressed responsibly and in a timely manner in order to
avoid immeasurable damages to California's water supply, environment, public
health, statewide economy and infrastructure system.
The State Water Contractors is a non-profit association of 27 public
agencies from Northern, Central and Southern California that purchase water
under contract from the California State Water Project. Collectively the State
Water Contractors deliver water to more than 25 million residents throughout
the state and more than 750,000 acres of agricultural lands. For more
information on the State Water Contractors, please visit http://www.swc.org.
SOURCE State Water Contractors

Fiona Hutton, +1-818-760-2121, or cell, +1-818-259-7091, for State Water
Contractors