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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 face=Tahoma><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>Editorial: Water's coming battle;
Global warming will shape local debate<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><b><font size=4
face=Tahoma><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;
font-weight:bold'>Sacramento</span></font></b></st1:City></st1:place><b><font
size=4 face=Tahoma><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;
font-weight:bold'> Bee – 7/12/06</span></font></b><font size=4><span
lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>A new report warning of global warming's effect on <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place> highlights
the different approaches for solving the problem of a shrinking water supply. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>When it comes to calibrating water supply and demand,
two opposing political philosophies rule. There is the concrete crowd that
wants to increase supply. And there is a conservation crowd that seeks to lower
the demand. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger likened this to a "holy war"
when he and legislators couldn't agree on a state bond for water and flood
control challenges. He wasn't exaggerating. And the political gridlock, and its
dangerous implications, might worsen as the Sierra snowpack starts to melt. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>The new 338-page analysis by the California Department
of Water Resources signals two colossal policy debates. First is the Sierra.
These days in an "average" winter, the melting Sierra snow provides
about 14 million acre-feet of water supply. As it slowly melts, it gets
captured downstream by <st1:place w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place>
reservoirs that can hold 24.5 million acre-feet of water. By 2050, however, the
average snowpack is likely to diminish by more than a third. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>That means closer to 9 million acre-feet of snowfall
rather than 14 million acre-feet. And it means more precipitation falling as
rain rather than as snow, making it harder for the reservoirs to capture for
the long summer the same amount of water. The dwindling snowpack could reduce
deliveries of Sierra supplies to Southern California and <st1:place w:st="on">Central
Valley</st1:place> farmers by 10 percent. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>Then there is the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. By
2050, the world's melting snowpack and glaciers could raise the sea level by a
foot.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'> <st1:place w:st="on">Southern California</st1:place>
and Valley farmers pump their water in the Delta. The sea level rise would push
salty ocean water into the Delta. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>Absent changes, the only solution would be to release
more reservoir water from the Sierra into the Delta to push back the salty
water. But that approach would only aggravate the problem of reservoirs'
limited water supply due to the dwindling snowpack. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>The singular political fixation on reservoirs as good
or evil creates a set of false choices. Instead, a stockbroker's mind-set about
a diverse portfolio would be the better approach. On the supply side, there is
groundwater storage or better groundwater management, recycled treated water,
desalinated water, better conveyance (particularly around the salty Delta) and,
yes, reservoirs. The demand side has the urban conservation techniques
environmentalists love as well as something they hate -- money for farmers to
lower their water use while maintaining their crop production. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span lang=EN
style='font-size:14.0pt'>The right mix of solutions depends on the specific
circumstances and terrain. The wrong solution is to think concrete or
conservation alone can solve all our problems.</span></font><font face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><em><i><font size=3 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Advisor, California Trout, Inc</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'> 2327</span></font></i></em></st1:address><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, <st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></em></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810 ph</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 9562 fx</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://www.fotr.org">http://www.fotr.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><u><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'>http:www.caltrout.org</span></font></u><font
color=lime><span style='color:lime'> </span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> </span><o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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