<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size:14pt"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold; ">http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/thirsty-state-looks-to-northern-california/article_1b01c2dc-7837-11e3-a494-001a4bcf6878.html<br></span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 24px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 24px; font-weight: bold; "><br></span></div><div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 24px; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold; ">Thirsty state looks to Northern
California</span><br></div><div style="font-size: 14pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><div style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'times new roman', 'new york', times, serif; "><div class="y_msg_container"><div id="yiv0428606649"><div>
<div> <b> By Andrew Creasey/
<a rel="nofollow" class="yiv0428606649moz-txt-link-abbreviated" ymailto="mailto:acreasey@appealdemocrat.com" target="_blank" href="mailto:acreasey@appealdemocrat.com">acreasey@appealdemocrat.com</a> | Posted: Wednesday, January 8, 2014
12:10 am </b> </div>
<div>SACRAMENTO — As the possibility of a historic drought builds with
every dry day, Central Valley water users could eventually turn
north for relief.</div>
<div>If they do, they might find the tank already empty.</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>If there was one picture that emerged from a meeting between
the State Board of Food and Agriculture and local and state
water agencies on Tuesday, it was that most signs are pointing
to a drought on par with the worst in state history and that the
San Joaquin Valley is likely to see staggering cuts in water
allotments.</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>The topic of the meeting was water transfers and the need for
the state to expedite the approval process. Water transfers have
become a buffer against drought for the southern state. With
reservoirs drying up and water cuts a looming certainty, water
managers in the Central Valley anticipate transfers could again
be large parts of their water portfolios.</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>Mention the idea of water transfers to a resident of Northern
California, and it's typical to hear talk about the fear of a
water grab.</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>Currently, any water transfer has to have a willing buyer and a
willing seller, so, at the moment, any fears of a grab are
unfounded, sources said. But that hasn't quelled concerns.</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>Reason to be nervous</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>"When you have 60 percent of the population in the south and
about 10 percent north of Sacramento, there's a reason to be
nervous, especially when they're building tunnels that increase
the water transfer capacity," said Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Loma
Rica.</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>Walter Cotter, general manager of Browns Valley Irrigation
District, said water transfers now don't create a window for a
non-northern agency to take water, but he worries about the
future.</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>"My concern is that Northern California does not have the
dollars or enough votes to stop a run on Northern California
water should the balance of the state decide to come after it,"
Cotter said. "Our best bet to ensure the entire state has water
is to work as a state and keep everybody whole."</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>The problem is that the drought, in the wake of a dry 2013, has
reached the point where even the relatively water-rich North
State and Sacramento Delta may not be able to help.</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>Not enough water</div>
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<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>"When you look at water supply in the Sacramento Valley,
there's an expectation that there is always water there," said
David Guy, president of the Northern California Water
Association. "There simply isn't going to be enough water to
transfer to other parts of the state."</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>Guy pointed to a convergence of low reservoir levels and low
inflow to those reservoirs as the principal cause of the water
worries in 2014.</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>"It's kind of the worst of all dynamics," Guy said. "Through
the valley, you will see reductions in surface water supplies
unless that changes."</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>Locally, the Yuba County Water Agency typically transfers the
most water around the state. In 2013, it transferred about
60,000 acre-feet, which is essentially taken from the area's
groundwater.</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>The agency has 180,000 acre-feet of groundwater it can transfer
over three years, but the needs of its local customers,
including eight irrigation district spread over almost 100,000
acres, have to be met first, said Scott Matyac, YCWA water
resources manager.</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>"If it remains dry, it's not certain that locals will have
water available to transfer," Matyac said.</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<hr> </div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div><b>‘In a pretty deep hole’</b></div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>Local and state water managers at a state Board of Food and
Agriculture meeting were almost unanimous in their call to Gov.
Jerry Brown to officially declare a drought.</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>"It's easy to say we're going to have a dry year at this
point," said Paul Fujitani, chief of water operations for the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation's Mid-Pacific Region. "Even the most
optimistic forecasts show a difficult path to an average year.
We're in a pretty deep hole right now."</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>Fujitani said water supplies to southern contractors could be
reduced, and the agency would have trouble meeting parts of the
Endangered Species Act, if the dryness continues.</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>Jason Peltier, chief deputy manager of the Westlands Water
District, said they've been bracing their water users in Kings
and Fresno counties for the possibility of a zero-allocation
year.</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>"Five hundred thousand people's water supply is at risk today,"
Peltier said. "With the increase in farm production since the
last drought in 1977, the stakes have gotten much higher.
Looking at those factors gives you the sense of the gravity and
the reach of a drought crisis."</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>With a drought could come fallow fields, with some estimates
showing the possibility that 500,000 acres of San Joaquin Valley
farmland could go out of production, Peltier said.</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>"We're entering into uncharted territory," said David Guy,
president of the Northern California Water Association.</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>A drought declaration by the governor would give agencies
leeway to relax their standards for protection of fish and
wildlife and increase their flows to irrigation districts and
other users.</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div>— Andew Creasey</div>
</div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<hr> </div>
<div class="yiv0428606649encrypted-content" style="">
<div><b>CONTACT</b> reporter Andrew Creasey at 749-4780
and on Twitter @AD_Creasey.</div>
</div>
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