you The Bay-Delta... why it matters to

Transcription

1 The Bay-Delta... why it matters to you What is the BDCP?...Page 2 Success in Sustainable Water Solutions...Page 6 Meeting Today s Water Needs Through Reliability...Page 7

2 BDCP: Securing our Water Supply and Strengthening the Economy By Rich Atwater, Executive Director of the Southern California Water Committee Sources of imported water for Western Riverside County Western Riverside County Riverside County 2

3 he Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta east of San Francisco Bay is so far from Southern California that many of our residents may not know where it is or why it matters. Simply put, water that originates in the Sierra Nevada Mountains moves through the Delta providing drinking water for as many as 25 million California residents, including many in Southern California. In addition to water supplies for millions, water that moves through the Delta supplies an agricultural industry that, in turn, feeds millions of people, producing much of the nation s produce. Why should Southern Californians be concerned about the Delta? Because the Delta has been stretched to a breaking point and the water that many Californians depend on is at risk. The ecosystem in the Delta is in steep decline and environmental restrictions on water deliveries meant to protect Delta fish have greatly reduced the flexibility to meet statewide water supply needs. The need to secure our water supply is reinforced by leading scientists, engineers, water managers and other experts, including the U.S. Geological Survey, who warn that a significant portion of the state s water supply could be wiped out for up to a year if a 6.7 magnitude earthquake strikes Northern California. The statewide economic toll of such an outage would be disastrous. We need a plan and we have one. Called the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP), this seven-year collaborative effort was produced by a team of federal and state water experts, scientists and public water agencies working together to balance the needs of the environment with California s human and economic needs. To secure water supplies and protect the economy, the BDCP will: Provide water managers with a reliable and predictable amount of water Protect against water supply disruptions for 66 percent of the state s population Protect water supplies from catastrophic failure due to earthquakes or failed levees Boost the state s ability to respond to drought and climate change Isolate water supplies from increasingly stressed Delta levees At the same time, the plan significantly enhances the health of the Delta ecosystem, improving natural flow conditions for fish and wildlife and restoring 30,000 acres of aquatic habitat in the next 15 years. continued on page 4 3

4 continued from page 3 An important component of the BDCP is a conveyance system made up of twin tunnels 30 miles long and 40 feet wide, using gravity flow to maximize energy efficiency as it passes as much as 9,000 cubic feet of water per second under the Delta. The system would increase water supply reliability for people, and reduce impacts on the environment, restoring the Delta ecosystem. While these objectives are essential, the BDCP also needs to make economic sense. In order to weigh the costs and benefits of the BDCP, the California Natural Resources Agency recently released the statewide draft economic impact report of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, the results of a study led by Dr. David Sunding of UC Berkeley and The Brattle Group. The study focused on an analysis of the overall economic impacts of the BDCP on the state as a whole. The report concluded that the BDCP would create approximately 177,000 new jobs, as well as protect the jobs of more than one million California residents. The study also determined that the BDCP will lead to a significant net economic benefit to the state, amounting to a net improvement of $4.8 billion to $5.4 billion in economic welfare for California residents. BDCP Makes both Economic and Environmental Sense The results of the new statewide draft economic impact study clearly convey that the BDCP makes both economic and environmental sense for the state of California, serving the best interests of all California residents now and in the future by securing a more reliable water supply. The report not only sheds light on the tremendous benefits of the BDCP, it also stresses the critical importance of following through with its implementation to avoid an economic disaster. After seven years, the state is in the final stretch of developing the BDCP. A draft environmental impact report is expected to be released this fall and it s more important now than ever for Southern California to be engaged on this issue. To learn more, please visit org or Rich Atwater is the Executive Director of the Southern California Water Committee, a membership-based, nonprofit, nonpartisan, public education partnership dedicated to informing Southern Californians about our water needs and our state s water resources. Spanning Los Angeles, Orange, San Diego, San Bernardino, Imperial, Riverside, Ventura and Kern Counties, SCWC s members include representatives from business, government, agriculture, water agencies, labor and the general public. Visit us at 4

5 The Bay-Delta isn t just a Northern California issue, it impacts anyone who drinks water or eats food that is grown here in our state. Communication, Research Key in BDCP Process By John Laird, California Secretary for Natural Resources Water We are reliability so busy means making more a living than and simply keeping having up with water family flowing life when that it s you easy turn to on assume water just appears in our your faucets. tap. In For reality, Western, much like of other Riverside water agencies, area s water it takes comes foresight, from hundreds resourceful of miles away. Many environmental, planning financial, and execution water quality of sophisticated issues are key water to bringing resources clean management drinking water plans to to our faucets. ensure adequate water supplies for our area. For seven years and through two administrations, the Bay Delta Conservation Plan (BDCP) has been a priority for the state of California. We have worked closely with the federal government, water agencies, environmental organizations, local Delta interests, scientists and economists. We know more about the Delta than ever before. We ve analyzed dozens of options to balance what people need a reliable water supply for homes, farms and businesses and what is necessary to preserve the Delta; one of our most treasured environmental resources. The BDCP stands to be one of the most thoroughly researched and reviewed infrastructure projects in our nation s history. The risks to California s water supply are real. And that s exactly how it should be the project is just that important. We ve also worked with stakeholders to thoughtfully address concerns about the project. Through that public process, the BDCP has drastically changed. We went from a large surface canal to considering twin underground tunnels that will save energy and increase reliability, while cutting the project footprint in half. We have also found ways to utilize more public lands, limiting the impacts on private landowners. There is still work to be done, but we are closer than ever to resolving these major Delta issues. The draft environmental impact report for the BDCP will be released this Fall, and we want to hear from stakeholders throughout the state. The Bay-Delta isn t just a Northern California issue, it impacts anyone who drinks water or eats food that is grown here in our state. The risks to California s water supply are real. The importance of the Delta as a place and an environmental treasure cannot be overstated. So while the years of research and planning have been invaluable, it is crucial that we make it past the finish line we simply can t afford not to. 5

6 Success in Sustainability s Riverside County s largest water supplier, Eastern Municipal Water District is reliant on imported sources of water, including the State Water Project, which brings billions of gallons of water annually to our area from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta. But like any responsible agency, we are doing our part to reduce our dependence on imported water. EMWD continues to invest heavily in its local water supply and has successfully created one of our industry s most diverse water supply portfolios, largely because of our forward-thinking approach toward efficiency and sustainability. EMWD is an industry leader in recycled water, which comprises 28 percent of our annual water supply portfolio. We recycle more than 90 percent of our treated wastewater for beneficial use, a figure that is among the highest of any water provider in the nation. At EMWD, we have invested in state-ofthe-art desalination facilities, which allow us to beneficially use local groundwater sources that would otherwise be considered too salty for residential use. These facilities, in our Menifee and Perris areas, have been viewed as models by the United States Bureau of Reclamation for successful management of local resources. We also rely heavily on local groundwater wells, which provide a significant amount of drinking water for the San Jacinto Valley. With an ever-growing service-area population that will one day surpass one million people, EMWD is proud of its successful water use efficiency programs, including our tiered rate structure. By promoting conservation and discouraging water waste we have helped further ensure long-term sustainability of our local resources, which account for 44 percent of our overall supply portfolio. However, those efforts don t relieve us of dependency on the Delta. EMWD will always need imported water supplies to meet the needs of our region s population, agriculture and industrial needs. EMWD will continue its commitment toward effective water supply management for both its local and imported sources. Resolving the critical infrastructure issues in the Bay Delta will not bring us more water. What it will do is allow us a more safe and reliable imported water supply by constructing a conveyance system that can withstand a major natural disaster. Without this crucial infrastructure in place, we are at risk of being cut off from our imported water supply for at least a year. EMWD will continue to manage our imported water supplies in conjunction with our local supplies, helping to ensure our region s responsible water supply needs will be met. The Bay Delta Conservation Plan will also help lower salinity levels in our imported water supply, helping to advance our sustainability efforts, including recycled water. EMWD supports the Bay Delta Conservation Plan because the BDCP, much like investing in local resources, is a responsible and economical solution to ensure our communities are allowed to thrive. 6

7 Meeting Today s Water Needs Through Reliability Water reliability means more than simply having water flowing when you turn on your tap. For Western Municipal Water District, like other water agencies, it takes foresight, resourceful planning and execution of sophisticated water resources management plans to ensure adequate water supplies for our area. One of the largest pieces of our water supply portfolio is imported from the Northern California originating nearly 700 miles away. Water that s captured at Seven Oaks Dam can be used by Western and other agencies in dry years. Much of California s water starts in the Sierra Nevadas and travels through a natural system of rivers and tributaries, through the Bay-Delta estuary. The Delta system includes an old and intricate system of levees spanning more than a thousand miles that is susceptible to earthquakes and erosion. This system is key to sustaining our state s roughly $2 trillion economy and provides drinking water to more than two-thirds of California residents. This water is purchased from The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and delivered to nearly 1 million residents by Western. Our agency supports the Bay Delta Conservation Plan as we rely on this critical imported water source to help sustain our customers. Local, Secure and Reliable Sources Our District works hard to secure important sources that are especially tailored for our needs and benefit of the entire region. The water we receive from the Bay-Delta is combined with other local water projects, like water recycling, stormwater capture, water use efficiency and groundwater desalting. Efficiency An efficient water lifestyle is important for our semi-arid region. Western provides our customers with many efficiency programs that offer opportunities, from free outdoor irrigation evaluations to financial incentives for the installation of climate-appropriate landscaping. Recycled Water Our agency believes in using the right water source for the right use. Recycled water, which is used at Riverside National Cemetery and other customer properties such as growers, reduces wastewater processing costs and helps mitigate the impact of droughts by the use of this more reliable, local source. Desalination One of Western s hallmarks of innovative water diversification is the desalting of brackish groundwater at our Arlington and Chino desalters. By removing salts from our groundwater basins, these aquifers are better able to store water for use during drought periods. Stormwater Capture Western partnered with the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District to secure water rights to approximately 20,000 acre-feet annually of stormwater from the Seven Oaks Dam for use in dry years. 7

8 Riverside Public Utilities Celebrates 100 years of Municipal Water Service Riverside is proud to celebrate its 100th year of safe, reliable, and high quality water services to the community. In 1913, Riverside s citizens voted to merge many of the pioneering utilities to form the new municipal water utility, which is still owned by the customers it serves. By continuing to support and invest in a locally-owned and operated water utility, Riverside s leaders and residents set the foundations upon which today s, and tomorrow s, successes are being built. By maintaining historic groundwater rights and well locations, and through construction of important infrastructure like the state of the art John W. North treatment plant, more than 100 years later, Riverside s water utility has continued to maintain and foster local groundwater water resources to become completely water independent. Riverside actively pursues projects and new technologies that help recharge our groundwater supplies, and urges conservation by residential and commercial customers, because diligent use of Riverside s water supplies is the only thing that will ensure these resources will be available to serve the utility s customers for the next 100 years and beyond. Riverside offers a variety of programs and incentives, including: rebates for the installation of high efficiency toilets and clothes washers; high efficiency sprinkler heads; Weather Based Irrigation Controllers (WBICs), which set sprinkler run times based on current weather conditions; artificial turf areas; and even for installing a water wise garden with native California plant species that require little or no water to maintain. To learn more about Riverside s 100 years of water service, please visit BlueRiverside.com. 8

9 Salinity Stressors Water agencies, including Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, rely on groundwater and surface water in the local region to meet the demand of a thirsty population. When local sources are not enough, water agencies purchase water from the Colorado River and the State Water Project. Though all water used for drinking is highly treated before it is delivered to homes, it is not treated for Total Dissolved Solids or TDS. TDS are the mineral salts that cannot be easily removed with standard water treatment and are monitored by the California Department of Public Health to meet aesthetic standards. Although the Bay Delta Conservation Plan is an important part of salinity management and is expected to significantly reduce salinity levels in our water supply imported through the State Water Project, the concern for high salinity levels remains for our local supplies. The Bay Delta Conservation Plan plays an important role in the overall management of salt levels in our water supply imported through the State Water Project. This imported water can be blended with local groundwater supplies, helping to ensure long-term sustainability of our local resources. As water is used and flushed to sewers, more salts enter the water system. Sewer water is highly treated and is released back into the environment as recycled water. Recycled water is a beneficial and necessary Recycled water is a safe, reliable source that can be used for irrigation. resource for our local water needs. It provides a safe and reliable source of high quality water that can be used for irrigation. Utilizing recycled water allows water agencies to save precious drinking water supplies and offsets some of the need to purchase imported water to irrigate. Recycled water is a valuable resource that is threatened when salt levels are too high. Sewer treatment processes typically cannot remove salts from wastewater because it is cost prohibitive. The high salt content prevents the water from being used for the purposes it is intended and can be harmful to the flora and fauna in the watershed. It is because of the damage to the environment and local water supplies that state regulations now require water agencies that discharge recycled water to maintain low salt levels in the water they produce. Our communities are at a disadvantage already, since local Lake Elsinore groundwater and surface water have a high, naturally occurring salt content. If salt content in recycled water remains high, water agencies will be faced with constructing expensive desalination facilities to remove excess salts, in order to comply with regulations. In an effort to avoid higher rates and environmental damage, we must rely on our informed customers, who are our first line of defense when it comes to prevention of the salt from entering our sewers and our environment. Customers can take small steps to lessen the amount of TDS that enter our sewer systems by conserving water resources, choosing portable exchange water softeners or services instead of regenerating water softeners and monitoring landscape irrigation to reduce runoff into storm drains and sewers. 9

10 More than a Drop in the Bucket By Randy Record, Vice President; and Tom Evans, Director; The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California As the details of the Bay Delta Conservation Plan emerge, Southern California water managers will confront a basic choice: Does this reinvestment in the statewide water system make sense for millions of ratepayers? And, what kind of future problems loom if we don t take the steps to shore up this supply? The bottom line is this: Maintaining a traditional supply from Northern California in an environmentally sensitive manner has tremendous economic benefits for the southland and the state. There could be a severe price to pay by not addressing the problem in a way that makes sense for both the Delta ecosystem and the California economy. About 30 percent of all water consumed in Southern California moves across the Delta to the aqueduct system of the State Water Project. Some Bay area cities rely completely on the Bay-Delta for their water supplies. But, these percentages arguably do not reflect its full importance. The Delta is among our region s highest water quality supplies. In a single wet winter in Northern California, enough water can be captured and conveyed to refill local reservoirs such as Diamond Valley Lake to withstand the next drought. Maintaining this tremendous water asset is essential. The new water intakes in the northern Delta proposed by BDCP maintain, and even improve, the quality of this supply. The new tunnel conveyance system protects the supply in the event of seismic events and floods. Fifty years of regulatory stability with permits from every major state and federal wildlife agency has value, as does avoiding a complete collapse of the Delta ecosystem, further cutbacks in supply and a gaping hole in this region s water portfolio. Based on a study by UC Berkeley economist Dr. David Sunding, more than a million jobs throughout California would be protected by maintaining this water supply for the state through the actions proposed by BDCP. More than 700,000 of those jobs are here in Southern California. The overall benefits to the state exceed the investment requirements by many billions of dollars. Statewide, there is a solid economic case emerging for BDCP. What s the bottom line for local water rates? Analysis of the total project costs among the participating public water agencies, including the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, is still under way. Diamond Valley Lake Preliminary estimates indicate that for an increase in homeowners water bills of no more than about two coffees per month, this critical project can be completed. By comparison, this investment appears to be roughly on the scale of previous regional collaborations to build the Diamond Valley Lake and its companion Inland Feeder system. Without that last significant asset in Southern California, the recent water shortage allocations we were all forced to live by would have been much more severe. Now is the time to support this crucial investment in California s water future. 10

11 The Bay Delta Conservation Plan has long seemed to me the best hope for peace on the river : Water supply reliability and restoration of the ecosystem. n U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein The BDCP benefits our environment, our water supply and our economy. It s a solution that benefits all Californians, now and in the future. n State Assemblymember Jose Medina (Riverside) Chair of the Jobs, Economic Development and the Economy Committee. Water is not a North-South issue it s a California issue. Ensuring the reliability of our water supply ensures the reliability of California s economy. n State Senator Richard D. Roth (Riverside) 11

12 Bay Delta Conservation Plan To learn more about the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, please visit: Southern California Water Committee: socalwater.org Bay Delta Conservation Plan: baydeltaconservationplan.com This BDCP information piece is brought to you by Photos: Courtesy of the California Department of Water Resources, Eastern Municipal Water District, Western Municipal Water District, Riverside Public Utilities and Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District.