{"id":3687,"date":"2009-12-01T17:18:29","date_gmt":"2009-12-02T01:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?p=3687"},"modified":"2009-12-01T17:18:29","modified_gmt":"2009-12-02T01:18:29","slug":"state-water-deliveries-may-set-new-low","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/12\/01\/state-water-deliveries-may-set-new-low\/","title":{"rendered":"State Water Deliveries May Set New Low"},"content":{"rendered":"

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State water officials have announced they are likely to release a record-low allocation of water to cities and farms next year– just five percent of what water contractors have requested. Though still preliminary, it\u2019s the lowest allocation<\/a> since the State Water Project began delivering water back in 1967.<\/p>\n

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The announcement may have caught some by surprise, since Department of Water Resources (DWR) data would seem to show reservoirs<\/a> at higher levels than last year at this time, with major reservoirs at 69% of storage capacity, compared to 57% last year.<\/p>\n

When I asked DWR Deputy Director Susan Simms about it, even she was stumped at first. But then she called me back to say that the data includes both federal and state reservoirs, and the state\u2019s storage levels at both Lake Oroville and San Luis Reservoir (shared with the feds) is actually lower than last year (52% and 48% of “normal,” respectively). And, she says, the state has to contend with pumping restrictions to protect both salmon and delta smelt this time around.<\/p>\n

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DWR Director Lester Snow told reporters this morning that there’s nothing in the recently passed bundle of state water bills that can provide any immediate relief. And if you thought the prospect of increased precipitation from El Nino could save the day, don\u2019t get out the umbrella just yet. David Rizzardo, Chief of the state\u2019s Snow Survey section, estimates there\u2019s only a 50-60% chance of a stronger El Nino kicking in this year. December and January will be the most telling months–but precipitation from El Nino would likely be concentrated in the southern half of the state. Officials say that would provide more “flexibility” in meeting water needs systemwide, but all of California’s biggest reservoirs are located in the northern part of the state.<\/p>\n

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December water delivery estimates almost always get a boost once it starts snowing. Last year’s initial projection was 15%, and that was later revised<\/a> upward, eventually to 40 percent. Snow called today\u2019s estimate \u201cvery conservative.\u201d<\/p>\n

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If you think the five percent figure is supposed to scare us, it is. Water officials want to send a message that Californians need to be prepared to conserve. The state\u2019s drought coordinator, Wendy Martin, just returned from a water tour in Australia, where she says she saw water-saving measures<\/a> in place that California has yet to fully develop: storm water recapture, water recycling, and more. Martin also observed that the Australians now wish that they’d taken the epic drought<\/a> of the last several years more seriously, sooner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With key reservoirs hovering around half of the their “normal” levels, state water officials predict another summer of stingy allocations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":254,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7],"tags":[17,162,223,435,474,524,654,661],"coauthors":[],"series":[],"affiliates":[],"programs":[],"collections":[],"interests":[],"class_list":["post-3687","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-government-business","category-water","tag-agriculture","tag-dwr","tag-fisheries","tag-policy","tag-reservoirs","tag-snow","tag-water","tag-water-supply"],"acf":{"template_type":"standard","featured_image_type":"standard","is_audio_post":false},"yoast_head":"\nState Water Deliveries May Set New Low | Climate Watch<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/12\/01\/state-water-deliveries-may-set-new-low\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"State Water Deliveries May Set New Low | Climate Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With key reservoirs hovering around half of the their "normal" levels, state water officials predict another summer of stingy allocations.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/12\/01\/state-water-deliveries-may-set-new-low\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Climate Watch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-12-02T01:18:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sasha Khokha\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@KQEDSashaKhokha\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sasha Khokha\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/12\/01\/state-water-deliveries-may-set-new-low\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/12\/01\/state-water-deliveries-may-set-new-low\/\",\"name\":\"State Water Deliveries May Set New Low | Climate Watch\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-12-02T01:18:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-12-02T01:18:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/852614210b1e70c4126fa8d5953edeb8\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/12\/01\/state-water-deliveries-may-set-new-low\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/12\/01\/state-water-deliveries-may-set-new-low\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/2009\/12\/01\/state-water-deliveries-may-set-new-low\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"State Water Deliveries May Set New Low\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/\",\"name\":\"Climate Watch\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/852614210b1e70c4126fa8d5953edeb8\",\"name\":\"Sasha Khokha\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/ww2.kqed.org\/climatewatch\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/a618c14ba6eae92537853a5d6fc6c9e5\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4b5e1541aaeea2aa356aa1fb2a68950?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e4b5e1541aaeea2aa356aa1fb2a68950?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Sasha Khokha\"},\"description\":\"Sasha Khokha is the host of The California Report's\u00a0 weekly magazine program, which takes listeners on sound-rich excursions to meet the people that make the Golden State unique -- through audio documentaries and long-form\u00a0 stories. 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