Easing the Water Shortages

Californians who are assaulted almost constantly with news of real and potential water shortages may be surprised to learn that the federal government is preparing to put 1 million acre-feet of water up for sale on an annual basis. That is almost enough to supply two cities the size of Los Angeles with their entire needs, and about five times as much water as the city of San Francisco receives each year from Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park.

The 1 million acre-feet of water is, in short, enough to solve many or most of California’s major water problems for decades to come. The water is to be provided by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s Central Valley Project, the true giant of water agencies in California. The CVP now serves both urban and agricultural customers from near Mt. Shasta in the north to Kern County in the south and from San Francisco Bay to the Sierra foothills with about 8 million acre-feet of water a year.

If the water is contracted according to bureau tradition and past congressional mandate, most would go to raising more crops in the San Joaquin Valley. If it can be allocated in relation to true modern water needs in California, the CVP supply could significantly ease prospective water shortages throughout the state--in cities, growing suburban regions and areas of critical environmental need like wildlife refuges, fisheries or Mono Lake.

The million acre-feet of water is not magically springing up from nowhere. It exists in the CVP system now, with much of it being sold on a year-to-year basis to CVP customers or, when unneeded, flowing out through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to San Francisco Bay. But the bureau was kept from contracting the water to customers on a long-term basis until the federal and state governments reached a formal agreement on the joint operation of their giant water projects in a way that protects water quality in the delta. Now that this has been achieved, the bureau has initiated the environmental-impact process that would lead within the next several years to the signing of long-term contracts for the supplies.

There is no lack of demand. Pending requests already total 3 million acre-feet--more than two-thirds of it for irrigation use. A bloc of 500,000 acre-feet is being sought by the state of California in behalf of customers of its state Water Project, including both farmers and the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. More than 200,000 acre-feet would go for use on wildlife refuges.

The allocation of this water is bound to be highly controversial, particularly if the bureau shows bias toward contracting with irrigators in the San Joaquin Valley for major new supplies. The CVP has been under criticism for years for selling subsidized water, often to raise subsidized crops in areas with severe runoff drainage and pollution problems while fudging on enforcement of federal reclamation law.

The bureau’s Sacramento office has, however, broadened its outlook under the administration of regional director David Houston in the past several years. The delta agreement with the state was a major breakthrough. Also under Houston, the CVP has undertaken environmental programs like the restoration of salmon runs and the protection of waterfowl habitat. Houston also is a firm advocate of integrated operation of the state and federal projects, which he says has the potential for conserving additional major supplies of water for use elsewhere.

However, old attitudes and practices--and even outdated laws and regulations--still could prejudice the contracting of the 1 million acre-feet of water toward the old ways, without the proper consideration of modern California water needs. No longer does any single California water system operate in isolation. It is possible to move CVP water to almost any corner of the state. The Bureau of Reclamation, which is now undergoing reorganization and seeking to shed its old dam-building image, should seize on this water sale as an opportunity to demonstrate its desire to be a creative manager sensitive to state and local and environmental requirements.