September 6, 2011

Save the Date: SCWC Annual Dinner Nov. 17

On Thursday, Nov. 17, hundreds of stakeholders and opinion leaders from across the state will gather in the City of Industry for our flagship event of the year – the SCWC Annual Dinner.

You won’t want to miss your chance to join this crucial dialogue on water issues along with some of the most influential water leaders in the state.

So mark your calendars now. An invitation and sponsorship information are coming soon.

Federal Judge Rules Against SWP Water Restrictions in Delta Smelt Case

Federal District Court Judge Oliver Wanger last week passed down a ruling preventing federal agencies from implementing a Fall X2 action as they proposed, which would result in significant and costly water losses for the State Water Project (SWP), and would “wreak havoc on California’s water supply,” according to the ruling.

X2 is a scientific term that defines the naturally fluctuating intersection of the fresh water from the Delta and the saline water from the San Francisco Bay. The federal agencies involved in this case aimed to push that intersection farther to the west (Fall X2 Action) by releasing more fresh water from our reservoirs and significantly reducing SWP supplies. This proposal was based on an unproven hypothesis that such action would improve the population of Delta smelt, a threatened fish species native to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.  In the ruling, Judge Wanger denied the federal agencies the authority to impose these proposed measures on the basis that they lack sufficient scientific backing, and that they would have major impacts on California’s water supply. Instead, he ordered a modified proposal that greatly minimizes water supply impacts.

SCWC Executive Director Richard Atwater issued a statement on last week’s ruling:

  “Our organization is very pleased with this ruling. The action that these federal agencies were proposing here was nothing short of irresponsible. The proposal was essentially a large and expensive experiment based on an unfounded theory, that would have triggered significant water losses for the State Water Project.

 There is no doubt that declining fish populations in the Delta need to be addressed, but we must make sure that any action taken is based on sound science, and properly weighs the co-equal goals of protecting the Delta environment and ensuring the reliability of our water supply.”…Read more

Statements on the issue were also released last week by the State Water Contractors,  Kern County Water Agency and the Westlands Water District

For more information on SCWC’s involvement in Delta issues, visit our Bay-Delta page online.

SCWC Stormwater Task Force Makes Progress Toward Comprehensive Regional MS 4 Permit Review

The SCWC Stormwater Task Force met last Thursday at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works to discuss, among other items, the progress in its ongoing effort to comprehensively review the region’s MS 4 permits.

During the meeting, the Task Force’s MS 4 Work Group gave a presentation on the current state of each county’s MS 4 permit. That presentation is available online here.

Moving forward, the group plans to draft a white paper covering major issues that need to be addressed with the permits, in order to enable more stormwater capture in Southern California.
The next meeting of the Task Force will be held on Thursday, Sept. 22 at 1pm, location to be determined.

For more information on SCWC’s stormwater efforts, visit our Stormwater page online.

Save the Date: Urban Water Planning Workshop Sept. 23

On Sept. 23, SCWC will host its next Urban Water Planning workshop at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California from 9am – 1pm.

The workshop will feature a diverse array of experts from across the region discussing the Department of Water Resources' process of approving submitted urban water management plans, as well as lessons learned from the recent urban water management plan submission process.

For more details, and to RSVP for this event, please contact Alex Comisar at acomisar@fionahuttonassoc.com.

Kern County Water Agency to Hold Event Marking 50th Anniversary; SCWC Partners

To mark its 50th anniversary, the Kern County Water Agency is hosting Vision 2061, an educational event that brings federal, state and local leaders and stakeholder organizations together to encourage creative thinking and big ideas so California can meet its water needs during the next 50 years.

The event will take place Friday, Oct. 21 at Bakersfield College from 8am to 3pm. To RSVP, visit http://vision2061.kcwa.com or call (661) 634-1400.