SCWC Water Blog
SCWC Unveils First-Ever Regional Collaboration on Stormwater Capture Strategies
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By Richard Atwater
SCWC Executive Director
February 7, 2012
Think about the rain falling outside today—where does it go? The good news is some of it is captured and stored for later use. The bad news is much of it goes down your street, into the gutters and back out to the ocean. We'd like to change that. In Southern California, water resource managers, conservation groups, local governments and leading engineers have demonstrated that here in this dry region, we know how to make the most of what we've got. But there's still a lot we can do to capture rainwater effectively.
With the help of our expert volunteers, SCWC's Stormwater Task Force released a first-ever regional report this week examining strategies to maximize stormwater capture throughout the coastal plain (Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and San Diego counties). The report, Opportunities to Increase Water Supplies in Southern California is the result of a year-long collaborative effort among local governments, flood control districts, public water agencies, environmental organizations, development interests and private sector companies throughout Southern California that have made water-use efficiency a priority.
Read more: SCWC Unveils First-Ever Regional Collaboration on Stormwater Capture Strategies
Proposed Delta Tunnel Could Provide Huge Jobs Boost
By Richard Atwater
SCWC Executive Director
September 30, 2011
If you read the news in today’s economy, no matter what policy area you’re talking about, there’s one word you see more than any other – jobs. And, California needs more of them with an unemployment rate that is the second-highest in the nation.
For those of us active in statewide water policy, we’ve been busy analyzing how to best fix the broken Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta -- studying fish species, flow patterns and alignments -- but no one has talked about jobs to date.
Read more: Proposed Delta Tunnel Could Provide Huge Jobs Boost
Storage: A Critical Part of Water Supplies!
By Richard Atwater
SCWC Executive Director
September 7, 2011
Serious concerns about the Delta Stewardship Council’s Delta Plan are mounting quickly these days. Over the last few weeks, water leaders and stakeholders across the state have been lodging criticism about the fifth staff draft of the Delta Plan on a number of critical fronts. We’ll have some further thoughts on the latest plan draft in my next blog piece but I wanted to highlight today a recent letter submitted to the Delta Stewardship Council on State Water Project and Central Valley Project operations.
Just last week, the State Water Contractors and the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority submitted a joint letter to the Delta Stewardship Council taking issue with several inaccurate statements in the draft plan that, according to the letter, “add up to a false portrayal of these two water systems.”
I would encourage you to read the quick letter. Getting the facts correct on these important issues is critical as state leaders embark on developing and implementing new statewide water policy. It’s also critical for the Delta Stewardship Council to recognize the important strides Southern California has made in the last two decades to improve the reliability of our water supplies. That contractors’ letter pointed out that in the last two decades, “public water agencies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars developing a network of reservoirs and groundwater banks to capture surplus waters in wet years.” That flexibility in our system is critical.
Governor Brown Wades In Supporting Delta Fix
By Richard Atwater
SCWC Executive Director
August 23, 2011
Those of us in the statewide water and natural resources community have been anxiously waiting for Governor Jerry Brown to address water issues, specially his vision for restoring the ailing Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay Delta and improving our statewide water delivery system. He waded in, no pun intended, last week with a strong visit to the Fresno Bee’s editorial board and we’re very pleased to see him supporting a comprehensive Delta fix, including new conveyance.
The Governor’s visit triggered a number of solid editorials throughout the state on the issue:
The Riverside Press-Enterprise opined ” The delta surely should be a top priority for the governor and Legislature...The most promising solution would be a way to route water exports around the delta, instead of sending those supplies through the troubled estuary.”
The Modesto Bee said “There is much at stake as the fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta continues to deteriorate. It's an issue that impacts most of the state because 25 million Californians have their water tied to the Delta in one form or another...No matter what you call it, there must be a system to move water around the Delta, and south to Valley farmers and thirsty residents in Southern California.”
Welcome to the New SCWC Water Blog
By: Richard Atwater
SCWC Executive Director
In Southern California, you’d be hard-pressed to find a tougher, more critical challenge than working together to ensure the reliability of our water supply. This is what has driven SCWC since our founding back in 1984.
Almost 30 years later, thanks to countless and invaluable contributions from our members and friends, SCWC is larger, stronger and better prepared than it’s ever been to tackle our state’s toughest and most critical water issues head on.
Now, we’re taking one step further into the Digital Age with the new SCWC Water Blog. This blog will give our members and stakeholders the information, analysis and commentary they need, when they need it – as it happens.
In the next few weeks and months, you’ll see blog posts covering the Delta, water quality, stormwater capture and a variety of other issues from SCWC leadership, and other leaders across Southern California who work with the issues every day. As this organization’s executive director, I am excited to be the SCWC Water Blog’s first contributor.
This Thursday, SCWC will host its third 2011 Quarterly Meeting in the City of Industry (If you haven’t had a chance to RSVP, I strongly encourage you to reserve your seat now). During the meeting, we’ll hear a compelling presentation on the Delta Plan from Delta Stewardship Council Chair Phil Isenberg. We’ll also hear from USGS seismologist Dr. Lucy Jones about what may be greatest and most immediate threat to our water supply – the vulnerability of the Delta to earthquakes and flooding.
THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WATER COMMITTEE