The News Review:

- Water warning — the heat’s on Sonoma agency implements 15% cut,…
- … marketers see future demand with growing population,…
- Florida Faces Vanishing Water Supply
- Burst pipe cuts off water supply

Water warning — the heat’s on Sonoma agency implements 15% cut,…
San Francisco Chronicle – Jun 15, 2007
tmpl –> For the first time since the early 1990s, many Bay Area water agencies are issuing calls for conservation. On Thursday, the Sonoma County Water Agency, which supplies water to six Bay Area cities and three water districts, became the first water provider in the state to institute mandatory rationing. Sonoma’s declaration of an obligatory 15 percent reduction followed announcements earlier this week by the Santa Clara Valley Water District and the East Bay Municipal Utility District warning of low water supplies. The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which provides water to San Francisco as well as parts of San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda counties, issued a statement saying water rationing was unlikely this year. However, the commission begged residents to continue — or step up — their conservation efforts. “This is kind of a wake-up call for California,” said Toby Goddard, water conservation manager for the city of Santa Cruz, which has banned daytime outdoor watering…
But if people don’t continue to conserve, we could be in the situation where we have to face mandatory restrictions next year. Some of the water worries can’t be blamed on the dry winter alone, and they illustrate the fragile nature of the state’s water supply. The Sonoma County Water Agency was directed by the State Water Resources Control Board on Wednesday to reduce its water diversions from the Russian River by 15 percent to protect the fall spawning of salmon. That order spurred Thursday’s restrictions, which will be implemented by individual water districts and other entities that get water from the agency. While flows in the Russian River are down because of the dry winter, Sonoma’s situation is complicated by reduced flows into one of its reservoirs, Lake Mendocino, because of changed federal licensing requirements for a Pacific Gas and Electric Co. hydroelectric power plant upstream. In Santa Clara County, about half of the water supply comes from reservoirs and aquifers and the other half from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

… marketers see future demand with growing population,…
San Diego Union Tribune – Jun 15, 2007
And studies indicate they shouldn’t be because, quite simply, the second-most populous state in the nation is running low on water. By 2060, water demand is expected to increase by 27 percent while supply is expected to decrease by 18 percent, according to the Texas Water Development Board. If Texas doesn’t conserve water and develop new sources, the board says, about 85 percent of the population won’t have enough water during drought conditions. There are similar concerns nationwide. In 10 years, 36 states expect shortages, a number that leaps to 46 during droughts, according to a 2003 Government Accountability Office report. “There’s a lot of water marketers out there, but (Texas municipalities) are going to be paying a heck of a lot to get that water,” said Gabriel Eckstein, a water law professor at Texas Tech University’s Law School…
”State officials are taking actions to avoid a shortage, recently approving possible sites for about 20 new reservoirs and an advertising campaign to stress conservation. But groundwater is critical to the state’s water needs because Texas has few surface-water options, Sherman said. And officials are concerned about the water supply in some of the state’s nine major aquifers. In the Ogallala Aquifer, the world’s largest aquifer system, which spans eight Plains states from Texas to South Dakota, water levels have dropped more than 300 feet in some areas in the last 60 years. The Ogallala recharges slower than most because of a confinement layer of clay above it. The Gulf Coast Aquifer, which runs along almost all of the Texas coast, is projected to drop 12 percent between 2010 and 2060. The aquifer once provided water to all of Houston but now supplies only some of its suburbs.

Florida Faces Vanishing Water Supply
NPR – Jun 15, 2007
That problem isn’t limited to Florida. Several cities along the East Coast are struggling with it, too. “Water-rich states are beginning to really worry about water supply and water conflict,” Barnett says. “Several of these conflicts are headed for the Supreme Court. “Excerpt: ‘Mirage’by Cynthia Barnett.

Burst pipe cuts off water supply
BBC News – Jun 15, 2007
The flooding in Blackstock Road in Islington compounded the rush-hour congestion caused by local roadworks. “There has been water shooting up into the air,” said Hillary Bennett, a Thames Water spokesman. “There certainly is water on the road. She said bottled water was being distributed at key locations including Blackstock Road…
Work continues on nearby Seven Sisters Road, following a separate burst water main incident on 1 June. Blackstock Road and Seven Sisters Road have been closed while urgent repairs take place. “Our first priority is to get customers back on supply,” said a Thames Water spokesman. “We apologise to customers for any inconvenience caused”.