The News Review:

- Water bills debated
- Santa Clara Valley Water District calls for mandatory rationing
- Evacuation ordered near Missouri River in Bismarck
- San Joaquin River settlement on way to president’s desk
- Water Conservation Experts Pour Into Newport Beach CA
- Navajos elated with water settlement bill

Water bills debated
San Jose Mercury News
” Kirkpatrick said the state water engineer’s office facing staffing cuts under the governor’s proposed budget needs “the tools to do what they need to do” and the fee revenues generated by AB480 would help accomplish that. The plan was endorsed by Assemblyman Pete Goicoechea R-Eureka who also asked the panel to support his AB416 which would require the state engineer to conduct an inventory of a water basin before approving an application for a transfer of water from that location to another basin. Water basin transfers are a key element of the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s plans to bolster the water supply for Las Vegas. SNWA is working on an elaborate costly pipeline project that would carry water from distant Nevada valleys to Las Vegas. Advertisement yld_mgr. place_ad_here(“adPosBox”); Andy Belanger of SNWA didn’t oppose AB416 but said the bill shouldn’t result in duplication of studies that already have been completed. He noted a major federal study of Snake Valley on the Utah-Nevada border already has been done.

Santa Clara Valley Water District calls for mandatory rationing
San Jose Mercury News
Meanwhile San Luis Reservoir where much of the district’s water is stored has a “low point” problem where water in late summer can become contaminated with algae if the lake drops below 15 percent full. That left the district with two options: require water conservation or pump significantly more from local groundwater basins. “ne of the risks is that this drought will last for many years” said Keith Whitman the district’s water supply manager. “We’re trying to improve our starting condition going into 2010. That’s a key part of what we’re doing here. “Contact Paul Rogers at.
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Evacuation ordered near Missouri River in Bismarck
USA Today
A reduction in the water releases takes about two days to reach Bismarck. The move will cut power generation at the dam and force the Western Area Power Administration to buy electricity on the open market to meet obligations to its customers Johnston said. Municipal water supplies for the towns of Stanton and Washburn are not threatened because they have enough flow from the Knife River tributary he said. Evan and Tove Mandigo left their Fox Island home in the middle of the night after being notified of the rising water. “We went to the window and looked out and the river was in our backyard” Tove Mandigo said Tuesday morning a few hours after she her husband and their two English setters left their home for the safety of dry ground. “We didn’t have enough time to make any real decisions on what we were going to take. We took medicines clothes shoes and we left” she said.

San Joaquin River settlement on way to president’s desk
San Jose Mercury News
For farmers and a couple of cities including Fresno that are served by Friant the settlement was a way to make the best of a bad situation when a 2004 court decision found that the federal government was illegally depriving the San Joaquin River of water. Rather than putting their fate in the hands of a judge with the ability to do little more than cut off water supplies to those farmers and cities they worked out a deal with environmentalists and government agencies. The settlement means Friant water users give up 15 percent to 20 percent of their water supply by sending it down the river but they also have a chance to get it back. The San Joaquin River flows into the Delta and massive pumps take water from the Delta back down the San Joaquin Valley. So in theory water that is released by Friant down the San Joaquin River could be delivered back to farms through those pumps and canals. “The ability to get this water back was one of the reasons farmers support it” Jacobsma said adding that environmental problems in the Delta will make that difficult. Still animosity toward the agreement runs strong in places.

Water Conservation Experts Pour Into Newport Beach CA
FXBusiness
Engineers public and private-sector water officials water utility managers and industry professionals will gather to speak – and learn – about solutions to the significant water-related challenges facing so many of our communities and businesses. Last month Governor Schwarzenegger declared another drought emergency for California and the Federal Government joined with the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture to form a California Drought Action Team. Industry leader Mark R. Water Resources & Planning Manager for the Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority will be the keynote speaker at the opening general session. WaterEC The International Water Efficiency Conference will be held March 30-April 2 2009 at the Newport Beach Marriott.

Navajos elated with water settlement bill
AZ Central.com
Under the bill Indian pueblos can work with the Bureau of Reclamation to assess their irrigation infrastructure and initiate rehabilitation and repair projects. The Secure Water Act also was part of the public lands bill. It aims to improve water management by gathering and analyzing more data to better understand available water resources and demands. The delegation said the bill takes into account the impacts of global climate change on water resources. “With global warming threatening to transform our Western climate and way of life New Mexico must be prepared to adapt to survive” Udall said. Among other things the act authorizes the Bureau of Reclamation to provide financial assistance to states tribes and local entities to construct improvements or take actions to increase water use efficiency in response to drought climate change and other water-related crises.