Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council

The Watershed Council Grew Out Of

a. Not a law suit

b. Not the Endangered Species Act

c. Single purpose agencies that don’t talk to each other

d. Need for a forum for cross communication

Comprehensive MultipurposeStakeholder-Driven Consensus Process

18 Voting Directors:Environmental/Community GroupsFederal/State/Regional/Local GovernmentAcademic Institutions/ProfessionalsBusiness Groups/Property OwnersWater/Wastewater AgenciesPublic at Large

Nonvoting Liaisons (12 at Present)

The Double Watershed

Large

Geographically Complex

Hydrologically Complex

Politically Complex

Los Angeles & San Gabriel Rivers Watersheds

Mission

To facilitatea comprehensive, multi-purpose, stakeholder-driven consensus processto preserve, restore and enhance the many beneficial uses, social, environmental and biological,of the Los Angeles River and San Gabriel River watersheds ecosystemthrough education, research, planning and mediation.

Four Sources of Water in Southern California

• Los Angeles Aqueduct

• Colorado River Aqueduct

• State water Project

• Native Ground Water

The EntireState isPlumbed

LA Aqueduct, Owens Valley and Mono Basin

1st barrel from Owens Valley completed 1913

2nd barrel to Mono Basin 1970s

Capacity 560,000 AFY

Delivering 320,000AFY or 57% of capacity

Problems Caused by LA Aqueduct

• Mono Lake Level Low

Land bridge to nesting islands

Increasing salinity

• Owens River Riparian & Wetland Habitat

• Owens Dry Lake Dust Control

• Ground Water Pumping

Colorado River All Used Up

California 4.4 Plan

MWD aqueduct capacity 1.25 MAF

MWD entitlement 0.55 MAF

Shortfall 700,000 MAF

Colorado River Environmental Issues

• Estuarine Wetlands 95% gone

Pacific fly way

Indigenous people

• Salton Sea

Wildlife Sanctuary

Increasing Salinity

• Restoration of Riparian Habitat

State Water Project

• Bond act passed with 1/3 of 1% majority vote

• Service contracts, not entitlements

• Can deliver about half of 4.2 MAF in an average water year

• MWD has signed up for 48% of the water

Hub of State Water Project is the Delta 95% of delta wetlands now in urban or ag use

Issues in the delta: CALFEDAs much as 70% of flow through is diverted

Tule peat islands as much as 30ft below sea level

Levees not well engineered

Pumps cause reverse flows around islands

Water quality

ocean water out

disinfection by-products

Reduced nutrients to nourish marine life

Native Ground Water & Surface Water

Provides about 1/3 of So California supply

Storm water captured for recharge

Superfund sites

Brownfields

Mining of resources

Use Water More Efficiently -Urban Conservation

Establishment of CUWCC.org

16 BMPs – listed on web site

Water agencies that have signed on

Levels of compliance

Additional BMPs for the future

Agricultural Conservation

Agriculture uses about 80% of all developed water

Almost half of that irrigates 4 water intensive low value crops

alfalfa, irrigated pasture, *rice and *cotton

*subsidized

Use Water Efficiently - Reuse

Bureau of Reclamation Backbone Study28 Projects in LA County = 260,000 AFY

Direct Reuse: landscape irrigationindustrial process watercooling towersrecreational lakes, habitat

Conjunctive Use

Storing wet year surpluses against dry year need

Association of Ground Water Agencies (AGWA) study identified 1.78 MAF of storage capacity in LA County

Chino Basin has at least 2 MAF of unused storage

Watershed Management

Storm Water: Water Augmentation Study

Landscape Ethic: Native and Mediterranean Plants

Remove Noxious Exotic weeds

Water Transfers – Happening Now

Politically expedient

Use market forces

Responsibility for allocating water belongs to the state

Private benefits from a public resource

New Technologies

Desalinization of brackish water

Desalinization of sea water

Conclusion

Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting

Too many agencies working at cross purposes

Arcane water laws: use it or lose it

Ability to profit from transfers

Lack of statewide policy mandating efficiencies