California Needs to Remember History of the Last Major Drought in This Year’s Water Transfers and Our Response

By Traci Sheehan
Executive Director
Planning and Conservation League

Last Wednesday Governor Schwarzenegger announced that California is officially in a two-year drought and issued an Executive Order directing the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and other agencies to implement an eight point drought response plan, including heightened water efficiency, more water transfers, and updated drought planning. He also called for an $11.9 billion bond that would fund new dams.

Four of the eight points in the drought plan focus on water efficiency. Yet while it reinforces the vital role of efficiency in California's water management and highlights its potential benefits to our economy, environment, and residents the plan is short on specifics that would distinguish the Governor's measures from programs already underway. Details on these new measures may emerge as agencies focus on implementing the Executive Order.

While the plan remains vague on water efficiency actions, it clearly instructs DWR to facilitate water transfers in 2008 and 2009. A similar dry year water transfer program was implemented during California's last major drought in the 1990's. Unfortunately, that program resulted in dry wells for some Northern California communities, as groundwater pumping increased to replace surface water that was transferred to parched areas in the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California. DWR has the opportunity to avoid such unintended consequences as they develop the next set of dry year water transfers.

The Governor also revived calls for a multi-billion dollar water bond for the November 2008 ballot which would direct billions of dollars to expensive new dams. Despite millions of dollars in studies, DWR has failed to show that these dams are feasible under existing environmental conditions, let alone California's altered hydrology from global warming. The bond's future is uncertain given its expensive price tag, the controversial projects it would support, and the State's current fiscal crisis.

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