By Dave Kranz, Ag Alert
The first half of the 2021 water year neared its end with the declaration of a limited drought emergency, a legal challenge to operation of a federal water project, the creation of a drought relief working group by federal agencies—and a projection that the current water year could be among the driest in California’s recorded history.
In a blog post, the state Department of Water Resources said the 2020-21 water year, which began Oct. 1, had almost reached the halfway point, and that the first six months of the water year “rank as the fourth driest of record based on statewide precipitation.” Noting that the previous water year was dry in the northern two-thirds of the state, DWR said the cumulative impact has left storage in the largest Northern California reservoirs “well below average.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom visited one of those low reservoirs, Lake Mendocino near Ukiah, as he proclaimed a regional drought emergency last week for the Russian River watershed in Mendocino and Sonoma counties.
The proclamation directs the State Water Resources Control Board to consider modifying requirements for reservoir releases or diversion limitations in the watershed, to ensure “adequate, minimal water supplies for critical purposes.”
Newsom also directed the board to consider curtailing water diversions if needed to protect releases of stored water. In addition, the regional emergency allows state agencies to ease certain regulatory requirements in order to address drought impacts.
In the San Joaquin Valley—where allocations of surface water stand at 5% or less for many farmers—elected officials have urged the governor to declare a statewide drought emergency. Newsom has declined, so far, saying he believes the state has adequate ability to respond without the declaration.
In another water-short region, the Klamath Basin, water users asked a federal court to reopen a 2019 legal case.
The Klamath Water Users Association contends that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is illegally regulating water deliveries for the Klamath Project. Earlier this month, farmers learned the project would deliver a record-low supply, due to drought and Endangered Species Act requirements on behalf of protected fish.
KWUA Executive Director and Counsel Paul Simmons said even if successful, the new legal action would not change the project’s “terrible situation” this year. But he said the legal action could help control future project operations “in a more reasonable way.”
In one of its court motions, the KWUA said it believes that, under the current interpretation of the ESA, the Bureau of Reclamation “does not have an obligation or authority to curtail irrigation deliveries.”
For their part, Klamath tribes have filed a separate suit that charges the bureau with “ongoing violations of the Endangered Species Act in its operation of the Klamath Project.”
Simmons acknowledged litigation won’t resolve the complex issues affecting the project.
“As much as we need to clarify the rules, we also need to work with other parties for solutions and stability,” he said.
In Washington, D.C., the Biden administration said it had formed an interagency working group “to address worsening drought conditions in the West and support farmers, tribes and communities impacted by ongoing water shortages.”
To be co-chaired by the Interior and Agriculture departments, the working group has been assigned to coordinate federal resources in partnership with state, local and tribal governments.
The working group said via an Agriculture Department news release that it would identify “immediate financial and technical assistance” for affected irrigators and tribes, and prioritize development of longer-term measures to respond to climate change, build more resilient communities and protect the environment.
In its blog post, the California DWR said the ability to forecast dry conditions at longer lead times has become increasingly important, “to provide more time for implementing state and local agency response actions.” A key recommendation following the 2012-16 drought, DWR said, was that response to dry conditions should begin sooner.
“Using new technologies such as aircraft or satellite-based observation of mountain snowpack can improve streamflow forecasts, providing better information on expected water supply conditions,” the agency said.
DWR said dry conditions “are becoming increasingly familiar in California,” with two multi-year droughts in the 21st century so far, not including the dry years of 2020 and ’21.
During the first two decades of the century, DWR said, “13 of the water year types in the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys have been below normal, dry or critical.”
