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WATER: State welcomes coordinated federal drought aid
California Department of Water Resources Director Mark Cowin on Wednesday welcomed an “all-in” federal effort to help California cope with extreme drought.
“The effects of this widespread drought are clearly beyond the control of local personnel, services, and facilities in nearly every corner of California,” said Director Cowin. “It will require the combined efforts of all of our agencies to address the public health, economic, and environmental ramifications of this drought.”
Cowin joined U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Michael L. Connor and administrators from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, National Integrated Drought Information System and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Wednesday at a Sacramento press conference to demonstrate a united and coordinated federal response to record-breaking drought conditions in California.
Reclamation and NRCS announced the availability of up to $14 million in funding for water districts and farmers to build resilience to drought with projects that improve water management.
The announcement follows action Tuesday by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to make $20 million available for agricultural water conservation efforts throughout California.
Federal officials also committed to accelerate water transfers and exchanges and provide operational flexibility as necessary to support projects that might help stretch California’s water supplies.
Reclamation released its 2014 Central Valley Project Water Plan, which outlines numerous specific actions to help water users better manage their supplies through drought.
As California enters a third dry year, the state’s major reservoirs are diminished and the crucial Sierra Nevada snowpack – which melts to supply roughly a third of the water used statewide – was recently measured at a scant 12 percent of statewide average water content for this time of year.
The California Department of Water Resources operates the State Water Project, which captures snowmelt runoff in Northern California to supply 25 million Californians and roughly 750,000 acres of irrigated farmland.
On Jan. 31, Cowin announced that the 29 water districts that buy water from the State Water Project could expect no deliveries in 2014 beyond those needed to meet critical health and safety needs or that involved water banked from previous years by the water districts.
The across-the-board zero allocation – the first of its kind in the 54-year history of the State Water Project – is intended to preserve reservoir storage in case conditions remain dry.
The allocation may change, but it would take near-record levels of rain and snow in the remaining few months of winter to bring statewide conditions even to average.