Water, Water — Not Everywhere
By Slahor, Stephenie
In late July, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into law Senate Bill 699, legislation that authorizes water districts to collect the fees necessary to purchase additional water rights when new development creates the need for that additional water supply. Those responsible for the increased demand must pay the expense. Water districts are legally bound to ensure that adequate water supplies are available for new development. Connection fees usually pay for this “future” water. With the new law just signed, there are provisions on how the fees can be spent and how water districts can use such funds to buy new water rights. For the Coachella Valley, this means that agencies such as the Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) can pursue the purchase of new water rights from the State Water Project to supplement the valley’s water supply.
Fred Bell is the President of the Desert. Chapter of the Building Industry Association (BIA). He said that California requires developers to have a “green builder” approach to construction. That approach covers such factors as air quality, energy, waste, greenhouse gas emissions, resource conservation, and, of course, water all with an eye to keeping those resources sustainable. “All of these topics are at a point where we must pay attention to them,” said Bell. “Our chapter (of the BIA) is committed to resource conservation because it’s the reality of the world that we live in.”
Bell explained that recent problems in the Sacramento Delta region might have the effect of reducing water supplies to the Coachella Valley, water that helps recharge the aquifers of the valley.
“We’re continuing in a drought in California. The possibly ‘wet’ years of the past may have been an aberration. With the continued growth in California, we need conservation,” he said.
At present, California is not doing enough to create storage of water, something that will be needed in the event the climate improves to add more precipitation, said Bell. If that occurs, the additional rain and snowmelt could be stored and managed more effectively, he felt. “A permanent solution must be found” for the problems of the Sacramento Delta, he said. What used to be called that region’s “peripheral canal” is now considered “an alternative water conveyance” and key to water supplies. Yet, said Bell, “the ecosystem on the Sacramento is collapsing. The levees are nearly a hundred years old and no longer viable.” There need to be new ways to move and store water, not only getting it to the Coachella Valley, but to other areas of the State feeling the effects of a prolonged drought. Although some solutions to the delta’s problems are feasible, there are some environmental issues that may hamper quick action. Among them is the Delta smelt, a fish species unique to the delta, and considered endangered. Such environmental issues must be factored in to any decision making about water storage and water movement, said Bell.
The water that is part of the State Water Project system must be allocated throughout the State. Both the CVWD and the Desert Water Agency seek that water for recharge of local water. “We’re not as dependent (on the recharge water) because of the aquifer, but, in the long run, maybe we will be,” Bell warned.
From the building standpoint, it is known that residences use about 70 percent of their water outside the home, rather than inside, Bell explained. Such features as low-flow plumbing and improved water fixtures in homes have already cut indoor water usage, leading to conservation. But outdoors has been, and is, another matter entirely. “In reality,” said Bell, “landscaping, especially in the desert, uses three-quarters of water usage.” That could be reduced by about 20,000 gallons a year, per home, with controllers and weather-based irrigation systems. “We must water to the time of year. We must not irrigate the pavement,” he said, adding, “Water is a commodity and we must recognize the reality that growth puts pressure on demand. Steps have to be taken to be sure we’re not over-watering.” Using plants that he termed “right for the region,” is also important because drought-tolerant plants and a proper landscape plan can create a lush setting while still conserving water.
In working with representatives of the Building Industry Association, golf course superintendents, area water districts, landscape architects, and local municipalities, the CVWD has just approved a revised landscape ordinance to require all new developments and golf courses to use water-efficient landscaping. The ordinance takes effect October 1.
Steve Robbins, General Manager and Chief Engineer for the CVWD, said, “Because outdoor water use accounts for the majority of domestic water use in the Coachella Valley, this ordinance will play an important role in CVWD meeting its ultimate goal of eliminating overdraft of the aquifer. It will also help the Coachella Valley do its part to help alleviate the State of Emergency in Riverside County, declared by Governor Schwarzenegger on July 19, because of prolonged drought conditions.”
Under the revised ordinance (that updates an original ordinance of 2003), new developments must use irrigation systems run by “smart controllers,” including those that are weather-based so that they self-adjust to climate changes. Grassy areas in new developments irrigated with a spray system must be set back 24 inches from curbs, driveways and sidewalks to eliminate water run-off onto the streets. The buffer area between the grass and the curb must be designed with such materials as rock, cobble or decomposed granite. Any shrubbery or groundcover in the buffer area must be irrigated with a drip system.
Because the maximum water allowance for landscapes in new developments has been reduced, the amount of grass that can be designed into the landscape has been restricted. Developers are thus being encouraged to lessen grass landscaping, fountains, and other features that use a high amount of water. The new water allowance will see landscaping that is 20-25 percent grass, and 75-80 percent water-efficient plants.
New and rehabilitated golf courses may have an average of four acres of grass per golf hole, and no more than 10 acres of grass for the driving range and practice areas.
The new ordinance will not apply to existing developments, or single-family homes at which the homeowner provides the landscaping.
Said Robbins, “When you drive around the Coachella Valley, you can see the results of the original landscape ordinance in new developments with water-efficient landscaping. This revised ordinance will have an even greater impact.”
Such conservation efforts here and elsewhere in the State are vital to California’s water supply. A recent US District Court decision (NRDC v. Kempthorne) may have the effect of reducing, by more than 30 percent, water deliveries in the State because of possible destruction of the habitat of the Delta smelt. Robbins said that cutting the supply is “the only knob they can turn,” but the decrease in pumping still won’t address other factors that may be affecting the smelt, including pollution, invasive species, and ecosystem destruction. “To protect the water supply and pumping,” he said, will need “time and effort and money. Otherwise, both the economy and the ecosystem will collapse.” The 30 percent reduction could “throw away what we’ve done in the past about water balances,” he warned.
We need to get legislators on board,” he said, adding that the valley’s legislators are already aware of the problems and are working toward solutions. “We need to do something to fix this or things will come to a screeching halt.” He added, “It could be a year before we get everything resolved.” The problem could affect all water agencies importing water supplies south of the delta, but, because the Coachella Valley has aquifers, the effects might not be as strong as in other areas of the State. Still, the situation is “difficult” and any solutions will have to pass the inevitable legal challenge, he said.
Compounding that water woe is the fact that a bill now pending in the California legislature may change the requirement that a developer of 500 or more units must get approval from the water agency showing that there is water available for that new community. The pending bill could change that requirement down to 200 units. Robbins explained that the bill has just been put on an extended calendar so that nothing is pending yet, but if it passed next year, the resulting change to 200 units would be in effect in 2009.
Copyright Desert Publication, Inc. and Sharon Apfelbaum Sep 11, 2007
(c) 2007 Public Record, The. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.