News of the Arroyo
Title: | Water Supplies Still Not Normal |
Subtitle: | |
Date: | 2005-02-24 |
Summary: | February 24, 2005 - This year may set records for the most rain, but it won't be enough to reverse the impact of five years of drought on Southern California's water supplies, weather experts and water officials said Wednesday. |
Author: | Hector Becerra |
Publication: | Los Angeles Times |
Content: | Local supplies have improved greatly. All 27 of Los Angeles County\'s groundwater collecting basins are filled to capacity, the county\'s Department of Public Works said. Similarly, the Sierra Nevada snowpack — an important source of water for the region — is 40% above normal this season. But the Colorado River reservoirs remain far below normal levels. About 70% of the water used in Southern California is imported from the river as well as from the California Aqueduct in Northern California and the Sierra Nevada, said Denis Wolcott, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Water District. William Patzert, a meteorologist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, said that although Southern California has had much heavier rain than usual, the upper Colorado River Basin continues to suffer from a prolonged drought. It has received less rain than Los Angeles. Lake Mead and Lake Powell, which are fed by the Colorado River, remain at only about 59% and 34% full, respectively, said Debra Man, chief operating officer of the Metropolitan Water District, which manages the distribution of water to a plethora of districts serving 18 million people in Southern California. For the first time since 1999, hydrologists in the upper Colorado River Basin are predicting near-normal water flows into Lake Powell, one of the West\'s biggest reservoirs. Lake Mead\'s storage level, however, is expected to drop, in part because of water releases to keep the Colorado River flowing to protect fish and habitat, said Wolcott. Meteorologists and others said that the Colorado River region has suffered through years of drought conditions, and that one wet year won\'t bring water levels back to normal. \"This is the kind of year people have been asking for, and they\'re getting more than they bargained for,\" said Kelly Redmond, regional climatologist for the Western Regional Climate Center in Reno. \"But when you\'re in a deficit, it\'s hard for water managers to turn water down.\" Bob Walsh, spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in Boulder City, added, \"Most hydrologists would tell you that one good year does not make up for five bad years.\" Closer to home, the wet weather is making a significant difference. The storms have encouraged conservation by reducing water demand for such activities as landscaping and washing cars. According to the Department of Water and Power, demand has been slashed by 25% because of the rainfall as people turn off their automatic sprinklers. If Southern California requires less imported water this year, that might allow officials to begin building up reservoirs, including Lake Mead and Lake Powell. \"All in all, it\'s adding up to a really strong water supply year,\" Walsh said. |
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