CASE STUDY: Metropolitan Water District of Southern California

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CASE STUDY Metropolitan Water Districtof
Southern California

• Regional water wholesaler to 6 counties - 5,200
  square miles
• 26 member agencies
• 18 million people
• Regional economy 600 billion
• Water supplies meets about half of retail
  demands

Slides from William J. Hasencamp, MWD Aug 2006
http//www.state.co.us/gov_dir/leg_dir/lcsstaff/CS
G2006/Powerpoints/Colorado20River20Basin20Forum
20PPT-20Thurs.20Aug2010/CO20River20Hasencamp
20060810.ppt
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MWD Member Agencies
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Southern CaliforniasWater Supply (2000)
LAKE SHASTA
LOS ANGELES AQUEDUCTS 0.2 MAF
LAKE OROVILLE
Bay-Delta
COLORADO RIVER AQUEDUCT 1.2 MAF
STATE WATER PROJECT1.4 MAF
LOCAL 1.7 MAF
METROPOLITAN WATER DISTRICT SERVICE AREA
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Colorado River Entitlements Deliveries(Million
acre-feet)
Mexico
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http//www.mwdh2o.com/mwdh2o/pages/yourwater/suppl
y/colorado/colorado04.html
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In a nutshell making 5.1 to 4.4
1 MAF 18 million people
VS.
4 MAF Cantaloupes, dates, grapes and oranges,
lemons, avocados, and other fruits lettuce,
tomatoes, onions, carrots and other vegetables
alfalfa, wheat, and other forage crops.
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When CA uses 5.1 maf and is under a court order
to reduce to 4.4 maf, who loses H2O?
1 MAF 18 million people
??
4 MAF Cantaloupes, dates, grapes and oranges,
lemons, avocados, and other fruits lettuce,
tomatoes, onions, carrots and other vegetables
alfalfa, wheat, and other forage crops.
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Who owns the water?

• Water Rights.
• Water is owned by the public (state). Those with
  rights to water may put water to beneficial use.
• Groundwater rights. No permit required.
• Riparian Water Rights. Comes from English common
  law. All landowners whose land abuts a stream
  have the right to share in the use of the water.
  These rights cannot be sold.
• Contractual Water Rights. A legal right to divert
  water from publicly owned waters. This means from
  water development projects
• Senior water rights / Junior water rights.
  Different contracts carry seniority of use. Thus,
  when the Federal Government declared CA to be
  overdrawing water, the Metropolitan Water
  District Rights were junior to Imperial Valley
  (IID), so IID retained water while MWD did not.

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Who owns the water?

• State Water Resources Control Board
• Part of CA EPA
• Controls water quality and water allocation
• Creates local boards
• Adjudicates conflicts
• Manages water transfers / water market structure

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Under the US water laws, the Metropolitan Water
District is the new kid on the block in terms of
water usage, so it is has water rights that are
JUNIOR to the Imperial Irrigation District, so it
loses water and must resort to buying the water
from the Imperial Irrigation District.
Winner
0.55 MAF 16 million people
??
3.85 MAF Cantaloupes, dates, grapes and oranges,
lemons, avocados, and other fruits lettuce,
tomatoes, onions, carrots and other vegetables
alfalfa, wheat, and other forage crops.
Loser
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Water scarcity the future

• Reallocation of water from agricultural to urban
  uses.
• Water markets.
• Conservation
• Low flow toilets, showers.
• Landscaping.
• More efficient irrigation.
• More allocation to in stream uses.
• Bay-Delta Restoration (Calfed).
• Endangered Species Act (salmon, Klamath basin).
• Public trust (Mono Lake).

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Lakes/wetlands
The Klamath Problem. Two states. Endangered
Species. Powerful water lobbies. Lots of
interested parties
Dams/reservoirs
Klamath
Trinity
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Californias Emerging Water Market
Conserving water by making it valuable. Authorizin
g groups who have a water right to sell the water
will encourage conservation because the resource
has a market value. Without a market Water
rights are use it or lose it.
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Standings

• Bay Area
• Berkeley Bowlers 8
• San Jose Bush Babies 7
• San Francisco Huskies 6
• Oakland Bombers 6 Lafayette Diablos 5

• So Cal
• Snta Barb Green 9
• Ventura Squid 9
• SD Explorers 6
• SLO Moes 5
• LA Ducts 4

• Pacific Rim
• Sac Planetiers (1) 14
• Hawaii T.huggers 9
• Alaska Drillers 5
• Sonoma Whiners 4
• Martinez Muirs 3

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Water Pollution
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November 6, 2006
Important Point
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Legislating Clean Water
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Legislating Clean Water
Concern over clean water is NOT just a 1970s
thing

• 1899 Rivers and Harbors Act
• 1912 Public Health Service Act
• 1924 Oil Pollution Act
• 1948 Water Pollution Control Act
• 1972 Clean Water Act
• 1972 Marine Protection, Research, and
  Sanctuaries Act
• 1977 Clean Water Act
• 1987 Water Quality Act
• 1990 Oil Pollution Act

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Water Pollution

• Infectious agents - 25 million deaths a year
• Organic materials - BOD, DO content, oxygen sag
• Plant nutrients - eutrophication, toxic tides
• Metals - mercury and lead poisoning
• Nonmetallic salts - poison seeps and springs
• Acids and bases - ecosystem destabilization
• Organic chemicals - birth defects, cancer
• Sediments - clogged estuaries, coral reefs
• Thermal pollution - many species affected

There are MANY ways to impact water quality
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Get to know

• Eutrophication
• Biological Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD)
• In class I spoke of biological oxygen demand. The
  book and notes speak of biochemical oxygen
  demand. The latter includes the fact that
  chemicals may react directly with oxygen to
  create a chemical oxygen demand without any
  biological pathway.

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Low in nutrients Water clear Phytoplankton
limited Nutrient rich Turbid water Abundant
phytoplankton Nutrient rich Accumulation of
detritus Depletion of O2
Oligotrophic Low in nutrients
Nitrogen and Phosphorus deposition results
in Eutrophication
Eutrophic Nutrient enriched
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Oxygen sag
Biochemical Oxygen Demand ----BOD
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3 Main Laws
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Clean Water Act (1972)

• Strong goals.
• Complete elimination of pollutant discharge into
  navigable waters by 1985.
• Interim goal fishable and swimmable waters.
• No discharge of toxic pollutants in toxic
  quantities.
• Strong bipartisan support.
• Nixon vetoed (projected to cost 24 billion),
  Congress overrode a day later.
• Placed EPA in charge of administration

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CWA Provisions

• Provided incentive money for sewage treatment.
• Required permits for point discharges.
• National Pollution Discharge Elimination System
  (NDPES).
• Set ambient water quality standards.
• Standards set based on purpose/use of water body,
  so that use will not be diminished.
• Acknowledged the importance of wetlands
• Section 404 cannot develop wetlands without
  permit from Army Corps of Engineers.

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Sources of Pollution
Point sources.nonpoint sources
THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF PROGRESS IN CLEANING
THESE UP IN THE PAST 25 YEARS
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EPA Water quality rules

• Rules restrict concentration of 96 controlled
  chemicals with toxic potential
• These include volatile organics, nitrate,
  cyanide, asbestos, acrylamide
• Requires filtration of water for viruses and
  other disease agents (giardia, intestinal
  parasites)
• Requires testing for total coliform bacteria
• Coliform bacteria, indicators of potential
  problems, lack of biotic sterilization

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Note on the EPA

• EPA is an independent, watchdog agency with a
  mandate for pollution control.
• EPA has no jurisdiction over most land use
  issues.
• This makes it hard for EPA to address some root
  causes of pollution.
• Also makes EPA more independent of resource-using
  constituencies than other agencies.
• EPA primarily functions as an overseer to
  parallel state agencies.
• One of the areas where states complain about
  having to pay for laws the Federal government
  imposes on them.

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1972 Marine Protection, Research, and
Sanctuaries Act
POINT Additional laws have served to fine tune
aspects of cleaning up water

• Did lots of things (established marine
  sanctuaries), but among them limited dumping in
  marine waters

1977 Clean Water Act amendments

• Strengthened controls on toxic pollutants
• Allowed states to assume control of programs

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1987 Water Quality Act

• Created a revolving loan fund for construction of
  sewage treatment facilities (many still need
  updating)
• Outlined a watershed management approach to water
  pollution
• Required states to assess non-point pollution
  problems
• Grants available

Watershed Management issues next time.
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Storm drains Residential fertilizers Ag chemicals
Sources of Pollution
THESE ARE THE NEXT BIG CHALLENGE
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Why is this an important difference?

• Point sources
• Relatively easy to identify and regulate.
• Major target of existing legislation.
• Non-point sources
• Diffuse.
• Difficult to assign responsibility.
• Little legislation.
• Major remaining source of most water pollution
  problems.

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Rain Shadow Effects
Appendix
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Water projects create goods and bads
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Example of uncontrolled water diversion
Aral Sea
Population increase water scarcity