Ridenbaugh Press/Water Rights

Nearly all of the 19 WGA member states are currently affected by dryness or drought to some extent. In fact, over 75% of the contiguous United States is suffering from some degree of abnormally dry or drought conditions, with half of that being categorized as severe, extreme, or exceptional drought. The largest swath of extreme drought is centered over the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains.

Drought is an expensive phenomenon: both the Southern Plains drought of 2011 and the widespread drought of 2002 cost more than $12 billion in today’s dollars.

Food Prices: Food prices are projected to rise by 3 to 4% in the next year, which is slightly above the average 2.8% annual inflation. Beef prices could increase as much as 5%.

Agriculture: Hay prices have as much as tripled in drought-stricken regions, adding pressure for ranchers across the West to sell cattle months before they would normally go to market.

Tourism: In addition to impacts to areas ravaged by drought-intensified wildfire, low stream levels due to drought can impact the recreation sector in western states. Rafting tours have been less popular this year in Colorado, and Montana has enacted fishing closures on some rivers and lakes.

Economic Confidence: A poll of Midwestern bankers in July suggested that drought is leading to weak confidence in rural economies. Agriculturally-based industries can suffer, too, as Bloomberg News suggested in a report showing a 6.3% drop in John Deere’s stock over 11 days.

Fire Risk: Wildfires were remarkably devastating in the West this season; although the national acreage subject to fire is in line with the 10-year average, several wildfires this year occurred in populated areas with valuable property. Insurance estimates for the Waldo Canyon fire stand at $352.6 million, more than 1.5 times the second-most expensive wildfire in Colorado history. Wildfire conditions were exacerbated by lack of precipitation, high temperatures, and low soil moisture.

Water Supply: Western reservoirs are in fair shape due to 2011’s wet conditions, but in some regions reservoir storage has dropped considerably. For instance, in Arizona, storage in the Verde and Salt river basin systems are at 59% of capacity, or 20% less than last year. The Southern Nevada Water Authority said the western slope of the Rocky Mountains would need at least seven years of normal snowfall to bring southern Nevada out of its 12-year drought.

Wildlife: Droughts adversely impact aquatic species: low water levels can increase water temperature and decrease oxygen levels, stressing fish and their food sources instream. Drought-exacerbated wildfires threaten terrestrial species: habitat for the sage-grouse, a chicken-like bird which lives in open sage land, has been subject to widespread fires in Oregon and Nevada.

Drought continues in Kansas with nearly three fourths of the state abnormally to exceptionally dry. The estimated value loss of wheat, corn, sorghum and soybeans in Kansas in 2011 is more than 1.77 billion dollars, based on a comparison of current U.S. Department of Agriculture production estimates and average historic production.

Bushels of Production Loss Value Loss
Wheat 36,417,857 $ 285,880,177
Corn 137,963,203 $ 965,742,422
Sorghum 31,426,589 $ 213,700,807
Soybeans 22,700,717 $ 309,864,790
Total $ 1,775,188,196
The Kansas Department of Agriculture is offering emergency drought term permits to additional counties as conditions worsen. Additionally, certain motor carrier regulations remain suspended to allow hay to be moved to drought-stricken areas faster.

“We want to be flexible and do our part to help Kansas farmers and ranchers deal with this severe drought,” Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Dale Rodman said. “We have learned as a new administration that there are ways we can work with the U.S.D.A and other agencies to ease the burden on producers. Our goal is to take what we’ve learned to respond swiftly to address producers concerns now and in the future.”

In response to Governor Brownback’s recent request for federal assistance for additional drought-stricken counties, the Department of Agriculture has extended the Drought Emergency Term Permit option to water right holders in Allen, Anderson, Bourbon, Chase, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Coffey, Crawford, Elk, Ellsworth, Greenwood, Labette, Linn, Lyon, Montgomery, Neosho, Wilson, and Woodson counties.

The one-time, drought-focused term permit allows holders of existing water rights the flexibility to borrow a portion of next year’s authorized quantity in order to complete the 2011 growing season.

Additional information about the drought emergency term permit, including application forms, can be found on the 2011 Drought Options webpage. Program enrollment ends on December 31, 2011 and water right holders must apply for this program prior to exceeding the quantity of water authorized by their water right(s). There have been 903 drought emergency term permit applications as of September 14.

With the addition, qualifying counties include Allen, Anderson, Barber, Barton, Bourbon, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Clark, Coffey, Comanche, Cowley, Crawford, Edwards, Elk, Ellis, Ellsworth, Finney, Ford, Gove, Graham, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Greenwood, Hamilton, Harper, Harvey, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearny, Kingman, Kiowa, Labette, Lane, Lincoln, Linn, Logan, Lyon, Marion, McPherson, Meade, Montgomery, Morton, Neosho, Ness, Norton, Pawnee, Phillips, Pratt, Reno, Rice, Rush, Russell, Sedgwick, Scott, Seward, Sheridan, Sherman, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Sumner, Thomas, Trego, Wallace, Wichita, Wilson, and Woodson counties.

The Kansas Department of Agriculture’s Division of Water Resources has expanded the opportunity to apply for a 2011 Drought Term Permit to include water right holders in the Arkansas River Intensive Groundwater Use Control Area. The Arkansas River IGUCA includes parts of Hamilton, Kearny, Finney, Gray and Ford counties.

The one-time, drought-focused term permit allows holders of existing water rights the flexibility to borrow a portion of next year’s authorized quantity in order to complete the 2011 growing season.

“We are committed to serving our customers and are particularly concerned about the severe drought that is taking a toll on many Kansas farmers and ranchers,” Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Dale Rodman said. “By being flexible and adding to the areas eligible for term permits, we hope to improve Kansas agriculture’s ability to adapt and recover.”

The term permit allocation will be based on the sum of the quantity authorized for 2011 and 2012. Permitted use during the two years is expected to be aquifer neutral as participants will agree to deduct their 2011 overage from what they are permitted to pump in 2012. This program will expire on December 31, 2011. Continuing dry conditions in much of Kansas has prompted strong interest in the emergency term permits.

The option was first introduced June 30 for the 46 counties in Kansas that had received a U.S. Department of Agriculture emergency drought declaration for 2011. Based on feedback from stakeholders about severe drought conditions in additional counties, four additional counties were added on July 7. On July 29, two additional counties and two IGUCAs were added to the eligible areas.

Qualifying IGUCAS now include Arkansas River IGUCA (Hamilton, Kearny, Finney, Gray and Ford Counties), Burrton IGUCA (Harvey County) and Pawnee Valley IGUCA (Pawnee County).

Counties qualifying for term permits for areas of the county not part of an IGUCA now include Barber, Barton, Butler, Clark, Comanche, Cowley, Edwards, Ellis, Finney, Ford, Gove, Graham, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Hamilton, Harper, Harvey, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearny, Kingman, Kiowa, Lane, Lincoln, Logan, Marion, McPherson, Meade, Morton, Ness, Norton, Pawnee, Phillips, Pratt, Reno, Rice, Rush, Russell, Sedgwick, Scott, Seward, Sheridan, Sherman, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Sumner, Thomas, Trego, Wallace and Wichita Counties.

A batch of junior – 1980 and later – water rights on the Brazos River will see water curtailments owing to drought conditions, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality decided in August.

The commission said that:

The Texas Water Code requires that the flows of the Brazos River must be available for use by land owners with property adjacent to the Brazos River for domestic and livestock use as part of their inherent riparian rights. These D&L users have senior priority before any appropriated water rights.

The lack of significant rainfall in the area and the declining flow of the Brazos River means many junior water rights have already reached their permitted flow restrictions and have not been allowed to divert any surface water. All approved temporary water rights in the area have also been suspended. Should drought conditions continue to persist, additional suspensions or restrictions of remaining water rights may be necessary.

The Washington Department of Ecology is overseeing a number of waterways around the state running at or above full capacity – but some are running low. These primarily are in areas just east of the Cascades, in the northern part of the state.

The department is ordering water cutbacks for 79 irrigators near the Okanogan and Similkameen rivers, but who have relatively junior water rights. A number of Methow River irrigators, perhaps 56, were expected to be impacted soon as well. [see the Wenatchee World, May 19]

The New York Times has posted a cautionary note for anyone – in the United States as well as elsewhere – doubting the importance of regular availability to water: As a practical matter, water rights.

The subject in the town of Quillagua in Chile, an extremely dry place in the Atacama Desert, which in turn is one of the driest on earth.

“What the town did have was a river, feeding an oasis in the Atacama desert. But mining companies have polluted and bought up so much of the water, residents say, that for months each year the river is little more than a trickle — and an unusable one at that. Quillagua is among many small towns that are being swallowed up in the country’s intensifying water wars. Nowhere is the system for buying and selling water more permissive than here in Chile, experts say, where water rights are private property, not a public resource, and can be traded like commodities with little government oversight or safeguards for the environment. Private ownership is so concentrated in some areas that a single electricity company from Spain, Endesa, has bought up 80 percent of the water rights in a huge region in the south, causing an uproar. ”

The story may also serve as a warning about the potential inherent in a water market left unregulated.

The Reno Gazette-Journal newspaper has published online a series of reports on water supply in the region. The most recent, out today: “An Overview of Water Scarcity and Water Market Development.” The author is Loretta Singletary, an extension educator at the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension.

She notes, “Water shortages and quality issues are likely to worsen over time. Water crisis management is not the answer, nor is the use of collaborative processes with no definable endpoint. The U.S. Department of Interior in their report titled, Water 2025: Preventing Crises and Conflict in the West (1998) outline several options for addressing anticipated water conflict. These include more efficient water uses, cut back and/or eliminate existing water uses, develop alternative water resources (cloud seeding and desalinization) and transfer water between existing and new uses through market-based mechanisms such as water banking.”

Arnold Schwartzenegger

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today proclaimed a state of emergency and ordered immediate action to manage the crisis. In the proclamation, the Governor uses his authority to direct all state government agencies to utilize their resources, implement a state emergency plan and provide assistance for people, communities and businesses impacted by the drought.

“Even with the recent rainfall, California faces its third consecutive year of drought and we must prepare for the worst – a fourth, fifth or even sixth year of drought,” Governor Schwarzenegger said. “Last year we experienced the driest spring and summer on record and storage in the state’s reservoir system is near historic lows. This drought is having a devastating impact on our people, our communities, our economy and our environment – making today’s action absolutely necessary. This is a crisis, just as severe as an earthquake or raging wildfire, and we must treat it with the same urgency by upgrading California’s water infrastructure to ensure a clean and reliable water supply for our growing state.”

The governor’s order directs various state departments to engage in activity to provide assistance to people and communities impacted by the drought.

From California Farm Bureau President Doug Mosebar: “By acknowledging that the health of communities and farms is linked to a reliable water supply, the governor’s actions will help ease job and economic losses due to California’s water crisis. By requiring all agencies with jurisdiction over water issues to work together to address supply needs immediately, the governor is streamlining assistance to thirsty communities and farms.”

The Southwest Florida Water Management District Governing Board Tuesday concurred with an emergency authorization allowing the Peace River/Manasota Regional Water Supply Authority to utilize its existing Aquifer Storage and Recovery wellfields for the temporary production of ground water to meet regional demand.
The Authority’s ASR wellfields are normally used to store excess treated surface water from its permitted Peace River withdrawals for later use. The Authority’s existing permit only allows for it to pump previously injected water from this aquifer storage.
However, the ongoing drought has depleted the ASR reserve supplies. The emergency order signed last week by the District’s executive director, David Moore, allows the Authority to draw native ground water from the ASR wellfields to mitigate the effects of the ongoing drought on the public water supply.
The Authority’s service area includes North Port as well as Charlotte, DeSoto, Sarasota and Manatee counties (Manatee County currently does not receive water from the authority).
The authorization will allow the Authority to temporarily utilize its existing ASR wellfields for the production of ground water, with a maximum groundwater withdrawal rate of 17.0 million gallons per day.
Groundwater production may only commence when ASR storage is exhausted and shall cease no later than July 1, 2008. It must also be temporarily suspended any time the Authority is able to meet demand using its other water sources.
The Peace River is the Authority’s primary water source to meet the drinking water needs of approximately 250,000 residents in a four-county region. During periods of high river flows, the authority typically stores water in its reservoir and two ASR wellfields for later use during the dry season or whenever river withdrawals are not sufficient to meet drinking water demands.
As of March 10, 2008, the total amount of water in storage (reservoir and ASR wellfields combined) was approximately 542 million gallons, or about seven percent (7%) of the Authoritys total storage capacity and less than one-third of the amount of storage at this time last year. On that same date, only 56 million gallons remained in the ASR wellfields, compared to a storage capacity of approximately 7.4 billion gallons.
The District has taken other emergency actions to assist the Authority during the current drought. Last month the District authorized the Englewood Water District to help the Authority by providing water to Charlotte County Utilities. This is allowing the Authority to reduce the amount of water it supplies to the county, which helps to extend its regional water supplies.
Additionally, in August 2007, the District authorized the Authority to pump additional water from the Peace River, when sufficient flows were available, to store in its reservoir and two ASR wellfields to help protect the drinking water supply. This emergency authorization remains in effect.
Since its issuance, the August 2007 order has allowed the withdrawal of approximately 1.3 billion gallons of water more than would have been normally authorized by the Authority’s permit. However, the prospect of additional withdrawals has diminished due to seasonal and drought-related declines in river flow.
During the past twelve months (February 2007 through January 2008) the southern basin of the Peace River received only 38.25 inches, compared to a typical historical value of 52 inches, resulting in a rainfall deficit of 13.75 inches. During the same period, the lack of rain in the northern basin of the Peace River has resulted a rainfall deficit of 14.07 inches. As a result of below normal of below normal rainfall in the Peace River watershed, the Peace Rivers stream flow is well below normal and the area is expected to continue to receive below normal rainfall through May.
http://www.swfwmd.state.fl.us/news/article/917/ March 25

Drought conditions in western South Dakota have forced the state Department of Environment and Natural Resources to issue shutoff orders to 50 junior water right holders along the Cheyenne River and tributaries upstream of Angostura Reservoir and to two junior water right holders on the Belle Fourche River upstream of the Belle Fourche Reservoir diversion dam. Belle Fourche Reservoir is at 54.3 percent of storage capacity and 11.5 feet below full. Angostura Reservoir is at 46.1 percent of storage capacity and more than 18.4 feet below full.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation holds senior water rights for both the Belle Fourche Reservoir, bearing a 1904 priority date, and Angostura Reservoir, having a 1941 priority date. Those water rights provide for an annual fill of each of the reservoirs for supplying irrigation water to the Belle Fourche Irrigation District and the Angostura Irrigation District.
South Dakota water law is based on the prior appropriation doctrine, which means the most senior water rights on a particular stream have priority based upon date to available water supplies over the junior priority date water rights. State water law authorizes DENR and the Water Management Board to issue water right permits to people who want to put water to beneficial use, such as irrigation, municipal water supply, or commercial use. Although the junior priority water right holders are subject to shutoff orders, state water right law gives domestic use of water from rivers and streams the highest priority. Domestic use includes livestock watering and is not subject to shutoff orders.
Contact:?Garland Erbele?(605) 773-3352 Source: South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources Friday March