Ridenbaugh Press/Water Rights

A newly developed computer model simulates how groundwater flows in the Chambers-Clover Creek aquifer system and contributes to an improved understanding of water resources in the Chambers-Clover Creek Watershed, according to a report published by the U.S. Geological Survey.

The USGS model covers an area of about 491 square miles in western Pierce County, Washington and is bounded to the northeast by the Puyallup River, to the southwest by the Nisqually River, and extends northwest to Puget Sound, and southeast to Tanwax Creek. Scientists used water level measurements and geologic information from 450 water wells to define the watershed’s groundwater-flow system. Streamflow measurements from 44 locations were used to analyze the exchange of water between streams and aquifers.

“The groundwater-flow system in this watershed is very complex,” said Mark Savoca, USGS hydrologist and study leader. “This new model provides a useful tool to better understand groundwater flow and the complex interactions between streams and aquifers.”

The model was developed in cooperation with the Pierce Conservation District, local public water suppliers, Pierce County Surface Water Management Division, and the Washington State Department of Ecology. USGS scientists will present the results of the model at a public meeting on July 19, 2011, from 9:00 a.m. to noon at the Tacoma Public Utilities Administration Building, 3628 S 35th Street, Tacoma, WA.

“The model will improve our understanding of how changes in natural conditions and human activity could impact water resources in the watershed” said Dave Seabrook, Pierce Conservation District. “The model will help us sustain our groundwater and streamflows while protecting fragile ecosystems.”

The Kansas Department of Agriculture Division of Water Resources is offering water right holders two alternatives to allow for additional pumping authority this year due to the on-going, severe drought in western and south-central Kansas.

“Agriculture is critical to the Kansas economy,” said Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Dale Rodman. “At the Department of Agriculture we are committed to helping Kansas farmers and ranchers deal with the hardships this drought creates.”

These options are intended to prevent crop failure while minimizing the impact additional pumping has on the aquifer.

“It is important to meet the needs of farmers facing severe drought conditions and at the same time promote good management of water resources,” said DWR Chief Engineer David Barfield. While these alternatives are designed principally for irrigation, other uses of water can apply for use of these programs.

The first option is the use of Multi-Year Flex Account Permits. Participants in the Flex Account Program are provided a five-year allocation that includes the flexibility to exceed their annual authorized quantity of the water right. Participants can spread usage of their water allocation throughout the five years however they choose so long as the five-year total does not exceed the allocated amount. The five-year allocation is based on five times the average annual quantity actually used from 2000 through 2009, as reported to DWR by the water right holder on the annual water use reports, less a 10 percent conservation factor to reduce impacts on the aquifer and neighboring water right holders. While the Flex Account Program existed previously, amendments to the statute passed this session provide additional flexibility to apply for these permits during the year rather than before the start of the calendar year. This option is available statewide and is an on-going program.

The second option, which is available only in U.S. Department of Agriculture drought declaration counties for this year, is applying for a 2011 Drought Emergency Term Permit. 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. 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. Drought Term Permit Applications must be filed on or before December 31, 2011.

Qualifying counties include Barber, Barton, Butler, Clark, Comanche, Cowley, Edwards, Ellis, Finney, Ford, Gove, Graham, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Hamilton, Harper, Harvey, Haskell, Hodgeman, Kearny, Kingman, Lane, Lincoln, Logan, Meade, Morton, Ness, Norton, Phillips, Reno, Rice, Russell, Sedgwick, Scott, Seward, Sheridan, Sherman, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Sumner, Thomas, Trego, Wallace and Wichita Counties.

The major Georgia-Alabama-Florida lawsuit over control and use of the states’ joint river system, which has run sharply against Georgia up to now, may have taken a major turn with a June 28 decision in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The district judge deciding the case up to now, the appeals court said, erred on several grounds. He was wrong to say that the federal work around Lake Lanier could not be used – as it has been, crucially – to supply water for the Atlanta metropolitan area. And he did not have authority to act generally, because administrative actions were not exhausted within the appeals process of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The court concluded: “For the reasons explained below, we hold: First, the district court erred in finding that it had jurisdiction to hear Alabama, SeFPC, and Apalachicola because the Corps has not taken final agency action. The three cases therefore must be remanded to the Corps in order to take a final agency action. Second, the district
court and the Corps erred in concluding that water supply was not an authorized purpose of the Buford Project under the RHA. The Corps’ denial of Georgia’s 2000 water-supply request is therefore not entitled to Chevron deference, and the request must be remanded to the Corps for reconsideration. Third, the district court erred in finding that the 1956 Act, which authorized the Corps to contract with Gwinnett County to withdraw 10 million gallons of water per day, expired after 50 years. Gwinnett County’s contractual and just-compensation claims are without merit. Fourth, we also provide certain instructions to the Corps on remand. And finally, the Corps shall have one year to make a final determination of its authority to operate the Buford Project under the RHA and WSA.”

It described the case generally: “All of the underlying
cases relate to the Corps’ authority to operate the Buford Dam and Lake Lanier, the reservoir it created, for local water supply. In its order, the district court found that the Corps’ current operation of the Buford Project — Buford Dam and Lake Lanier collectively — had allocated more than 21% of Lake Lanier’s storage space to water supply. The court determined that such an allocation exceeded the Corps’ statutory authority and ordered the Corps to drastically reduce the quantity of water that it made available for water supply. The court’s summary judgment order also affirmed the Corps’ rejection of Georgia’s 2000 request for additional water supply allocations to meet the needs of the localities through 2030. The court stayed its order for three years to give the parties time to reach a settlement or to approach Congress for additional water supply authority.”

It also said: “The Georgia Parties argue that the district court erred by concluding that the Corps lacked authority to allocate substantial quantities of storage in Lake Lanier to water supply on the basis of the legislation that authorized the creation of the Buford Project, the 1946
Rivers and Harbors Act (“RHA”), Pub. L. No. 79-525, 60 Stat. 634 (1946). Although not in agreement with the Georgia Parties that water supply for the Atlanta area is an authorized project purpose under the RHA, the Corps does argue that the district court underestimated its authority to accommodate the water supply needs of the Atlanta area. The Georgia Parties and the Corps both assert that the district court erred by misinterpreting the scope of the Corps’ authority under the
1958 Water Supply Act. The Georgia Parties and the Corps urge this Court to remand the case to the agency to make, in the first instance, a final determination of its water supply authority. Gwinnett County also individually asserts statutory, constitutional, and contractual claims relating to authority granted to it for its current withdrawals from Lake Lanier.”

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal released a statement: “The office of Gov. Nathan Deal is rapidly reviewing the decision of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals on our water case, but at first glance it appears that the state of Georgia has won a great victory. The 11th Circuit panel has ruled unanimously that Lake Lanier was built for the purpose of water supply for the metro Atlanta area. This means that the Lake will continue to be available to meeet Georgia’s needs. The governor remains committted to working with Alabama and Florida towards a fair agreement regarding the sharing of water in the ACF and ACT Basins.”

The Bureau of Reclamation and the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority are preparing a joint Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report for a proposed 25-year extension of the current 10-year Exchange Contractors Central Valley Project water transfer program, which expires February 28, 2014. The Proposed Action contains some modifications in water development and use to the current programs water transfer portfolio. The Proposed Actions performance period is water years 2014 (March 1, 2014) through 2038 (February 28, 2039). Reclamation and the Exchange Contractors are lead federal and state agencies, respectively, for the National Environmental Policy Act and the California Environmental Quality Act.

Water transfers under the Proposed Action would occur between the Exchange Contractors and CVP and Non-CVP water contractors and wildlife refuges largely within Californias San Joaquin Valley, but may also include water users south and east of the San Francisco Bay and east of Monterey Bay. The Proposed Action will allow the annual transfer of Exchange Contractors CVP water to continue after February 28, 2014. The Proposed Action considers additional water conservation derived alternatives under specified conditions.

A public scoping meeting to receive public and agency comments on the scope of analysis and EIS/EIR content for the proposed Program will be held in:

Los Banos – Wednesday, July 13, 2011, 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., Miller & Lux Building1, 836 6th Street

The Washington Department of Ecology has closed a small drainage basin south of Mount Vernon to new domestic wells because, by law, no more water is available underground. However, Ecology will allow new domestic wells if the owner can provide an offset for the water to be used.

The partial closure affects the 27.7-square-mile basin that drains into Carpenter and Fisher Creeks, located primarily in Skagit County between Mount Vernon, Conway and the hills to the east. About 3.6 square miles of the basin extend into Snohomish County.

Homes with existing wells and areas served by public water systems are not affected.

The Carpenter-Fisher sub-basin is part of the much larger Skagit River Basin. Ecology adopted a rule in 2001 that establishes minimum stream flows during dry late summer and early fall seasons. Water taken from wells affects the flow of nearby streams. The minimum flows protect fish and other natural resources by limiting the amount of new withdrawals of water from streams and wells.

Ecology amended the minimum flow rule in 2006 under an agreement with Skagit County that allocated certain amounts of water – called reservations – for general domestic use, farm irrigation and livestock watering. The domestic reservation in the Carpenter-Fisher sub-basin is the only reservation to have reached its full allocation.

The Carpenter-Fisher water reservation provided legally secure water supply for new homes on permit-exempt wells since 2001. The basin’s reservation allowed 11,633 gallons of well water per day for domestic, municipal and commercial water uses.

Ecology has commissioned a study by the non-profit Washington Water Trust to make an inventory of existing water rights in the Carpenter-Fisher Sub-basin. This initial study will examine the possibility of creating a basin-wide mitigation project using existing water rights to offset the effects of pumping new wells. The study will be completed later this summer.

Another Ecology study will make use of data from a U.S. Geological Survey study last year that created a computer model of the relationship between groundwater and streams in the Skagit Basin. Ecology is currently using the model to assess the impact of well pumping on stream flows in Carpenter-Fisher, to determine if this changes the assessment of water availability.

In addition, Skagit County – with assistance from the city of Anacortes and Ecology – has begun a metering project for homes that use well water. Ecology will review information from this project to determine whether it alters availability of water in the sub-basin.

Overruling a water court decision, the Montana Supreme Court on June said that the organization Trout Unlimited could join an formally objecting to water rights without making any claim to the water itself.

In Montana Trout Unlimited v. Beaverhead Water Company et al, the court said that issues should be fully aired in the adjudication process, suggesting lower courts should err on the side of inclusion.

The case grew out of a water court Temporary Preliminary Decree for the Big Hole River Basin issued on April 6, 2007. “Pursuant to notice of the decree, MTU filed timely objections to several of the claims of each of the Claimants and requested a hearing. The Claimants moved to dismiss the MTU objections, arguing that MTU lacked standing to object. The Water Court converted the motions to dismiss to motions for summary judgment. MTU and Claimants waived their right to a hearing on summary judgment and stipulated that the Water Court could accept as true the assertions of fact made in their briefs and in the attachments to MTU’s brief. The Water Court determined that the motions involved only issues of law and ultimately granted summary judgment to the Claimants, holding that MTU lacked standing to file objections to the water right claims,” the court recounted.

It continued: “The Water Court held that while MTU was a person entitled to receive notice of the decree, it must also demonstrate “good cause” by showing “an ownership interest in water or its use that has been affected by the decree” when filing objections. MTU filed a “statement of interest” to meet the “good cause” requirement. It recited MTU’s participation in the Big Hole River fish and water flow protection and restoration efforts, its interest in promoting and protecting those efforts by insuring that water right claims are thoroughly examined and well supported, its interest in fulfilling the instream water reservations of the Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and its goal of insuring that its members could continue to fish the river. The Water Court acknowledged that it is “beyond dispute that all citizens of Montana have public environmental and recreational interests in the natural waters of Montana.”

In its conclusion, the court said: Continue Reading »

The New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission approved an
evaluation process for Tier 2 for projects or proposals to be considered for funding under the Arizona Water Settlements Act, at a Commission meeting on Wednesday, in Silver City. The Tier-2 process will be posted.

A crowd of about 75 people attended the meeting and many provided public comment on the proposal process and evaluation criteria.

The State stands to receive between $66 million and $128 million in federal money, beginning in 2012 for projects in the four counties of Hidalgo, Luna, Grant, and Catron. Funding could be used to pay costs for development of up to 14,000 acre-feet per year of new water supplies or to fund water utilization alternatives to meet water supply demands. Funding could also be used for costs associated with planning and environmental compliance activities and/or environmental mitigation and restoration.

“This process is the result of ten years of consultation with stakeholders in southwest New Mexico and has been the subject of an intensive consultation in the past months, including a number of conference calls open to all individual stakeholders and stakeholder groups in the region,” said ISC Special Projects Bureau Chief Craig Roepke. “Where stakeholder consensus exists, staff has included those recommendations.”

New Mexico State Engineere John D’Antonio explained the deal in an op-ed piece: Continue Reading »

Reclamation has released a Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for the enhancement of overwinter fish rearing habitat in McGarvey Creek, a tributary to the Klamath River. The project would consist of stream and floodplain enhancements needed to create complex off-channel rearing habitat for natal and non-natal salmonids and is located near Klamath, California.

Reclamation proposed to provide grant funding to the Yurok Tribe Fisheries Program from the Klamath Basin Restoration Program to enhance overwinter rearing habitat for coho salmon in McGarvey Creek.

The project would restore low gradient and off-channel habitats that have the potential to provide a significant amount of complex, diverse and productive rearing habitat for natal and non-natal salmonids, especially Klamath Basin coho. The project consists of installing approximately 15 complex wood jams, construction of a 550 foot alcove and stabilization of approximately 2,000 feet of road.

The Bureau of Reclamation and Jicarilla Apache Nation will continue negotiations on a proposed repayment contract for the Navajo-Gallup Water Supply Project. The contract will provide the terms and conditions by which the Nation will repay its portion of project construction and operation, maintenance, and replacement costs.

The project, authorized by the Northwest New Mexico Rural Projects Act of 2009, will convey approximately 37,376 acre-feet of water annually from the San Juan River to the eastern section of the Navajo Nation, southwestern portion of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, and the city of Gallup via about 260 miles of pipeline, 24 pumping plants, and two water treatment plants.

This will be the fifth negotiation meeting; the first four were held in August, October, and November 2010 and May 2011. The meeting is scheduled for June 30 at 10:30 a.m. at the Nation’s Headquarters located at 25 Hawks Drive, Dulce, New Mexico. All negotiations are open to the public.

Afghanistan is emerging as a regional hotspot in the water world, as both Indian and Pakistan take roles in dealing with the troubled country over water supplies.

India has been the more active, reportedly providing assistance to the country in its construction of 13 dams on the Kabul River. Water is scarce across much of the Afghanistan-Pakistan-northern India region, and Pakistan officials have expressed concern about the possibility that Afghanistan may impound some water which traditionally has gone to Pakistan irrigators.

The Indian Ministry of Water and Power has suggested signing a water use treaty with Afghanistan, though prospective terms are unclear.

Water shortfalls have been reported this year around the region.