Ridenbaugh Press/Water Rights

For the purpose of receiving public comment from all interested persons, the Nevada Division of Water Resources will hold a public hearing regarding the adoption, amendment or repeal of Regulations for Water Well and Related Drilling as set forth in Chapter 534 of the Nevada Administrative Code.

The hearing will begin on May 31 promptly at 9:00 a.m. at the Nevada Legislative Building in Carson City and will include the full opportunity to be heard by presenting oral or written testimony and exhibits to be entered into the record. If necessary, a mid-day break will begin at approximately 12:00 p.m. and the hearing will be continued at 1:30 p.m.

As provided in Nevada Revised Statutes Chapters 233B, 534.020 (2), 534.060 (8), 534.140 (6) and 534.150 (6), the Division of Water Resources is proposing to amend the present Regulations for Water Well and Related Drilling (Nevada Administrative Code § 534.010 through § 534.500).

The following information is provided pursuant to the requirements of NRS 233B.0603:

1) The need for and the purpose of the proposed regulation modifications are to clarify existing language and present new language since the rule was last adopted in 2006.

2) The proposed changes will provide for clarification on monitoring well requirements, provide additional options for water well plugging materials, and require a minor increase in the bentonite solids content of bentonite grout.

3) The potential economic impact on the regulated industry involves a minor increase in cost of materials used in borehole plugging. The immediate and long term economic benefit to the industry involves less expensive options for water well plugging materials, and an improvement in the quality of the product used forborehole plugging. The potential adverse effect to the public, both short and long term, is expected to be minimal. The immediate and long term economic benefit to the public involves less expensive options for water well plugging materials,and an improvement in the quality of the product used for borehole plugging. These proposed changes will offer greater protection of groundwater statewide.

Due to current hydrologic conditions in the San Joaquin Valley and Sierra Nevada, the Bureau of Reclamation has announced an increase in the allocation for Friant Division, Central Valley Project agricultural, and municipal and industrial water service contractors.

The Friant Division water allocation has been increased from 45 percent of Class 1 water, announced April 13, to 50 percent of Class 1 water. The Class 2 allocation remains unchanged at zero percent of the contracted supply. The updated allocations for the Friant Division are based upon the 90-percent exceedence (dry future conditions) forecast. Friant Division contractors’ water supply is delivered from Millerton Reservoir on the upper San Joaquin River. The first 800,000 acre-feet of contracted water supply is considered Class 1. Any remaining water up to 1.4 million acre-feet is considered Class 2.

Precipitation in the San Joaquin River Basin is 59 percent of the seasonal average to date, and the snow water content is about 40 percent of the April 1 average in the southern Sierra Nevada.

Changes to hydrology and opportunities to exercise operational flexibility of the CVP will influence allocations during the remainder of the water year. Reclamation is monitoring the hydrologic and operating conditions and working closely with local, state and federal partners to take immediate advantage of any opportunities to increase CVP allocations. Water supply updates will be made as appropriate and posted at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/pa/water.

The Bureau of Reclamation has released final environment documents on one-year contracts for conveyance of non-Central Valley Project groundwater in the Tehama-Colusa and Corning canals in Northern California, when excess capacity is available.

Three of 17 water districts, served by the canals, have requested use of the canals to deliver additional water due to the dry hydrologic conditions. Some of the other 14 districts may make the same request. The water will be pumped from existing wells and conveyed through existing facilities.

The Final Environmental Assessment and Findings of No Significant Impact (EA/FONSI) was prepared in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act and may be viewed at: http://www.usbr.gov/mp/nepa/nepa_projdetails.cfm?Project_ID=9424.

Reclamation’s Eastern Colorado Area Office announces the Final Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for the Colorado Water Users’ commitment to provide 10,825 acre-feet of water to the 15-Mile Reach of the Upper Colorado River. Copies of the Final EA and FONSI are available at www.usbr.gov/gp/ecao.

At the request of east and west slope water users of the Colorado River, Reclamation is considering entering into a number of long-term water contracts or agreements that would support and provide for 10,825 acre-feet of water from its upper Colorado River basin reservoirs. The water would be released to the 15-Mile Reach of the Colorado River, which is identified as habitat for endangered fish under the Upper Colorado River Endangered Species Recovery Program.

The EA was prepared in compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act to determine what, if any, effects might result from the proposed action. Reclamation studied the proposal for three years before signing a Finding of No Significant Impact. Comments received from the public were an important part of Reclamation’s NEPA process.

The Bureau of Reclamation’s Albuquerque Area Office and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on April 19 released their Annual Operating Plan for the Middle Rio Grande.

Because the snowpack in the northern mountains is less than half of what is considered an average snowpack, water will be meager in the Middle Rio Grande this year. Reclamation will use previously leased water currently in storage to help meet the flow requirements in the Biological Opinion for the Rio Grande silvery minnow.

In a dry year, the 2003 Biological Opinion requires Reclamation to keep the river wet through Central Bridge. The Isleta and San Acacia reaches of the river can be dried in a controlled manner after June 15.

The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District expects a shorter irrigation season to end in September, about a month early.

The April forecast data released by the Natural Resources Conservation Service indicates snowpack volumes throughout northern New Mexico are approximately 30 percent of average. The inflow at El Vado Reservoir is expected to be about 115,000 acre-feet of water or about 49 percent of average. The inflow at Heron Reservoir is expected to be about 57,000 acre-feet or about 62 percent of average.

Reclamation will again be cooperating with the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority and other stakeholders to move water from El Vado Reservoir to Abiquiu on the weekends to allow for rafting flows on the Rio Chama.

Surrounded by Colby Community College students, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback held a ceremonial signing of a bill designed to conserve the state’s water supply and extend the life of the Ogallala Aquifer.

Senate Bill 310 establishes a process through groundwater management districts (GMDs) that allows local communities of producers to collectively decide their future by initiating the implementation of conservation plans that meet their local goals.

Governor Brownback encouraged GMDs to begin identifying places where “local enhanced management areas” (LEMAs) may be a good fit.

“We must conserve our water so we can extend the useful life of the Ogallala Aquifer,” Brownback said. “This tool allows Kansans to join together and offer up ideas that work on the local level. It allows them to work together on behalf of their children and grandchildren to provide solutions that will save water for the next generation.”

Kansas Water Office Director Tracy Streeter, Groundwater Management District Four Manager Wayne Bossert, Kansas Department of Agriculture Division of Water Resources Chief Engineer Dave Barfield as well as legislators and stakeholder groups joined the Governor for the bill signing.

“The Local Enhanced Management Areas is an option that Kansans asked for and we already have a Groundwater Management District moving forward with a LEMA proposal,” Kansas Department of Agriculture Division of Water Resources Chief Engineer David Barfield said.

Work on reforming the state’s water laws began a year ago when the Brownback administration started planning the Ogallala Aquifer Water Summit. Hundreds of Kansans concerned about the future of the state’s water supply and the future of their children and grandchildren attended that summit in Colby. From there, the Ogallala Aquifer Advisory Committee reviewed short and long term water goals. Then the Kansas Water Authority developed the water reform legislative agenda presented to the Kansas Legislature for its consideration.

“Agriculture is key to the economic vitality of Kansas, and water is essential to agriculture production,” Kansas Secretary of Agriculture Rodman said. “The Governor’s 2011 water legislation package was an important step towards creating water policy that benefits agriculture today and sustains the valuable water resources for future generations.”

KWO Director Streeter said this law is a true example of how when Kansans work together, they can find solutions.

“This legislation proves the stakeholder input process really does work,” Director Streeter said. “The Kansas Water Office will continue to work with the Kansas Water Authority and the Ogallala Aquifer Advisory Committee to identify and evaluate further policy considerations.”

Governor Brownback has signed four other water conservation bills in law this session:

House Bill 2451 eliminates the state’s “use it or lose it” water policy in areas closed to new water right appropriations and gives landowners incentive to conserve water because they won’t feel that they must use their maximum amount of water when they don’t need to just so they don’t lose water rights.

Senate Bill 272 amends multi-year flex accounts to expand irrigators’ capabilities and options so they can manage their crop water over a 5-year period without increasing long-term water use under their water right.

HB 2516 amends the state’s water banking program. The changes provide for more permanence in water banks and allow additional water banks to be developed where local producers find it to be a tool that will help them in conserving water and protecting the economy. A water bank allows the short term lease (up to 10 years) of water rights at a price set by the seller and agreed to by the buyer.

HB 2517 extends the sunset to make the Water Transition Assistance Program (WTAP) by 10 years to the year 2022 and makes other improvements to the program. The purpose of this voluntary, incentive-based water right retirement program is to provide a structured mechanism for the permanent dismissal of irrigation water rights and the reduction of consumptive groundwater use in focused, over-appropriated areas.

The Department of Water Resources on April 16 estimated it
will be able to deliver 60 percent of requested State Water Project water this year. This is up from the 50 percent delivery estimate — or allocation — announced on February 22.

Originally, DWR projected in November that it would be able to supply 60 percent of the slightly more than 4 million acre-feet of SWP water requested, but a dry December, January and February dropped that figure to 50 percent.

The increase is due to an unusually wet March and higher-than-average reservoir storage carried over from last winter.

“This is good news for our water supply as we approach summer’s peak-demand period,” said DWR Director Mark Cowin. “But we must remember that we still had a dry winter despite a partial recovery in March, and we need to be prepared for a potentially second consecutive dry year in 2013, when reservoir storage would be reduced.”
A 60 percent allocation is not unusually low.
Wet conditions last year allowed the SWP to deliver 80 percent of the slightly more
than 4 million acre-feet requested by the 29 public agencies that supply more than 25 million Californians and nearly a million acres of irrigated farmland. An acre-foot is 325,851 gallons of water, enough to cover one acre to a depth of one foot. The final allocation was 50 percent in 2010, 40 percent in 2009, 35 percent in 2008, and 60 percent in 2007. The last 100 percent allocation — difficult to achieve even in wet 2 years due to pumping restrictions to protect threatened and endangered fish — was in 2006.

Last month’s allocation-boosting storms came after unusually dry conditions up and down the state.

Much of California’s water comes from the mountainous country from Shasta Lake in the north to the American River in the south. DWR’s precipitation gages covering this area recorded an impressive 130 percent of average rainfall in October, but only 43 percent in November, four percent of average in December, 84 percent of average in January, and 38 percent of normal in February. March, however, came in
at 228 percent of normal.
Precipitation gages in the San Joaquin basin recorded125 percent of the average monthly precipitation for October, 32 percent for November, zero percent for December, 80 percent for January, and 35 percent for February. March recorded 110 percent of normal.

The mountain snowpack shows a north-to-south variance in this winter’s weather patterns. Water content in the statewide snowpack is only 68 percent of normal for the date, whereas the reading in the northern ranges is 101percent of normal.
Reservoir storage remains high, largely due to carryover from last winter.

Lake Oroville in Butte County, the State Water Project’s principal reservoir, is at 110 percent of average for the date (88 percent of its 3.5 million acre-foot capacity).

Lake Shasta north of Redding, the federal Central Valley Project’s largest reservoir with a capacity of 4.5 million acre-feet, also is at 110 percent of average (93 percent of capacity).

Water meter data complied through the Office of the State Engineer’s metering program, part of the Active Water Resource Management initiative, shows a dramatic increase in groundwater pumping by irrigators in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico in 2011.

Meter records indicate that 280,000 acre-feet of groundwater was pumped for irrigation in 2011, twice as much as in either 2009 or 2010. State water officials expected an increase in irrigation pumping this season as area farmers were forced to rely upon groundwater to supplement a dramatic reduction in Rio Grande Project surface water to the Elephant Butte Irrigation District. Reductions in the amount of Rio Grande Project water allocated to members of EBID are the result of the 2008 Rio Grande Project Operating Agreement compounded by the continuing drought. This agreement allocated 268,000 acre-feet of Rio Grande Project water to the El Paso County Water Improvement District in 2011, while only 77,000 acre feet were allocated to EBID.

State water officials confirm that local farmers did not increase the total water usage amount, despite the increase in groundwater pumping. On average in 2011, EBID farmers put about 4 feet of irrigation water on each acre of crop land, the same as in 2009 and 2010 years; however, in 2011 more of this water had to come from groundwater pumping. Other groundwater uses in the Lower Rio Grande remained stable. Municipalities and domestic water suppliers pumped 39,000 acre-feet, and pumping for industrial and commercial uses totaled about 7,000 acre-feet.

New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission Director Estevan López expressed concern over the consequences of the 2008 Rio Grande Project Operating Agreement upon New Mexico’s aquifers.

“Less surface water in the canals means less recharge to the aquifer,” said López. “EBID farmers are then forced to irrigate with more groundwater to survive the irrigation season. The result is a double hit to New Mexico’s aquifer.”

Over the past four years, New Mexico has collected data on irrigation, municipal, mutual domestic, and industrial and commercial groundwater pumping in the New Mexico part of the Lower Rio Grande.

“We have been successful in measuring groundwater pumping in New Mexico for the past four years. Unfortunately, despite repeated requests for data, Texas groundwater pumping amounts remain unclear,” said State Engineer Scott Verhines. “New Mexico data shows EBID farmers who were given less Rio Grande project water are obligated to pump from their wells. The drought combined with less Rio Grande project surface water has created an unsustainable situation for EBID farmers in the long term.”

Groundwater supplies are limited and we are reminding water rights owners not to exceed the limit of their water right. Limits for irrigation well pumping were agreed to as part of a 2011 Settlement in the Lower Rio Grande Adjudication. The Office of the State Engineer’s water master will begin comparing meter records to these pumping limits in 2012, in order to ensure that water users do not exceed their water rights.

Meters are required on all wells in the Lower Rio Grande, except for single-family domesticwells and small livestock wells. There are now about 2,500 metered wells in the Lower Rio Grande Water Master District.

On April 20, the Arizona Department of Water Resources filed a report that describes a methodology for delineating the subflow zone within the San Pedro River Watershed.
The report is titled “Subflow Zone Delineation Methodology for the San Pedro River Watershed,” and it includes large color maps, figures and tables. The methodology proposed in this report is subject to review by the court in the Gila River Adjudication and comment by the parties.
Copies of the report in electronic and hard copy format are available for purchase by contacting the Department at 1-866-246-1414.

Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today appointed Mark Cowin as
director of the Department of Water Resources.

“With over three decades of experience at the Department of Water Resources, Mark Cowin has the track record to lead this truly vital part of our infrastructure,” said California Natural Resources Secretary John Laird. “Tens of millions of Californians rely on water from DWR and the State Water Project for use in their homes, on their farms, and other businesses — Cowin understands the importance of keeping the system running at peak efficiency.”

Cowin has been acting director and director of DWR since February of 2010. Mr. Cowin has extensive experience with California water resources management and has worked at DWR for over 30 years.

As acting DWR director, Cowin heads a department that protects, conserves and manages the state’s water supply, including operation of the California State Water Project. The SWP is the largest state-run, multi-purpose water and power system in the United States. Cowin also plays a primary role in implementing the Bay Delta Conversation Plan.

Prior to his appointment as director, Cowin served as deputy director of integrated water management for DWR. His primary responsibilities included overseeing the department’s flood management and dam safety programs, implementing integrated regional water management, coordinating DWR’s efforts related to climate change, and updating and implementing the California Water Plan.

In previous assignments, Cowin served for five years as chief of DWR’s Division of Planning and Local Assistance and was responsible for the state’s strategic planning for water management and for providing technical and financial assistance for water management to local agencies and communities. Cowin also served as an assistant director for the CALFED Bay-Delta Program where he was responsible for the BayDelta Program’s water management planning activities. He received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Stanford University in 1980.