ESYS10 Case Study
Warmup, January 12, 2006
San Diego County
water resources
General
Water rights have always dominated politics in the Western U.S., and these past several years more than ever. Recently, the Department of the Interior decreed that California would receive 13% less Colorado River water than in previous years. This spurred fast action amongst California water resource agencies, and resulted in an historical agreement for transfer of water from the Imperial Valley, where it is primarily used for agriculture, to San Diego County. San Diego County's population is expected to grow 30% over the next 30 years.
Recognizing
the looming crisis in water resources over the next 20 years, the U.S.
Department of the Interior has started a Challenge Grants program that "provides
funding on a 50/50 cost share basis to irrigation and water districts for
projects focused on water conservation, efficiency, and water marketing."
(http://www.doi.gov/water2025/grant.html).
You
have been appointed to a committee that is writing a grant proposal for funding
to San Diego County through this program. As a committee you will have to decide (1) what
area to target (conservation, efficiency, marketing), (2) what to propose. Your predecessor committee was
responsible for finding funding for the Coachella Canal lining project (see
editorial below).
Issues
"The California agencies that use Colorado River water
are working to reduce their reliance on the river. California currently takes
approximately 5.2 million acre feet (maf) per year, even though its entitlement
is only 4.4 maf. The primary vehicle for this effort is California's Colorado
Water Use Plan, which is designed to reduce California's demand on the river to
its 4.4 MAF apportionment when surplus water or other states' apportionment is
not available." (San Diego County Water Authority, Water Management, http://www.sdcwa.org/manage/mwd-colriver.phtml,
1/6/05)
"In
October (..2004..), ground was broken in the Imperial Valley for the relining
of the Coachella Canal, a project that will mean 26,000 acre-feet of water for
San Diego County. That's a bigger deal than it may sound, for relining this and
a section of the All-American Canal is only part of a landmark agreement to
transfer agricultural water, much of it formerly lost to seepage, to San Diego."
"From
the relining alone, San Diego stands to gain enough water to supply more than
150,000 households a year. That's in addition to the supply for some 400,000
households a year which the water authority has the right to buy from the
Imperial Valley Irrigation District. With these hard-won supplies, San Diego
County acquires the independence from the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water
District that it has long sought.
"Also
in this deal are 800,000 acre-feet the state will buy from Imperial Valley, then
resell to the Metropolitan Water District to distribute in Southern California.
Profits will be used to help restore the Salton Sea. And all of this water
supply/sale/conservation intertwines with the demand of the federal government
that California reduce its overreliance on the Colorado River, the source of
these water supplies, or face cutoffs." (Editorial, San Diego Union Tribune,12/26/04)
"...
For instance, white pelicans were a rarity along the San Diego County
coastline. But in the past few years, more and more have shown up on the
Christmas bird count. The partial collapse of the fishery at the Salton Sea in
Imperial County, where the pelicans have been more numerous, could be forcing
the birds to forage for food in a wider area, Pryde said."..."San
Diego County, with 494 species recorded over the past 50 years, usually ranks
in the top 10 of counties nationwide. There are slightly more than 650 bird
species in the United States."
(Terry Rodgers, San Diego Union Tribune, 12/31/04)
"...The results of a recent public opinion
survey conducted for the San Diego County Water Authority, shows that many San
Diego County residents support the development of local water resources over
increasing imported water supplies. Support for local water supplies remains
high, even if it is more expensive than increasing imported water
supplies. A majority of
respondents to the survey said it was better for local water agencies to invest
in seawater desalination than to purchase additional imported water. Survey respondents
also strongly support using recycled water for irrigation of public and
residential landscapes, parks and recreational areas." (San Diego County Water Authority news
release July 28, 2005; http://www.sdcwa.org/news/releases.phtml)
Your committee includes:
Alex: a San Diego real estate developer (builder)
Bailey: agricultural agent for Imperial County
Chris: president of the San Diego Audubon Society
Dana: a San Diego County supervisor
Loren: a San Diego County Water Authority resource manager
A. (Today) Consider the
following questions in your character's group:
1. What personal biases does your character bring to the table?
2. What information does your character need to represent that point of view?
A. technical or science issues for which you need objective information.
B. community, governmental issues
3. Come up with several ideas for grant proposals.
B. (Tuesday) Consider the following questions in your cross-cut group:
1. Attempt to reach a consensus on the type of proposal you would like to write. If you can't reach consensus, then just pick one proposal.
2. What information do you need (as a group) to write a credible proposal?
3. Choose 1 or 2 spokespeople and present your results to the class.
Assignment, due Tuesday,
January 17:
1. Summarize the discussion in your character's group (points A1,2,3 above).
2. Find at least two credible resources with science/technical information pertinent to your point of view. I suggest finding one source that is as objective as possible (e.g. a government agency), and a second resource that is more biased to your character's point of view.
3. Find at least one resource with information, news, opinion relevant to the topic.
4. Summarize the information from your resources. Please make sure to include references in your writeup.
In subsequent case studies,
you will not be writing until after your cross-cut group meets, and the
assignment would be due one week after the final meeting of the group.
Case Study Warmup (Southern
California Water Resources)
January 12, 2006
Some useful initial websites:
Department of the Interior Water2025
San Diego County Water Authority
San Diego Audubon Society http://www.sandiegoaudubon.org/
California Audubon http://www.audubon.org/chapter/ca/ca/salton_sea_position.html