Drought Measures - Why?

In a previous post, the "who" of the drought was highlighted using one lawsuit as an example. However, the lawsuit described is only the most recent of many lawsuits directed towards redistributing the flow of publicly funded water projects and restoring native fish habitats. Even if the litigants, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the Secretary of the Interior (Kempthorne), were not involved in a plan to restrict water flowing to Escondido through the Central Valley Project, there would still be a problem obtaining enough water.

The San Diego County Water Authority estimates that between 75% and 95% of our water needs to be imported due to our arid climate, dense population, and intensive agriculture. In order to secure the importation of our water, we purchase water rights and develop infrastructure, but in the case of a drought or environmental disaster in that distant location, our aqueducts may run far under capacity.

As for droughts, the current forecast for the Central Valley water supply is running 80% of average in the north bound San Joaquin River and 70% of average in the south bound Sacramento River. The long standing drought in the Upper Colorado Basin has recently broken, however, the reservoirs on the Colorado River are at about half of capacity. A very good site to check on the current conditions is the Drought Monitor of the National Drought Mitigation Center of the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.

The recent success of NRDC v. Kempthorne came after the defeat of Defenders of Wildlife v. (Secretary of the Interior) Norton, an attempt by environmentalists to protect endangered species in the Gulf of Mexico. In March of 2003, a federal court found that (1) the Dept. of the Interior (DOI) cannot control whether water reaches the Colorado River Delta, and (2) under the terms of the Treaty of 1944 and the Law of the River, the DOI has no discretion to release additional water to Mexico.

Additional lawsuits pertaining to the Colorado River habitat are bound to make their way through the courts, however, perhaps closing the desalination plant in Yuma or the emptying of the newly concrete lined All-American Canal. It may only be a matter of time.