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Agricultural customers will be
hardest hit by water shortages
By Joe Naiman
The Alpine Sun
SAN DIEGO — As Southern California
dries out, and water officials preach conservation, agricultural
customers will likely be the hardest hit my imposed water
shortages. While the Interim Agricultural Water Program provides
surplus Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
supplies to agricultural customers at a discounted rate, the
IAWP conditions allow for a reduction of up to 30 percent prior
to implementing any mandatory reductions to municipal and
industrial customers.
The Metropolitan Water District plans to implement such
a reduction at the beginning of 2008 in the absence of
unexpected rainfall later this year, and on Aug. 23 San Diego
County Water Authority planning manager Bob Yamada made a
presentation on the reduction plan to the County Water
Authority’s Water Planning Committee.
“We have time to get ready for this,” Yamada said. “We
have time to plan for this.”
An actual regional reduction plan is expected to be
brought before the CWA board Sept. 27. That plan would implement
a 30 percent cut to each CWA member agency based on the 2006-07
IAWP allocation.
“Agriculture has a specific reduction target that needs
to be fulfilled,” Yamada said.
“By using 06-07, nobody is disproportionately harmed.
Everybody gets approximately 70 percent of what they received in
06-07,” said Fallbrook Public Utility general manager Keith
Lewinger, who is also FPUD’s representative on the CWA board and
the chair of the CWA’s Water Planning Committee. “Every member
agency is going to receive approximately 70 percent of what they
got in 06-07.”
Excluding the Lakeside Water District, which received
CWA membership after the beginning of Fiscal Year 2006-07, 17 of
the CWA’s 23 agencies utilize IAWP supplies. The Lakeside Water
District area was formerly served by the Padre Dam Municipal
Water District’s CWA membership, and the IAWP deliveries to
Padre
Dam will likely be distributed to the two districts
based on their proportional use prior to the reorganization.
Lakeside Water District board member Frank Hilliker,
who is the district’s representative on the CWA board, is also
one of three farmers on the CWA board, although the Hilliker
family egg ranch is on well water and does not use IAWP
supplies. An agricultural property may choose to pay the
municipal and industrial rate and not be subject to the IAWP
cuts.
The other two farmers on the CWA board are Rua Petty of
the Rainbow Municipal Water District and Bill Knutson of the
Yuima Municipal Water District. Petty grows proteas and avocados
while Knutson grows avocados, citrus, and nursery crops.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
has had an agricultural water program in place since 1958. In
November 1990 the Incremental Interruption and Conservation
Program was adopted by MWD, and the agricultural program was
incorporated into the IICP in 1991.
The period from 1987 to 1992 is considered a long-term
drought for Southern California, including areas, which supply
water to MWD. In December 1990 MWD implemented a Stage I
conservation program, which included a 10 percent voluntary
cutback.
In January 1991 MWD implemented a Stage III plan, which
included a 30 percent agriculture cut and a 10 percent municipal
and industrial cut; the CWA responded to the 17 percent overall
MWD cut with an overall 15 percent cutback. In February 1991 MWD
ordered a 31 percent Stage V cutback, which reduced agricultural
water by 50 percent and M&I supplies by 20 percent; the CWA
passed on a 30 percent cutback to its member agencies.
In March 1991 MWD called for a Stage VI cutback of 50
percent, which meant a 90 percent agricultural reduction and a
30 percent M&I drop. The CWA issued a corresponding 50 percent
cutback.
“The threat was the extinction of agriculture,” said
Valley Center Municipal Water District general manager and CWA
board representative Gary Arant. “The ‘91 thing happened so
fast.”
Before the Stage VI cuts were implemented, heavy
rainfall hit Southern California in March 1991. The Stage VI
cuts were cancelled, and many water agencies began focusing on
storage and diversifying supplies in preparation for the next
long-term drought.
In 1994 the Interim Agricultural Water Program was
implemented by MWD. Discounted agricultural water supplies were
limited based on the four-year period prior to the
implementation. The 12 participating MWD agencies have a maximum
annual cap of 155,190 acre feet, although agencies can use less
than their allocation.
The San Diego County Water Authority was allocated
100,459 acre feet. The Western Municipal Water District, which
is located in Riverside County, has the second-largest
allocation at 32,347 acre feet. The third-largest allocation
belongs to the Metropolitan Water District of Orange County,
which receives up to 7,657 acre feet. Seven of the twelve
districts are allocated less than 210 acre feet.
During Fiscal Year 2005-06 the 17 participating CWA
agencies utilized 84,993 acre feet of IAWP supplies.
Agencies participating in the IAWP program must provide
monthly agricultural water certification to MWD and must submit
a plan to meet mandatory cuts to agriculture if needed. The MWD
member agency is required to pass on the entire water pricing
differential directly to its own member agencies. MWD’s most
recent budget included an increase in the IAWP rates to $261 per
acre foot for untreated water and $394 per acre foot for treated
water.
The MWD budget also increased untreated Tier 1 M&I
deliveries to $351 per acre foot and Tier 2 M&I supplies to $449
per acre foot.
In June MWD requested that its member agencies update
their IAWP reduction plans and submit them by Sept. 28. MWD
prepared draft reduction guidelines for program implementation,
which include establishing a baseline, verification of usage,
and penalties for non-compliance. IAWP cutbacks beyond 30
percent will be tied to M&I cutbacks and have yet to be
determined.
The MWD guidelines established Fiscal Year 2003-04 as
the representative dry-year baseline for deliveries to MWD
member agencies, although the CWA will be using Fiscal Year
2006-07 data for its reduction plan.
“That best reflects dry-year conditions. That best
reflects users which are currently in the program,” Yamada said
of the CWA’s decision to use the 2006-07 baseline.
The MWD guidelines stipulated a participant obligation
cutoff date of Dec. 31, 2006. MWD’s guidelines also call for a
penalty of twice the Tier 2 rate, or a surcharge of $898 per
acre foot which would bring the total cost of exceeding the
cutback amount to $1,212 per acre foot.
Lewinger noted that the penalty rate of triple the IAWP
rate would deter farmers from buying their way out of the
cutbacks. “That’s a big number for an agricultural customer,”
Lewinger said.
The MWD guidelines also preclude the use of M&I water
to supplement the IAWP cuts. “Metropolitan is asking for a real
reduction in water use,” Yamada said. “These cutbacks need to
stand on their own.”
In addition to the penalty charges, some member
agencies have flow restricters, and several of the CWA member
agencies have implemented their own IAWP reduction plans.
The CWA’s regional plan will include member agency
reduction plans that have been submitted or are under review.
“Our farmers are going to make it work. They realize
that they’ve had interruptible water at a lower price all these
years,” Knutson said.
 E-mail
Christy Scott
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