on Temperance Flat?
By
John Lindt
California - Despite the fact he introduced the legislation in 2003 to build a new storage reservoir above Fresno at Temperance Flat, Congressman Devin Nunes says the San Joaquin River Settlement kills any construction of that dam.
“The dam is over with. It's not going to get built,” Nunes told a water forum in Tulare a few weeks ago.
He says the language in the settlement doesn't allow the use of the reservoir to store water for farm use, only for the fish.
An aide explained that it wouldn't make sense to build a dam since the water would simply head to sea anyway.
Other than Nunes, another long-time
cheerleader for the project has been Ron Jacobsma, general manger of the
Friant Water Authority that represents the 20 water contractors on the
eastside of the Valley who signed the settlement agreement.
“It's not time to give up on this project. Developing the water
supply is more critical than ever with all the water shortage problems
in the state.”
New Study Pending
In fact, the federal Bureau of Reclamation is reviewing a final cost benefit study right now on the feasibly of the dam, says Jacobsma. The study will look at how much new water could be developed if the reservoir was built.
Jacobsma expects the report to be released this month or next.
Jacobsma says a 1.3 million acre foot dam has been estimated to yield just 100,000 acre feet of new water, but with an eye popping cost of $3 billion.
Critics have pointed to the escalating cost and the relatively low yield as reasons enough to forget about the plan. Some say farmers should foot the bill for the whole thing.
But Jacobsma says there are indications the new study, using the latest climate data, may find substantially more yield than before, in part because more winter storms in recent years have added up to lost water that has been sent out to sea because of the relatively small size of the existing dam.
“With global warming and early snow melt in a wet year, we could save a lot of water with a larger dam and the yield could go up,” perhaps by several hundred thousand acre feet.
The usefulness of the Temperance Flat facility as a key regulator for statewide water infrastructure has been a selling point. “We would count on linking the water storage with the rest of the state – to use it to move and store water from both north and south” of the fragile delta area. That water could move south of the delta when endangered fish species were not impacted for example – a key problem now. The conveyance infrastructure could also help save water sent down the river for fish to be recaptured for farm use, either through a trade or sent south through a canal, he argues.
Public Benefits
In order to accomplish the salmon restoration on the San Joaquin River, the larger dam has some key benefits as well – particularly storage of cold water needed by the salmon. The dam could provide cold water for over-summering fish and a place to store the up to 60,000 acre feet of water needed to send down the river for the salmon's benefit. “Where else can they store that water?” asks Jacobsma.
Jacobsma says there are other public benefits as well, including water quality improvements on the river, flood control and wet-year water management for all water uses, including exchanges both north and south of the delta. “It's uniquely located.”
Jacobsma says the state – realizing the public benefits for all of California – has suggested through water bond proposals that there could be a 50 percent cost sharing.
Cost?
“Construction costs will depend on the construction environment” that was high when the last estimate was figured but is far lower today – perhaps 25 percent lower, says Jacobsma.
One driver of the cost is the temperature
control devices that need to be built in for the salmon. Also, costs increase
because of the need to reduce any impacts on the hydroelectric power that
is already in place on the upper San Joaquin.
Originally, the cost estimates some years ago started at $1.2 billion
but went to $ 2 billion – now $3 billion.
Dam Building Era Over?
That's enough money to fuel criticism that this is simply a pork barrel project and fits into the long term argument made by environmental groups that the era of expensive dam building is over anyway.
The Temperance Flat project would flood a federal recreation area and possibly a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. powerhouse while providing relatively little water for downstream use, say these critics.
Criticism has come from the Pacific Institute that last year roiled farmers with its suggestions to cut water use on crops to solve the drought. Back in 2006, the institute commented on state of California support to investigate the Temperance Flat project along with the group Friends of the River.
“It's the least cost-efficient dam project we could look at,” said Steve Evans of Friends of the River. “We've almost fully developed the San Joaquin and take something like 98 percent of its water to the point where it usually does not flow anymore.” Evans said the dam would capture runoff only during rare high-water years and provide relatively little water in return.
The Pacific Institute, an Oakland-based think tank, has argued that an aggressive conservation program could cut the state's water use in 2030 by as much as 20 percent below 2000 levels.
In news accounts, the environmentalists summarized their position.
“We may need new reservoirs sometime in the future, but we don't need them now,” said Peter Gleick, the institute's president and a co-author of the study. “New surface storage is far more expensive – environmentally, economically and politically – than improving conservation and efficiency.”
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