Water Allocations Leave City Thirsty

By Harry Saltzgaver
Executive Editor

It may not be quite “Chinatown,” but a showdown between the Long Beach Water Department and the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) is threatening to get ugly.

The MWD is a water delivery agency for the greater Los Angeles area and beyond, importing water from both the Colorado River and the Sacramento River Delta through the state water project to sell to 26 member agencies. Long Beach has been a partner with MWD since near the beginning, and currently buys about half of the city’s water from the agency.

Because of a prolonged drought and a ruling earlier this year restricting the amount of water imported from Northern California, it appears that demand may soon outstrip the amount of water MWD has available. That in turn has prompted MWD to draft a new allocation plan for what water it does get.

That plan, which appears to be designed to circumvent current state law, will be voted on at the Feb. 18 MWD board meeting. Under the current law, Long Beach has preferential rights to buy water because of past investments in the MWD water delivery system and as a founding member of the district.

Under the proposed formula, cities heavily dependent on MWD water and growing cities would receive preference, while cities such as Long Beach with a significant local water supply would both receive less water and pay more. Big winners in the plan would be Los Angeles and San Diego — both heavy users of MWD water. San Diego in particular has little local water available.

A letter sent Jan. 3 from the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners to the chair of the MWD board says that the MWD would be violating its own guiding policies if it approves the new policy. The guided principle cited is to work first with agencies that have helped develop conjunctive use (shared storage) projects.

The same letter says that MWD plans to continue to provide water to agricultural users even if there is a shortage. Long Beach contends that state law requires MWD — and any other water delivery agency — to provide domestic and municipal water before offering any surplus water to agriculture.

Long Beach Water Department General Manager Kevin Wattier said this week that his agency may be forced to sue MWD if the current plan is approved. He said Long Beach is being penalized for doing a good job conserving water and preparing for a shortage.

“We would be forced to seek an injunction,” Wattier said. “This is clearly against state law because it ignores the allocation set out in the MWD Act.”

MWD officials counter that the plan would “spread the pain” in the face of water shortages. In the past, the district has cut supplies equally based on a percentage.

If a shortage occurs, the proposal calls for steep penalties if a city goes over its allocation — charging three times the original price per acre foot if a small percentage over the allocation, and up to five times the amount for higher use. The price MWD charges for water also has risen this year, to $508 per acre foot, with plans to increase that from 10% to 14% next year.

An allocation plan could take effect as early as this May. Late last year, a federal judge limited the amount of water taken from the Sacramento Delta to 25% of what had been pumped in previous years, largely to protect an endangered fish called the Delta smelt. While a heavy snow pack could increase the amount of water coming down the Sacramento River this spring, allowing the amount of water pumped to increase, it still will be less than half the amount pumped in previous years.

According to Ryan Alsop, director of government and public affairs for Long Beach Water, the city could be assessed as much as $10 million to $15 million more a year if the proposal is passed. That would have to be passed on to consumers in the form of higher water bills.

Last September, the Water Commission declared that a water shortage was imminent in the city and instituted the city’s Emergency Water Supply Shortage Plan, which includes landscape watering restrictions and other measures. Long Beach has since broken records for conservation each month, averaging almost 10% less water usage than the previous year.

The water department also is aggressively pursuing plans for a sea water desalination system that, when fully built out, could supply up to 25% of the city’s water needs. But the process for that plant still is in the testing phase, and a fully functional system could not be built and on line for several more years.

There are 37 members on the MWD board. Long Beach has one seat; San Diego and Los Angeles each have four.