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 A Critical
Water Supply!!!
About 80 percent of Zone 7's water supply is conveyed through the Delta by the
State Water Project. It starts as Sierra snowmelt and travels through a series of rivers, lakes, canals and pumping stations moving from Lake Oroville south. After going through the Delta, the water comes into the Livermore-Amador Valley via the South Bay Aqueduct, which also serves southern Alameda County and Silicon Valley.
The Delta is in crisis!!!
A federal judge in August 2007 ordered a reduction in pumping while state and federal agencies work on a plan to protect endangered Delta smelt, and protections could be extended to other species that live or migrate through the Delta.
In addition to ecological challenges involving endangered species, the Delta faces threats of levee failure from earthquakes that could lead to flooding and seawater intrusion, rendering drinking-water supplies for 25 million Californians -- including in our service area -- undrinkable. Global climate change and rising sea levels may also put greater stress on the fragile levee system.
Zone 7 has enough stored groundwater and other emergency reserve supplies to meet projected demands for a few years. But because these water-supply reductions could carry forward, and because dry weather conditions may persist, we are urging customers now to conserve water by at least 10 percent. Still, water conservation alone will not provide for adequate, long-term water reliability if court-ordered supply reductions in Delta pumping become permanent.
Key efforts are underway at a statewide level to achieve the co-equal goals of protecting the Delta as both a critical water supply and a key ecosystem. These efforts include the Bay-Delta Conservation Plan and Delta Vision.
Study of New Conveyance Warranted
Further study of options for transporting water supplies now sent through the Delta is called for. One option being explored in the BDCP -- which involves participation from water agencies, environmental groups and wildlife organizations -- is a new "dual-conveyance" system for delivery of State Water Project water from the Sierras, combining strengthened levees with a second conveyance facility that is physically separate from the Delta itself.
While further study is needed, this could provide the operational flexiblity needed to accommodate the needs of fish in the Delta as well as the water-supply needs of the state, and could also protect drinking-water supplies from potential levee failure. Although water treated by Zone 7 meets all regulatory requirements, a separate conveyance could also provide us with source water freer of contamination from agricultural drainages, wastewawter-treatment plant discharges, urban runoff, recreational activities and seawater intrusion.
Some other parts of the Bay Area, including San Francisco and areas served by the East Bay Municipal Utility District, are already served by water that comes directly from the Sierras via isolated conveyances without mixing with the Delta.
The Bay-Delta:
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is a key drinking-water water supply for more than 23 million Californians, including about 3 million in the Bay area (190,000 specifically in Zone 7’s service area).
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drains 40 percent of the state’s surface area and is the largest estuary on the West Coast.
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is home to almost 600 different species of fish, animals, birds and plants, plus more than 130 invasive, nonnative species of concern.
HOW THE WATER FLOWS
Once imported water arrives in the Livermore-Amador Valley, most is treated by Zone 7 for delivery to our retailers in Pleasanton, Livermore and Dublin, who in turn deliver it to you. Another portion of imported untreated water is used by Valley agricultural customers, and some is recharged into the groundwater basin for use when needed. Another portion of our Delta water is sent to offsite groundwater-banking programs.
Video on-Demand: Zone 7 environmental and public affairs manager Karla Nemeth discusses with the Pleasanton City Council the ecological crisis facing the Delta, threatening its ability to continue providing fresh water to 25 million Californians, during a March 18, 2008 Pleasanton City Council meeting. Zone 7's service area, which includes Pleasanton, Livermore and Dublin, typically gets 80 percent of its water supply conveyed through the Delta.
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