“Don’t Mess With Mother Nature”

An anniversary is coming that few will honor or recognize. May 4, 2014 is
the 46th anniversary of the dedication of the Oroville Dam in Northern
California. On that date in 1968, this dam became the centerpiece of the
State Water Project (SWP). In 1961, ground was broken on Oroville Dam, and
in 1963, work began on the California Aqueduct and San Luis Reservoir. The
first deliveries to the Bay Area were made in 1962, and water reached
the San Joaquin Valley by 1968. Hydroelectric power is a by-product of the
SWP dams, but most of the power produced is consumed pumping that same
water.

In a little less than five decades, the ecological configuration of the
Central Valley was transformed, and all of the cities, including San Diego,
downstream of the California aqueduct started relying on water from Northern
California. Prior to that time, the Central Valley’’s million and a half
acres had been irrigated with 20,500 wells. Land subsidence in the
valley was becoming more severe as water levels dropped to three hundred
feet or more. The later fact was one of the justifications for building the
SWP. But the aquifer is still dropping and subsidence continues.

““Don’t mess with Mother Nature”” is a catch phrase often used in the
negative, and in the case of the upcoming anniversary of Oroville Dam, it is
a prophesy coming true. Little thought was apparently given to the fact that
a drought of severe intensity would hit Northern California. All of the
rivers, including the Feather River where Oroville is, were wild and rushing
waters just aching for development.

Now in place of those wild and rushing rivers, there is a wild and chaotic
mob yelling about the loss of water in the SWP. Environmentalists,
politicians of all stripes, farmers, workers, bureaucrats are all screaming
at each other and the media about the loss of the SWP. We are in a “dry”
century. A “wet” century, according to the experts may have come to a close
just as the Oroville dam was being dedicated. Dry centuries follow wet
centuries, but not necessarily in accord with the Gregorian calendar.

So, what is happening now? Actually very little. Governor Brown declared a
drought emergency, but failed to take any substantive action. President
Obama visited the Central Valley in February 2014 and declared the drought
is due to climate change. He was right. The climate is changing……always does,
but within his remarks is the agenda that human activities are the cause.
This blog is not about debating whether climate change or global warming are
caused by human activities. It is about the lack of leadership to react to a
crisis. And that crisis is actually about climate change, but not in the way
that phrase is customarily used.

In the San Diego UT today (2/22/2014) two major pieces of reporting are
given many column inches. One announces the building of the new county
courthouse http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/feb/21/courthouse-state-downtown/ and the second is about the effect of shutting off the SWP to
many cities and farmers. http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2014/feb/22/tp-feds-cut-off-water-to-many-state-farms-reduce/

Whenever solutions for setting up a reliable water supply are mentioned,
funding is always the deal-breaker. The new courthouse will cost $555
million. Why is there always money for edifices, but precious little for
water infrastructure? The Metropolitan Water District, the supplier of water
to the San Diego County Water Authority is reported to be squirreling away
hundreds of millions of dollars. There is no doubt in my mind that among all
of the fiefdoms that deliver water to Southern California water users there
is more than enough money to make communities water independent. It is not a
money problem, it is a political problem……actually one that could be solved
with collective spine surgery.

A horrendous mistake was made forty-six years ago on May 4, 1968 when
oversized egos and politics (always a bad mix) created the SWP to change the
ecology of the Central Valley, and essentially inject Novocain into the
water policy-makers minds when the SWP became the silver bullet to solve all
of the water supply problems.

Perhaps a new event will occur that will be an anniversary to be celebrated
decades from now to honor those who had the foresight to ignore the
naysayers and forge ahead with the building of systems and infrastructure to
bring San Diego and other communities closer to water independence. This
time it has to be in accord with the laws of physics and Mother Nature, and
not in unsustainable opposition to them

Milton N. Burgess, P. E., FASPE
619-528-0316
Cell 619-985-7727

Author of “Water Shock, The Day Southern California Went Dry”
www.water-shock.com