80A - JOINT - SAFA - WATER SYS BONDS

Home Browse Search

at 61 percent of normal, and associated runoff was 65 percent of normal. Calendar year 2013 was the driest on record in much of California. Dry conditions have continued into February 2014. As a result of these below normal water supply conditions, Department of Water Resources ( "DWR ") storage in key reservoirs is lower than in 1977, one of the two previous driest water years on record. For example, as of February 3, 2014, storage in Lake Oroville, the principal SWP reservoir, was at 36 percent of average capacity and storage in San Luis Reservoir, a critical reservoir south of the San Francisco Bay /Sacramento -San Joaquin River Delta (`Bay - Delta"), was at 30 percent of average capacity. Due to these record -dry conditions and lower than average water levels in State reservoirs, Governor Brown proclaimed a drought emergency on January 17, 2014. Among the responses included in the drought proclamations, State agencies will implement water use reduction plans for all State facilities and a statewide water conservation publicity campaign with a goal of reducing water use statewide by 20 percent. Additionally, regulatory actions are being sought by DWR to adjust Bay -Delta water quality and outflow requirements in order to preserve stored water for health and safety and to provide threatened species protection. On January 31, 2014, DWR reduced the State Water Project allocation percentage to zero, reflecting the severity of California's drought. Except for a small amount of carryover water from 2013, State Water Project contractors may receive none of the contracted amount in 2014 if current dry conditions persist. DWR may increase allocations if warranted by the year's developing hydrologic and water supply conditions. At this time, it is not possible to forecast the impact of the drought or drought proclamation on MWD water supplies. Nevertheless, MWD is well positioned to meet demands in 2014 and does not expect to fundamentally alter water management planning for 2014, despite the zero allocation from DWR for State Water Project supplies. To meet regional demands, MWD plans to use Colorado River Aqueduct deliveries, storage reserves and supplemental water transfers and purchases. MWD storage increased from 2010 to 2012 as a result of increased State Water Project supplies and reduced demand in those years. By the end of 2012, MWD had accumulated the highest end -of -year total water reserves in its history. MWD reduced storage by approximately 358,000 acre -feet in 2013, leaving water reserves in January 2014 at approximately 3.0 million acre -feet. MWD's other principal source of water supply, the Colorado River, comes from watersheds of the Upper Colorado River basin in the states of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. As of February 3, 2014, snowpack measured at 101 percent of normal to date. Due to the way that Colorado River Supplies are apportioned, weather conditions do not impact MWD water supplies in the current year. However, impacts will be seen to storage levels in Lake Powell and Lake Mead, which in turn affect the likelihood of surplus or shortage conditions in the future. Uncertainties from potential future temperature and precipitation changes in a climate driven by increased concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide also present challenges. Areas of concern to California water planners identified by researchers include: reduction in Sierra Nevada snowpack; increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather events; and rising sea levels resulting in increased risk of damage from storms, high -tide events, and the erosion of levees and potential cutbacks of deliveries from the State Water Project. While potential impacts from climate change remain subject to study and debate, climate change is among the uncertainties that MWD seeks to address through its planning processes. Integrated Water Resources Plan MWD, its member agencies, sub - agencies and groundwater basin managers developed their first Integrated Water Resources Plan ( "IRP "), which was adopted by the Board in January 1996 and updated in 2004, as a long -term planning guideline for resources and capital investments. The purpose of the IRP was the development of a portfolio of preferred resources (see " —The Integrated Resources Plan Strategy" below) to meet the water supply reliability and water quality needs for the region in a cost - effective and environmentally sound manner. On October 12, 2010, MWD's Board adopted an IRP update (the "2010 IRP Update ") as a strategy to set goals and a framework for water resouraoAloM This strategy enables MWD and its member 23