www.taftmidwaydriller.com/news/x41616512/Local-water-suppliies-An-aqueduct-runs-through-it

Harry Starkey fields questions at a Taft Chamber of Commerce breakfast.

Photo by Doug Keeler/Midway Driller

By Dennis McCall

Taft Midway Driller

Posted Jul 02, 2010 @ 09:17 AM
Last update Jul 02, 2010 @ 09:46 AM

Taft, Calif. —The intricate system that supplies water to the Westside was the topic of Wednesday’s Taft District Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting at Jo’s Restaurant.

West Kern Water District general manager Harry O. Starkey explained the importance and complexity of the northern California delta system that sends water through the California Aqueduct to well fields north of town.

From there, he said, water travels through 250 miles of pipelines to satisfy the thirst of domestic and industrial users.

“All of the water that we rely on comes from the State Water Project,” he said. “Our dependence is on the Delta.”

The source of all that water is the Delta, a complex system of waterways that is further complicated by countless municipalities and water districts that rely on the Delta as a source.

“There are literally thousands of pumping plants in the Delta,” Starkey said.

Three-fourths of the Delta’s water flows into the ocean. Eighteen percent heads south to the Central Valley and southern California.

The spotlight over the past year has focused on a tiny endangered fish called the delta smelt that has drastically squeezed water flowing to the Valley.

“The delta smelt is the tip of the iceberg,” Starkey said. “Restoration efforts (in the delta) have failed despite tremendous amounts of money being spent. There is a potential for catastrophic flooding. All control has been relinquished to a federal court in Fresno.”

A solution may well lie in a peripheral canal that has been debated for years.

“A peripheral canal gets us out of the delta,” Starkey said.

A water bond issue to lay the groundwork for the canal is headed for the November ballot, but Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants it pulled because of an uncertain fate clouded by the state budget crisis.

“The bond is not to build the peripheral canal,” Starkey said. “It is for a variety of things.”

West Kern is allotted 31,000 acre-feet of water per year from the aqueduct, he said.

“Our demand is 25,000 acre-feet. We make spot water purchases to make up those shortages. Our current reliability is 50 percent (of allotment). The peripheral canal improves our reliability to about 80 percent.”

In response to a question about water conservation, Starkey said he endorses such measures.

“Conservation is an untapped resource. You can’t mandate it, but you can incentivize it.”

The district has offered automatic shut-off nozzles and toilet dye kits to its customers and has promoted conservation efforts.

Copyright 2010 Taft Midway Driller. Some rights reserved