[All] Breaking news re: California Water

[Louisette Lanteigne]

Hi folks

Reports are out that show that California has given water rights for 5 times the volume than they physically have.

A summery and the actual report are online here:
http://mavensnotebook.com/2014/08/19/this-just-in-study-says-california-has-allocated-five-times-more-surface-water-than-the-state-actually-has/

Back when I was lobbying for a Waterloo Moriane Act, Laurel Broten was the Provincial MOE minister. She told the GRCA watershed forum that giving a water permit is like giving a blank check to an account where you don't know the balance. Again, each project is issued a permit without regard for the carrying capacity of the watershed. There is no policy in place to mandate that cumulative impacts be considered. At best permits are based on a lucky guess. 

Ontario Environmental Commissioner Gord Miller's latest report points out the fact our watershed flood data is out of date by an average of 20 years. His latest blog flags the fact that without climate data, we can't even begin to project what we may or may not have in terms of water volumes in the days ahead. 

Is there a way GREN can facilitate a written inquiry to find out how many water permits have been issued for our watershed and if that volume is actually sustainable currently? I'd like GREN take the initiative to get dialogue going on that at least to find out if we too are in the same path that California walked. The sooner we know where we are at, the faster we can respond to avoid similar issues. 

Lulu 
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