County's water leaders sign banking deal

By: North County Times - | Thursday, January 24, 2008 11:27 PM PST ∞

County residents have another place to stash life-sustaining water supplies to help them through droughts, thanks to an agreement reached Thursday.

San Diego County Water Authority board members approved a deal for an undisclosed amount in closed session Thursday to "bank" up to 100,000 acre-feet of water underground in Kern County.

An acre-foot of water is enough to sustain two households for a year.

The Water Authority, which supplies nearly all the water that county residents use annually, would eventually be able to withdraw up to 20,000 acre-feet a year from the Semitropic-Rosamond Water Bank Authority.

Water Authority officials said the deal would allow it to store the water and use it in times of drought.

As part of the deal, the Water Authority agreed to buy 10,000 acre-feet of water already in the bank that could be taken out this year.

Southern California, because of a court ruling to protect an endangered fish, is facing a potential 30 percent cut this year in its water supplies imported from Northern California.

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