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72 ~~..~ ..". , . HYDROLOGIC AND HUMAN ASPECTS OF THE 1976-77 DROUGHT annual yield of the Auburn Dam project, a major water development in the Sierras east of Sacramento, Water exchanges were arranged by the Department of Water Resources to distribute the available water supplies more equitably, The Metropolitan Water District of southern California reduced its demands on the State Water Project by 400,000 acre-ft and used additional water from the Colorado River. The water that would have gone to southern California was delivered to agricultural users in the San Joaquin Valley and to urban users in the San Francisco Bay area, This exchange. made it possible for farmers served by the State Water Project to receive 91 percent of their 1977 entitlement instead of about the 40 percent they would have received without the exchange. The Metropolitan Water District normally supplies about 6 percent of Los Angeles' needs but supplied about 25 percent in 1977. The District offered an incentive rebate to mem- ber agencies of $20 for each acre-foot of water conserved in 1977 below 90 percent of their 1976 use of surface supplies, None of the 27 agencies failed to meet its new allotment. Actually, an additional saving of 180,000 acre- ft was accomplished at a cost to the district of over $3 million. Farmers pumped ground water into the California Aqueduct where its quality was compatible with the canal water, The pumping took place during periods of low water use by the farmers, and the water was stored in the canal until it was needed. The Department of Water Resources, the Department of Fish and Game, and the owners of several duck clubs in the Suisun Marsh, be- tween San Francisco Bay and the Delta, shared the cost of bringing higher quality water into a local wildlife management area. Soil salinity was reduced; therefore, the production of waterfowl food was improved. The State Water Resources Control Board directed large water suppliers to maintain reserves in upstream storage facilities to pro- tect against another dry year in 1978, Forty-seven of California's 58 counties and 4 counties in Oregon were declared disaster areas, and anyone who suffered losses because of the drought was eligible for financial assis- tance. Also, Governor Edmund G, Brown, Jr. created the Governor's Drought Emergency Task Force on March 4, 1977. The task force was responsible for the direction and coordina- tion of State efforts to combat the drought and for the education of citizens regarding the nature and extent of the drought. The activities mentioned herein are only a few of the many activities that occurred in California, but they are types that illustrate that when a crisis develops, agencies and indi- viduals can cooperate to alleviate adverse con- ditions to everyone's mutual benefit, Hawaii-WRC Region 20 There are eight islands in the State of Ha.waii, but information in this report is re- lated to the five major islands, Kauai, Oahu, MOlokai, Maui, and Hawaii (fig, 30). The topography of the islands causes an extreme range in precipitation from about 13.5 in. an- nually near sea level on Maui to 486 in. at Mount Waialeale in the center of Kauai, one of the world's wettest spots. With this wide a range, the departure from average at some locations can be more than the total annual precipitation at other sites, Also, the average precipitation is markedly different over short distances as the greatest distance from the coast to the center of an island is only 42 mi on the island of Hawaii, Under these condi- tions, the existence of a drought is difficult to determine, Previous Droughts A drought started to develop in the winter of 1951-52 when only one soaking rain occur- 1600 1580 1560 KADAl 220 /I a if Llhue NIIHAU OAHU U Hoolehua Honolulu ~ Kahului MOLOKAb ~ LANAI ~MAUI o KAHOQLAWE 20" o 200 KI LOMETEAS I I o 100 MILES Figure 30, Hawaii-WRC Region 20,