[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 9/1/09

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

September 1, 2009

 

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People –

 

 

 

Perjury charge added to case against water district board member

San Bernardino County Sun

 

Water district trying to shut out public

Antelope Valley Press

 

IID to expand conflict of interest guidelines to include consultants

Imperial Valley Press

 

Nora Jaeschke; property-management leader, staunch water conservationist

San Diego Union-Tribune

 

 

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Perjury charge added to case against water district board member

San Bernardino County Sun-8/31/09

By Wes Woods II

 

A single charge of perjury was filed against Xavier Alvarez on Monday as a result of his filing a false W-4 form with the Three Valleys Municipal Water District when he was elected to the board in 2006.

 

Sandi Roth, a prosecutor with the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Public Integrity Division, said Alvarez checked a box saying he was married which resulted in the withholding of the incorrect amount of taxes in his paycheck.

 

Alvarez, 51, represents south Pomona on the Three Valleys board.

 

The perjury charge against him carries a maximum of four years in state prison. Prosecutors discovered the alleged violation while preparing their case over related charges, said Roth.

 

Alvarez has pleaded not guilty for one count each of insurance fraud, grand theft and misappropriation of public funds, a case originally filed on Sept. 22.

 

He was accused of illegally registering his ex-wife for health benefits with the Three Valleys Municipal Water District, which gives medical insurance for its directors, their spouses, children and other dependents.

 

Authorities said Alvarez presented a Jan. 28, 1995 marriage certificate to the district but failed to say a divorce occurred March 2, 2002.

 

In the case, prosecutors said he added his ex-wife Juanita Ruiz on his insurance from Jan. 24 to Oct. 31, 2007, five years after his divorce was final.

 

A readiness conference for the health benefit case is scheduled for Monday.

Trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 10.

Roth said an arraignment for the perjury case is scheduled for Wednesday at Pomona Superior Court.

 

If convicted on the theft charges, Alvarez faces five years in jail.

 

In July 2008, Alvarez was fined and sentenced to probation for violating the Stolen Valor Act, which criminalizes false claims of military valor. He had claimed he had received the Medal of Honor.

 

Alvarez could not be reached for comment.#

 

http://www.sbsun.com/search/ci_13241597?IADID=Search-www.sbsun.com-www.sbsun.com

 

 

Water district trying to shut out public

Antelope Valley Press-8/31/09

Editorial

 

Palmdale Water District board members' 4-0 decision to shift their meeting time earlier will inconvenience members of the public as well as the board member who often doesn't vote the others' way.

 

Board meetings will now start with a closed session at 5:30 p.m., followed by the public meeting at 6:30 p.m.

 

The earlier time will make it harder for Palmdale Water District customers who commute long distances to and from work to attend meetings.

 

In addition, director Raul Figueroa, an aerospace engineer who is frequently the lone dissenter on board votes, said the earlier time will make it hard for him to get to the start of the 5:30 p.m. closed session.

 

"I know it's done purposely," Figueroa said later.

 

"Any way they can avoid me being there would be perfect for them."

 

The Aug. 18 vote was the third time within a year that Palmdale Water District board members have changed their meeting times.

 

Until last fall, board meetings had started with the open session at 7 p.m.

 

Directors would convene in closed session after the public session.

 

In November 2008, the meeting time switched to 6 p.m. at the recommendation of then-interim General Manager Bob Toone.

 

Directors would go into closed session, but Figueroa could not end his workday in time to participate in that portion of the board meetings.

 

The meetings continued that way until last spring when Director Linda Godin suggested the board revisit the start time issue.

 

At the May 13 meeting, the board members went back to the 7 p.m. start time.

 

The June, July and August meetings began at 7 p.m.

 

However, the Aug. 18 special meeting at which the time was changed - and from which Figueroa was absent - began at 6 p.m.

 

During the board's discussion at the meeting, board President Jeff Storm suggested starting at 5 p.m. Director Linda Godin suggested 5:30 p.m.

 

Director Dave Gomez suggested the ultimate outcome: 5:30 p.m. for the closed session, with the open meeting beginning at 6:30 p.m.

 

Palmdale resident Tracey Summerford told the board that night that the change will prevent a lot of customers from participating in meetings.

 

"I think you're trying to silence the public," she said.

 

We agree.#

 

http://www.avpress.com/n/31/0831_s7.hts

 

 

IID to expand conflict of interest guidelines to include consultants

Imperial Valley Press-8/31/09

By Megan Glenn

 

The Imperial Irrigation District is working on updating its conflict of interest policy as court decisions have expanded who needs to fill out paperwork detailing their financial obligations.

 

"That issue is being considered in our revisions," said IID attorney Jeff Garber.

 

Imperial Valley farmers such as Mike Morgan, who is suing the IID, have repeatedly called for information detailing the financial interests of a variety of consultants that the IID contracts with.

 

Morgan has alleged during IID board meetings that consultants working on water policies such as the Quantification Settlement Agreement, have conflicts of interest.

 

Garber said that the IID has a code of conduct that spells out who is required to fill out the conflict of interest forms, which includes board members and general management.

 

"It's consistent with all other local agencies in the Valley," Garber said of the code of conduct.

 

Consultants, however, operate within a gray area, as they are neither employees of a governmental agency nor are they elected representatives. However, several court cases have ruled that if they are working on contracts that affect the agency, then they need to make their other financial obligations public.

 

Garber said that the revised code of conduct will be made public soon.

 

"We have revised the code of conduct and will be bringing it back to the board," Garber said.#

 

http://www.ivpressonline.com/articles/2009/09/01/local_news/news04.txt

 

 

Nora Jaeschke; property-management leader, staunch water conservationist

San Diego Union-Tribune-8/31/09

By Blanca Gonzalez

 

When Nora Jaeschke lost her part-time job at a homeowners association management company in 1971, she started a business so she could help three landscapers who had also been laid off by the company.

 

The enterprise she started from the garage and living room of her Rancho Bernardo home grew to become one of the region's largest private-property-management companies, with more than 200 employees.

 

Ms. Jaeschke, a leader in the industry, also became active in water-conservation efforts and served on the San Diego County Water Authority board of directors from 1997 to 2005.

 

Ms. Jaeschke died Wednesday at her Escondido home. She was 72. The cause of death is pending, her family said.

 

Although she sold her company, N.N. Jaeschke Inc., in 2004, she stayed active and was at a meeting to help formulate a water-conservation program the night before she died. Friends and family members said she was fearless, optimistic and remarkable.

 

County Supervisor Pam Slater-Price served on the water board with Ms. Jaeschke, and the two became friends. They also served on the Red Cross board together.

 

"She always looked on the bright side, no matter what challenges she faced," Slater-Price said. "Nora always brought the same spirit of high energy, positive attitude. . . . She always wanted to help people."

 

"Things can get contentious (at Water Authority board meetings), and she always tried to build consensus. She had strong leadership skills but was the most pleasant, engaging person."

 

Friends said Ms. Jaeschke's professional success was inspirational at a time when few women started and owned their own businesses.

 

"She said it was an uphill battle, (but) she wanted to be an example to her daughters," Slater-Price said.

 

Elizabeth Jaeschke de Buenrostro said her mother always looked for ways to make things work. Instead of dwelling on problems, Ms. Jaeschke preferred to focus on solutions, her daughter said.

 

"She had a heart for service. Wherever there was a need, she tried to help," de Buenrostro said.

 

In addition to her work with the Red Cross, Ms. Jaeschke volunteered with the Mentor San Diego program and was on the board of directors for St. Vincent de Paul Villages. She was founding president of Friends of the Water Conservation Garden.

 

Carlsbad Mayor Claude "Bud" Lewis, who also served on the San Diego County Water Authority board of directors, said Ms. Jaeschke understood the importance of water conservation for future generations.

 

"Nora was unsurpassed in her commitment, passion and tireless dedication to water issues," Lewis said. "She was a real go-getter. She was very energized to help San Diego become the best it could be."

 

Ms. Jaeschke also enjoyed music and learned to play the ukulele five years ago. Friend and water board colleague Fred Thompson taught her to play, and the two would often strum their ukuleles in parking lots before and after water-related meetings.

 

"Her schedule was so busy that we had to find the time to play in between meetings," Thompson said. "She was like the Energizer bunny — always going. She was brilliant. She was totally involved with the human race. She had a tremendous sense of humor and was always laughing and enjoying life."

 

Ms. Jaeschke was born Jan. 13, 1937, in Great Barrington, Mass., and was the oldest of two daughters of Thomas Francis Nugent and Mary Williams Nugent. She loved to swim and was the best swimmer at the local Boys Club, her daughter said. She was invited to the Olympic trials when she was 13 or 14, but her grandmother wouldn't let her go "because it was not very ladylike," de Buenrostro said.

 

She attended Syracuse University before marrying Charles Jaeschke in 1956. They moved to California for the warm climate and settled in San Diego in 1969. The couple had three daughters. The Jaeschkes divorced after 42 years of marriage in 1998.

 

Ms. Jaeschke is survived by her daughters, Eleanor Jaeschke Hugus of La Jolla, Christina Scott Jaeschke of Escondido and Elizabeth Jaeschke de Buenrostro of San Marcos; a sister, Beth Bartholomew of Sheffield, Mass.; and four grandchildren.

 

Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. tomorrow at El Camino Memorial in Sorrento Valley. Services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at The Immaculata at the University of San Diego.

 

The family suggests contributions to Friends of the Water Conservation Garden, 12122 Cuyamaca College Drive W., El Cajon, CA 92019; or to St. Vincent de Paul Villages.#

 

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/aug/31/property-management-leader-staunch-water-conservat/?uniontrib

 

 

 

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DWR's California Water News is distributed to California Department of Water Resources management and staff,  for information purposes, by the DWR Public Affairs Office. For reader's services, including new subscriptions, temporary cancellations and address changes, please use the online page: http://listhost2.water.ca.gov/mailman/listinfo/water_news . DWR operates and maintains the State Water Project, provides dam safety and flood control and inspection services, assists local water districts in water management and water conservation planning, and plans for future statewide water needs. Inclusion of materials is not to be construed as an endorsement of any programs, projects, or viewpoints by the Department or the State of California.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Water_news] 4. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS-WATERQUALITY-9/1/09

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

September 1, 2009

 

 

4. Water Quality –

 

 

 

School partners with city to clear trash from Ventura River bottom

Ventura County Star

 

Plant's generator runs straight through outage

Desert Sun

 

 

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School partners with city to clear trash from Ventura River bottom

Ventura County Star-9/1/09

By Kevin Clerici  

 

Wearing blue jeans and armed with gloves and masks, more than 600 freshmen and transfer students from California Lutheran University descended Monday into the Ventura River bottom to remove trash and abandoned items.

 

The students collected soiled clothes, old food wrappers, rusted bike parts and other trash, some of it discarded by people who sleep illegally among the brush and pervasive poison oak.

 

“We grabbed a couch, a wheelchair, a musty old rug,” said Clayton Cook, 18, a freshman from Phoenix. “We found the cushions. I said, ‘We should snake these beauties for our dorm.’ We’re trying to have fun with it.”

 

The student army was part of the private Thousand Oaks university’s You Got Served program, a service project for incoming freshmen now in its fifth year. Last year, for the first time, the entire freshman class tackled the same project: cleaning the river bottom. They pulled out 5 tons of trash and materials last year.

 

“This is a side of life you don’t see very often,” said Paul Witman, an information systems professor who helped out Monday.

 

Ventura officials hailed the partnership last year and were more than happy to have the students return. The city is under increasing pressure to remove the trash as new environmental regulations cover the sensitive estuary and excessive pollution could lead to fines of up to $25,000 a day.

 

“You never want to turn down 600 to 1,200 hours of labor,” said Rosie Ornelas, Ventura’s volunteer coordinator, adding the cleanup will directly reduce the amount of waste washed into the river during rainy winter months. “It’s pretty impressive to see them working in mass.”

 

Part of CLU’s mission is a commitment to service and justice, said university President Chris Kimball, who along with Ventura Mayor Christy Weir addressed the students before the cleanup.

 

Kimball said he planned to bring next year’s freshmen back again.

 

“You learn by doing. You learn by serving others,” said Kimball.

 

People have relied on the river bottom for shelter since World War II. Although happy to have such a large work force to help with the trash problem, city officials say the underlying challenge — relocating the homeless out of the riverbed — is likely to persist until more housing options are available across the county.

 

Officials expected little interaction between students and campers because most of the homeless leave during the day.

 

City officials in recent weeks marked cleanup locations and notified campers of the upcoming effort.

 

Local garbage hauler E.J. Harrison & Sons agreed to donate large metal containers for the cleanup, which extended from the ocean to nearly a mile upstream, organizers said.

 

Other sponsors included the Salvation Army, Home Depot, the Water Store, Goodwill Industries and Costco, and donations helped purchase shovels, rakes, gloves and other supplies.

 

Working as a team, freshmen Chloe Vieira, 18, of Camarillo, Rebecca Michalak, 18, of Seattle and Claire Winters, 17, of Ventura stuffed large plastic bags with tattered clothes and yellowing newspapers.

 

The trio said they were proud to participate and help build a positive reputation for their college.

 

“It’s an interesting reality check,” Michalak said.

 

“We’re glad to be here,” Vieira said. “It feels like we’re making a difference.”#

 

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/sep/01/clu-sends-students-out-to-clean-up-debris/

 

 

Plant's generator runs straight through outage

Desert Sun-9/1/09

 

Officials at Mission Springs Water District report that the Horton Wastewater Treatment Plant “performed without a glitch” despite a 12-hour Southern California Edison power outage on Sunday.

 

The outage, which started at 4:50 a.m. and was caused by a faulty underground cable, initially affected 1,400 customers, according to Edison spokesman Steve Conroy. Service was restored by 7:01 a.m. to all customers except the water district, he said.

 

A 21,000-pound backup generator, installed at the plant in 2002, kept the facility running without interruption, according to an MSWD release.

 

This is the longest the generator has had to run since it was installed, with prior outages having lasted only a few hours, the release stated.#

 

http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009909010309

 

 

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DWR’s California Water News is distributed to California Department of Water Resources management and staff,  for information purposes, by the DWR Public Affairs Office. For reader’s services, including new subscriptions, temporary cancellations and address changes, please use the online page: http://listhost2.water.ca.gov/mailman/listinfo/water_news . DWR operates and maintains the State Water Project, provides dam safety and flood control and inspection services, assists local water districts in water management and water conservation planning, and plans for future statewide water needs. Inclusion of materials is not to be construed as an endorsement of any programs, projects, or viewpoints by the Department or the State of California.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Water_news] 3. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: WATERSHEDS -9/1/09

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

September 1, 2009

 

3. Watersheds –

 

Lime Saddle operators get nod for Bidwell Marina

Chico Enterprise-Record

 

Suction dredgers left high and dry

Redding Record Searchlight

 

Phoenix Lake span cracks force closure

Sonora Union Democrat

 

Officials stunned at size of Tahoe clam invasion

Reno Gazette Journal

 

Fish trackers study movement of Tahoe bass

Tahoe Daily Tribune

 

Dam burn postponed but inspection still on

Ukiah Daily Journal

 

 

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Lime Saddle operators get nod for Bidwell Marina

Chico Enterprise-Record-9/1/09

By Mary Weston 

 

State Parks Monday announced a tentative agreement for operations at the Bidwell Canyon Marina that park officials think will allow a smooth transition for all parties involved.

 

Some boater owners say they will make waves if the contract still prohibits transferring buoy contracts if they sell their boats.

 

State Parks spokesman Roy Stearns said they have reached a tentative agreement with Forever Resorts, the same company that operates Lime Saddle Marina.

 

Details will be announced in coming weeks, Stearns said.

 

"We think this is a very positive development, and in the weeks and months to come, we think boaters will appreciate the improvements that begin to appear," Stearns said. "Lime Saddle is an example of their track record."

 

Forever Resorts and current operator Fun Time Full Time, Inc. are negotiating for a transition of the existing docks and facilities.

 

"I think it's hopeful what's in place will stay in place to be the least disruptive to boat owners," Stearns said.

 

The marina that houses more than 800 boats has been embroiled in a controversy between the boat owners, the existing operator Frank Moothart and State Parks over the transition to a new operator after Moothart's contract was not renewed.

 

In June, Moothart sent notices to boat owners to move their boats by Aug. 1, saying he had to remove his docks and facilities by December, and the water would be too low then.

 

According to the contract, anything left on the lake in January would be removed by the state, Moothart had formerly said.

To compound the issue, the bids for a new operator were all disqualified for various reasons.

 

State Parks sent out a press release late Monday announcing a tentative agreement for operation of the marina, after a board reviewed five proposals following rejection of the bids.

 

"We are looking for a smooth transition from Full Time Full Time to Forever Resorts and the improvements Forever Resorts will bring for boaters as this marina," said Jim Luscutoff, chief of concessions for State Parks.

 

Forever Resorts had made significant improvements since taking over Lime Saddle in 2007, according to State Parks.

 

Assemblyman Dan Logue will still mediate a town hall meeting Wednesday at the State Theatre to address the issue.

 

Bob Foster, Northern Buttes District superintendent of State Parks, said the state will attend the meeting. Foster said last Friday he thinks all the issues a can be worked out with a new contractor.

 

Boaters were also concerned that mooring contracts couldn't be transferred if boats were sold, and it's unclear at this time how that issue will be resolved.

 

Dan Kohrdt of Save Bidwell Marina said the buoy agreement had been pulled from the discussion at the Wednesday meeting, but boat owners wouldn't let that die because they had too large of an investment.

 

The agreement now states that if you sell your boat, you have to take it off the lake, Kohrdt said.

 

Some boats on the lake are so large that other lakes in the state won't accommodate them.

 

"A lot of people think things are going to go great for Frank, Forever Resorts and State Parks, but make no mistake, the boat owners will take legal action if the nontransferable buoy restriction stays," Kohrdt said.

 

The meeting starts at 6 p.m. Wednesday at 1489 Myers St.#

 

http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_13244359

 

 

Suction dredgers left high and dry

Redding Record Searchlight-9/1/09

By Dylan Darling

 

The $20,000 worth of suction dredging equipment Randy Davis accumulated in 25 years of going for gold is now just decorating his backyard because of a state ban on the practice.

 

The old Volkswagen motor attached to pontoons that powered a vacuum he used to pull river gravel up and into his sluice box is now worthless because of the ban, said Davis, 56, of Weaverville. So are the seven mining claims he has for the Trinity River and Weaver Creek.

 

"Now with the ban, I'm not able to work them," Davis said.

 

Early last month, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the ban into law, saying it would last until the state Department of Fish and Game finishes an environmental review of suction dredging and develops new rules and regulations for it. Critics of suction dredging say it is harmful to fish - particularly salmon - because it clouds the water, churns up mercury and scatters spawning beds.

 

"It really alters the river channel," said Craig Tucker, spokesman for the Karuk Tribe on the Klamath River.

 

The tribe petitioned the DFG to ban suction dredging last winter, but the agency denied the petition. State Sen. Pat Wiggins then wrote legislation calling for the ban, which lawmakers approved in July. Schwarzenegger signed it into law on Aug. 6.

 

Along with the equipment and claims, the ban has also made DFG permits purchased by prospectors for the year worthless, Davis said.

 

"All permits that were previously issued by DFG are now invalid," said Kirsten Macintyre, a DFG spokeswoman in Sacramento.

 

The permits cost $47 for a resident and $185.25 for a non-resident, she said. The DFG had sold 3,624 permits, which were originally good until Dec. 31 this year.

 

Not being able to use his permit anymore, Jim Holder of Cottonwood said he tried to get a refund for it.

 

But the DFG isn't offering refunds.

 

Macintyre said the agency can only do so if authorized by law, and the law banning suction dredging made no such authorization.

 

Frustrated, Holder said he and other prospectors are talking about filing a class-action lawsuit.

 

He said his family has had generations of gold mines and his wife and kids regularly go out with him.

 

"We would gold mine all during the summer," he said.

 

He'd then use the money made from selling gold to buy Christmas gifts, Holder said.

 

A veteran on disability with a bad back, Davis said he used the gold brought by suction dredging to supplement his income. In good years, he'd bring in as many as seven ounces, he said. Gold has been selling for about $950 an ounce in recent months.

 

While Davis said he could pan to get gold from his claims, using a suction dredge is much more efficient.

 

"I would probably have better luck playing the lottery than panning for gold," Davis said.#

 

http://www.redding.com/news/2009/sep/01/suction-dredgers-left-high-and-dry/

 

 

Phoenix Lake span cracks force closure

Sonora Union Democrat-8/31/09

By Walt Cook

 

Structural cracking on the Phoenix Lake Road bridge over Sullivan Creek due to blasting operations prompted Tuolumne County officials to close the bridge indefinitely starting today.

 

It’s too dangerous to keep the bridge open, according to Gary Taylor, deputy director of engineering for the county Public Works Department. The ongoing blasting near the bridge appears to have damaged it, he said.

 

Project crews were blasting rock and earth last week, with blasting continuing into this week.

 

Detours include Ridgewood Drive to Highway 108 for those living west of the project area, and Creekside Drive and Crystal Falls Drive to Highway 108 for those east of the project area.

   

The Public Works Department issued the closure notice Friday morning. Taylor explained blasting is scheduled to get closer to the bridge, putting it at even more at risk.

 

The blasting had prompted the Public Works Department to close the bridge for a few hours a day through Sept. 4 to accommodate blasting crews. That order was voided when the structural damage became apparent.

 

An indefinite bridge closure may pose a problem for drivers, as the project is scheduled to continue into next summer. But, Taylor noted, a total closure may enable the project contractor, Ford Construction of Lodi, to get the new bridge and related road work completed ahead of schedule.

 

Dennis Randall, a volunteer fire captain for the Tuolumne County Fire Department, expressed concern about the closure in relation to emergency responses.

 

"It has a significant impact particularly for that immediate area because Phoenix Lake Estates is isolated from the nearest station (the Crystal Falls station),” he said.

 

Randall said the suggested detours will add several minutes to emergency response times in certain instances, but he said the routes will provide adequate access.

 

“We need to discuss this with our dispatch center so they shift the response plan,” he said.

 

School buses that run in the area, including Curtis Creek Elementary School buses, will also be forced to adjust their routes.

 

The Phoenix Lake Road bridge project has been in the works since the mid-1990s, when the county Board of Supervisors passed a resolution to seek federal funding.

 

Taylor said the county faced a deadline that could have resulted in losing funding if construction had not begun this year.

 

The roughly year-long project will involve not only replacing the bridge, which dates back to 1948, but also reconstruction of the narrow roadway approaches.

 

The new bridge will be a pre-cast reinforced concrete structure and less susceptible to damage from high water flows.#

 

http://www.uniondemocrat.com/2009083197689/News/Local-News/Phoenix-Lake-span-cracks-force-closure

 

 

Officials stunned at size of Tahoe clam invasion

Reno Gazette Journal-9/1/09

By Jeff DeLong

 

Peering into cobalt waters, U.S. Sen. John Ensign caught sight of Tahoe's latest threat.

 

Beneath the hull of a Desert Research Institute boat off Lake Tahoe's southeast shore were visible dense beds of clams.

 

"It's really shocking to see the numbers," the Nevada Republican said.

 

Asian clams, first discovered in small quantities in the lake in 2002, have exploded in number. They coat the bottom along much of Tahoe's southeast shore in depths of 3 to 30 feet, in some cases up to 3,000 clams per square yard.

 

The dime-sized clams are believed to have caused a dense algae bloom at the lake last summer and experts fear they could change water chemistry to allow other invaders, highly damaging quagga or zebra mussels, to thrive at the lake.

 

DRI President Stephen Wells, who until recently only had seen pictures of the clams, was taken aback.

 

"I had no idea they would be in that concentration. It's really bad," Wells said.

 

Participants in the annual Tahoe summit Aug. 13 agreed that clams, mussels, weeds and other invading species -- either already at the lake or threatening to arrive -- could pose a huge danger to Tahoe, the Truckee River and Pyramid Lake.

 

During the event, Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons joined California Natural Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman and top officials with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency in signing a management strategy for aquatic invasive species.

 

"It's a constant assault on the lake," Ensign said. "This is another battle. It seems like every time we have a victory we have another battle come along."

 

"We need to get moving," U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said. "If we don't get a stranglehold on them, they will get a stranglehold on this lake."#

 

http://www.rgj.com/article/20090901/TT/909010306/1047

 

 

Fish trackers study movement of Tahoe bass

Tahoe Daily Tribune-8/29/09

By Adam Jensen  

 

Legend has it that a prehistoric beast similar to the fabled Loch Ness Monster roams the depths of Lake Tahoe.

 

While the “Tahoe Tessie” myth holds more whimsy than weight, researchers from the University of Nevada, Reno, were at Lake Tahoe this week tagging beasts that could have real consequences for the lake's historic underwater inhabitants.

 

Joined by employees of the California Department of Fish and Game, the researchers used two boats equipped with electrofishing equipment to catch 24 largemouth bass in the Tahoe Keys on Wednesday afternoon as part of a new study of warm-water fish in Lake Tahoe.

 

The largemouth bass is one of several warm-water fish species that were likely introduced — either intentionally or accidentally — into the lake by anglers in the mid-1980s and appears to be spreading around the lake's near shore areas, according to recent research.

 

The fish may be contributing to a decrease in the number of native fish species in the lake since 1960, said Sudeep Chandra, a University of Nevada, Reno professor who studies invasive species at the lake.

 

Bass are voracious predators that eat native fish — like minnows and trout — or out-compete those species for food and habitat, added Stafford Lehr, senior fisheries biologist supervisor with the California Department of Fish and Game.

 

“They are having an impact on the native fishes of Lake Tahoe,” Lehr said.

 

Some of the bass caught Wednesday weighed more than 6 pounds.

 

In addition to the University of Nevada, Reno, and the Department of Fish and Game, the study that began Wednesday is sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service and the Tahoe Resource Conservation District.

 

The study is a follow- up to a pilot project last year that showed warm-water fish species were able to leave the relatively warm refuge of the Tahoe Keys for other parts of the lake as early as July, sooner than researchers anticipated, Chandra said.

 

In the latest study, bass were stunned using electroshocking equipment and brought on shore, where researchers sedated them using club soda. Researchers then made a small incision on the bass's bellies to implant two tags, before stitching the fish back up and returning them alive near the area they were caught.

 

One tag — a computer chip similar to what are often implanted into cats and dogs — will stay useful to researchers throughout the life of the fish and may allow them to one day estimate the total number of largemouth bass in the lake, something that remains unknown to scientists, Chandra said.

 

The second tag is an acoustic tag that will operate for more than a year and will allow researchers to track movements of the bass through the Keys.

 

By studying bass movements past 13 receivers that have been placed in the Keys during the next two years to pick up signals from the acoustic tags, researchers should be able to determine how often bass leave the Keys and gain greater knowledge about what triggers them to do so, Chandra said.

 

Researchers also hope to gain a greater understanding of how warm-water fish interact with the invasive plants — like Eurasian watermilfoil and curly-leaf pondweed — that are spreading around the lake and are already ubiquitous in the Keys, Chandra said.

 

The information gathered during the latest study will likely be critical to understanding how to protect the dwindling number of native fish species in the lake, Chandra said.

 

Both Lehr and Chandra expressed doubts about whether warm-water fish species could ever be eliminated from Lake Tahoe, but said this study will be critical step to figuring out what to do next.

 

“You first have to have a good understanding of the problem,” Lehr said.

 

Because the species were introduced to the lake relatively recently, the spread of the species can likely be controlled, Chandra said.

 

Using electrofishing to remove fish from the lake and eliminating the dense underwater forests of milfoil and pondweed where the warm-water fish thrive are two ways the populations of the fish species in the lake could potentially be limited, Chandra said.#

 

http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20090829/NEWS/908289979&parentprofile=search

 

 

Dam burn postponed but inspection still on

Ukiah Daily Journal-8/31/09

 

A control burn of the dam at Lake Mendocino has been postponed but is still expected before a mid-September routine inspection of the earthen dam by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

 

Lake Mendocino and the park around it is operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Army Corps inspectors are expected in Ukiah in the weeks following a rescheduled burn.

 

"Basically it's for an inspection," David Serafini, maintenance manager at the park said. "The engineers come and do a 100 percent inspection."

 

The inspection is called a pre-flood inspection and all Army Corps projects do it, Serafini said.

 

When the burn happens the dam will be divided into sections on which various fire departments can come and practice. Due to concerns that firefighters would overdraw their crews, the first date was canceled and a new date has not been set.

 

The inspection comes in anticipation of the rainy season. Lake Mendocino is scheduled to be inspected Sept. 15 to Sept. 17, according to Army Corps spokesman J.D. Hardesty.

 

Inspectors will come and visually inspect the upstream and downstream sides of the dam, Hardesty stated. According to Hardesty, removing vegetation helps to spot burrowing animals that may live in the dam's dirt, Coyote Dam's spillway and a structure that regulates the flow of water in outlet tunnels.#

 

http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/ci_13237815?IADID=Search-www.ukiahdailyjournal.com-www.ukiahdailyjournal.com

 

 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

DWR’s California Water News is distributed to California Department of Water Resources management and staff,  for information purposes, by the DWR Public Affairs Office. For reader’s services, including new subscriptions, temporary cancellations and address changes, please use the online page: http://listhost2.water.ca.gov/mailman/listinfo/water_news . DWR operates and maintains the State Water Project, provides dam safety and flood control and inspection services, assists local water districts in water management and water conservation planning, and plans for future statewide water needs. Inclusion of materials is not to be construed as an endorsement of any programs, projects, or viewpoints by the Department or the State of California.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 9/1/09

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

September 1, 2009

 

2. Supply –

 

 

Parched state on track for bumper tomato crop

Sacramento Bee

 

Over-pressurized pipes cause water-main breaks in La Mesa

San Diego Union-Tribune

 

Solvang to hold second water workshop

Lompoc Record

 

Cloud seeding creates rain Northern Nevada needs, Las Vegas wants

Las Vegas Sun

 

 

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Parched state on track for bumper tomato crop

Sacramento Bee-9/1/09

 

Despite the water shortage, California farms are on target to produce a record-crushing crop of processing tomatoes, which are used to make everything from ketchup to tomato soup.

 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday estimated the 2009 crop at more than 27 billion pounds, beating by at least 2.5 billion pounds the record set in 1999.

 

Water scarcity drove reductions in tomato acreage in some parts of the Central Valley, such as western Fresno County. But record high prices drove comparatively water-rich farmers elsewhere in the state to increase plantings.

 

Tomato acreage in San Joaquin County, for instance, rose at least 38 percent this year, to more than 44,000 acres, according to the report. Statewide, processing tomato acreage increased by roughly 31,000 acres, to at least 308,000 acres.

 

California grows more than 95 percent of U.S. processing tomatoes, and about 30 percent of the world crop.#

 

http://www.sacbee.com/business/story/2151677.html

 

 

Over-pressurized pipes cause water-main breaks in La Mesa

San Diego Union-Tribune-8/31/09

By Jose Luis Jiménez and Susan Shroder

 

A test of the city's water system sent too much pressure through the pipes, causing three mains to rupture Monday afternoon in separate areas of the city, a Helix Water District spokeswoman said.

 

The breaks caused water to rush up from below the ground, closing several streets and leaving 46 customers without water. Repair crews plan to work through Monday night to have the streets open for the Tuesday morning commute, said spokeswoman Kate Breece.

 

Two of the breaks were reported about 1 p.m., said La Mesa police Lt. Carlos Medero. One occurred near the intersection of Yale and University avenues, and caused a sinkhole on Yale about 100 feet south of University.

 

“There was significant (street) damage,” Medero said.

 

The second break occurred a few minutes later in a residential area at Oxford Street and Purdue Avenue.

 

A third break occurred about 2:50 p.m. just south of the intersection of 73rd and Amherst streets.

 

On Yale, an area of the street about 50-to-70-feet wide buckled, Medero said, creating a sinkhole about 10 feet in diameter.

 

No one was injured and no vehicles were damaged, the lieutenant said.

 

Water officials are trying to determine what caused the spike in pressure during the test.

 

Another water main break on Sweetwater Road, near St. George Street, in Spring Valley temporarily left a shopping center without water, Breece said. Officials do not believe that rupture was related to those in La Mesa.#

 

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/aug/31/bn31breaks-la-mesa/

 

 

Solvang to hold second water workshop

Lompoc Record-9/1/09

 

An updated version of Solvang’s master water plan, including projections of how much water the city will need and how it will get it, will be the topic of a public workshop at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

 

A Fresno consultant prepared the city’s master water plan in 2002, but “since that time, this document has become stale,” said City Manager Brad Vidro.

 

With the help of the Water Department, he has updated the plan with current data and will present it to the City Council at 7 p.m. Wednesday at City Hall, 1644 Oak St.

 

One result of the update is that city staff members think Solvang will now need less water at “buildout” — when the land inside the current city limits is fully developed — than the 2002 plan projected.

 

In 2002, the plan predicted an eventual demand for 2,200 acre-feet of water per year; the update expects the city to need 2,003 acre-feet. The city’s annual usage has been closer to1,600 acre-feet for the past decade.

 

The document also reviews some history of Solvang’s water use and recommends moving ahead with the drilling of six new wells in the bed of the Santa Ynez River, which the City Council has already approved.

 

“We actually used to use 2,100 acre-feet in the late ’80s,” Vidro said. “We had less population and used more water,” with a peak use of 2,153 acre-feet in 1988.

 

Since that time, however, a growing conservation ethic as well as higher water rates have led to a steady decrease in demand for water, he said.

 

However, the city has grown increasingly reliant on deliveries from the State Water Project, which have become unreliable as California is in its third year of drought.

 

River wells would provide more local control — if a pending plan by the federal operators of Lake Cachuma allows enough water to be released from the lake for Solvang and other users to take their permitted allotments, Vidro said.

 

Wednesday’s session is an opportunity for the staff to report to the City Council, get any further direction from the council and allow the public to ask questions and make comments, Vidro said.

 

The city has state approval to draw a maximum of 5 cubic feet per second of water from the river but would need the new wells to achieve that, and its rights to that amount need to be renewed soon.

 

The city will still pursue that permit, Vidro said, because “there are months in the summer when we’re still going to need that peak rate.”

 

At a workshop in May, the council invited public comment on a plan for the city to cooperate with Santa Ynez River Water Conservation District, ID1, to cooperate on the development of new water sources.

 

This workshop is not for the purpose of discussing that idea, Vidro added, but simply to talk about how much water the city might need in the future and the best ways to get the water.

 

The possibilities of working with ID1 will be the subject of a future meeting after Stetson Engineering consultants have finished a report on the potential compatibility of the two agencies’ water systems, Vidro said.#

 

http://www.lompocrecord.com/articles/2009/09/01/news/centralcoast/news10.txt

 

 

Cloud seeding creates rain Northern Nevada needs, Las Vegas wants

Las Vegas Sun-8/31/09

By Stephanie Tavares

 

When Southern Nevada Water Authority General Manager Pat Mulroy suggested the agency fund a shuttering Desert Research Institute cloud seeding program, it turned more than a few heads.

 

The project is vital to a stable water supply in Northern Nevada, but what does it have to do with Southern Nevada?

 

Well, not much — at least not right now.

 

The cloud-seeding program provided precipitation to some of the rural ground water basins from which the authority wants to eventually pump water for Las Vegas.

 

The authority has been involved in the institute’s cloud-seeding program for years — but not in Nevada. It has paid the research institute $121,000 over the past three years to conduct cloud-seeding research and spur precipitation in the mountains between Denver and Grand Junction, Colo. The bill went to the authority’s Enterprise Fund, which gets most of its money from wholesale delivery charges to municipal water agencies.

 

Because 90 percent of Las Vegas’ drinking water comes from the Colorado River, and because snowmelt from the upper basin has dropped amid the drought, paying for cloud seeding there made sense. In that case, the authority was effectively trying to create its own water.

 

Cloud seeding means adding chemicals to clouds to induce or increase precipitation. In Nevada that most often involves pumping silver iodide particles into clouds from a remote controlled mountaintop station when the right cloud patterns are present. The silver iodide changes the composition of ultracold water in the clouds, turning the liquid into snow or ice, which then falls to the ground.

 

Desert Research Institute has 23 cloud-seeding stations in Nevada and six in the Sierra Nevada range along the California-Nevada border. They create about 65,000 acre-feet of precipitation each year in Nevada, mostly in the form of snow, according to institute data.

 

The institute is a world leader in cloud-seeding research and technology dating to the 1970s. The program developed remote-controlled mountaintop cloud seeding stations used today in Nevada and around the world.

 

But in this year’s legislative session, funding for the program dried up. With the economy in a shambles and not enough new income, the Legislature made deep cuts in the higher education budget. Desert Research Institute gets only about 15 percent of its budget from the state, but the cuts were felt mainly by the institute’s service-oriented divisions, such as the cloud-seeding program, which get most or all of their funding from state coffers.

 

The cloud-seeding program is small and appears to have been relatively efficient, with, at most, five highly trained employees with years of experience. Its budget was $550,000 to $600,000 a year, depending on how much cloud seeding took place.

 

The program served the community in important ways but didn’t bring in many grants or closely align with the core mission of research, institute President Stephen Wells said.

 

“I don’t have any sources of money to go to keep these parts of DRI functional,” Wells said. “It was a terrible choice I was forced to make.”

 

How Southern Nevadans might benefit from manipulating precipitation above the Sierra Nevada range and in northeastern Nevada, from which we currently get no water, isn’t as clear.

 

Las Vegas Valley Water District spokesman J.C. Davis says it all comes down location and timing.

 

The seeding program increases snowpack by 2 percent to 10 percent, the higher percentages coming in drought years, according to the institute’s figures. When that snowpack melts, some of it recharges the aquifers in the valleys below.

 

The water authority owns water rights in four such aquifers between here and White Pine County. It has suspended an application for more water in the fifth, Snake Valley, a ranching community below Great Basin National Park on the Utah border.

 

Water authority staff members are examining whether it would be in Southern Nevada’s best interest to fund part of the core cloud-seeding program, which would make it possible for the institute to continue seeding above the Colorado River basin while supporting cloud seeding above the basins in which it owns water rights.

 

Keep the water coming in now, when the drought is at its height, they hypothesize, and you’ve got a better chance of pulling something out of the ground in the future.

 

Northern Nevada, though, is immediately dependent on that snow. It, like much of the rest of the West, has been hit hard by a multiyear drought. The additional tens of thousands of acre-feet of precipitation created each year by the seeding program has kept ski slopes open and stabilized the region’s aquifers, Washoe County Commissioner John Breternitz said.

 

“In Northern Nevada we’re hard pressed every winter to have enough water to get by,” he said. “The cloud seeding is an added insurance.”

 

That’s why Northern Nevada is trying to find ways to pay for it. Breternitz is building a coalition of business owners, politicians and residents to raise money to get the project back up and running.

 

The institute is preparing reports for the Truckee Meadows Water Authority, Washoe County and the Southern Nevada Water Authority on what it would take to resuscitate the program. It has also ordered its staff to stop dismantling the seeding stations.

 

“We’re in the ramping up mode where we’re trying to get the word out and see if we can find anyone who can fund it on the interim basis and then find a long-term funding mechanism,” Breternitz said. “The state needs to understand how important this program is to Nevada.”

 

The water authority’s entrance into the discussion, though, has changed the dialogue. The agency wants to pump tens of thousands of acre-feet of water each year from rural Nevada basins. Most rural Nevadans, including many in areas that depend on cloud seeding, oppose that prospect.

 

The Bureau of Land Management is expecting to complete its draft environmental impact statement on the pipeline in early 2010, but construction isn’t likely to begin for several years.

 

The project faces mounting opposition from ranchers, farmers, environmentalists, American Indians and national parks enthusiasts who say it will suck dry some of the most beautiful country in the state and ruin the lives of local residents.

 

The authority has acquired water rights in four of the five basins from which it wants water. In Spring Valley, it had to purchase and operate large ranches to get the water it wanted. And it has made deals with Lincoln County to exchange 3,000 acre-feet of water each year for support for its water rights applications there.

 

The agency recently agreed, as part of a water basin agreement between Nevada and Utah, to wait 10 years before pursuing the water rights it applied for in a final basin, Snake Valley.

Pipeline opponents see the cloud-seeding proposition as yet another way the water authority is trying to manipulate rural Nevadans into supporting the pipeline. For them and other pipeline foes, it serves as another “ah ha” moment.

 

“It appears that the SNWA is acknowledging that there just isn’t enough water in the basins they have targeted, at least if they are going to avoid widespread defoliation and environmental destruction,” said Launce Rake, spokesman for the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada.#

 

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/aug/31/budget-well-dry/

 

 

 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

DWR’s California Water News is distributed to California Department of Water Resources management and staff,  for information purposes, by the DWR Public Affairs Office. For reader’s services, including new subscriptions, temporary cancellations and address changes, please use the online page: http://listhost2.water.ca.gov/mailman/listinfo/water_news . DWR operates and maintains the State Water Project, provides dam safety and flood control and inspection services, assists local water districts in water management and water conservation planning, and plans for future statewide water needs. Inclusion of materials is not to be construed as an endorsement of any programs, projects, or viewpoints by the Department or the State of California.

 

 

 

[Water_news] 1. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS - Top Items for 9/1/09

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment

 

 September 1, 2009

 

1.  Top Items–

 

 

 

Water negotiations moving ahead in Capitol

Capitol Weekly

 

State's water issues to take center stage

Ventura County Star

 

Debt delusions

Riverside Press-Enterprise

 

Begin repairing Delta with or without approval of new dams

Oakland Tribune

 

Sometimes, oil, water don’t mix

Santa Maria Times

 

 

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Water negotiations moving ahead in Capitol

Capitol Weekly-8/31/09

By John Howard

 

Negotiations over a massive overhaul of California's water system picked up steam Monday in the Capitol amid an array of meetings that included a closed-door briefing for lawmakers by the Schwarzenegger administration's top water officials.

 

 The final proposal, an historic attempt to achieve a compromise in the state's seemingly endless water wars, is intended to be completed by the end of this week, with floor votes next week, said sources in both houses and participants in the discussions.

They face a ticking clock: The Legislature adjourns for the year on Sept. 11.

 

Ultimately, the plan is envisioned as providing environmental protections to the delta east of San Francisco, a canal through or around the delta to move more Northern California water to the south, new storage structures, perhaps even reservoirs, and major conservation programs.

 

Environmentalists are opposed to the reservoirs, but the Schwarzenegger administration and the construction industry view them favorably. Fishing interests and delta partisans oppose any plan that does not contain ironclad environmental protections for the delta, and environmentalists support conservation programs.

 

Southern California water interests, Central Valley farmers and hundreds of public water agencies tend to favor construction of the capital projects. There has been limited environmental support for the canal, but strong support for conservation.

 

The Legislature's Latino Caucus favors a water system overhaul that includes a canal and new construction - adding a new political dimension to the negotiations. The active participation of the Latino Caucus is a departure from earlier years.

 

Agreement on financing for the programs remains elusive.

 

There may be a multibillion-dollar bond package requiring voter approval, a mechanism called "continuous appropriation" in which money automatically is directed to the water system year-by-year and a system in which big customers - the water and irrigation districts - are charged fees on a sliding scale.

 

The dollars involved are huge: Estimates vary wildly, but a canal alone could cost $5 billion to $10 billion, or more, and reservoirs carry similar price tags. Last year, California voters rejected nearly $10 billion in water bonds.

 

A poll released by EMC Research showed nearly half of those surveyed opposed bonds for new reservoirs, and perhaps a third voice opposition to the construction of a canal. The survey was conducted by telephone Aug. 23-27 of 800 people. The margin of error is plus or minus 3.45 percent.  The poll was commissioned by Restore the Delta, an environmental group.

 

A sticking point in the water discussions is the creation of a two-house conference committee to write the legislation. Sources in both houses said the committee likely will be composed of 10 or 12 members, instead of the usual six members, three from each house.

 

The names of the committee members have not been announced, although they are expected to include Assembly members Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield; Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael; and Anna Caballero, D-Salinas. On the Senate side, the members may include Democratic Sens. Gil Cedillo or Alex Padilla of Los Angeles, and Fran Pavley of Agoura Hills.#

 

http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?xid=y8ja4a4mwzxpln#

 

 

State's water issues to take center stage

Ventura County Star-9/1/09

By Audra Strickland

Opinion

 

Those of us in Southern California know that any time is the right time to conserve water. However, state lawmakers’ recent focus on the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta reinforces the need for water conservation.

 

Global experts at Goldman Sach’s “Top Five Risks” Conference stated a catastrophic water shortage could be a bigger threat to mankind this century than soaring food prices and the exhaustion of energy resources. In light of the ongoing drought in California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers have stated their intent to make water issues a top priority for the coming months.

 

For many years now, state legislators have glazed over the reality that our traditional water sources are in peril and ignored the urgent need to address the immediate water crisis. Today, California is experiencing the effects of several years of below-average rainfall, low snowmelt runoff and severe cutbacks in water deliveries due to recent court decisions and regulatory actions related to the Endangered Species Act.

 

California has faced droughts before, but not under such extreme conditions. According to the governor, last spring was the driest ever in our recorded history. The persistent hydrologic drought, coupled with the imposed “regulatory drought” (pumping restrictions in the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta), dictates that now, more than ever, we work together to do all within our power to conserve water.

 

However, conserving water doesn’t just mean turning off the tap when you are brushing your teeth and running full loads of laundry. It also means using our ingenuity to preserve and protect this vital resource, improving our state’s infrastructure and improving the quality of our water, and making much-needed recycled water available to us.

 

Since we haven’t discovered a way to make it rain, we need to take steps to protect the water we have. That is why it is imperative for the state Legislature to pass Assembly Bill 1366 (authored by Assembly Members Mike Feuer, Anna Caballero and Audra Strickland). This measure would improve the quality of recycled water and remove some of the barriers to its use.

 

AB1366 provides local communities the ability to reduce the salinity in the water supply, but only upon approval by the city council to implement such action. The increasing concentration of salts in our watersheds, due to municipal and agricultural activities, degrades our local water resources. Salts are as much a concern for water suppliers worldwide than any contaminant, if not more so.

 

Broad support of AB1366 by area water providers, including the Calleguas Municipal Water District — Ventura County’s primary urban water supplier — is a testament to this reality.

 

AB1366 will allow local communities to decide whether to target certain types of inefficient water softeners that leech salt into our rivers, streams and groundwater basins, which degrades water quality for both urban and agricultural water users.

 

Such action is particularly essential in Ventura County where groundwater supplies play a critical role in meeting regional water demands. Significant public investments in water storage programs, including Calleguas Municipal Water District’s Las Posas Basin Aquifer Storage and Recovery Project in Moorpark, underscore the need for us to do more to protect and preserve these vital resources.

 

Everyone feels the impacts of a drought. Our farmers need water to grow their crops and that competes with our business and residential household needs. As water resources become scarce, the price of produce goes up and affects everything else down the line.

 

But the importance of water does not end with farmers. Dry seasons make our state especially prone to fire disasters, as we are witnessing. Because of this reality, we need to have an abundant source of water so that firefighters can do their job effectively. We here in Ventura County know how prone we are to very dry seasons, so the shortage of water is very much also a public-safety issue.

 

Water conservation will continue to be an issue as California’s population continues to grow at a very rapid rate, especially in the drier inland areas. Our communities are growing and using water faster than it can be replenished.

 

If there ever was a time to genuinely change our collective behavior and conserve water, it is now. It is also time for the Legislature to make fundamental changes to state policy as to both how we conserve our precious water resources and stabilize the integrity of the state’s water storage and delivery system, beginning with the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

 

The water crisis didn’t just materialize. It has been decades in the making and it is essential that we now take bold action to restore water-supply reliability. The time is now. And this cliché has never been more apropos.#

 

Audra Strickland, R-Moorpark, represents the 37th Assembly District, and Donald R. Kendall, Ph.D., P.E., is general manager of Calleguas Municipal Water District.

 

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/sep/01/states-water-issues-to-take-center-stage/

 

 

Debt delusions

Riverside Press-Enterprise-8/31/09

Editorial

 

A flood of red ink is the wrong solution to California's water woes, particularly in the middle of a financial crisis. The state should not pursue borrowing more money for water needs when it faces huge budget shortfalls and has yet to settle basic water policy questions.

 

Make no mistake: The state's water system badly needs official attention. The environmental decline of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has endangered a water supply that reaches two-thirds of the state's population and irrigates millions of acres of agriculture. And long-term climate forecasts say California will need to collect more winter rains instead of relying on mountain snowpacks to store the water until the hot summer months.

 

But rushing to borrow more money now is the wrong approach to those issues. Assemblywoman Anna Caballero, D-Salinas, last week announced plans for an $11.7 billion water bond for the 2010 ballot. The details are still vague, but the bond would apparently provide money for a variety of projects, including water storage, cleanup, recycling and conservation.

 

The timing is simply wrong, however. The Legislature wrestled with a $40 billion budget shortfall in February, and a $25 billion gap in July. Even then, legislators left the state with a deficit for the next fiscal year of at least $7 billion to $8 billion, and probably exceeding $10 billion. And the state's legislative analyst projects that large shortfalls will persist for years.

 

Adding another $11.7 billion in debt would add hundreds of millions of dollars in yearly interest payments, which the state would repay out of its deficit-ridden general fund. The state paid about $4.4 billion from the general fund in 2007-08 for debt service on infrastructure bonds.

 

But the legislative analyst says that once the state markets all the bonds that remain unsold, annual debt payments would hit $9.2 billion in 2017-18 -- a figure representing about 10 percent of current-year general fund spending.

 

Additional borrowing is also premature when the state has not even spent all the money from previous water bonds. Including what the state proposes to spend this year, California has nearly $4 billion in existing water-related bond money available. So why the haste to borrow more?

 

Nor is there any reason to hurry when the Legislature has not even resolved the stickiest issues of state water policy. The state needs to find ways to protect the delta ecology without stopping water exports to the rest of the state.

 

But there is precious little consensus on what the state should do. Any water discussions have been hamstrung for years by a legislative standoff over proposals for new dams.

 

Ensuring a reliable, sufficient water supply for the state's future will take public investment, certainly. But success in public investment requires a sound strategy, not a rush to fund some unspecified projects with borrowing the state cannot afford.#

 

http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/editorials/stories/PE_OpEd_Opinion_S_op_01_ed_waterbond1.35c9463.html#

 

 

Begin repairing Delta with or without approval of new dams

Oakland Tribune-8/31/09

Editorial

 

California has procrastinated far too long on a comprehensive effort to repair a degraded Delta ecosystem, rebuild decaying levees and assure thirsty farmers and urban residents of an adequate and reliable supply of water.

 

Fortunately, there has not been a severe drought in recent years. Even so, the Delta has suffered sharp declines in several species of fish, water deliveries have been cut back and levees continue to weaken.

 

A drought like the one in the late 1970s could raise salinity levels in the Delta to unacceptable levels and result in even more reductions of fresh water supplies. A major winter storm could undermine and destroy levees, causing significant flooding and possible disruption of water deliveries.

 

Fixing the Delta's major problems is a difficult and expensive task that could cost up to $54 billion, according to consulting economist Steven Kasower.

 

With the state's continuing budget crisis, a steep recession and endless political squabbling, progress on salvaging the Delta and serving the 24 million Californians who depend on it is a daunting challenge. But the state's future depends on finding a solution, or at least, beginning work on one soon.

 

There are three critical elements toward fixing the Delta: Enough fresh water must flow through the estuary to maintain an environment in which fish and other wildlife can recover and thrive.

 

No matter what is decided upon how water will be delivered — through current pumping, a canal or a tunnel — adequate flows of fresh water must be devoted to ecological balance of the Delta.

 

Levees must be repaired. There are hundreds of miles of earthen levees that have deteriorated over the years. Continued subsidence of land has weakened the base of levees. The most vulnerable need to be strengthened now before there is a disaster.

 

Deliveries of fresh water for agricultural and urban use must be reliable even in dry years. It may be that there will be less water available and that greater conservation efforts, particularly on farms, will be needed. But all users should be able to count on consistent deliveries of water, even if it means paying a higher price.

 

Meeting these three needs will require extensive levee work and a means to deliver a reliable supply of water in a way that does not harm fish and is not vulnerable to an earthquake or flooding.

 

Fixing the levees will be costly, but there is little political disagreement that they must be improved and maintained.

 

How to deliver water is far more problematical. Those who opposed the Peripheral Canal back in 1982 understandably are wary of building an aqueduct around the Delta or a tunnel under it.

 

We believe a tunnel, at an estimated cost of $33 billion, is far too expensive and should be dismissed as an option. But a modest aqueduct that would not dramatically increase water delivery to south of the Delta deserves consideration as long as there are guarantees of a minimum year-round flow of water into the Delta to maintain its ecology.

 

The key to success in solving all of the Delta's problems is water storage in new or enlarged reservoirs not just in underground aquifers. That is why Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is so adamant about building new dams and has threatened to veto any water plan that does not include them.

 

Greater water storage is essential to make enough water available — primarily for the Delta environment — and for agriculture and urban use in dry periods.

 

We agree with the governor about the need for more aboveground storage. But he should not allow a veto to kill other aspects of fixing the Delta.

 

Levee projects should not be delayed by an impasse over reservoirs, nor should a veto undermine monitoring aquifers and increasing conservation. It is crucial to at least get started on work to fix the Delta, with or without quick approval of dams.

 

We trust that as time goes on the need for new or larger reservoirs will become more evident. That is especially true if global warming raises sea levels and reduces the Sierra snow pack.#

 

http://www.insidebayarea.com/opinion/ci_13238967

 

 

Sometimes, oil, water don’t mix

Santa Maria Times-9/1/09

Editorial

 

Santa Barbara County has a bit of a split personality when it comes to offshore oil development.

 

On the one hand, the Board of Supervisors today is expected to sign off on a letter to the U.S. Interior Department opposing a federal scheme to open large areas of the Pacific Ocean to more oil and gas development — possibly a lot more development.

 

On the other hand, these same local officials enthusiastically endorsed a recent proposal for a slant-drilling operation within sight of the coast.

 

A casual observer might conclude that supervisors are suffering from a bad case of hypocrisy, backing one oil development plan, but opposing others.

 

There are, however, significant differences in the competing plans — differences that could affect local residents far into the future.

 

The slant-drilling deal was shot down by the state Legislature as part of the highly politicized budget agreement process.

 

In doing so, lawmakers deprived California and Santa Barbara County of a significant source of revenue and other perks, in exchange for a single project that would not change, even a little, the ocean vistas from shore, and that would have had minimal effects on the local environment, in large part because most of the industrial infrastructure is already in place.

 

Here’s how good the slant-drilling plan really was — it was endorsed by a wide range of local groups and organizations, including the Environmental Defense Center, Get Oil Out, and the Citizens Planning Association.

 

Even mentioning the names of those groups with any effort to increase offshore oil development is almost unbelievable, and speaks to the efficacy of the proposal.

 

The bottom line is that these ardently anti-oil folks understood the benefits of the slant-drilling offer, both in terms of dollars and cents, and in common sense — as in, approving the proposal would not have done any harm to the local ecology, while bringing hundreds of millions in revenues to a county that desperately needs the money.

 

Instead, mostly because of the politics involved, Central Coast residents now face the prospect of large-scale oil and gas development in federal waters, if the plan endorsed and made possible last year by the Bush administration is carried out.

 

What is now a Santa Barbara Channel dotted with a handful of oil rigs, could become a massive fossil-fuel-extracting energy farm.

 

And where that slant-drilling notion would have been supported by existing off and onshore infrastructure, if the feds carry out a plan to sell those remaining lease plots, up to 130 million acres of California’s coastline could be vulnerable to construction needed to support the oil and gas extraction effort.

 

Think Chevron’s huge Point Arguello processing facility on the Gaviota Coast, vastly multiplied.

 

The Central Coast needed the revenue from that single development proposal — it doesn’t need what could turn out to be runaway growth of the oil business in California. We’ve been through that in the past. It was not pleasant, and the industry left lasting scars on the environment.

 

It should be clear to everyone by now — at least to those who have actually enjoyed the coast and its many wonders — that our beaches and rocky coastline are among this state’s most important assets, a treasured franchise to be protected, not exploited for profit.

 

The Board of Supervisors doesn’t need to waste a lot of its time today talking about whether to send that letter to the Interior Department.

 

Take a quick vote to send that letter of protest to the feds. We recommend sending it Express Mail.#

 

http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2009/09/01/opinion/090109a.txt

 

 

 

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