Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 16, 2007
5. Agencies, Programs, People
Aqueduct a fishing lure, but a risky one; State warns of cold water and deceptively fast current - Modesto Bee
LOCAL WATER AGENCY ISSUES:
Questions flow in gusher; Water agency couldn't be reached as homes flooded - Sacramento Bee
OBITUARY:
Memorial on tap for man who brought water to West - Associated Press
Aqueduct a fishing lure, but a risky one; State warns of cold water and deceptively fast current
By Victor Patton, staff writer
Los Banos fisherman Paul Rivas has been fishing the California Aqueduct for most of his life, but a recent slip and fall on the waterway's steep concrete slope almost killed him.
Rivas survived by trying to remain calm and floating down the aqueduct until he was able to grab a safety ladder and climb out of the water.
He lost all of his fingernails because he initially tried to claw up the slick concrete sides of the aqueduct, but other than that, he was OK.
"When (the water) hits you, it will take you under," said Rivas, 40. "I was lucky."
Not so for everyone who falls into the aqueduct.
On April 6,
Snider died after he slipped on the aqueduct's concrete slope and fell into the water, according to sheriff's deputy Paul Barile. His father, Leo Snider, 62, jumped into the water in an attempt to save his son.
"We do have a history of fishermen drowning (at the aqueduct)," said Jim Thomas, chief of the Department of Water Resources San Luis Field Division.
Since 2001, the DWR has recorded about 63 drownings at the California Aqueduct, Thomas said.
Two DWR divers died at the aqueduct in February during a routine inspection at the Dos Amigos Pumping Plant. The cause of the divers' deaths has yet to be released by California Highway Patrol investigators.
Sgt. Karen Barrows of the CHP's
In the wake of Snider's death, visitors to the aqueduct should be aware of a few simple tips that could save a life.
Safety ladders and buoys
Thomas said safety ladders are positioned every 500 feet along the sides of the aqueduct, which runs 444 miles from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta on its way to Southern California, ending near
Every bridge that crosses the aqueduct has a floating buoy line attached to it, Thomas said.
If someone falls into the water, Thomas said the person must remain calm and stay afloat near the concrete sides until he can grab a safety ladder or buoy and pull himself out of the water.
Thomas said fishermen should consider wearing a life jacket or preserver because of the steep slopes of the aqueduct, the cold water and swift current, even in places where it appears none exist.
He recommended fishing with a partner and bringing a safety rope long enough for someone to grab.
"The (concrete) banks of the aqueduct are very slippery. They get covered with slime and algae. And they are angled, of course," DWR spokesman Don Strickland said. "If you fall in, you really can't get out of there unless you have your wits about you."
Depth can reach 30 feet
Built during the 1960s, the California Aqueduct is the largest feature of the DWR's State Water Project, a statewide system that includes 17 pumping plants, three pumping-generating plants, five hydroelectric plants and 660 miles of canals and pipelines.
Although the sections of the aqueduct vary in size, it measures about 138 feet wide at the top and 40 feet wide at the bottom, with a maximum depth of about 30 feet at the Banks Pumping Plant, where it originates, Strickland said.
The massive size of the aqueduct means it accumulates a lot of junk, much of it from illegal dumping.
Thomas said DWR officials have pulled 320 cars from the aqueduct in six years. Refrigerators, guns and pipe bombs also have been found over the years.
"Fishermen will (illegally) throw these homemade pipe bombs in there to dynamite the fish," Thomas said.
"Sometimes the things don't go off. So if we de-water a section of the aqueduct for maintenance or repairs, we find all of this stuff."
The aqueduct is not the safest place to fish, but its abundance of catfish and striped bass attracts hundreds of fishermen annually.
It's 'the best spot' to fish
Tou Her, 19, and his brother Paul, 15, from
"It's the best spot," Tou Her said.
Kevin Peavey, a 33-year-old auto mechanic from
Peavey said he recently caught a 32-inch catfish there.
"You do get big fish here," he said. "They are either small or large. There's no in-between. A lot of people come here (to fish). It's a stopping point before they go to work or when they are going home."
Although Rivas still fishes the aqueduct, his recent experience has taught him to be extra careful.
"I know you can fall right into that sucker," Rivas said. "You can't really tell, but it's really slippery." #
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/13492116p-14100489c.html
LOCAL WATER AGENCY ISSUES:
Questions flow in gusher; Water agency couldn't be reached as homes flooded
Sacramento
By Terri Hardy, staff writer
Fruitridge Vista Water Co. won't be able to determine until early this week why it took more than two hours for the agency to respond to a gushing water main that flooded about 20 homes and yards in a south
"The company is taking this seriously," spokesman Stevan Allen said Sunday in a voice mail message. "We're looking into why this happened to try to make sure it does not happen again."
Sacramento Fire Capt. Jim Doucette said Sunday that the delay in taking care of the Saturday morning deluge at
When fire crews found they could not locate shutoffs for the spewing water, they were unable to hail anyone from the private water company for help, Doucette said.
All calls to the company are supposed to be answered by a 24-hour answering service, which can immediately contact maintenance crews, Doucette said. Instead, the fire company got the water company's answering machine.
"The answering service was not activated," Doucette said. "At night when they go home, they're supposed to do something, like call or flip a switch, and it wasn't done."
The private water company serves about 4,800 customers in the unincorporated area of south
Customers Jesse and Priscilla Magano said the first inkling they had of a problem was a loud sound of rushing water about 6:30 a.m. Saturday. Priscilla Magano said she then spied their small puppy, T-Bone, swimming frantically in several feet of water in their backyard.
A ruptured water main in their
A call to 911 quickly brought
Jesse Magano said a firefighter at the scene broke the bad news.
"He said, 'Call your congressman, because no one's coming out,' " Magano said. "I was pretty angry."
A water company maintenance worker was alerted to the problem only after he saw a report of the flooding on a television news broadcast, Doucette said. He arrived at the Maganos' home about 9 a.m., and the water was shut off shortly after.
Doucette said the water flooded garages and a living area in the home directly behind the Maganos. Fruitridge Vista helped pump water from the structures and repaired the leak by 1 p.m.
Fruitridge Vista's Allen said they are still trying to determine what caused the water pipe to break. The ruptured main is near an area where the company is adding new pipes and wells.
Doucette said the fire department was given a new direct number for the water company's answering service and believes the communication problem is now solved.
The Maganos, however, said their worries continue.
"It was a bad, bad situation," Priscilla Magano said. "How could no one answer the phone? What took them so long?"
Several feet of water collected under the couple's elevated bungalow, and they are concerned about mold and mildew. They question if water damaged their aging home's foundation.
The couple said the raging water also wreaked havoc on backyard landscaping.
However, they said water company officials have assured them that Fruitridge Vista will replace sod.
Sunday's flooding was the latest in a string of problems for the water company.
State and local agencies have complained about the district's lack of water pressure, saying it is a potential fire and health hazard.
Last year, Fruitridge Vista agreed to a $12 million improvement plan.
Work will include tying into
The work is expected to be completed in September. #
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/155584.html
OBITUARY:
Memorial on tap for man who brought water to West
Associated Press – 4/16/07
PALISADE, Colo. - No one did more to bring water to the developing West than the late 12-term Democrat congressman Wayne Aspinall, and now a memorial has been unveiled in his hometown.
The granite memorial, unveiled Saturday, quotes Aspinall's famous remark: "In the West, when you touch water, you touch everything."
Gov. Bill Ritter and U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar were among 250 who attended the unveiling.
"He saw so far into the future, and in his time, he acted on it," Ritter said.
Salazar said thinks of Aspinall every time he wades into one of
"Water truly is the lifeblood of the West," Salazar said.
A spokesman for Republican U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard said Aspinall was his political idol.
The 12-term congressman died in 1983.
He was defeated in the 1972 primary by a candidate backed by environmentalists who questioned the billions spent on water projects.
No one did more to bring water to the West and western
Aspinall had a hand in the region's biggest water projects, including the Glen Canyon Dam and the Central Arizona Project.
His name graces the three reservoirs of the Aspinall Unit on the
http://www.dailybulletin.com/search/ci_5675109
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
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