Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
May 1, 2007
5. Agencies, Programs, People -
How do you like those sewer rates? -
Emergency drill at Zephyr Cove to be staged Wednesday -
Tahoe Daily Tribune
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How do you like those sewer rates?
By Claire St. John/
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The Davis City Council will host a public meeting Tuesday night to get public reaction to sanitary sewer rate increases scheduled to go into effect Aug. 1.
Residents also will have a chance to speak out about water rate increases that went into effect in August when public hearings weren’t required for such increases.
The rules have since changed, and Tuesday night’s public hearing will allow residents to protest those increased fees. If enough residents protest the hikes, the fee can be rescinded, said Operations Administrator Sue Gedestad.
The City Council is expected to approve an 11 percent sewer rate fee increase. If it does, single- family home owners can expect an increase of about $4.02, up to $39.65, when the August bill comes.
More increases are scheduled in the future, and by 2010, residents can expect to pay $47.66 per month in sewer fees, up from $35.63 today.
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The extra money will pay for higher operations costs and help fund the design of a wastewater plant upgrade project which is expected to improve water system quality, storage and reliability. The upgrade is mandated by the state Water Resources Control Board, and other cities in the region are facing similar requirements.
The cost of Davis’ improvements are estimated at $140 million, and are necessary to meet new, higher discharge requirements of the existing system, not to provide additional capacity for future residents, city officials say. Residents will bear the burden of the upgraded sewer costs through rate hikes and two revenue bonds.
A 3 percent cost-of-operations increase also is built into the rate increases.
The gradual increases are designed to head off “rate shock,” according to the city, but staff members are looking in to a consumption-based rate to replace today’s increasing flat rate.
The city’s Natural Resources Commission and Senior Citizens Commission have both endorsed a consumption-based rate for wastewater as more equitable because customers would be able to conserve money by conserving water, giving them more control over what they pay, a city staff report says.
“Until the rate is actually developed, it is unclear what the effect will be on rate payers,” the staff report cautions.
The City Council on Tuesday also will consider a 2 percent increase for trash, recycling, green waste pickup, street sweeping and city recycling programs, raising most residents’ monthly rates by about 51 cents, to $27.73.
A workshop examining the city manager’s proposed 2007-08 budget, the first of many, will round off the evening.#
http://www.davisenterprise.com/articles/2007/04/30/news/245new2.txt
Emergency drill at Zephyr Cove to be staged Wednesday
Tahoe Daily Tribune – 5/1/07
BY SUSAN WOOD, staff writer
A pop, flash and plume of smoke and people scurrying to get off the paddle-wheeler may sound alarm bells to
Don't worry. It's only a drill.
But it's a big one, involving about 20
Similar drills have tested the skills of rescue teams trying to train for a disaster over a lake that can easily consume victims of hypothermia.
"Our goal is to ensure that we are as prepared as possible to protect lives, property and the environment at
Novak admitted the probability of a terrorist attack may seem remote in Tahoe, and that could just be the very issue in the event the Bay Area is singled out.
Emergency officials believe if the
The various counties and states have assembled emergency councils and evacuation plans, which now even involve animals. In the event of an emergency like a fire or flood in the basin, team members would wield a binder of contact names and numbers and designate community centers and schools as shelters. No particular evacuation route has been designated as each scenario commands a different response.
And to Novak, anything has proven possible since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
"People thought 9/11 was far fetched," he said. "Sometimes the smaller communities are considered soft targets, and
Terrorist threats aside, the U.S. Coast Guard uses the paddle-wheeler drill as a way to hone its boat evacuation skills - whether there's an explosion on board, the boat catches on fire or the paddle-wheeler goes adrift into rocks.
With an engine-room fire as a typical scenario, the federal agency may use any side of the boat to clear people off or keep them from jumping to escape a danger perceived as worse than 50-degree water.
"We're always going to have that," Coast Guard Officer Jeremy Zimmer said. #
http://td.us.publicus.com/article/20070501/NEWS/105010036
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