Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
May 9, 2007
5. Agencies, Programs, People
LEVEE ISSUES:
West Sacramento Property Owners To Vote On Proposed Levee Improvements - Channel 10 News (
INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN:
Supervisors vote to join water management plan - Chico Enterprise Record
CLEAR
County in deep over water fight - Lake County Record Bee
WATER RIGHTS TRANSFER:
Historic water rights change hands in Southern California - Central Valley Business Times
GROUNDWATER STORAGE:
Los Angeles to tap more water - Central Valley Business Times
OWENS VALLEY RESTORATION:
Audit faults the DWP, contractor on Owens project; The utility is accused of lax oversight of the firm it hired, which is accused of grossly overcharging for dust cleanup - Los Angeles Times
LEVEE ISSUES:
Channel 10 News (
By Alicia Malaby, Anchor-Reporter
Property owners in
Engineering reports indicate the levees need about $400 million worth of improvements. To achieve that, city leaders are supporting an annual assessment ranging from $40 to $130 per residential parcel. Business and commercial owners would pay considerably more depending on the size of their parcel.
"As a business owner, I have to protect my property and my building, and I think it would be worth it," said Ruben Rodriguez, owner of Emma's Taco House on
Homeowner and community activist Sandra Vargas estimates her assessment for additional flood protection would be about $60 annually on her
Mail-in ballots are expected to go out to property owners on May 22. They have until July 10 to vote. A majority of property owners have to approve the assessment in order for it to pass.
The West Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency has a Web site where property owners can enter their assessor parcel number to calculate their proposed annual assessment. The Web site is linked above. #
http://www.news10.net/display_story.aspx?storyid=27577
INTEGRATED WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN:
Supervisors vote to join water management plan
By Heather Hacking, staff writer
After months of debate, study and disagreement, the Butte County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to join the Sacramento Valley Integrated Water Management Plan.
This means the county will be working with other counties in the valley to manage surface and groundwater.
The concept has been in the works for some time and has been supported by most counties in the valley.
As a condition of approving the
The author of the current agreement, the Northern California Water Association, has been under fire by environmentalists concerned that the underlying intent of the plan is to export water — specifically exporting surface water and then replacing it with groundwater.
Currently on the plate is a $12.5 million state grant that was recently granted to fund conservation programs, water conservation, research and "production wells."
The wells are intended to test the aquifer to see how much it will yield.
"Yield" is a complicated theory by which one can see how much water can be safely extracted without depleting the aquifer.
The Water Commission grappled with the concept for half a year, and set up a special committee to network with nearby county water leaders and decide what people's intentions were.
After much discourse, supervisors gave the nod to the concept, partly because it was felt that if
Supervisor Bill Connelly said that the new buzzword at the state Capitol is "regionalism," and Butte County had to be at the table to make sure that the state as a whole does not "rape and pillage" Northern California.
Several speakers described the decision to join the regional plan as a "leap of faith."
The regional plan is a work in progress, water leaders have said, and having a voice in the proceedings will ensure that
Water Commission chair Mark Kimmelshue said the entire process of working through the issue has been a good experience and that local people have had a chance to address the issue.
He said talks with NCWA and other county leaders has led to a better understanding between players.
Of the money for research on
Supervisor Curt Josiassen, in his discussion on his vote for the plan, said he sees Metropolitan Water District as an example of many water districts banding together to garner clout.
Butte Environmental Council executive director Barbara Vlamis provided a petition of 300 signatures, which she said were collected in a few hours, opposing the move to opt into the regional plan. She said she felt
Autonomy among counties was an issue, and supervisors asked that language be submitted that would give officials a greater voice in the group that started the regional process.
Reached for comment Tuesday, NCWA executive director David Guy said that was a possibility, and a good sign that
http://www.chicoer.com/newshome/ci_5850568
CLEAR
County in deep over water fight
By Tiffany Revelle, staff writer
LAKEPORT -- After undergoing some minor revisions that Dist. 4 Supervisor Anthony Farrington said will make a big difference down the line, the latest conceptual steps in negotiating with Yolo for water rights to
The next step is to take the proposals to the next informal two-by-two meeting between Supervisors Farrington and Ed Robey and two directors from the Yolo district group.
"It was a huge step historically, but the first step of many to come, as it relates to the ability of the entities to come to work together in a spirit of cooperation," said Farrington.
On the table were three items. The first was a proposed memorandum of understanding (MOU) between
The second is what Farrington identified as a focal point in upcoming negotiations. It is an amendment to an existing agreement with Yolo that allows the Lake County Sanitation District (LACOSAN) to divert from
The amendment would make that 7,950 acre feet available for beneficial use including for drinking anywhere in the county, based on the premise that less and less of it is needed to fill the pipe going to the Geysers as effluent sewage increases.
A minor tweak that will make a big difference, said Farrington, makes that water the county's property, and takes out the provision that the water would be made available depending on availability.
"It's important to assert ourselves at this point with what is right in terms of looking out for what is best for Lake County," said Farrington, pointing out that Yolo has to get something out of it as well. "For so many years Yolo has gotten something out of
"Even though they're downstream and we're upstream, there are more issues that unite us than divide us as it relates to Cache Creek and the watershed," said Farrington. He referred to several county projects meant to improve
"Year in and year out, Yolo has been very lucky. The water runs downhill, and they've been able to realize a huge public good commodity. Water is the source of all life. Yolo for years has gotten a good deal and has not had to reinvest a single penny or dime into the watershed in which they realize this wealth," said Farrington.
"We want to be part of the solution for them, but they're going to have to be the first one to give up something." He said of future negotiations, expected to happen in the mid-June two-by-two meeting. "We're making the first step and they're going to have to be open to it."
Farrington said of the decision, "It was fantastic; it's a demonstration of us as a body working together." He said he's optimistic about negotiations going forward. #
http://www.record-bee.com/local/ci_5842742
WATER RIGHTS TRANSFER:
Historic water rights change hands in Southern California
Two of the oldest water companies in California -- West Riverside Canal Company and the 350 Inch Water Company -- are being purchased by Basin Water Inc. (NASDAQ: BWTR) of Rancho Cucamonga. Financial terms were not announced.
The West Riverside Canal Company was formed in 1886 and owns an 18-mile-long canal that has historically been used to transport water for agricultural and other non-potable water applications. The canal crosses several of the largest groundwater basins in
The 350 Inch Water Company was formed in 1891 and has historic water rights in the
Basin Water says intends to develop a regional water resource business by converting at least some of the water into drinking water supplies. Both the WRCC canal and 350 Inch Water Company are located in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, which combined have a population of over 4 million people and are among the fastest growing areas in Southern California.
“This acquisition … allows the company to have a direct interest in the ownership of water resources in a region chronically short of water,” says Basin Water CEO and Chairman Peter Jensen. “It is projected that Southern
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=5094
GROUNDWATER STORAGE:
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, which provides water for much of
The new deal lets Metropolitan store up to 350,000 acre-feet of state project water at any one time in the groundwater basin under Arvin-Edison’s service area. (An acre-foot of water is nearly 326,000 gallons, about the amount used by two typical Southland families in and around their homes in a year.)
In return, Metropolitan will spend $14.4 million to increase the capacity of Arvin-Edison’s
“As one of the first water banking agreements between urban and agricultural communities in
Metropolitan says it will help improve the quality of water delivered through the State Water Project to
“This will help improve the quality of our state project deliveries from
To date, Metropolitan has stored 290,000 acre-feet and retrieved 76,000 acre-feet from the program, leaving a groundwater storage balance of 214,000 acre-feet. #
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=5095
OWENS VALLEY RESTORATION:
Audit faults the DWP, contractor on Owens project; The utility is accused of lax oversight of the firm it hired, which is accused of grossly overcharging for dust cleanup
By Duke Helfand, staff writer
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and a contractor it hired to reduce dust on a dry lake bed in
The report, ordered by the DWP Board of Commissioners, found that the utility did not seek competitive bids for some of the work and failed to exercise adequate control over two contracts with the engineering firm CH2M Hill.
At the same time, the audit accused the company of excessively marking up costs, charging for unauthorized work and double billing expenses in some instances.
DWP commissioners seized on the report as evidence of CH2M Hill's trying to pump up profits at the expense of the city.
Commission President David Nahai said he believed the company owes the DWP at least $3.3 million, and possibly an additional $1.2 million, out of more than $106 million it has been awarded since 1998 to control dangerous dust on the dry bed of Owens Lake, about 200 miles northeast of Los Angeles.
"There is no doubt there were lapses in the administration of this contract on both sides," Nahai said. "Although the department could have been a great deal more cautious and exacting, I think that CH2M Hill is at fault for not better policing its practices. I hope and expect that [it] will do the honorable thing, step up to the plate and write a check to the city for the amount the audit is disclosing."
A CH2M Hill spokesman disputed the audit's findings, saying the company consulted the DWP on its scope of work and costs for a project that presents huge, complex and unpredictable challenges.
"We respectfully disagree," said
CH2M Hill originally was given a $550,000 contract in 1998 to provide the city attorney's office with expert witness services as it wrangled with regulatory agencies to limit the DWP's liability for reducing dust on
The lake had been dry since the late 1920s, the result of
The CH2M Hill contract was increased to nearly $13 million without seeking new bids, allowing the company to manage the dust-prevention project as part of an agreement with air quality officials in the
The rising bill and questions about management and oversight, however, attracted the attention of DWP Commissioner Nick Patsaouras, who asked for the audit, by GCAP Services Inc. of
The audit found, among other things, that the DWP awarded CH2M Hill one of its contracts without competitive bidding, a step the utility could not explain or justify to auditors.
The report also determined that the DWP did not check to see that CH2M Hill's labor costs were fair and reasonable, and it cited the utility's lax billing controls. The DWP, for example, was charged $330,000 at one point for work performed outside time frames spelled out in work agreements.
"It's not only that CH2M Hill took advantage," Patsaouras said. "We had no controls for an [overall project] that by the end of the day will be three-quarters of a billion dollars."
Patsaouras also criticized CH2M Hill for its billing practices.
The audit, for example, recommended that the DWP "consider disallowing $398,107 in questioned subcontractor billings." And the firm effectively double-dipped, the report found, earning about $2 million by marking up subcontractor costs as allowed in one of its agreements, while also charging an additional $477,740 for the same purposes.
Corsi, the CH2M Hill spokesman, said the company had passed two independent audits during the last nine years, adding that it earned no more money on subcontractor markups than that allowed by its contracts.
"We believe that in all cases, the DWP was invoiced in accordance with the terms of the contract," he said. "What was our responsibility? To make sure the department was being billed fair market rates and that work was being delivered in a quality manner."
Still, DWP commissioners said they would try to recover as much money as possible from CH2M Hill. If unsuccessful, they said they would ask the city attorney's office to pursue a legal remedy.
Nahai and others predicted that the attention cast on the
And commissioners also said they were taking steps to prevent further waste, partly by auditing other contracts related to construction, materials and equipment.
"I think the word is out on the street that DWP is not going to tolerate inappropriate practices," Nahai said. "We're going to crack down and seek to recover money that belongs to the city of
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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