Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
June 21, 2007
5. Agencies, Programs, People -
Residents air concerns about proposed dam repairs at Lake Perris
Riverside Press Enterprise
State rules to tackle climate issues
The air board is set to adopt the first part of its plan to reduce emissions. -
Sacramento
County to smoke out residents' sewer pipes
It's the end of the line for illegal sewage connections -
Auburn Journal
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Residents air concerns about proposed dam repairs at Lake Perris
Riverside Press Enterprise
Catherine Fields wanted to know whether a siren could alert residents if the seismically weakened dam at
Fields and McCassy were among some 25 residents, recreationists and others attending a meeting Wednesday evening to find out how a proposal by the California Department of Water Resources to retrofit the dam would affect them. Under the $460 million plan, the dam's weakened foundation would be fortified and supported by a new stability berm nudging against it on the side opposite the lake.
An emergency channel would run for two miles along the Ramona Expressway to hook up with a storm drain. It could run right through McCassy's Star West motocross and possibly affect other parts of the Lake Perris Fairgrounds, where rodeos and other events occur regularly.
McCassy and Vince Agnifili, the fairground's general manager, said they didn't get a full understanding as to how they will be affected and remained concerned.
Some residents had suggestions on how to lessen the impact of the expected construction activity at the popular lake. Construction is expected to last four years starting in 2008.
As proposed, a construction road would be created on the lake's south side so trucks could transport material dredged from the east end to the dam.
Ric Olalde, of Perris, suggested using a conveyor belt instead to avoid impacts to a bike trail and a popular rock climbing area. Olalde's two teenage sons regularly use that part of the lake.
"You're going to cut out half the park," he told Mike Driller, one of the state's design engineers.
Sue Sims, a spokeswoman for the state water agency, said all concerns would be considered as part of the environmental impact study being conducted. The question of a siren, agency officials said, would have to be posed to the Riverside County Office of Emergency Services.
Any comments on the state proposal, which can be viewed at www.water.ca.gov, should be sent in by July 2.#
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_D_lake21.3e51b7a.html
State rules to tackle climate issues
The air board is set to adopt the first part of its plan to reduce emissions.
Sacramento
By Jim Downing - Bee Staff Writer
The greenhouse gases are about to hit the fan.
In
While AB 32 was signed into law with bipartisan fanfare last fall, the state's first steps in implementing it this spring have drawn criticism from across the political spectrum.
AB 32 requires the state to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. That's equivalent to reducing gasoline consumption by an average of 800 million gallons a year, each year, for the next 13 years.
That's something no industrial economy has ever done, and many environmental groups say air board staff hasn't been aggressive enough with the "early action measures" up for a vote today.
These plans, to become law by Jan. 1, 2010, offer the first opportunity for tangible emissions cuts under AB 32. But state regulators have presented the air board's executive panel with proposals for just two new measures: additional controls on gases released by landfills, and a ban on the sale of automotive air-conditioning refrigerant to do-it-yourselfers.
In addition, the staff proposal endorses Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to reduce the carbon content of vehicle fuels 10 percent by 2020. A list of 36 other strategies is included on a lower-priority list.
These are the key measures scheduled to be voted on today.
Air board staff members have defended the short list of early action measures by noting that the board is moving forward on a wide variety of emissions-reduction strategies. The adoption of a short list of strategies today doesn't prohibit the board from putting other proposals on a fast track in the future, said spokeswoman Gennet Paauwe.
Still, many in the environmental community see the early action list as a missed opportunity.
"To have such modest recommendations just was a huge concern for us," said Diane Takvorian, executive director of Environmental Health Coalition, a grass-roots group based near
In several public letters, national environmental groups have encouraged the board to add fuel-efficiency standards for heavy-duty trucks and cement-industry emissions controls to the list.
Meanwhile, groups representing the refrigerant and landfill industries say they've been singled out unfairly for regulation.
And there's a twist: In the case of the retail air-conditioning refrigerant ban, industry has won the backing of the state environmental justice committee that advises the air board's executive body on climate-change issues.
"The proposal is very regressive," said Jane Williams, the committee's co-chair.
She said it would effectively ban low-income residents from doing their own maintenance on vehicle air-conditioners.
Refrigerants are greenhouse gases thousands of times more potent than carbon dioxide. State staff has cited the benefit of keeping drivers from endlessly refilling their leaky air conditioning systems (refrigerant will last forever unless the system is leaking).
Williams' committee recommended that the board focus on other measures that would not have a disproportionate impact on the poor, such as collecting refrigerant from scrapped cars and cutting leakage from refrigerated shipping containers.
The retail refrigerant industry plans to present a compromise to the board today in hopes of averting the proposed ban, spokesman Norm Plotkin said. A $2-a-can fee would fund a leakproof can design and a deposit program to give consumers an incentive to recycle used cans, which can contain significant amounts of refrigerant.
The outcome of today's deliberations will set the stage for future debates over how the state is going to meet the AB 32 targets.
Behind the scenes, positioning is well under way over the shape of a "cap and trade" system, which would create a market to trade rights to emit a set limit of greenhouse gases.
AB 32 does not require such a system, but the concept has many powerful supporters, including the Schwarzenegger administration.
But Williams and others argue that any market-based system is likely to have at least some serious flaws that will keep the state from meeting the emissions targets.
They had hoped that strong early action regulations would generate reductions even if a future market system fails.#
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/233746.html
County to smoke out residents' sewer pipes
It's the end of the line for illegal sewage connections
Auburn Journal – 6/20/07
By: Jenna Nielsen, Journal Staff Writer
County officials will conduct "smoke tests" in residential areas to determine if illegal connections, other than sewer lines, have been made to the sewer system.
"Knowingly or unknowingly, residents can connect into the sewer line and it has the potential to overload our system," said Michelle White, environmental resource specialist with the county. "A few connections here and there may not seem like a lot, but when you add them together, it can be."
Adding illegal connections, such as water from storm drains, can overload sanitary sewer systems, adding to the county's cost of providing services and creating problems elsewhere, White said.
That's because stormwater drains are a separate network of piping, channeling stormwater into creeks and other waterways. Sanitary sewer lines channel wastewater to the sewer treatment plant, a much more expensive operation.
Flows at the treatment plant in
"It costs the same to treat wastewater and stormwater," White said.
The smoke testing consists of blowing harmless, odorless smoke into parts of the sewer system to locate damaged pipes, identify improper connections and show areas where unwanted stormwater may be entering the county's sewer system.#
http://www.auburnjournal.com/articles/2007/06/21/news/top_stories/02sewersmoke21.txt
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