[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 6/28/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

June 28, 2007

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People

 

LEGISLATION:

Wolk's flood bill package OK'd by Senate - Fairfield Daily Republic

 

DIVERSION FACILITY APPROVED:

Board OKs new diversion facility; Dam will store water for Salinas Valley farmers - Monterey Herald

 

 

LEGISLATION:

Wolk's flood bill package OK'd by Senate

Fairfield Daily Republic – 6/28/07

By Ben Antonius, staff writer

 

SACRAMENTO - A key state Senate committee on Tuesday send forward half of a package of flood protection bills from Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis.

The state Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Water approved Assembly Bills 5 and 224, two of four flood protection bills authored by Wolk that aim to promote smarter planning at the state and local level. "California's flood protection efforts can not rest solely on building and maintaining levees," Wolk said in a statement. "Comprehensive flood protection requires smart planning that anticipates the state's future water supply and flood protection needs, and uses both common sense and the best available science to meet those needs."

AB 5 requires the state to develop a comprehensive flood protection plan for the Central Valley and provides incentives for local communities that adopt the principles of the proposed state plan priority in receiving current and future bond funding.

AB 224 integrates the anticipated effects of climate change into all local and state water plans, including the California Water Plan and State Plan of Flood Control. AB 5 will next be heard in the Senate Appropriations Committee, and AB 224 will go to the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality. Dates for those two hearings have not been set, said Wolk spokeswoman Melissa Jones.

 

The other two bills in Wolk's flood protection package are scheduled to be heard by the Senate Committee on Natural Resources at its July 10 meeting, Jones said.

AB 1452 sets priorities for the use of the nearly $5 billion flood bond approved by voters in November, giving top priority to emergency repairs for failing levees. AB 162 would require cities and counties to incorporate flood hazards in their general plans in order to minimize risk in flood-prone areas, just as local governments are required under current law to consider the risk posed in areas prone to fires and earthquakes. #

http://local.dailyrepublic.net/story_localnews.php?a=news07.txt

 

 

DIVERSION FACILITY APPROVED:

Board OKs new diversion facility; Dam will store water for Salinas Valley farmers

Monterey Herald – 6/28/07

By Kevin Howe, staff writer

 

Purchase of land for the Salinas River Diversion Facility was approved 3-0 Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors.

 

The 5.6-acre parcel straddles the Salinas River and adjoins the Marina landfill owned by the Monterey Regional Waste Management District.

 

The county has agreed to buy the parcel from the waste management district for $96,000.

 

The rubber dam, officially known as the Salinas River Diversion Facility, is designed to store water down river for Salinas Valley farmers to use for irrigation during dry periods when underground supplies are not replenished naturally. Such use will reduce pumping from the already overdrafted water supply.

 

The aquifer that supplies water to the valley is already experiencing seawater intrusion as a result of users taking more water out than is being put back in.

 

The dam, about 10 feet high, would create a pond holding about 40 acre-feet of water during dry periods. During winter, the dam would be lowered so the river could flow to Monterey Bay, allowing steelhead to make their way to spawning grounds in the Arroyo Seco River.

 

The purchase agreement holds the waste management district not responsible for the effects of gases or other materials that might emanate from its landfill into the holding pond created by the dam. The agreement also gives the district first right of refusal if the county decides to sell the land.

 

In 2003, owners of 85 percent of assessed property values in the Salinas Valley agreed to tax themselves to help pay for the construction of the rubber dam on the Salinas River, one of two major components included in the Salinas Valley Water Project.

 

The valley water project will widen the spillway at the Nacimiento Dam to prolong releases of water into the river during dry summer months.

 

Total cost of the projects is estimated at $18.8 million.  #

http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_6248655

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