A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 16, 2007
3. Watersheds
KLAMATH ISSUES:
Klamath water pact said at risk - Sacramento Bee
INVASIVE SPECIES:
Invasive mussel worries to shut down aqueduct - North County Times
Plans to control weed fall short; Despite successes, battle against Ludwigia in laguna still has 'a long way to go' -
Report: $2.2 Million needed for environmental restoration - Tahoe Daily Tribune
DEVELOPMENT:
Wetlands ruling rattles Sunrise Douglas plans - Sacramento Bee
DELTA ISSUES:
Editorial: A new water war -
Guest Opinion: More action needed to preserve Delta -
Letters to the Editor: Canal claims are false - Stockton Record
KLAMATH ISSUES:
Klamath water pact said at risk
By David Whitney, staff writer
The Washington Post reported last month that Cheney secretly intervened in 2002 in an effort to make sure the Bureau of Reclamation didn't repeat the shutoff of irrigation water to farmers to protect endangered fish.
After the story appeared, 36 California and Oregon Democrats asked for a hearing on the issue, saying the vice president's political interference may have helped cause the die-off of 70,000 salmon, producing a fishery disaster from Portland, Ore., to Morro Bay on California's Central Coast.
The House Natural Resources Committee has scheduled the hearing for July 31 in
Republican Reps. Wally Herger of Marysville and John Doolittle of Roseville joined Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., in asking the committee to also schedule a field hearing in Yreka because they fear the Washington hearing will reignite old wounds as farmers, fishermen, Indian tribes and environmentalists are nearing a settlement of the long-simmering fight over management of the federal water project.
In an interview, Herger said the
"I would hope and pray that the vice president would have been involved," said Herger, whose district includes
But Herger said the good news out of the crisis, caused in 2001 when water was turned off to farmers and in 2002 with the salmon die-off, is that all sides are trying to negotiate a solution.
Those talks, while secret, have caused many to believe a deal could be reached by the end of the year, resolving many of the thorniest policies over how water is allocated in the basin.
Doolittle said he is concerned about repoliticizing the Klamath controversy because it could upset the negotiations.
"That would be a shame, because this has been a largely intractable problem until the political miracle happened -- which is that all the different interests in the basin decided to work together," Doolittle said.
"I would hate to see something that took so long to gel impeded, because we truly do have the promise of getting this issue resolved," he said.
In their letter, the three Republicans asked for a separate Yreka hearing focused on the cooperation.
"By highlighting the positive efforts that have occurred in the basin since the devastating water shutoff of 2001 and the 2002 fish die-off, and the constructive dialogue that is ongoing, we believe Congress can highlight how political differences can be set aside in an effort to reach solutions that enable all interests to get well together," they said.
But as of Friday, Herger's office said it still had received no response to the Yreka hearing request, and Herger said in the interview he was getting increasingly pessimistic it would be held.
Federal officials were reluctant to comment on whether the hearings could have an impact on negotiations.
"Hopefully, there would be no impact," said Jeff McCracken, the Bureau of Reclamation's spokesman in
Greg Addington, executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association, said he is worried the
"I'm not sure what good comes out of this," he said. "We're doing good things now. These talks are difficult but productive. We want to look forward, to move on. Depending on how this hearing is handled, this could be politically very difficult."
Glen Spain, spokesman for the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, which has been highly critical of Bush administration water policies in the Klamath basin, said he thinks Congress can review history without harming the talks.
"Congress and the public have a right to know what happened,"
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/272673.html
INVASIVE SPECIES:
Invasive mussel worries to shut down aqueduct
By Gig Conaughton, staff writer
LOS ANGELES ---- An invasive, rapidly multiplying Ukrainian mussel could cost water agencies and ratepayers billions in fouled waterways and pipelines and has prompted the shutdown of the Colorado River Aqueduct for a second time,
Officials from the Metropolitan Water District said Friday that the 10-day shutdown was expected to start July 20 and would not affect any
Spokesman Bob Muir said the invasive quagga mussel that first forced a shutdown of the aqueduct in January after it was discovered had spread further and multiplied faster than hoped.
The mussel has been an expensive problem in the
Metropolitan delivers water to nearly 18 million Southern Californians in six counties, including
Muir said that when the agency drained the 242-mile aqueduct in January, workers found mussels and microscopic larvae in the first 20 miles of the canal and in densities of about two to 10 per square meter. He said divers and workers had now found the mussel halfway down the aqueduct, and in densities up to 500 per square meter.
He said emptying the aqueduct would kill the mussels by drying them out, and that chlorine "shocks" would be used to control populations when the aqueduct was refilled.
"We understand the chance of eradicating them is relatively low," Muir said. "We're trying to control their spread."
State fish and game officials discovered the mussels ---- which are similar to the invasive zebra mussel ---- in Lake Mead, one of the main reservoirs along the
Scientists believe the mussel, which is often smaller than a quarter but can grow to slightly larger than a silver dollar, was brought to the
Fish and game officials have stepped up alerts to recreational boaters and begun monitoring them in the hope of preventing the mussels' microscopic larvae from being spread.
Officials said that, as of last month, nearly 30,000 trailer boats in the
Gary Eaton, director of operations for the San Diego County Water Authority ---- Metropolitan's biggest customer ---- said he didn't think water officials were surprised by the spread of the invader. However, he said local officials were worried that the mussel could eventually spread all the way through Metropolitan's system to the water agencies that buy its water. That could mean more cleanup, and more costs affecting more ratepayers.
"Absolutely," he said. "That's why everybody is participating (in education and monitoring)."
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/07/14/news/top_stories/21_32_397_13_07.txt
Plans to control weed fall short; Despite successes, battle against Ludwigia in laguna still has 'a long way to go'
Santa Rosa Press Democrat – 7/16/07
BY Bob Norberg, staff writer
A $2.1 million, three-year program to control a weed choking the Laguna de
"To say it is worse is untrue, to say it is solved is untrue," said Julian Meisler, restoration manager for the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation. "We have a long way to go."
As a sign of success, Meisler points to the return of otters and osprey to the laguna and recreational use by kayaks and canoes in areas once choked by the weed, Ludwigia, which grew to be 5 feet tall.
"You couldn't get in there with a canoe in the summertime; it was a solid wall of plant," Meisler said. "The coverage was so great that using it for fishing by osprey was not a possibility."
In the channels near Rohnert Park, however, Ludwigia returned this spring with a vengeance, looking almost as bad as it did two years ago, though Sonoma County Water Agency officials say it was only a foot tall, not four, and not as dense.
"It came back, although not nearly the way it was," said Keenan Foster, the agency's senior environmental specialist.
After this year, funding for the control program runs out and there are no plans to spray, harvest or take any other measures to combat the plant.
It could mean that within five years, the Ludwigia will be just as bad as it was before the program started.
"Doing nothing is not an option," Meisler said. However, "we don't have the money, not even the money for a plan yet."
There are two native Ludwigia species in the laguna and along the
The non-native species being targeted was first seen 30 years ago, but took off in the past decade, choking out the native water plantain, swamp knotweed and marsh pennywort and various rushes, sedges and grasses.
The laguna has provided an ideal place for the plant to grow, with shallow, warm, stagnant and nutrient-rich water, and the non-native species now accounts for 90 percent of the Ludwigia found there.
In 2004, the Ludwigia Task Force was formed and a plan developed to check its growth.
"It wasn't an eradication project, it was to try to bring the plant down to a minor rather than a dominant member of the plant community," Meisler said. "It is still a dominant member, but that density is reduced and we have learned a lot in the process."
The $2.1 million program is in its third and final year, funded by the Sonoma County Water Agency, city of
It involves spraying herbicides and mechanically harvesting the plant on 130 acres of the laguna. In the first two years, 21,000 cubic yards were trucked away and this summer workers are expected to haul out another 5,000 cubic yards, which would almost cover a football field three feet deep.
The Ludwigia effort is separate from the ongoing program to remove eight acres of pepper weed from the laguna near
Faced with opposition to spraying, an effort was mounted to pull the plants by hand. Because that didn't succeed in killing the deeply rooted plants, Meisler said, the pepper weed will be sprayed and covered with tarps.
As a measure of success against Ludwigia, Meisler said 12 percent of the sample plots the foundation monitors are choked with the plant, compared to 79 percent when they started.
The removal and spraying also open up waterways so mosquito control officers can get in to spray for mosquito larvae.
Meisler said there is no support for the continual spraying and harvesting, which is expensive.
He said the long-term solution will include planting trees and shrubs on the banks. The foundation put in 2,100 trees and shrubs along a two-mile stretch of the laguna this spring, using a separate $500,000 grant.
Meisler said other measures could include deepening channels and removing sediment, and the foundation is looking for a grant to monitor nutrients from such places as lawns and golf courses. #
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20070714/NEWS/707140320/1033/NEWS01
Report: $2.2 Million needed for environmental restoration
Tahoe Daily Tribune – 7/13/07
By Adam Jensen, staff writer
A U.S. Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response team has recommended nearly $2.2 million in rehabilitation efforts to stabilize soils and prevent further damage in the area burned by the
The team's report was presented to Forest Service officials earlier this week and was approved on July 11, with implementation of the recommendations expected to continue into the fall.
Helicopter applications of hydromulch, a cellulose-based material sprayed to prevent erosion, were recommended over 636 acres of severely-burned forest by the team. These applications are expected to take place above the neighborhoods on North Upper Truckee and
Although the aerial applications are expected to cost nearly $1.6 million, mulching from the air is necessary because "ground based treatments in nearly all of the Angora Creek watershed are not feasible due to road access limitations," according to the report.
Hand crews will apply hydromulch to approximately 35 acres of land adjacent to the
Straw and chipped mulch are also proposed to be spread by hand over 48 urban lots, encompassing 110 acres.
Although Todd Ellsworth, a soil scientist on the BAER team, admitted the straw could act as fuel during an interview on July 9, he expected the applications to be undertaken later in the fall when the risk of wildfire has subsided.
Silt fences on two urban lots will be used to trap sediment and will be located on
Twenty five acres of seeding are planned for 14 urban lots to reduce erosion and prevent the spread of noxious and invasive plants.
Hazard tree detection surveys and removal projects are also planned as part of the immediate rehabilitation efforts.
BAER team scientists came into the burned area before the fire was contained to determine major needs to prevent further damage from the fire and stabilize soil before the first major rain event.
Long-term rehabilitation efforts have not yet been detailed.
http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20070713/NEWS/107130086
DEVELOPMENT:
Wetlands ruling rattles
By Mary Lynne Vellinga, staff writer
A federal judge has ordered builders in much of Rancho Cordova's massive Sunrise Douglas development to stop plowing under wetlands -- a move that creates uncertainty about the ongoing construction in eastern
U.S. District Court Judge Martin J. Jenkins on Tuesday issued the preliminary injunction in favor of the California Native Plant Society.
The society had sued the federal agencies that granted permits to fill the wetlands. Jenkins suspended the permits of seven separate developments within Sunrise Douglas until the case can be decided.
Jenkins ordered builders to cease and desist "any further construction, groundbreaking, earthmoving or other on-the-ground activity that may affect vernal pool habitat or endangered or threatened species."
A variety of large home builders are currently doing projects in the area affected by the ruling. They include Lennar Communities, KB Home, Woodside Homes, Pulte Homes, Beazer Homes and Cresleigh Homes, among others.
In his ruling, Jenkins said there was a lack of evidence that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency took a "hard look" at the environmental impacts of the development projects before issuing the permits.
It's unclear, however, what practical effect the ruling will have on construction activity in the Sunrise Douglas area, where about 2,000 houses already have been built.
Most of the vernal pools on the land covered by the order already have been filled, said John Hodgson, a land-use consultant who represents Sunrise Douglas landowners and negotiated with the federal agencies.
"What this says is you can't fill a wetland," he said. "If it's already filled, there's not much you can do."
Carol Witham, a local leader of the native plant society, does not agree with his assessment. The projects affected by the ruling are in various stages of development, she said. Some, such as
"Quite a few of the sites are essentially lost because they've breached the (soil) hardpan," Witham said. "Restoration of a site like that is essentially impossible. But on some others they haven't done anything to the vernal pools, or they've just dumped dirt in them, and you can scoop it out."
Michael Jewell, regional chief of the Army Corps' regulatory branch, said the judge's ruling leaves room for interpretation. There is no definition, for instance, of how close construction can occur to a vernal pool before it affects it.
"We've informed the parties involved that they need to follow the order," he said. "We're leaving it to them to figure out what it means."
Witham said the judge will likely clarify the order in conferences scheduled during the next week or two.
The society sued because it disagreed with the approach to wetlands mitigation devised by the regulatory agencies after negotiations with the landowners. Most of the landowners agreed to participate in creating a linear preserve that runs through Sunrise Douglas along stream corridors.
Witham complained that the preserve is too skinny and leaves out important vernal pools.
This week's ruling comes after another victory by the native plant society. In a separate case filed by the group, a Sacramento Superior Court judge last week overturned
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/272343.html
DELTA ISSUES:
Editorial: A new water war
San Francisco Chronicle – 7/13/07
THE SACRAMENTO-San Joaquin River Delta is approaching its breaking point, and what may be
Before things get to that point, we'd like to take a moment to point out what's changed since that scorched-earth 1982 ballot battle, and what
The delta has been in ecological crisis for decades, and it's on the brink of collapse. Things have deteriorated so much -- and so quickly -- that biologists and water officials turned off the state-owned water pumps for nine days in June. That nine days wasn't long enough to help the delta, but it was enough to frighten water contractors all around the state. Now, for the first time, all of the interested parties -- not just environmentalists and fishermen, but water officials and farmers, too -- are all clamoring for a new way to do things. Legislators and the governor have a tiny window of time in which they can implement bold new strategies to protect the delta and craft new water policy. They'd better not waste it.
The quickest way for them to mess up would be talking about ways to ensure
Ideas include restoring habitat and fish migration flows through the Yolo Bypass ($50 million), restoring the Suisun Tidal Marsh, which would improve habitat for fish ($50 million) and fully implementing some plans that are already designed, discussed, and ready to go: the Dutch Slough Tidal Marsh Restoration ($30 million) and the McCormack Williamson Tract Flood Control and Ecosystem Restoration Project ($70 million). Some of these projects will be good not only for the ecosystem, but also flood control, which means extra bang for taxpayer bucks.
Once our leadership shows us that it's serious about protecting the delta, then, maybe, we can talk about a peripheral canal. But let's start with peaceful projects first, please. There's plenty of time for war. #
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/07/13/EDGNNQ4VSJ1.DTL
Guest Opinion: More action needed to preserve Delta
Inside Bay Area – 7/15/07
By Tim Hunt, former editor and associate publisher of the Tri-Valley Herald
THERES BEEN TOO much talk and too little action concerning the perilous condition of the Delta.
The confluence of the
Its also the source for irrigation water for much of the arid
Huge pumps deliver water into the state and federal water projects out of the Delta, pumps that are so powerful that they can reverse the flow of the
That brings about the problem— the pumps kill fish, this year specifically the tiny smelt whose population has been plummeting.
The exact cause of the dramatic smelt decline isnt known, but two court orders and dead smelt behind the pumps caused state officials to completely shut down the pumps.
That unprecedented action should bring matters to a head.
Fixing the Delta has been talked about for almost 30 years with little progress.
The wildlife and environmentalists are concerned about their issues; farmers are concerned about water; the dangerous levee situation was brought home by Hurricane Katrina and the resulting devastation of
That was something new for long-time Valley residents.
The Valley is blessed with an abundant groundwater table that Zone 7 leaders have diligently recharged for years. It has a six- to seven-year supply of water.
When the 1986-87 drought hit and
This time around, thanks to decisions by
The long-term Zone 7 plan calls for additional wells where the water table is deepest on the west side of the Valley.
Instead of digging more wells,
The groundwater has lots of minerals, although
Those of us in the Castlewood area are served with 100 percent groundwater and it is hard (full of minerals).
So the demineralization plant is under construction and the five to seven wells necessary to ensure effective water delivery without the Delta source still are waiting.
It was a poor decision, one that put water aesthetics in
Three wells, which cost about $10 million each, were a much better early investment than a plant to make soap lather better and faucets stay cleaner.
That said, the water delivery and fish crisis in the Delta should create an urgency to finally deal with the myriad of issues there.
Whats remarkable is that one of the best options for improving the Delta is something very similar to the
Judy Lloyd, the lone woman in the Republican primary for the 15th Assembly District, continues to line up major endorsements.
Shes facing San Ramon Mayor Abram Wilson,
She has deep ties to
By contrast, Kamena grew up in
Lloyds latest coup was a joint endorsement by Dick and Sue Rainey of
Dick is the former Contra Costa Country sheriff and Assemblyman, while Sue is mayor of
The Raineys hosted a fundraiser for Judy at their home last month.
Speaking of fundraisers, last month Pleasanton Mayor Jennifer Hosterman held a fundraiser that was hosted by state Sen. Ellen Corbett.
Even in an era of presidential campaigns a year ahead of the first primary, thats a remarkably early start for a local race next November.
Tim Hunt is the former editor and associate publisher of the Tri-Valley Herald. He is the principal of Hunt Enterprises, a communications and government affairs firm. Contact him at huntenterprises1@comcast.net. #
http://www.insidebayarea.com/search/ci_6381290
Letters to the Editor: Canal claims are false
By Jerry Johns, Department of Water Resources
In response to a story ("McNerney condemns canal") in The Record on July 6, a modern canal that isolates fish from the conveyance of water through the Delta will help take the burden off
It will not, as Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton, claims, turn the Delta into a "saltwater estuary."
More than 20 years ago, Californians rejected a canal on this false premise. As a result, the Delta's ecosystem is crashing. A canal will help, not hurt, the Delta.
As noted by researchers, modernizing our water conveyance system would improve flows and protect fish in the Delta while improving our supplies of clean, safe drinking water.
It also would provide for more reliable water supplies to urban and agricultural water users south and west of the Delta.
A canal is just one part of the solution proposed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
His plan also calls for more surface storage and conservation to help wisely use our water resources in an era of climate change and continued economic growth.
His plan also includes $1 billion to revitalize the Delta by improving water quality, restoring its ecosystem and reducing potential impacts of earthquakes on water supplies.
Later this year, his Delta Vision Task Force and the cooperative Bay/Delta Conservation Planning effort will deliver recommendations to fix the Delta to benefit the natural environment and all Californians. #
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070715/A_OPINION02/707150307/-1/A_OPINION06
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