Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 30, 2007
4. Water Quality
CENTRAL VALLEY WATERWAYS POLLUTION:
Pollution widespread in Valley waterways - Stockton Record
Study begins to isolate Delta pollution causes - Central Valley Business Times
WASTEWATER:
SR plan to boost pumping to Geysers; New deal with Calpine for more wastewater for steamfields could save city $200 million -
PERCHLORATE:
Guest Column: Why
SPECIAL FUNDING:
County nabs big grant to clean water - San Mateo Daily Journal
CENTRAL VALLEY WATERWAYS POLLUTION:
Pollution widespread in Valley waterways
By Alex Breitler, staff writer
A new assessment of pollution in
The study is the first of its kind since farmers were made exempt in 2003 from individually reporting the quantities of pollution released from their lands.
That controversial program allows farmers to join coalitions that sample agricultural runoff and release the numbers to the state.
This data, collected over a four-year period, is one basis for the state's study, released earlier this month.
A
"This report puts to rest the repeated claims by farmers that agricultural pollution is not a problem in the
The numbers are meant to provide baseline pollution estimates that can be used for comparisons in the future. Farmers say they've made dramatic changes over the past three decades in how they apply chemicals.
"The fact that testing procedures are improving means there's a better chance you're going to find something" in the water, said Bruce Blodgett, executive director of the San Joaquin Farm Bureau Federation.
"We have people who are doing a great job out there," he said. "There is no amount of work our farmers and ranchers can do that will satisfy" critics of the ag waiver.
The technical report divides the Valley into four zones and compiles data from thousands of tests and dozens of contaminants. It does not attempt a general evaluation of the state of the waterways.
It does, however, offer clues of problem spots, such as the area of
Just north of
Long-outlawed DDT continues to be found in the water as well; Blodgett said farmers are no longer using the chemical.
Some of those sites, however, may have been tested a dozen or more times with perhaps just one sample exceeding standards.
Still, the numbers are merely a snapshot in time,
The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control board said the study reflected an "admirable effort" by coalition groups and irrigation districts to comply with the waiver program. #
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070730/A_NEWS/707300307
Study begins to isolate Delta pollution causes
A first-ever report from the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board says the rivers of the Valley and the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta are polluted with bacteria and pesticides.
An environmental group says part of the problem can be traced to water runoff from agricultural operations.
“The results, quite frankly, are astonishing and present a dramatic panorama of the epidemic of pollution caused by the uncontrolled discharge of agricultural wastes,” says Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.
But a farming group says the pesticide reports may be due to better water testing than in the past.
The draft report is the first region-wide assessment of water pollution data collected under the state’s Irrigated Lands Program since its inception in 2003.
Data was collected from 313 sites throughout the
According to an analysis of the report by the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance of Stockton, pollution potential toxic to fish was found at 63% of the monitoring sites; pesticide water quality standards were exceeded at 54% of sites; human health standards for bacteria were violated at 87% of monitored sites and more than 80% of the locations exceeded general parameters for dissolved oxygen and other measurements for the quality of water.
Discharges of agricultural pollutants are allowable under waivers of waste discharge requirements issued by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality in 2003 and renewed in 2006. Those waivers are being contested in a lawsuit filed by CSPA and Baykeeper against the board in June.
The report is posted on the Regional Board’s website at: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralvalley/programs/irrigated_lands #
http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=5807
WASTEWATER:
SR plan to boost pumping to Geysers; New deal with Calpine for more wastewater for steamfields could save city $200 million
Santa Rosa Press Democrat – 7/30/07
By Mike McCoy, staff writer
Details will be outlined to the city Board of Public Utilities on Thursday. The board will be asked to recommend approval of the deal, which goes before the City Council on Aug. 14.
The city would provide 50 percent more wastewater for the steam-to-energy project and collect $300,000 a year toward pumping costs. No expansion of the pipeline would be required.
Carol Dean, a utilities board member, said it sounds like a "win-win situation" for the city, Calpine,
"We're all keeping our fingers crossed," Dean said. "It could save us a tremendous amount of money and it could be very good for the environment."
Calpine spokeswoman Katherine Potter said the plan fits with company plans to invest $200 million to stabilize and expand power production at The Geysers, the world's largest geothermal energy facility.
"Our hope is to enhance our production at The Geysers and this will allow us to do that," she said.
For the city, the deal could mean continuing to discharge excess wastewater into the Laguna de
Pumping more effluent to The Geysers would reduce the amount discharged into the laguna by 60 to 70 percent on average per year, Deputy City Manager Greg Scoles said. In some years, he said, there would virtually be no discharge.
"This is pretty exciting stuff," Scoles said. "It could be really beneficial."
The city has estimated the costs of switching its discharge location and building storage reservoirs for wastewater at $120 million. A related wastewater storage plan is expected to cost as much as $100 million.
For Calpine, one of the nation's major energy-generating companies, the deal could boost revenue as it tries to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings it entered in 2005.
The Geysers is one of Calpine's most profitable assets and would become even more profitable if wastewater flows to the steamfields are increased by 50 percent, or nearly 2 billion gallons a year.
The city's current contract with Calpine calls for the city to supply it with 11 million gallons of wastewater a day, the equivalent of 4 billion gallons a year.
The wastewater is delivered by a 40-mile pipeline, built at a cost of $250 million. Calpine injects the water nearly 1.5 miles underground where it converts into steam and is pumped out to run electrical generators.
The project, intended to breathe new life into the declining steamfields while reducing wastewater discharges, began operating in December 2003.
In addition to eliminating the need for a new discharge point, Scoles said the ability to ship more effluent to The Geysers could eliminate the need to build storage ponds in the southwest and southeast quadrants of
"It's a high likelihood we could avoid adding more storage altogether," he said.
The reservoirs, at a construction cost of $38 million to $50 million each, have been proposed as part of a program to store winter wastewater for use during the summer for urban irrigation in areas that now rely on potable water.
Scoles said plans will go forward for expanding the city's urban wastewater irrigation system, at a cost of $119 million for a network of pipelines into the two quadrants. However, those plans are far from being solidified.
"It's a very expensive way to deal with effluent," he said. "But it's a conservation measure because you don't have to get (potable) water from somewhere else."
The Calpine deal would establish criteria by which the city would increase the amount of effluent it pumps to The Geysers over the next 15 to 30 years. In the outer years it could pump up to 5.5 billion gallons a year, an average of more than 15 million gallons a day.
The 30-inch pipeline that runs from the treatment plant can handle up to 20 million gallons a day, Scoles said.
The deal would require Calpine to pay
Calpine pays the energy costs to pump it up the 3,300-foot slope to the steamfields.
How quickly the deal can be completed, however, remains the central question.
"We don't know how far or how fast negotiations can go because Calpine is still in bankruptcy," Dean said.
Calpine officials already have signed off on the deal, said Dennis Gilles, the company's senior vice president. Pending
Gilles said the wastewater deal is good for both sides.
"It will allow the city to send it to the Geysers rather than dumping it in the river and it provides predictability of delivery to us," he said. #
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20070730/NEWS/707300314/1033/NEWS01
PERCHLORATE:
Guest Column: Why
By Winnie Hanson, Rialto's mayor pro tem and Ed Scott, council member, comprise the Rialto Perchlorate Subcommittee
According to the most recent Study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, perchlorate in drinking water, even at low doses, is a threat to the thyroid function of many of
By 2002, it had become apparent that a 6-mile-long plume of perchlorate, a key ingredient of rocket fuel, and trichloroethylene, a hazardous solvent phased out of industrial use by the 1980s, contaminates the otherwise pure groundwater aquifer that supplies drinking water for the city of
The source is a World War II ordinance depot later used for manufacturing by large defense contractors and fireworks manufacturers. The contamination comes from land now used by
In response, the Rialto City Council adopted a policy of shutting down contaminated wells to avoid serving perchlorate in any amount to its citizens. Initially, perchlorate concentrations were detected in the dozens to several hundred parts per billion.
Additional investigation and testing found perchlorate as high as 5,000-10,000 ppb, the highest level in the nation in a domestic water supply. The state of
Protecting citizens' health is paramount, but the potential effects on business, development and the city's finances are also dire.
Installing wellhead treatment costs millions, and operational costs add millions more. With the new 210 Freeway, parts of the city are poised for increased development and employment. But if the city cannot assure a 20-year supply of water, state law prohibits local development.
Projected costs for the cleanup run as high as $200 million to $300 million.
Initially,
The first prosecution effort by the RWQCB ended in a dismissal for lack of evidence. In 2003,
Faced with ineffective action from EPA and the regional board, a rejection of liability from the county, and some expiring statutes of limitation, Rialto brought suit in federal court in 2004 to make the large corporate polluters and insurance companies - rather than its own citizens - pay for the cleanup.
Through investigation of activities as far back as the 1940s, and under federal discovery authority, a mass of evidence was collected and delivered to the RWQCB and EPA. Using some of this evidence,
The current State Water Board prosecution, which goes to hearing in
If that hearing, which has been delayed four times by the large, well-funded law firms representing the dischargers, is not successful,
The same federal litigation has been filed by the city of
The state Legislature should be encouraged to supply funding for prosecution of the dischargers and to assist with the cleanup.
EPA should likewise be more actively involved, and take further action on the evidence that has been supplied to it. The health and welfare of
http://www.sbsun.com/ci_6489615?IADID=Search-www.sbsun.com-www.sbsun.com
SPECIAL FUNDING:
County nabs big grant to clean water
By Michelle Durand, staff writer
Plans to study the fecal pollution around Pillar Point Harbor is flush with funding after the State Water Resources Control Board last week confirmed an $845,000 grant offer to the San Mateo County Resource Conservation District.
The news was met with enthusiasm by the district officials who notified others in the county via e-mail on Friday.
“This is an incredible opportunity to identify ways to improve the chronically poor water quality in the harbor that affects all who use it,” wrote Executive Director Kellyx Nelson.
Among the users Nelson ticked off are boaters, kayakers, windsurfers, campers, hikers, dog walkers, bird watchers, swimmers, waders, families, clam diggers, surfers, visitors to Maverick’s big wave surf competition and wildlife.
The focus of the project includes any potential pollution source emptying into the El Granada waters, such as sewer systems, boat discharges, pet and avian fecal contamination and creeks. Once the sources are identified, the project will tackle specific ways to improve the water quality.
Pillar Point Harbor is an enclosed watershed with five beaches and water quality so chronically poor that the State Water Resources Board recently listed as impaired by coliform bacteria. Capistrano Beach — the project’s primary focus — has elevated levels of fecal bacteria, like E. coli, on more than 95 percent of its samples and has been ranked for several years in the top 10 most polluted beached in California. In 2005/2006, the beach nabbed the sixth ranking on the annual “Beach Bummer” list and in March 2006 the San Mateo County Environmental Health Department permanently labeled it as a potential health hazard.
The need to identify the source of the pollution is urgent, according to the project description.
Theories abound in the surrounding community, including human contamination from leaking sewer lines and contamination from birds.
The samples and studies needed to pinpoint the problem and do something about it have been lacking, the description states — all reasons why the nearly $1 million state grant is so important to rectifying local waters and beaches.
The project does not need an Environmental Impact Report or review under the California Environmental Quality Act because it is data collection rather than a significant change to an environmental resource. #
http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=78407
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