Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 9, 2007
5. Agencies, Programs, People
SACRAMENTO
Matsui wants to use farms as flood buffer; Her plan hits opposition north of the capital over property-right concerns - Sacramento
STONY GORGE DAM RETROFIT:
A new face: Dam retrofit project under way -
KLAMATH ISSUES:
Cheney's role in fish kill probed 2002 Klamath River disaster; Water policy change led to deaths of 68,000 salmon - Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Water board to continue with lawsuit; Judge rejects Casitas' appeal for state money; panel may switch tactics - Ventura County Star
WATER POLICY ISSUES:
Editorial:
RATE HIKE:
Water rate hike request in pipes; Marysville users may have to pay nearly $6 more - Marysville Appeal Democrat
SACRAMENTO
Matsui wants to use farms as flood buffer; Her plan hits opposition north of the capital over property-right concerns
Sacramento
By David Whitney, staff writer
"The best flood protection is more farming," the Sacramento Democrat said in an interview.
Matsui said that flood control improvements for the
This will only worsen as the river's watershed, from
"We have a pretty stable watershed now," she said. "Our flood system is based on existing land uses. But if those change, with a growing population, our flood system will be stressed."
Matsui has not yet introduced any legislation. Instead, she has been working behind the scenes on an amendment she hopes will become part of a massive farm subsidies bill later this month in the House.
The challenge for Matsui is that her district is urban, and the farmers who would be most affected by her legislation are largely skeptical of government encroachment and the potential of losing property rights.
As drafts of her legislation have been circulated, her proposal has run into serious opposition north of
"The congresswoman is very well-meaning," said Herger. "Regrettably, we've had a long history of programs that appeared to be well-meaning and turned out to be harmful to our property owners and farmers. ... This needs a lot of work."
As criticism has grown in the past few months, Matsui's draft legislation has been scaled back substantially. The current version gives only a hint of her full vision.
In an April Op-Ed in The Bee, Matsui wrote "the farm bill gives us a chance to increase voluntary incentives for farmers in the
At that time, Matsui's bill called for $105 million over five years, with the goal of more subsidized farmlands such as the Yolo Bypass that could be flooded with storm runoff as a kind of buffer for
The price tag of her proposal now is $45 million over five years, and nowhere in it is flood control even mentioned.
Instead, it would direct the Agriculture Department to create a "coordinating group" to work voluntarily with farmers, state and local governments and various interest groups on undefined "preservation activities."
Matsui said the evolution of her legislation is a recognition that she needed to focus first on building consensus on how to stop farmland from being lost to homes, shopping centers and parking lots that only increase the threat of downstream flooding problems.
"I think it is important to look at the whole watershed," Matsui said. "Unless we do something about it, I am afraid we'll end up looking like
Even among those who back Matsui's goals, there is skepticism about her timing.
"This is a tight budget year," said former state agriculture secretary Richard Rominger, who farms north of Winters.
Rominger, who also served as deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture under President Clinton, said more money for conservation programs would "be good for farmers, their soil, wildlife and flood protection." But he acknowledged that Matsui's ultimate goal -- using farmlands as flood buffers for
Among the existing programs, for example, is the Sacramento River Conservation Area Forum. Created in 1999, its purpose is to coordinate fish and wildlife habitat restoration, farming compatibility and watershed improvements.
Meridian walnut farmer Russell Young, chairman of the forum, said the tasks the Matsui bill sets up for a federal coordinating group sound very much like what the forum does with federal, state, local and farmer participation.
"If this is to increase protection, the legislation is already there," Young said of Matsui's proposal. "It's duplicative, and we don't want it." There's also worry among farmers that a new program, even at the relatively small sum of $45 million over five years, will siphon money from existing farm subsidy programs.
"From our perspective, we are concerned about the shifting of dollars," said Don Bransford, chair of the California Rice Producers Group that is monitoring the farm bill.
"She is very well-intentioned," Bransford said of Matsui.
"But flood control doesn't fit into a farm program."
Despite the skepticism, Matsui said she is digging in for a long campaign.
"In farm areas, there is a sense that they don't want change," she said. "You cannot move very quickly. I have a great deal of respect not to rush them.
"But unless we take this step, others will define (the watershed) for us," she said. "I think this is the right time." #
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/261802.html
STONY GORGE DAM RETROFIT:
A new face: Dam retrofit project under way
By Barbara Arrigoni, staff writer
ELK CREEK -- It may not be apparent to those lazily enjoying the serene waters and golden hills of Stony Gorge Reservoir about 21 miles northwest of Willows, but just over the dam, there's a whole lot going on.
Stony Gorge Dam is getting a facelift.
It's in the early stages of a federal modification project the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation designed to strengthen it in the event of a strong earthquake.
The dam was built between 1926 and 1928 — long before an earthquake fault was discovered nearby, and when earthquake standards for construction weren't as stringent as today. It was last modified in 1986.
The problem is, in a study conducted in 2002, the Bureau realized that the dam's structure could fail in a lateral, or sideways-moving earthquake, measuring magnitude-6.0 or greater.
So after years of conducting environmental and engineering studies, plans and designs, the project was awarded to a construction company and got under way.
Reclamation awarded Shimmick Construction Co. Inc. the project late last year. The company is also retrofitting the
To find out what's been happening at the dam since Shimmick moved trailers to the site in January, the Enterprise-Record recently visited the site. It's the first peek since construction began.
Safety first
Anyone entering the dam area is first outfitted with a hard hat and a fluorescent orange vest.
After handing out the requisite safety gear, Bureau representatives Dick Milani and Richard Welsh led the E-R staffers and Bureau spokesman David Jones from the top of the gigantic structure down to its base. Milani administers the contract with Shimmick and is quality control inspector. Welsh is a construction engineer with the Bureau's Willows office.
From the walkway that spans the width, Stony Gorge Dam offers a fantastic view downstream toward Elk Creek. On its opposite side is the reservoir, a sparkling blue jewel dotted with boats and surrounded by campers.
The dam itself is an imposing structure. At its lowest point, it rises 139 feet upward to a crest elevation of 847 feet above sea level. It's roughly like standing at the foot of a 10-story building and looking up.
It isn't until you get close to the structure, at the foot of the dam, that you see the depth of the bays between the vertical buttresses, and the steep 45-degree slope of the concrete face that sits against those structures.
Some horizontal concrete struts lend crosswise support between the thick buttresses, but in a lateral quake the buttresses could move back and forth or flex. The movement could cause the dam face to crack or collapse, which could pose risks to the folks downstream.
The plan is to strengthen the buttresses by filling the space between them with concrete walls rising toward the top of the dam to within about 36 feet of the top; or as Milani said, up to about the 811-foot elevation mark.
View from the top
Starting from the 868-foot-long crest walkway atop the dam, Milani and Welsh lead the way across the dam.
The walkway is narrowed several feet by a parapet wall added in 1986, and was even more crowded with equipment and two contractors drilling holes into each buttress.
The height is dizzying, but thankfully there is a railing that makes looking down safer.
Before starting any drilling or other work on the buttresses, a worker scans the entire area with ground-penetrating radar equipment to locate the presence of steel and to avoid hitting any rebar. Jones said the buttresses were surprisingly built with very little steel inside them.
To make the core holes, a special kind of drill eases its way slowly 12 feet down into the solid mass.
Milani said the government, mindful of safety to the dam, won't allow jackhammers to drill the 2 1/4-inch round holes. The old material brought out will be replaced with 3Ž8-inch steel rods and fresh concrete to reinforce the rods.
As old concrete comes out in the drilling process, it looks like mostly smooth, gray tubes filled with mosaic-like patches of bluish rocks. Milani comments that for the practices of the 1920s, the concrete's condition is still pretty good.
"Some areas aren't too good, though," said the inspector after eyeing the pieces more closely. Indeed, some spots on the old concrete look worn. Milani said concrete is mixed differently now than it was in the 1920s. He noted the larger shapes mixed in the concrete and said the process for making concrete has improved over time, along with different methods of placing it.
"There may have been less quality control," Milani said.
Welsh added that when the dam was built, it was done to the engineering standards of the day, but with what is now known about earthquakes, several dams are being reinforced.
Drilling core holes isn't all that has changed atop the dam since January. As we make our way past the parapet wall, where the walkway widens to a view of the glistening lake, steel structures jut outward toward Stony Creek. Milani called the structures "C hangars," but the forms look more like numeral 7s.
Reinforced into the buttresses and rising several feet above the walkway, the hangars contain long, covered ladders and hold platforms from which the crew will build the diaphragm walls between the buttresses.
The hangars had to be specially designed to accommodate the height of the dam. A different, suspended scaffold that looks like a bench will be anchored to braces under the bottom of the hangars, allowing further access to the high areas.
It has taken about three months to build the hangars, which are made of tubular steel.
"It's hollow, lighter, but it still gives support," Welsh said.
Way down below, an immense crane is in place near the spillway, and workers are welding additional C hangars and platforms.
There will be seven hangars altogether, but they won't be used to work on the area in front of the spillway, Milani said. There isn't room at the top for C hangars.
That area will pose a huge problem to gain access to, and the contractor will have to design something different for working over the spillway. Milani said he hasn't seen that plan yet.
Don't forget the water
The company will also have to contend with water — lots of it.
The lake was about 10 feet from the top of the dam the day the E-R visited, and quite a lot of water was flowing down the spillway. The water comes from East Park Reservoir, and then travels from Stony Creek Dam to
Milani said emphatically that no one is deliberately shutting off water from the reservoir, and will not do so during the project.
When the lake drops another 15 to 20 feet, the flow will stop naturally, he said. In the fall, Shimmick will have to adjust his work to allow normal use of the spillway once water levels rise again.
The dam holds 50,000 acre-feet of water. Milani said it doesn't pose a danger to workers. For the dam's safety during construction, though, the government isn't allowing any blasting or welding on the dam, and very little percussion drilling.
The weight of the water is a factor in the safety of the dam in a high-magnitude quake. Jones said in a previous interview with the Enterprise-Record that though the diaphragm walls will tie in the buttresses, additional struts will be installed so the components won't easily separate under the load or pressure from a quake or from the water, and will prevent flexing in the sideways-shaking motion.
Concrete giant
Most of the action last month was down at the bottom edge of the structure. To get there, we had to cross the top and go down makeshift ladders to get to a steep concrete hill on the east side. It's not too bad to descend the ladders. But crossing the slope to stand at the edge of the dam is an exercise in balance. Standing safely at the edge, the view upward is awesome.
The sheer height makes one get the idea of how an ant might view the roof of a house. It's immense.
In some of the bays, greenish-colored concrete starter walls had recently been built at the bottom, between buttresses. There are 46 bays, and the buttresses are planned on 18-foot centers. Along the buttresses, metal dowels will be placed at intervals to attach the concrete diaphragm walls as they move upward from the starter walls.
It was noticeably cooler at the edge of the dam. Shadier. Milani said it's fortunate that 70 percent of the work will be done in the shade.
We made our way slowly into a tunnel that leads under the spillway and back to the other side.
In the bays of the dam's underbelly, three or four feet of murky, slimy water still has to be pumped out in order for the workers to set rebar and build frames for the starter walls. A few of the bays leaked water from the lake. Not to worry, comes a word of assurance.
"All dams leak," Milani said.
However, one bay in particular had a considerable amount of water coming down, much like from the head of a shower. Milani said they would have to check to find out where that water originated, and possibly fix it. It could have been from behind the spillway, where water flowed above us.
At another bay, rubble from rock or leftover concrete from the original construction lay at the bottom, ready to be broken up and cleared out by a small excavator, although some starter walls will be anchored to existing rock if necessary.
As we again climb upward back at the western hillside, a carpenter painstakingly scans a buttress and jots down notes indicating the location or absence of steel inside the wide concrete pillar. He and the other workers are dwarfed against the looming concrete giant. Milani said there have been a few modifications to the project design and plans since work began.
He also minimized the risks involved in working with so much water behind the dam.
"There's no more danger than working on any other structure," he said. "Working behind the water, there's none. It's non-existent."
Milani said the original design is unusual, one of the few structures of its kind in the country. It was built primarily to function as a reserve for irrigation water. He also said the design limits what can be done with the structure now.
"Every day has a different challenge," he said. Most of that challenge is in the dam's height and the spillway.
At long last we near the end of the tour, huffing and puffing our way back up the hill toward the construction trailers. It had been an exhilarating trip. As Milani looks toward the project and the future, its completion will be a milestone in the dam's history, but also in Milani's 39-year career.
"This will probably be my last job."
The project is expected to end in late 2009. #
http://www.chicoer.com/fastsearchresults/ci_6325390
KLAMATH ISSUES:
Cheney's role in fish kill probed 2002
Santa Rosa Press Democrat – 7/9/07
By Guy Kovner, staff writer
Five years after a devastating fish kill on Northern California's Klamath River, and 2,500 miles away in
"We know where the smoking gun lays," said Chris Lawson, a fisherman and president of the Bodega Bay Fisherman's Marketing Association.
While the salmon kill, the largest ever in the West, long has been attributed to Bush administration decisions, a Washington Post story last month detailed Cheney's successful effort to rewrite federal water policy for alleged political gain.
The resulting diversion of water to Klamath basin farmers and ranchers who were battling a drought lowered the river's flow and set the stage for the fish kill.
"Characteristically, Cheney left no tracks," the Post reported.
The same day the story was published, Thompson and 35 other Democrats from
"They say a fish rots from the head down," Thompson said, applying an old aphorism to the episode that left thousands of rotting salmon carcasses in the lower Klamath. In this case, he said, the head is Cheney's.
Thompson's political role in the controversy goes back to a hot day in October 2002. That's when he piled 500 pounds of odorous, dead Klamath salmon in front of the Interior Department, accusing the agency of "gross mismanagement" in the wildlife disaster.
No date has been set for the hearing, nor have any witnesses been determined, said Allyson Groff, a Natural Resources Committee staffer.
A Cheney aide dismissed the matter, saying in an e-mail that it was "disappointing the Democrats would rather investigate than legislate."
The Post stories were "a repackaging of old accusations," said Megan McGinn, a deputy press secretary.
Asked if Cheney, who has a penchant for secrecy, would appear before the committee, she said: "I'll decline to comment on hypotheticals."
Lawson, a salmon fisherman, said he hopes the hearing will underscore the White House's involvement in the fish kill, which prompted a federal declaration that the 2006 salmon season was a failure.
He said he believes the Bush administration ignored the water policy to protect Klamath fish and instead just said, "Let's open the gates and give it to the farmers."
Thompson said the reduced river flow "wasn't about salmon or water, it was about electoral votes in
The Post reported that Cheney, a few months after taking office in 2001, recognized the importance of mollifying Republican farmers in
Federal biologists had determined that Klamath fish needed more water, and Cheney secured a National Academy of Sciences report overruling that finding. Then-Interior Secretary Gale Norton flew out to
Last year, a federal judge prohibited the government from diverting Klamath water for agricultural use whenever water levels dropped beneath a certain point.
At the same time, fishermen were hit with the most restrictive salmon season on record for
Last fall, the return of 2-year-old salmon jacks to the Klamath was the second-largest run on record, a promising indicator for the 2007 migration. Biologists expect more than 500,000 adult chinooks will swim up the Klamath this fall, about five times the number from last year.
But until the season's salmon harvest is totaled, it's too soon to assess the health of the fish's ocean population, said Marc Heisdorf, a California Department of Fish and Game biologist. #
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20070709/NEWS/707090313/1033/NEWS01
Water board to continue with lawsuit; Judge rejects Casitas' appeal for state money; panel may switch tactics
By Zeke Barlow, staff writer
Casitas Municipal Water District hit another roadblock this week in its suit against the federal government, after a judge ruled against allowing an appeal that dealt with a critical part of the district's case.
However, the district's lawyer is examining a different procedural approach that could circumvent Thursday's decision, which means the lawsuit could still go to an appeals court.
Casitas claims the district should be compensated for the water it is mandated to send down a fish ladder, which was built to protect the endangered steelhead trout. The $9 million ladder goes around the Robles Diversion so that steelhead can migrate up and down the
Casitas claims that not paying for the water constitutes "a taking" under the Fifth Amendment, so, therefore, it should be reimbursed for the water.
But in March, U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge John Wiese ruled in a partial summary judgment that the government had a regulatory claim on the water, which means the government had no responsibility to pay for it.
Casitas' lawyer, Roger Marzulla, filed a motion to appeal that decision, but Wiese ruled Tuesday he would not certify the appeal. The decision was made public Thursday.
Casitas General Manager Steve Wickstrum said Marzulla is now looking to take the case directly to an appeals court with a stipulation noting Wiese's decision.
Many agree Casitas has to win the appeal on this key argument of the suit if it wants an overall victory.
John Echeverria, who filed a brief agreeing with the government on behalf of the National Resources Defense Council, said this week's decision is a major blow to Casitas.
"The case seems to be all but over," he said.
So far the district has spent about $500,000 on the case. Deliberations on whether or not to go forward have focused on how much the case will cost. But in the grand scheme of millions of dollars spent over decades, some board members say this is like a high-stakes poker game.
"The district has spent, over the last four years, close to $5 million protecting endangered species," said board member Pete Kaiser. "It would be helpful for the federal government to help us out and be cooperative and understand the burden being placed on local ratepayers." #
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/jul/07/water-board-to-continue-with-lawsuit/
WATER POLICY ISSUES:
Editorial:
Contra Costa Times – 7/8/07
"WHAT LITTLE IS LEFT of California water policy is in disarray," declared Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Santa Fe Springs, chairwoman of the water and power subcommittee of the Natural Resources Committee. Her dismaying assessment, made Monday in
In April, a state court ruled that the State Water Project should be shut down until it gets a permit to comply with the state endangered species law. The ruling is on hold pending an appeal.
In May, a federal court ruled that the federal permit that is supposed to protect Delta smelt from water pumping was illegally lax. Next month, the federal court is expected to decide how to address that problem.
Federal regulations are not as strict as the state law. Also, federal agencies may have been basing decisions on intentionally flawed science.
In the meantime, the state water pumps were shut down for nine days, and the federal pumps were cut back. Pumping has resumed, but the smelt are still being killed and face possible extinction.
How much pumping and when will be determined not by state and federal water agencies, but by the courts.
That is hardly the way to operate the nation's largest water-transfer system and one that is essential to the economic well-being of
Clearly, the time is approaching when
Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, who spoke at the
He said, "Perhaps it is time to consider that not all water is equal in
Miller also suggested that water subsidy policies could be changed, or perhaps the federal government might not renew long-term water contracts from the Central Valley Project.
When farmers receive highly subsidized water and guaranteed low rates for many years, there is little incentive for conservation or to plant crops that do not require huge volumes of water.
Cutting back on agriculture could be the quickest and most cost-effective way out of the state's water problems, but it is likely to stir political controversy and litigation.
More conservation, especially in agriculture, can also help, but it will not be enough to meet all of the state's needs in the long run as the population increases by a half-million people a year.
The alternative to reducing agriculture to ensure adequate water supplies is to increase water storage above and below ground, and eventually to use desalination on a large scale. But all of these actions are costly and controversial.
In other words, there is no easy way to make sure Californians have enough water and a protected Delta environment in the future.
However difficult it may be to chart a course for the state's long-term water policy, it ought to be done by elected representatives and water agencies acting in the best interest of the public. It should not be left to the courts.
That means water agencies need to follow the law or legislative bodies need to change it in such a way that environmental protections are not ignored and water supplies are ensured. #
http://www.contracostatimes.com/search/ci_6327261
RATE HIKE:
Water rate hike request in pipes; Marysville users may have to pay nearly $6 more
Marysville Appeal Democrat – 7/7/07
By Andrea Koskey, staff writer
Marysville residents could be paying nearly as much as $6 more per month for water if the state approves a water rate hike request.
Citing the need to increase rates to offset regulatory and employee benefits’ costs, California Water Service Co. filed a request with the California Public Utilities Commission last week to increase water rates as soon as July 2008.
The last rate increase was approved and implemented in 2005, said District Manager Lee Seidel. He emphasized this proposed hike is not to boost company profits.
“It’s a dollar-for-dollar increase,” he said. “We already have two years of cost increases behind us. The company is not making any money off of this.”
This increase is intended to pay for a more centralized service, including quality engineering; water conservation measures; and a more back-flow prevention, as well as the salaries and benefits for employees who implement these projects, Seidel said.
“(Health-care plans) haven’t changed, but costs have skyrocketed,” Seidel said.
The 2005 increase raised rates to the current charge of $33.07 per month for flat rate customers and $10.30 per month, with an additional $0.83 per month for every 748 gallons consumed for metered customers.
Flat rate indicates a fixed price regardless of usage, while meter users are billed based on water consumption each month.
If the PUC approves the hike, Marysville residents could see an increase of as much as $5.84 each month for flat rate users and about $4.30 for meter users. That means household customers could pay as much as $40 each month for water.
The following year the increases would continue, with Cal Water proposing three cents a day be added to water users’ bills in 2009.
“It does depend on the amount of consumption for the meters,” Seidel said. “But most Marysville residents are flat rate users.”
Seidel said the PUC does not always grant the requested increase.
“It’s almost always lower,” he said, “something the consumer likes to hear. Prices are continuing to go up, so we will likely request more in 2009 to recover costs.”
Before this can happen, however, the water service company and the PUC will review the application, analyze market increases and available water and hold public hearings.
“Water is a big issue,” said Susan Carothers, a PUC information officer. “People don’t think they have a voice (in this process), but they do. The administrative law judge and the commissioner look at all of the public input when making a decision. It’s a very interesting process.”
Public input hearings have not yet been scheduled for this application.
Cal Water requests rate increases on a three-year cycle, according to Seidel. That company is up for another request in 2009.
“The commission is reviewing one application or another from Cal Water all the time, so we’re trying to streamline the process,” Seidel said. “We have districts from
Cal Water, a subsidiary of San Jose-based California Water Service Group, serves about 460,900 customers in
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