[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 7/11/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

July 11, 2007

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People

 

RUSSIAN RIVER PLANNING:

Critics question scale of Russian River plan; Proposal to route recycled wastewater to Forestville said to be too big - Santa Rosa Press Democrat

 

CENTRAL VALLEY PROP 50 FUNDS:

Riverfront parks embrace cash flow; Yolo County is the region's big recipient as funds from 2002's Prop. 50 are distributed for various projects; West Sacramento's River Walk is to be extended, with habitat restored - Sacramento Bee

 

 

RUSSIAN RIVER PLANNING:

Critics question scale of Russian River plan; Proposal to route recycled wastewater to Forestville said to be too big

Santa Rosa Press Democrat – 7/11/07

By Bleys W. Rose, staff writer

 

The Sonoma County Water Agency's plans to pipe recycled and treated wastewater from Russian River communities to Forestville agriculture are in hot water with residents who question the scale of the project.

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It's "a 10-gallon solution to a 2-pint problem," said Green Valley Road resident Sally Hiebert, one of a dozen critics who spoke at a hearing Tuesday on the reuse plan. "I don't know how this big a project will be needed to help Forestville."

West county Supervisor Mike Reilly also chimed in to question the scale of the project.

"It is hard for me to believe that we will need that much pipeline to dealt with the problem in this community," Reilly said. "I would like to see a close-in solution."

The problem revolves around sewage from 3,300 homes in river communities stretching from Monte Rio to Guerneville to Rio Nido that has nowhere to go except into the Russian River. That's OK in winter months, but the North Coast Water Quality Control Board prohibits dumping of reclaimed wastewater into the river in the summer because of the 1996 release of 200,000 gallons from the Santa Rosa treatment plant, which fouled the waters.

Currently, the Water Agency unloads its treated wastewater onto 79 acres of nearby properties, but those lands become saturated during the rainy season. So the agency is looking for about 90 acres elsewhere to irrigate, or about 1,200 to 1,600 acres of vineyards.

Water Agency officials said the goal is solve the sewage disposal problem for the Russian River community and to provide landowners with a supply that doesn't rely on underground or surface water.

Water Agency engineer Damien O'Bid told supervisors that his study identified 217 land parcels in the Forestville and Green Valley areas that could take treated wastewater and that 26 landowners indicate interest in the project.

"Once we get firm commitments from end users, we would come to the board" for construction approval, O'Bid said.

Water Agency official William Keene conceded the agency was taking "a more aggressive approach" by proposing a large project because it wanted the board to consider a full range of options.

One plan calls for 12 miles of pipeline along River Road from the the Russian River treatment plant to northern Forestville. The other calls for 20 miles of pipeline along Green Valley Road to southern Forestville.

Bill Hearn, supervisor in the National Marine Fisheries Service office in Santa Rosa, said the project could benefit rejuvenation of coho salmon in Green Valley Creek, which he described as "the last of the last refuges" for the endangered fish.

But Brenda Adelman of the Russian River Watershed Protection Committee, said the Water Agency's draft environmental review failed to support its contention that the problem needs to be resolved with a large project.

"If we don't know who our wastewater users are, how do you know who will hook up with it?" she asked.

Several other Russian River residents said they worried that their sewage rates, already among the highest in California, would go up even more. The environmental review does not detail project costs.

Two of the declared candidates for the west county seat being vacated by Reilly, Maddy Hirshfield and Jim Maresca, said they also opposed the project as too big and called for it to be postponed.

Hirshfield, who lives in Forestville and is Assemblywoman Patty Berg's district representative, said a project proposing use of recycled wastewater "is great, but this one doesn't look at gray water use," referring to water that comes from laundry, bathtubs, showers and showers.

Jim Maresca, a retired technology company executive from Guerneville, criticized the county's plan for not exploring alternatives such as acreage nearby the treatment plant that is for sale, or nearby forestland and Korbel vineyard property that can be irrigated.

The Water Agency is taking public comment on the proposal until July 20 and supervisors are likely to vote on the project in October.

http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20070711/NEWS/707110400/1033/NEWS01

 

 

CENTRAL VALLEY PROP 50 FUNDS:

Riverfront parks embrace cash flow; Yolo County is the region's big recipient as funds from 2002's Prop. 50 are distributed for various projects; West Sacramento's River Walk is to be extended, with habitat restored

Sacramento Bee – 7/11/07

By Lakiesha McGhee, staff writer

 

Al Calvart is the eyes and ears for Elkhorn Regional Park, a 55- acre oasis along the Sacramento River, tucked off Interstate 5 in Yolo County.

 

The volunteer live-in park host keeps an eye on the few picnic tables and the boat ramp -- the park's main attraction.

 

On Tuesday, Calvart sat outside the mobile home overlooking the park where he stays rent-free.

 

"Listen," he said. "What do you hear besides the airplanes? That's what I like, the peace and quiet."

 

More of the park's beauty is about to be open to the public, thanks to the state's voters.

 

Proposition 50, or the Water Security, Clean Drinking Water, Coastal and Beach Protection Act of 2002, specifically earmarked $100 million to restore and preserve the state's riverfronts.

 

The $32.7 million granted to 35 river parkway projects in June was the second round in the three-year giveaway for river parkways, said Bryan Cash, deputy assistant secretary with the state Resources Agency.

 

River projects proposed for Yolo County hauled in the region's largest share -- $2.8 million for county parks and West Sacramento's river walkway.

 

A state grant of $427,000 for the Yolo County Planning Resources and Public Works Department will carve a 700-foot trail at Elkhorn Regional Park. The new trail will meander through a lush forest of wild vines and cottonwood trees. Additional picnic tables will be installed and wildlife habitat improved.

 

Other projects along the American and Sacramento rivers in the Sacramento region garnered another $2 million, including one proposal to convert asphalt back to grass along the American River.

 

Generally, the Proposition 50 projects must be used to create parkways, protect habitat, provide recreation or bolster flood protection. The money this year will preserve nearly 2,000 acres and build or restore 60 miles of trails.

 

The projects that received grants include diverse settings -- from the small Sierra town of Portola, where money will demolish shacks and restore the banks of the Feather River, to a park along the Los Angeles River in downtown Los Angeles, Cash said.

 

Voters have shown continued generosity at the polls by approving $15.5 billion in bonds since 2000, Cash said.

 

After the Proposition 50 money runs out, Proposition 84, also approved by voters last November, will continue river parkway improvements with another $72 million, Cash said.

 

The three Yolo County parks that will benefit from $1.1 million in grants haven't seen upgrades for several years, said Scott Lines, principal park planner for the county's Parks and Natural Resources Management Division.

 

"The grants are focused on trail and habitat restoration, so it will help make the sites really nice," Lines said.

 

West Sacramento will receive $1.7 million for the River Walk, a popular wedding site in a four-acre park rimming the Sacramento River. The money will extend the park another 210 feet south of the Tower Bridge and restore habitat.

 

The riverfront development, including the park, is key to revitalizing the whole city, said Bob Johnston, city parks and recreation director.

 

"It's a pretty nice award," he said.

 

The American River Conservancy will receive $1.7 million to buy 56 acres on the south fork of the American River, said Alan Ehrgott, the conservancy's executive director.

 

The land will offer a trail corridor and a new park site along the river, he said. One of the properties is densely developed and will revert from an asphalt parking lot back to its natural state, Ehrgott said.

 

Buying land along California rivers is not always an affordable proposition, he said.

 

"California land values, particularly along rivers, have just skyrocketed," he said. #

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/266856.html

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