Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 12, 2007
5. Agencies, Programs, People
LEVEE ISSUES:
S.J. levees called unfit; Homeowners, developments may be hit hard - Stockton Record
FLOOD CONTROL:
Editorial: Floods and farming; Sacramento River needs urban, rural strategy - Sacramento
SANTA CLARA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT:
Water district director named high-paid adviser; District CEO Stan Williams and former board member Greg Zlotnick defend decision as best for the district -
Deadline looms for final version of AV water plan - Antelope Valley Press
LEVEE ISSUES:
S.J. levees called unfit; Homeowners, developments may be hit hard
By Greg Kane, staff writer
The state flood-control agency doesn't think levees running along the San Joaquin River between Weston Ranch and Lathrop are fit to provide 100-year flood protection - a belief that could curb area development and force nearby homeowners to purchase flood insurance.
California Department of Water Resources Deputy Director Leslie Harder said in a recent letter that the levees are vulnerable to water seeping through their walls, a process known as underseepage. As a result, the state refused to sign an agreement that would give the reclamation district maintaining the levees a two-year window to prove they meet federal flood-protection standards.
The denial throws a new wrinkle into a plan federal officials hoped would keep thousands of
"It may become a poster child for a larger problem," said Steve Winkler, the county's deputy public works director.
The extension was offered earlier this year by FEMA, which is updating flood maps across the nation. Many county levees that FEMA doesn't expect to meet 100-year flood protection requirements before the draft maps are released in October can apply for a two-year "partial accreditation," allowing more time to prove their worth.
Levees that don't meet FEMA's requirements and aren't awarded partial accreditation will be erased from the new flood maps, forcing many homeowners who live behind them to purchase flood insurance, which typically costs $400 a year for every $100,000 worth of coverage. FEMA also provides flood insurance.
The levees the DWR refused to support protect mostly farmland. But Ricardo Pineda, a supervising engineer with the state agency, said Wednesday that a break along one of those stretches would likely threaten homes in nearby Weston Ranch and Lathrop.
Levee officials challenge those assertions. Dante Nomellini, an attorney who represents the district, said recently the levees passed federal standards in the 1990s, and those standards have not changed since.
Underseepage is a common problem levees always have and always will face, Nomellini said. "Boils and seepage are not unknown to levees. They've been a product of levees since there have been levees," he said.
It's not clear whether the DWR's refusal will affect the district's extension. FEMA spokesman Frank Mansell said Wednesday there are meetings being held with state and local officials about how to proceed. Applications for extensions aren't due until the end of August.
There are already worries in Lathrop about how decertification would affect development. Richland Planned Communities, a developer working on a 6,800-home community in Lathrop, has raised concerns about the remapping effort, and the
Decertification of those levees also would likely force homeowners with federally backed mortgages in Weston Ranch and areas of Lathrop to purchase flood insurance, Pineda said.
The combined loss of planned development and mandatory insurance for residents would not be easy to swallow for the community, county Supervisor Steve Gutierrez said.
"It could be devastating," he said. #
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/A_NEWS/707120332
FLOOD CONTROL:
Editorial: Floods and farming; Sacramento River needs urban, rural strategy
Sacramento
When the
Time was when the river at flood stage sprawled throughout the Valley, creating something that looked more like a sea. Levees now line the river and for the most part contain it. Yet the
This happens despite the best of intentions and considerable work to strengthen levees and direct the huge flows into various bypasses along the way. But it's reality.
Urban areas like
It certainly seems fair. Yet this would formalize something about flood control that understandably makes some rural landowners uncomfortable.
This is an important conversation to have between the rural and urban leaders of the
But the
"The best flood protection," Matsui said in a recent interview, "is more farming." Farming in traditional flood basins will continue to maintain an important flexibility in a flood control system. When a farm floods during a huge storm, the lands retain and absorb waters that otherwise would flow downstream. Urbanizing these areas and fortifying subdivisions behind new levees would have the effect of sending a lot more water downstream during high river flows.
So if farming is an essential part of the overall system, shouldn't its role be identified and the farmers be rewarded? Of course.
But making that a reality is as tough a diplomatic assignment as there is in regional politics.
Matsui's efforts don't yet have the support of Rep. Wally Herger, the Republican from
She should continue those efforts, but a federal source of funds for these local farmers is only one possible solution. Another is for urban areas within the
It's important to realize that the flooding of farmland in a big storm isn't new. What's new is providing a steady form of funding for the farmers. Coming up with a system that is appropriate and fair is challenging, and it may take a while, but it is precisely what needs to be done. #
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/268221.html
SANTA CLARA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT:
Water district director named high-paid adviser; District CEO Stan Williams and former board member Greg Zlotnick defend decision as best for the district
By Becky Trout, staff writer
On Tuesday, Greg Zlotnick was a board member of the Santa Clara Valley Water District making about $230 per meeting. Today he is special counsel to the CEO Stan Williams at a salary of about $184,000 a year.
The newly created position was not publicized and the other six board members of the district, which delivers water and flood control services for most of
"If that were done here in Palo Alto, where a council member were hired for an unposted, newly defined job and nobody knew the job was being headhunted for, I'd be terribly unhappy," Councilman Bern Beecham said Wednesday.
Beecham isn't the only one who smells something fishy.
The water district's board is now discussing "revolving door" legislation that would prohibit the immediate hiring of directors.
Both Zlotnick and Williams, who hired him, are being roundly blasted by the media, district critics and open-government advocates for the move.
But neither regrets the choice and both were eager to explain to the Weekly why the hire is good not only for Zlotnick's bank account but also for the district and its residents.
The water district supplies most of
Zlotnick, a
"I did not know this was coming," Zlotnick said. But he gives Williams credit for recognizing the need for the position.
"What people think is somehow this was a nefarious action," Zlotnick said. "The way I look at this, the fact that the water district has a board member able to fill this position … is fortuitous."
The Sacramento-San Joaguin Delta, the source of half the district's water, is facing a crisis, both Zlotnick and Williams said. The recent decision to switch off the pumps that carry drinking and irrigation water to save the imperiled Delta smelt, a small fish, is one indication of the Delta's troubles, Zlotnick said.
Zlotnick has experience with CalFed -- the massive state and federal Delta project and as a water advisor for the California Department of Fish and Game.
He is an attorney versed in
No one was better to protect the district's interests in the Delta, Williams said. The urgency of the situation was complicated by the dry winter and the push by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to resolve
"Everybody is ramping up their efforts to try to participate in what's going on. Something's going to have to change. The Delta is environmentally crashing now and there has to be some solution," Williams said.
Zlotnick said the new position -- which is new but was created using money already budgeted for salaries -- will involve Delta negotiations, leading the district as it adapts to climate change and developing a replacement flood control funding source when Measure B, passed in 2000, expires in 2016.
The hire was within Williams' authority as CEO, he said. He has control of 33 positions that are not represented by unions or bargaining units.
Williams said Zlotnick will not be the first person to move between the district's board and staff. Joe Pandit was a staff member who served on the board and then was rehired, Williams said.
Zlotnick's hire is "unique," however, Williams said.
Zlotnick was already representing the district in the Delta and state, but more was needed, Williams said.
Rather than realizing he needed another staffer, Williams said the need was for Zlotnick to work full time.
"The question was how do I get him to do that."
"He's our best, the best person this county can have represent us in these discussions," Williams said.
He acknowledged the district's attorney advised him to conduct an open, competitive recruitment.
Williams said he needed someone familiar with
"I could have written it out and gone out but it wouldn't have been a very fair process. There are so few people (to meet the qualifications) it would be really misleading."
"Then the question is, why do it? To tell people you did it. I think that's a weak response. It sounds better, but … who are you kidding and how much taxpayer money did you waste going through a process?"
Williams said he agrees that in general, a government agency shouldn't hire its political leaders and calls the criticism "just."
"When I made the decision, I was looking at our specific interest. I wasn't looking at making it a model," Williams said. "It could be misused."
Williams said he didn't notify the board earlier because having a board involved in hiring one of its members would be a "really dangerous thing."
Zlotnick said he's devoted most of the last 10 years to the water district doing nearly the same work he will now receive a salary for. To make that possible, his parents helped pay for some of his expenses.
"I've been fortunate," Zlotnick said.
He worked for a few law firms, but could only advise those who didn't do business with the water district.
"It was very difficult for me to find work that wasn't a conflict," he said.
Wednesday, one day before he technically started his new job, Zlotnick was already on the road to
Zlotnick said he plans to remain involved in the San Francisquito Creek flood-control process as well, although he will no longer serve on the board of the Joint Powers Agency.
Beecham urged the board to consider the "propriety" of its action and pay attention to the advice it receives from its attorney.
The district is accepting applications for Zlotnick's vacated position. Applicants can live in
The board will select the next director, who will serve until Dec. 31, 2008. #
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=5426
Deadline looms for final version of AV water plan
By James Rufus Koren, staff writer
LOS ANGELES - Grant applications and a final version of an
The county's Waterworks District 40 has been putting off developing the Antelope Valley Integrated Water Management Plan, hoping to get grant money from the California Department of Water Resources and the State Water Resources Control Board.
"That means we have to do additional work to get the (water plan) done on time," said Melinda Barrett, a spokeswoman for the county Department of Public Works and the Waterworks Districts.
The board's decision Tuesday extends the county's contract with Kennedy/Jenks Consultants, a firm that has been involved since October in the water management plan's creation.
The original contract, approved in October, was for $325,000. The new contract, which will last until June, is for $450,000.
Kennedy/Jenks will help finish the water management plan and prepare grant applications. The county is seeking approximately $25 million in funding for plan projects.
The plan, a draft of which was released in May 2006, eventually will combine efforts and resources from area water purveyors, cities, the county and other agencies for the purpose of working on major water projects. In 2002, the state set aside $380 million in grants for projects related to such plans.
The Waterworks Districts had a public meeting Tuesday in Palmdale to hear public comments on the proposed plan and will conduct another meeting at 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 18 at the Rosamond Community Services District offices,
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