Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 17, 2007
5. Agencies, Programs, People
WEST SACRAMENTO LEVEE TAX:
W. Sac voters approve flood fee; Property owners tax themselves to raise $42 million for levees - Sacramento
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Court dismisses third action filed against canal - Imperial Valley Press
LEVEE ISSUES:
An end to levee burning?; Study suggests vegetation may help during floods - Marysville Appeal Democrat
CASTAIC LAKE WATER AGENCY:
Water Concerns Keeping Annexing at Bay - Santa Clarita Signal
FEE INCREASE:
Water prices primed to rise?; Stockton company puts in application for 29 percent boost - Stockton Record
WEST SACRAMENTO LEVEE TAX:
W. Sac voters approve flood fee; Property owners tax themselves to raise $42 million for levees
Sacramento
By Deb Kollars, staff writer
Joining their neighbors on the other side of the Sacramento River, property owners in
The final tally -- 70 percent in favor -- came as welcome news Monday afternoon for the
"This is a historic and joyous day for us," said City Councilman Bill Kristoff, who serves on the West Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, which sponsored the assessment bid.
The measure's passage also marked the latest step for the
In April,
Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, praised the twin efforts to the east and west of the Sacramento River, saying it is essential for local leaders to work together and simultaneously to bring more flood protection to the region.
"Good for them," Wolk said of the
The
Dan Ramos, one of the largest property owners in the city, said Monday he supported the measure, even if he'll pay among the single-highest fees. His Ramco Enterprises would pay between $85,000 and $135,000 a year in assessments, he said.
"The economics are going to be very, very difficult, but it is the right thing to do," Ramos said.
The work will be done on levees along the Sacramento River and
Recent geotechnical studies show the region likely does not have even 100-year protection -- the federal government's minimum safety standard.
At a special meeting Monday to announce the vote tally, West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon said the city is acting to protect not only itself but the entire region.
West Sacramento is home to state offices, such as the California Highway Patrol, the
"We can't wait on the federal government," Cabaldon said.
During the
Thirty-nine percent of the mail ballots were returned during the 45-day voting period.
There was concern among
The next step will be to get the assessments on the county tax roll this December. Once officials identify the weakest sections in the network of levees around
Warren Smith, executive vice president of the Sacramento River Cats baseball team, said "we learned what can happen," in a flood crisis like Hurricane Katrina.
"And West Sacramento is a small city with fewer tools than the city of
"Now we can rest assured that we are going to get the levee work done," Ali said. #
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/276285.html
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Court dismisses third action filed against canal
By Darren Simon, staff writer
As work has begun on building a cement-lined
The ruling has left the group called Protect Our Water and Environmental Rights wondering where its case can be heard as both the state and federal courts have now said they have no jurisdiction over the matter.
“I guess you can’t get it heard,” said local farmer Jim Abatti, brother of IID Director Mike Abatti, and a member of POWER.
Mike Abatti himself was associated with POWER for its first lawsuit against the canal project but, Mike Abatti has said, he has not been a part of other cases POWER has filed.
The first case POWER filed at the state level was dismissed more than a year ago. A federal case also was dismissed earlier.
Last week a San Francisco Superior Court judge dismissed the third POWER canal lawsuit, IID officials said Monday.
District officials said the San Francisco Superior Court declared it did not have jurisdiction over the case since the canal lining is a federal project.
“This is another attempted roadblock behind us,” IID Director John Pierre Menvielle said.
Jim Abatti said he is surprised to hear the state court say it does not have jurisdiction.
POWER already has an appeal of the earlier federal case it brought against the canal project where a judge declared that court did not have jurisdiction.
“You are supposed to have a fair trial, but we are not getting that,” he said.
Now, Jim Abatti said, his organization has to consider whether to appeal the state ruling. It already is appealing the federal dismissal, he said.
POWER has fought the canal project, claiming IID has not followed environmental processes and is endangering the lives of those who may enter the canal — namely illegal immigrants — by the way in which it is to be built.
POWER has argued the district removed plans to build ridges in the new canal. Those ridges, POWER argued, were part of an earlier design and should not have been removed as they were important safety mitigations.
“You have to build it right, not cheap,” Jim Abatti said.
IID officials have said the ridges would not be structurally sound and they have argued the canal project does provide adequate safety mitigations.
District officials say it is time for the project to move ahead.
“We are moving forward,” Menvielle said. “The canal is being built. There is nothing that is going to be able to stop this project.”
The canal lining project, set to cost more than $200 million and to be paid by the state and the San Diego County Water Authority, has been a key project in the eyes of IID officials to conserve water.
More than 67,000 acre-feet of water per year seeps through the earthen canal into
Saving that water is critical, IID officials have said, in a time when the district is having to survive on less water and is under contractual mandate to transfer water to other agencies in the state.
The conserved water will aid the district, specifically, in its water transfer pact with the SDCWA, a key reason why that agency is funding the project. #
http://www.ivpressonline.com/articles/2007/07/17/news/news03.txt
LEVEE ISSUES:
An end to levee burning?; Study suggests vegetation may help during floods
Marysville Appeal Democrat – 7/16/07
By Appeal-Democrat and wire service reports
Researchers studying plant behavior during floods have found that shrubs may actually protect levee soil from erosion.
In February, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers instructed 32 flood-control districts in
The city of
Marysville was included because of an overgrown section on the side of a spur levee that runs outside of the city from
Marysville Levee Commissioner Pat Ajuria didn’t want to comment on the study because he hasn’t seen it. But he said that Marysville keeps its levees cleared to avoid having trees that could pull out when the levee is saturated, damaging the levee.
While there are beneficial grasses, the bigger plants can make maintenance difficult and hide burrowing rodents, he said.
“I would say from my standpoint, no trees or vegetation is a good thing,” said Ajuria.
Ajuria said the district is not responsible for the brush on the side of the spur levee, and is working with the state to get it cleared.
The Corps says vegetation can make levee inspections difficult and that tree roots sometimes destabilize levees.
The UC Davis team used giant pumps to move water across a field of willow shrubs anchored underwater. Sensors and cameras showed willows flattened against the ground as water flows were increased. The bent shrubs protected the soil and created a bottom layer of slow water where young Chinook salmon could seek refuge.
Meegan Nagy, emergency manager for the Sacramento District of the Corps of Engineers, said the agency plans to finalize vegetation rules within the next few months.
“The best solution is the one that protects public safety while also preserving natural resources,” Nagy said. #
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/levee_51259___article.html/vegetation_levees.html
CASTAIC LAKE WATER AGENCY:
Water Concerns Keeping Annexing at Bay
Santa Clarita Signal – 7/17/07
By Katherine Geyer, staff writer
Although the pumps in a
The pumps that play a key role in delivering water to
Because of ongoing litigation concerning the permits for pumping in the delta, the state will go about getting the appropriate "take permits" over the next year.
"Until the state has obtained its take permit and we know if there's any mitigation requirements that impact the state water deliveries on a long-term basis ... we're deferring the requests," said Dan Masnada, CLWA's general manager. "It's a temporary deferral. There's no more to it than that."
The CLWA had acquired 3.6 billion gallons to secure enough water for upcoming annexations into their service area, but the agency may instead reserve that water for those in their existing service area, which includes most of the Santa Clarita Valley.
"Once they have that take permit, we'll know if there's going to be impacts on our state water supply and if there are, then we would be talking to the board about reserving part of that (3.6 billion gallons) for use in the existing service area to maintain the overall reliability," he said. "But my expectation is that even if there is, more than likely, we'll have enough to meet the needs of the current annexing parties." #
http://www.the-signal.com/?module=displaystory&story_id=49613&format=html
FEE INCREASE:
Water prices primed to rise?;
By Reed Fujii, staff writer
STOCKTON - The water company that serves about 172,600 Stocktonians, generally those who live and work south of the Calaveras River, is seeking a 29 percent rate increase.
If California Water Service Co.'s request is granted, the average residential water bill could rise by $13.61 a month to $47.44 over the next three years.
Few would welcome higher water bills.
Certainly not Gary Alegre, president of Tanker Wash USA, a
"You know what we do: We pass it right on," Alegre said of possible cost increases. "We run on such tight margins that any increase like that would be devastating to this business if we could not pass that cost on."
Ultimately, he said, consumers who pay for foods carried by trucks will absorb the water bills.
Cal Water officials said the proposed increases reflect higher costs of doing business, adding water-treatment systems, replacing aging water mains and extending services such as staffing an around-the-clock consumer telephone center.
"It is really customer-service-related activity, water quality and water reliability," said Stan Ferraro, Cal Water vice president.
Officials also noted that the company has a low-income rate-assistance program to help customers who have trouble making ends meet.
If approved, the first increase which would add about $9.81 a month to the average residential bill, currently $33.83, would go into effect July 1, 2008. Two smaller increases, about $1.90 a month each, would be applied in 2009 and 2010.
A comparable average water bill for customer served by
The previous round of rate increases pushed Cal Water rates up roughly 25 percent over the past three years.
San Jose-based Cal Water will begin circulating fliers this week in customers' bills explaining the proposed rate increase and reasons behind the application.
Those factors include plans to replace about 51,100 feet of water mains, about 10 percent of the entire
Many of those lines are 50 to 100 years old, noted Bob Foy, Cal Water board chairman and a
"It's just the nature of the beast that we have here," he said.
Other system upgrades include new water-treatment facilities, a new well, pump-station improvements, and other maintenance and support. Plans also call for more-comprehensive flushing to remove sediment from main lines and improved systems to prevent backflow from commercial users into company lines.
The rates are expected to cover higher costs, such as payroll and employee benefits, taxes, transportation and fuels.
In addition, the company hopes to launch an after-hours call center to field consumer inquiries around the clock and institute more programs to encourage conservation.
Cal Water might not get all it's seeking.
In its last application, it sought a nearly 29 percent increase in 2005, followed by roughly 6 percent bumps in 2006 and 2007.
The California Public Utilities Commission cut the 2005 increase to 14.45 percent, largely by deleting plans for a new water-treatment plant, and held 2006 and 2007 raises to about 5 percent and 4 percent, respectively.
Still, Ferraro noted, "I would be surprised if we didn't get close to our request."
The process of reviewing the Cal Water application, filed this month, will take about a year. The CPUC's Division of Ratepayer Advocates, an independent arm that represents consumers, is expected to issue its recommendations late this year. An administrative law judge will hold public hearings in January or February, then issue a proposed decision in the spring. That must acted upon by the five-member CPUC before the rate change can take effect. #
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