A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
August 29, 2007
2. Supply
Supervisors ask for drought aid - Redding Record Searchlight
Editorial: Water shortage is in splashing distance of lake -
Water usage down 18.4%, beating state mandate - Santa Rosa Press Democrat
URBAN PLANNING ISSUES:
General Plan sparks water dispute; Well owners, environmentalists at odds during hearing on county's master planning document - Santa Rosa Press Democrat
WATER CONSERVATION:
Citizens asked to reduce water use as Lower Lake faces shortage - Lake County Record Bee
DELTA ISSUES:
Fresno court weighs the future of fish and farms - California Farm Bureau Federation
8/28/07 - Supply
Guest Column: Saving water now a critical issue -
Guest Column: Demonizing farm is wrong 'green' approach - Tracy Press
Supervisors ask for drought aid
Redding Record Searchlight – 8/29/07
By Tim Hearden, staff writer
The Board of Supervisors sought to help cattle ranchers -- particularly in the county's northeastern areas -- that have seen their forage yields drop by as much as 70 percent.
A disaster declaration by U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns would make local ranchers eligible for low-interest loans, reimbursements for supplemental feed and water, and other programs approved by Congress.
"Our cattle industry is the single-largest agriculture industry in
The request will be sent to the state Office of Emergency Services, which will likely forward it to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to make the request. From there, it would go to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's state Farm Service Agency for a review of the damage suffered by the local ag industry, said Larry Plumb, a state conservation loan specialist with the agency.
A disaster declaration usually takes 20 to 30 days to implement, and
"The entire state of
Johanns declared a disaster in
The best thing for
In
http://www.redding.com/news/2007/aug/29/supervisors-ask-for-drought-aid/
Editorial: Water shortage is in splashing distance of lake
Redding Record Searchlight – 8/29/07
Our view: Poor water quality and potential federal help to cut residents’ costs are two good arguments in favor of expanding
Living two miles from
But without a pipe connecting them to nearby
They endure seasonally dry wells. They haul water up to their houses by truck. And even when the wells are pumping, much of the water doesn't meet state water-quality standards.
Recent tests have found high levels of coliform bacteria in neighborhood wells, as well as manganese, iron and arsenic. The naturally high mineral content of the groundwater isn't new or particularly toxic. The water might not look or taste great, but it poses little if any health hazard.
Still, the poor water quality is one more argument in favor of hooking up the neighborhood to a public supply. The top candidate is the nearby
The steep cost of that connection -- more than $50,000 per house, according to estimates by
Substantial grants and low-cost loans from the state and federal governments can help pay for upgrades to rural water systems. They especially aim to help low-income areas where water quality is a problem.
That money could cover up to three-fourths of residents' cost, making a water hookup much more affordable -- especially compared with the costs of well maintenance, softeners and periodic trips to the water tank. And a reliable water supply will boost home values, perhaps more than offsetting the cost residents do bear.
The county is polling homeowners to gauge interest in forming an assessment district to sell bonds and connect to
http://www.redding.com/news/2007/aug/29/water-shortage/
Water usage down 18.4%, beating state mandate
Santa Rosa Press Democrat – 8/28/07
By Bob Norberg, staff writer
Nearing the midway point in a mandatory conservation program,
"We are at a good spot right now and it feels good to be halfway through the term of the order," said Pam Jeane, the Sonoma County Water Agency's deputy director of operations.
Since July 1, the agency has drawn 18.4 percent less water from the river than it did during a comparable period in 2004, exceeding a state requirement to reduce
Wednesday is the halfway point for the order, which runs through Oct. 28.
The weekly progress report issued Monday comes as
"I don't know I would go so far as to say it is a heat wave, but we are expecting temperatures to warm over the next few days," said Bob Benjamin, a National Weather Service forecaster. "We'll get into the 90s the next few days, a bit above normal."
Benjamin said the warming trend will begin today and last through Thursday, with a high pressure system keeping offshore winds from blowing in cooler ocean air.
Jeane said, however, that August and September 2004 also had some hot spells, so she isn't too concerned about a big change in water saving numbers.
The amount of water use also seems to have plateaued, Jeane said.
"I have been looking at demand and it doesn't seem to be dropping any more. It seems to have leveled off," Jeane said. "People have gotten into the groove, but it is easy to get complacent and forget what we are doing and why we are doing it."
The state Water Resources Control Board ordered the cutback to save water in
The water agency, in turn, ordered its customers to implement conservation measures.
The agency's customers are cities and water districts that in turn supply water to 600,000 homes and businesses from
Many of them have tapped wells to augment supplies from the water agency so overall conservation figures don't match the drop in diversions from the
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20070828/NEWS/708280322/1033/NEWS01
URBAN PLANNING ISSUES:
General Plan sparks water dispute; Well owners, environmentalists at odds during hearing on county's master planning document
Santa Rosa Press Democrat – 8/28/07
By Bleys W. Rose, staff writer
Environmentalists calling for water management clashed with well owners warning Sonoma County to keep its measuring gauges out of their water during three hours of public hearings Monday on the 2020 General Plan.
For the first time, water appears as a general plan element that must be considered in the county blueprint for growth. And that brought out about 200 residents who attended afternoon and evening sessions on water issues.
Many of the 40 speakers during the evening hearing at the
Jim Fife, an Alton Lane resident, was among several property owners who said their wells had run dry and lamented spending thousands of dollars to drill another one 200 feet deeper.
"I am the precursor to what many county residents are going to feel,"
Officials with the county's Permit and Resource Management Department say writing specific water policy recommendations into the new general plan has been difficult because much of the authority is usurped by federal and state law.
"We have limited jurisdiction to manage ground water. We are not a provider," said Greg Carr, the county's comprehensive planning division manager. "It does not mean we are powerless, but we can't go forward and conduct ground water management planning."
Earlier in the day, supervisors heard from about a dozen well owners who were adamantly opposed to any sort of county effort to measure well water usage or levels. Last year, the issue promoted hundreds to protest at Planning Commission hearings on the updated general plan.
"We were influential in getting 300 out to a meeting last year on the well issue," said Orlean Koehle, representing the Sonoma County Land Rights Coalition. "We are happy that the Planning Commission changed that (policy recommendation). We have 40,000 names and we would be happy to alert them again."
Several in the audience of about 90 people wore "Well Owner" stickers left over from last year's battle.
A year ago, the Planning Commission rejected proposals to monitor new well permits, but retained plans to monitor industrial and commercial wells. It proposed a voluntary system for well monitoring, but that still didn't sit well with many critics who questioned the cost and the ultimate intention.
"This volunteer stuff is a way to get in and make this mandatory for all wells," scoffed one
On the other side of the political spectrum, several speakers said the time is ripe for a water management plan to be included in the general plan. Most supporters said they backed water management proposals from the Greenbelt Alliance and the Sonoma County Water Coalition, which are calling for comprehensive water supply studies.
Representatives of several environmental groups said they had labored a long time to get water included as general plan element.
"The county should step up and take on responsibility over surface and groundwater," said Keith Kaulum of the Sierra Club. "You are not going to get a lot of cooperation on well water."
However, Sandy Potter, representing the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, said the agency was "discouraged" by "weakened standards of protection" for water resources in the proposed General Plan.
Her statement that the county was "back sliding on existing requirements" prompted heckling from some in the audience. #
http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/article/20070828/NEWS/708280402/1033/NEWS01
WATER CONSERVATION:
Citizens asked to reduce water use as
By Denise Rockenstein, staff writer
"What we need immediately from the population is a 10 percent reduction in water use," said Lower Lake County Waterworks District 1 General Manager Al Tubbs. "A 15-percent reduction would be better so we don't have to go into any drastic water conservation measures."
The water district's board of directors held a special meeting on Aug. 22 during which an ordinance was passed imposing a temporary moratorium on the allowance of new service line connections as well as on the sale of water to consumers outside the district.
Below-average rainfall has resulted in a lack of ground water aquifer recharge. Full production rates of the district's wells are presently insufficient to fill the district's storage tanks and are not meeting the current demand of the district's customers. The district serves about 850 consumers.
According to Tubbs, a 10-percent reduction in water use will save approximately 50,000 gallons of water per day. To give customers an idea of what is happening with the district's water system, he explained the activity of one well. In January the well showed to be pumping 180 gallons per minute.
On Aug. 27, the same well showed to be pumping only 87 gallons per minute. "It's really kind of scary when you come right down to it. If people don't reduce, we will run out of water," he said, adding that the shortage will last until the rain falls.
California Water Code section 350 provides that the board of directors may declare a water shortage emergency condition to prevail within the area it serves when it finds and determines that the ordinary demands and requirements of water customers cannot be satisfied without depleting the water supply to such an extent that there would be insufficient water for human consumption, sanitation and fire protection. The emergency ordinance will remain in effect until the district's water supply is restored to adequate levels.
Lower Lake County Waterworks District 1 customers can expect a letter with their next monthly statement addressing the water shortage that asks for immediate water conservation by consumers. #
http://www.record-bee.com/local/ci_6746197
DELTA ISSUES:
By Kate Campbell, Assistant Editor
A trial that is currently under way in federal district court in
Because of the importance of this trial to farms throughout the
Frank Coelho, who grows a variety of crops on the West side in
Court proceedings were halted last Friday due to a participating attorney's personal emergency. The trial resumes this week before U.S. District Judge Oliver W. Wanger and is expected to last several days.
Wanger has indicated that he may rule from the bench at the conclusion of the trial, rather than waiting to issue a written opinion some weeks later, contrary to what experts had predicted.
Because the court found the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2004 biological opinion on protections for the smelt was invalid, this new trial is focusing on interim remedies to address the problem. The tiny fish, whose population is diminishing, can be drawn in with the pumped water and killed.
In addition, the State Water Project had relied on the federal biological opinion to cover its delta pumping operations. The state's operation is being questioned in state court. The delta smelt was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1993.
Compliance with the ESA is at the heart of the current federal proceeding, spawned by a lawsuit brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council, California Trout, BayKeeper and DeltaKeeper, Friends of the River and Bay Institute. These same groups filed an emergency request in March to have the species listed as endangered under the state ESA.
"Since the court has already determined the federal biological opinion is invalid, the question now is what to do about it?
Experts said whatever the court's ruling the measures it dictates will likely determine how the state's major water projects are operated well into the next crop year.
The California Farm Bureau Federation, along with
In his opening remarks last week, Wanger said it's estimated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that they may be able to get a new biological opinion completed by next August and that may control what remedies to the current inadequate biological opinion the court finds appropriate.
Wanger said that he wants to keep the scope of the remedies trial tightly focused, but "this case is far from over. Will it prevent another 34 or 35 actions from being filed? No. As in all matters concerning water, this continues to be a fluid situation."
During testimony and questioning in federal court last week, fisheries experts displayed a high degree of uncertainty about the science surrounding the delta smelt and what measures will prevent its extinction. Experts testifying for the environmental groups, however, repeatedly called for curtailing delta water pumping.
During opening remarks, Dan O'Hanlon, representing Westlands Water District, said, "This case is about a paradigm shift.
People used to say that the water pumps were the cause of the delta smelt's decline, but over time there's been growing recognition that many other factors are involved.
"We've learned that blaming the pumps is an out-dated paradigm and yet the plaintiffs insist on shutting down the pumps," O'Hanlon told the court. "Current proposals make the same assumptions. We don't believe the data supports this paradigm.
Changing the operations of the state and federal water projects is dealing with the problem of declining smelt populations on the margins."
Environmental groups have submitted recommendations they think should be adopted by the court to protect the smelt. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also has submitted a "matrix" of actions it thinks should be taken.
Wanger noted the court is faced with competing proposals based on competing science and the current trial is aimed at resolving that competition and coming up with an interim plan that will really benefit the species.
In questioning Peter Moyle,
"If you don't know how many delta smelt there are, how can you say the species is endangered?"
Moyle's response: "I have to reach conclusions based on declining indices. At some point the species will drop to extinction."
Wanger also acknowledged that the State Water Contractors have raised the question of the economic impacts of interim decisions to protect the delta smelt. He said it's clear any decision must take into account the need to provide for human health and public safety.
Wanger said the court would hear evidence on this aspect of the situation, but would continue to keep the trial focused on measures specific to preventing further jeopardy of the smelt.
Michael Wall, representing the Natural Resources Defense Council, said, "Much about the species is not known, but there are certain things we do know. The delta smelt population has declined, the delta pumps have changed operations and there is increased pumping. At the same time there has been a drastic change in habitat."
Moyle said he did not have a population estimate he considered reliable, but is "20 percent to 50 percent certain of the likelihood of delta smelt extinction in the next 20 years."
Chris Scheuring, CFBF Natural Resources and Environmental Division managing counsel, said "Our position in this trial is that the smelt population has declined because of a variety of factors, but there does not seem to be a significant relationship between that decline and the operation of the pumps.
"But, what could happen is that farmers in the
"We know the delta smelt numbers are declining, but what we don't know for sure is the cause," he said. "Part of the problem is the debate about the science. It's just not clear enough to make good decisions. Farm Bureau, along with water agencies throughout the state, realizes we must find the right solutions to this problem because too much is at stake to get it wrong."
"This trial is important--not just for Westlands Water District--but for me and my family. The operation of the delta is complex and there are many scientific disciplines that come into play. A specialist in a single discipline could not possibly make recommendations that would address the needs of the entire ecosystem." #
http://www.cfbf.com/agalert/AgAlertStory.cfm?ID=887&ck=7CE3284B743AEFDE80FFD9AEC500E085
8/28/07 - Supply
Guest Column: Saving water now a critical issue
By Wyatt Troxel, president of the Inland Empire Utilities Agency
The message we delivered at this month's San Bernardino County Water Conference was a somber one - an adequate water supply is a critical issue facing the
Our message is clear; it is time to get serious about saving water. Without rain, and without voluntary conservation efforts by all, the experts are forecasting that in the next few years we could be in for mandatory cutbacks statewide.
Over the past 10 years, the Inland Empire Utilities Agency has been shifting its vision and programs to better meet the needs of our communities to sustain our lifestyle and economic growth through better and more efficient management of our local water resources. Water conservation, capturing stormwater when it rains, and using recycled water for irrigation and other industrial uses will be key to drought-proofing our region.
When it rains, we need to capture the water and encourage it to infiltrate into the ground. We need to use recycled water whenever possible - you'll recognize where it is being used by its purple pipe. We need to develop our groundwater supplies, storing as much water as we can for future dry years. And overall, we need to do a better job of conserving the water we have.
Recognizing that water recycling is an essential component of a sustainable regional water resources management strategy for the Chino Basin, IEUA is building on its water recycling programs to continue to provide the region with an alternative water supply source to meet its industrial, landscape irrigation and groundwater recharge needs. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Congressman David Dreier have both introduced legislation that will provide critical federal support for construction of new "purple pipes" to connect parks, golf courses and schools to irrigate public landscapes.
Conservation is an important source of supply as well. Building smarter, stopping the leaks, and making sure that we use the beautiful plants that are already adapted to a dry climate ensures that we can serve more people with less water. Conservation means making every drop count.
The Inland Empire Utilities Agency applauds Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt for his leadership in organizing
http://www.dailybulletin.com/opinions/ci_6726616
Guest Column: Demonizing farm is wrong 'green' approach
Tracy Press – 8/27/07
By Steven Hoch, managing partner of the
In their understandable zeal to save the planet from itself, environmentalists might be guilty of overreach and overreaction — by viewing agricultural, and more specifically its management and practices, in the same regulatory light as pollution-causing industries.
It’s a sad turn of events.
For decades, a stalwart alliance existed between the agricultural and environmental communities. Each had a profound appreciation for the land and its resources; indeed, the agricultural community was viewed as a steward of the environment. But lately, these two groups have become strange bedfellows, each side tolerating the other. To paraphrase a classic Woody Allen joke (itself a paraphrase of a familiar Biblical passage), the lion did indeed layeth down with the lamb — but the lamb didn’t get much sleep.
And now, the lamb had better start running, because a continuing series of challenges has begun to cast agriculture as a polluter and resource abuser. It’s a situation that only growers and their extended business family can change — and must, in order to save their way of life, protect their legacy and continue to be the most productive and efficient farmers in the entire world.
The cases of National Resources Defense Fund v. Kempthorne, and Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Associations v. Gutierrez — pending in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California — will likely be pivotal decisions, affecting the amount of water available to farmers in the
How can farming manage if farmers lose half of their water? And if that is what will happen, how will it happen and for how long? In the meantime, the need to provide food at a reasonable price and the impact on a huge economic engine might be ignored in deference to a perceived environmental issue.
This is troubling. Water resources are similarly at risk in such lawsuits as California Sportsfishing Protection Alliance v. California Regional Water Quality Control Board Central Valley Region, a suit just commencing in Superior Court.
This case relates to the use of Delta water by agriculture and how it affects the Delta smelt, an undeniably threatened species.
Yet it is clear that there is an entire laundry list of factors that could be contributing to the situation — not justthe amount of water (and maybe not even that).
This is not to suggest that when it comes to the environment, the agricultural industry should get a free pass. Some of its practices should be carefully examined, evaluated and changed. But a legitimate question needs to be asked as to whether the model for that examination — the creation and enforcement of environmental requirements used for manufacturing-based resolutions — fits agriculture.
Food, unlike manufactured goods, is a requirement for existence, one that needs to be available at a reasonable price. Yet agriculture is a risk-intensive business. Profit margins are often thin and subject to market and weather fluctuations, an impact other industries are not as sensitive to.
Agriculture is also a strong part of
The agricultural community needs to be a gladiator in the regulatory arena. It needs to unite and speak up on its behalf — loudly and strongly.
They even need to be told if there is, in fact, a real problem or whether the problem is being portrayed accurately or disproportionately to its impact.
If healthy, rational debate cannot inspire reasonable solutions, the agricultural industry shouldn’t shy away from litigation.
While they’re not likely to become allies in the near future, environmentalists and growers need to agree on one basic principle:
Saving the planet and saving the family farm do not have to be mutually exclusive causes.
Steven Hoch is the managing partner of the
http://tracypress.com/content/view/10870/2244/
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