Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
August 15, 2007
5. Agencies, Programs, People
REDDING REGIONAL WATER FORUM:
North state officials say water plan lacks detail - Redding Record Searchlight
Desert water district director arrested; Authorities allege she voted on water rates that could have benefited the water-hauling company she and her husband own - Los Angeles Times
Desert official in hot water; Probe also hits secret sessions - San Bernardino Sun
INFRASTRUCTURE:
No-go for canal project; Over-budget bids turned down by YC Water Agency - Marysville Appeal Democrat
REDDING REGIONAL WATER FORUM:
North state officials say water plan lacks detail
Redding Record Searchlight – 8/15/07
By Dylan Darling, staff writer
A Tuesday morning meeting with state and governor's office officials in
It's "still light on facts," said Pat Minturn, director of Shasta County Public Works. "Today, they didn't really roll out a proposal."
The meeting at
She said the state hasn't invested in "water infrastructure," dams and canals, since 1975.
"It's time for a big investment," she said.
Money for the proposed projects, which would include Sites Reservoir about 100 miles south of Redding and Temperance Flat Reservoir near Fresno, will probably be an issue on the November 2008 ballot, said Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources.
He said such investments are needed to prevent a water problem caused by slow changes, such as increasing population and shrinking snowpack, as well as a sudden change, such as a major earthquake.
"It's kind of taking care of tomorrow," Snow said.
But the new proposals are bringing up old worries about southern farms and cities taking water from their northern counterparts if a canal is built to rush
When those in Schwarzenegger's camp talk about increased water flows around the Delta, they refer to "a canal or some form of channel conveyance," as referenced in a fact sheet about the proposal provided by the governor's office.
"I think they are trying to avoid the peripheral canal tag," said Dick Dickerson,
He said people in the north state would support such a canal only if there were guarantees that more water wouldn't be shipped south unless there are increases in storage and supply.
Among the close to 40 people at the meeting were several officials from water districts in the north state. Like Dickerson and Redding City Councilman Ken Murray, many of them left wanting to learn more about Schwarzenegger's plans.
"We need more details on it," said Thad Bettner, general manager of the Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District in Willows. #
http://www.redding.com/news/2007/aug/15/north-state-officials-say/
Desert water district director arrested; Authorities allege she voted on water rates that could have benefited the water-hauling company she and her husband own
By Maeve Reston and Sara Lin, staff writers
One of the directors of a small
The arrest of Sharon Lee Edwards capped a tumultuous year for the tiny district that operates eight wells in a 45-square-mile territory that includes the remote desert communities of
The
Several members of the board said they were unfairly targeted by one zealous
Tensions rose last fall when
Both sides said Tuesday that the allegations of corruption had poisoned relations for more than a year in the far-flung desert communities.
"It was pretty open warfare," said Deputy Dist. Atty. Frank Vanella. "I think a lot of it turned into personality conflicts."
In recent weeks, some of the same communities have been dealing with a separate shock -- a state sting operation that effectively shut down area water suppliers, including Edwards and her husband.
State health officials and the California Highway Patrol began impounding the trucks on Aug. 8, saying that they were delivering non-potable water to residents.
Vanella, the lead attorney in the public integrity unit of the district attorney's office, said there was no connection between the state sting and the office's investigation into the activities of the water agency.
Vanella said Tuesday that the water district board had violated state open-meeting laws numerous times.
Vanella filed separate charges against Edwards, who has owned Johnson Valley-based L&S Water Delivery with her husband for more than a decade, after finding that she allegedly violated the law when she voted in September 2006 to lower the water rates and then voted against a water rate hike in December 2006.
Edwards, 54, and her husband purchase water from the district's wells.
Edwards pleaded not guilty at her arraignment and will next appear in court on Aug. 23. She is charged with two felony conflict of interest violations and could face more than three years in prison, Vanella said.
Edwards on Tuesday said the allegations were untrue.
"Everybody knows my husband delivered water. Nobody cared; they wanted me on this board," she said. "I don't even care if I'm voted out. As far as I'm concerned, they can have the agency. I'm done."
Edwards' opponent on the recall ballot, Terry Burkhart, said that she felt vindicated by news of the board member's arrest and that area residents had complained about Edwards' alleged conflict of interest for at least two years.
"Something fishy's been going on here a long time," said Burkhart, 71, of
"She's kept water hauling rates artificially low," Burkhart said. "Water's a very precious commodity up here in the desert. We can't just go around picking out this person or that person for special interests."
But board member Maryan Barkley, who also faces recall, said the string of complaints to the district attorney's office about the board was "hogwash" -- the result of
"I think the charges are phony and [Edwards] should be cleared of them," she said. The third board member targeted by the recall is Mike Maline.
The district attorney's office said Tuesday that it would not pursue criminal charges against anyone else on the board.
But Vanella said the board violated the law by putting at least one misleading agenda item on a meeting notice, discussing items that were not on the agenda, closing meetings to avoid listening to comments from attendees and illegally discussing compensation and benefits for the district's general manager behind closed doors.
Vanella said his office believed the acts stemmed mostly from the board's ignorance of the law. A report by the district attorney's office directed board members to immediately seek training about their obligations under open-meeting law.
The district attorney's office did not find any wrongdoing by board members on one of the more bizarre controversies -- a closed session in which the board granted retroactive medical benefits to the district's general manager, who had died earlier that day, though Vanella said it was not certain the board knew that he had.
Harvey, who said he has lived in Johnson Valley for more than six years and restores Harley Davidson motorcycles, said his efforts to force the district attorney's office to investigate the water district stemmed from threats by at least one board member to shut down a community well more than a year ago.
The conflict escalated, he said, after he reviewed district records and determined that the board was subsidizing commercial water suppliers by overcharging residential customers in some areas.
He started a political action committee that has has helped fuel the recall.
"This water board is out of control and it's time someone did something about it," he said. "Their behavior was so egregious we had no choice." #
Desert official in hot water; Probe also hits secret sessions
By George Watson, staff writer
A
On Tuesday, the district attorney's Public Integrity Unit charged Sharon Edwards, one of the Bighorn-Desert View Water Agency's five board members, for twice voting on water rates that benefited her water hauling business, L&S Water Delivery.
Edwards was arraigned Tuesday afternoon at Joshua Tree Superior Court. Released on her own recognizance, she is due back in court on Aug. 23.
If convicted, she faces up to three years and eight months of prison, said Frank Vanella, lead prosecutor. Edwards also would lose her elective office.
"We need to decide after we talk to her and see what her attitude is," Vanella said. "We haven't even decided what to offer yet.
A lot will depend on her."
News of the investigation came as a recall of Edwards and two other board members, President Mike Maline and Maryan Barkley, continues forward. For a year, critics, led by Jim Harvey, a
Ballots for the recall have been mailed out and must be returned by Aug. 28.
"The three directors that the allegations are aimed at have been emphatically stating all along that they did nothing wrong," said
Edwards did not return a call for comment Tuesday.
In an interview this spring, Edwards denied
She claimed that water haulers paid the "identical rate that residents pay."
"I've got nothing to hide," she said during the April phone interview. "I'm just a little old lady."
But Vanella said investigators found that on Sept. 26 and Dec. 26 she voted on the rate changes.
Vanella said the water agency's problems extend far beyond Edwards. In a six-page news release, his office strongly criticized the board for repeatedly violating the Brown Act - the state's open-meeting law.
Most alleged violations focused on the board's refusal to listen to the public while improperly conducting discussions in closed sessions away from public scrutiny.
"It's one of the most disturbing cases we've had, in the sense of the failure of the board to get it," Vanella said. "Frankly, they just didn't want to hear from their critics.
"This is probably the most comprehensive review of Brown Act violations in a long time."
Board members were also faulted for repeatedly refusing to take classes on the Brown Act. The news release pointed out how a representative of Cal Aware, a public watchdog entity, warned board members that they were violating the Brown Act and offered training on the subject to them.
"The purpose of the Brown Act is for the community to be heard, even if the members of the board don't want to hear what the public has to say," the news release stated.
The Public Integrity Unit is not seeking charges for violating the Brown Act, Vanella said, because authorities would have to prove that board members intended "to deprive the public of information" that they know must be provided to the public.
A third portion of the investigation into potential improprieties by the board could not be verified, Vanella said. Critics questioned why the board revised the contract of its then-general manager, Thomas Shollenberger, about 13 hours after he had died.
The new deal gave Shollenberger and his wife a medical care package. At the time, Shollenberger was a part-time employee, but on Aug. 22, 2006, the board voted to give him a full-time package. It was an even better deal than for other full-time employees because he apparently never had to contribute his 25 percent co-pay for the coverage.
Investigators could not determine whether any board members knew Shollenberger had already died when they voted to sweeten his deal.
Vanella added that "it's a little hard to swallow" that the board did not know that their general manger was dead from throat cancer, particularly because they knew he was ill. But without any evidence, nothing could be done, he said.
The Public Integrity Unit also commended
"He did a good job," Vanella said. "His facts were right." #
http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_6625855
INFRASTRUCTURE:
No-go for canal project; Over-budget bids turned down by YC Water Agency
Marysville Appeal Democrat – 8/15/07
By Andrea Koskey, staff writer
Yuba County Water Agency directors rejected bids Tuesday for the Yuba-Wheatland Canal Project because they were as much as $10 million over estimates.
“Costs were much higher that we thought,” said General Manager Curt Aikens. “We would like to reconsider the plans and then re-bid the project to see if it is a little closer to expected projections.”
The agency’s estimate was roughly $8.5 million. Eight bids were received, ranging from $11.5 million to $18.4 million.
The project – an 11-mile system of unlined earth canals and pipelines – is designed to supply surface water to agriculture in the south county.
It was conceived nearly 50 years ago, but funding problems have plagued the project since its inception.
“This is our latest attempt at doing the project and we feel very good about it,” Aikens said. “We feel the bids that came in were in fair range. We are looking at ways to modify the bid. Now, we are going to try to find a way have it constructed affordably.”
Specific changes depend on a value engineering study, which is a process of evaluating and revising the project for efficiency to cut project costs.
Some changes were made early on in the engineering process, said agency Counsel Tom Barth, including moving the canal off to the edge of one resident’s property.
“Early on in the process, the plans split the property,” said Barth. “But the property owner asked us to move it to the edge so there was less impact on the property. It was an increase in cost, but the property owners agreed to it.”
That land acquisition also helps the agency in the process of acquiring land and proceeding to bid.
If the next round of bidding is successful, Aikens said, the canal will be completed in 2009.
Advertisement for bid is expected to begin mid-September. #
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