Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
August 16, 2007
5. Agencies, Programs, People
FEATHER RIVER LEVEE:
Levee work gets OK - Marysville Appeal Democrat
Water district won't evict Camanche Lake residents; Board votes to keep mobile home parks, recreation for long term - Inside Bay Area
Editorial: Water officials find a skeptical northern crowd -
FEATHER RIVER LEVEE:
Levee work gets OK
Marysville Appeal Democrat – 8/15/07
By Andrea Koskey, staff writer
A contract for about $8 million worth of improvements on southern portions of the Feather River levee will be awarded to Nordic Industries Inc. when money becomes available, but
Three Rivers Levee Improvement Authority directors approved the action Tuesday on a 4-1 vote.
Staff recommended that the contract “not be awarded until state Proposition 1E grant letter is received.”
“We have to be as flexible as possible,” said Executive Director Paul Brunner. “We don’t know what we are getting and what the funding letter is going to say.”
Proposition 1E is a disaster preparedness and flood prevention legislative bond passed in 2006. The money has not been distributed pending state budget approval.
Brunner said he wants to make sure there are no stipulations on the project once the letter is received.
“If, we get the letter and (this part of work) is not included, we don’t want to be liable for the money if it does not come through from the state,” Brunner said. “Once the letter comes, we will adapt accordingly.”
Directors supported the agreement with the stipulation that Nordic Industries will not be paid for work done, if money never arrives.
“I think this is necessary to do in order to protect our position,” said Chairman Richard Webb. “This is a relatively safe agreement. We don’t have the funds to commit. I think this safeguards the
Nordic was the lowest bidder for levee work on about six-mile stretch of the
Director Mary Jane Griego voted no.
“We are asked to take action to award this,” she said. “But we are already in agreement that we don’t proceed until we have funding. I don’t agree with this statement.” #
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/don_52697___article.html/letter_money.html
Water district won't evict
Inside Bay Area – 8/16/07
By Malaika Fraley, staff writer
Residents of about 200 homes around
The utility district owns the lake east of
Evicting the residents was discussed as part of the district's updating its long-term master plan for managing the area. The plan was last revamped 36 years ago.
One option considered for the new plan was to reduce public access on the land by getting rid of the mobile home parks and recreation opportunities on the lake, such as camping, fishing and boating.
Instead, at a meeting in
The new master plan, however, will call for more attention be paid to the mobile parks to ensure homes are built to code and have a minimal impact on natural resources.
About 35 residents of the mobile home parks attended the meeting, and fewer than a dozen addressed the board, EBMUD spokesman Jeff Becerra said. The residents, many of whom are elderly retirees, were notified of the chance of eviction last year and have been fretting their fate since.
The water district uses
Bercerra said the district will now continue with the creation of its master plan, including an environmental impact report that should be completed in the spring. As part of the planning, the district will study the mobile homes, recreation and other uses on the land, and how they fit in with the district's mission to protect flood watersheds. #
Editorial: Water officials find a skeptical northern crowd
Redding Record Searchlight – 8/16/07
State water officials dropped in to Redding this week to brief north state politicians, irrigators and public works managers about the governor's ambitious water plans, but their pitch failed to impress.
Not enough details, the skeptical locals said, especially about the new canal around or through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that would more efficiently pump our valley's water to points south.
Lester Snow, director of the Department of Water Resources, said the state didn't have blueprints to release yet, but was still devising its plans with the help of local experts and residents around the state. That was the reason for the
Well, since Snow is listening, we'll throw our bucketload into the mix.
Our state faces real water problems, driven by growth, climate change and a rickety system that essentially slurps water across a brackish marsh (the delta) to supply southern farms and cities. The governor and his people deserve credit for forthrightly trying to tackle these politically perilous questions.
But for the
If
And ultimately, since any laws are only as good as the next Legislature, the best assurance is a concrete one -- a relatively modest canal that could assure safe and reliable shipment of the supplies already heading south, not the massive pipeline that was the old Peripheral Canal.
Otherwise, as far as the state's rainy northern tier is concerned, the governor's plan is a boat that will never sail. #
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