A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
September 6, 2007
3. Watersheds
DELTA ISSUES:
Editorial: Latest crisis creates chance to make delta sustainable -
Editorial: Delta challenge - Riverside Press Enterprise
Guest Column: Delta water issue needs real solution - LA Daily News
American River back in its bed; A tunnel, part of the unbuilt Auburn dam project, is being plugged after decades - Sacramento Bee
TRINITY RIVER RESTORATION:
Hoopa Valley Tribe frets that Trinity River funds will be drained - Eureka Times Standard
Water bond proposal would supply Salton Sea funding - Desert Sun
QUAGGA MUSSELS:
Quagga Quandary: Tiny Invader Poses Devastating Threat to State's Freshwater Fisheries - The Log (
DELTA ISSUES:
Editorial: Latest crisis creates chance to make delta sustainable
It's crisis time yet again on the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. But this time the impact likely will be felt among
A federal judge's order sharply limiting the water that can be drawn from the delta once again underscores the fragility of
But in crisis, there's opportunity.
The latest water emergency offers a rare chance for policy-makers to break through years of inertia and take broad actions to restore the health of the ecologically troubled delta, the hub of
Last week's landmark ruling by U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger will reduce water drawn from the delta by up to one third.
The limits, expected from January to June when the fish spawn, will mean plenty of pain for consumers, farmers and other water users.
The Santa Clara Valley Water District, which depends on the delta for 50 percent of its water supplies, may impose mandatory cutbacks on its 1.7 million customers next year. It may have to use much of its stored water reserves. And local communities could be forced to rethink long-term planning for growth and development.
Farmers in the
After years of studies and talk, the state should be able to make a breakthrough on the delta in coming months. A delta task force formed last year by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the best vehicle for producing concrete actions.
The group, expected to produce recommendations in late November, has a tough task in juggling all the legitimate needs in the delta: environmental, water supply, farming, land use and recreational. Participants in this "visioning" process recently have explored the possibility of creating two separate channels in the delta, one that's ecologically sensitive for marine life and the other for carrying water around the delta toward huge pumps near
The Public Policy Institute of California in February outlined five options that it considered reasonable, three involving facilities to transport water and two involving reduced exports of water from the delta.
Until long-term changes are put in place, the state should continue with much-needed interim steps such as restoration work in the estuary, preventing the spread of invasive species and coming up with an emergency plan for levee breaks.
Meanwhile, the latest water cutbacks provide further evidence that the delta is broken. That's in large part because of years of ineffective efforts by state and federal water policy-makers and bureaucrats. Now they should have fresh motivation to come up with a fix that would keep the nerve center of the state's water system functioning smoothly. #
http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_6814677?nclick_check=1
Editorial: Delta challenge
Riverside Press Enterprise
A federal court ruling over the tiny delta smelt serves as a stern warning to
Last Friday's decision by U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger limits pumping from the delta by as much as 37 percent to protect the endangered fish. The ruling stems from a 2005 lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council, and will stay in effect until federal wildlife officials craft new rules for protecting the smelt. That process may take as long as a year, and the result will likely also limit delta water exports.
But the ruling's effects extend far beyond an endangered fish. The delta supplies water to two-thirds of
The delta's troubles are nothing new, however. The estuary faces threats from pollution, invasive species, deteriorating levees and rising sea levels. But the long, slow decline has reached a crisis point, and the state risks dire environmental and economic consequences if the delta collapses.
Gov. Schwarzenegger last year created a blue-ribbon panel to propose ways to fix the delta, with a report due by January 2008. But the conflicting interests of agriculture, recreation, development, environmental protection and urban water make finding agreement difficult. And any solution will likely cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
Still, the Legislature and governor will need to move past disagreements on water policy and find a solution for the delta, along with money to pay for it.
http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/editorials/stories/PE_OpEd_Opinion_S_op_06_ed_delta2.3825c30.html
Guest Column: Delta water issue needs real solution
LA Daily News – 9/6/07
By Bill Robinson, director of the Upper San Gabriel Valley Water District and Ralph Shaffer, a Cal Poly Pomona professor emeritus
IGNORING environmental-protection laws has become a standard response from developers and government agencies who prefer profits and an increased tax base to preservation of an endangered species.
But this time, a federal judge in
U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger last week ordered a major decrease - perhaps as much as one-third - in the amount of water pumped out of the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta. His ruling came in a suit involving the near-extinction of the delta smelt, whose sole habitat is the delta.
Wanger's decision threatens
A flawed biological report presented earlier this year to Wanger by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the California Department of Fish and Game might have caused this draconian ruling. In rejecting that report, Wanger characterized it as "arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law," and ordered the agencies back to the drawing boards. Their tardy report, which made necessary the judge's ruling, should have been finished as much as a year ago.
Another overdue review, from the state Department of Water Resources, is the critical Delta Risk Management Study. The department claims it is finished, but insiders hint that the Governor's Office embargoed the report for political reasons.
Nor is the Legislature above reproach in the matter of delta water delivery and environmental protection. Legislators have deliberately delayed action on bills vital to the delta's future.
Such legislative, administrative and gubernatorial complacency must end. Incentives for fixing the state's plumbing should not come from court rulings. Judges, experts in interpretation of the law, are poorly equipped to analyze complex scientific questions or to substitute their judgment for the timely work product of citizen advisory committees composed of experts in the field.
Wanger's decision should be appealed. Unfortunately, new evidence is rarely accepted by higher courts. A more desirable choice would be to remand back to the trial level for a more thorough rehearing. Our water supply and economy must be protected from this legal morass.
State pumps may not be the real culprits in the decline of the delta smelt. Other, more significant triggers for the decline could be water chemical toxicity and endocrine disruption. Poor water quality has been proven to actually change the sex of fish in many parts of the world.
Other explanations exist for the smelt's near disappearance. Invasive foreign species and plants threaten native flora and fauna. Open-water species, such as the smelt, may be in decline because they are no longer robust enough to survive in their natural competitive environment.
Additionally, the avalanche of recent, locally controlled land-use rezoning has severely impacted delta species. Irresponsible development and the general trend toward urbanization of the delta have so compromised the smelt habitat that the future viability of the species is in doubt. Extinction may be inevitable.
Land-use control, the province of city councils and towns, was ignored by the court. Concerned citizens of all stripes must force bureaucrats to do their work in a more timely fashion. #
http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_6811563?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com
American River back in its bed; A tunnel, part of the unbuilt Auburn dam project, is being plugged after decades
Sacramento
By Carrie Peyton Dahlberg, staff writer
The waters of the
While the change will create prettier river views and perhaps new whitewater opportunities, it probably won't have much impact on whether the dam is revived, say both friends and foes of a proposed dam.
Even its staunchest supporters acknowledge that for now, the
The dam, first begun in the 1960s and heralded as a way to protect
"I'm a realist," said Placer County Supervisor Bruce Kranz, a longtime dam advocate. "We won't see any movement in the near term on the
The movement that is going on this week near
The work includes new pumps to deliver water to a growing and thirsty
The changes were designed to ensure that if Californians someday want an
The 2,400-foot-long tunnel, built to keep the construction site dry, will be capped at both ends but not filled.
Meanwhile, though, "the people have the river back," said Ronald Stork, a senior policy advocate for Friends of the River. "It's going to look better as time progresses, and people are going to have the opportunity to boat on it."
Otis Wollan, who sits on the Placer County Water Agency board, describes the reborn stretch of river as a potential recreational magnet.
"It's within half an hour from downtown
The water agency's Maisch is a little less glowing, cautioning that because of power plants far upstream, the best water flows are unlikely to start until late afternoon.
No matter what future summers bring, though, the federal Bureau of Reclamation is warning that for now, the site is closed to water enthusiasts because of construction.
The decades-long effort to build an
The most vocal activist for the dam in Congress, Rep. John Doolittle, declared after the election: "My range of options is constrained when I'm in the minority."
Since then, Doolittle's entanglement in the deepening investigation of Jack Abramoff and political corruption has virtually sidelined the Roseville Republican.
After an FBI raid on Doolittle's suburban
"The congressman still fully supports the idea of the
The work under way fulfills a commitment to restore the construction site that the Bureau of Reclamation made in 2000, after prodding from
The state was concerned that water had been diverted into a tunnel for years.
The Placer County Water Agency was unhappy, too. After work started on the original dam in the 1960s, a pumping station that lifted
The idea had been that once the new reservoir behind the dam filled, gravity would carry water into the pipeline and no pumps would be needed. But as the dam languished,
Wollan said it got to the point that "either you do a permanent pump station or growth will stop in
Work on the new pumps began in 2002, and on Tuesday the Bureau of Reclamation began routing water toward the pumps for testing, by breaking down small sections of a dirt wall that kept water away from the riverbed.
"It's gone a little bit better than we expected," Drew Lessard, the bureau's project manager, said Wednesday afternoon. "The majority of the flow is going through the new river channel."
The channel follows basically the same course the river took before it was diverted into a tunnel. The entire project, including a boat takeout area, is scheduled to be completed in January. #
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/363096.html
TRINITY RIVER RESTORATION:
By John Driscoll, staff writer
The Hoopa Valley Tribe is locking horns with some of its allies over legislation to restore the
The tribe wants provisions put into the
Supporters of the
Hoopa Tribe Chairman Clifford Lyle Marshall said the tribe doesn't oppose restoring the
”We're in the uncomfortable position where we have to take a position that a good piece of legislation is harmful because it didn't take into account other restoration projects,”
The
Some worry that the tribe may end up jeopardizing legislation authorizing funds for projects to improve the
A hearing on Rep. Mike Thompson's Trinity bill is set for Sept. 18. The St. Helena Democrat introduced the bill in June in light of concerns over the San Joaquin settlement, and would provide millions a year for five years for
Both bills are on somewhat uneasy ground, with current pay-as-you go provisions leaving legislators struggling to find money to fund legislation.
Another tribe with stakes in the Trinity River, the Yurok, has reserved judgment on the
”We're not ready to get into any public debate over the bill or the implementation of that at this time,” said Troy Fletcher with the Yurok Tribe.
Others see the Hoopa Tribe's position as misguided. Byron Leydecker with the Friends of the Trinity River said the tribe never legally had a place in the
”Many believe that this effort to achieve inclusion of its desired, but worthless modifications to proposed San Joaquin legislation puts in grave danger the possibility of passage of both the proposed San Joaquin restoration and Trinity restoration legislation,” Leydecker wrote in an e-mail.
Zeke Grader of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations -- a supporter of both efforts -- said his organization feels stuck in the middle. He said he is not aware of anything in the
”We're not enemies,” Grader said. “We should be working together on this.”
Hal Candee with the Natural Resources Defense Council reiterated his support for the Trinity, and said he's trying to work with the tribe. But he disagrees with the Hoopa Tribe's stance.
”We disagree with the view that using payments by Friant Division contractors to help fund restoration of the San Joaquin downstream of Friant Dam somehow limits the U.S. Government's ability to fully fund restoration of the Trinity River hundreds of miles to the north,” Candee wrote.
But
http://www.times-standard.com/local/ci_6816037
Water bond proposal would supply
Desert Sun – 9/5/07
By Jake Henshaw, staff writer
Senate leader Don Perata, D-Oakland, amended his previously outlined bond plan into a Senate bill that would allow the Salton Sea to share in $1 billion designated to help fix regional water problems.
The amount of money available for a specific regional project would be set by the Legislature in the future, a Perata spokeswoman said.
Perata's action in amending Senate Bill 378 is intended to advance discussion of possibly putting a water bond on one of the 2008 ballots, his spokeswoman said.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has proposed a $5.9 billion water bond, including $4.5 billion for two new controversial reservoirs.
A bill incorporating his plan was defeated earlier this year, but the governor has said water remain one of his top three issues, along with health care and redistricting, for the 2007 legislative session.
Perata has said that regional water agencies could spend their share of $2 billion in his bill for water supplies on new reservoirs if they choose. #
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770905019
QUAGGA MUSSELS:
Quagga Quandary: Tiny Invader Poses Devastating Threat to State's Freshwater Fisheries
The Log (
By Jim Sharper
Water officials have discovered non-native quagga mussels in several
"From a fisheries standpoint, it's about the worst thing that could happen to us," said Hugh Marx, supervising ranger at
The invasive pests spread like a watery version of a wildfire, carried from lake to lake not by an ill wind, but by boat. In the
Boaters and anglers stand to lose more than their wallets; left unchecked, the quagga consume the plankton that fry and forage fish such as shad feed on, leaving an empty pantry for bass, trout and other game fish.
The diminutive mussels aren't much to look at, but they pack a powerful reproductive punch. A single brown and white striped female can produce a million offspring each year.
Marx said the bivalves have been found in concentrations of up to 50,000 per square yard in the
"Fish populations crash because the mussels eat the same plankton as newly hatched fish," Marx said.
Once introduced, quagga mussels are incredibly difficult to eradicate. They have no natural predators in
As evidenced by their jump from the Great Lakes, where the Asian immigrants got their first foothold in North America, to Lake Mead in the desert-bound
"When I heard they had four-year-old mussels in Lake Mead I knew it was all over," said Marx, who predicted the quaggas would continue their westward migration until they reached
In recent weeks, quagga mussels have been found in several Southern California reservoirs connected to the Colorado River system:
To date, quaggas haven't turned up in any local waters cut off from the
Ultimately, preventing the spread of quagga comes down to controlling and limiting boating, the likeliest means of moving mussels between watersheds. At a minimum, boaters face the inconvenience of inspection and decontamination; in the worst case, some water managers may determine the only defense is to close their lakes to private boats.
At
Elsewhere, officials are still scrambling to develop rules and regulations to combat the quagga. Boaters should expect power washing and equipment prohibitions to become commonplace.
"Check the wheel wells, check for standing water, and drain the bilge, engine and livewell. Get the water out of the boat," Retallack said.
Carefully inspect the boat. Immature mussels can't be seen without a magnifying glass but they can be identified. They feel like sandpaper to the touch.
Boaters who discover quaggas should use a pressure washer heated to 140 degrees or higher to blast the mussels. Don't do it anywhere near a storm drain Retallack reminded.
Store a boat high and dry for five days before visiting a new lake.
The boat cleaning process is inconvenient but critical Retallack said. It is in a boater's self interest too.
"Every recreational boater should care. Quaggas can ruin a boat," Retallack said.
Marx feels slowing and controlling the spread of quaggas will be a challenging task for the state and its angling and boating communities.
"It's nearly impossible, but so critical it is worth the effort," Marx said. #
http://www.thelog.com/news/newsview.asp?c=224622
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