A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
September 10, 2007
3. Watersheds
DELTA ISSUES:
Column: A new jolt on water quandary -
Editorial: All of state will feel delta crisis; Fix the problem, or 23 million could go thirsty -
Editorial: Time running short for state to craft Delta plan; Governor, Legislature must get serious about water -
Editorial: PC in the Delta; Old and new ideas are being floated -
Editorial: Water woes; They're going to get worse this winter -
Guest Column: Turning Delta ruling into opportunity -
TAHOE WILDFIRE AFTERMATH:
Tahoe wildlife makes slow recovery; Habitat loss, erosion are reminders of blaze - San Diego Union Tribune
CONAWAY RANCH:
Conaway vision takes shape - Davis Enterprise
AMERICAN RIVER RESTORATION:
Ideas flowing for recreation opportunities at newly restored river channel; Kayaking, rafting, boating companies looking at options - Auburn Journal
DELTA ISSUES:
Column: A new jolt on water quandary
By Dan Walters, columnist
Judge Oliver Wanger ordered state and federal governments to reduce transfers from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta -- the primary source of water for two-thirds of the state's population -- in order to stop killing tiny Delta smelt, which are sucked into huge pumps at the south end of the Delta.
Water managers are scrambling to determine the precise impact of Wanger's verbal order, but it appears that it could curtail roughly a third of the 6 million acre-feet of water that's drawn out of the Delta in a normal year for
In times past, state water officials would have reacted negatively to such an order, but it is, in political terms, something of a godsend. It bolsters their long-languishing plans to build new reservoirs and alter how water is moved either through or around the Delta. Wanger's decision is "proof that the Delta, indeed, is broken," says Mike Chrisman, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's resources secretary.
There is no more complicated, or probably more important, issue in
The last time anyone made a major water decision was 1982, when voters rejected a peripheral canal, which would have carried Sacramento River water around the Delta to the pumps near
Schwarzenegger is trying to get it going again, including an indirect revival of the peripheral canal, or something like it, but the age-old conflicts remain largely intact. One side -- including Schwarzenegger -- believes that the state needs more water storage and a better conveyance system. The other -- for the most part, environmentalists -- insists that California can meet its needs through conservation, a shift of water from agricultural to municipal uses and other non-physical means.
The case before Wanger was one skirmish in the long war, a lawsuit brought by environmental groups against state and federal water operators, using the Delta smelt's plight as a springboard for reducing water shipments.
As Wanger was ruling, a state advisory committee was unveiling the latest attempt at consensus, and while it agreed on some channel improvements and levee fixes to help move water through the Delta more reliably, it fragmented over some form of a peripheral canal as a way to separate water deliveries from the smelt and other wildlife that depend on more natural flows of water.
State officials, including Schwarzenegger, remain convinced that, as water director Lester Snow says, "there has to be some separation," but the peripheral canal -- known as the "P-word" in Capitol circles for its controversial nature -- remains a bugaboo in environmental circles and in the Bay Area.
The latter position is somewhat hypocritical because
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/368529.html
Editorial: All of state will feel delta crisis; Fix the problem, or 23 million could go thirsty
Panicky warnings are crescendoing:
We've reached our "day of reckoning," says an elected representative.
We're facing a "Katrina-like calamity," says a Cal Poly Pomona professor.
Water rationing, not just metering, is likely for Silicon Valley,
Water scarcity has
Many fields in the lower
The state is suffering through one of the driest years in a generation. That alone would not lead so many people into such despair -- we've lived through many wet-dry cycles before. No, people have panicked over efforts to save a 4-inch fish called the delta smelt, which lives only in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Once numbering in the millions, it is now very nearly extinct -- which entitles it to federal protection. That's why, on the last day of August, a federal judge ordered pumping from the delta cut by more than a third.
About 23 million Californians drink delta water; it irrigates 5 million acres of south valley farm land. The delta is the very heart of
Fed by the
Overpumping, rampant building on its edges, invasive species, pollution from the million-or-so people who live and farm in and around it -- all have contributed to the delta's impending collapse.
As Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, told The Sacramento Bee: "The day of reckoning has arrived." Judge Oliver Wanger's order to cut pumping in a dry year will, if it stands, create a crisis by next year. But it also created an opportunity to save the delta -- and a sense of urgency to get it done. The only question is how?
Gov. Schwarzenegger has spent the past four months prepping voters to support a $5.9 billion plan next year that would create two new reservoirs and spend $1 billion on the delta. If a ballot measure succeeds, a critical element of any solution, money, will be in hand.
As important, the governor appointed a Blue Ribbon Task Force to come up with a plan for spending that money. Working as part of the committee, delta stakeholders -- including Turlock Irrigation District director Randy Fiorini, who is the president of the Association of California Water Agencies -- performed preliminary studies and reported them in late August. They considered environmental justice, water rights, flood-plain management, farming in the delta and much more. They offered several early recommendations -- additional reservoirs, fish screens, "armored" levees, and plans for one or more "conveyances" to carry water through or around the delta.
Be careful here. If you call those conveyances "peripheral canals," you'll start a fight -- just like the one we had 25 years ago when voters soundly rejected such a plan. The greatest fear of many is that any delta solution will again become bogged down in a battle over a canal -- a likely scenario.
That would be a terrible mistake, wasting what could be our last opportunity to avert an ecological and economic disaster, save the delta and enhance farming in the region.
We can't let that happen.
The entire state is beginning to sense the urgency; the governor already is working to fund a good plan. That plan might include a canal, it might not. The Task Force's final recommendation will arrive in November; whatever it contains, we must act. We cannot save the delta by standing in the mud and arguing about it.
If you think people are worried now, wait until their water is turned off for good.
Curtailing water exports helps salmon, but it's not a long-term solution
For 23 million Californians, reducing the amount of water that giant state-owned pumps suck from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta might be a catastrophe. For people living in
"Turning off the pumps helps us," said Allen Short, general manager of the Modesto Irrigation District, which supplies about 40 percent of
Since first chartered in the 1880s, the
Officials in both districts believe the state's giant pumps near
"They're getting killed; they're getting slaughtered," said Short. "I'm surprised any of them get out. When you shut off the pumps, you get rid of the predation; the water goes out, the fish go out with it and you've got no problem. ... You've got to shut down the pumps."
But without the pumps, where does the rest of
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission had meetings in
It's certain the TID and MID will fight such a move -- as the SFPUC learned at a public meeting in
So in the short term, shutting off the pumps would be good for our area. But when those 23 million other Californians get thirsty, the delta will be critical for delivering water.
"For the district, its ratepayers and consumers, a solution for the delta is very important," said Larry Weis, TID general manager.
"We've been doing our job. ... The fish leave, they don't come back -- and frankly that's because of the mess in the delta."
Shutting off the pumps will help many in this area for a very short time; fixing the mess in the delta will help them for generations. #
http://www.modbee.com/opinion/story/63106.html
Editorial: Time running short for state to craft Delta plan; Governor, Legislature must get serious about water
For years, anyone watching the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has known that a smack-down was looming over endangered smelt. These tiny fish, a bellwether for the ecosystem, have declined over the last decade, while water exports from the Delta have been rising.
The Endangered Species Act gives judges wide latitude in curtailing government operations that threaten the extinction of species. And while the smelt and other Delta fish appear to face a variety of threats -- including invasive species, water pollution and loss of habitat -- it's hard for a judge to overlook the impact posed by the massive state and federal pumps that move water through the Delta.
On Aug. 31, U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger issued a landmark ruling in
Although Wanger didn't go as far as environmental groups had hoped in restoring flows to the estuary, he issued an order that could fundamentally alter the day-to-day transport of water in
It's hard to overstate the impact of this ruling. For the first time, the most crucial valve in
Moreover, this takeover isn't the work of some activist judge. Wanger in the past has issued decisions favorable to irrigators.
This time those irrigators and government lawyers failed to convince Wanger that the smelt weren't being sucked toward a perilous fate. "The evidence is uncontradicted that these project operations move the fish," the judge said.
The question now is how the state and federal governments will respond to Wanger's ruling, which limits pumping from the Delta from December to June. An initial review by state officials suggests these restrictions could reduce overall water deliveries south of the Delta by as much as 35%.
Whether or not the outcome is "devastating" to the state's economy, as Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger warned, it should send a jolt of electricity into discussions about how to fix the Delta and use water more efficiently.
The current agenda needs to focus not just on possible fixes that will take years, such as a peripheral canal, but on ones that would have more immediate benefits for the Delta.
As an advisory panel recently recommended, the state can and should move immediately to restore marshlands and reduce invasive species that threaten native fish. There also may be interim ways to move water through the Delta that minimize the impacts of the pumps on fish.
Wanger's ruling prompted renewed calls for action by the governor and the Legislature, but with barely more than a week left in the current session, it's tough going. Schwarzenegger and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata have competing plans on the table, but they're far apart on key elements.
The governor insists on funds for two new dams, one on the
Perata and his fellow Democrats in the Legislature have staunchly opposed new dams. Perata sent a faint signal Wednesday that his opposition to dams might soften, but there are never any guarantees in
We have long advocated a three-part solution to
Schwarzenegger has said he would consider keeping the Legislature in the capital for a special session to consider several major issues. That might give the parties time to craft a compromise that sets the state on a sound path to workable solutions. Cross your fingers.
Meanwhile, everyone who uses water south of the Delta should brace for some uncertain years. As it stands now, the state's water future is in the hands of the courts and the weather. The forecast is cloudy, with a high likelihood of lawyers.
http://www.fresnobee.com/opinion/story/133598.html
Editorial: PC in the Delta; Old and new ideas are being floated
As a blue-ribbon panel mulls over a comprehensive report about the future of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, an idea that was buried by voters more than two decades ago is being reincarnated: the
It's not being called that, of course. Today's term is "isolated facility." But a canal by any other name would still skirt the periphery of the Delta.
Which side of the Delta may be the more interesting question. One "isolated facility" being floated would follow the route proposed originally, along Interstate 5 on the Delta's western edge. But another plan calls for a canal along the eastern side.
Neither would carry as much water as proposed back in the 1970s and '80s, and both would end at the state Water Project pumps outside
The fact that the water is destined for Southern California was, of course, the main objection in 1982, when more than 90 percent of Northern California voters rejected the original
But that was then, and this is now.
Even without a canal, Delta water flows to
It is a ruling that almost certainly means cuts in water deliveries, and not just in
That brings us to new arguments in favor of a peripheral canal, one of which is that tapping into the Delta farther upstream could avoid the smelt altogether and allow the big pumps to keep working, which would in turn let the smaller pumps keep pumping.
While it's not a defining argument to support a canal, it is a compelling enough one to at least consider the case.
It seems likely that a canal of some sort will be among the options put forth at the end of this year when the governor's Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force outlines the state's choices.
In its work, the Task Force is studying not only water delivery, but also safety issues such as those related to flooding and earthquakes, land-use challenges and environmental concerns. Its goal is to help the governor, the Legislature and federal regulators put together one plan that balances everyone's needs with the primary goal of keeping the Delta itself in a healthy and sustainable condition.
One of the ideas being looked at would turn Cache Slough, just north of Rio Vista, into a breeding ground for the Delta smelt.
That might be a positive change for the overall health of the Delta, but it would certainly affect the ability to draw water into the North Bay Aqueduct, which provides about half the domestic water for Solano's seven cities.
Fortunately, it's not an insurmountable problem. Four years ago, the Solano County Water Agency studied the idea of moving the North Bay Aqueduct's intake farther up the
There are a lot of stakeholders in regard to the Delta - urban residents who depend on it for drinking water, farmers who irrigate crops, recreational users who enjoy fishing and boating, and environmentalists who rightly insist on protecting flora and fauna - so a comprehensive plan addressing all of those needs is vital.
Key to
http://www.thereporter.com/opinion/ci_6845385
Editorial: Water woes; They're going to get worse this winter
There's only one thing completely clear about a federal judge's week-old order telling
Just how much less will depend on the weather and the fish themselves.
At this point, experts are estimating that cuts in the amount of water being sent through the giant California Aqueduct pumps near
Domestic users in
Hardest hit will be agricultural users who rely completely on water from the Delta or the state Water Project, which will impose cuts systemwide.
The reductions were ordered last Friday by U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger, whose decision reflects the middle ground between environmentalists, who wanted even more water left behind to protect the Delta smelt, and water agencies that want to continue supplying water to 25 million Californians and 3 million acres of agriculture.
The cuts are to be enacted from late December, when the smelt begin to spawn, through June, when they are large enough to swim on their own, making them less vulnerable to being sucked into the pumps. A wet winter could help the problem considerably, so praying for rain could be helpful.
Certainly that is a more useful suggestion than the one Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger came up with this week.
His administration officials called a press conference on Wednesday to push his earlier, failed proposal to build two reservoirs and revive the
While developing more water storage and new ways to deliver it may yet prove to be valuable long-term solutions, neither will help the short-term crisis the state is currently facing.
Besides, the governor is putting the cart before the horse. His Delta Vision Blue-Ribbon Task Force is working feverishly to pull together by the end of this year a coherent and comprehensive plan for the Delta, one that will address water, flood and environmental issues in the long run. Taxpayers should be allowed to hear that report before being asked to commit already scarce resources.
But if the governor wants to do something, he might start prodding his own department of Fish and Game, as well as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, to complete a biological report showing the effects of pumping on the fast-dwindling Delta smelt.
That report, which is nearly a year overdue now, is the reason a federal judge had to step into the state's water picture to begin with.
The governor might also want to start ratcheting up conservation efforts right now. Californians are generally water conscious, but we can do better. And we're going to have to, if we expect to get through the coming winter and spring. #
http://thereporter.com/opinion/ci_6826932
Guest Column: Turning Delta ruling into opportunity
By Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute in Oakland
On Aug. 31, a federal judge acknowledged what many people have long known -- we have run up against the limits of our water supplies. U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger ruled that state and federal water managers must change how they operate
It now seems inevitable that the total amount of water taken from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta will have to be scaled back. While the details and magnitude of these changes still must be worked out, we're already hearing the predictable cries of catastrophe, economic collapse and impending doom.
This crisis has been coming for a long time, but it isn't a surprise and need not be a disaster.
We now have the opportunity to discuss issues that have long been ignored or considered taboo: inappropriate water rights and allocations, groundwater management and use, real land-use planning, and water-use efficiency.
In the past, we've always assumed that we could grow as fast as we wanted, wherever we wanted, and find new water sources to meet our demands. Over the past century, we spent hundreds of billions of dollars building dams, reservoirs, aqueducts and pipelines to realize this vision of
But we are beginning to understand that our manipulation of the water system, based on 19th and 20th century ideas, hurts the natural environment. We are killing our rivers, deltas, wetlands, birds and fish. While we didn't recognize or care about those impacts in the last century, we do now. The judge's decision shows that the system we built must be modified to address the environmental and economic challenges of this century.
The water use of the agricultural sector should be re-evaluated. Our farms consume 80 percent of the water used by
Current water rights regimes in
Land-use planning also needs to be re-evaluated. It makes little sense to permit uncontrolled development in floodplains, only to pass flood risks from developers to homeowners or the state. It is myopic to build McMansions on prime farmland with landscaping that sucks up water faster than farms, with no assurance that a reliable water supply will be available.
Conservation needs to be redefined. It needn't mean brown lawns, shorter showers or mandatory rationing. It is about doing what we want, but with less water.
We use far more water today than is necessary, whether for flushing our toilets, growing food or making semiconductors. Our conservation efforts have eased this inefficient use, enabling us to grow our economy and population over the past several years without increasing our water demand. But far more could be done.
Efforts to improve water-use efficiency have slacked off in the past decade. Even without the judge's wake-up call, our water agencies and utilities should have been implementing new efficiency programs to deal with the drought. The faster we reduce inefficient uses, the longer we can delay or avoid mandatory cutbacks.
While predictions of economic disaster arising from the Delta decision may come true, they don't have to. But it will take a re-evaluation of our ideas about water-use and political courage by the governor, Legislature and water users to have open and honest discussions about how to redesign our water system so that it is smart, efficient and sustainable. Only then can we transform this water crisis into an opportunity. #
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/366878.html
TAHOE WILDFIRE AFTERMATH:
Tahoe wildlife makes slow recovery; Habitat loss, erosion are reminders of blaze
By Michael Gardner, staff writer
Responding to pleas from concerned residents, veterinarian Kevin Willits treated the bear's singed paws and sent her off to recuperate in the wild – a cheery outcome during a depressing time for the fire-scarred region.
But a few weeks later, Willits was summoned to examine another bear, this one with little hope for survival. The animal's paws were scorched, some toes were missing and a serious infection had taken hold.
“It wasn't fair to the animal, the suffering it would have had to go through,” Willits reasoned as euthanized the bear. “It was just tragic.”
This summer's Angora fire – the largest recorded in
The human tragedy has been well-documented: 254 homes and 3,100 acres consumed, $153 million in property damage, and hundreds of lives changed forever. Fortunately, no one was killed in the inferno ignited by an illegal campfire June 24.
Today, nearly two months after firefighters doused the last flame, the fight goes on to limit the blaze's impact on the region known worldwide for its Alps-like setting and clear lake.
At the same time, the fire has reopened deep divisions over limits on tree thinning. A joint California-Nevada task force appointed by governors of the two states will review forest management, funding and other fire-related issues. Its first meeting is tomorrow.
Officials will deploy aircraft to shower mulch from the sky in hopes that a blanket of ground cover would prevent loads of sediment from spilling into
Teams have been dispatched to improve drainage and shore up slopes with straw bales, fences and other barriers before winter sets in. Crews then will move into once-forested areas to remove hazardous trees. A long-term strategy is being mapped, but it must pass muster with government agencies and the public.
Many experts predict that the surviving wildlife will rebound, particularly if a normal weather pattern returns to the region, bringing with it a spring bounty of berries, wildflowers and new habitat. Tahoe, like most of
“The natural system has adapted to recovering from fire. Eventually, it will come back,” said Shane Romsos, a wildlife biologist for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
State wildlife biologist Jason Holley added, “From a wildlife standpoint, it's a short-term loss. The wildlife should start coming back as early as late spring.”
That may be some consolation for volunteers who scrambled for days to protect and treat lost and injured animals. Some say the fire took a staggering number of animals that couldn't outrun the flames, mostly squirrels, raccoons and porcupines. Brook trout were found belly up in a stream. Because the blaze erupted toward the end of bird nesting season, many chicks are feared lost.
“Most of the animals, if they couldn't fly out or run fast enough, are dead,” said Cheryl Millham, executive director of Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, a local volunteer group.
The fire also has been blamed for a rash of bear break-ins. Refrigerators and pantries are not safe, even in occupied homes, prompting concern in a community accustomed to sharing their forest.
On Aug. 13,
Millham, whose organization provides care and treatment for the region's wildlife, said she was trying to arrange food drops in the wild to draw bears away from neighborhoods.
“The bears have lost their homes,” she said. “They have lost their food supply.”
Some are not convinced that the surge in bear encounters is all fire related, given a shortage of forage in the high country.
“The fire surely displaced some bears,” said Holley, the state biologist. “We've had a lot of problems before the fires. We've had lots of problems after the fires.”
Campgrounds are a favorite dinner spot for bears, but state parks official Ken Anderson said he hasn't noticed a sudden jump in encounters that can be traced to fire refugees.
The
“It was unhealthy in the first place. Now it's gone,” said Thomas Bonnicksen, a national forestry expert who tends to support timber industry views.
Bonnicksen was the author of a warning carried a year ago in the industry magazine California Forests. In the article, he noted an “eerie parallel” between Lake Tahoe and
But Bonnicksen takes no satisfaction surveying the skeletal remains of fir, cedar and pine in
“The houses didn't start the fire,” he said. “The forest started the fire.”
A U.S. Forest Service analysis cited several factors for home losses, noting that some residents stored combustible materials, such as paint and gasoline, and had firewood stocked under wooden decks.
“Clearly, fewer houses would have burned had they had more effective defensible space, better access for firefighters and contained less flammable material,” the report stated. In some areas, the analysis said, thinning reduced the intensity of the fire and helped firefighters control the spread.
“The Forest Service report was a real eye-opener,” said Julie Regan, a spokeswoman for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency.
The agency agrees that unmanaged forests are a significant issue and has been working on thinning projects for the past decade, Regan said.
Pending regulations on pollutants could make thinning more complicated.
Jack Landy,
The question that planners will have to ask, Landy said, is “how do we balance the risk of wildfire and its impacts with other factors that affect lake clarity, such as urban storm water runoff?”
The fire did not immediately threaten
The first film of black soot to fall on the lake dissipated quickly. Within two weeks, “we were reading no measurable change in clarity,” said Geoffrey Schladow, director of the
Crews initially concentrated on installing defenses in areas most prone to erosion, getting a jump on summer thunderstorms that could wash sediment into the lake. Fortunately, few serious storms have developed.
“So far, we've been lucky,” Schladow said. “But it could happen tomorrow.”
Just as worrisome is what lies ahead. Heavy rains this fall, or a warm wet pattern during the spring snowmelt, could bring more erosion, he said.
And there might be other side effects of the fire: Noxious weeds could get a toehold and compete with natives. Nutrients carried by runoff could feed algae, which can choke underwater plants and potentially harm fish. The loss of creek-side shade could reduce spawning grounds and elevate water temperatures, both bad signs for trout and anglers.
The fire also released 190,000 tons of greenhouse gases, linked to global warming, according to the Forest Foundation, a timber industry group. #
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070909/news_1n9tahoe.html
AMERICAN RIVER RESTORATION:
Ideas flowing for recreation opportunities at newly restored river channel; Kayaking, rafting, boating companies looking at options
Auburn Journal – 9/9/07
By Gus Thomson, staff writer
While kayakers and rafters won't have access until early next year, the regional buzz is already spreading over the opening of a new stretch of the
Water started flowing Tuesday through a restored river channel at the Placer County Water Agency's pump station project site, signaling an anticipated influx - probably next spring - of kayakers and rafters to a river run that has been shut down for safety reasons since the early 1970s.
A hazardous half-mile-long diversion tunnel built as part of the now-dormant
Wolf Creek Wilderness, a
Ryan Wells, an instructor at
"There is some excited murmuring going on," Wells said. "We're all trying to figure out exactly what's there."
Adding to the anticipation, a slow season because of low snowfall and rainfall cut business for rentals and sales but didn't stop a surge in instruction, Wells said. That's created a pent-up demand for river boating.
"We're looking forward to having another option," he said.
Canyon Raft Rentals in
"I went nuts when I saw water in the channel," he said. "I can't wait to try it out myself."
Hauschild said that he's been told that no guided trips will be allowed but the State Parks Department has no trouble with rentals.
"Up to now, I've been sending people other places," he said. "This changes my whole business model. Shuttle buses are going to be the key because it's hard to park at the confluence and the boaters will be on top of the swimmers."
Water began flowing through the reconstructed section of river on Tuesday, a milestone moment in a 15-year effort to provide the water agency with permanent pumps.
The restored river channel is part of an overall $75 million project that includes the return of a permanent pump station that will allow the agency to pump up to 35,500 acre-feet of water from the river canyon to water customers in
The project also includes recreational access off
David Breninger, who has managed the countywide water agency for more than 15 years, said the pump station and river restoration project has been the agency's top water resource priority during his tenure.
With the full support of U.S. Rep. John Doolittle, a staunch
"Congressman Doolittle boldly defended the rights of the agency as well as securing federal funding for this project's success," Breninger said.
Work started in October 2003 and construction is expected to end in January. Until then, the project site will remain off-limits to the public.
Doolittle said Friday that the addition of more facilities in the
CONAWAY RANCH:
Conaway vision takes shape
By Elisabeth Sherwin, staff writer
What a difference a year makes.
On Friday, the one-year anniversary of the county's eminent domain settlement, a Conaway Ranch spokesman described a conservation vision that would benefit both Yolo and
Tovey Giezentanner, spokesman for Conaway Preservation Group - the private owners of the 17,300-acre ranch - said the CPG has a plan for the ranch that involves two main concepts: a flood control project and a habitat corridor.
“No one has criticized our conservation vision,” Giezentanner said. “This is what we said we were going to do. We are trying to do what we said we wanted to do.”
Members of the
| |
Helen Thomson of Davis, a former CPG critic, said she made her first trip out to the ranch last month.
“I thought it was a wonderful, beautiful place with lots of resources,” she said Friday. “We have to work together on resource management issues.”
Supervisor Duane Chamberlain, who steadfastly opposed the county's attempt to buy the ranch by eminent domain, said he always respected the Conaway Ranch's pro-conservation stance.
Commenting on the new era of good feelings between the county and the owners, Chamberlain said: “Everybody's buddy-buddy now, which is fine.”
A year ago, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a settlement of its legal effort to buy the undeveloped property between
Critics objected to the government trying to take the land from private owners and said the ranch was too expensive for a struggling county, which didn't have land management skills to begin with.
Supporters said the water rights, agriculture, habitat and undeveloped land were far too precious to be allowed to stay in private ownership, especially when the ownership group was made up of
Yet when the county ended its litigation with the CPG, it declared itself satisfied with a settlement agreement.
“We got protection of the water rights for the use of
Giezentanner expressed satisfaction, too, for the owners.
“We're happy - now we can get busy and preserve the ranch,” Giezentanner said, speaking for CPG partners Carl Panattoni, Steve Gidaro and John Reynen.
And for the past year, that's what Giezentanner has been doing - trying to turn much of the ranch into a conservation easement.
“(New) housing was what we were so worried about,” Thomson said Friday. A small but vocal portion of the community refused to believe that developers would buy land they didn't intend to develop.
Giezentanner said the CPG would like to see 8,000 acres in an agricultural easement. The balance of the land, 9,000 acres, is on a flood plain - in the Yolo Bypass and the settling basin - and cannot be developed.
He said CPG's project - the Yolo Bypass Floodway and Habitat Corridor - has been discussed in meetings with state, local and federal elected officials, key department staff, and other interested parties including the Nature Conservancy and the Audubon Society.
| |
| |
The cost for both projects would be in the neighborhood of $215 million.
He said the floodway corridor would create temporary peak-period water storage capacity on ranch land from the
“This is a significant flood control project,” he said. “But I don't know that I can quantify the magnitude of safety it would provide.”
He added that the impact this flood control measure might have on
Giezentanner also said the proposed habitat corridor on the east side of the property would enhance fish migration through the Yolo Bypass, re-create historical floodplain spawning and juvenile-rearing habitat for native fish, and increase availability of nutrients that form the basis of the food chain within the Delta.
Given the critical need for and public benefits associated with this project, CPG would like the state to provide and coordinate funding from state, federal and local sources and to hold the conservation easement that would help pay for the project. He did not know how much might be paid for the easement or what size it would be.
“I had hoped to have a conservation easement on 8,000 acres of the property (all land outside the bypass and settling basin) by the end of the year,” Giezentanner said. “That's not going to happen Š but with the political leadership I think the whole project could be in place by December of 2008.
“We've reached out to
“As you might imagine, given the size of the property and its location and the fact that the easement would be a permanent easement, we're asking the various jurisdictions to think strategically about where they may want joint regional infrastructure facilities in the future on or near Conaway, so that the easement instrument that is finally negotiated with the state includes sufficient flexibility or does not include area that will be needed for future infrastructure improvements” like expanding the Yolo landfill or the Davis and/or Woodland waste-water treatment facilities, for example.
http://www.davisenterprise.com/articles/2007/09/09/news/119new1.txt
####
No comments:
Post a Comment