[Water_news] 3. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: WATERSHEDS - 9/13/07

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

September 13, 2007

 

3. Watersheds

 

DELTA ISSUES:

Editorial: Protect the fish, protect the Delta; Operations at the state's Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant will have to be adjusted to protect the Delta smelt and maximize water deliveries to Southern Californians - Tracy Press

 

AMERICAN RIVER:

Editorial: What's next for river restoration? - Auburn Journal

 

MINE OPERATION CLEANUP:

Crews clean up toxic dirt at Empire Mine; Many projects planned to reduce metals left from gold-mining era - Grass Valley Union

 

 

DELTA ISSUES:

Editorial: Protect the fish, protect the Delta; Operations at the state's Harvey O. Banks Pumping Plant will have to be adjusted to protect the Delta smelt and maximize water deliveries to Southern Californians

Tracy Press – 9/11/07

 

Federal Judge Oliver Wanger’s order to protect the Delta smelt from extinction is serious stuff for water users in and south of the Delta.

 

The loss of up to one-third of the water pumped through the gigantic state and federal aqueducts — enough for 4 million homes — could have a chilling economic effect on much of California. For instance, farmers from Vernalis to Santa Nella could have their water allocations reduced up to 55 percent, depending on snow runoff and rainfall in any given year. Water users in Los Angles and San Diego are bracing for a 37 percent cut by Jan. 1. Farmers in Livermore face mandatory conservation orders.

 

Can California make up for this lost water that’s supposed to go to the south and central Delta to keep the tiny smelt with a one-year lifespan from extinction?

 

California needs more water storage — that means more dams and reservoirs — more conservation — that means less water for agriculture — and a better system of moving two-thirds of the state’s water from the north to two-thirds of the population in the south.

 

To Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and a growing number of politicians, it means a canal from the Sacramento River to the pumping plants northwest of Tracy. Unless there are serious mitigations, it also means the death of the freshwater Delta.

 

An anxious Alex Hildebrand, a Manteca farmer and director of the South Delta Water Agency, is blunt with his forecast: The only river that flows into the Delta that isn’t dammed is the Sacramento. Take away this source, and the Delta becomes a salt lake.

 

Judge Wanger’s ruling doesn’t thrill Hildebrand, a veteran of the Peripheral Canal war of a quarter century ago. Saving the Delta smelt as a natural resource could destroy California agriculture, he says. At the very least, it will make water scarcer and indirectly raise the price of food in the world’s supermarkets.

 

Instead of a peripheral canal, the South and Central Delta Water agencies are proposing a flood-flow conveyance system, which makes sense because it assures sufficient fresh water in the Delta and to the rest of California throughout the year. It would work on a seasonal timer. Peak flows of the snow runoff and rain would be captured and stored behind Sierra dams and in valley reservoirs until the river levels fall in the late spring. Water stored in the reservoirs would be diverted to the rivers during the dry summer and fall months. This would prevent reoccurrences like this summer, when the flow in the San Joaquin, Tuolumne and Stanislaus rivers was negligible and the salinity was high.

 

To improve fish habitat, the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force will recommend installation of rock barriers to separate Old and Middle rivers. This would allow Old River, no longer being drawn down by the pumps, to flow more naturally and keep the fish away from the pumping plant screens.

 

But these welcomed goals won’t be met until cities like Tracy and Mountain House reduce the level of salt sent into the river from their sewage treatment plants. To prevent Old River from being a sump, both cities should consider blending their discharged water with the canal water they get via the Central Valley Project.

 

Protecting the Delta smelt should mean protecting the state’s water system — all of it. #

http://tracypress.com/content/view/11138/2244/

 

 

AMERICAN RIVER:

Editorial: What's next for river restoration?

Auburn Journal – 9/11/07

 

The American River is flowing again through the Auburn dam site after more than 30 years of being re-channeled through the half-mile-long diversion tunnel.

It's an occasion for high fives as recreational boating in the form of kayaking and rafting returns to the area next year.

But it's also a time to look at what the future can hold for that stretch of river, and how residents, local government and the business community should be working together with state and federal stakeholders to develop a clear vision.

 

The state parks department is moving ahead with a general plan that has the promise of providing a blueprint to guide development of the resource over the next two decades or so. But it needs to continue to gain the public perspective from local people, government and business that can help dovetail this new open area with Auburn and surrounding communities.

Questions continue to linger about accessibility in the canyon, the planned Maidu Drive entrance and two boat takeout locations at the river are perhaps not the ideal solution at this time. Nearby residents campaigned against any vehicles in the canyon five years ago as the environmental approvals for recreational use were being worked out.

That has resulted in decisions to limit access to times when the entrance is manned by parks personnel and to limit the number of vehicles in the canyon at one time to 53 - to match the number of parking spaces in a parking lot lower in the canyon at what was originally a batch plant during dam construction.

 

Limited parking will also mean limited fee collections at the entrance, which leaves the state parks department wondering where the funding will come from to pay for staffing. The idea of opening access on the El Dorado County side has merit but it too is problematic because it's not an easy drive down to the canyon from the Cool area. Promotion of the new river run is also key to making full use of the resource. Auburn businesses, which could benefit the most from the new channel's use, need to work with the city of Auburn and Placer County to market its opening and future use. Tourism and economic development interests should be eyeing the canyon as a new "go-to" experience.

 

The idea of observation decks at strategic locations on the canyon rim has merit. So does coming up with a catchy name for those man-made rapids in the canyon that could prove enticing for kayakers. Think of names like Troublemaker and Devil's Corkscrew.

The question regarding construction of a bridge to replace the over-the-tunnel route used for the past 20 or so years by cyclists, equestrians and runners also needs to be put on the front burner by the state parks department in its general plan.

The Placer County Water Agency had pledged $500,000 toward construction of a crossing and user groups need to start working on raising the remainder - with the help of state and federal officials - just as they did 10 years ago after the Mountain Quarry Railroad Bridge was closed because of structural concerns.

Plenty has been done in the canyon over the past five years to create a new recreational resource in an area that has been untapped for decades. Now is the time to plan to take full advantage of what the new channel offers. #

http://www.auburnjournal.com/articles/2007/09/12/opinion/editorials/01riveredit12.txt?pg=1

 

 

MINE OPERATION CLEANUP:

Crews clean up toxic dirt at Empire Mine; Many projects planned to reduce metals left from gold-mining era

Grass Valley Union – 9/13/07

By Laura Brown, staff writer

 

Crews trained in handling hazardous materials had already covered the former Red Dirt Pile with a synthetic blanket to keep rainwater from leaching poisons into surrounding areas.

And on Wednesday, they continued the project by pushing clean fill dirt atop the blanket in an effort to contain arsenic and lead left behind after a century of gold mining at what is now Empire Mine State Park.

The clean-up project at the 7-acre site is one of many targeted for reducing heavy metals at the park. The project - costing upwards of $1 million - is expected to be complete in October.

"We're looking at this as a permanent solution. This is not an interim measure," said Superintendent Ron Munson.

Mine companies pulled gold out of the Empire Mine area for 106 years, until 1956.

Some operations stockpiled waste rock at the Red Dirt Pile. Elevated levels of metals that are poisonous to people still appear in the red soil 20 years after workers removed 50,000 tons of mine tailings from the mound in a previous clean-up attempt.

California State Parks and Newmont USA Ltd. are cleaning up the site as part of a parkwide environmental assessment and mitigation effort that began in June 2006.

A synthetic blanket - made of a layer of bentonite clay powder sandwiched between layers of a felt-like material and a plastic grid - should work like an impenetrable barrier against rainwater, Munson said. On top of the liner will sit 18 inches of soil, allowing native plants and grasses to grow over part of the former wasteland. Crews will pour asphalt for a parking lot on the rest of the site.

More testing, public meetings ahead

Earlier in the year, sections of trails in the Osborne Hill area were closed after traces of arsenic were detecting during soil sampling. The trails remain closed, but testing of proposed substitute routes is underway, Munson said.

If the park gets approval from the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, officials will hold public meetings in the spring to gather public input about closing segments of old trails and building substitute routes.

The majority of the park's trail system remains open, and those segments are widely used by hikers, mountain bicyclists and equestrian riders.

The park is also testing soil at the Cyanide Plant and Admit Project sites. The Admit Project is an underground tunnel the park wants to open for public tours in the future.

Soil from the main mine yard, main parking lot and stamp mill area also are being inspected. The park plans to pave the dirt parking lot. Preliminary surveys show no concern is necessary regarding public exposure at those sites, Munson said.

Soil profiles, plant surveys and marshland delineation will occur at the Sand Dam. The park is preparing bids for testing and treatment of water from the Magenta Drain, which drains water filled with iron, arsenic and manganese from Empire Mine into ditches near the tennis court at Memorial Park and along a popular trail that leads from the Grass Valley park to the Empire Mine area.

State park personnel want to develop surface water monitoring stations at two sites on Little Wolf Creek, one on the south fork of Wolf Creek and one above the Sand Dam.

Historic surveys of the two dozen smaller mines within the state park are also in the works, Munson said.

Soil testing continues around the eight residential cabins where state park employees live. Several areas of elevated lead levels have been detected, but they are not high enough to cause anyone to move.

"We still need to check them out," Munson said. #

http://www.theunion.com/article/20070913/NEWS/109130182

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