A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
October 26, 2007
2. Supply
PROPOSED PROJECT:
River water for Woodland; Davis, UC Davis could join up to use surface water - Woodland Daily Democrat
Water meters on tap - Woodland Daily Democrat
LONG TERM WATER SUPPLY ISSUES:
Column: Jon Carroll - San Francisco Chronicle
PROPOSED PROJECT:
River water for
Woodland Daily Democrat – 10/26/07
By Lizeth Cazares, staff writer
With the majority of
On Tuesday night, during a special City Council session, staff informed the council of the benefits of becoming a part of the Davis-Woodland Water Supply Project.
Through a partnership between
This is much needed, he said, because at least 14 of the city's wells are more than 30 years old and many have elevated nitrate and boron levels in the water. Additionally, the wells' pumping capacity is barely keeping up with the city's growing population.
"Over the past 20 years, the population has grown 44 percent and our pumping capacity has remained the same," said Baxter.
By using surface water, the city can keep water pressure up and lower boron, salinity and nitrate levels.
"We're trying to look at this in long term goals," said Baxter. "What's going to be better and less expensive for the city in the future."
Even if the city chooses not to go ahead with the program, Baxter said the city will end up paying hundreds of thousands for well repair and maintenance in the near future. And if nitrate and boron levels continue to increase, the city will also have to pay penalty fees from the state.
While it is going to be less expensive for the city to work on these water issues now, it won't be cheap.
Even with the added fee increase, however, the monthly costs for the city's water will be lower than many cities in the
"Not only do we have the cheapest water, but even with what's being projected, when we hit $48 to $50, we're still lower than the cities in the Bay Area," said Councilman Bill Marble.
The council agreed that there should be steps taken to make sure the city can provide quality water for its residents.
"We've had national publicity about our smell; we don't want national publicity about our water," said Marble, referring to the odor that plagued parts of
But there were concerns expressed by other members.
Councilman Art Pimentel said he was concerned about the Davis City Council's position on the project. Baxter said the
"This is something we can't put our fingers on in one night," said Mayor Dave Flory. "This will take a period of time to discuss, but it looks like something we seriously would support."
The staff will continue to inform the council on the project in later meetings.
Both
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_7278249
Water meters on tap
Woodland Daily Democrat – 10/26/07
By Lizeth Cazares, staff writer
During a special session meeting Tuesday night, city staff informed the Woodland City Council about an upcoming citywide water meter installation.
The meters will be used to gauge the amount of water each house uses throughout the day, so the city can charge homes according to water consumption rather than on a flat rate.
Since the installations will take place simultaneously with the Davis-Woodland Water Supply Project, staff decided to split the task up into two phases so that a fourth of Woodland homes will be metered by 2010.
Because of the two phases - and a legal requirement to begin charging households based on meter readings once installed - some councilmen had concerns about the fairness of water costs.
"It doesn't seem fair," said Councilman Jeff Monroe. "Some people won't be charged for continuing to wash down their driveways."
Doug Baxter, city civil engineer, said the staff will work to make it as fair as possible by charging metered homeowners a combination of flat fee and consumption-based rates.
While the project will be expensive, close to $12 million by 2020, staff estimates that increased conservation in the community will lower the need for water. Staff expects that with water conservation the city will not need to use two of its wells, saving more than $4 million in well repairs and maintenance.
The staff will continue to work and inform the council on this project in later meetings. #
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/news/ci_7278250
LONG TERM WATER SUPPLY ISSUES:
Column: Jon Carroll
San Francisco Chronicle – 10/25/07
It's hard to avoid thinking about water. The unusually long summer in Southern California - "summer" in this case being defined as "the interval of time between the last rain of spring and first rain of fall" - has created crackling-dry conditions, so when a predictable spate of Santa Ana winds hits, there were (at this writing, still are) wildfires from San Diego to Santa Barbara.
The native ecology of
The West, particularly the desert Southwest, is the fastest-growing area of the country. More people; less water; bad news.
Jon Gertner in the New York Times Magazine this week wrote a cover story about drought in the West. It covers many issues, and I won't attempt to summarize. One quote struck me. Gertner interviewed Richard Seager, a scientist at
Gertner asked if the climate changes predicted in the models would be permanent. "You can't call it a drought anymore, because it's going over to a drier climate," Seager said. "No one says the
The Times also ran a story this week about drought in the American Southeast, which is not used to dry conditions. Apparently, the reaction to the climate change has been minimal - fountains still flow and lush green grass grows everywhere; industries like Coca-Cola use the same amount of water they always did.
I think this reaction is very human: Let's forget about it and hope it goes away. After all, things are OK right this moment; tomorrow we could all be dead; toujours gai, y'all.
It occurred to me that Sun Belt states are by and large red states, populated by people who voted for George W. Bush twice and who, it would seem, accept the basic ideas of the neo-something (not "conservative," at least not as I understand the word, but something else) Republican Party.
That means that they believe, or believed until recently, that global warming is a hoax, a scare tactic dreamed up by liberals who want everyone to drive cars powered by fairy dust. This is a view promoted by the oil and gas industries, which do not want the acceptance of any belief that would affect the sale of gasoline. Now Bush has finally admitted that global warming is real, but his administration's only real step has been to further subsidize corn producers, not a particularly daring political move.
But the problem is not just causes; it's effects. Human beings need water more than anything, more than sunlight, even. If the water is not going to come from the skies and the snowmelt, where is it going to come from? Desalinization plants? Wastewater recovery? (That's already being done; it has diminishing returns.) Cloud seeding? Rain dances? Faith-based programs?
A second Republican belief is that government is the problem. Let's let the marketplace work it out. There's already a marketplace-based slogan in the world of water managers: "Water flows uphill toward money." It's that political reality that the city of
Not that we in
Sorry. It's all connected. It seems evident we should meet the reality of falling supply with concerted efforts to create falling demand. And what agency can act for the common good and enforce water conservation and/or rationing? Why, that darned old government. Government should be interfering right now with your sacred right to, say, build more golf courses, or take more showers. I look out my window, and I realize my government might very well interfere with my sacred right to own a magnolia tree. Fascists.
There are probably going to be water wars. Water is going to be stolen and defended, just as it was 150 years ago. And wait until
Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by jcarroll@sfchronicle.com. #
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/25/DDDLSUPL9.DTL
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