Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
November 29, 2007
4. Water Quality
Water cops get reinforcements - North County Times
WASTEWATER ISSUES:
Water cops get reinforcements
By Gig Conaughton, staff writer
The appointments to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board included two first-time members, and the reappointment of Eric Anderson ---- whom the Building Industry Association unsuccessfully asked to have removed in June.
The control board enforces water quality laws from
State officials never publicly released any finding after the local Building Industry Association charged that Anderson, vice president of a La Costa nursery, violated conflict-of-interest laws in January when he helped amend the region's new stormwater permit to benefit nurseries.
However, on Wednesday, Michael Lauffer, the state water Resources board's top lawyer, said by telephone from
Meanwhile, the control board had been limping along for several months with barely enough board members to conduct business, and, in fact, had canceled two meetings because it did not have enough voting members to legally decide upon many issues.
The nine-seat board has had just five members for several months, and would have dropped to four except that
With
"Seven out of nine, I'm very pleased," John Robertus, the agency's executive director, said Wednesday. "We have a meeting on the 12th and I intend to mail out agendas to our new members and we'll move forward from there. This is good news."
As for
"It's not like that," he said. "You've got to expect to take some criticisms."
Building industry officials, however, said they were very disappointed with
"His reappointment is absurd," said Paul Tryon, chief executive officer of
Tryon and the association said
Lauffer sided with
He said the stormwater permit Anderson and the control board approved did not directly regulate nurseries, businesses, or the public. Instead, Lauffer said, the permit tells government -- the county, local cities, the Port District and Regional Airport Authority ---- to implement regulations that will govern the businesses and public.
Lauffer said if the association's charge was correct, no one would be able to serve on the control board because "everyone" -- businesses, government and the public -- were polluters that would be regulated by the board. Control board members are appointed to represent specific industries, such as agriculture, industry and government.
Tryon, however, said that nobody ever bothered to tell the Building Industry Association of the finding. The association filed its complaint with the state resources board, the state attorney general's office and the
Tryon and Lauffer said the attorney general's office chose not to pursue the complaint because they often serve as the control board's legal counsel. Lauffer said the district attorney's office had also not pursued the charge.
When the association registered its complaint against
The stormwater permit is an attempt to stop pollution from running down gutters and storm drains and carrying pollution ranging from fecal matter and pesticides to sediment and chemicals to the sea.
The association has said the permit puts too much of the cost of stormwater cleanup on developers.
Tryon said Wednesday that the association still did not like the permit, but that its charges against
"Our complaint is not an attempt to rescind the permit. We've not taken any action to do that," he said. #
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2007/11/29/news/sandiego/5_02_2011_28_07.txt
Riverside Press
By Aaron Burgin, staff writer
After Tuesday, both groups may get their wishes.
Lake Elsinore City Council voted 4-0 to approve an agreement between the city and Fairfield Properties, developers of the 352-unit Ridgestone Apartments, to construct a new drainage system that will keep the water away from the homes on
The action has some of the neighbors easing their criticism of the city.
"The city and the council pretty much went above and beyond resolving the issue," said Mike Matthews, one of the most vocal critics of the city, county and
"My confidence in the city has been built up substantially," he said when asked whether the city's actions changed his mind about the pending annexation.
The Details
The memorandum of understanding calls for Fairfield to finance and provide labor, equipment and the materials for the construction of the drainage system, and for city officials to fast-track the approval process and get approval from The Shopoff Group to build the new drainage on the group's property.
Seumalo and the engineering staff have worked since the summer to coordinate a fix with
In addition to
"I certainly hope the neighbors understand if the city promises to complete an improvement, they will follow through," Seumalo said.
Two Years of Problems
The flooding started in 2005 when construction began on the luxury complex. Neighbors noticed the ditches and channels along the man-made hillside diverted water from the complex into their backyards and onto
Matthews, his wife, Lisa, and others started complaining in 2006 to the county, city,
Several of the neighbors' backyard lawns were sinking because of the oversaturation and there was stagnant water pooling in the gutters. Neighbors were also concerned the water was causing foundation and septic-tank failure at several homes, as well as mosquito problems with the standing water.
By September, Matthews and neighbors threatened to sue
An 'Olive Branch'
At the same time, the City Council and Planning Commission were about to vote on whether to proceed with annexing 320 acres of land known as the "Third Street Annexation," which included the Allan Street neighborhood.
Neighbors came out in force against the annexation. Several city officials said they realized the drainage situation played a major role in the dissent.
"The memorandum does serve as an olive branch of sorts," city spokesman Mark Dennis said. "We aren't saying that any of these parties did anything wrong, but all of us are dedicated to solving the problem."
Matthews said he and others appreciated the city's forthrightness about the process to finding a solution, and it would go a long way to easing some concerns about annexation.
"They were honest with me. I know things like that take time," Matthews said. "What we wanted was something more than words, and they gave that to us."
Tuesday's vote is only the first step in solving the problem. Caltrans and city officials are discussing how to reduce the storm water runoff that still is pointed toward the street. County officials must also fix the street itself, which is contributing to the standing water.
"But so far, everyone has come to the table. It's been a perfect storm of cooperation," Seumalo said. #
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_sallanfollow29.33192e6.html
WASTEWATER ISSUES:
YubaNet.com – 11/27/07
It was deja vu all over again at Tuesday's BOS meeting. The lingering effects of triptophan or an overly-optimistic sense of timing had some items fall by the wayside, while others took up more than their allotted time.
After proclaiming December 8, 2007 as "Nevada County Food and Toy Run Day" and thanking Thom Staser for the 16th edition of the event, supervisors moved on to the consent calendar.
22 items were awaiting approval, all "expected to be routine and noncontroversial. The Board of Supervisors will act upon them at one time without discussion."
40 minutes and many questions later, supervisors donned their Sanitation District No.1 directors hats and proceeded to another consent calendar.
Among the items approved were an increase in a contract for "additional soils investigation for the
Deja Vu
In September 2005, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board fined Nevada County $574,000 for multiple wastewater violations that occurred at its Cascade Shores Wastewater Treatment Plant between January 2000 and May 2005. The water board addressed the administrative civil liability (ACL) complaint to both the Sanitation District No.1 and the board of supervisors.
Supervisors denied any connection between the county and the Sanitation District, claiming the two public entities were completely separate, in spite of the fact that the same individuals make decisions for both entities.
The water board agreed to reduce the amount of the fine to $43,000 in 2006 and required the remaining $498,000 to be applied to the construction of a new plant. Even the civil grand jury took notice and investigated the issue.
The 84 families connected to the plant voted to oppose a new annual fee of $4,500 per EDU and the Sanitation Board (a.k.a. county supervisors) rejected all bids for improvements on the plant in December 2006 for lack of funding.
The current situation sets up a confrontation between the homeowners and the state water board as the regulatory agency enforcing all state and federal laws. Opportunities to point out the "unfunded mandate" and the "burden placed on the residents" abound and supervisors rarely miss one.
In trying to find a solution, county staff presented a resolution to the BOS that would abate some of the principal amounts of loans for impaired assets of public sewer systems. In plain English, the county would write off the amount of loans made to the various zones in the sewer district for plants and infrastructure that are now obsolete.
How much are we talking about?
The resolution listed
· $55,000 for sewer line construction along
· $64,211 for
· $45,000 for
· $100,000 for
· $200,000 for
· $150,000 for
for a total of $614,211.
The resolution reads: "The principal amounts of the loans referenced therein are hereby declared to be abated and canceled and the principal amounts shall no longer constitute a legal and collectible debt."
Interest charges on the loans were not included in the proposal and the sanitation zones would have to pay those, regardless of the cancellation of the debt.
This plan did not appeal to most of the supervisors, except for a vigorous defense by Nate Beason and some token support by Ted Owens. Nevertheless, four of the supervisors were unwilling to have the county write off these loans for the good of the ratepayers. The resolution was tabled indefinitely with Beason voting No. In coming years, both the Lake of the Pines and the
In the meantime,
http://www.yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_71415.shtml
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