Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
November 8, 2007
5. Agencies, Programs, People
WATER PROJECTS BILL:
Congress vote to challenge Bush - Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Los Osos sewer funding riding on Bush veto override; The Senate votes today on a bill that includes money for the Osos project - San Luis Obispo Tribune
SAN LUIS REY RIVER BRUSH REMOVAL:
State agency weighing permit for brush removal in riverbed - San Diego Union Tribune
BIG CHICO CREEK:
River gravel bar being removed - Chico Enterprise Record
REFUNDS:
Pajaro Valley water customers will get refunds - Associated Press
WATER PROJECTS BILL:
Congress vote to challenge Bush
By Lisa Friedman, staff writer
The move comes as 131 House GOP lawmakers voted earlier this week to override Bush's veto. Each has projects in the Water Resources Development Act, which includes more than $1.3 billion for
Five Southland Republicans have joined Democrats to buck Bush, including Elton Gallegly of
"This has been in the works a long time, and it just needed to get done," Dreier spokesman Jo Maney said of the bill, noting it had stalled for years in the Senate before passing.
"It's unfortunate that it got as big as it did, but we believe that our projects were worthy of federal partnership and worthy of support," Maney said.
Miller spokesman Scott Toussaint noted that the congressman is a member of the water resources subcommittee that has worked on the measure for six years.
Miller, he said, is "pleased that this long-overdue bill will finally become law."
The 361-54 House vote easily exceeded the two-thirds majority required to defeat it. The Senate is expected this morning to also soundly reject the president.
But the White House maintains the measure is stuffed with local pet projects that would worsen a "massive backlog" of projects at the Army Corps of Engineers.
"American taxpayers should not be asked to support a pork-barrel system of federal authorization and funding where a project's merit is merely an afterthought," Bush said in his veto statement.
But local lawmakers said the measure funds critical projects. In addition to helping restore fish and habitat in the
In the Inland Empire, the measure orders the Army Corps of Engineers to investigate the source of perchlorate contamination in public drinking water supplies in
It also authorizes an unspecified amount of funding to the cities of
"These projects are important in making sure drinking water in the 43rd Congressional District is safe and clean, and ensuring our area has the proper resources to deal with excess water and flood damage," said Rep. Joe Baca, D-Rialto. #
http://www.dailybulletin.com/search/ci_7398996?IADID=Search-www.dailybulletin.com-www.dailybulletin.com
Los Osos sewer funding riding on Bush veto override; The Senate votes today on a bill that includes money for the Osos project
San Luis Obispo
By Sona Patel, staff writer
Local lawmakers are hoping the Senate will override President Bush’s veto of the Water Resources Development Act today—a move that could provide up to $35 million toward building a sewer in Los Osos.
The federal spending bill includes money for public works projects nationwide.
Los Osos isn’t guaranteed the full amount, however, and local officials won’t know how much money they could get for the sewer until later this year or early next year.
Reps. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, and Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, voted Tuesday in favor of overriding Bush’s veto.
“We’re hopeful that Los Osos will receive money for the planning and design phase,” said Emily Kryder, Capps’ press secretary.
Last month, Los Osos property owners overwhelmingly approved a $127 million assessment on their homes and businesses to pay for a sewer.
Homes and businesses in the town of more than 14,000 run almost entirely on septic tanks to dispose of waste. Water quality regulators blame those septic systems for nitrate pollution in the local groundwater and in
The Los Osos Community Services District broke ground on a project in August 2005 that was expected to cost more than $100 million.Work on that project was halted just about a month later by a new district board that was elected in a recall election.
County officials took over preliminary design of construction of a wastewater treatment plant earlier this year under a bill brokered by Assemblyman Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo, and approved by the state Legislature.
The list of federal projects eligible for funding is long, Kryder said, but the strong voter-approved assessment could positively influence how much the district receives, she added.
The bill also includes $3 million for the Cambria Community Services District toward the cost of a desalination plant. The CSD would be reimbursed for funds it has already spent on the project.
The services district wants to build the plant to secure a reliable source of water for the town, which banned new water hookups in 2001 because of a limited water supply.
The most recent official estimate of the plant’s cost, $13.7 million, is about three years old. #
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/story/187329.html
SAN LUIS REY RIVER BRUSH REMOVAL:
State agency weighing permit for brush removal in riverbed
By Lola Sherman, staff writer
A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' proposal to clear the river's flood control channel is in the hands of the state agency, which has the power to permit the project.
The federal and state agencies have disagreed on how to manage the riverbed for the benefit of endangered species.
At the Oceanside City Council meeting last night, Fish and Game representative Libby Lucas said the agency would try to approve a permit by the end of the year to clear the river's vegetation-filled flood control channel.
A construction contract has been signed and work could begin in January or February, a department official said in an interview last week.
If the work is not done by mid-March, Lucas told the council, it would have to be postponed until September to protect the nesting season for endangered species in the area.
Oceanside Fire Chief Terry Garrison told the City Council that clearing brush from the flood control channel also would provide fire protection.
Councilman Rocky Chavez put the issue on the council's agenda because of concerns of fire danger.
Chavez said that during the recent
Three factors are involved in fires, Chavez said – weather, terrain and fuel. While the council has no control over the first two, it can do something about the fuel – the vegetation in the river.
Mayor Jim Wood assured residents that if there were imminent danger, the city would act to clear the river. City Attorney John Mullen said, however, that if the river were cleared without a permit and an imminent danger did not exist, the city could be faulted for violating laws protecting endangered species.
“I think you've heard bureaucracy at its finest here,” Councilman Jack Feller said.
He joked that “the City Council should go on a hunger strike until the agencies decide that human life is more important than the toads, birds and various plants and animals.”
Not everyone speaking at the meeting wanted the river cleared.
Resident Joan Bockman told the council that it should stop thinking of the river as a problem and start thinking of it as a resource.
Resident Diane Nygaard said that a fire has never come down the river from outside
Next Thursday, the state Coastal Commission is expected to rule on the Army Corps' management plan for vegetation and sediment in the river. #
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20071108/news_1mc8oside.html
BIG CHICO CREEK:
River gravel bar being removed
By Heather Hacking, staff writer
Work will be completed soon to remove a gravel bar on the east side of the
The project also includes placing 1,520 feet of rock and tree revetment on the west side of the river, on land owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Wednesday a crew was out at the river, with members of Ducks Unlimited helping observe the work.
The project started about two weeks ago and should be completed this week.
This is the second time the gravel bar has slowly developed at the site and been removed.
The location on the east side of the river is where M&T Ranch has a pumping station. The water irrigates the ranch and sends water to the Llano Seco Wildlife Refuge.
The gravel bar now and in the past has also threatened to block the area where the city discharges treated water from the city's sewage treatment plant.
Previously, M&T Ranch pumped water from Big Chico Creek, but the pumping was switched to the Sacramento River in 1997 in a deal to protect spring and winter-run Chinook salmon in the creek. Fish screens were also installed in that $5 million project.
Les Heringer, manager of M&T, said he was reassured at the time that the location of the new pump would be the most stable along the river.
But the river changed.
By 2001 a gravel bar had built up at that location, jeopardizing operation of the pumps and the city's sewer outfall. The gravel was taken and placed on M&T land where it is today.
Since then, more gravel has deposited at that location.
With a long-term solution still out of reach, the gravel bar is again being removed, with the 100,000 yards of material moved to the ranch.
It is hoped that the work on the west side of the river will help prevent the gravel on the east side from accumulating as quickly.
The city, meanwhile, has long-term plans to move the outfall downstream when the city works on an expansion of the current sewage treatment plan. #
http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_7402112
REFUNDS:
Associated Press – 11/8/07
The Watsonville-based Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency will pay $13.5 million in illegally collected water pumping charges over the past five years. It's not clear when ratepayers will get refunds.
The agencies board debated Wednesday whether to establish a process for claiming refunds or to just put the checks in the mail.
A decision isn't anticipated for at least a month.
Tax watchdog Harold Griffith says the agency is legally bound to return the money because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in other cases that illegally collected fees must be returned. #
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