Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
November 16, 2007
5. Agencies, Programs, People
Panel OKs rubber dam for county water plan; Project will reduce underground water pumping, limit saltwater advance - Monterey Herald
WATER AGENCY VOTE:
Water agency delays fee vote; Directors filter through customers' questions - Auburn Journal
DELTA BOATING:
Delta boating proposal eased; Limit to anchor up from 4 to 15 days - Stockton Record
PIPELINE PROJECT:
Progress is quick in pipeline project; PID may beat bypass deadline - Paradise Post
WATER PROJECT VETO:
Editorial: Congress got it right - Contra Costa Times
Panel OKs rubber dam for county water plan; Project will reduce underground water pumping, limit saltwater advance
By Jim Johnson, staff writer
County water officials cleared another important hurdle for the long-delayed Salinas Valley Water Project on Wednesday.
By a unanimous vote, the county's Planning Commission approved building and use permits for a critical component of the project — the Salinas River Diversion Facility, also known as the rubber dam. The dam would cost about $14 million and be located on the
Combined with planned modifications to the Lake Nacimiento Dam spillway, the dam will allow the county to store and release water to be blended with recycled water for irrigation use through the Castroville Seawater Intrusion Project.
The project is designed to reduce pumping from underground water sources, allowing them to replenish themselves and turn back advancing saltwater.
Responding to questions from planning commissioners about the project's capacity, county Water Resources Agency general manager Curtis Weeks said the project will provide an additional 30,000 acre feet of water per year, enough to meet the county's needs through 2030. Weeks said it includes water for new users based on growth projections by the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments.
But Weeks said the project's reduced pumping capacity will only provide enough water to head off seawater intrusion by balancing the underground water supply. Other water projects would be needed to provide water for additional growth, he said.
The project's pumping capacity was reduced by nearly half in response to concerns from the National Marine Fisheries Service regarding the impact on migrating steelhead trout.
Weeks told planning commissioners that the project is an essential effort to harness the county's abundant water sources for use by residents, some of whom are already experiencing shortages.
"We do not have a water supply problem in
The project, approved by voters in 2003, has been subject to numerous delays and changes, as well as a doubling in cost to about $38 million. That doesn't include millions of dollars in legal costs the county has incurred defending the project from two court challenges, and the cost of purchasing the resort operations at Lakes Nacimiento and San Antonio as part of a settlement in one case.
Weeks said the dam project this month received its Section 404 permit from the Army Corps of Engineers, which governs construction projects affecting wetlands, and is working on securing additional permits.
Weeks told the commission that construction of the dam is set to begin in April 2008, and the project would begin delivering water by April 2009. County water officials are preparing a tax measure to pay for operations and management of the project.
Wednesday, the commission recommended approval of a permanent ordinance amendment banning new billboards in unincorporated areas of the county. The board of supervisors must grant their approval to enact the rules changes.
Billboards, as defined in the proposed ordinance, are permanent, off-site signage promoting businesses, but do not include signage with political or community advocacy messages on them. Courts have ruled those are protected by the First Amendment, said deputy county counsel Frank Tiesen.
Supervisors approved an interim ordinance banning billboards in May that lasts for a year. #
http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_7467981?nclick_check=1
WATER AGENCY VOTE:
Water agency delays fee vote; Directors filter through customers' questions
Auburn Journal – 11/16/07
By Gus Thomson, staff writer
A proposal to increase water bills weathered criticism Thursday from customers at a Placer County Water Agency hearing.
Agency directors decided after hearing public testimony to hold off on a vote until early next month to give staff time to answer some of the questions raised.
Speakers wanted to know more about why they are facing another increase. The proposal would see the hikes start appearing on bills in the new year.
There were also questions about establishing new rates for people on fixed incomes and customers with gardens.
Barbara Van Riper of
"There has to be a time when you as a board bite the bullet and give ratepayers a rest from increases," Van Riper said.
Auburn's Eric Peach said that he'd like the agency consider a new billing tier for treated water customers that would take into account residential gardens that consume more water but are utilizing it productively.
With rising rates increasingly tied to the amount consumed, a typical customer would be facing a $4.65-a-month increase during the warmer summer months, based on 748 gallons per day or 30 units per month. The agency says 60 percent of its Zone One customers -- which includes the
The increase would boost a summertime bill from 2007's $60.25 a month to $64.90 -- or 7.72 percent.
For a low water user, utilizing an average of 100 gallons a day, the increase would be $1.41 a month -- from $33.87 to $35.28.
Chairman Lowell Jarvis, who represents the
"We have a need to go to the less you use the less you pay," Jarvis said.
Board members voted 4-0, with Colfax-area Director Otis Wollan absent, to postpone their own discussion on the proposed increases until Dec. 6. Director Gray Allen of
http://www.auburnjournal.com/articles/2007/11/16/news/top_stories/03wateragency16.txt?pg=2
DELTA BOATING:
Delta boating proposal eased; Limit to anchor up from 4 to 15 days
By Zachary K. Johnson, staff writer
FRENCH CAMP - Boaters wishing to stay put in Delta waterways for more than a few days at a time got a reprieve in the latest draft of a proposed boating ordinance meant to tighten up rules for boats in
Some boaters were angry that new rules would prohibit boats from mooring or anchoring in the same place for more than four days when the proposed ordinance was first unveiled earlier this year. But the new draft pushes the limit up to 15 days, while still giving law enforcement the tools it needs to more effectively patrol the Delta, officials said Thursday evening during a meeting at the Sheriff's Office to explain changes to the ordinance.
"It was a huge sticking point with people," Lt. Dave Souza said. "We felt it was a fair compromise."
There was scattered complaints about the proposal among the roughly 20 boat-minded people at the meeting.
A new ordinance will give law enforcement the probable cause to approach boats that could be the source of other problems, from cooking methamphetamine to dumping sewage, according to the Sheriff's Office.
Allen Bonnifield, who boats on the Delta, said some points in the ordinance targeting derelict vessels were unnecessary. "I don't think it's right to make other people suffer," he said.
A change in the county ordinance would mirror changes in neighboring counties. The fear is that problem boats will start drifting into
"What you're getting is an influx of the people who want to live on the Delta," he said. Some of the boaters use 5-gallon buckets as toilets, and the new ordinance will give the Sheriff's Office the tools to make sure those buckets don't get emptied into the water.
The ordinance does not only deal with mooring limits; it also addresses waste disposal.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071116/A_NEWS/711160311
PIPELINE PROJECT:
Progress is quick in pipeline project; PID may beat bypass deadline
By Paul Wellersdick, staff writer
Paradise Irrigation District is nearing completion of the Magalia bypass quicker than anticipated and may finish ahead of schedule. The project is 80 percent complete. And if the weather holds out the project may be up and running by mid-December, ahead of its scheduled completion date of the first week of January, PID Manager George Barber said.
This week, the California Department of Water Resources Division of Dam Safety will perform the final inspection of the pipe that goes through the dam and the dam reconstruction around the pipe. Also, a screen designed to filter large debris from the inlet of the diversion structure between the district's lakes will be installed.
The bypass will provide PID with water from above the Magalia reservoir, but below
The third reason is to save energy by drawing water to the plant with gravity rather than pumping it. Lastly, the district will have a second source of water to the treatment plant and to the down stream habitat, should the reservoir become contaminated at the dam. #
http://www.paradisepost.com//ci_7464405?IADID=Search-www.paradisepost.com-www.paradisepost.com
WATER PROJECT VETO:
Editorial: Congress got it right
Contra Costa Times – 11/15/07
A BILL THAT SEEKS $23 billion in water projects was so popular on both sides of the aisle in Congress that it recently gathered enough votes to become the first override of a President Bush veto. There's nothing like water projects to bring lawmakers together.
The Water Resources Development Act is one of the few shining moments where Congress came together at the right time. The bill authorizes approximately 900 projects to bolster some of the most vulnerable regions in the country, such as the Gulf Coast and Florida Everglades, in addition to finally replacing Depression-era locks on the upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers, where flooding has become a regular event.
This bill is particularly huge for the Bay Area and
In all,
Bush's reasoning for opposing this bill is he feels the country can't afford it. But that is short-sighted. Actually, this country cannot afford not to support this bill. So many areas in our country need to shore up rivers and levees teetering on disaster, and many water projects can help us ride out potential droughts, such as what we're slowly seeing in
Even one of the top Republican voices in Congress, Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott of
We agree. The benefits outweigh the costs by a wide margin, and many disasters in the future will be averted. This time, Congress got it right. #
DWR's California Water News is distributed to California Department of Water Resources management and staff, for information purposes, by the DWR Public Affairs Office. For reader's services, including new subscriptions, temporary cancellations and address changes, please use the online page: http://listhost1.water.ca.gov/mailman/listinfo/water_news. DWR operates and maintains the State Water Project, provides dam safety and flood control and inspection services, assists local water districts in water management and water conservation planning, and plans for future statewide water needs. Inclusion of materials is not to be construed as an endorsement of any programs, projects, or viewpoints by the Department or the State of
No comments:
Post a Comment