Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
November 29, 2007
5. Agencies, Programs, People
ACWA CONFERENCE:
State's future water status: crisis; Officials say more storage, delivery infrastructure necessary to fix issue - Desert Sun
LEVEE CERTIFICATION:
FEMA gives local district 2 years to certify levees; Homeowners, developers may be asked to contribute to improvement - Inside Bay Area
J LEVEE REPAIRS:
Dry weather cooperates as J Levee repair begins - Chico Enterprise Record
$5.6M spent by county on two lawsuits; Bulk of fees used for dispute with lakeside resort owner -
FLUME REPLACEMENT:
Water fight; NID postpones decision on historic flumes - Grass Valley Union
WATER POLICY:
Guest Column:
PROFILE OF YUCAPIA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT:
A tour of reservoirs, pumps, faucets and valves - Yucapia/Calimesa News Mirror
ACWA NEWS RELEASE:
ACWA Presents Emissary Award to Gary Arant; Award Recognizes Water Agency General Manager for Commitment to ACWA - News Release
ACWA CONFERENCE:
State's future water status: crisis; Officials say more storage, delivery infrastructure necessary to fix issue
Desert Sun – 11/29/07
By Keith Matheny, staff writer
Worry over
But concern by most Californians over the issue is still at a trickle, officials said at the Association of California Water Agencies' annual fall conference on Wednesday.
"Despite intense media attention, a governor that put his star power on the line traversing the state talking about water problems and a Legislature that was really engaged, the public is still unaware of the problem," association spokeswoman Jennifer Persike said.
The weeklong conference attracted more than 1,600 local water deliverers and experts to the Renaissance Esmeralda Resort and Spa and Hyatt Grand Champions Resort and Spa in Indian Wells.
A survey conducted before the association launched a public awareness campaign this fall found that most people were unaware of the water crisis.
The campaign has since increased awareness, which officials will continue to work on.
Paul Mandabach, a political consultant who helped put together the campaign, said the debate over how bluntly to put the state's water woes was short-lived.
"There is a crisis," he said. "The crisis is not looming. It is now."
Aaron Fukuda, an engineer with the Tulare Irrigation District, can attest to that.
Fukuda's district received only enough water from its sources on the
The district's efforts the past two years to replenish groundwater supplies were expended just this spring, Fukuda said.
"It's pretty critical looking into next year," he said.
"If we don't get any more water, we're going to go really heavy on the groundwater and deplete it out."
Voluntary use-reduction
Dan Seidel, a board member with the Purissima Hills Water District in
"They are very limited in terms of the supplies they can furnish to us," he said.
"The next step will probably be mandatory (reductions), and it will probably be much higher than the 10 percent we have now."
Both Seidel and Fukuda said a solution has to include more water storage and delivery infrastructure.
"When those wet years are around, we need to take advantage of that, keep it locked up in reservoirs or surface storage," Fukuda said.
Added Seidel, "The drought impact plus the potential impact of global warming is immense. And if you don't have either the storage or the transport, you're not going to be able to utilize whatever water there is because you can't get it where it's needed."
Negotiations between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata toward getting a more than $10 billion bond proposal on the Feb. 5 presidential primary ballot appear to have stalled.
Other sticking points
Among the sticking points are differences between Republicans and Democrats over how much water storage and delivery infrastructure should be included in the measure.
Just the fact that the bond measure is close to coming to fruition for 2008 should be encouraging to local water officials, association executive director Timothy Quinn said.
"It tells you that Republicans, Democrats, leadership in the Legislature and the governor belive it's important to try to get there," he said. #
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071129/NEWS07/711290365/-1/newsfront
LEVEE CERTIFICATION:
FEMA gives local district 2 years to certify levees; Homeowners, developers may be asked to contribute to improvement
Inside Bay Area – 11/29/07
By Paul Burgarino, staff writer
Large portions of Lathrop and western
However, developers and homeowners with land behind local levees will likely be asked to raise annual property assessments to help fund improvements, local officials said.
Earlier this month, officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency issued temporary accreditation status to the local Reclamation District — the agency that maintains and owns easements for the levees — giving the district 24 months to provide documentation that the levees can withstand 100-year flood standards.
A 100-year flood is an incident that has a one percent chance of occurring every year, FEMA officials said. The 24-month period started on Aug. 22, 2007.
(The accreditation) accepts the fact that Reclamation District 17 will do everything it can to provide documentation to have the levees certified, said Frank Mansell, a regional FEMA spokesman.
As a result, levee protected areas in the southern
The FEMA partial accreditation gives the state and district a chance to look at all potential weaknesses and areas that may only need minor fixes without having to require flood insurance, Mansell said.
The FEMA decision comes after the state water board and reclamation district issued differing opinions to FEMA on the levee status earlier in the year.
In a June 19 letter sent to the mayors of Lathrop and
Since the FEMA decision, the Department of Water Resources and the reclamation district have talked about how much work the levees need and at what cost.
The agencies are also working on a flood depth map and other public outreach programs to inform those who live on levees of the process, said Dante Nomellini , the districts attorney.
The goal is to put together a project that addresses seepage and let people know whats acceptable, he said. The levees are constantly under pressure. We want to make sure they are in tip-top shape. Were all moving in the same direction in that regard.
While FEMA granted the two-year grace period, Mansell is quick to point out the importance of having flood insurance, particularly for those with properties near levees.
Mother Nature doesnt read flood maps, Mansell said. The maps are there to help people make an informed decision. The levees are able to protect homes for relatively cheap, but they wont replace a home. (Flood insurance) might do that if you buy enough protection.
A benefit assessment will likely be asked of homeowners to fund a portion of improvement costs, Nomellini said.
Officials from the DWR said the state will be responsible for at least half of the levee upgrades, mostly using money from 2006 voter-approved water bond measures. The state, ultimately, is liable if the levees fail, Harder said.
The district will have to pay part of the cost as well. Annual assessments on homes could increase from about $2 to anywhere from $25 to $100 each year, to help the district cover its share of the improvement costs, Nomellini said.
Nomellini said the district hopes to send out an assessment ballot sometime in the spring. Overall, he said the state would probably pick up about 70 percent of the tab, leaving the Reclamation District on the hook for between $15 to $20 million.
Since the districts levees were originally certified in 1990, two events have impacted Lathrops levees. Conditions from El Nino in 1997 caused the
In the view of reclamation district, the levees are still in compliance, in fact because of repairs they are better than 1990, Nomellini said, of the $8 to $10 million to repair the levees.
Hurricane Katrina and its effect on levees in the
prompting new underseepage standards.
Lathrop development requires installing tow drains to add to the protection resulting from seepage, Nomellini said, adding insurance rates could go up from $300 to nearly $2,000 if the area is marked as flood-prone.
Though most of the land covered by levees is farmland, there had been worry that new regulations could threaten development.
Richland Planned Communities has expressed concerns about plans for its 6,800
http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/ci_7588534
J LEVEE REPAIRS:
Dry weather cooperates as J Levee repair begins
By Barbara Arrigoni, staff writer
The significance and feeling at finally getting the emergency job started after a two-year wait was described in one word by Glenn County Sheriff Larry Jones — "relief."
Jones made the comment at a gathering at J Levee among a dozen local and state representatives involved in bringing the project together.
The work is on the back side of the levee just upstream of the Highway 32 bridge, starting at the south edge of a previous repair job and heading hundreds of feet downstream. Glenn County Public Works employees are digging 6 feet deep and replacing the fine-textured, aged soil with fresh dirt containing clay.
The glistening river on the other side of the levee looked far more serene than it did two years ago when it rose during storms and eroded the bank at River Mile 200.6
Jones and Glenn County Flood-control Manager Bob Johnson first noted trouble at the area on New Year's Eve 2005. It had been raining for days and the
Johnson told reporters Wednesday that he and the sheriff patrolled the levee that night, placing stakes at various potential trouble spots. At River Mile 200.6, they placed a stake 20 feet from the water, but by the end of winter in March 2006, the churning water had taken the riverbank to within 7 feet of the stake, Johnson said.
Jones asked officials for emergency repair that March, but an estimated cost to the county of $2 million put the project out of reach. Although the governor authorized funds for repair on privately built levees like the J Levee, and offered a 50-50 match last year, it wasn't until this March that the county and state came up with a plan to repair the vulnerable area. The county's share came through donated work, equipment and materials.
State and county officials in September deemed that the area was in dire need of reinforcement before the start of the rainy season, all agreeing the levee wouldn't hold beyond another high-water event.
After some starts and stops since then, and emergency declarations by the Glenn Board of Supervisors, the work began in earnest Monday.
At Wednesday's gathering atop the J Levee, Assemblyman Doug La Malfa called the project "a triumph of everybody working together to get things done."
La Malfa had urged state legislators and the governor's office to fix the eroded area during the summer of 2006, but he said he's pleased to finally get the job done while the sun is out, and not in mid-January with trucks navigating a muddy levee during an emergency situation.
For the next few weeks, workers will build the area in layers behind the levee, extending 400 feet behind the eroded area, and tapered 200 feet on each side. The repair is expected to last 10 years, holding until construction of a federal project to build a new seven-mile setback levee, which could be three or four years away.
Although Jones said he is relieved, he said the repair won't end the need to patrol the levee during winter. North of the levee, the river is eating an orchard away, slowly encroaching toward County Road 203. At Irvine Finch River Access, an early 2006 project covering the levee in heavy plastic may have to be redone. Jones said the plastic is nearly gone.
Said Jones, "The whole J Levee has gone beyond its design capability. It's worn out. It's tired." #
http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_7587491
$5.6M spent by county on two lawsuits; Bulk of fees used for dispute with lakeside resort owner
By Jim Johnson, staff writer
According to county records obtained by The Herald through a Freedom of Information Act request, the money went to pay for county lawyers, outside legal counsel and expert witnesses.
The bulk of the legal fees were spent defending the county in a suit brought by the owner of lakeside resort facilities along the county's two reservoirs. Water World Resorts owner Dan Heath sued in 2002 over the impact he said the water project would have on his recreational facilities at
In that case, the county spent almost $5.3 million in a protracted legal battle that mostly played out behind the scenes in negotiations between its legal team and Heath's lawyers.
Ultimately, the county reached a $22 million settlement with Heath in September to purchase the lakeside resort facilities and escape the lease.
In the other case, the county spent nearly $330,000 defending itself against a group of
Approved by voters in 2003, the water project has since doubled in cost to about $38 million, not including legal costs and related settlements. The project includes modifications to the Lake Nacimiento Dam spillway and construction of the Salinas River Diversion Facility, also known as the rubber dam.
The project will allow the county to store and release water to be blended with recycled water for irrigation use through the Castroville Seawater Intrusion Project. It is intended to reduce pumping from wells in order to allow underground water sources to replenish themselves and turn back advancing saltwater.
Supervisor Fernando Armenta said it now seems clear that mistakes were made and that the county could have done a better job of assessing the potential risks of the Salinas Valley Water Project in advance.
But Armenta said the county had only a "50-50" chance of winning in court against Heath, and a loss would have meant it would have to pay out much more than it did. He added that the county would still have had to find a long-term water solution for the community.
"Overall, we've got to do what we've got to do," Armenta said. "We came out losing financially big time. That doesn't stop us from doing what we can to provide water and livable communities. If mistakes were made then we have to acknowledge those and move on."
Supervisors Dave Potter, the board chairman, and Simon Salinas said the legal costs and settlement were worth it, given the benefit the county will realize. Both acknowledged the legal costs were significant, and
"In the grand scheme of things, looking at what we acquired and the business opportunities down there and getting out of that lease, I still think we didn't do that badly," Potter said. "Both from the assets we acquired and from the ability to proceed with the water project, yes, it's a good thing."
"Unfortunately, we live in a litigious society; it's part of doing business,"
Attorney Michael Stamp, who represents the Open Monterey Project, said the county's project-related legal costs are further proof that the project has swelled far beyond its original mandate. Stamp said there has been a disturbing lack of accountability at the county, noting that he has requested records of its legal costs without success. He noted that all board approvals of legal costs have been done behind closed doors, beyond public scrutiny.
"The fact that they're losing large lawsuits is one thing, but the fact that they're doing it with no accountability is another,"
Stamp said. "The fact that they'd spend $5 million and never disclose it and use taxpayer money to do it is unbelievable. There's a total lack of transparency, and the county has made no effort to justify this.
"The Salinas Valley Water Project is not as it's been billed. It's been growing by millions of dollars every year with no public disclosure."
According to the county's records, the
The county paid
Meanwhile, the county paid five firms a total of more than $1 million for their services as "expert witnesses," most of it going to the Sacramento-based water project consultant RMC Water and Environment and the Sacramento-based accounting firm of Perry-Smith LLC.
The
Curtis Weeks, general manager of the county Water Resources Agency, did not return a phone call seeking comment. #
FLUME REPLACEMENT:
Water fight; NID postpones decision on historic flumes
Grass Valley
By Laura Brown, staff writer
Residents who want to preserve old wooden flumes that carry Nevada Irrigation District water turned out in force Wednesday night, while downstream ranchers argued their irrigation water was being restricted by the outdated water system.
At a special evening meeting, NID directors postponed a decision to replace the flumes after receiving 50 pages of documents late in the day from lawyer Stephen Volker and two technical experts.
The flumes are located between the DS Canal's intersections with
Replacing the structures would diminish the aesthetic appeal of the area, and the construction project would degrade the environment, residents said.
"The visual impact would be permanent, monumental and irreversible," said Dennis Manyak, who lives on more than 2 acres on
Flume No. 17 passes along the edge of his back yard, offering a charming vista from his home up the hill. He and his wife walk the DS Canal and said the project could lower his property values while ruining the beauty of the trail that many
"Why the massiveness? These old flumes have worked fine for a century," Manyak said.
Meanwhile, the demand for more water is growing daily.
"Probably over 500 people we've told, 'sorry we can't give you any water until we lift the restrictions,'" said NID water superintendent Larry Markey at the public meeting. He said the flumes are unsafe for crews to maintain.
A
"It seems like some people take ownership of that ditch over time. It's for the benefit of all residents of
Concerns raised during Wednesday night's special hearing could influence mitigations to the project before it goes before the board early next year, said Assistant Manager Tim Crough.
That may not satisfy some residents who have threatened litigation if NID ignores requests for an extensive environmental report. #
http://www.theunion.com/article/20071129/NEWS/111290173
WATER POLICY:
Guest Column:
Capitol Weekly – 11/29/07
By Rick Keene, Assemblyman for
I recently joined other members of the Republican Caucus leadership on a policy tour of several other states to learn how they are dealing with some of the same problems that we face in
While some people may think that our state’s problems are exclusive or unique to
We toured the states of
But what I found most useful was
In crafting a long-term solution to the problem,
The Texas Water Development Board estimated that the state will need more than 9 million acre-feet of water over the next 50 years to meet growing demands. The plan to reach that goal consists of three main strategies: conservation, desalination and reuse, and storage (underground and surface). The TWDB estimated how much water each strategy would produce over the next 50 years.
They found that out of the 9 million plus acre-feet expected, desalination and reuse would produce more than 1.5 million acre-feet, municipal and irrigation conservation would produce nearly 2 million acre-feet, and ground and surface storage would produce more than 5.1 million acre-feet, of which surface storage would make up nearly 4.4 million acre-feet. It is estimated that the three proposed storage sites in
In its study, the TWDB also estimated the economic costs of failing to meet the state’s water needs. It found a revenue loss of $9.1 billion in costs to businesses and wages by 2010, and a loss of $466 million in state local taxes by the same date. Those numbers escalated to $98.4 billion and $5.4 billion respectively by the year 2060. These are staggering numbers and a powerful reminder that we cannot afford not to build more water storage in
Also in its study, the TWDB identified the leading impediments to construction of water infrastructure; among the top reasons cited were environmental opposition, parochialism, and lack of public awareness of water supply needs. I found these reasons particularly applicable to
The water bond plan introduced by the governor and Senator Dave Cogdill, R-Fresno has been criticized by environmental alarmists who have no concern for the state’s water needs. It has also been written off by many urban lawmakers who oppose surface storage projects that are not in their districts and who fail to realize the statewide benefit that they provide. And finally, I believe that the public has not been made aware of the looming crisis that our water infrastructure faces.
PROFILE OF YUCAPIA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT:
A tour of reservoirs, pumps, faucets and valves
Yucapia/Calimesa News Mirror – 11/29/07
By Bill Brown, staff writer
Reservoirs, pumps, faucets and valves do not make a water company. What does, however, can be seen by taking a lighthearted journey to unearth the process Yucaipa Valley Water District goes through to provide every day water.
What also can be discovered is why the YVWD water resource is being jealously scrutinized by other water agencies.
It's interesting to find what is done within YVWD's system as each drop of water travels from the mountain streams, collectors, treatment plants, reservoirs, pumps, pipes, homes, faucets, businesses, and finally the sewers. The first source is the
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Melted ice and snow link up with rain water to travel downhill in streams both above and below the surface. This water follows the slope of the mountains to east of Oak Glen.
Here, at the elevation of 5,400 feet, water meets Charlie Bailey, YVWD's operations manager. He divides the water into two groups. One group will continue its freshness trek downstream to the aquifers and wells of the Oak Glen area, supplying campers, homes, businesses and helping to make those appetizing apples.
The initial collector
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It's here, at this first collector, that unwanted objects are removed. Like tourists, the water collects souvenirs from their journey. Leaves, twigs and small stones are types of contaminates not allowed on Bailey's tour bus of water pipes.
This is the beginning of the tour as the water will journey through the world of configurations and developments.
The community is fortunate it's elevation is high and first to get the fresh water. These waters are not familiar to man-made systems so Bailey sends the tour bus down the gravity highway as it enters Yucaipa Valley Water District.
For the first leg, the mountain stream will travel the main conduit to the first of many collectors and filters. Because energy conservation is built into the transportation system, the tour uses very little fuel. The sloping terrain offers a down-hill grade almost all the way with minimum need for pumping. Route planning when installing the GH water pipes created a journey of flow which follows downhill slopes and elevations.
On the journey down, the water unearths its first fascinating tourist benefit which demonstrates how elevation and planning can assist. Bailey tells the water what to expect regarding starting and ending elevations.
“It is 2,700 feet from the starting point (at 5,400 feet above sea level) to the city and 2,700 feet elevation drop from there to the
“Gravity is one of our best friends. The GH is one of the oldest and most economical highways available. It's the same concept used by logging companies who send logs downstream to a mill. In fact the
This makes Yucaipa's water system very unique at the top of the proverbial food chain when it comes to getting to use these fresh water streams, however, this brings with it great responsibility. That is where the district comes into play.
Oak Glen plant
At the OGTP, the water gets a complete cleansing and disinfecting scrub tour. This filtration system uses garnet chips. Bob Wall, one of the curators of the OGTP said, “As the water passes through the units the chips collect the impurities.”
When the water is relieved of all its contagion, it is stored in a reservoir where it is thoroughly disinfected. While there, the water is treated with minimum chlorination which completes the disinfection process. It spends a restful few days in this purification process prior to the next journey down the road.
Meanwhile, each filtration unit gets a great deal of contagion from this process of filtering. That is why some of the water is volunteered to return backward through the filters. This process vibrates and lifts the garnet chips, offloading dirt, residue and other contamination.
The volunteers are then sent on another ground journey to a basin where the earth filters out the dirt and the water is allowed to seep back into the aquifer. This basin also supplies water to non-potable irrigation systems which nourish median landscapes, golf courses and other irrigation uses.
After a few days of rest and purification the water boards the bus to journey the GH again. This time the tour enjoys a closer look at the YVWD's customers.
The water travels to homes along the
This exciting adventure ends with a ride on another bus. This excursion has the water traveling down the GH outer highway to the sewer treatment plant.
However, part of the fresh water did not spend time in homes. It passed by unused.
Escaping the household uses, the water stayed pure and joined other water. Together they become “well”-known and end up in several of the city's reservoirs.”
Wells
This new source is now referred to as “deep drillers” has deeper origins in the earth.
The water has sifted through the earth's natural filtration system ultimately either picked up by local well machinery or follow the underground gravity roadway to other communities.
Many
Pumps pick up the water whenever needed to keep supplies evenly divided throughout the community. This water is more metallic.
YVWD's board of directors: President Tom Shalhoub, Vice President Scott Bangle, Jay Bogh, Hank Wochholz, Bruce Grandlund agree there is no need to use “deep driller” water as frequently as other sources to replenish the aquifer. This takes planning due with the current deficiency of rain.
“
As needed, there are additional waters available from other agencies.
The excess waters from the San Gorgonio Pass and the San Bernardino Municipal water agencies carries a variable cost by supply and demand. Most of the consumers of these waters are along the Riverside/San Bernardino County Line.
After household, business and other use, these waters are sent to the recycling center while, “deep driller” water hooks up with Delta water from
The Aqueduct
While the local sources of water are corralled into local 28 million gallon capacity reservoirs, we also have another source from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta in
There is a special basin where they are kept to rest before they undergo a filtration system which is new to
This water is subjected to a more arduous, grueling filtration shakedown because it bring chemicals and contaminates picked up from the delta tand the length of
A consulting engineering firm, Separation Processes, Inc., helped design and manage the construction of the Crystal Creek Filtration Facility, a 12-million gallon a day treatment plant. Jim Vickers, a vice-president of the firm, said, “Microfiltration provides higher quality water without chemicals.” He added, “There's a resemblance to the technology used to prepare and purify intravenous solutions, but we're using it to make drinking water on a much larger scale.”
Microfiltration at
The water is processed in
The local plant is the largest of its kind. “Even if demand for the states project water elevates exponentially, we have built into the plant enough space to almost double the output we are capable of today,” said Bailey. “It's why our water resources and filtration systems are being scrutinized almost jealously by other water agencies.”
The CCFF takes th delta water and cleans it up. The water is pushed through “mini-straw-like” tubular filters. Otherwise chemically free, the filtering uses so few molecules of chlorine that it can't even turn a gnat white. In non-technical terms, the water passes through hundreds of miniature straws.
Each straw has microscopic holes in the walls. While passing into the straw, the water, pressured by the GH, squeezes out through the holes. This process leaves any contaminating substances inside the straw.
All other water from the world of chemicals and unwanted contaminants will be ejected from the journey by polymeric fiber “police,” which remove micro-organisms and bacteria. This filter system is periodically cleaned by air bubbles. These “scrubbers” shake loose the dirt contaminates which descend down and out to travel another GH inner roadway leading to non-potable systems.
Micro filtration is only part of the
CC has already been supplying filtered water sources. After the filtering, delta water ends up at reservoirs in the city.
Dedication
There are challenges ahead. The capability to produce the finest water from the best filtration, both technologically and naturally, is unlimited. “We have room to grow and produce not just some water, but the cleanest of potable water (household, business and drinking) for more than 100 years ‘well' into the future. There is room and additions will be added as future population growth requires,” said Bailey.
At a recent board workshop the question was asked, “Do we have enough pipes in the ground big enough to hold a larger volume?” Thinking ahead is important.
Eco-system
The eco-system is a concern. The general shortfall of rain throughout
Shortage conditions are problematic to
Assemblyman Paul Cook is more than a great supporter of
YVWD is building for the future, including emergency needs as well as regular household and business requirements.
Reservoirs
Local reservoirs store water for three reasons. The largest percentage of the capacity for each tank is held for emergency and fire. Approximately 50 percent of the capacity is for this purpose while the other half is divided between business or residential usage and a portion saved for “level” use and storage.
The portion saved for level usage helps cover days when customers use more than usual and provides storage space availability when they don't.
In the reservoirs, the water is combined from all three of our resources; mountains, wells and the state water project. After purification and refinement, it is ready for use. However, where does it go from there? What further service is in store for used water?
The Wochholz Recycling Facility
Water from sewer lines is treated at the wastewater treatment plant. This non-potable water is used to nourish plant life and can also seep back into the aquifer, filtered by Mother Nature. Unused non-potable water and used water from all supplies are collected and cleaned and tested by chemists who keep a tight reign on this facility's recycling process. Some water can be sent down stream while much of it is reused and returned as part of the non-potable watering system.
Non-potable water has its own reservoirs. Clean recycled water is piped to sprinklers and other watering systems at school yards, parks, street medians, nurseries and golf courses. This clean non-potable water can also is used in new homes which are dual-plumbed for the purpose of supplying it to plants, gardens and other irrigation usages.
At the Wochholz Recycling Facility, non-potable waters are filtered and disinfected. One of the reasons to take this recycling U-turn is the necessity to return clean water for plant life due to the encroachment of ground covering development projects which are obliterating the soil.
If the soil is covered, water cannot find its way into the aquifer normally, filtering through the earth's natural filtration techniques. Expansion of roads, parking lots, sidewalks, buildings and other permanent ground cover has given the GH a super fast thoroughfare which does not allow the water to get back home. That is why recycling is both necessary and effective.
It sends the water back to areas which have plants to be watered and therefore have dirt through which water can re-filter itself back to replenish the aquifer.
The recycling plant will also be handling another new and little-known process. Water used in homes, businesses and other establishments can build up very high levels of salt. Yep, that's right. As it is used, the water stockpile hoards more than dirt, sewage and an array of chemicals. They also become very briny.
Salt and brine
In process at YVWD is a new inter-community system called “The Brine Line.” When completed, the brine line will carry excess saline collected from water agencies reclamation facilities. The beginning point is the Banning-Beaumont facilities. The line is planned to travel through the Yucaipa-Calimesa-Redlands area following the
As consumers use washing machines, cook food, mop floors and any number of processes using water, it receives a higher percentage of salt. Cleaning chemicals are added to the brine. Customers then dump these dirty waters and it finds its way to the sewer system.
Flowing down the gravity highway, this new line can be harnessed to generate hydro-electric power as it travels to the sea. This is similar to the electricity generated by hydroelectric power plants such as Hoover Dam.
“This is part of the new technologies we are excited about,” said Brent Anton, the district's engineering project integrator. Zoba concurred adding, “It is also part of what is allowing better communication between water agencies in the
Another by-product the directors are looking at is the harnessing of excess gases produced. These gases, presently burned off by most agencies, can be part of fuels used for engines both in the private and public sectors.
Shalhoub asked, “Could this be a source of revenue?”
Zoba responded, “That would be the plan.”
Future uses are being researched that may benefit the city, county and state as much as the use of the recent technologies regarding non-potable water.
Recycling helps by nourishing the plant life returning some of it to the natural process of the aquifer filtration. In other words, water that washes down the street cannot return to the aquifer. Therefore, the non-potable system takes it, cleaned and re-filtered, back to ground where it is used for plants and helps the stabilization of the aquifer.
Recap
Essentially, runoff water is the enemy of conservation. With a little help from the weather, reservoirs will remain full and ready. However, rain is an essential part of the equation.
The YVWD cleans the water. We use it and then they clean it again before reusing it and ultimately sending it downstream to the next agency. Eventually, after another 2,700 foot elevation drop, it winds up in the ocean. Then it breezes back in the clouds and then in the mountains as rain, snow and ice. So the journey repeats itself again.
As the world around us changes exponentially, water issues and resources are becoming all the more consequential. No area is released from possible disaster, misfortune or catastrophic event.
Don't miss the chance to attend the dedication of the already online new Crystal Creek Filtration Facility sometime in January.
Bailey was overheard to say, “Water has been a life long exciting journey for me. Like the sunlight, we cannot live without it. As a precious resource people have sought it, fought for it and died without it. I'm thrilled and energized by what we are doing for the people of
Other staff members of water districts serving the area are willing to work hard to ensure the best possible water is used in the best possible way. Conservation and intelligent use of water resources will partner the consumer with the district, as we all turn on the faucet. #
http://www.newsmirror.net/articles/2007/11/29/news/08news.txt
ACWA NEWS RELEASE:
ACWA Presents Emissary Award to Gary Arant; Award Recognizes Water Agency General Manager for Commitment to ACWA
News Release – 11/28/07
Contacts: Jennifer Persike, 916-441-4545 or 916-296-3981, Director of Strategic Coordination and Public Affairs; Sara Stephens, 916-441-4545 or 916-215-1232, Communication Specialist
INDIAN WELLS,
“ACWA’s Emissary Award is a fitting tribute to the members who guide this Association as it carries out its important mission,” ACWA President Randy Fiorini said. “
Arant, whose commitment and contributions to ACWA span 28 years, has chaired ACWA’s Local Government and Communications committees and has sat on ACWA’s Board of Directors for the past eight years. Highlights of his service to the water community include:
Drafting ‘Guidelines for Conduct’ as part of ACWA’s ethics task force.
Chairing the Communications Committee and publishing “Open and Accessible: A Public Guide to Communication and Transparency.”
Developing ACWA’s grassroots outreach program.
Helping to guide ACWA’s 2005 policy documents “No Time to Waste: A Blueprint for California Water.”
Assisting the production of ACWA’s “
Arant was nominated for the Emissary Award by the ACWA’s Region 10 board of directors.
ACWA is a statewide association of public agencies whose 450 members are responsible for about 90% of the water delivered in
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