Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
December 10, 2007
5. Agencies, Programs, People
LEVEE REPAIR:
Huge task for nascent flood agency; Entity must rebuild Sutter levees – and find money to do it - Marysville Appeal Democrat
Guest Opinion: Regional planning needed for flood dollars - Marysville Appeal Democrat
ALLUVIAL FANS TASK FORCE:
Panel to study building on alluvial fans - San Bernardino Sun
Panel looks for ways to manage flooding, development on alluvial fans - Riverside Press Enterprise
Sonar to help seek out levee problems - Stockton Record
ORANGE COUNTY LEVEE
Eroding Huntington Beach levee survives storms; Emergency repair work is expected to begin in January - Orange County Register
TUJUNGA WASH PROJECT:
Tujunga Wash project opening floodgates to change - Los Angeles Daily News
TRI-DAM BENEFITS:
Tri-Dam fuels SSJID drive to deliver cheap retail electricity - Manteca Bulletin
LOWER YUBA RIVER ACCORD:
River accord waiting for state approval - Marysville Appeal Democrat
Officials to update on Salton Sea; Bill to jump-start the restoration stalled in the Legislature this year - Desert Sun
Column: Thousands of fish die, but where's DFG? -
Wolk wants new Delta agency; Recent fish kill suggests lack of communication among officials - Woodland Daily Democrat
Water district chief to retire under a cloud of controversy; SPENDING, BIG-MONEY HIRE OF AIDE DREW FIRE - San Jose Mercury News
WATER POLICY:
Editorial: Water weakness - Riverside Press
FLOOD INSURANCE:
Editorial: It's the safest policy; County residents should prepare now for mandatory flood insurance -
LEVEE REPAIR:
Huge task for nascent flood agency; Entity must rebuild Sutter levees – and find money to do it
Marysville Appeal Democrat – 12/9/07
By John Dickey, staff writer
Levees in sketchy condition, construction costs that could reach hundreds of millions of dollars, and a remap of parts of Sutter County into the flood zone are some of the flood-protection issues the county and Yuba City are facing.
On Wednesday, the Sutter-Butte Flood Control Agency will meet for the first time to start sorting those issues out.
The first meetings will be geared toward housekeeping items, including the choice of an interim executive director. The board is expected to approve Bill Edgar, a former director of the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, to head the Sutter-Butte agency.
But the organizational duties are just a prelude to the real heavy lifting.
It will be the agency’s job to rebuild levees that are being drilled, surveyed and profiled to find any weak spots, and fix them up to meet tougher federal standards to protect against at least a 100-year storm, and keep making them stronger.
“The indications are it will be a very large job, and take many years, is my guess,” said Sutter County Administrator Larry Combs. “But the agency will address that.”
The agency will have to keep pace with federal government standards for levee construction, and get the area off the federal flood maps that will show large portions of
It’s a big job with plenty of territory to cover. The agency’s reach will extend past the
“The state wants this to be more on a regional basis than a localized basis,” said Yuba City City Councilman John Miller, an agency board member.
State Department of Water Resources studies are already under way to figure out where the trouble spots are, and indications so far are not very encouraging. Even with $55 million spent to bolster Feather River levees in the last 10 years or so, levees protecting the
Sutter County Supervisor Dan Silva said figures he has heard for the
Silva noted that levee standards have been a moving target to achieve. Natomas, for example, was once thought to have a 100-year level. That figure was knocked down by the Federal Emergency Management Agency because of tougher levee construction requirements.
Miller cautioned that the levees should not be viewed as substandard. But levees built today would be built differently than in the 1890s when farmers started putting up embankments to protect their land.
“Probably, we have some of the best levees in the system,” said Miller.
When results of core-drilling studies by the Department of Water Resources are issued early next year, agency officials will have better insight into how well the
Then the agency will have to come up with a repair plan and a price tag. The exact costs are unknown, but some early ballpark estimates pegged the figure at $375 million.
In the
Combs said the
Fixing the levees and coming up with a repair program will be two challenges. But the passage of some sort of taxing measure will be yet another hurdle – perhaps the biggest.
Two sales tax initiatives to repair levees in the 1990s narrowly failed even after a huge storm in 1997 threatened to inundate the county, prompting a mass evacuation.
“It’s going to be the mission of the (flood control agency) to prove that it’s a real asset,” said Silva about a benefit assessment.
An appointed advisory group, the Citizens Advisory Committee for Flood Control Funding in
Unlike a sales tax, which requires a two-thirds majority, a benefit assessment needs just over 50 percent approval to pass.
Some are questioning whether a benefit assessment will fly in some areas, and whether there is anything even broken to fix. In Live Oak, where it would rarely flood, according to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers studies, city officials are already skeptical.
“We want to participate, but we are really concerned what the cost is,” said Live Oak City Manager Tom Lando.
Lando noted that more studies are needed on a flood-protection system for Live Oak before any money is spent. One question that remains is whether a ring levee around the city would be better than a main levee.
Miller said that if the flood protection is not benefiting Live Oak, the assessment might cost little or nothing. Studies will have to be done by the agency to determine what areas would be helped the most by better levees.
“The (agency) is going to have to get info out to people so they can vote on it in an informed manner,” said Miller.
With a growing area that has 80,000 to 90,000 people living behind the
“This is the highest priority that we have in
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/agency_57532___article.html/flood_city.html
Guest Opinion: Regional planning needed for flood dollars
Marysville Appeal Democrat – 12/8/07
By Dan Silva,
In
We haven’t stopped working. Notably, Levee District 1 has re-engineered the levee at Shanghai Bend, one of several weak points that held up against a big storm in 1997. Since then, our community has spent more than $55 million to upgrade and maintain levees.
Hurricane Katrina focused the entire nation on what can happen when our levees fail. The Paterno legal decision, which found that the state of
Last year,
The message from the state’s flood leaders is pretty clear: cooperate and come up with a regional plan. That is why we’re setting up a joint powers authority – the Sutter-Butte Flood Control Authority – as a team effort to better respond to flood hazards in the
The challenges are big, and will require hard work. But if we don’t have one clear voice all the communities in the Yuba City flood basin, regardless of political boundaries, we can be sure that we’ll be last in line when Sacramento and Washington, D.C., are deciding who receives flood improvement dollars. #
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/flood_57515___article.html/sutter_yuba.html
ALLUVIAL FANS TASK FORCE:
Panel to study building on alluvial fans
By George Watson, staff writer
The group - comprising politicians, flood-control experts, developers and environmentalists - spent the meeting of the Alluvial Fan Task Force reviewing
The task force is charged with studying potential development in alluvial fans - the sort of floodplain that contributed to 16 deaths in the Christmas Day 2003 debris flows in
Local alluvial fans are from centuries of runoff made up of sediment spewed forth from canyons from the San Bernardino Mountains to
That's because, as history has shown through the sediment that is already there, a lot can be expelled rapidly out of the canyons - and the results can be deadly, along with expensive.
"It's a dream come true," Susan Lien Longville, director of the Water Resources Institute and wife of former Assemblyman John Longville, D-San Bernardino, who sponsored the legislation in 2004, said of Friday's session at the Riverside County Flood Control District. "This is a perfect time, especially because of a dip in development because of the economy, so next time we will be ready for thoughtful land-use decisions."
David Mlynarski, owner of MAPCO, a Southern California developer that has done significant work in
But he expressed some concern that the panel's recommendations would lead to regulations pinning more expenses on developers.
"When you are talking about new regulations, the idea is always good to start with, but if its not implemented properly and consistently, it can become an unfair problem," Mlynarski said. "The issue is, who pays for it? Do the people who settled the area long ago and are now making money by selling it get a free ride, and the developer is required to fix it?
Because of a continuing surge in population,
Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael Antonovich said he hopes to spur changes with regulatory agencies that slow down flood control districts' attempts to clean out basins and channels with unnecessary red tape.
And Norman Meek, a Cal State San Bernardino professor who is a geographer and geomorphologist, said he hopes to bring legislative change limiting where development takes place.
"I would like to see us exclude development from the most dangerous areas," Meek said. "It's in some ways too late for us in the
The task force tentatively plans to meet next on Jan. 4. The location has yet to be settled upon, but would likely be in one of several areas endangered by alluvial fans in
Meetings are planned through the winter, with outlines for a model ordinance for building on alluvial fans in April and a session in June to settle on the panel's recommendations. #
http://www.sbsun.com/search/ci_7668955?IADID=Search-www.sbsun.com-www.sbsun.com
Panel looks for ways to manage flooding, development on alluvial fans
Riverside Press
By Jennifer Bowles, staff writer
As the region braced for more rain, a state-led task force met in
The 33-member task force appointed by Lester Snow, director of the California Department of Water Resources, is examining how and what kind of development should occur on alluvial fans -- the sandy, rocky slopes that spread out like fans below canyons.
The Inland region, with its steep mountains, has hundreds of alluvial fans, which can span 10 miles. They are prized by developers for their views and by farmers for their fertile soil.
Some are key migration corridors for wildlife, including some in danger of extinction. If they remain undeveloped, they allow storm runoff and snowmelt to soak into the ground and replenish drinking-water aquifers, said Cameron Barrows with the Center for Conservation Biology.
Recent development proposals in Desert Hot Springs and
Flash flooding on alluvial fans can have disastrous consequences.
Sixteen people were killed in the
Following the 2003 flood, Gov. Schwarzenegger signed AB2141, which called for the creation of the task force.
Recommendations will be drafted at the panel's sixth meeting in June and then sent to the state Legislature. The hope is that cities and counties in 10 counties in central and
Ricardo Pineda, chief of floodplain management with the state water resources department, cited the devastation he saw in
"We have a moral mandate to carry this out," he said. "You have to develop all the tools in your toolbox, even if you're not going to use them for 20 years." #
http://www.pe.com/localnews/environment/stories/PE_News_Local_D_fans08.3371572.html
Sonar to help seek out levee problems
By Alex Breitler, staff writer
Helicopters hovered over levees, shooting out laser beams and radio waves to map every bump along the way.
Workers drilled holes every 1,000 feet to learn more about soil composition and stability.
But state officials still aren't finished with a $35 million urban levee evaluation program. This month, they'll boat down portions of the
The idea is to learn whether the levees are eroding under water, something that's otherwise not easy to learn.
"These data will be combined with above-ground data to help give engineers a comprehensive 'picture' of the levee surfaces," the Department of Water Resources said in an announcement.
Similar boat surveys already are under way or will take place on portions of the
There are 1,600 miles of state and federal levees in the
Henry Long of French Camp said that if the state finds deficiencies in the
Long has watched the levee persevere under high flows for more than 70 years. While water frequently seeps through the sandy levee and boils up from the ground, there's been just one serious breach, in 1950, he said. That year, farmland was flooded for miles.
Since then, Long's Reclamation District 17 has spent $25 million widening and raising the levee, he said. The state and federal governments have assisted, he said.
"Our levees are good," Long said. "They're a lot better than they were in the '50s."
Levee expert and
"There's a desire to go even further," he said. "But no matter what we do to them, you can't say that these levees will never break."
The state's sonar studies could be helpful spotting underwater hazards such as beaver holes, Nomellini said.
Money for the project comes from two flood-control bonds approved by
Ultimately, officials hope to have enough information to repair and upgrade levees to protect Stockton and Lathrop from floods that are expected to become more frequent and intense because of the effects of climate change. #
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071210/A_NEWS/712100319
ORANGE COUNTY LEVEE
Eroding Huntington Beach
Orange County
By Jennifer Muir, staff writer
Meanwhile, county employees have been patrolling the levee around the clock during recent rainstorms, ready to act if water in the channel reaches critical levels. So far, the deluge has not posed a major threat to the East Garden Grove Wintersberg Flood Control Channel, said Phil Jones, manager of the county's flood control design section.
"This entire storm season is going to be us praying and crossing our fingers that nothing happens until we get that sheet pile in place," Jones said.
Workers are poised to take immediate action to stop flooding and evacuate a nearby neighborhood if the levee crumbles.
The California Coastal Commission approved a permit in November for emergency repairs to the flood control channel, which is dotted with holes from burrowing animals. If a major storm causes water levels to rise and funnel through those holes, the levee could quickly erode, potentially flooding more than 400 homes, Jones said.
County officials initially expected repair work to begin in mid-December, said Nadeem Majaj, manager of the county's flood control division. But the high-grade steel pilings needed to reinforce the earthen berm could not be manufactured and delivered until late December, said Steve Cox, project manager with J.F. Shea Construction.
Work on the $8 million project is expected to begin Jan. 7. Interlocking pilings — each 45 feet long – will be inserted vertically into the middle of the existing roadway along the levee, creating a steel barrier. Barring a major storm, supply shortage or other delays, work should be completed by Feb. 28, according to the contract's terms.
County supervisors voted in October to seek help paying for the repairs, including from developer Shea Homes, which plans to build homes on 29 acres next to the channel.
The levee was built during the early 1960s and stretches from the coast to the city of
The most recent damage was discovered in March 2005 after heavy storms. County workers made temporary fixes and began the environmental review process to make permanent repairs. When flood control officials realized that process wouldn't be completed soon enough, the county asked permission to make emergency fixes.
"It came to a point where the upcoming storm season was upon us and we had to do something immediately," Jones said.
Resident Maureen Russac was walking her dog June on the levee Sunday morning and noticed the water flowing though the channel was higher than usual. Still, she's not worried it will breach before repairs are made.
"It doesn't look any worse today than it has before," she said. "But it is pretty muddy, I'll tell you that." #
http://www.ocregister.com/news/levee-county-flood-1938313-control-channel
TUJUNGA WASH PROJECT:
By Troy
Valley Glen residents Austen and Doug Klein walked their Afghan hound Cody along the Tujunga Wash last month and paused to enjoy the peace and serenity.
"We're really excited about it," Austen said of a recently completed $7million greenway and stream-restoration project along the wash. "It's really beautiful. It's changed the whole area."
The project - which diverts some of the water flowing in the nearby flood-control channel into a one-mile stream to recharge the underground aquifer - is just one of dozens of projects planned and under way designedto transform the Los Angeles River from a longtime eyesore into a public amenity.
"There are dozens of similar projects on the drawing board," said Joseph T. Edmiston, executive director of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. "This one really shows that we can combine recreation, aesthetic amenities and river function.
"And this is the first real example of re-establishing important natural function by recharging the aquifer."
Similar projects along the river include a greenway and bikeway on an undeveloped half-acre along the Pacoima Wash at
There's also a 2.5-mile extension of the Los Angeles River Bikepath and park in the Elysian Valley, a one-acre
Future state parks are set at Cornfield and Taylor Yard and the
The Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority is helping develop the parks as part of the Los Angeles River Master Plan, which also seeks to boost water conservation and quality, wildlife habitat and recreational opportunities along the river and its tributaries.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles City Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, state Sen. Alex Padilla and other officials recently dedicated the Tujunga Wash project, which features a natural streambed and a greenway with native
"When these people bought their houses, they didn't know they were buying next to a river," Yaroslavsky said of residents near the project, with a path entrance at
"Now it's a public parkway accessible to everyone to walk, jog, ride their bike or just go sit here and commune with nature, sitting on the banks of this stream."
To reintroduce a sustainable, healthy stream system into the park-poor community, the Los Angeles County Flood Control District diverted water from the concrete channel that has fed directly into the river since 1952.
Recharging aquifer
In a year with average rainfall, as much as 325,000 gallons a day will flow through the wash's new streambed, recharging the aquifer with enough water for 760 families of four for a year.
The underground aquifer in the
To enhance flood protection for the wash's neighboring communities, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a nine-mile, concrete-lined channel in the early 1950s to funnel storm water directly to the
The project is part of a larger effort to transform the entire
"This is about a bigger plan for sustainability and livability along the river," Greuel said. "This is another instance where the city and county are working together, along with the Army Corps of Engineers, as we look at the entire Los Angeles River Master Plan, a whole revitalization to give us more green space and to be environmentally friendly.
"We're soon going to open a river walk in
More projects planned
The county and other agencies have already spent $125million on projects along the river and its tributaries and have an additional $200million worth of projects planned.
This includes a $7.5million second phase of the Tujunga Wash project involving a half-mile greenway and trail upstream of Vanowen and an $18million project to enhance groundwater-recharge capabilities near the Hansen Dam.
There also are trail and habitat improvements and a $6.5million project at the headwaters of the
In
Another $9million project at
The $325 million the county and other agencies have spent or plan to spend doesn't include the city's $2billion
That plan includes 239 greening projects including parks and open space, pedestrian and bicycle trails, bridges, enhanced connector streets, channel modifications and revitalized riverfront communities.
Waterway blueprint
The City Council approved the plan in May as a 25- to 50-year blueprint designed to restore the river into a renewed waterway.
That plan focuses on 32 miles of the
Los Angeles City Councilman Ed Reyes, who was the first to propose the revitalization plan, said the changes won't affect the flood-control functions of the channel.
"The river will be a very exciting place," Reyes said. "Certain areas will be very natural because we'll be able to achieve the goal of taking out the cement.
"We'll introduce bike paths, amphitheaters and parks so it becomes a recreational facility, a place of relief from the pressures caused by a very large metropolis."
Melanie Winter, director of The River Project, said the Tujunga Wash project is a good first step to restoring the river.
"This is a baby step in the right direction," Winter said. "The river and its tributaries have a very important role to play in
"We're not turning the concrete channel back into a real river, but we're returning the river to a functionally natural state, and that is what we must move toward." #
http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_7666785?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com
TRI-DAM BENEFITS:
Tri-Dam fuels SSJID drive to deliver cheap retail electricity
By Dennis Wyatt, Managing Editor
Tri-Dam - a series of three reservoirs on
The three reservoirs - along with Goodwin Dam and the storage capacity of the original Melones Dam built in 1925 that is now lumped in with the 2.4 million acre feet of water behind the federally-built New Melones Reservoir completed in 1979 - has provided the South County region with water supplies to accommodate both agriculture and urban growth.
The water and electrical power Tri-Dam generates is expected to:
• supply the cities of
• provide the sound financial foundation to allow SSJID to enter the retail power service in the board's bid to reduce power costs across the board in Manteca, Ripon, and Escalon 15 percent below what PG&E charges.
• help farmers avoid soil damages that well water can create as modeling shows salt water intrusion from San Francisco Bay is accelerating as it continues to seep eastward in aquifers running under the Delta.
The Tri-Dam system built by South San Joaquin Irrigation District in partnership with Oakdale Irrigation District - as was the original Melones Reservoir - cost $52 million. It was the largest irrigation project undertaken up to that time by an irrigation district in the
It was built without any federal or state assistance as were all other SSJID facilities. The bonds were covered with the receipts of a 50-year contract PG&E inked to buy electricity generated by the three dams at Donnels, Beardsley, and Tulloch.
This year, SSJID's share of the net income - or profits - after covering Tri-Dam operating costs as well as improvements brought in over $10 million. The storage capacity coupled with the district's share of New Melones water allowed it to sell 16,000 acre feet of water to the United States Bureau of Reclamation for $2.5 million in June and September.
The original Tri-Dam investment is why SSJID will have $60 million laying around at the end of 2008 that the board plans to use to upgrade both the irrigation system as well as enter the retail power business.
It is also responsible for the $2.5 million in unexpected cash flow from water sales that is allowing the district to waive irrigation fees during 2008.
"A week doesn't go by that we don't get a call from somewhere - Westlands, the Bureau, Stockton East, San Francisco or a Bay Area district asking if we have water to sell," said SSJID General Manager Jeff Shields. "Past decisions and current (operating strategies) of the board have put the district in an excellent position."
Shields said four more storms like the one in the past few days will provide enough snow pack on the
Most of the water sold to the Bureau couldn't be carried over for next year. The deal the Bureau hammered with SSJID an OID when they inundated the two agencies' original Melones Reservoir in 1979 guarantees a large chunk of the districts' water from run-off that is captured.
Due to the Bureau overcommitting the 2.4 million acre feet behind the dam, SSJID and OID can't carry over a large chunk of their water at Melones to another year.
The Bureau bought the water as it needed to compensate for a court order that reduced pumping into the California Aqueduct at
http://mantecabulletin.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=55356&SectionID=28&SubSectionID=58&S=1
LOWER YUBA RIVER ACCORD:
River accord waiting for state approval
Marysville Appeal Democrat – 12/8/07
By Andrea Koskey, staff writer
Approval of the Lower Yuba River Accord is now in the hands of state officials.
Yuba County Water Agency officials presented information this week to the state Water Resources Control Board for approval of the agreement that would increase water flows from Bullards Bar Dam and improve 24 miles of fish habitat in the
The accord also addresses fisheries, water-purchase agreements and surface and groundwater protection for the county.
If approved, the accord would also allow for a long-term transfer to the state of up to 200,000 acre-feet of water per year for the next eight years. An acre-foot of water is approximately 326,000 gallons.
Once the water is transferred, it is up to the state to decide how that water is used or disbursed.
Water Agency officials expect the Lower Yuba River Accord to be the answer to the controversy surrounding Decision 1644, which was approved by the state board in 2001. That decision ordered higher flows in the river, but opponents and environmentalists felt the increase was not enough to help fish.
“We went from controversy to consensus,” YWCA General Manager Curt Aikens said. “It addresses what we believe are the fundamental problems” stemming from the decision.
The Water Agency approved the agreement in October. Aikens said he expects a decision from the state in March.
Seventeen agencies were involved in creating the accord. Aikens said several of those agencies submitted statements to the state supporting the agreement.
Included in those submitted statements are the NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service and the California Department of Water Resources.
In the letter from the National Marine Fisheries Services, representatives stated the organization believes the accord will “provide a level of protection for salmon and green sturgeon in the lower
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/water_57497___article.html/state_accord.html
Officials to update on
Desert Sun – 12/9/07
By Erica Solvig, staff writer
State water experts will be in the Coachella and Imperial valleys this week, updating residents on the massive
Officials with the state's Department of Water Resources are holding outreach sessions in
It's the first time in about a year that state officials have visited the area to discuss the sea.
"It's really to inform the locals and the public about what we've been up to in the last year and where we are headed," said Dale Hoffman-Floerke, head of the department's Colorado River and
California Secretary of Resources Mike Chrisman earlier this year proposed a nearly $9 billion plan to restore the state's largest lake.
The
Left untouched, experts predict the sea will shrink and cause a major dust bowl, causing air quality problems for the Coachella and Imperial valleys.
The state's plan would shrink the sea into a smaller recreation lake, create marshy wildlife habitat and care for the dry lakebed so it doesn't create dust issues.
A bill to kickstart the 75-year restoration stalled in the Legislature, though sea supporters are optimistic the bill will be renewed next year.
"We have some money and activities in the hopper," Hoffman-Floerke said of early habitat restoration efforts.
"We haven't given up. We're still trying to move something forward." #
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071209/NEWS0701/712090326/1006/news01
Column: Thousands of fish die, but where's DFG?
San Francisco Chronicle – 12/9/07
By Tom Stienstra, outdoors writer
(12-08) 21:14 PST -- Heroes can show up in the most unlikely places. And sometimes the people who should show up are nowhere to be found.
The horrific fish kill recently at
The kill in the Delta started when the Bureau of Reclamation hired a construction company to seal off a broken levee at flooded
One of the hunters, Bob McDaris, who owns Cliff's
When they first showed up, they saw that thousands of fish had already been killed by low water and getting chopped up in pumps.
As the pumping and fish kill continued, the Department of Fish and
McDaris then led a group of volunteer heroes, about 30 to 50 per day, who netted fish wallowing in the shallows of the two-acre lake being pumped dry, placed them in barrels and then transported them to adjacent Miner Slough for release into the Delta.
The volunteers counted 6,000 fish, including 1,831 adult striped bass weighing 4 to 25 pounds, which were saved from certain death.
While this was going on, I asked Bacher and Simms where the Department of Fish and Game was. "Not here," Bacher said.
The DFG did not certify the Bureau's project, did not stop it when the fish started dying, and, except for a lone biologist last Saturday, did not show up to help when volunteers rescued fish. The Bureau, which set in motion this sad chain of events, tried to help save some fish with volunteers last weekend.
The Department of Fish and Game's position at a crisis-response meeting on Nov. 30 at the
"If there's a problem, we're not part of this," Foreman said to the group, Simms recounted. At another time, when confronted about DFG's lack of involvement, Foreman said, "This is not my (DFG's) project."
At the meeting, Foreman made it clear that the DFG would not assist with the rescue either, Bacher said.
"We were there (at the meeting) for technical advice," DFG spokesman Steve Martarano said Friday. "If they had any questions, we were there to answer.
"It was their project, and our main role was offering expertise," Martarano said. "We never opposed any sort of fish rescue. When the fish started dying, the concern at that time was collecting dead fish. That was a priority. That was the focus right off the bat. As far as the rescue of live fish, we never opposed it.
"It was great the way it turned out. A very successful rescue."
Martarano said the DFG will go out with an airboat on Tuesday to survey and figure out what to do next and "continue the effort."
At one point during this mess, I looked down at my state fishing license, which cost $60.45 this year for license and stamps, the highest-priced resident fishing license in the country. I wondered, what are we getting for our money? #
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/09/SPD3TPLM8.DTL&hw=water&sn=042&sc=188
Wolk wants new Delta agency; Recent fish kill suggests lack of communication among officials
Woodland Daily Democrat – 12/8/07
By Crystal Lee, staff writer
Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, is considering legislation to establish a single governing body for managing Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta resources.
Wolk's decision came after hearing testimony Thursday from state and federal agencies about November's massive fish kill on
The repair of a levee breach, coordinated by the Bureau of Reclamation, had left a pool of standing water that, when drained, resulted in the deaths of thousands of stranded fish.
The pumping of water was stopped when a local fisherman spotted the dead fish and alerted officials.
Representatives from the bureau and the Department of Fish and Game who testified at the hearing stated that prior to starting the repair project, which cost $2.5 million, the bureau had consulted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service about the presence of endangered species during the season. The agency was told that Delta smelt would not be on the island.
A bureau evaluation also showed that salvaging fish would have cost $100,000 and led to the decision that to do so would be "impractical," said John Davis, Bureau of Reclamation regional director.
Furthermore,
Fish and Game Regional Manager Chuck Armor did not dispute
The department is conducting a formal investigation and a report is expected at the end of December, he said.
"The state needs a plan in place so that we are able to respond swiftly and efficiently in the even of future incidents like this," Wolk said.
The assemblywoman noted some necessary questions were overlooked, such as whether the repair was even needed and if the levee could remain breached.
"You look at how many agencies are involved here - but no one's in charge," Wolk said. "Unless someone really pulls things together, this will happen again."
Wolk also criticized the delays in using volunteer assistance to rescue the fish. Representatives from the fishing community testified that volunteers were turned away until November 30, several weeks after the first reports of dying fish.
So far, about 6,000 fish have been rescued by volunteers, according to officials. Fish and Game officials are also working to remove the dead fish and improve water conditions for the surviving fish. #
http://www.dailydemocrat.com//ci_7670888?IADID=Search-www.dailydemocrat.com-www.dailydemocrat.com
Water district chief to retire under a cloud of controversy; SPENDING, BIG-MONEY HIRE OF AIDE DREW FIRE
By Paul Rogers and Deborah Lohse, staff writers
Embattled Santa Clara Valley Water District general manager Stan Williams said Friday that he would be retiring in the near future, following months of controversy set off by his hiring of a former board member to a lucrative, newly created post.
"I've been doing this a long time," said Williams on Friday, denying that his decision to leave had anything to do with the controversy. "It's a challenging job."
Williams' departure puts an awkward exclamation point on a tenure in which he won accolades for increasing ethnic diversity and environmental stewardship at the district, but also gained a reputation for excessive spending.
While Williams, who makes nearly $213,000 a year, said the board of directors has known for "a couple of months" of his plans to retire, other sources close to the board said there has been a growing sentiment to remove him.
One of the largest local government agencies in the
As chief executive, Williams has no formal employment contract with the district. With his "unclassified employee" status, Williams is entitled to 55 percent of his pay in retirement benefits, said spokeswoman Susan Siravo, as well as medical, dental, and vision benefits for life.
This summer, board members chastised Williams, the district's top executive for 13 years, for naming board member Greg Zlotnick as "special counsel to the CEO," a $184,000-a-year job - without first informing all the board members. Williams and the board were already being buffeted by criticism of their spending and governance practices, including a 2005-06 report by a
As the controversy flared, sources familiar with the board said, three of the seven board members favored firing Williams. That number tilted to a four-person majority last month, sources said, when longtime chief operating officer Walt Wadlow left to join the Alameda County Water District. Board members became worried the district was losing its top talent due in part to Williams' style and the agency's controversies.
This week the board has been discussing Williams' annual performance review at marathon closed-session meetings. As part of the review Wednesday, the board said it had given direction to its designated labor negotiator, Chairman Tony Estremera, to negotiate the terms and conditions of Williams' employment.
Neither Estremera nor several other board members returned phone calls or responded to questions to clarify the negotiations or other points Friday.
Williams' departure creates a leadership vacuum at a pivotal time for the district's customers.
With a dry winter last year, the district asked its customers to voluntarily cut their water use 10 percent over the summer, the first such request since 1994. Meanwhile, a federal judge's ruling in August could reduce water from the
Williams, 60, is an
He served four years as assistant general manager at the water district, whose board appointed him to the top job in 1994 when general manager Ron Esau retired.
Today, the district has an annual budget of $364 million, most coming from water sales and property taxes. Over Williams' tenure, the district shifted its image from an old-guard agency that rarely met a dam or a concrete flood-control project it didn't like, to a more environmentally balanced department that made stream restoration and fish and wildlife protection priorities.
But critics call Williams an extravagant spender.
Under his watch, highly paid top managers - many reporting only to him - received rich perks: 35 days a year of paid vacation and leave; 13 paid holidays and 12 days of sick leave. They also receive a $450 monthly car allowance.
In 1999, the agency moved into a sprawling campus along Almaden Expressway in
Nevertheless, former board member Patrick Ferraro said losing Williams is a blow.
He said Williams broke up an "old boy's network" among district employees. He also successfully changed the focus of the agency from a meaningless "flood control" mandate to flood and watershed protection, Ferraro said, including challenging certain environmentally damaging land-use projects.
Said a chagrined Ferraro: "He made one stupid mistake and the whole deck of cards came down." #
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_7669510?nclick_check=1
WATER POLICY:
Editorial: Water weakness
Riverside Press
Voters should face only a single water bond, one that addresses the troubles in the state's primary water source, creates a coherent, long-term approach to the state's water needs and does not unnecessarily burden taxpayers.
Instead, the Legislature's failure to agree on water legislation this year sets up an initiative battle that offers a poor way to craft sensible water policy. A coalition of business and agricultural groups this week filed four versions of an $11.7 billion water bond measure with the secretary of state. The measures resemble plans pushed by Gov. Schwarzenegger and Republican legislators this year. The coalition plans to decide on one of the versions to qualify for the November ballot.
Democrats already filed an initiative version of their $6.8 billion water bond proposal, in October. The main difference between the competing visions: Republicans and their agriculture industry supporters want to set aside $3.5 billion for three dam projects, while Democrats and their environmentalist backers oppose the dams in favor of conservation and underground water storage.
The Legislature has to move beyond a standoff that elevates partisan positions above the state's water needs. The focus should be on creating a long-term, sustainable water strategy for
Any water bond has to address the ailing Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, which supplies water to two-thirds of the state's population and irrigates 3 million acres of agriculture. The delta faces environmental collapse, and a court ruling in September slashed water exports from the delta by up to 37 percent. Efforts to preserve the delta should have top priority on bond money.
The state will also need more water storage, to provide for population growth and cope with changing climate patterns that will replace Sierra snowpack with more winter storm runoff. The Legislature should be seeking the most cost-effective and efficient way to provide the necessary storage, whether that involves dams, underground basins or a combination of both. And those projects should fit into a comprehensive water plan that serves the public interest.
The Legislature should also avoid burdening taxpayers for water storage and delivery projects traditionally funded by water users. The state's legislative analyst says, for example, that when the State Water Project is finally paid off, about 96 percent of the $6.4 billion cost will have been funded by the contractors receiving the water. The "beneficiary pays" system makes sense for a state with recurrent budget deficits.
Dumping those policy decisions onto voters, however, would disregard legislative duty solely to avoid politically tough choices.
FLOOD INSURANCE:
Editorial: It's the safest policy; County residents should prepare now for mandatory flood insurance
The math seems simple enough: pay less now or pay more later.
The need for flood insurance, never a major issue in
Sometime in 2009, flood insurance will become mandatory in many areas of the county.
Blame Hurricane Katrina or the Delta's 19th-century levees.
Either way, new levels of awareness by Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials have prompted a remapping of the county's topography.
The job is nearly done. When it's completed, tens of thousands of unsuspecting property owners will find they're located in newly designated flood zones.
That will mean mandatory flood insurance. No debate. No choice. End of discussion.
Government officials are trying to prepare the public.
City, county and federal officials participated last week in a flood insurance forum at University of the Pacific's Eberhardt School of Business.
The 60 participants included a lot of water policy experts but too few insurance agents or members of the business community.
Local government officials clearly recognize the challenges ahead, even as a special legislative session on
A PowerPoint presentation that was part of the forum made it clear new ideas still are being discussed, some levee reinforcement has been accomplished and mandatory flood insurance is inevitable in
Draft versions of the new maps could be released as early as January.
Few areas are expected to be impacted more severely than
Protecting
Building a floodgate at the mouth of the canal near Louis Park is one potential solution. It only would be used if water got too high in the main channel.
Constructing floodgates near the intersection of Interstate 5 and Eight Mile Road along Bear Creek and 14-Mile
Local officials hope some levees west of Stockton, French Camp and Lathrop will be given "provisionally accredited" status, which would allow two more years for repairs to be completed.
None of this will forestall the inevitable.
At some point in 2009, thousands of
Buying it some time in the next 12 to 14 months - before federal maps are completed - will save property owners hundreds of dollars each year. Once a flood insurance rate is established, it stays stable when a policy is renewed.
Waiting until after FEMA officials formally designate new flood zones will be costly - and there will be no choice.
Flood hazard boundaries still are being worked on. Ways to protect and fortify property still are being developed. No matter.
The cost of living in the eastern regions of the San Joaquin Delta is about to increase.
Flooding can occur at any time and won't wait for man-made protections or insurance policies.
The day is rapidly approaching when many county residents will be required to pay for protection.
As this process moves forward, county property owners should remain aware, or they could be rudely surprised when the new flood zones are designated.
They shouldn't wait until it's too late to purchase flood insurance at a lower cost. #
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://listhost2.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
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