A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
January 3, 2008
2. Supply
RECYCLED WATER:
Agreement over Pechanga waterline moves to district board - North County Times
WATER SUPPLY ISSUES:
Court ruling on the Delta affect local water resources, too - Yucaipa News Mirror
RECYCLED WATER:
Agreement over Pechanga waterline moves to district board
By Nicole Sack, staff writer
TEMECULA -- Plans for a recycled water pipeline serving Pechanga Resort's golf course moved through a water district committee Wednesday, but questions lingered on the agreement.
The 20-year contract would deliver approximately 1,000 acre feet of water ---- 325 million gallons ---- per year to the 18-hole golf course. The course, called, Journey at Pechanga, is scheduled to open to the public this summer.
Members of the Rancho California Water District's Operating and Engineering Committee voted 3-0 to move the contract forward for consideration by the district board's at its Jan. 10 meeting, but they did not make a formal recommendation to the board.
Commissioner John Hoagland said that, while he supported the big picture framed by the agreement, he would like some of the legal language to be more specific.
"It seems muddled," said Hoagland of the contract, highlighting a section indicating the Pechanga would have a right to sue if there were a breach of contract. He said the contract does not specify if legal issues would be hashed out in the tribe's court or in Riverside County Superior Court.
Other board members echoed those concerns on how the contract is written.
Hoagland suggested holding a session closed to the public to discuss the legal issues with the water district's attorney before the vote by the full board next week.
A separate recycled water supply agreement between Eastern Municipal Water District and Pechanga has already been approved. The Rancho California district and Eastern will own the water main once it's completed. Eastern does not have the facilities capable of delivering recycled water to the reservation. But Rancho
The Pechangas would be charged a rate of $246 per acre foot of water. There is also an additional $1.94 daily service charge, according to John O'Donnell, assistant general manager of engineering and operations for the Rancho California district. While the agreement remains to be worked out, tribal representatives plan to go ahead with the bidding process, which is set to start Friday, said O'Donnell.
"The waterline will allow us to conserve water by providing reclaimed water to irrigate most of the golf course," said Pechanga Tribal Chairman Mark Macarro in an e-mail to The Californian on Wednesday. "Water is an important resource for all of us; we want to do everything we can to conserve it. Every day, reclaimed water gets dumped into riverbeds, unused, because there aren't enough places to use it."
Tribal members previously indicated that work could start by the end of the month along
Expanding the use of recycled water in landscaping is a high priority for the Rancho California district, which adopted a mandatory reclaimed water-use policy in October for large landscaping customers. The goal of the policy is to free up more potable water for drinking, cooking and washing.
In December, the Temecula City Council voted to approve the permits for the pipe, which will run along
The permits issued by the city carry certain restrictions. Although the city would prefer to have the work done at night, there are residences along the entire work area that would be sensitive to the overnight construction noise. Therefore, the majority of the work will be done between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Some of the work areas will be manned by traffic control officers to help move traffic around the construction sites.
Temecula's engineers have worked with Pechanga's engineers for several months to minimize lane closures during the construction process, but there will be several areas in the work zone that will require one lane of traffic to be closed along the parkway, officials have said.
"We want to make sure that everyone is aware of the anticipated congestion," said Temecula Director of Public Works Bill Hughes. "We have virtually done everything we can think of to minimize the impact. We have spent more time on trying to address the traffic impacts with this project, than any other road project in the city. Pechanga really stepped up to the plate."
However, the work on the water line, once completed, will set the stage for the city's planned road-widening project that will increase the number of lanes on four-lane
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/01/03/news/californian/4_03_001_2_08.txt
WATER SUPPLY ISSUES:
Court ruling on the Delta affect local water resources, too
By Bill Brown, staff writer
U. S. District Court Judge Oliver Wanger issued a final court order Dec. 14 with an operational plan ordering the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project, the state's two largest water delivery systems, to reduce pumping operations by up to nearly one-third.
Both the SWP and the CVP guide water resources through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to both urban and agricultural users throughout the state. The decision has great significance to Southern California's
Locally, even though
Due to the IE's increasing growth, the SWP is needed for both present and future. Wanger's operational plan calls for massive reduction in water supplies to protect an endangered fish species, the Delta smelt. The court specified reduced operations should last until Sept. 15, 2008.
Association of California Water Agencies' Executive Director Timothy Quinn, said, "The court order underscores the fact that both the Delta and our water system are in crisis. The current system for moving water through the Delta does not work, and the problem will not be solved until we make some major changes."
Director of the California Department of Water Resources Lester Snow, recently was quoted by the ACWA to say, "The Delta is broken, both environmentally and as a source of water for most of
"It is urgent that we respond to Gov. Schwarzenegger's proposals to fix the Delta and our water delivery system, both for humans and fish and wildlife." Snow added, "Future water deliveries out of the Delta will depend on conditions in new federal permits."
"For the next nine months, the backbone of the states water system will be operated based on a lawsuit," said Laura King Moon, assistant general Manager of the State Water contractors, an association of 27 public water agencies in the Bay Area, Central and
"The courts won't solve the fundamental problems in the Delta," said Moon. "We need a smarter water system so the courts don't face this situation in the future." According to the SWC, local agencies will have to rely more heavily on contingency and emergency sources of water.
YVWD has already been working toward better filtration systems and researching the availability of groundwater storage. It's constructing filtration and recycling facilities which will "Š develop a superior ability to make use of local water resources, both imported and locally produced," said Jay Bogh, a YVWD director.
YVWD is also researching storage, conservation and further recycling issues. At a recent workshop, Board President Tom Shalhoub asked, "It is extremely imperative to plan as we keep an eye on all these projects and court rulings, correct?"
"Absolutely," said General Manager Joe Zoba.
The ACWA added "While the court order will last until next September, these kinds of reductions will likely continue until the Delta is fixed."
Assemblyman Paul Cook said, "When the issue of a new conveyance system appears on the ballot, Southern Californian's should exercise their power at the poll. If we want water we should to vote for the best new conveyance system possible." He added the more our voice is heard in
http://www.newsmirror.net/articles/2008/01/03/news/04news.txt
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