[Water_news] 2. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: SUPPLY - 1/16/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment 

 

January 16, 2008

 

2. Supply

 

SIMI VALLEY WATER SUPPLY DIVERSIFICATION:

Simi seeks to diversify water supplies; Reducing dependence on outside supplies, conservation studied - Ventura County Star

 

WATER SUPPLY CONNECTIONS:

Hookup fees protested; YC Council gets earful from Hillcrest residents - Marysville Appeal Democrat

 

DESALINATION:

Editorial: Losing litigation; Desalination suits no benefit to public - San Diego Union Tribune

 

 

SIMI VALLEY WATER SUPPLY DIVERSIFICATION:

Simi seeks to diversify water supplies; Reducing dependence on outside supplies, conservation studied

Ventura County Star – 1/16/08

By Anna Bakalis, staff writer

 

Because Simi Valley imports all of its drinking water, city officials are looking to diversify supplies while also encouraging residents to conserve.

 

Considering several years of drought conditions in Southern California, the City Council met this week to review water supplies and alternatives.

 

"We're dependent on outside water as a city, so we really need to keep track of what the availability is," Mayor Paul Miller said. "We seem to be OK at the present time."

 

But as the city grows, so will the demand for water, Miller said.

 

The city has a daily average water demand of 28.7 million gallons, supplied from two sources — the Calleguas Municipal Water District, which provides 21.6 million gallons per day, and the Golden State Water Co., which supplies 7.1 million gallons per day.

 

With the costs of importing water rising and filtration costs decreasing, Tim Nanson, the city's public works director, said he thinks that now is a good time to look at ways to use the city's reclaimed water — treated water produced at the city's sewage treatment plant on the west end of town. Most of the reclaimed water now ends up in Arroyo Simi.

 

He suggested that as filtration costs are reduced, the reclaimed water might one day be filtered further for drinking.

 

The Simi Valley Landfill is the only customer that uses the reclaimed water, specifically for dust control. The water is pumped through a pipe that runs from the treatment facility on Easy Street, under Highway 118 and up to the landfill off Madera Road. The pipe system can be expanded, Nanson said.

 

He said the city can choose to build pipes to golf courses, parks, school district property and other areas in need of water.

 

Construction of the Tapo Canyon Water Treatment Plant started this month and is expected to be completed by spring 2009, which will produce an additional 1 million gallons per day for the city, Nanson said.

 

Because most residential water use is for toilets, showers and dishwashing, the city is working on a "slow the flow" campaign that will ask people to conserve water.

 

Also, the city is working on a conservation Web site that will give residents access to rebate forms for high-efficiency washing machines; ultra-low-flush, high-efficiency toilets; smart irrigation controllers; and other water conservation devices.  #

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/jan/16/simi-seeks-to-diversify-water-supplies/

 

 

WATER SUPPLY CONNECTIONS:

Hookup fees protested; YC Council gets earful from Hillcrest residents

Marysville Appeal Democrat – 1/15/08

By John Dickey, staff writer

 

Hillcrest area water issues are starting to boil over into Yuba City City Council meetings from an advisory ad-hoc committee set up to handle the contentious issue.

More than 100 Hillcrest area residents packed Council chambers Tuesday to hear more than a dozen people complain about the possibility of being charged several thousand dollars to either connect to the city's surface water plant, or fix the Hillcrest 2⁄3 water system.

One of them, Bob van Oosterhout of Cortez Court, brought a stack of what he said were 1,200 protest signatures gathered recently. More are on the way, he said.

"It seems to me that you have forgotten that you are working for the people," Van Oosterhout said.

Van Oosterhout and others also cited a long list of complaints about the way the city has handled Hillcrest water, the area's annexation several years ago and other issues.

Another resident, Donald Kessel of Pebble Beach Drive, said costs should be shared by all city residents.

"If we decide to choose surface water, it would be like paying a seven-year old retroactive reconnection fee at today's prices," Kessel said. "If we fix the system, we will actually be fixing the city's water system."

The meetings also brought Sutter County Supervisor candidate Sylvia Oakley to the podium. She said the city should consider hiring a mediator if problems cannot be worked out through the ad-hoc committee.

The Council had little reaction to what was an unagendized matter that was taken up during the public comment part of the meeting.

"All of us are looking for solutions to the problem," said Mayor Rory Ramirez. "We're looking for solutions that are as economical as we can make them."

Ramirez and Councilman Kash Gill are heading a Walton water ad-hoc advisory committee that has tried to come up with a solution to water-quality problems that must be fixed, according to the city.

After a few months of twice-weekly meetings, the committee is taking a break while engineers estimate local and citywide economic benefits that the Hillcrest 2⁄3 water plant delivers. Studies have been proposed but have to be approved by the Council.

Residents are upset over possibly having to pay between $5,800 to $7,460 per home for improvements. The city last year held meetings that proposed quick action after the groundwater arsenic exceeded federal limits of 10 parts per billion last year - limits that were tightened recently from 50 parts per billion. #

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/hillcrest_59011___article.html/city_area.html

 

 

DESALINATION:

Editorial: Losing litigation; Desalination suits no benefit to public

San Diego Union Tribune – 1/16/08

 

Opponents have thrown the courts angry public comments and enough written objections to deforest Brazil. Yet the badly needed desalination plant that Poseidon Resources plans to build in Carlsbad has survived each pounding. Now comes yet another lawsuit from environmental activists.

 

The Surfrider Foundation and the Planning and Conservation League, a Sacramento lobby, are readily picking up where the staff of the California Coastal Commission left off. In November, coastal commissioners rejected the staff's recommendation and approved an essential permit, with conditions, for the desalination plant.

 

At least the plaintiffs now present a novel argument. The commission's approval of the project, according to the suit, allows Poseidon a method for taking in water from the ocean that will virtually kill off marine life in the Agua Hedionda Lagoon.

 

In fact, man's intervention has revived the lagoon. It has enabled plentiful marine life. The water intake Poseidon will use has been used for half a century without harm to the lagoon. It's the alternative demanded in the lawsuit, which Surfrider attorney Marco Gonzalez recently acknowledged as "likely infeasible" for a plant this size, that poses the greater threat to marine life.

 

In truth, this plant's critics care far less about saving sea life than stopping San Diego's growth by denying it a bottomless source of potable water. But thirsty newcomers don't drive the need for more stable water supplies. Natural population growth does.

 

Success in this suit, the plaintiffs say in their filings, "will confer significant benefits upon the public or a large class of persons." Barring a crucial water source would hardly benefit the public. So that "large class of persons" must be environmental activists.  #

http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080116/news_lz1ed16bottom.html

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