Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
January 3, 2008
5. Agencies, Programs, People
DEVELOPMENT ISSUES:
Water woes worry Los Angeles councilman - LA Daily News
WATER PLANNING:
Fact vs. fiction talks set on 'toilet to tap' -
BOND FUNDING:
Stockton businessman gives boost to campaign against dam, canal bond - Stockton Record
DEVELOPMENT ISSUES:
Water woes worry
LA Daily News – 1/3/07
By Kerry Cavanaugh, staff writer
With water supplies getting tighter, one
West San Fernando Valley Councilman Dennis Zine said he called for the mandatory water conservation in new development after Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's plea for voluntary water saving was largely ignored by Angelenos.
"It's a drastic step but we need to start discussing this," Zine said. "The more we build, the more water is consumed.
The slower we are to act on it, the worse the consequences.
"How are we going to put some teeth in our water conservation?"
In a motion submitted last month, Zine asked city departments to consider a land-use policy that would require all new residential development to occupy a water-use "footprint" of 10percent less than the previous usage of the property.
The Department of Water and Power and the Department of Building and Safety said they are looking at Zine's proposal.
Under state law, developers of more than 500 units must prove there is enough water for future residents, and so far the DWP has never rejected a project based on water shortfalls.
If the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California - which sells water to the DWP and other utilities - were to ration or dramatically cut supplies, then the DWP would reconsider its ability to provide for new customers, DWP spokesman Joe Ramallo said.
"Over the last 20 years we have continued to meet water needs - despite a population increase of 1million people - through strong conservation measures," Ramallo said.
Still,
Deputy Mayor Nancy Sutley questioned whether the city would need to stop new development, as Zine has suggested.
"We're just at the beginning of the winter," she said.
But Sutley did agree that
"There are more options than just saying you must use less water," Sutley said. "We spend a lot of money putting potable water on our lawns. In some cases, it makes as much sense to do your landscaping with recycled water than not using water at all."
Holly Schroeder of the Building Industry Association's Greater L.A. and Ventura Chapter said new developments generally include the most water-efficient toilets, washing machines and appliances that older homes do not have.
And many new projects now incorporate drought-tolerant landscaping.
"We also have to remember we have a housing shortage," Schroeder said. "Are there better strategies for water conservation other than holding building permits, especially when you've made all these strides in development?" #
http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_7866725
WATER PLANNING:
Fact vs. fiction talks set on 'toilet to tap'
By Alisha Semchuck, staff writer
PALMDALE - The new year is sizing up as a time when everyone from people who hose down their lawns to public officials responsible to keep the taps flowing are trying to sort fact from fiction about water planning for the Antelope Valley.
A workshop that describes details of the Antelope Valley Integrated Regional Water Management Plan is set to try and shed some clarity on the water, its availability, and its purity.
Among rumors to be dealt with, according to a longtime Palmdale city councilman, is an unfounded allegation that the regional plan involves a "toilet-to-tap" strategy for water use. Palmdale Councilman Mike Dispenza said that, in effect, Valley residents are getting hosed with rumors.
"I don't understand it," Dispenza said. "Anyone that would know the process, would know that's totally untrue. There's no such thing as toilet-to-tap. It's illegal."
Until recently, Dispenza sat on the board of the Palmdale Water Reclamation Plant, which treats wastewater to a secondary level of disinfection, then spreads it on land where fodder crops are raised.
There's "no such thing as pure water," Dispenza said. "Even coming down the aqueduct (there's) cars in there. Dead bodies they pull out all the time." But, he said, it doesn't make sense "to inflame the public" about a plan that has no basis in fact, he said.
Dispenza's council colleague, Mayor Jim Ledford, however, said he has serious concerns about the regional water plan and its potential for opening the door to use of so-called tertiary-treated water.
The regional plan is intended as a blueprint for a strategy to tap state funds for water projects in the Valley.
During a joint Palmdale City Council and Palmdale Water District meeting set for 7 p.m. on Jan. 10 in the Palmdale City Council Chambers, experts will attempt to clear up rumors that circulated during the recent election for the Palmdale Water District, one of the area's largest agencies.
"We have a workshop that we're going to be having" with the water district, which supplies drinking water to about half of Palmdale, Ledford said Monday.
The goal of the workshop is "to hear from our experts" on water use and safety, he said.
Ledford said he wanted expert opinions on, among other things, a proposal in the plan to use wells to mix tertiary-treated sewage water into the
"Pharmaceuticals and heavy metals are what I'm concerned about," because they are not removed during the water-treatment process, Ledford said.
The mayor's comments are the same words used in a letter to Valley Press by Palmdale Water Director Jeff Storm who Ledford endorsed for the November election.
Although putting treated water into the aquifer is not permissible without state approval, "My opinion is that this Antelope Valley Integrated Water Management Plan is a policy document, and once it's approved, all agencies will work to implement those policies," the mayor said.
"In this case, I would reserve making this kind of a policy (in support of injection) until I see an environmental impact report on what the impact to the aquifer would be," he said.
The other half of Palmdale, primarily its west side, receives drinking water from
The board of supervisors, the governing board for the public works department, already has approved the Antelope Valley Integrated Water Management Plan, as has the City Council of Lancaster.
On Dec. 18, Adam Ariki, assistant division chief for the county's waterworks districts, told the board of the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency there is no provision in the plan to put mix treated waste water into the aquifer.
The plan includes only a provision "to study and investigate the potential" for using tertiary water for recharging the aquifer, Ariki said.
Before that action can be taken, water officials would need a permit from the state board that has jurisdiction over the region's water supply, Ariki noted.
"If we don't get the permit, it's a non-issue," he said.
According to Ledford, if a policy to pursue such recharge is set in place, the permit for it won't be far behind.
"What they're looking for (at the moment) is a policy that says, 'Yes, we want to do that.' And I'd rather err on the side of caution and say, 'Show me the environmental impact - and the cost - before approving that policy," Ledford said.
The mayor compared the issue to spreading sludge on agricultural land.
Sludge is treated solid matter left after waste water is drained away, and the state's regional water officials previously approved the permits needed for such spreading. When sludge spreading was planned in the
"I think there is a significant concern about our waste being safe for us to ingest. … I want to see the environmental document showing that says it is safe before I approve any policy that moves us in that direction," Ledford said.
"This is a huge policy issue: Do you want to ingest your waste? I think the community needs to be engaged, not just elected officials," he said.
Until he is convinced drinking waste water is safe, "I'm going to have a hard time swallowing this," the mayor said.
Although he may lose the fight, his goal is to have that part of the regional plan deleted so the rest of it can move forward, Ledford said. That plan "has a lot of elements that we should be doing," he said.
The workshops are taking place around the Valley to give residents an accurate picture of the regional water plan.
Nine of the 11 agencies that needed to adopt the plan have delayed doing so, placing the Valley at risk of losing a potential $25 million state grant, a Los Angeles County Waterworks official said.
Ariki, of Los Angeles County Waterworks Districts, related that view to board members at a recent Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency meeting.
The state funding, if obtained, would be set aside for seven different projects - some that would bring construction work to the area, welcome enough during a construction slowdown in the housing market.
Ariki said, at the AVEK meeting, it disturbed him that so far only Waterworks 40 and Lancaster approved the document with the deadline for the grant closing in. Particularly disturbing, Ariki said, considering the need for a safe, sustainable water supply in the
The list of priority projects includes the Upper Amargosa Creek Recharge, Flood Control & Riparian Habitat Restoration Project; the Littlerock Dam Sediment Removal Project; the Antelope Valley Recycled Water Project, Phase 2; and the Comprehensive Water Conservation/Water Use Efficiency Program.
The money would come in under Proposition 50 second phase funding.
None of the projects involve taking recycled water from sewage treatment plants and injecting it directly into the groundwater table, according to participants who attended Water Management Plan meetings.
Jeff Storm, recently elected to the Palmdale water agency board, has insisted such a plan is in the works. In a recent letter to the Valley Press, Storm wrote:
"During the past couple of years, the Palmdale Water District embarked on a path to 'toilet to tap' by approving a study to explore it as an option. This option also is being sought by Los Angeles County Waterworks, L.A. County Sanitation Districts and
"Now, through the Integrated Water Management Plan, they are seeking grants for pilot programs to put recycled water into the aquifer. For the Antelope Valley Press to indicate otherwise is overlooking how the process works.
"A policy is established, a study contract is issued to follow up the policy, and findings are issued.
When the findings were issued at the last meeting in November, Director Gordon Dexter said, and I quote, I can't believe no one up here is saying anything. This is toilet to tap. This is the first time I've seen this.' (Storm defeated Dexter narrowly in the November election).
"Now whether he ever saw it is hard to tell. He also participated in the board that directed the study to be performed.
He headed the Water Resources Committee and seconded the motion to support the Integrated Water Management Plan with all these concepts in it to get funding for pilot and implementation programs.
"Our aquifer is a closed system. There is no path to the sea, it will not go down river, and this plan bypasses the natural percolation process. What goes in there stays there - pharmaceuticals, heavy metals and dissolved organic compounds, for example. The gravel pits are a direct pipeline to the aquifer.
"Did the Palmdale Water District support this program? Well, they spent $50,000 on it. The fact is, if you don't want to go down the highway, don't get on the onramp. There are plenty of opportunities to use recycled water that do not include science projects like putting it in our drinking water."
Dispenza said that line of reasoning defies the logic of seeking a regional water plan and that, again, "toilet to tap" planning is not legal.
The 11 lead agencies needed to approve the final AV Integrated Regional Water Management Plan for submission to the state include Los Angeles County Waterworks District 40; Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency; Palmdale Water District; Quartz Hill Water District; Littlerock Creek Irrigation District; Antelope Valley State Water Contractors Association; the city of Palmdale; city of Lancaster; L.A. County Sanitation District No. 14; L.A. County Sanitation District No. 20; and the Rosamond Community Services District.
Each of those agencies entered a Memorandum of Understanding agreement on Jan. 9, 2007, pledging a total of $325,000 in seed money to cover costs for brainstorming sessions that would enable participants to agree on projects that would meet eligibility for the grant money.
Top contributors were Waterworks 40 at $60,000; AVEK at $50,000; PWD at $60,000; the city of
Officials who signed the MOU on behalf of their agencies included Andy Rutledge, president of the AVEK board; Dennis LaMoreaux, then general manager of PWD; Bishop Henry Hearns, mayor of Lancaster; and Palmdale Mayor Ledford. #
http://www.avpress.com/n/02/0102_s2.hts
BOND FUNDING:
Stockton businessman gives boost to campaign against dam, canal bond
By Hank Shaw, staff writer
Dean Cortopassi of the San Tomo Group wrote a $250,000 check to the political action committee Californians for Clean, Safe Drinking Water on Dec. 17, the same day the PAC filed its papers with the state and three days after its supporters - who include state Sen. Michael Machado, D-Linden - held a news conference blasting the proposed bond.
Backers of the bond have submitted four versions of their proposal to the attorney general, the first step to circulating it in preparation for a November ballot fight.
State Sen. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, who supports the measure, says while he hopes politicians can solve the problem through the Legislature, the initiative serves as a safeguard in case talks fail.
A year's worth of negotiations has thus far resulted in nothing.
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, who controls the PAC, has vowed to defeat the bond.
He hinted at a Dec. 13 news conference that he'd have the money needed to do so, and Cortopassi's contribution is the first evidence of that.
Cortopassi could not be reached for comment Wednesday, but he owns land in the Delta and is among a group of duck hunters - the Hilton family is among them - who could oppose the bond because they fear that a peripheral canal could ruin the area's ecosystem, ducks included.
Historically, Cortopassi has typically contributed to Republican causes, but he's been known to support middle-of-the-road Democrats such as U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. Dennis Cardoza, D-Atwater.
Cortopassi also has given roughly $300,000 to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger over the years. Schwarzenegger, however, supports the bond Cortopassi is fighting, as does Feinstein. #
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