Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
January 7, 2008
5. Agencies, Programs, People
WEEKEND WINTER STORM:
Ferocious Storm Punishes
Coping with the deluge; Storm likely to weaken today, but showers should continue. At-risk burn areas have escaped major damage, so far - Los Angeles Times
Parts of flooded Nevada town still under 8 feet of water - Associated Press
WATER POLICY ISSUES:
Water crisis focus of 2007; Picture, problems for 2008 still unclear - Capitol Ag Press
PALMDALE WATER DISTRICT BOARD ISSUES:
DA launches inquiry at water board; Director's filing draws attention to possible Brown Act violation - Antelope Valley Press
PARKER DAM 70 YEARS:
Parker Dam turns 70; Construction created
WEEKEND WINTER STORM:
Associated Press – 1/5/08
By Samantha Young, staff writer
Power already was knocked out to hundreds of thousands of residents, and the California Highway Patrol encouraged drivers to stay off the roads. Truckers were told to hunker down in blizzard-like conditions over mountain passes in the
"It's a whiteout here," said Neil Erasmus, general manager of Ice Lake Lodge and Rainbow Lodge in Soda Springs.
"We're plowing and grooming, plowing and grooming to keep us from being buried in."
Forecasters said the mountains could see 10 feet of snow total from the trio of storms that was expected through the weekend. The sprawling, swirling system spanned the length of the West Coast.
Winds howled in the mountain areas, gusting up to 85 miles an hour, and in the
Parts of highways from
"It isn't the weather that causes these collisions, it's the way people drive in them," said Sgt. Les Bishop, a spokesman for California Highway Patrol. "It's no secret that we've got a major storm rolling in, and it's everybody's responsibility to drive in a safe manner."
Hundreds of thousands of residents lost power across Northern California, from the Bay Area to the
"Because of the strong winds and heavy rains, restoration is taking longer than normal," said Darlene Chiu, a spokeswoman for Pacific Gas and Electric.
Homeowners rushed to stack sandbags around houses, and scurried to stock up on last-minute provisions.
"People were waiting in line for shopping carts," said Barbara Sholle, of
In
The storm was expected to pour up to 4 inches of rain overnight in Southern California's valleys, with 6 inches possible in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains and up to 12 inches in the south-facing mountains from
"The last rain we had, it all went under my foundation and I don't like that. It was flowing under my house," said Cindy Darling, a receptionist at the Lake Arrowhead Chamber of Commerce who got sandbags from the local fire department to put above her house. "Everything up here's on a hill, so you have to do something."
Authorities in
Ocean tides were expected to swell to 30 feet, prompting the U.S. Coast Guard to caution boaters to remain in port.
No planes were taking off or landing at
The state opened its emergency operations center Friday morning to coordinate storm response.
Several ski resorts weren't taking any chances, with Heavenly Mountain Resort at South Lake Tahoe, Alpine Meadows Ski Area in Tahoe City, Mount Rose Ski Resort near Reno and Badger Pass Ski Area in Yosemite National Park shutting down for the day.
"It's just really, really windy and we don't feel it's safe conditions for our operators or the public," Alpine Meadows spokeswoman Laura Ryan said.
Snow began falling in Tuolumne Meadows Thursday night, and a steady rain was pelting the Yosemite Valley by Friday morning,
Residents and local officials from
"We're going to have to keep an eye on the water and the high tides but we're hopeful we can get through this without any problems,"
As the storms barreled into the West, a freeze in the East was subsiding.
A serious freeze would have devastated the
"It could have been far, far worse," said Terry McElroy, a spokesman for the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
A better picture of crop damage could come Monday, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture releases a weekly progress report.
At
The animals are not native to
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jv320qXrVAVFqDYU3nglqZySw6YgD8TVB3300
Ferocious Storm Punishes
New York Times – 1/5/08
By Jesse McKinley, staff writer
The storm, one of two predicted for the weekend, hit the Bay Area before dawn and knocked out power to about 1.2 million people from Central California to the
Forecasters promised punishing conditions for
Here to the north, conditions were already challenging. Several major Bay Area roads, including Highway 101 and Interstate 580, were closed for much of the day by airborne construction materials and overturned vehicles, including five trucks that flipped on the
A downed tree on the tracks stopped BART rail service in the Mission District of San Francisco, sending evacuated passengers into the rain or onto buses. Morning ferry services across the bay were canceled as docked boats rocked like rubber ducks in a bath.
Scaffolding collapsed, breaking windows, taking down power lines and bringing electrically powered buses to a halt along at least one major
Dozens of flights were canceled at the
The most extreme conditions were about 200 miles to the east of
Power was sporadic in some mountain towns along Interstate 80 from
Forecasters said trying to travel through the storm would be foolhardy.
“It’s an exceptional storm,” said Rhett Milne, a
The Weather Service said some upper elevations could get up to 10 feet of snow by the time the twin storms blow through at weekend’s close, and some ski resorts, visibility eliminated by blowing snow, had already shut their high-mountain lifts.
Even in less exposed areas, daily routines were brought to a halt by wind and rain. In San Anselmo, a pleasant commuter town north of
“It was really, really difficult for businesses to recover,” Ms. Gregory said of the earlier flood’s aftermath. “Most did, but they still haven’t really caught up financially and gotten out of debt. To go through that again would really be devastating.”
Forecasters attributed the storm to a particularly violent collision of subtropical moisture and a blast of arctic air, and the same system also lashed areas farther north. At the Washington-Oregon border, the ocean entrance to the Columbia River was closed to ship traffic, as was the entrance to Tillamook Bay, in northwest
In
After several consecutive dry years, not everyone in
And in parts of the ski-happy Sierras, where forecasters said snow could fall at a rate of several inches an hour for most of the weekend, resort operators were dreaming of a thick powder unlike any seen in the last couple of winters.
“We’re always pretty well equipped for the weather — that’s why we love living here,” said Roy Moyer, general manager of the Tamarack Lodge and Resort, a cross-country center near Mammoth Lakes, Calif. “So bring it on.”
Which the storm was busy doing. By midafternoon, some two feet of snow had fallen at
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/05/us/05calif.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
Coping with the deluge; Storm likely to weaken today, but showers should continue. At-risk burn areas have escaped major damage, so far
By Ari B. Bloomekatz, John Spano and Christian Berthelsen, staff writers
The storm system that has pounded
Emergency preparedness officials, who had geared up for the worst in burn areas such as
"We have very saturated hillsides, so we're keeping a watchful eye," said Carol Singleton, a spokeswoman for the Governor's Office of Emergency Services. "We don't know how much rainfall they can handle."
The fast-moving storm system that arrived Friday weakened the following day, then gained strength on Sunday, producing isolated downpours that dumped half an inch in a single hour in some locations. Today's forecast calls for a 30% chance of rain, with a 20% chance on Tuesday night, said Bill Hoffer, spokesman for the National Weather Service in
At least 5.29 inches of rain fell in the Los Angeles County mountains since Friday, 2.35 inches in Burbank, 1.62 inches in Anaheim, 1.8 inches in Van Nuys, 3.38 inches in Bel-Air, 6.5 inches in Sepulveda Pass near Mulholland Drive, 5.34 inches on Mt. Wilson, and 1.56 inches in downtown Los Angeles.
Rainfall in downtown Los Angeles reached 5.31 inches Sunday morning for the season (which began July 1), ahead of the norm of 4.23 inches and well above the 1.31 inches recorded at this time last year, said weather specialist Bonnie Bartling with the weather service in Oxnard.
The system came in three waves beginning last week, striking
"We're ready and have got everything ready to go: extra crews, staff, swift-water teams, dump trucks loaded with sand," said Al Jackson, a supervisor with the Los Angeles County Fire Department, while he was with crews Sunday. "But we're just waiting."
With snow falling Sunday night in the
The storms left at least 311,512 homes and businesses without power on the
In
The worst damage was in Northern California, where at least 220,000 homes and businesses from
Since Friday "we had over 2 million customers impacted," Tremayne said. "We've replaced 530 poles and we've had to repair 500 miles of wire since Friday. Basically, our crews have built a new power line from
In the Sierra foothills, workers were relying on snowshoes, all-terrain vehicles and helicopters as they repaired equipment in the most remote spots, utility officials said.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared three counties in Northern California in a state of emergency: Kings,
Burn areas in
Ravaged by a series of fires last fall,
"We don't have any reports of rock slides. All we've managed is a few wet streets."
In
County authorities shut down their emergency operations center and the Red Cross shelter in
Voluntary evacuation orders remained in place for Modjeska, Williams and Harding canyons until the wet weather passes today, but an evacuation order for
The canyon areas were expected to be the hardest hit by the rains because of the fall's fire damage.
"As far as we know, there were no problems in those areas," said Matt Johnson, an operator with the Orange County Fire Authority.
In
"We haven't had any problems so far. We've had some requests for sandbags, and we had some street flooding earlier, but today [Sunday] and yesterday [Saturday], the rain has not been that bad," said Tom Barnes, dispatch supervisor for the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.
By Sunday all freeways closed because of the weekend's weather had reopened, said Jaime Coffee, a spokesman for the California Highway Patrol. The brunt of the storm, he said, was over.
"We have another storm predicted for Tuesday, but it's not expected to be as severe," Coffee said.
Near
The lost man has a vacation home in the area, and was dressed warmly when he disappeared. He has not been heard from since early Saturday, when he reported an approximate location.
As snow poured over mountains across
At
The 2 feet of snow brought the total snowfall at
Johnson said real skiing and snowboarding addicts "live for days like today."
The last time such a downpour occurred at Mammoth Mountain was two years ago, Johnson said, while strapping on her own boots to hit the snow.
"The ones that come out on blustery days and snow days are really the ones who are serious about it. This is what they live for," Johnson said. #
Parts of flooded
Associated Press – 1/6/08
By Martin Griffith, staff writer
FERNLEY, Nev. – Hundreds of homes remained under up to 8 feet of water Sunday as federal emergency workers were on their way to assess the flood damage caused when an irrigation canal's earthen levee ruptured in this rural town of 20,000 about 30 miles east of Reno.
Cold weather was turning some of the water to ice, complicating plans to allow natural flows to move most of the water on to a federal wetland outside town. Fernley officials said they were considering using pumps to aid in that effort.
The levee break that occurred just after 4 a.m. on Saturday was repaired late in the day but as much as a square mile of the town was still under at least 2 feet of water.
“Our hope is over the next 24 hours to get the water out,” Fernley Mayor Todd Cutler said at a briefing Sunday morning.
“But we still have up to 8 feet of water in some areas. We need to keep the storm drains unclogged to keep the water moving to a wetland. We also may need to do some pumping in some areas,” he said.
Cutler estimated on Saturday some 300 to 400 homes had been damaged and Lyon County Fire Division Chief Scott Huntley estimated 1,500 people had been displaced, dozens of them rescued by helicopters and boats when a 2-foot high wall of water roared out of the levee Saturday morning.
“In 10 minutes the entire back yard was completely flooded. It was just nothing but water,” said Kristin Watson, whose home backs up to part of the canal. “We just sort of panicked because we knew we had to get out of there real quick.”
No injuries were reported. More than 300 people initially registered at an American Red Cross shelter set up at a local high school but fewer than two dozen ended up spending the night.
Gov. Jim Gibbons declared a state of emergency in the county on Saturday. On Sunday, state and local officials said the problem was too big to provide an accurate estimate of the damage so would wait until officials for the Federal Emergency Management Agency were on scene to assist in that assessment.
Huntley said some people already have returned to homes in less hard hit areas but officials said it could be days before most return.
“If you have 5 feet of water in your home, you shouldn't go back there. Most cannot return to homes and that is unfortunate. It could take days before they can return, but we want it done correctly,” he said Sunday.
Huntley said they documented the rescue of 18 people stranded in the flood waters on tops of cars or homes. He estimated there were dozens more, perhaps as many as 100.
“The shear number of rescues was amazing. There were a lot of undocumented rescues and were numerous within the first 5 minutes,” he said Sunday.
In addition to four helicopters and fire department boats, numerous local residents used their own fishing boats to round up flood victims.
“The stories of people coming together in this community are very moving,” Cutler said Sunday. “For citizens to give of themselves and to help their neighbors, I'm choked up about it.”
The break came after a day of unusually heavy rainfall for a high desert town that averages only 5 inches of precipitation annually. The rain was considered a likely contributor to the levee's failure but officials said an investigation of the cause was continuing, including the possibility burrowing rodents played a role, as they did in a smaller collapse at a different spot in the levee that flooded about 60 Fernley homes in December 1996.
“The animals make a relatively small hole and then the hole gets bigger over time,” Fernley City Councilman Curt Chaffin said. “The residents are probably going to be very upset and (irrigation officials) will have to answer to them.”
The breech originally was estimated to be up to 150 feet long but officials said Sunday it was closer to 50 feet.
Gibbons toured the area by helicopter on Saturday. He said the canal was not full at the time of the breech. He said it can carry up to 1,000 cubic feet of water per second and was carrying only 600 cubic feet at the time.
“This indicates to me there might have been a structural weakness over the years. Nobody knows and we don't want to speculate at this time,” he said. “Levees around
The canal brings water from the
Engineer Martha VanGeem called earthen levees “the least strong and the least expensive” of the various materials used in levee construction.
“It's also the most prone to this ripping apart. If you get just a tiny little break, from a rodent, from anything, it can take the rest of the soil and gravel with it,” said VanGeem, principal engineer with CTLGroup, a
VanGeem said the large volume of water rushing through the canal put more pressure on the breach and likely sped up its rupture.
“They might have just seen it leaking when it was three or four feet wide (under normal conditions),” she said. “They could have caught it early if there wasn't so much rain.” #
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/nation/20080106-1033-nv-canalbreak1stld-writethru.html
WATER POLICY ISSUES:
Water crisis focus of 2007; Picture, problems for 2008 still unclear
Capitol Ag Press – 1/4/08
By Elizabeth Larson, staff writer
Water - where to get it and who gets to use it - became an increasingly critical issue in 2007, as the state suffered a dry water year and saw court rulings that limited water exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta.
Beginning with snowpack surveys the Department of Water Resources held during the winter and early spring, it became clear that
Throughout the year, however, it was the fragile bay-delta - which the Department of Water Resources reported supplies water to 25 million state water users - that was ground zero for the growing struggle between water supply and environmental concerns.
The situation edged close to crisis with a battery of court rulings affecting water exports.
At the heart of the delta cases was the tiny delta smelt, a fish listed as threatened by both the California Department of Fish and Game and U.S. Fish and Wildlife.
Environmental groups that sued both state and federal agencies of water exports said the delta smelt is an indicator species that points to the delta's overall health.
Alameda County Superior Court Judge Frank Roesch ruled in March that the Department of Water Resources must comply with California Endangered Species Act rules for the bay-delta pumps operation.
The ruling resulted from a lawsuit against DWR filed by the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance's Watershed Enforcers program. The case alleged that the agency's lack of an incidental take permit from the Department of Fish and Game broke the law and was necessary because of the pumps' killing of threatened delta smelt and chinook salmon.
Roesch entered a final ruling on April 18 that called DWR to come into compliance with California Endangered Species Act rules within 60 days or face closure. DWR received a stay in the case due to an appeal.
In May, Judge Oliver Wanger ruled in a case brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council against Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne and U.S. Fish and Wildlife, finding that the state and federal water projects' pumping operations are based on biological opinions that did not comply with the Environmental Species Act.
DWR - which fought to keep its pumps on - decided to shut the pumps down on May 31 because juvenile delta smelt were grouping too closely around the pumps and being killed. Pumping resumed on a limited basis June 10.
The Bureau of Reclamation had reduced its pumping in April by 75 percent; both the State Water Project and Central Valley Water Project began ramping back up to normal levels in June.
Efforts also were made in 2007 to have the delta smelt uplisted from threatened to endangered. Groups such as the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, Center for Biological Diversity and the Bay Institute said water exports are among the main factors in the fish's population collapse in recent years.
The bay-delta crisis was the focus of a congressional hearing in
The House Natural Resources Committee's Subcommittee on Water and Power took testimony from water authorities, agency leaders, environmentalists and an American Indian leader on the need to find a solution that can balance needs for water and environmental concerns.
In August, Wanger issued a further ruling on the Kempthorne case that could have serious implications for delta water users. In his judgment, which was finalized in December, Wanger ruled that delta water exports would be cut by as much as 37 percent to protect delta smelt.
In November, DWR announced that its water allocations to State Water Project contractors for 2008 would be 25 percent of their requested amounts, roughly half of the allocations for 2007.
Those reductions, according DWR, resulted from hydrological projections, the state's dry water year and the Wanger's final ruling that reduces bay-delta water exports.
Just how the bay-delta's problems will be solved is still undetermined. However, on Dec. 17 the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force submitted its report to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The group, tasked by Schwarzenegger to develop a vision for the bay-delta by year's end and an implementation plan by October 2008, proposed near-term actions including emergency flood protection, disaster planning and making improvements right away to protect both the environment and water conveyance, according to a statement from the group.
Longterm, the task force proposed increases in water system efficiency and conservation, new facilities for both storage and conveyance, and possible future reductions in the water exported from the bay-delta, according to a task force statement.
As the state snow surveys prepare to resume in the new year, Water Resources Chief Hydrologist Maury Roos said California's cushion of reservoir storage - the state began 2007 above normal - has been depleted, with reservoirs statewide ending the hydrology year in October at the 85-percent mark.
The water picture for 2008 will start to become clearer in January, Roos said. #
http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?SectionID=67&SubSectionID=616&ArticleID=38121&TM=45660.58
PALMDALE WATER DISTRICT BOARD ISSUES:
DA launches inquiry at water board; Director's filing draws attention to possible Brown Act violation
Antelope Valley
By Alisha Semchuck, staff writer
PALMDALE - Possible violations of the
Jennifer Lentz Snyder, assistant head deputy of the district attorney's Public Integrity Division, acknowledged Thursday that her office is looking into a complaint alleging that the board members violated a portion of the Ralph M. Brown Act, which establishes the rules elected officials must follow when conducting meetings of public agencies.
"We've opened an inquiry," Snyder said, adding that she couldn't comment any further on the matter. "I can only confirm an inquiry has been opened."
Director Raul Figueroa acknowledged receiving a copy of a letter from the district attorney's office notifying the water district of allegations regarding a Dec. 14 meeting "when members of the board discussed matters within the subject matter jurisdiction of the board that did not appear on the published agenda for that meeting, at a time when the meeting was in recess."
The apparent Brown Act violation occurred when the board took a bathroom break during its budget workshop, and newly elected director Jeff Storm had board President Dick Wells and Vice President Dave Gomez sign a paper seeking a special meeting for the purpose of taking "possible action to place the general manager on paid administrative leave, effective immediately," then taking further action to "appoint a temporary interim general manager," and finally authorizing the board president and one other director to "form an ad hoc committee for the purpose of negotiating terms to acquire the services of a legal and consulting firm to address the discipline/dismissal/release of (General Manager) Dennis D. LaMoreaux."
According to a tape of the budget meeting, Storm obtained the signatures from Wells and Gomez while the board was still in recess. When he finally took his seat, he announced that he had a quorum, which he obtained during the recess. Figueroa, at that time, had not received a copy of Storm's paper, and he asked "Are we back?" two or three times before Storm responded, "I think so."
Wells never actually called the meeting back into order, but he asked if everyone got a copy of the letter, at which time Storm handed Figueroa a copy.
Though the board did not approve a special meeting, it did act on Storm's letter, placing the item on the agenda for its next regular board meeting - a session where Storm, Wells and Gomez voted to place LaMoreaux on paid administrative leave, as Storm recommended.
The district attorney's letter said that in order to "conduct a full and fair review of the allegations," that office needs a copy of all agendas for the meeting in question, board reports or other documents distributed to all or a majority of the board, and any recording of the meeting.
PWD Interim General Manager Curtis Paxton declined to discuss the situation.
"My only comment at this point is we're providing the material that was requested by the district attorney," Paxton said.
"I'm glad to see the DA is investigating this," Figueroa said. "To me, it was an obvious Brown Act violation. I observed it. And at the last meeting, (Wells and Gomez) confirmed they signed the paper. They made a decision together. Gomez said he didn't know what he was signing. But ignorance is no excuse. He's attended plenty of Brown Act meetings, workshops on ethics and stuff."
Although at a board meeting Gomez told Figueroa he thought he was signing about a meeting date, he told the Antelope Valley Press during a prior telephone interview that he thought he was signing to show Storm he understood what he read.
Regarding the action that Wells, Gomez and Storm took about LaMoreaux at the Dec. 26 regular water board meeting, Figueroa said, "They had already made their decision on ousting the general manager when they signed that paper."
Neither Wells or Gomez returned calls from the Valley Press.
"Legal matters I have no comment on," Storm said. "This is the result of a complaint that's been filed by Raul Figueroa. He said he was going to do it. I take him at his word. When (the district attorney) has a filing like that, they are required to look into it."
Asked whether the district attorney's involvement concerned him, Storm said, "No."
Storm contends there was no Brown Act violation because his paper asked for a special meeting and "a special meeting was never called."
As far as obtaining agreement between three members of a five-member board during a recess of the open budget meeting - or, as he announced, "a quorum" - Storm said he thought they were back in session.
Storm said, "The whole board was included" when he distributed his letter. When it was pointed out that Figueroa didn't receive a copy at the same time as Gomez and Wells, Storm replied, "It's hard to remember everything. You're belaboring minor things."
The fifth board member, Linda Godin, who with Figueroa opposed the removal of LaMoreaux, left the budget workshop early - before Storm distributed his letter.
Because she wasn't there, she said it's difficult for her to comment.
"I haven't seen the minutes. I haven't reviewed the tape. So it would be best for me not to comment, because I wasn't there," Godin said.
Furthermore, she said, Storm hadn't communicated with her prior to the budget meeting regarding his action against the general manager. In fact, Godin said, when Storm asked to evaluate the general manager moments after taking his oath of office two nights earlier, she didn't know where he was coming from.
"I kept asking questions of him that night," Godin said, "because I wasn't clear on what he wanted."
Unlike Storm, Godin expressed concern about the district attorney's involvement.
"If the DA is looking into this, what does that ultimately mean for us as a board? Right now, I don't have the answers," Godin said. "All I can do is keep asking questions." #
http://www.avpress.com/n/04/0104_s5.hts
PARKER DAM 70 YEARS:
Parker Dam turns 70; Construction created
By John Rudolf, staff writer
More than eighty years ago, a fast-growing
It was one of the greatest engineering feats of all time, a fact recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1992, which named the aqueduct one of the seven “wonders” of American engineering.
Almost as an afterthought, the dam gave birth to
Yet this stunning example of mankind’s ability to bend nature to its will did not come without a price. When
“The dam has done a lot of things…it brought us tourists and recreation,” said Charles Wood, chairman of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribal Council. “But there’s still this underlying sense of displacement. Our home is out there in the middle of that lake.”
As the lake rose behind the dam, its waters spread into the wide and fertile
“It was one of the richest, widest valleys around, and now it’s all underwater,” Blair said. “The forests have either been drowned by the dams or replaced by agriculture or cities.”
Far below where jet-skiers now skim over the placid waters of
More than 7,000 acres of fertile valley land…deeded to the Chemehuevi Indians by the federal government in 1907…;vanished under the waters as well. “Anything that was farmable was lost,” said Wood. #
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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