Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
January 15, 2008
5. Agencies, Programs, People
FLOOD CONTROL:
COASTAL WATER PROJECT:
Cal Am can draw on fund; Coastal Water Project: Surcharge collected since last year - Monterey Herald
INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS:
PID aims to improve water delivery - Paradise Post
WATER RATES:
Water rates might rise;
FLOOD CONTROL:
NPR – 1/14/08
By Joe Palca
All Things Considered, January 14, 2008 · When you live near the water and below sea level, you had better be sure your flood defenses are in good shape.
So it's natural that when policymakers in
And now,
Phil Isenberg, a veteran
There are also environmentalists, agribusiness companies, developers and cities in the mix, all at odds about what to do. Jeffrey Mount, a geologist at the
"You have this situation in
Mount says building higher walls to keep back the flood waters won't work. It would be ruinously expensive and is probably not the way to keep up with the sea level rise climate change is bringing. In considering solutions,
"They're actually cognizant that they're on a trajectory of change. And they're trying to adapt to that change. Rather than simply trying to make it work for today, they're trying to make it work for tomorrow as well," Mount says. "We haven't got there yet."
About 5,500 miles from the delta, Eric Boessenkool sits in his office at the Dutch Water Ministry in
The Dutch federal government has concluded that it can no longer keep up with sea-level rise by building higher dikes. So it's considering innovative alternatives, such as building barrier islands in the
But that can also mean forcing people to relocate.
"Of course, it's difficult to come in and say well, '30 years ago we wanted you to live here, to be a farmer, but now we want you to move out to keep the system safe,'" Boessenkool says.
Other flood-control projects are going on throughout the country, and they're just the start. Piet Dircke, an executive with the water engineering firm Arcadis, says the Dutch are considering their options for the next several centuries.
"Dealing with climatic changes," he says, "is a flexible process that will never end any more. We will have to adapt again and again."
And for the Dutch, adapting isn't something to debate about; it's something to do. Now. #
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18080442
COASTAL WATER PROJECT:
Cal Am can draw on fund; Coastal Water Project: Surcharge collected since last year
By Kevin Howe, staff writer
California American Water can begin drawing money from an account set up to recover $9.31 million in costs it incurred for its Coastal Water Project, the state Public Utilities Commission has ruled.
The PUC's action last week allows Cal Am to begin drawing from the account, funded by a 10 percent surcharge, into which customers have been paying for the past year.
A settlement agreement announced in October between the water company and the PUC's Division of Ratepayer Advocates allowed Cal Am to put money from the surcharge into an account to eventually repay the company for preconstruction costs totaling $9,312,644 through Dec. 31, 2006.
The surcharge has been reflected in customer bills since January 2007, said Cal Am vice president Kevin Tilden.
The water company had sought the surcharges to avoid hitting customers with a sudden, steep increase in bills that would have occurred when the Coastal Water Project got under way, Tilden said.
The surcharge account falls short of $9.3 million, said Cal Am spokeswoman Catherine Bowie.
The surcharge, she said, is expected to continue through 2016 in order to collect the remainder of construction cost expenditures.
The settlement does not preclude Cal Am from seeking reimbursement for additional preconstruction costs incurred in 2007, said Danilo Sanchez, manager of the Division of Ratepayer Advocates.
The PUC will allow Cal Am to seek another surcharge to cover those costs only after the final environmental impact report for the water project is approved by the state Coastal Commission, Bowie said, adding that the report is due to be completed in December.
The Coastal Water Project proposed by Cal Am involves construction of a $200 million regional seawater desalination plant, distribution and storage system to serve the
Last month, Cal Am submitted a request to the PUC to raise water rates from the $41.12 per month the average customer now pays to about $90.14 per month by 2011. Under Cal Am's proposal, the average customer's monthly bill would rise from $41.12 to $70.79 in the first year, followed by an increase to $79.71 during the second year, and would peak at $90.14 in the final year.
If approved, the rate increase would take effect in June 2009 at the earliest and would cover the three-year period from 2009-11.
The proposed rate increase would be in addition to the surcharges.
Cal Am also proposed last month that it change its rate structure to levy higher rates for larger-volume water users in order to promote water conservation. Cal Am seeks to nearly double the rate it charges customers who use more than 8,976 gallons of water per month.
That rate increase would raise nearly $37 million of the $84 million Cal Am plans to spend on infrastructure upgrades, she said.
Cal Am is a wholly owned subsidiary of American Water, the largest investor-owned
http://www.montereyherald.com/news/ci_7974772
INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENTS:
PID aims to improve water delivery
By Paul Wellersdick, staff writer
Taking on no major injuries from last Friday's storm, Paradise Irrigation District is preparing to upgrade its delivery system again.
An agreement to upgrade and expand the district's Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system will be before the board for its consideration. The new SCADA system would help the district save money, operate more efficiently and allow for expansion of the district.
The previous system PID employed used a 900 MHz signal that didn't work well in
According to PID members, the old system was antiquated and it was difficult to find qualified professionals to program it. It will take a few months to install the new system, including upgrades to radio antennas, computers and computer controls. The new SCADA system would also save money and energy and make the plant last longer.
"Reliable two-way communication will be able to extend the life of the treatment plant," PID Manager George Barber said. "It will lengthen the time before we'll have to upgrade the treatment plant."
Barber couldn't say exactly how long the plant's life would be extended, but did say it would be less than 20 years, depending on how much the Ridge grows. Mixing water from storage tanks with the water from the treatment plant will allow the district to meet peak summer demands more smoothly, plant operations supervisor Bill Taylor said.
"What it does now is the high peak demand is transferred right to the treatment plant," he said, "Instead you buffer it using some of your storage during that peak time and build it back when the load is low."
Because the treatment plant wouldn't be taking the brunt of the high demand on a summer day, the district would use less peak hour electricity to fill the tanks, and could pump them full at night, when energy costs are lower, Barber said. Also the district could save money if it didn't have to spend money driving people to sites to turn on and off manual valves,
"The old system was supposed to be able to remotely open and close things," he said. "But (it) doesn't communicate well enough. (PID has) drivers running around."
The old system was from 1995,
The PID board will also consider renting a house on its future corporate yard site until the district moves its yard to the new site. PID would rent the house to an employee at a discount rate in exchange for that employee's work to manage the property and keep an eye on it, Barber said.
The board may approve the idea to rent the 1,000 square foot house and would set the rent too, he said. PID has a surplus of what it calls "post rock," which are long rectangular shaped rocks. The district uses the rocks at
"We want it out, there's only so much we can use," Barber said. "
The time has also come for the annual investment review in which the PID Treasurer Kevin Phillips and Barber will report to the board on what PID investments are doing now. The board approves low risk, low reward investments for Barber and Phillips to make, Barber said.
"We shouldn't be getting too risky," he said. "We're very conservative."
The board won't allow the district to invest in junk bonds which historically have cost other districts like
"They lost significant millions," he said.
The investment money comes from reserve funds set up to fund capital projects, Barber said. PID is required to have a certain amount invested, Barber said.
"A good general explanation is some debt requires that we have a year's annual payments reserved at all times as protection for (the debtors,)" Barber said.
If something happens to the water supply and PID can't deliver water its income gets slim, and the investments covers such events.
PID is also still in closed session figuring out how much to pay for two of the Del Oro Water Company's districts, Barber said.
"It's a business transaction, we need to get to a point to put an offer on the table, then (Del Oro will) decide if it's for sale." #
http://www.paradisepost.com//ci_7969639?IADID=Search-www.paradisepost.com-www.paradisepost.com
WATER RATES:
Water rates might rise;
By Andrew Edwards, staff writer
And it's not just any glitch - officials say the city needs millions to set things right.
Water rates went up 7 percent this month after rising by the same rate last year. Recent developments mean the City Council could raise rates again by an even greater amount.
Water customers could face higher rates because officials say their predecessors at City Hall failed to make sure the Mill Creek water rights that were acquired more than 80 years ago were properly paid for within the city's bureaucracy.
Officials, including City Manager N. Enrique Martinez and interim utilities chief Chris Diggs, have recommended that the city's water utility - which has its own account - reimburse the city's general account for using city-owned water rights.
Higher water rates could pay for such a reimbursement. Financial plans being considered at City Hall could result in some water payments flowing to the general fund. This means that a rate hike could funnel money to other city operations.
Mayor Jon Harrison said additional money could be spent on work like street repairs or building maintenance if the council signs off on the plan.
"I think it's good that they (city staffers) are looking at different options,"
A formal proposal to increase water rates will not be discussed at today's City Council meeting, but the council is scheduled to consider consulting contracts for firms that would work on a potential $17 million bond.
A bond would make it possible for
Another option under consideration would call for the water utility to lease the water rights. Under that alternative, the water utility could spend about $442,000 annually to use Mill Creek water and also pay $6.6 million to the general fund as a way of settling the city's books.
City administrators want consultants to decide which option makes more sense.
It's not yet known how high rates could rise.
Diggs acknowledged that at a recent utilities commission meeting, he mentioned the possibility of a 15 percent increase. However, he said Monday that number was part of an off-the-cuff remark and not an actual estimate of how large a rate hike could be.
A reimbursement plan could stir up intense discussions among the council. Councilman Mick Gallagher said that he's leaning against the concept, and Councilman Jerry Bean said he's concerned about using water payments to fund city business.
"I have great reservations about this," Bean said. "Until the council meeting, I hate to say more, but I have great reservations about it."
Bean said it seems as if city staffers are looking for ways to bolster the general fund without going through the more difficult process of raising taxes. New taxes would require a public vote.
Whereas Bean is worried about water customers paying for taxpayer-funded expenses, Diggs said the opposite is already the case.
Under the current situation, Diggs said, tax revenues have boosted water operations. He said the general fund has effectively subsidized the water utility even though water operations are supposed to be financed by customers' fee payments.
In regards to the potential bond issue, the council is scheduled to vote at today's 3 p.m. session on whether to pay
A third firm, Raftelis Financial Consultants, could get a contract worth nearly $84,000 today to determine water and wastewater rates. Raftelis has offices in
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