[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 1/17/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

January 17, 2008

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People

 

PIPELINE PROJECT APPROVED:

Port Hueneme OKs Calleguas pipeline project - Ventura County Star

 

SACRAMENTO FLOOD CONTROL ISSUES:

Editorial: Safety, not revenue, must come first in Natomas; FEMA is right: The risk of flooding is too great to allow unrestricted development - Sacramento Bee

 

 

PIPELINE PROJECT APPROVED:

Port Hueneme OKs Calleguas pipeline project

Ventura County Star – 1/17/08

By Charles Levin, staff writer

 

Plans to complete a regional pipeline to carry treated wastewater from east Ventura County to the ocean at Port Hueneme cleared a significant hurdle Wednesday.

 

The Port Hueneme City Council voted 4-0 to approve an environmental study of the project, allowing construction of the 48-inch pipeline under city streets. Councilwoman Maricela Morales was absent.

 

It could be up to 18 months before the Calleguas Municipal Water District can start construction because it needs approvals from at least six other agencies, including Oxnard, the California Coastal Commission, the State Lands Commission and the Army Corps of Engineers.

 

The panel did not deliberate or discuss the matter at length.

 

The project is the final link in the district's 32-mile pipeline to carry treated wastewater from sewage plants in Simi Valley and Moorpark. The wastewater contains elevated levels of salt, which can't be discharged in creeks but could irrigate golf courses and other landscaping.

 

Councilman Norm Griffaw called it a "great project."

 

District General Manager Don Kendall said he was "pleased" after the vote.

 

"It's a progressive council," Kendall said. "All of them took the time to understand what this is about."

 

The entire project is expected to cost the district $85 million to $120 million, with the Port Hueneme segment running $29.9 million to $33.9 million.

 

In Port Hueneme, the pipeline would start at East Port Hueneme Road at Edison Drive and then head down Surfside Drive, ending at Hueneme Beach Parking Lot A.

 

Another 30-inch pipe would carry the treated water under the ocean floor, resurfacing about 2,500 feet past the surf line.

 

Tuesday's approval also calls for constructing a 12-inch pipeline from Port Hueneme's water treatment plant on Perkins Road to the Calleguas facility. This will allow the city to discharge briny water from the plant to the Calleguas pipeline and the ocean. Currently, the city sends its briny water to Oxnard for discharge.

 

Construction of the onshore pipeline is expected to take a year, while the undersea facility will take 12 to 13 months.

 

It's unclear when construction would start. Getting the remaining approvals will take six to 18 months, district engineering Manager Susan Mulligan said after the vote. She assured the council that residents on Surfside Drive will be able to get in and out of their driveways.

 

Calleguas will pay Port Hueneme $132,000 to use Parking Lot A for eight months. Construction will take place between Sept. 16 and May 14 to avoid conflicts with summer beach use.

 

Calleguas also will pay the city for a permanent easement to operate an underground vault and the undersea pipeline. The payment is expected to be about $250,000.

 

Calleguas also agreed to repave Parking Lot A, a job estimated at roughly $100,000. #

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2008/jan/17/port-hueneme-oks-calleguas-pipeline-project/

 

 

SACRAMENTO FLOOD CONTROL ISSUES:

Editorial: Safety, not revenue, must come first in Natomas; FEMA is right: The risk of flooding is too great to allow unrestricted development

Sacramento Bee – 1/17/08

 

A great hue and cry rose forth from Sacramento City Hall on Tuesday. The reason? Two years after Hurricane Katrina, the federal government is tightly enforcing the nation's laws that restrict building in dangerous floodplains.

 

Armed with new studies that examine the threat of water seeping under levees in Natomas, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it would place this area in a zone that limits construction of any new structures lower than the expected flood level.

 

In Natomas, that level could reach 20 feet or more.

 

This decision by the federal government wasn't unexpected. In October, FEMA officials made clear they wouldn't allow unrestricted building in Natomas as the basin's levees are being upgraded. FEMA held out the possibility of allowing infill development for structures elevated three feet, but has now decided the flood risk in Natomas requires a more restrictive designation.

 

To hear Mayor Heather Fargo and County Supervisor Roger Dickinson tell it, the federal government is unfairly picking on Natomas, basing its decisions on suspect methodologies.

 

 Fargo says that Tuesday she was "very angry with the Army Corps of Engineers and FEMA." One hopes that Fargo and Dickinson can demonstrate how the corps and FEMA are abusing their authority. Otherwise, they risk leaving the impression they care more about tax revenue than the need to limit risk to life and property.

 

As this page noted in October, the federal government has floodplain designations for a reason. FEMA administers the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides subsidized insurance to communities nationwide, including Sacramento, so long as they meet certain conditions. One of these conditions is that communities only build in floodplains that have at least 100-year flood protection.

 

If FEMA were to allow increased development in Natomas, it would expose the nation's shaky insurance fund to an unacceptable level of risk. Federal taxpayers shouldn't be asked to bear this exposure just so Sacramento can continue receiving tax revenue from Natomas.

 

Determined to keep these revenues flowing, Fargo says she will press Congress to block the FEMA action.

 

To her credit, Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, is resisting this pressure. Her aides say she will explore options for helping Sacramento go forward with needed public infrastructure, such as a fire station. But she rightly notes that much has changed since the 1980s, when her late husband, Rep. Robert Matsui, passed legislation exempting much of Sacramento from floodplain restrictions.

 

Katrina is the biggest change. Matsui visited New Orleans after that disaster, so she saw firsthand the lethal dangers of deep flooding. It must never be repeated.

 

Instead of spending the city's limited dollars on a wasteful lobbying campaign in Washington, Fargo and other local leaders would be wise to put all their energies into securing state and federal dollars for local levee upgrades. That way, Natomas can quickly achieve a minimum standard of flood protection.

 

It's a different world in flood control these days. Some elected leaders, including Matsui, recognize that. Others, alas, remain mired in the past. #

http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/640527.html

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