A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
February 28, 2008
3. Watersheds
POLLUTION ISSUES:
DDT found in Sierra lakes; Long-banned pesticide surfaces in Sequoia park -
WATERSHED RESTORATION:
Water official: Flow plan will be served up soon -
Salton Sea Authority nearly out of money; Board aims to fulfill mission as funds run dry - Desert Sun
Salton Sea Authority aims to remain viable force; With money shrinking, group looksat plenty of changes on the horizon - Desert Sun
INTEGRATED REGIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT PLANNING:
State budget, development top issues at forum - Sonora Union Democrat
POLLUTION ISSUES:
DDT found in Sierra lakes; Long-banned pesticide surfaces in Sequoia park
By Mark Grossi, staff writer
The danger was reported this week in the results of a six-year federal study of air contaminants in 20 national parks from Denali in
Researchers found 70 wind-borne contaminants, including mercury, in some of the more remote wilderness locations on Earth.
"National parks are often considered pristine," said Sequoia spokeswoman Alexandra Picavet. "But national parks are not immune to pollution from hundreds or even thousands of miles away."
Sequoia officials said they will caution the public about the tainted fish at popular Emerald and Pear lakes. But officials added that the risk is low unless people eat fish daily from the two lakes for perhaps a week or longer.
Sequoia air specialist Annie Esperanza said she and other park scientists need to look more broadly at high Sierra lakes.
"How widespread is this contamination, and is it harming our resources?" she asked.
DDT, or dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane, was among the most widely used agricultural pesticides before it was banned in 1972. The chemical can remain in soil for many decades, sometimes moving into water, plants or animals, scientists say.
Environmentalists link DDT to ecological disaster, such as the near extinction of the bald eagle. Federal researchers suspect it causes cancer.
Aside from DDT and other pesticides, researchers found wilderness areas are being showered by dozens of toxins produced by power plants, vehicles, fires, boilers and other industrial activities.
The revelation is a wakeup call for Congress, according to one parks advocacy group.
"We can take steps to reduce mercury emissions from power plants, steps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions that cause global warming," said Will Hammerquist with the National Parks Conservation Association, which supports funding and improvements for national parks.
The study this week said scientists expected their findings to be dominated by contaminants that blew into North America from Eastern Europe and
Instead, the bigger problems came from nearby farming and industries.
Sequoia is downwind from a multibillion-dollar farming belt in the
Sequoia-area environmentalists said it was chilling to think a pesticide banned 36 years ago was found at 9,000-foot-elevation lakes. They wondered where else it could be found in the park.
"If it got into the lake, it would work its way through the food chain," said Dan Christenson, a retired state biologist who now is an environmental activist in the southern
Sequoia officials are concerned about their employees. Trail crews, rangers and researchers sometimes spend weeks in the backcountry.
"We will talk to our staff and make sure they understand the possible risks for eating the fish for many days," said park spokeswoman Picavet.
The study also showed Sequoia's pine and fir trees had the highest concentration of pesticides of any park surveyed.
Researchers found chlorpyrofos and dacthal in tree needles. Chlorpyrofos is used to kill such pests as aphids; dacthal is used as a weed killer.
Valley farm officials said pesticide practices have changed dramatically over the past 30 years. Fresno County Farm Bureau officials said growers now apply much less pesticide each year, and many prefer to use natural predator insects to prevent infestations in crops.
Sequoia also gets air pollution from Valley metropolitan areas. Each summer, the park has some of the worst air quality among national parks because it is downwind of smoggy cities, such as
Smog damage has been documented in pine trees and young giant sequoias, which grow to be the largest trees in the world. #
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/428141.html
WATERSHED RESTORATION:
Water official: Flow plan will be served up soon
By Alex Breitler, staff writer
The habitat conservation plan will allow the Stockton East Water District to continue diverting water for cities and farms while getting a permit to incidentally kill fish in the process.
District General Manager Kevin Kauffman said flows from New Hogan Reservoir, 30 miles northeast of
"The plan will require minimum flows all year (for fish), and that's basically what we've been doing," he said. "We'll commit to continuing that."
But as long as the plan remains unfinished, the district can be held accountable for fish that are killed as a result of its operation.
And conservationists are watching carefully.
"If they kill a steelhead and we find it, we'll move it into the courts," said Bill Jennings of
Steelhead were listed as threatened in 1998 under the Endangered Species Act. In 2000, Stockton East denied that the
In 2004, officials told The Record that a habitat plan to help fish could be released within six months. In 2006, the state Department of Fish and Game criticized a draft of the plan, saying it would not help fish.
Late that year, Stockton East said the plan should be released to the public by spring 2007. Now the target is spring 2008.
The National Marine Fisheries Service, a federal agency working on the plan with the district, said budget constraints and the need to investigate pressing fish crises in the Delta have delayed the Calaveras process.
However, "the
John Raine, a Valley Springs resident active in
The plan is about more than flows. The district also will build a permanent fish ladder over the Bellota Weir, though that improvement may be several years away, Kauffman said.
"That's the biggest one," he said. "We're going to commit to building this." #
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/A_NEWS/802280333
Desert Sun – 2/28/08
By Keith Matheny, staff writer
As the
The Salton Sea Authority, without an infusion of cash from its members, expects to run out of funds by April. Its executive director and other paid employees have left the organization, leaving staff from member agencies in charge on a rotating basis.
While the group will discuss its future at its meeting today, its mission is as important as ever, Imperial County Supervisor and Authority member Gary Wyatt said Wednesday.
"We need this vehicle to have a way for the region to be working together and be a cohesive force to drive the restoration efforts," he said.
The state's largest lake has been slowly dying for decades as water salinity increases. The sea is expected to shrink significantly by 2018, when water transfers will reduce its primary source: agricultural runoff. Fish and bird habitat could be severely impacted, and an exposed dry lake bed could cause dust problems for miles into the
The Salton Sea Authority formed in 1993 as a joint powers agreement between
"I think the Salton Sea Authority has served a very good purpose," said Coachella Valley Water District and Authority board member Patricia "Corky" Larson.
"I think those of us who are local should do everything we can to keep it alive."
In the meantime, Sen. Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego, has introduced a bill to form a governing structure that would include a mix of representatives from state and local agencies that would be overseen by state Secretary of Resources Mike Chrisman. #
Desert Sun – 2/28/08
By Keith Matheny, staff writer
The Salton Sea Authority projects to have $97 in available funds by the end of April.
At their meeting today, Authority board members will discuss doing away with virtually all committees, and changing their meeting schedule from monthly to bi-monthly or quarterly.
Despite the agency's continuing challenges, members said it's important that they stick together, as the process for restoring
"Eventually they are going to need us or somebody just like us to do anything out there," said Riverside County Supervisor and Authority member Marion Ashley.
"We have to hang around, stay a viable agency, stay involved in the issues, and be ready to act whenever the opportunity comes."
As grant money has largely dried up, contributions from member agencies have kept the authority funded for the past several months, Riverside County Supervisor and Authority member Marion Ashley said. That will need to continue, he said.
After years of false starts and debate, state Secretary of Resources Mike Chrisman last spring chose a 75-year, $8.9 billion mitigation plan to restore the dying sea, ease air quality problems and preserve wildlife habitat.
A bill sponsored by state Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny, D-San Diego, would earmark $47 million in state Proposition 84 water bond money for
But the bill stalled in an Assembly committee at the end of last year. Ducheny's office is working to revive the measure.
The senator has also introduced a bill to form a governing structure for any sea restoration project that includes a mix of representatives from state and local agencies that would be overseen by Chrisman.
That's met with skepticism from authority members, who believe it could leave the state with veto power over them.
"The state comes in, takes over the process, yet they haven't identified how they are going to pay for it," said Imperial Valley Supervisor and Authority board member Gary Wyatt.
Among the key issues for locals is the potential for additional development along the sea's shores, which could provide revenue for restoration.
"People are part of the ecosystem," Wyatt said.
"(But) not in the state plan, they're not. We don't exist in the state plan. The only thing that's important is the birds."
Wyatt noted that
"I just can't be a party to destroying the sea, and that's what I see being set up," he said.
"Everything we know about the sea is going to go away. And you in the
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080228/NEWS0701/802280360/1006
INTEGRATED REGIONAL WATER MANAGEMENT PLANNING:
State budget, development top issues at forum
By Lenore Rutherford, staff writer
Unchecked land development and a tighter state budget ranked high among concerns raised at a regional water planning forum Tuesday night in
More than 40 people attended the California Statewide Watershed Advisory Committee meeting. It was one of four meetings held throughout the
CALFED is a coalition of 25 state and federal water and environmental agencies formed in 1994 to study and solve water quality, environmental, and levee stability issues in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
California Resources Agency Secretary Mike Chrisman has tasked the Department of Conservation with creating the statewide program.
The paving over of thousands of acres of the
Tuolumne County Planner Debbie Reynolds said education is one key.
"I wish we could educate people about their idea of the American dream and what it does to water quality and supplies," she said. "I deal with building projects all the time, and the most popular ones are still sprawling, big homes on five acres. They need to understand the results of that."
Tuolumne County Deputy Public Works Director Duke York said land-planning looking beyond each county's lines is needed.
"I don't want the state making all the land-use decisions," he said, "but is the issue too big for each county to handle alone? We are building over good farmland in the valleys. From a water standpoint, I think a land-use plan is somewhat necessary. We are building before we consider the supply."
Calaveras County Supervisor Russ Thomas said his county is trying to encourage people to build in the Copperopolis area foothills instead of on fertile valley soil.
"We are trying to do our part," he said.
Also an issue: state funding for such an undertaking.
John Buckley, who heads up the Twain Harte-based
"Funding will be limited, at least for the next year or two. We need to focus on things we can all agree on."
Tuolumne County Supervisor Paolo Maffei noted the state analyst is now saying
"We might talk about building up our groundwater supplies right now," he said. "I think that can be done in small pieces at a time. I don't see big money out there for dams."
Consultant John Mills, representing Tuolumne Utilities District, said any effort to improve the state's watershed management must start with collaboration, coordination, cooperation and communication. He then added a fifth: consensus-based solutions.
Josh Bridges, representing Ebbetts Pass Forest Watch, stressed the need to protect water quality at its source — in the high country.
Other ideas that came out during the meeting included the need to make all information public and shared so it isn't duplicated, and for the state committee to have a local presence so ideas get shared more readily.
Ideas from the forum were listed to be taken back to the California Resources Agency, which will decide how to implement the state plan.
Tuolumne County Supervisor Teri Murrison is one of the 26 advisory committee members. She and fellow advisory committee member, John Brodie, a watershed coordinator for the San Joaquin County Resource Conservation District, based out of
http://www.uniondemocrat.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=25897
####
No comments:
Post a Comment