Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
February 14, 2008
4. Water Quality
RUNOFF ISSUES:
PCB limits could cost governments millions; Most of the reductions must come from diversion of stormwater runoff into Bay Area treatment plants - Contra Costa Times
SEWAGE HOOKUPS:
Lake Elsinore teams up with water district to help Avenues residents;
RATE INCREASES:
NID rate hike to pay for looming capital costs; Typical family would pay $1.50 per month under proposed increase -
RUNOFF ISSUES:
PCB limits could cost governments millions; Most of the reductions must come from diversion of stormwater runoff into Bay Area treatment plants
Contra Costa Times – 2/14/08
By Denis Cuff, MediaNews
Bay Area cities and counties could face hundreds of millions of dollars in higher annual costs to eliminate industrial chemicals called PCBs from storm runoff, under pollution limits adopted Wednesday by a state water board.
Responding to health concerns about people who eat PCB-laden fish, the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board adopted the first-ever mass limit on PCBs entering the Bay.
Even though the manufacture of polychlorinated biphenyls was banned in 1979, they persist in soil and water and continue to wash into the Bay.
Under the new limits, PCBs entering the Bay must be reduced from about 34 kilograms per year to no more than 10 kilograms in the next 30 to 35 years.
The greatest reduction must come from the largest PCB source: tainted stormwater that flows untreated into the Bay.
Under the plan, city and
Stormwater programs must cut PCB contribution from 20 kilograms to 2 kilograms per year.
"It's going to be a challenge," said Tom Mumley, the regional board's assistant executive officer. "This is to protect people who eat fish from the Bay."
Cities and counties in the Bay Area are required to join forces to sponsor a series of pilot projects to track down and clean up PCBs in runoff and soil.
One test project would focus on finding PCB hot spots on land, particularly in industrialized areas where they were widely used in insulation equipment, transformers, paints and caulking.
The most expensive pilot project will divert storm runoff for treatment in sewage plants to find out how much of the pollutants can be removed.
The regional board will evaluate the tests to decide which measures should be required of city and
Once in place, the measures might cost Bay Area cities and counties as much as $400 million per year, board engineers estimated.
California Chamber of Commerce representatives complained that the cost was too high, and the limit should be rejected.
Two environmental groups, the San Francisco Baykeeper and Clean Water Action, argued that the cleanup plan was too weak because it lacked hard deadlines and well-defined cleanup goals.
All six regional board members voted for the plan Wednesday, saying it provided flexibility to refine the cleanup requirements as more is learned about reducing PCBs.
"I feel we've got to start somewhere," said John Muller, the regional board chairman. "It's not perfect."
The board last year adopted similar measures restricting the amount of mercury flowing into the Bay.
That decision was also based on concerns about consumption of Bay fish.
On Wednesday, the federal Environmental Protection Agency announced its approval for the board's mercury limit. #
SEWAGE HOOKUPS:
If the homes are connected, district officials said it will protect the area's groundwater supply and save the homeowners a portion of the $20,000 to $25,000 it currently costs to hook up to the system.
The total cost of the project, called the Avenues Septic Tank Conversion Project, is $6.5 million. The balance of the funding, if the appropriations request is approved, will be paid by the district.
The homeowners live in an older neighborhood called "the Avenues," an eclectic tract of homes situated a block east of
The Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District targeted the neighborhood because it is a small, compact community near a main sewer line that runs parallel to Avenue 6, said district spokesman Greg Morrison.
By connecting the homes to the sewer line, the district will be preventing a significant percentage of the seepage of nitrates from the area's septic systems into the area's groundwater table, Morrison said. There are about 3,000 septic systems in the district, which encompasses 96 square miles.
There is no current problem with excessive nitrates in the area's groundwater, which accounts for 40 percent of the district's potable water. The district is seeking the funding and moving forward on the project as a preventative measure, Morrison said.
However, excessive levels of nitrate in drinking water have caused serious illness and sometimes death, according to Environmental Impact Agency reports. Serious illness in infants can occur with the conversion of nitrates to nitrite in the body, which can interfere with the oxygen-carrying capacity of the child's blood. This can be an acute condition in which health deteriorates rapidly over a period of days. Symptoms include shortness of breath and blueness of the skin, according to the agency's Web site.
The City Council and the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District will formally submit the appropriations request during meetings in
During Tuesday's meeting, Councilman Robert Magee asked if the city would be required to pay for a portion of the project's cost.
City spokesman Mark Dennis, providing the staff report, said the council only was asked to provide support for the project to help it move through the federal funding process.
Morrison said Wednesday the district sought the partnership to show unity on this issue with the federal government.
"It's the city and water district coming together to protect groundwater supplies," he said.
If the funding request is denied, Morrison said the district would submit the federal request again and look into state funding.
John Carpenter, owner of a home at the corner of Avenue 2 and
If the city and district was offering to hook him up for free, he'd spring at the chance, he said.
But if it costs too much money, Carpenter said he'd rather just stick with his new septic system.
"I don't think (hooking up to the sewer system) is going to change much," he said.
Morrison said that even if the district receives the funding, much of the cost of tearing out the existing septic tanks and connecting to the sewer system will have to be passed on to homeowners.
"But (homeowners such as Carpenter) won't have to pay $15,000 for a new septic system," he said. #
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/02/14/news/californian/4_03_402_13_08.txt
RATE INCREASES:
NID rate hike to pay for looming capital costs; Typical family would pay $1.50 per month under proposed increase
Grass Valley
By Laura Brown, staff writer
If Nevada Irrigation District directors approve a rate increase in two weeks, raw and treated water users can expect to see a 6 percent increase this year and up to a 6.5 percent increase every year for the next five years.
The board will decide whether to approve the rate increase, the first in two years, at a public hearing Feb. 27. It will cost the typical single family home $1.50 extra per month the first year.
Notices were sent to 27,100 rate payers last month as required by California Proposition 218. So far, the district has received 55 letters of protest.
The rate change is part of the district's first 10-year master financial plan. When used in combination with property taxes and a drawdown of $30 million from a $70 million reserve fund, the hike will cover looming capital costs in the coming decade. Estimated costs to replace and maintain infrastructure is set at $270 million, including the cost of replacing pipelines.
"We have a lot of costs before us," said Tim Crough, NID's assistant manager.
The largest and smallest seasonal irrigation users will be hardest hit during the first few years as the district switches from a tiered rate structure to something more equitable, said Division 2 Director John Drew. In the past, moderate irrigation users paid a disproportionate rate compared to those who used the most and least amount of water, Drew said.
"There has to be equity as required by the law. No one customer is better than any other," Drew said.
Even with the increase, the price of water will be affordable compared to other areas including the cities of Grass Valley and Auburn, said Alex Handlers of Bartle Wells Associates, the Berkeley-based consulting firm that put together the report.
Several years ago, rate-payers saw a 9 percent increase that had been recommended by a cost of service study. NID abandoned the hike after one year to gather a clearer sense of the agency's financial outlook, Crough said.
The district's historical 2 percent annual average increase couldn't keep up with a 4 percent inflation rate, Crough said.
"You have to be higher than inflation to grasp that margin," Crough said.
Several years ago, a Nevada County Civil Grand Jury report found the district was not recovering enough in rates to cover the cost of doing business.
"People are only paying half of what it costs the district to provide water," Handlers said.
The recent rate study found treated water and raw water were both being subsidized with taxes and other sources of revenue, Drew said.
"We're moving away from subsidized rates, that's the primary shift," Drew said.
NID plans to draw down its $70 million in reserves by $30 million to cover infrastructure costs, but eventually, NID will have to borrow money, Crough said.
Completely drawing down the reserve cushion could put the district in a risky state and can lead to higher increases in the long run, Handlers said.
If half of rate payers oppose the increase, then the board of directors will not be allowed to raise them, Handlers said. Rates are scheduled to go into effect March 1.
In other business:
• NID reached a settlement with the Banner Mountain Homeowners Association Pipeline Committee over a controversial
• Directors approved a resolution to form an assessment district in the Rodeo Flat neighborhood, where at least five wells went dry this summer. The assessment district will allow property owners to help pay for treated water hook-ups over 25 years. #
http://www.theunion.com/article/20080214/NEWS/826740229
####
No comments:
Post a Comment