Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
February 19, 2008
5. Agencies, Programs, People
ELECTRICTY ISSUES:
State casts a wary eye on deregulation; A Supreme Court case and a pending PUC decision revive -- and may heal -- memories of the 2000-01 crisis - Los Angeles Times
SAN LUIS RER RIVER FLOOD CONTROL:
Corps finally ready to mow river channel;
SACRAMENTO-AREA LEVEES:
Repairs approved on W. Sac levee; Work will fix two weaknesses by September 2009 - Sacramento Bee
PYRAMID
Pyramid Lake to shut down for weeks; Water level at recreation area to be dropped for dock work - LA Daily News
Plan to manage 2 area reservoirs is set in motion; An effort is under way to coordinate future of Nacimiento and San Antonio - San Luis Obispo Tribune
MONTERY WATER PLAN:
Monterey to vote on water plan; Three water suppliers work to solve shortage - Monterey Herald
NEVADA IRRIGATION DISTRICT:
NID 10-Year Financial Plan: Mandatory Rate Increases - YubaNet.com
Transparency - Is it An Issue for NID? - YubaNet.com
ELECTRICTY ISSUES:
State casts a wary eye on deregulation; A Supreme Court case and a pending PUC decision revive -- and may heal -- memories of the 2000-01 crisis
By Elizabeth Douglass and David G. Savage, staff writers
California's energy crisis ended seven years ago, but electricity customers are still paying for it, lawyers are arguing over it and regulators are reigniting debate over the policies that led up to it.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments today about whether the high-priced energy contracts signed amid the crisis can be reopened to make sure the rates are fair.
And later this month, state utility regulators are expected to move toward allowing Californians to buy electricity from companies other than the traditional utilities -- a central feature of the previous deregulation effort.
"All this stuff that got put on the side burner for a while is all coming back," said Michael Shames, executive director of San Diego-based Utility Consumers' Action Network.
If you're wondering why these things matter, check your utility bill. Customers of Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric and Pacific Gas & Electric are still paying for the energy mess circa 2000-01.
A sample bill from
There's the "DWR bond charge" to repay bonds the state Department of Water Resources issued so it could buy power during the crisis. And there's the cost of the electricity the agency bought -- and is still buying -- under long-term contracts.
Then there's the "trust transfer amount," earmarked for repaying 10-year bonds that funded rate reductions for the first four years of the deregulation plan. The utilities' customers are paying an estimated $3.4 billion more than they will have gotten from the rate rollback.
Finally, there's the competition transition charge, which
The CTC is getting smaller but will be on
That's what the Supreme Court fight is about.
In 2002, the California Public Utilities Commission, the California Electricity Oversight Board and others complained to federal energy regulators that the DWR contracts should be nullified because they contained unreasonably high prices resulting from a rigged market. Similar complaints were filed by
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission refused to void the agreements. It cited a "long-standing policy . . . to recognize the sanctity of contracts."
In a separate case, however, the commission acknowledged that energy prices were unreasonably high during the crisis and approved refunds and settlements that returned nearly $6 billion to the utilities and their customers.
State lawyers won a potentially significant victory in the
But before the commission could do so, wholesale energy traders and providers asked the Supreme Court to throw out the 9th Circuit's rulings. They argue that a deal is a deal.
Erik Saltmarsh, former executive director of the Electricity Oversight Board, said such an argument was "almost synonymous with saying, 'If you're lucky enough to find someone who desperately needs power in the middle of a crisis, you want the right to lock them into a bad deal that nobody can get them out of.' "
During today's session, the justices will hear arguments in a related case brought by a
Whatever is decided will be applied to the pending cases from
Back at the California Public Utilities Commission, there's a move afoot to deregulate again, beginning with a system known as direct access. That change would give customers a choice of electricity providers.
A group of big power users and energy providers called the
"It wasn't direct access that caused the energy crisis," said Norm Plotkin, executive director of the Sacramento-based alliance. He added that now, "everything is normalized . . . and there is an urge for competitive options."
Mary Orem, a resident of the
"It's risky, because obviously it failed before," said
The group's request alarmed legislators and consumer advocates. Several lawmakers sent a letter to PUC President Michael Peevey warning him that he shouldn't consider actions that "contravene existing statutes and are not within the discretion" of the commission.
"Direct access was the justification for deregulation," said Shames of the
In December, Peevey agreed that the state shouldn't bring back direct access until DWR was out of the power business. However, in a decision that won't be final until it is voted on later this month, Peevey also said the commission should forge ahead and "explore proactive alternatives" that would bring back competition more quickly.
He said the state wouldn't have to wait until 2015 if DWR canceled, renegotiated or handed off the remaining contracts to the utilities.
State Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-Van Nuys) isn't in favor of deregulating the power market, and he suspects that direct-access proponents within state government are pressuring DWR to speed up the agency's exit from the energy market, even if the changes increase the costs to consumers.
Levine said he believed that's what happened in December when DWR renegotiated a contract with Calpine Corp. that was one of the few long-term agreements considered to be a good deal.
PG&E said the new contract left it with 82% less power and would force it to pay an extra $150 million to $200 million to make up the shortfall. DWR disputed PG&E's estimates, contending that the revised contract was "a clear winner" when all the provisions were considered.
SDG&E and Edison both rely on DWR contracts for 28% of their power. In a hearing last month, Edison warned DWR that making contract changes that required utilities to replace thousands of megawatts of energy on short notice "could increase costs significantly."
Levine, who hosted the state hearing on the Calpine contract changes, echoed their concern.
"This is exactly what happened during the energy crisis," he said. "The utility companies were forced, on a very short time frame, to go out and buy power from people who knew they had them over a barrel." #
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-power19feb19,0,1196967,full.story
SAN LUIS RER RIVER FLOOD CONTROL:
Corps finally ready to mow river channel;
Officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers say they expect to begin removing the invasive giant reed arundo donax west of
"We have learned that, with this project, things can change very quickly, but that is the date we're looking at," said Debbie Lamb, a study manager with the Corps who has worked on the project since 1999.
Oceanside City Council members said last week they were hopeful that after years of wrangling over permits and protecting habitat, the regular maintenance of the river channel will finally begin. The work aims to reduce the flood and fire danger in the clogged channel.
"I'm happy. It was a long battle," said Mayor Jim Wood. "But I'll believe it on the 25th, when we actually start mowing because it's almost unbelievable what we've had to go through."
Councilman Jerry Kern said the reduction in flood risk means money in the pocket of people who live and work in the flood plain, including himself.
"This may mean a difference of $500 to $600 a year for some people," he said. "This is a big deal for them."
He referred to a possible reduction in flood insurance costs.
Ready, set, mow
The Corps has been working with state and federal environmental agencies since
The overgrowth has reduced the channel's flood capacity ---- originally, it could handle a 240-year flood, but now it can't even handle a 100-year flood event, officials say. According to an analysis performed by the Corps, a 100-year flood would send nearly 400,000 gallons of water per second through the river channel. A 100-year flood is one that has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year. A 240-year flood has a 0.4 percent chance.
The channel area has become a home for seven endangered species, including the least
Bureaucrats have wrangled about the amount of land that should be set aside to compensate for habitat that will be destroyed in the channel during annual mowing operations.
On Feb. 6, the California Coastal Commission gave its blessing to the Army Corps' clearing plan and received another permit from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Friday. The Army Corps is still waiting on a permit from the Regional Water Quality Control Board, but a spokesman said Friday that approval is expected by Tuesday.
Changing plans
Though the Corps didn't start building the levee system until 1990, its plans to eventually maintain the channel have existed since 1988.
The original plans divided the riverbed between
A crew was to mow one of the strips each year, meaning that any given strip would grow for five years before its next appointment with the wood chipper. West of Benet Road, annual mowing would ensure that a 100-foot-wide channel would be kept free of all vegetation with the mowing.
Though the original clearing plan initially had approval from a host of state and federal environmental agencies, that approval began to fall apart after the Corps finished building the levees in 2000.
The problems started after the Corps planted more than 100 acres of new bird habitat within the river channel. That habitat quickly attracted the endangered vireo in greater numbers than had lived in the riverbed before the levee.
"We did too good a job, and the least
The new maintenance plan calls for sparing bird nests wherever possible while still creating a flood channel wide enough and clear enough to handle a severe flood.
In order to avoid bird nests, and to leave behind the maximum number of untouched plants, the Corps says it will follow a much more complex mowing pattern than was included in the original riverbed plan.
Efforts will start this year with the mowing of a 170-foot-wide strip along either side of the river between
The wide swath, which is to be mowed yearly "in perpetuity," meanders through the levee channel, following the sometimes-anemic San Luis Rey River on its way to the Pacific. On either side of the main mowing area will be 60-foot-wide "rotation strips" of vegetation that will be mowed once every 10 years, starting in 2010.
The Corps' latest river plan concludes that the rotational mowing will "allow for one of the corridors to be between five and 10 years old at all times."
Flood rating
The Corps built the tall concrete and rock levees along the San Luis Rey to avoid floods such as those that destroyed property in the past.
In 1980, a flood rushed through the river valley, causing an estimated $2.23 million in property damage. A similar flood in 1993, which occurred after 5.4 miles of the levee system had been built, took several homes along North River Road, but officials said it could have been much worse had the levees not been in place.
Corps river planning documents show that the levees were originally supposed to handle a maximum flow of 89,000 cubic feet of floodwater per second. That flow corresponds to a 270-year flood, which has a 0.37 percent chance of occurring in any given year.
The Corps estimates that nearly a decade of delays have caused the flood channel to lose much of its original capacity. Once the initial three-year clearing effort is complete, the Corps estimates, the system will be able to carry a maximum of 71,200 cubic feet per second.
City Manager Peter Weiss said last week that the Federal Emergency Management Agency requires that residents be protected from at least a 100-year storm and that the Army Corps has assured the city that with the completion of the first phase of the clearing, there will be more than that level of protection.
Weiss said that he encourages all residents to keep flood insurance, but that once the channel is cleared, it won't be mandatory and for those who retain it, it will cost a lot less.
The clearing plan will also significantly reduce the fire danger posed by the overgrown brush in the channel, Weiss said.
City taking over
When the first phase of clearing is completed, the plan is for the city to take over the job of maintaining the cleared area.
Weiss said he does not know how much that will cost at this point because he doesn't know when the city will be taking it over.
"We're trying to come up with those numbers now," he said. "If all we have to do is keep the area cleared, it will be a lot different in cost than habitat management."
Wood said he wasn't sure whether the city should take on the responsibility.
"It's not the 250-year flood channel that we were promised," he said. "I'm happy that it's a 100-year channel, so it will bring flood insurance relief, but as for completion of the clearing, I don't know what to think."
Deputy Mayor Rocky Chavez also said he's going to wait to see what happens.
"I think the reality is they're going to do some (minor) mowing like last year, but we won't see the real solution until August or September, after the nesting season," said Chavez, referring to the second round of work that the agency plans to do later this year.
One thing Wood said that the city wants to avoid if it takes over maintenance is having to go through the permitting process every year with the state Department of Fish and Game.
"We're worried about that," he said. "If it comes back that every year we have to get a permit and go through this all over again, it won't be acceptable. I think the council will tell the Army Corps thank you, but no thank you." #
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/02/17/news/coastal/21_38_252_16_08.txt
SACRAMENTO-AREA LEVEES:
Repairs approved on W. Sac levee; Work will fix two weaknesses by September 2009
Sacramento
By Lakiesha McGhee, staff writer
Local and state flood control agencies have approved an additional $7.2 million to repair sections of a
The Central Valley Flood Protection Board on Friday amended its funding agreement with the West Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency to allow fixes to two sections of a five-mile levee on the east side of the Yolo Bypass and the south side of the Sacramento Bypass. The agencies previously approved $32.9 million to strengthen and raise the levee. That project was completed in 2005.
Geotechnical studies did not detect deficiencies in the soil that caused the levee to slip about 40 feet during the New Year's weekend in 2006, and about 250 feet in April 2006, said Roger Lee of the state Department of Water Resources.
"The geotechnical studies didn't identify the deficiencies but the slips did, and now we want to fix them?" board Vice President Butch Hodgkins asked before the proposal was approved in a unanimous vote.
The additional funds will allow the two slips to be repaired by September 2009, Lee said.
The Central Valley Flood Protection Board also was briefed on proposed plans for the entire levee system protecting
The board next month is expected to vote on a project phase that includes starting work this summer on levees near the I Street Bridge where expansion is planned for West Sacramento's River Walk recreation area.#
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/716876.html
PYRAMID
LA Daily News – 2/18/08
By Patricia Farrell Aidem, staff writer
Popular for boating, water skiing and fishing, the picturesque man-made lake aside Interstate 5 will be drawn down about 23 feet for the work.
It will remain closed until April 5. The project is expected to cost up to $300,000 to rent the heavy equipment.
Crews will use earthmovers to push about 15,000 cubic yards - enough to spread an average of 6 feet high over 1.57 acres - to clear access to a dock used by the U.S. Forest Service and Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies who patrol the lake, said Gary Faulconer, a civil engineer with the state Department of Water Resources.
"Since the lake was built back in '72, just over the years with the water pushing into the (state) aqueduct, the sediment has built up to the point that when the water's low, we can't bring in boats," sheriff's Deputy Paul Hardy said.
"Sometimes we're carrying injured people, sometimes we just have to refuel."
About 100,000 people visit the lake each year, and in the summer months up to six deputies patrol it.
While the water is low, the state Department of Boating and Waterways will use the opportunity to make repairs to the public dock, said Don Strickland, spokesman for Water Resources.
Sediment has settled over 36 years, the bulk of it coming after El Nino storms that wash debris from the mountains and into the lake.
"After the big storm in '05, that's when it really became a problem," Hardy said.
More than 50 inches of rain flooded the region that winter, buckling the nearby I-5 when a hillside slumped and unearthing an oil line that ruptured and spilled crude into the lake.
A boom is in place now across one inlet where Forest Service officials had worried that debris from the massive wildfires that hit the area in recent years would wash into the lake during recent storms.
The 1,297-acre lake is a reservoir of the State Water Project, holding water from Northern California to send south to
Water also is cycled between Castaic and Pyramid lakes for hydroelectric power operations run by the state and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.
Levels are low when water is sent via the California Aqueduct to Castaic, but can't run too low because the top 20 feet of the resource is owned by the Metropolitan Water District, which serves much of the Southland outside
http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_8299464?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com
Plan to manage 2 area reservoirs is set in motion; An effort is under way to coordinate future of Nacimiento and San Antonio
By Leah Etling, staff writer
As two projects that will use water from
Increasing stresses on water resources — including growing population, development and drought — mean
Construction has begun on several portions of the project, which includes five contractors. The pipeline is being laid in southeast
Anticipated completion of the project is late 2010, Hollenbeck said.
Local agencies say the water is needed to supplement current supplies. The groundwater basin beneath the
“There are portions of the basin that are definitely in overdraft,” said James Caruso,
Overdraft means that more water is being taken from the basin each year than is being put back by precipitation or seepage. In recent years, some property owners in parts of the
Looking north,
The project broke ground late last month.Work includes modifying the Nacimiento Dam spillway, which will allow the lake to store a higher water level in the winter and spring. The extra water would later be released into the
A diversion facility is being constructed outside of
The
The capacity of
Meanwhile, the draft watershed management plan for both lakes is still in progress. The planning effort, which has been ongoing for two years, is slated for completion in the fall.
A public hearing on the plan was held Saturday at Heritage Ranch. Three more community meetings are scheduled before it is due to the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Community participation has included residents from Heritage Ranch, Lockwood and other ranchers and property owners. Representatives from Fort Hunter Liggett and
The plan will include issues such as water and air quality, roads, residential and commercial development, farmland and grazing, recreation and the local economy.
“What comes out of this process should really reflect what the community wants to protect now and into the future by having the most complete and accurate watershed information possible,” said Duane Wolgamott, the plan’s steering committee co-chair. #
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/story/280121.html
MONTERY WATER PLAN:
By Kevin Howe, staff writer
The Monterey City Council will consider whether to lend its support and endorsement to a mutual agreement among the
The memorandum, signed by the Monterey County Water Resource Agency, Marina Coast Water District and California American Water, states their intention to fund the technical planning, implementation strategy and publicity for a regional water supply reliability plan.
The three entities would retain control of their various individual water supply and storage projects, including pipelines, recharge wells and desalination plants, but they would aim toward a regional system.
The memorandum emerged from a series of meetings organized by the state Public Utilities Commission's Division of Ratepayer Advocates and led by UC-Santa Cruz's Center for Integrated Water Research during the past year that involved individual residents, nongovernment agencies, city and county governments, special districts and water providers.
The council will hear a report from Lyndel Melton of RMC Consulting on the regional water supply program prior to voting on whether to support the memorandum.
The council convenes at 4 p.m. in its chambers at
http://www.montereyherald.com/local/ci_8294116
NEVADA IRRIGATION DISTRICT:
NID 10-Year Financial Plan: Mandatory Rate Increases
YubaNet.com – 2/18/08
By Susan Snider, staff writer
Capital improvement projects like the Lower Cascade Canal/Banner Mountain Pipeline or the proposed Loma Rica Transmission Main are expensive ventures. In addition, maintaining existing infrastructure is a costly, ongoing reality for a water district.
Funding necessary to cover Nevada Irrigation District's capital improvement costs over the next ten years is estimated to be at least $250 million. This figure is only in today's dollars; it doesn't include the cost of inflation.
This week the water district's board was presented with a summary of a proposed ten-year financial plan. Among its recommendations for dealing with capital improvement funding was a call for gradual rate increases.
According to a report presented by Alex Handlers of Bartle Wells Associates, treated water customers would see rate increases anywhere from 4 to 8 percent. But proposed overall rate adjustments for both treated and raw water customers are projected to be around 6.5 percent.
Handlers noted that NID's rates are historically lower than other local, regional or statewide agencies. He also said that projected rates will remain competitive or lower than prevailing rates in the region.
But are rate increases enough?
A financial overview presented by Handlers indicates that the water district is in strong overall financial health and currently maintains a healthy level of reserves.
However, according to findings of the financial plan, projected rate increases will not fully fund NID's 10-year capital program on schedule.
Other funding for the first five years could come from reserves or debt financing in the amount of $65 million.
Rate increase projections presented to board members are for years 2008-2012. Approval of the new rate proposal is scheduled for NID's next regular board meeting on Feb. 27.
Ratepayers notified of potential increases
In accordance with Prop. 218, NID notified its customers of the proposed rate increase in January. District customers may lodge protests in writing on or before the NID's board is scheduled to approve the increases on Feb 27. Prop. 218 also allows for public comment during this meeting.
In addition, NID offered two informational evening sessions on Feb. 5 and 7 for the purpose of explaining the proposed increases to treated water and raw water customers, respectively. Attendance was all but non-existent. According to NID assistant manager Tim Crough, ads were placed in the Auburn Journal and Grass Valley Union "about a week before the meetings were scheduled."
A Primer on Rates, Water Distribution, and Tax Revenues
State law mandates that a water agency can't impose rates in excess of what it costs to service a customer. In the case of NID, rates have historically remained below the cost of providing service. And according to Finance Manager Marie Owens, the proposed new rates still remain substantially below the cost of providing service to both raw and treated water customers.
NID makes up a large portion of the shortfall between the cost of bringing water to its customers and what it actually charges by dipping into its property tax revenues. But here is some more information and numbers to contemplate. If it sounds like subsidized rates, it's because they are.
NID collects property tax revenues from property owners living within its district boundaries.
In 2007, NID collected, after fees paid to the state, $8,391,745 in property tax revenues from
Approximately two-thirds of the district's 287,000 acres are located in
Out of a total of 77,578 acre feet of water used in 2007 by
By contrast, in 2007 NID collected, after fees paid to the state, $2,299,269 in property tax revenues from
Out of the 95,434 acre feet used by
Over 90% of the water delivered to
And raw water rates receive strong subsidies from NID's tax revenues.
Litigation Settled, Pipeline Will Proceed
"It's good to get the Lower Cascade pipeline project started," Director Nancy Weber remarked following Wednesday's announcement that a legal settlement had been reached on the controversial Lower Cascade Canal/Banner Cascade Pipeline project.
"But NID has a challenge in placing a transmission line in a rural residential neighborhood, especially the narrow Wings of Morning Road," Weber, cautioned. "NID staff are making strenuous efforts to minimize impacts."
General Manager Ron Nelson said there are three critical points included in the settlement.
Along with agreeing to judicially enforce mitigation measures called for in the environmental impact report, NID will also allow properties along the treated water pipelines to connect at 2007 rates, approximately $7000 per parcel.
A major concern of the Banner Mountain Homeowners Association Pipeline Committee, participants in the settlement, is the project's impacts to existing groundwater wells.
NID also agreed to conduct well studies for litigant property owners who fear these impacts. In turn, according to Nelson, if it is determined that there are impacts, NID would allow hookup with no associated capacity charges to treated water lines.
The $36 million project will ultimately supply water to substantial areas of
Another Pilot Water Program Forges Ahead
Venturing into the unfamiliar territory of programs that help property owners finance otherwise cost-prohibitive water system improvements, NID has been fairly successful so far.
For example, Cement Hill's Community Facilities District (CFD), was approved in December. This pipeline project will provide water for several hundred property owners who have been waiting for NID water for years in the
Now, 36 parcels in the
Financing provided by NID will allow each participant to repay $24,167 over a 25-year period at an annual assessment of $1800.
NID Stubs Its Toe on Cement Hill CFD
Inherent with pilot programs are the unforeseen missteps. NID Board members heard from local Cement Hill property owner Paul Mellersh about one such situation.
While Mellersh owns property on Cement Hill, as a British citizen he could not participate in the recent vote that approved the neighborhood Community Facilities District (CFD). Nevertheless, Mellersh found out that his property is included in the CFD.
"When I filled out the questionnaire on the CFD, the form stated that answers do not constitute a commitment in any way," Mellersh told board members. "Now I'm facing a $19,000 tax obligation."
Assistant Manager Crough advised the board that that there are several people in this situation. He added, however, that there are few options for people like Mellersh. Crough indicated he would bring some possible solutions to the board in March.
Director John Drew cautioned staff to make sure that "what happened with Cement Hill, what we heard this morning will not happen again with Rodeo Flat."
Public Hearing on Loma Rica Transmission Main Project
Wednesday's board meeting was also the opportunity for members of the public to offer comments on a proposed mitigated negative declaration for another of NID's projects, the Loma Rica Transmission Main Pipeline.
The proposed project would bring water from the district's Loma Rica water treatment plant to
According to NID, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) study on the transmission main project found no significant environmental impacts.
Adoption of the proposed mitigated negative declaration will be decided at the Feb. 27 board meeting, following formal closure of the CEQA process.
Important Public Meetings on Proposed
NID will hold two public meetings to provide information on this project:
February 26 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. NID Business Office,
March 4 from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. Mt. Pleasant Hall, 3333 Mt. Pleasant Road, Lincoln
Identical agendas will be covered at both locations and there will be an opportunity for public comment at each meeting.
Information presented at the meetings will be available after March 4 at the City of
Anyone interested in NID's plans to bring water to the city of
NID Board meetings are normally scheduled at 9 a.m. on the second and fourth Wednesdays of every month. #
http://yubanet.com/regional/NID-10-Year-Financial-Plan-Mandatory-Rate-Increases.php
Transparency - Is it An Issue for NID?
YubaNet.com – 2/18/08
By Susan Snider, staff writer
Videotaping and broadcasting is also about government transparency. However, not all
For the last nine months, videotaping of Nevada Irrigation District's board meetings has been funded by private citizens, the Federation of Neighborhood Associations (FoNA), other neighborhood groups, and the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL).
Copies of the tapes have been available for public viewing at the Madelyn Helling Library. Public access television station NCTV also broadcasts these tapes.
Until 2007, NID board meetings were not routinely videotaped. And while the water district reluctantly agreed last spring to finally allow its board proceedings to be videotaped, it has stood firm in refusing to fund the process.
Last year, NID's Administrative Practices Committee (APC) was asked to consider funding videotaping services and make a similar recommendation to its board members for approval. The APC decided against submitting any request for funding to the NID Board.
At last week's board meeting, Director Nancy Weber again requested that NID pay for videotaping.
"NCTV has a new government channel where several government agency meetings can be viewed.
Continued funding by private groups and individuals unlikely
It is uncertain whether those concerned citizens who have raised private sector money for taping will be able to continue finding funding sources.
"Ron
She pointed to current demographics in western
"We have an extremely older population, one of highest in the state. To expect this constituency to come to meetings is unfair," Boivin added.
Many district residents are unable to make the 9 a.m. weekday meetings because of job and family constraints. Because of this, an alternative means of accessing NID meetings is crucial.
What better use of outreach and goodwill capital?
Funding for the videotaping project runs typically around $200-300 a month. To people like Jason Rainey, executive director of the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL), a nonprofit organization that works to protect the
"There's no public agency, elected or otherwise, that has a greater influence on the health of the
How to contact your elected NID representative
Constituents wishing to contact members of the board are invited to contact Board Secretary Lisa Francis Tassone, (530) 273-6185 ext. 222. Lisa will be happy to put you in contact with your elected representative.
Nancy Weber
Director, Division I
Nancy Weber of rural
John H. Drew
Director, Division II
John Drew of
W.
Director, Division III (2007 Board President)
Scott Miller of rural
R. Paul Williams
Director, Division IV
R. Paul Williams of
George V. Leipzig
Director, Division V
George Leipzig of
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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