Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
February 29, 2008
5. Agencies, Programs, People
DELTA CANAL STUDY:
Schwarzenegger to move ahead on Delta canal study; He also will call for 20% per capita cut in state water use - Sacramento Bee
STATE WATER BOND DROPPED:
California business groups drop plan for water bond - Associated Press
FLOOD ZONE:
Mapping a disaster; San Joaquin County residents are learning more about living in a flood plain "” and how to escape if the waters rise -
LEVEE ISSUES:
State cuts back on water supplies - KGO Channel 7 (Bay Area)
WATERWORKS RESTORED TO CITY:
ENERGY ISSUES:
California PUC pushes ahead with deregulation effort; State regulators seek to restore competition for electrical power - Los Angeles Times
BOND ISSUES:
State, preparing to borrow, faces cold market for munis; Tax-free bonds attract few buyers amid risk fears and tight credit - Los Angeles Times
Adams' rainy day gift to levee study - Marin Independent Journal
DELTA CANAL STUDY:
Schwarzenegger to move ahead on Delta canal study; He also will call for 20% per capita cut in state water use
Sacramento
By Kevin Yamamura, staff writer
Despite stalled negotiations with Democrats on a comprehensive water plan, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger intends to move forward on studies of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, including a controversial canal, as well as call for a 20 percent per capita reduction in statewide water use, according to a letter he sent Thursday to Senate Democrats.
Department of Water Re- sources Director Lester Snow compared the water conservation proposal to a 2006 law that requires the state to reduce state greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020.
The Republican governor's four-page letter came after leading Democrats alleged Wednesday that he was working "unilaterally" to pursue a canal that would move water around the Delta, a sensitive ecosystem that provides water to 25 million California residents and 2 million acres of farmland.
In a copy of the letter obtained by The Bee, Schwarzenegger wrote that he intends to direct DWR to begin federal and state environmental reviews on at least four Delta canal alternatives. Those include no new Delta transfer system, a two-part system with a canal and pumps, a stand-alone canal and substantial improvements to the existing pumps.
The studies could take two to three years and cost more than $100 million, paid for by water users under existing contracts, Snow said.
Lawmakers and
Snow said the environmental studies do not predetermine which project would be best. He said Schwarzenegger believes it necessary to have the environmental reviews in place so work can begin quickly when the governor, lawmakers and voters determine which Delta option is best.
"We need to move forward," Snow said. "The history of the Delta being broken is a history of inaction."
Sen. Mike Machado, D-Linden, said he was satisfied the governor answered questions posed in the letter he sent with Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, and Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. Machado said he was particularly concerned beforehand that the governor sought to pursue only one Delta option that involved a canal and water pumps, but he believes all options need to be considered.
"I'm glad he's finally being open with that, but I'm going to reserve my praise until I see what actions will be taken that improve the Delta," Machado said.
The governor also plans to have DWR complete feasibility studies of three dams, including new projects at Temperance Flat northeast of
Schwarzenegger plans to set forth a goal of reducing statewide per capita water use 20 percent by 2020 and will ask state agencies to install a plan "to the extent permitted by current law." Snow said that will involve using bond money to create incentives for local water agencies that pursue new conservation practices, particularly in reducing landscape water use.
Senate Democrats suggested Wednesday that the governor was upstaging his own Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force, which has until the end of the year to develop a strategic plan. Snow said that even if the task force were to determine one Delta conveyance solution was better than another, the environmental reviews would be necessary.
The governor wrote that he "will continue to negotiate in good faith" with lawmakers and said the Delta is "in jeopardy of collapse without both immediate action and long-term solutions."
Still, some environmentalists believe the governor is acting prematurely.
"We are concerned that the governor may be trying to do an end run around the very processes that he established to find sustainable solutions to
http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/749290.html
STATE WATER BOND DROPPED:
Associated Press – 2/29/08
By Don Thompson, staff writer
A coalition of business and farming groups said Thursday it is dropping plans to put a water bond initiative before voters on the November ballot.
The group said it instead will work with Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein to negotiate a compromise that can be passed this year by the state Legislature.
Schwarzenegger and Feinstein began talks with legislative leaders of both political parties last week.
The coalition, led by the California Chamber of Commerce, previously said it would go directly to voters to approve $11.6 billion in borrowing for water projects that would include additional reservoirs to help meet the state's future water needs.
That plan was opposed by environmental groups and Democratic leaders who object to new dams. The impasse over dam funding has stalled negotiations for more than a year.
The business groups still believe more reservoirs and new aqueducts to move water around the state must be part of any compromise, coalition consultant Rick Claussen said.
"An unreliable and outdated water supply system leaves
Most of the state's reservoirs, pumping stations and aqueducts were built from the late 1950s through the 1960s.
Drought, climate change and recent court decisions requiring more water to protect fish in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are endangering the water supply for
Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, had previously announced he would drop his own plan for a voter initiative in favor of seeking a legislative compromise. He had urged Schwarzenegger last week to persuade the chamber to drop its proposal for an end-run around the Legislature.
"It's a very promising sign of moving forward with negotiations," Perata spokeswoman Alicia Trost said of the announcement by the business coalition.
Yet in the week since Feinstein and Schwarzenegger met with legislative leaders, little else has been accomplished.
Meetings with lawmakers and aides to the governor and Feinstein have been canceled due to what the parties said were scheduling conflicts. Schwarzenegger spokesman Bill Maile said the governor's office is still trying to set up a meeting.
A reminder of the water system's vulnerability came Thursday with the latest survey of the Sierra Nevada snowpack, which is measured throughout the winter and spring so state water managers can plan deliveries to farms and cities.
The state Department of Water Resources reported the snowpack is 118 percent of normal for this time of year, reassuring after last year's dry winter.
Yet the department said it was immediately reducing water pumping through the delta to communities and farmers in the Central Valley,
The cutback complies with a December federal court order to protect the tiny delta smelt and will reduce water deliveries as much as 30 percent, the department said. Some biologists blame the smelt's decline on the water system's powerful pumps.
The department's survey showed snow was at 122 percent of normal for February in the northern Sierra, 110 percent in the central part of the range and 130 percent in the southern mountains.
That was up from an average of just 63 percent of normal a year ago. Chief hydrologist Arthur Hinojosa said more snow is needed to make up for last year's deficit. #
http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California/CA_California_Water_329654C.shtml
FLOOD ZONE:
Mapping a disaster;
By Zachary Johnson, staff writer
But many living in the levee's shadow don't know much about what will happen if that protection fails, said Ron Baldwin,
Which is one reason behind new flood maps released by the county this week that show evacuation routes, potential flood depths and other information someone would find handy in the unlikely event of a levee breach, he said.
"It will tell people if they need to get up on the table or get up on the second story," he said.
The maps are available through the Office of Emergency Services Web site and will be distributed to libraries for public viewing.
These evacuation maps are not related to the set of preliminary maps released by the federal government in January.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency released highly anticipated maps showing 730 miles of county levees do not provide adequate protection from floods with a 1 percent chance of occurring every year.
These maps placed thousands of new homes in high-risk areas, which means homeowners with federally backed mortgages would be required to purchase flood insurance. The maps are preliminary and could change between now and April 2009, when they become final.
But even people who live in areas with a lower risk of flooding should buy insurance, said Tom Flinn, director of the county Public Works Department.
"We need to encourage everyone who lives in a flood plain to have flood insurance," he said at a gathering of officials from the county, cities in
County officials launched a public outreach campaign in December to encourage people to purchase flood insurance. Homeowners newly added into the FEMA high-risk areas will be able to grandfather in lower rates before April 2009, when premiums would skyrocket.
Countywide, property owners have taken out about 5,000 National Flood Insurance Program policies, said Jana Critchfield, an insurance expert at the briefing.
But the flood evacuation maps have nothing to do with insurance, said Baldwin, who was also at the briefing.
In addition to depths, the new public maps will have lists of "rally points," or places designated by local police and fire officials where people can get help evacuating if they are unable to do so.
And the maps also show where to find high ground, which is often atop the levees themselves. That could surprise some people, he said.
"People tend to want to run away from the river," he said. #
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080229/A_NEWS/802290332
LEVEE ISSUES:
State cuts back on water supplies
KGO Channel 7 (Bay Area) – 2/28/08
By Wayne Freedman, reporter
When the snow-pack begins to melt, it will send water rushing to the Sacramento Delta. Experts are working to strengthen levees in need of repair -- and to measure the risk of failure.
At
"There are two kinds of levees: Those that have not failed, and those that will fail. I mean that is really the bottom line. Anybody that lives behind a levee is at risk," said Mike Inamina from the Department of Water Resources.
That is the cores of Mike Inamina's work. This research, part of a $70 million dollar project to find faulty levees in urban areas before they fail.
Much of
Along a stretch of the
"We have a lot of samples and some clear layers in between," said scientist Chuck Rambo.
"The financial effect would be catastrophic," said Inamana.
Five years ago, a court forced
Based on that precedent, the state has spent 340-million dollars, so far, examining and rebuilding levees in the
"There are certainly many levees that have been identified as being in need of critical repairs," said Inamana.
In a time of climate change, with this year's snow-pack greater than normal, that is more likely than it used to be. But the work can only go so fast.
"It took 150 years to get done. It won't happen overnight," said Inamana.
Good news, bad news -- from the lowlands. #
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/state&id=5989104
WATERWORKS RESTORED TO CITY:
By David Siders, staff writer
"It should be quite boring," he said.
Since 2003 - the year the City Council approved a 20-year, $600 million privatization deal with water giant OMI-Thames Water - the issue has been anything but boring.
The council abandoned the deal last summer and dropped its appeal of a court ruling that the deal was illegal.
OMI-Thames officials also said Monday that they expect the transition to be uneventful.
In December, the council approved a transition plan, authorizing the rehiring of OMI-Thames' rank and file, most of whom worked for the city before OMI-Thames came on in 2003.
The city and Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3, which represents utilities employees, have reached a tentative labor agreement, the union's Joe Santella and the city's Dianna Garcia said.
Dale Stocking of the Concerned Citizens Coalition - the group that sued the city to undo the deal - said Monday that the transition appears to be in order. #
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080229/A_NEWS/802290326/-1/A_NEWS
ENERGY ISSUES:
By Elizabeth Douglass, staff writer
California utility regulators forged ahead Thursday with a controversial plan that could clear the way for another try at deregulating the state's electricity market -- a concept last tested in the years leading up to the devastating 2000-01 energy crisis.
State law prohibits the Public Utilities Commission from reinstating competition between the state's major utilities and unregulated power providers before 2015. But the commission decided to look for what Commission President Michael Peevey called "proactive ways" to do that earlier, giving customers of
The decision drew sharp rebukes from a consumer advocate group and others who fear another regulatory debacle that would leave
"Why would we invite Enron and its ilk back to
During the electricity market meltdown, the state Department of Water Resources stepped in to supply power and fix prices through long-term contracts. State lawmakers halted competition among energy providers at least until the state got out of the power business -- that means 2015, when the last of the long-term deals expires.
A coalition of big power users and energy providers called the
Peevey said the state could bring back deregulation sooner than 2015 if the water resources agency canceled, renegotiated or handed off its remaining long-term contracts to utilities in the state. To that end, Peevey said the commission "can and should evaluate the merits of ways to extricate DWR from its current role as supplier of energy."
Norm Plotkin, executive director of the Sacramento-based alliance, said he understood that the commission wanted to move very cautiously.
"We support their move," he said, "and are ready to roll up our sleeves and do the hard work that needs to be done."
State Assemblyman Lloyd Levine (D-
"I'm very concerned. I have yet to see an area where direct access actually works for an extended period of time in the real world," he said. "I look at energy as a necessary commodity, and it should be regulated as such." #
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-power29feb29,1,4194236.story
BOND ISSUES:
State, preparing to borrow, faces cold market for munis; Tax-free bonds attract few buyers amid risk fears and tight credit
By Tom Petruno, staff writer
The credit crunch is taking a heavier toll on the municipal bond market, a favored sector for individual investors.
Yields on tax-free muni bonds surged Thursday for the 12th straight session as many buyers stayed away. That's bad news for
The annualized yield on an index of 40 long-term muni issues nationwide tracked by the Bond Buyer newspaper jumped to 5.33% on Thursday, up from 5.20% on Wednesday and the highest since 2002. The yield has rocketed from 4.74% five weeks ago.
A Bloomberg News index of 20-year
Bond yields rise as the market prices of the securities drop -- a sign that investors are balking at putting their money into the issues.
In many cases, muni yields are above what taxable U.S. Treasury issues pay, an unusual occurrence. A 30-year Treasury bond pays about 4.51%.
Yet "there are very few buyers out there now" for munis, said Bob Fields, an expert on the market at bond giant Pacific Investment Management Co. in Newport Beach.
The normally low-key muni market, where states, cities and other municipalities borrow to fund their operations, has suffered a series of punches since late last year that have left investors wary.
The first punch was financial trouble at major bond insurance firms, which guarantee about half the muni market nationwide. With those companies reeling from losses on mortgage-backed bonds they insured, some investors have wondered whether the insurance the firms provide on muni bonds could become worthless.
Wall Street has been waiting on a plan by big banks to bolster the finances of one leading insurer, Ambac Financial Group, but it isn't clear whether a deal will be reached.
More recently, the muni market has been upended by turmoil in subsets of tax-free issues known as auction-rate bonds and variable-rate demand notes, two types of floating-rate securities that had been popular with yield-hungry investors.
With buyers now scarce, particularly for floating-rate issues guaranteed by struggling insurers, most of the weekly or monthly auctions used to reset yields on the securities are failing to attract enough new money. That leaves current investors stuck with them or causes the bonds to be dumped on banks -- and triggers higher, "penalty" interest rates for the issuers.
On Thursday the California Department of Water Resources had to pay an annualized 5.44% on $47 million of auction-rate securities that reset every 35 days, up from the previous rate of 4%, according to the state treasurer's office.
Many muni bond analysts emphasize that the main problem facing the market is excess supply at a time when nervous investors are conserving cash. Supply and demand are "deeply out of balance" in the muni market nationwide, according to a recent report from Municipal Market Advisors, a Concord, Mass.-based research firm.
That's a far different problem from that plaguing the market for mortgage-backed bonds, which has crumbled because a rising number of homeowners are delinquent.
In the muni market, the vast majority of issuers aren't having trouble paying what they owe investors. Historically, very few muni issuers have defaulted on their bonds.
Still, default worries may grow as the economy weakens, some analysts caution. The result could be that investors demand even higher yields on muni bonds to compensate for a perceived increase in risk, said Jim Lynch, head of Lynch Municipal Bond Advisory in
The city council of
Even high-quality muni issuers that have no credit problems may pay more if they borrow soon, simply because of the heavy supply of bonds expected to hit the market.
Many issuers that have auction-rate bonds or variable-rate demand notes outstanding are planning to pay off those securities with cash raised from sales of plain-vanilla bonds. The state's Department of Water Resources, for example, expects to refinance up to $1.8 billion of floating-rate debt because of the turmoil in the market. That could mean higher bills for power consumers over time, depending on the cost of the fixed-rate bonds.
In
Although the state may have to pay higher yields on the bonds than it would like, "we have a need to get into the market because we have a lot of projects to build," Rosenstiel said, noting the numerous infrastructure programs approved by voters in recent years.
"We have a schedule, and we're probably going to stick with it," he said. #
http://www.latimes.com/business/printedition/la-fi-muni29feb29,0,5944525.story
Marin Independent Journal – 2/29/08
SANTA VENETIA residents rely on a network of levees to protect the area from flooding. They know how important they are.
Supervisor Susan Adams deserves credit for showing how important she thinks those levees are by coming up with $220,000 to help pay for a $300,000 study that will provide a comprehensive look at their condition.
We also are impressed with the source of the money.
Supervisors typically dole out their community service money, which is completely at their discretion, in much smaller chunks - $1,000 to $5,000 - to groups and causes that know how to request a slice of the pie. It's a tradition of spreading around $550,000 in taxpayer money each year that is quietly approved as part of consent agenda items that do not come up for discussion or a formal public vote before supervisors. The donations typically go to worthy causes, but who gets how much from which supervisor is kept off the public radar screen.
That is why we are especially pleased that
Good for her. She didn't have to do that, but the public's business deserves to be conducted in the open.
"Susan's offer to help was like mana from heaven," Mary Feller told the IJ. She has spent 18 years working on flood-control issues in the low-lying neighborhood near the
The levees have not been improved since 1982 and county officials are eager to identify any critical areas that need immediate repairs along with developing a strategy for any long-term issues that need to be addressed.
Given the flooding problems that plague much of Marin, we are pleased to see this proactive and collaborative approach in Santa Venetia.
We salute their efforts, along with the vision of Susan Adams. Her decision to save up money for this levee study could well pay big dividends on a very rainy day. #
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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