[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 3/13/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

March 13, 2008

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People

 

FLOODPLAIN MAPPING:

Areas south of Yuba City might be rezoned into floodplain - Marysville Appeal Democrat

 

Yuba might have problem with flood map revisions; Despite rush, new levee improvements in south Yuba may not be reflected on maps - Marysville Appeal Democrat

 

ENERGY/WATER ISSUES:

Energy, water demands are on collision course - McClatchy Washington Bureau

 

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FLOODPLAIN MAPPING:

Areas south of Yuba City might be rezoned into floodplain

Marysville Appeal Democrat – 3/12/08

By John Dickey, staff writer

 

Flooding is often the last thing on people's minds during a hot, dry Central Valley summer when the rivers turn lazy.

 

But that could change for some Sutter County residents when the dog days roll around.

 

Flood mapping efforts are on track to redraw south Sutter County into a special flood hazard insurance zone this summer. The release of redrawn maps, part of a process called a physical map revision, would start a countdown to mandatory flood insurance for some homeowners by late 2008 or early 2009.

 

"These are going forward and should be effective by the end of this year," said Dave Peterson, principal with Peterson, Brustad Inc., a Folsom-based engineering consulting firm.

 

Dave Peterson briefed the Sutter-Butte Flood Control Agency on Wednesday regarding floodplain mapping projects for the area that are being spearheaded by the state Department of Water Resources.

 

Yuba City probably won't get its first revised maps until 2010. Sections of Butte County subject to Feather River flooding will be somewhere in between, with maps being released next year.

 

So far, an extensive effort by the department to probe levees by taking samples from drilling is only confirming the likelihood that parts of Sutter County will be mapped into a special hazard flood insurance zone.

 

"The drilling by DWR is highlighting the work," said Peterson. "Work will have to be done."

 

If levees cannot be certified to federal standards, then the areas they protect are mapped into high-risk areas.

 

When the revised maps are released for south Sutter County in June or July, that would start a six-month countdown to the maps — and flood insurance requirements — becoming effective.

 

For some Sutter County areas south of Stewart Road, that means that flood insurance will be mandated by early 2009 for homeowners with federally-backed mortgages. Rates could jump to over $1,200 a year or more, depending on whether the home was built before or after 1988, when Sutter County received its first flood insurance rate maps, and whether the homeowner holds flood insurance before the new requirements.

 

"The map changes are definitely going to be affecting homeowners, particularly in their pocketbooks," said Dan Peterson, chief of water resources for Sutter County.

 

Some homeowners could reduce their flood insurance costs by buying flood insurance at least 30 days ahead of the date that new flood insurance rates become effective.

 

There was no discussion by the agency's directors on the floodplain mapping schedule after Wednesday's briefing. #

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/county_61495___article.html/maps_flood.html

 

 

Yuba might have problem with flood map revisions; Despite rush, new levee improvements in south Yuba may not be reflected on maps

Marysville Appeal Democrat – 3/12/08

By Andrea Koskey, staff writer

 

Yuba County officials are concerned about a flood map timing issue that could affect residents financially.

Completion of a $200 million levee upgrade and the release of a new Federal Emergency Management Agency flood map could overlap, time-wise, in spite of an aggressive construction timeline.

This overlap, according to Yuba County Community Services Director Kevin Mallen, could potentially result in higher flood premiums and mandatory insurance requirements for some residents if the agency's new flood maps do not reflect ongoing levee improvements.

Mallen said a preliminary version of the maps is expected to be released in the fall.

FEMA representatives will be in Yuba County today to announce the agency's overall assessment of the levees' current ability to protect residents against flooding.

Supervisor Don Schrader expressed concern Tuesday about a lack of flexibility in FEMA's timeline.

"The train's left the station and for some reason they are not willing to slow down," Schrader said.

The Board of Supervisors approved the funding last week for a six-mile setback levee along the Feather River. The levee protects Olivehurst and Plumas Lake.

"The actual flood protection will be greater than shown in the preliminary maps," Mallen said.

If the maps do not include current projects, Mallen said, the county can appeal to FEMA for reconsideration.

The setback levee project is expected to begin in April and be completed this fall.

Construction would fall between FEMA's issuance of its preliminary and final flood map versions. FEMA is expected to release final flood maps in fall 2009.

The last version of FEMA flood maps were released in 1982.

Mallen said the county wants to remind residents that remapping will have a financial effect on every homeowner whose property lies behind a levee. All of the county's levees are being reviewed, he said, not just those under construction.

 

The federal agency is now collecting data about all upgrades and improvements that have been made or planned, in order to help develop the new maps.

 

"Until we have the preliminary maps in hand," said Schrader, "we don't know what it is going to look like."

 

County officials are planning to hold town hall meetings and post material via the county Web site in order to help residents understand what flood remapping could mean to them, Mallen said. Dates for those meetings have not been set.

 

County staff said FEMA is aware of ongoing work on the Feather River levee.

 

Because of the county's history with floods, county officials encourage residents to remain protected at all times with flood insurance, regardless of remapping.

 

"There's always a potential risk," Mallen said. "If you're healthy, you're not going to cancel your health insurance." #

http://www.appeal-democrat.com/news/county_61494___article.html/flood_maps.html

 

 

ENERGY/WATER ISSUES:

Energy, water demands are on collision course

McClatchy Washington Bureau – 3/12/08

By Robert S. Boyd, staff writer

 

WASHINGTON — Like the old song, ``Love and marriage, love and marriage . . . you can't have one without the other,'' so it goes with energy and water.

 

It takes a lot of water to produce energy. It takes a lot of energy to provide water. The two are inextricably linked, and claims on each are rising.

 

``The water supply is as critical as oil,'' said Charles Groat, a geologist and expert on the problem at the University of Texas in Austin.

 

In return, ``water use requires a tremendous amount of energy,'' said Peter Gleick, the president of the Pacific Institute for Studies in Development, Environment and Security in Oakland, Calif.

 

As the United States tries to lower its dependence on foreign oil by producing more energy from domestic sources such as ethanol, however, it's running low on fresh water.

 

Water is needed for mining coal, drilling for oil, refining gasoline, generating and distributing electricity, and disposing waste, Gleick said.

 

``The largest use of water is to cool power plants,'' he said at a panel of experts on ``The Global Nexus of Energy and Water'' in Boston last month.

 

According to Vince Tidwell, a water-management expert at the Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, N.M., more than 40 percent of the water that's withdrawn from rivers, lakes and wells is used for energy. The rest goes mainly for irrigation.

 

Most of the water used for energy is returned to its source, but by then it's often heated or polluted and of lesser value.

 

As a result, ``increased use of brackish or degraded water may be required in some areas,'' the Energy Department warned Congress in a report last year.

 

Conversely, vast amounts of energy are needed to pump, transport, treat and distribute water.

 

For example, the California State Water Project, which pumps water over the Tehachapi mountains to the Los Angeles Basin, is ``the largest single use of energy in California,'' Gleick said.

 

Heating water to wash dishes or clothes or to take a shower is a greedy consumer of energy.

 

``Running a hot water faucet for five minutes is the equivalent of burning a 60-watt light bulb for 14 hours,'' Gleick said. ``Maybe the best way to save energy is to save hot water.''

 

Most historic battles over water have come from the demands of agriculture for scarce supplies in arid regions. But the energy sector's needs are beginning to affect water policy and vice versa.

 

Gleick cited these examples: The Tennessee Valley Authority had to reduce the output from a nuclear power plant to avoid overheating the Tennessee River. London rejected a proposed water-desalinization plant because it would use too much energy. Amsterdam had to build wind turbines to generate energy before it could build a desalinization plant in the Netherlands.

 

One difficulty is that there's no high-level authority to coordinate energy and water usage. At least 20 federal agencies, along with a multitude of state and local governments, have a hand in matter.

 

``No one is in charge,'' said Groat, a former director of the U.S. Geological Survey in Washington. ``Energy planners assume we will have enough water. Water planners assume will have enough energy.''

 

The problem is going to get worse, according to Michael Webber, a mechanical engineer at the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy, a policy-research group of scientists and engineers at the University of Texas in Austin.

 

``Future fuels are likely to be very water-intensive,'' he said. ``They all require a lot of water.''

 

For example, driving one mile on ethanol consumes 600 gallons of water to irrigate the corn from which it's made, Webber said in an e-mail. Even plug-in hybrids, which are touted as the most efficient way to power electric cars, need to withdraw 10 gallons of water for every mile traveled, he said.

 

``Instead of miles per gallon of gasoline, we're switching to gallons of water per mile,'' he said.

 

Unfortunately, water supplies are shrinking even as energy demands increase.

 

``Climate concerns and declines in groundwater levels suggest that less fresh water, not more, may be available in the future,'' according to ``Energy Demands on Water Resources,'' an Energy Department report published last year.

 

``Available surface water supplies have not increased in 20 years, and groundwater tables and supplies are dropping at an alarming rate,'' the report says. ``Some regions have seen groundwater levels drop as much as 300 to 900 feet over the past 50 years.''

 

``If we're switching from foreign oil to domestic water, we've got to make sure we've got it,'' Webber said.

 

ON THE WEB

The Energy Department' report "Energy Demands on Water Resources." #

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/staff/robert_boyd/story/30128.html

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