Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 14, 2008
5. Agencies, Programs, People
PEOPLE IN THE FIELD:
A way of life drying up; Traditional zanjeros have long shepherded water in the West. In a region ravaged by drought, they're being bypassed by automation - Los Angeles Times
FLOOD ISSUES:
Guest Column: What FEMA, water district are doing to protect residents from flooding - Milpitas Post
SWP PUMPING REDUCED:
Smelt prompt export cut - Stockton Record
BONDS:
Long-term muni yields on the rise - Los Angeles Times
CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT:
Parts of Central Valley Project nominated for historic status - Stockton Record
PEOPLE IN THE FIELD:
A way of life drying up; Traditional zanjeros have long shepherded water in the West. In a region ravaged by drought, they're being bypassed by automation
By Mike Anderson, staff writer
He speeds along dirt roads between fields of lettuce and onions that would be a desert if not for the 1,600 miles of man-made canals and ditches that crisscross the
He stops and studies the water level in his canal. It's rising but still below a stain on the canal's concrete wall, a measuring point that Romo trusts implicitly through experience. In a few minutes, the water reaches the stain, meaning there is sufficient pressure for Romo to crank a rusty metal jack that opens a wooden gate.
"Can lose a finger if you're not careful," he said. With a loud swooosh, a wall of water moves down his canal. For the next several hours, Romo will repeat this ritual again and again, harnessing gravity to shepherd the day's water through his corner of the valley.
Romo is a zanjero -- pronounced sahn-HAIR-o -- Spanish for overseer of the mother ditch. His job is to deliver prescribed amounts of Colorado River water to farmers served by the Imperial Irrigation District in southeastern California
The zanjero was once the most powerful man in any community, entrusted with overseeing its most valuable resource. In early Los Angeles
"He is the yea and nay of the arid land, the arbiter of fate, the dispenser of good and evil, to be blessed by turns and cursed by turns, and to receive both with the utter unconcern of a small god," said the Century Magazine in New York, describing the job in 1902.
Today, the zanjero is an endangered species, his craft too imprecise, his tools too crude to look after water in a region ravaged by drought.
The Imperial Irrigation District, which provides water to nearly 500,000 acres of farmland in the valley hard against the Mexican border, is among the last to employ zanjeros working the traditional way. More than 100 men labor around the clock controlling the flow of more than a trillion gallons of water a year, largely by hand.
"You learn to appreciate and respect water," said Joe Mariscal, 53, a zanjero for 27 years. "You appreciate what it brings us in terms of food and life. But you respect it because it can do a lot of damage when it's not controlled."
With the Colorado River basin locked in an extended drought that threatens to empty Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the Imperial Valley faces changes that will alter the rhythm of life along canals named Pear and Plum, Dogwood and Daffodil, Eucalyptus and Elder.
Under a 2003 agreement, the irrigation district must eventually transfer 9% of its river allotment to San Diego and the Coachella Valley
Signs of change already abound. Fields lie fallow. Giant earthmovers march across the desert, replacing a 23-mile segment of the All-American Canal -- the valley's link with the Colorado River -- with a concrete-lined channel that will prevent seepage.
With each drop of water needing to be accounted for, an irrigation system that hasn't changed much since the 1950s will increasingly move to remote sensors and automation. For the zanjeros -- who still calculate water flows using a yardstick and were just recently issued mobile phones -- the changes will be profound.
"I love my job. The early morning is exhilarating. The sense of freedom that we can make certain decisions and are in control of something," said Romo, 53, a zanjero for 32 years. "In the future we will act less as a zanjero and more like a technician. . . . It's inevitable."
The Imperial Valley lies below sea level in a gently sloping, ancient lake bed containing rich soils deposited over hundreds of years when the Colorado River flooded.
Without water, the valley is a wasteland. As early as the 1850s, visionaries saw an Eden All-American Canal
A century ago, zanjeros worked the canals on horseback. They were armed; disputes with farmers could turn ugly. A zanjero was nearly inseparable from his canals, tending them day and night and raising his family in an employer-owned ditch-front home that ensured he was never far from work.
The horses, guns and "zanjero houses" are long gone, but the job remains largely the same. It is demanding work. Cranking corroded jacks, opening gates with iron rods, shuffling heavy timbers against the force of moving water, raking out debris -- it adds up to shoulder injuries, bad backs, torn knees.
A few years ago, Andy Curiel was adjusting a gate on a concrete span when it collapsed, dropping him into the rushing water. He hurt his back and was out for a week.
"It wasn't too bad," said Curiel, 50, a zanjero for nearly 20 years. "Lots of zanjeros get injured. They don't quit. They keep going until they can't anymore. Then they go to the doctor, get therapy. But they come back."
Veterans make $26 an hour with good benefits -- a coveted job in a county with 16.5% unemployment and nearly 1 in 5 people living below the federal poverty level. Zanjero jobs rarely come open. When one does, dozens apply.
Curiel grew up locally and went to college hoping to become an architect. "I got married. Didn't finish." He shakes his head and turns the conversation inward as he drives his pickup to the next gate. "Dummy. Should've finished."
Being a zanjero requires a dexterous mind, an understanding that one mistake can cause a chain reaction of flooding that can ruin crops.
"See that water? It's so quick," Curiel said, opening a side gate and releasing a small waterfall into a farmer's ditch. He jogged back to his pickup and hurried to the next gate to keep up with the flow moving down his canal. If he doesn't release it fast enough, the water will spill over its banks. "If we wait five more minutes, we're in trouble."
>From dawn to early afternoon, Curiel is responsible for the Eucalyptus Canal
"When you first start out, you have dreams about water. Not good ones," he said. "You wake up with nightmares of your canal overflowing. You wonder: Did I close that gate? After a year on the job, they go away."
Other nightmares don't. Dozens of bodies are found in the valley's canals and ditches each year. Most are illegal immigrants who find that these seemingly placid waterways are deeper and swifter than they appear, with slippery, angled banks.
"Twenty-three so far," Mariscal said of his body count. "The water may be nice and calm on top, but they can't see the current underneath. The current starts taking them. They get tired. . . ." He didn't finish the thought.
Romo routinely fishes out backpacks jammed with clothes, extra shoes, maybe a bus ticket -- the luggage of someone traveling quick and light. Was it merely lost? Or was it abandoned by someone during the last fight of his life?
"It's sad. You don't know if this person made it or not," he said.
It's one of the dark undercurrents running through the pastoral landscape of this border country that zanjeros come to know -- and hope to avoid. About two years ago, Romo said, word circulated that an irrigation district employee had a bounty placed on his head by smugglers who believed he was working with Border Patrol agents.
"They knew exactly who was costing them money," Romo said. "Sometimes this place is still like the Wild West."
He jacks up a gate, and a ribbon of water snakes toward a farmer's field like a burning fuse. Someone has stolen the rod used to keep the gate up. Thieves are increasingly stripping metal from canal fixtures and selling it for scrap. Romo searches around and uses his boot to pry loose a large rock to prop the gate open.
He drives to where a farmer's irrigator is preparing for the delivery -- a continuous 24-hour flow that he will direct through the field's rows. They speak in Spanish.
"I'm not ready," the irrigator said.
"How long you need?"
"About 15 minutes."
Romo nods. He has to get to the next gate to stay ahead of the water on the main canal. "Open it an inch and a half," he said before driving away, trusting the irrigator to handle it.
It's an indication of how much has already changed for California Mexico
For decades, murals in the lobby of an elegant but long-gone hotel in nearby El Centro
The zanjero was once the unquestioned authority here. Today he is more like a utility worker. If a landowner opens or closes a gate without permission, Romo can write him a ticket that carries a $100 fine. He rarely does anymore. He doesn't need the hassle.
"If his boss tells him to close the gate -- even though I told him not to close it -- he'll do it because the farmer pays him and he needs the job," he said of the farmhands. "I'm not the authority." #
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-zanjero14mar14,0,3074635,full.story
FLOOD ISSUES:
Guest Column: What FEMA, water district are doing to protect residents from flooding
By Richard P. Santos, District Three representative
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, one problem stood out among the many that converged during that chaotic event: the levees. Experts have indicated that if the levees were in better shape,
With more than 50 miles of levees protecting thousands of parcels, levees are a significant element of flood protection in
We systematically make these repairs because we have secure long-term permits, and reliable funding, in part provided by the voter-approved 16-year Clean Safe Creeks Special Tax. Levees also require diligent land use and storm-water management so that the quantity of run-off does not exceed the design capacity of the levee. Cities are primarily responsible for these decisions.
The district and cities are working with FEMA on their map modernization program. The new maps, Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps, will replace the current paper maps and better indicate where FEMA believes flood insurance is needed to help mitigate potential future losses. Part of this program involves the recertification of levees to determine if the levees meet current FEMA standards of providing protection from a "100-year or 1 percent flood."
This refers to a flood of a magnitude that has an estimated probability of 1 percent occurrence in any given year. This should not be misinterpreted to mean that a 1 percent flood only occurs once every 100 years.
The district is pleased to report that 66 percent of our levees were reaccredited with existing documentation. About 15 percent of the levees were determined to need no further examination and 8 percent of the levee miles were found to not meet current standards for providing 1 percent flood protection, although they are well maintained. These levees will be "de-accredited" by FEMA and the areas will be re-mapped as part of the FEMA 1 percent regulatory floodplain. Property owners within these areas will be required to obtain flood insurance.
In 2007, FEMA offered four municipalities "Provisionally Accredited Levee" Agreements, representing 11 percent of district levees. Because the evaluation and documentation for these levees will include an examination of both city and district related matters, a 50 percent share of costs was proposed.
One of the municipalities FEMA offered a PAL agreement to is
The water district co-signed these agreements because staff believed the levees meet current FEMA standards. These agreements require the cities and the district to provide documentation to demonstrate the levees meet current FEMA standards. This process must be completed by Aug. 1, 2009.
Richard Santos is available for questions or comments as your District Three representative for the Santa Clara Valley Water District, for Sunnyvale, Alviso, Milpitas, Berryessa/Alum Rock communities, east of Highway 101 to the Evergreen community area.
http://www.themilpitaspost.com/columnists/ci_8559831
SWP PUMPING REDUCED:
Smelt prompt export cut
State officials cut the amount of water being exported from the Delta on Thursday after noting an increase in threatened Delta smelt at the giant pumps near
Exports will drop from 2,000 cubic feet per second to about 1,500 cfs, the state Department of Water Resources said.
Normally, the state would pump about 8,000 cfs this time of year. But pumping was curtailed by a federal ruling last year that protects the smelt.
The number of smelt salvaged at the pumps has increased over the past week and is above the level of concern designated in the judge's ruling, Water Resources said.
The agency plans to draw water from San Luis Reservoir a month earlier than normal to supply cities and farms.
Smelt spawn in the area of the pumps during the springtime and can be sucked into the pumps via rivers that run backward.
Twenty-four smelt have been salvaged at the state pumps this month, and 52 smelt at nearby federal pumps, which have also reduced the amount of water exported in the past week or so.
Environmentalists have said that many more smelt are likely killed in the pumps than are captured and salvaged. #
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080314/A_NEWS/803140318
BONDS:
Long-term muni yields on the rise
Long-term municipal bond yields are heading up again.
Yields on the tax-free securities rose Thursday to their highest since March 4, as a heavy supply of new securities tested investor demand.
The California Department of Water Resources sold $1 billion of tax-free revenue bonds backed by electric-power fees to refinance so-called auction-rate and variable-rate debt.
The
The annualized yield on a Bond Buyer index of 40 long-term muni issues rose to 5.19%, up from 5.17% on Wednesday and 5.08% a week ago.
Muni yields had soared in February as a flood of selling hit the market and investors retreated. The selling stemmed in part from the worsening
Also, investors became skittish about auction-rate and variable-rate muni securities, which are long-term bonds that reset their interest rates weekly or monthly.
But after the Bond Buyer index yield reached a six-year high of 5.42% on Feb. 29, buyers rushed into the muni market in the first week of March.
Some analysts expect the supply of new bonds to remain heavy this spring as municipalities that are paying high "penalty" rates on now-unwanted auction-rate debt seek to refinance those bonds.
The
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-wrap14mar14,1,1402669.story
CENTRAL VALLEY PROJECT:
Parts of
By Dana Nichols, staff writer
When it carries
That, in part, is why the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is applying to have dams, ditches, gates, pumps and canals from Shasta to
Among the local structures nominated for listing are the Cross Delta Channel, which redirects Sacramento River water south across the Delta at Walnut Grove; the Tracy Pumping Plant, the massive heart that lifts the water so gravity can pull it farther south; and the Delta-Mendota Canal, through which that water flows 116.6 miles to Mendota Pool on the San Joaquin River near Fresno.
"Without the (Central Valley Project), it is doubtful that California's agricultural economy could have reached the level that it has," said Jim Bailey, a Denver-based historian for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation who spent three years visiting California dams and canals to gather information for the historic places application.
Generally, federal law requires federal agencies to keep track of whether their facilities that are 50 years old or older qualify as historic. AARP membership-eligible concrete alone is not historic, of course. Structures can be deemed historic based on their contribution to history, their architecture or their association with notable people.
So Bailey and other bureau staffers have been reviewing Central Valley Project structures that were built by the end of 1956. Generally, they have been found to be historic because of their contribution to
The Tracy Pumping Plant, for example, required the sinking of massive concrete piles to stabilize it in the event of an earthquake, Bailey said.
"When Tracy (Pumping Plant) was built, it was actually denser and heavier than
Bailey admits that Shasta Dam is probably his favorite CVP structure, because "it has a certain artistic bent to it. I like Tracy Pumping Plant, too. The canals don't do much for me. The canals are just canals."
But he admits that the canals are perhaps the greatest engineering marvels, because of the precision with which they must gradually descend over long distances in order to keep the water flowing smoothly. And then there are all the roads and other objects the canals must either cross or go around.
The
A few years ago, the Bureau of Reclamation learned that other entities, including the California Department of Transportation, were doing their own historical reviews and might soon nominate some of those bridges for National Register listing.
"They were looking at some of the facilities that cross the canals," said Patrick Welch, a regional archeologist for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation office in
The bureau doesn't view the bridges as historic, even though they were built at the same time as the canals. That's because the canals carry the water that is the point of the project, Welch said.
So the bureau began its own National Register listing in part to get control of the process of deciding the boundaries between historic and non-historic structures.
This matters, because National Register listing creates some additional bureaucratic oversight: Agencies with listed structures have to consult with state historic preservation offices when they plan to remodel, remove or significantly change the structures.
Bureau officials say the additional oversight will in no way hamper its efforts to maintain and upgrade facilities as needed.
"That is a common fear. I try to assuage those fears as much as possible. There is a process to deal with that.
Ultimately, it is the federal agency that makes the decision," Welch said.
Still, the idea of adding any additional red tape to managing
"It could very well be an impediment for any substantial changes," said state Sen. Michael Machado, D-Linden, a veteran of many water policy debates.
And substantial changes may be the order of the day as
"They weren't thinking about smelt when they designed these in the 1920s and 1930s," Bailey said. #
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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