Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 25, 2008
5. Agencies, Programs, People
DELTA ISSUES:
State holds inaugural meeting on delta environmental studies - Associated Press
Editorial: Finding a way in Delta -
WATER DISTRICT ISSUES:
Water district merger called for; Report cites cost savings, efficiency - Inside Bay Area
NEW GM AT IID:
Temecula water district head new GM at IID - Desert Sun
DELTA ISSUES:
State holds inaugural meeting on delta environmental studies
Associated Press – 3/24/08
SACRAMENTO -- Federal and state officials say they need to study the environmental effect of building a canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta - even though a decision about the project is years away.
Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources, says the issue is so complex and controversial that the state must begin its environmental studies now.
Snow and other government officials on Monday held the first of many planned meetings on how to stabilize the delta's ecosystem and water delivery.
The state plans to spend the next 30 months studying the issue.
The concept of a peripheral canal has been controversial for decades. Most Northern Californians fear a canal would funnel more of their water to
http://www.sacbee.com/114/story/808589.html
Editorial: Finding a way in Delta
It takes a learned captain to navigate the sloughs and channels of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Even tougher is finding a large expanse of public land open for hunting, fishing and bird watching.
A bill in
Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Davis, is authoring legislation for the state to purchase a trio of Delta properties – Prospect Island, the Little Holland Tract and Liberty Island – which are now owned by the federal government and a nonprofit land trust.
Wolk's Assembly Bill 2502 would transform these tracts into a state recreation area, with an endowment fund to help restore marshes and levees.
The time is right for this farsighted project. Surveys show that salmon and Delta smelt are in trouble, and lack of habitat may be at least part of the reason. Restoration of old freshwater marshes could go a long way toward helping fish and various waterfowl while also providing benefits for flood control and recreation.
To top it off, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation remains highly motivated to unload
Wolk's bill is still a work in progress. An unanswered question is how she would pay for an endowment fund to finance restoration and maintenance of the recreation area. Wolk hopes water contractors would contribute funds as a way to mitigate their impact from diverting water from the Delta – an idea that deserves to be explored. The Delta might seem like a maze, but collaboration about its future doesn't need to end in a dead end. #
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/808746.html
WATER DISTRICT ISSUES:
Water district merger called for; Report cites cost savings, efficiency
Inside Bay Area – 3/25/08
By Julia Scott, staff writer
HALF MOON BAY — Water is often political, and water politics were brought into sharp relief with the release last week of a government efficiency report that suggested cooperation and consolidation might be the best solution to the Coastside's fragmented water-access landscape.
The report, prepared by a consultant and distributed by
The recommendations could potentially affect the Coastside County Water District, which serves Half Moon Bay; the Montara Water and Sanitary District, which provides potable well water and sewer piping to residents of Montara and Moss Beach; the Granada Sanitary District, which serves El Granada, Princeton, and northern Half Moon Bay; and the Sewer Authority Mid-Coastside, which treats sewage pumped in from the entire area.
Commissioned in the name of government efficiency, which is LAFCo's main mandate, the report reviews the size, finances and infrastructure of each small agency and asks whether it would be logical, given their economies of scale, to have asingle water agency and a single sewer agency on the Coastside with one general manager and one board of directors each.
"If you have one sewer agency providing services, there is a possibility you would see savings in management, elected officials' time, things like that," said Martha Poyatos, executive officer of LAFCo.
Other good arguments exist for a larger agency, including the ability to team up on major state grants or on environmental restoration projects.
Not a simple concept
If it sounds like a logical conclusion, it isn't that simple. The unincorporated Midcoast has a long and proud history of self-governance in matters relating to infrastructure, although it is restricted in what it can do because of its limited tax base. The Point Montara Fire Department recently formed a new Coastside fire agency with
Coastside residents are likely to line up against some of the more controversial recommendations in the LAFCo report, which analyzes two additional options: annexation of the Midcoast by Half Moon Bay and the formation of a "community services district" which would replace all special districts in the urban Midcoast with a single board that reports to the county.
"My guess is there would be a goodly amount of opposition to a merger between the two (water districts) and to an annexation," said Ev Ascher, president of the board of directors of the Coastside County Water District. "There is always a group of people who actively opposes change."
Coastsiders will have their chance to comment on the report before LAFCo adopts the recommendations. A public meeting is scheduled at Half Moon Bay High School's student center for 4 p.m. April 16. Another meeting will likely take place in the
Loss of local control
No matter what the proposal, losing the status quo is seen as a loss of power by some in the Midcoast.
"Right now we've got local representation. Any of the other options (in the report) would have fewer elected officials representing more voters," said Kathyn Slater-Carter, a member of the Montara Water and Sanitary District's Board of Directors.
Ascher, speaking on his own behalf, called the potential for cost savings "overblown" and said a single, regional water agency just wouldn't work.
"The government that's closest to the people is most effective in terms of the services delivered. So a water district such as ours or Montara's is probably more effective with regard to the needs to the ratepayer than a larger organization," Ascher said.
However, Ascher does like the idea of a single sewer agency, since the
As with other
"If we get our new 150-gallon well, they would want to draw on it," she said.
There appear to be major impediments in either case. Water and sewer rates are significantly higher for Midcoast residents, raising the question of how much rates would increase for residents of
The Montara Water and Sanitary District also has millions of dollars of improvements due.
"We have greater challenges in our infrastructure, and the customers of the Coastside County Water District aren't going to pay for that. If they are going to pay for it, it's a good deal for Montara. It's a bad deal for everybody else," said George Irving, general manager of the Montara Water and Sanitary District.
Meanwhile, Half Moon Bay and other
Even if a merger were established, it's not clear whether the SFPUC would have water to spare for the thirsty Midcoast.
"Water is a really scarce resource. It's precious, and it's hotly debated where our existing suburban customers are going to get their water from (in the future)," said Tony Winnicker, SFPUC spokesman. "Hetch Hetchy water is completely allocated within our existing suburban customers." #
To view the LAFCo report online, visit http://www.sanmateolafco.org.
http://www.insidebayarea.com/sanmateocountytimes/localnews/ci_8689442
NEW GM AT IID:
Temecula water district head new GM at IID
Desert Sun – 3/24/08
By Keith Matheny, staff writer
Brian J. Brady has been named general manager of the Imperial Irrigation District.
Brady had earlier been unanimously approved by IID's board of directors, but only this month finalized a contract, reportedly for four years at $275,000 per year.
"Like all energy and water utilities in the West, IID faces big challenges," Brady said in a statement.
"But with those challenges come distinct opportunities that will shape the organization's future. I'm excited to be a part of creating that future."
Brady, a registered civil engineer, will come to the district in mid-April from the Rancho California Water District in Temecula, where he's general manager.
>From 1995 to 2000, Brady was chairman, president and CEO of Dominguez Water Co., a Long Beach-based company. He also served as assistant general manager of
Brady has a bachelor's degree from
“I look forward to working with the board and staff to protect and enhance the IID’s unique energy and water resources, strengthen its financial position and advance the level of service it provides to the public,” Brady said.
In addition to delivering Colorado River water to
The district has run under two interim general managers since the firing of general manager Charles Hosken in July. Hosken's ouster came after the district lost more than $51 million on a natural gas futures-purchasing program that an independent investigator hired by the public agency said was caused by mismanagement and failure to follow procedures. #
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