Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 14, 2008
5. Agencies, Programs, People
SANTA CLARA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT:
Term limits for Santa Clara Valley water board?; DISTRICT SEEKS TO ADD 2 ELECTED SEATS; SOME CRITICS SAY BILL SHOULD RESTRICT HOW LONG TRUSTEES SERVE - San Jose Mercury News
IMPERIAL IRRIGATION DISTRICT ISSUES:
Garcia, IID talk; board expected to vote Tuesday - Imperial Valley Press
WATER LEGISLATION:
Wolk bills to address water woes; Legislations will bolster conservation - Vacaville Reporter
INFRASTRUCTURE CONCERNS:
Reid's bill designed to make aging Western canals safer - Associated Press
DELTA ISSUES:
Editorial: Staving off disaster; We must fix the Delta before it's too late -
AMERICAN RIVER OPERATIONS:
Editorial: Feds need to deliver on American River flows; Standard for moving water would guard against stranded fish and stuck boats - Sacramento
Binational river conference comes to end – Yuma Sun
SANTA CLARA VALLEY WATER DISTRICT:
Term limits for Santa Clara Valley water board?; DISTRICT SEEKS TO ADD 2 ELECTED SEATS; SOME CRITICS SAY BILL SHOULD RESTRICT HOW LONG TRUSTEES SERVE
By Paul Rogers, staff writer
The Santa Clara Valley Water District spent much of last year immersed in controversy over allegations of overspending and poor management that eventually led its chief executive to resign.
This year, the district’s interim CEO says she is working to streamline and reform the agency. And part of that, she says, involves trying to change state law so that the district’s board won’t have to shrink from seven members to five in less than two years.
But as the district pursues legislation in
“What the board is trying to do is represent the public better,” said interim CEO Olga Martin Steele. “We are really going for improved, more personalized representation for the public by the board members.”
The San Jose-based district provides drinking water and flood protection to more than 1.5 million people in
From the district’s founding in 1968 until two years ago, county supervisors approved the water district’s budget every year and appointed two of its board members. The other five were elected by voters.
But the district broke away from county oversight in 2006 when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill at the request of the water district and the county supervisors ending the relationship. Supervisors said they weren’t interested in setting water rates. They also were concerned about liability from several threatened lawsuits against the district.
That law required that the district’s two non-elected members, Sig Sanchez and Tony Estremera, would have their seats eliminated Jan. 1, 2010, and the board would shrink to five elected members.
Now, the board wants to revisit that.
It persuaded Assemblyman Ira Ruskin, D-
Ruskin said his bill, AB 2212, by adding two districts, will be “a real plus.”
“It will create more competitive elections, there will be better geographic representation, and the board itself will be more accountable and more likely to keep a closer look on the water district,” Ruskin said.
Critics of the water district, however, note the bill does not require term limits. Board members now serve four-year terms. Sanchez, who told the Mercury New he plans to retire at the end of 2009, has been a member for 28 years. Board member Joe Judge has served 22 years. Chair Rosemary Kamei has served 15 years.
“Term limits would be a wonderful idea. I can’t think of a board that needs term limits worse than that one,” said John Roeder, chairman of the Great Oaks Water Co., which buys district water and provides it to 100,000 South San Jose residents.
Roeder’s company has sued the district, claiming it has raised rates in violation of state law.
Last year, former CEO Stan Williams was pressured by board members to retire after he hired then-board member Greg Zlotnick to a newly created, $184,000-a-year job at the district without advertising the position or telling board members.
During Williams’ tenure, the district’s staff grew 46 percent – from 541 people in 1994 to 789 in 2005 – according to an audit by the
“This board has not reined in or controlled the bureaucrats,” Roeder said. “Each one of the board members has never taken initiative. They are easily manipulated by the staff.”
Rick Callender, the water district’s government and public affairs director, said term limits were not included in Ruskin’s bill because of what happened during discussions over the 2006 bill. He said when he mentioned term limits while that bill was being drafted, two influential statewide groups – the Association of California Water Agencies and the California Special Districts Association – told him they would fight to kill it.
Although city councils, county supervisors and state legislators have term limits, almost no water, open space or other special districts in
Both associations said Friday they do not have blanket policies opposing term limits.
“It should be on a case-by-case basis,” said Thomas Vu, lobbyist for the California Special Districts Association in
Ruskin said he is “open to discussing” adding term limits to the bill.
Meanwhile, the water district’s interim CEO, Martin Steele, said she will complete a review of the agency’s staffing levels, salaries and other issues by the end of June.
“It is very important to me that our public understand we are a vital agency to the community,” she said, “and that we operate in a very open way and that we are fiscally prudent.” #
http://www.mercurynews.com/localnewsheadlines/ci_8910159?nclick_check=1
IMPERIAL IRRIGATION DISTRICT ISSUES:
Garcia, IID talk; board expected to vote Tuesday
By Brianna Lusk, staff writer
Faced with potential legislative action that could break off
District officials met with Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia,
To read the proposed AB 2564, visit:
http://www.ivpressonline.com/docs/ab2564.pdf
The proposed legislation would have Coachella voters decide whether they want their own utility district or continue service with IID in the future.
“We explained how important it was to keep IID water and power together,” IID board President John Pierre Menvielle said. “Water costs could go up, energy costs could go up and it would hurt the ratepayers.”
Menvielle and Director Stella Mendoza attended the meeting with Garcia.
Some 60 percent of the energy customers are in the Coachella area.
According to the proposed legislation, when that number reaches 75 percent, it would be up to voters to decide what to do.
Garcia has maintained Coachella needs representation at IID.
Menvielle said as a result of the meeting and at the urging of state Sen. Denise Moreno Ducheny, D-Chula Vista, district officials have requested meetings with
“We have to do a better job with outreach and make sure their needs are met up there within reason,” Menvielle said.
The bill is not sponsored and Garcia has said it is being driven by an ongoing issue of a lack of representation and long-term strategic planning at IID.
Ducheny said Friday she would not support the bill as it is written.
“I’m not sure the solution she’s proposing will work,” Ducheny, who represents areas that would be affected by the bill, said. “I think IID has to be a little more aggressive. I think when you start getting into the water code and irrigation districts in general you could cause more problems.”
Although the meeting with Garcia was cordial, the board is expected to vote on opposing the bill at its meeting Tuesday.
The Modesto Irrigation District and the Association of California Water Agencies have reportedly opposed the bill.
Menvielle said regardless of what happens to the bill, the district needs to respond to their ratepayers’ concerns.
“This thing has been festering out there for 10 to 20 years. Outreach is the important thing now without trying to form a new government,” he said. “We’ll have a meeting of the minds with their councils but we will not dilute the IID.”
AB 2564 is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in the assembly local governments committee April 30. #
http://www.ivpressonline.com/articles/2008/04/12/local_news/news03.txt
WATER LEGISLATION:
Wolk bills to address water woes; Legislations will bolster conservation
The Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee voted last week to approve two bills by Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, D-Solano, to help prepare for some of the state’s most critical water challenges.
“With
“While water debates continue to rage, these bills help prepare for the state’s long-term water supply needs by doing things most water advocates agree should be done now. That includes taking the first steps toward addressing climate change in our water planning, encouraging water conservation, and providing for the immediate needs of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the heart of
The committee heard both bills Tuesday, voting 9-4 to support Wolk’s AB 2501, which requires water planners to begin incorporating known risks climate change poses to the State’s water supply into existing water plans.
The bill also appropriates existing bond funds to the most urgently needed actions to protect
Wolk’s AB 2882, which authorizes water suppliers to use water rate structures proven to result in significant conservation, received unanimous, bipartisan support.
“At a time when
AB 2501 is supported by The Natural Resources Defense Council and Planning and Conservation League, and will next be heard in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee.
AB 2882 is cosponsored by Irvine Ranch Water District and Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority, and supported by numerous other water agencies as well as the Surfrider Foundation.
The bill will next be heard in the Assembly Appropriations Committee. #
http://www.thereporter.com/news/ci_8911541
INFRASTRUCTURE CONCERNS:
Reid’s bill designed to make aging Western canals safer
Associated Press – 3/12/08
The Nevada Democrat’s measure was introduced Thursday, about three months after the failure of an earthen embankment on a century-old irrigation canal flooded the growing town of
The Jan. 5 breach of the
The bill would provide $11 million over the next five years for required inspections of federal water infrastructure such as the
It also directs the Department of Interior to perform maintenance and repairs to ensure the safety of nearby homes and businesses.
“I will work diligently to pass this bill to protect Nevadans living near canals and levees,” Reid said.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation owns 7,911 miles of canals in 17 Western states, the vast majority of them managed and operated by local irrigation and water districts.
Among the bureau’s holdings is the 32-mile-long
Engineers who investigated the Fernley flood concluded the main reason of the failure was the embankment had been riddled with rodent burrows, some up to 25 feet deep.
They also found a lack of maintenance allowed the growth of numerous large trees whose root systems can weaken an embankment.
The legislation is being co-sponsored by Democratic Sens. Jeff Bingaman of
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20080412-1606-nv-canalbreak-reid.html
DELTA ISSUES:
Editorial: Staving off disaster; We must fix the Delta before it’s too late
When it’s 80 degrees outside, the sky is clear, and the breeze is gentle, it’s pretty hard to think about a disaster.
It’s going to be that kind of day today, and it is on just such a day we should be thinking about a disaster.
When the wind is howling, it’s been raining steadily for a week, and the rivers are rising, it’s too late.
But that seems to be the way we do things in
More than two years ago,
In the months that followed Katrina, report after report came out urging action be taken to strengthen the frail levees of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Both
For seven years, Californians watched as CALFED, a state-federal agency set up to do something about the Delta, did nothing. An analysis of CALFED spending by The Associated Press last fall found that the agency had spent $4.7 billion but frittered much of it away on projects that had nothing whatsoever to do with strengthening and protecting the Delta.
Now, Sen. Michael Machado has weighed in. Actually, the Linden Democrat has weighed in again and again over the years. This time, though, he might have a chance.
He has proposed a bill ending CALFED’s funding, an idea meeting no resistance. In its place would be a single state agency to direct funding for all the various Delta projects: farming, recreation, environment.
The governor, who earlier vetoed a Machado Delta bill, set up a task force to study Delta protection and figure out how to untangle the web of special interests, environmental groups and government agencies claiming pieces of the Delta pie.
Machado thinks his bill addresses these overlapping interests.
“Right now, you have multiple agencies operating autonomously,” he said.
Right now? Actually, for decades. We haven’t got decades. Summer is coming, and winter rains are the last thing most of us will be thinking about.
But think about this: A levee failed in early June 2004, flooding more than 12,000 acres of upper Jones Tract, west of
Two such failures at the same time could lead to more levee failures and severe flooding. That could create a vacuum in the estuary, sucking saltwater out of
None of this is going to be cheap (though Machado’s single-agency proposal shouldn’t break the bank). If disaster strikes, it will make the state’s current $14.5 billion budget deficit seem like chump change. #
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080413/A_OPINION01/804130305/-1/A_OPINION
AMERICAN RIVER OPERATIONS:
Editorial: Feds need to deliver on American River
Sacramento
Seen from its shady banks, the lower
Guess again.
In the real world, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has its hand on the spigot of the
The result: Flows in the
In February 2003, for instance, the bureau opened the spigot, increasing flows from 3,500 to 5,500 cubic feet per second. Then, 11 days later, the bureau knocked them down to half that volume.
Although the bureau followed approved procedures, the fluctuating flows ended up stranding thousands of young fish – including endangered steelhead – that were emerging from gravel bars where their parents had laid eggs. The gravel bars were flooded when the adult fish were spawning, but when the bureau dropped the flows down, it left the offspring high and dry.
For more than a decade, local water districts and environmentalists have been trying to finalize a proposed “flow standard” that would give salmon and steelhead the cool water they need to survive and thrive. In 2005, all sides seemed close to a deal that would protect both fish and water users, avoiding a costly legal battle over the Endangered Species Act.
Yet three years have passed, and with the Bush administration set to leave office in nine months, the bureau still hasn’t finalized the deal through the State Water Resources Control Board.
Bureau officials say they support the proposed flow standard but were tripped up by a court decision last year involving Delta smelt. As part of his order, federal Judge Oliver Wanger restricted the bureau from implementing any new “project” that might affect Delta pumping. Bureau lawyers fear that submitting paperwork on the flow standard could violate the judge’s order.
It’s a pretty flimsy justification, for a couple of reasons. Federal lawyers haven’t yet asked Wanger if he would object to moving forward with an
It is also revealing that – as U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui, D-Sacramento, pointed out in a recent letter to Reclamation Commissioner Robert W. Johnson – the bureau hasn’t responded to the Water Forum’s petition for the flow standard, which was sent to the agency in July 2007.
The federal bureaucracy isn’t the only complication in ensuring healthier flows for the
Yet it’s the bureau, and its overseers in the Bush administration, that control the valves of this deal. If they are truly committed to adopting a flow standard, it’s time to put their John Hancocks on the line. #
http://www.sacbee.com/110/story/856102.html
Binational river conference comes to end
By Sarah Reynolds, staff writer
The Common Ground Conference, a binational discussion of restoration efforts on the
“It is at this place that we begin the process of reclaiming what has been a no man’s land,” Charles Flynn, executive director of the Yuma Crossing National Heritage Area, told conference attendees Friday. “It can also, perhaps, change the dynamic of border relations.”
The conference was a two-day joint effort between area environmental and government officials, from both the
It concluded Friday with a roundtable forum with local officials and the signing of the Common Ground plan at
The area, known on the
It is hoped that the restoration of Hunter’s Hole, in a project similar to the work that’s been done in the Yuma East Wetlands, will increase security as well as the environment.
“Three of the main things we’re trying to accomplish with the Common Ground plan are public safety, environmental restoration and economic development and recreation,” said Fred Phillips, the principal consultant for the Wetlands project. He will also be heading up the Hunter’s Hole restoration.
Phillips’ staff has been working closely with Mexican environmental scientists from Pro-Natura in San Luis Rio
Dr. Osvel Hinojosa Huerta, a representative for Pro-Natura, has been working on similar projects in
“I think this is a great moment to implement a binational project like this one,” Hinojosa Huerta said.
The effort brought out support from Yuma County Sheriff Ralph Ogden and Border Patrol officials. It also has the backing of
The conference closed Friday but work on the restoration itself is already under way.
The next step, according to Phillips, will be rehabilitation work on Hunter’s Hole with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
More funds will be needed to complete all necessary studies, excavate and create channels, construction wells and clear and replant vegetation. Officials hope to secure approximately $700,000 for that effort within the next year. #
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