[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 7/18/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

July 18, 2008

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People –

 

 

Pump project a go

Colusa County Sun-Herald- 7/18/08

 

Sacramento Utilities Department worker arrested in water meter probe

The Sacramento Bee- 7/18/08

 

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Pump project a go

Colusa County Sun-Herald- 7/18/08

By Rob Parsons, Staff Writer

 

After nearly a decade of study, federal officials have approved a $160 million pump project to feed irrigation water to Mid-Valley farmers.

 

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation on Wednesday authorized design and construction of the “Fish Passage Improvement Project” at the head of the Tehama-Colusa Canal in Red Bluff. The canal is currently fed by Sacramento River water via gates lowered each spring at the Red Bluff Diversion Dam.

 

The pump project was proposed by the Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority to address ongoing concerns about declining fish populations and the need for reliable irrigation supplies for west-side farmers.

 

“We’re ecstatic to be able to move forward with the project,” said Jeff Sutton, general manager for the Canal Authority.

 

The diversion dam sends water to crops in 18 water districts in Tehama, Glenn, Colusa and Yolo counties.

 

Environmental regulations have restricted water diversions to a four-month period each year between May and September.

 

In a prepared statement, Canal Authority officials said the decision was timely given a pending federal lawsuit being heard this month in Fresno. If environmentalists prevail in that suit, which attacks water diversions at Red Bluff and other locations in the Central Valley, water deliveries could be drastically reduced. In a special hearing during the trial, U.S. District Court Judge Oliver W. Wanger refused a request for an emergency injunction that would have raised the water gates at Red Bluff. Had that happened, Sutton said, more than 150,000 acres of farmland would have dried up, destroying more than $250 million of crop production.

 

In April, Wanger found that a biological opinion prepared by the National Marine Fisheries Service on the impact of Central Valley Project was legally inadequate. Specifically, the judge said the opinion did not adequately address global warming and loss of critical fish habitat for endangered salmon and steelhead.

 

Officials anticipate a new biological opinion to be published in March that would set new rules for gate operations.

 

Officials hope the opinion will allow the dam’s use to continue until the pumping plant is completed. Design and construction is expected to take three years.

 

AT A GLANCE

Problem: Del Oro Water Co. wells serving the Walnut Ranch subdivision exceed state standards for manganese and iron, drawing complaints from consumers about taste, smell and reduced service life for water pipes and home appliances.

Del Oro solution: The Public Utilities Commission has approved Del Oro’s proposal to connect into low contaminant wells belonging to Colusa Industrial Properties.

Cost for pipeline: $350,000

Current Del Oro rate: $55.10 per month for single-family residence

Estimated monthly rate after project: $117

Percent increase over Del Oro: 112 percent

The alternative: Walnut Ranch residents say they want to be annexed into Colusa for both water and sewer services.

Cost for water system: $1.9 million

Cost for sewer system: $1.7 million

Estimated monthly rate after hook-up and annexation: $230

Current Colusa water and sewer rates: $68.45 for single-family residence

Percent increase over Colusa rates: 236 percent

(Rate does not reflect cost of city buyout of Del Oro facilities or proposed rate hike for Colusa’s new wastewater treatment facility).

What’s next: The PUC has put Del Oro’s project on hold pending the outcome of the proposed annexation. Walnut Ranch residents met Thursday with the Local Agency Formation Commission, which must decide whether the annexation can move forward.#

http://www.colusa-sun-herald.com/news/project_1481___article.html/pump_.html

 

 

 

Sacramento Utilities Department worker arrested in water meter probe

The Sacramento Bee- 7/18/08

By Terri Hardy

 

Kenneth John Guerard, a Sacramento Utilities Department employee the FBI has implicated in a federal black market salvage probe, has been arrested on two felony bribery counts.

 

After turning himself in to the main jail on Wednesday, Guerard was booked, then released on $25,000 bail, said Sharon Chow, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department.

 

He is scheduled to be arraigned at 10:30 a.m. July 23 in Sacramento Superior Court.

 

Guerard, who ordered supplies and oversaw the city utilities storeroom, is accused in court documents of accepting two bribes from Bay Area scrap dealer Sheldon A. Morris: a large storage container, valued at more than $2,000, and a $100 gift card from Home Depot.

 

Guerard told FBI investigators that he and his son restore classic cars in a building on 24th Street in Curtis Park. The container was used for storing his automobiles, according to an FBI summary included in court documents filed with Guerard's arrest warrant.

 

"Morris offered to get (the container) for Guerard, saying words to the effect, 'Let me help you guys out,' " according to the summary.

 

Kresta Daly, Guerard's attorney, did not return calls for comment. Last week, Daly told The Bee she was confident that Guerard would be exonerated.

 

The city fired Guerard on Feb. 15. His termination letter states that he used his position "to steal and sell city of Sacramento-owned property for personal gain."

 

"We take this matter very seriously and support law enforcement in this investigation," said Marty Hanneman, assistant city manager.

 

Guerard's arrest is the latest development in a widening criminal probe.

 

FBI documents filed in Guerard's case allege that city employees for decades illegally let salvage dealer Morris remove city water meters from the storage yard. According to the allegations, Morris sold the equipment and took a cut, then funneled proceeds from the recycled scrap metal into a slush fund he controlled.

 

Instead of the salvage proceeds going to the city's general fund as required, FBI interviews and other documents allege money from the kitty went to cater the Utilities Department's Christmas party and provide gifts for a golf tournament. Some of the cash wound up in employees' bank accounts, according to court documents.

 

Guerard, "was involved in the conspiracy and acted as a facilitator," according to arrest warrant documents.

 

Morris has not been charged in the case. He did not return a call Thursday for comment.

 

In January, one-time city water superintendent Barry C. Holland pleaded guilty in federal court to accepting $25,000 in cash and equipment from Morris as a reward for water meter sales. Holland has agreed to cooperate with authorities, and his sentence is pending.

 

According to the FBI summary, Guerard said in an interview with agents that he was among the city workers who would call Morris to pick up used city water meters to sell for scrap.

 

"Guerard in his statement to investigators stated that he knew the money from the salvaged meters should have gone to the city of Sacramento Department of Utilities, but that he knew the money from the salvaged meters was maintained by Sheldon Morris in an account off to the side," the arrest warrant states.

 

A summary of the FBI interview says Guerard admitted he received two checks from Morris for $200 and $752.67.

 

Guerard said the cash was used for an office Christmas party and to purchase a flat-panel television as a prize for a golf tournament organized by utilities employees. The two counts of bribery do not include these payments.

 

Sacramento recently released a city audit of its utilities department. The audit found contracting violations and oversight so lax that 4,500 water meters valued at $1.3 million cannot be accounted for. The city has hired a consultant to count the existing meters to determine if any disappeared as part of the salvage scam.#

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1091871.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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