Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 25, 2008
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
California
The Associated Press- 7/24/08
Fake turf saves green with rebate from water district
Riverside Press Enterprise- 7/24/08
Bill aimed at settling
Riverside Press Enterprise- 7/24/08
Flooding emphasizes need for dam on Eagle Canyon
The Desert Sun- 7/25/08
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California
The Associated Press- 7/24/08
By Samantha Young
The regulations require domestic and foreign cargo ships, tankers and cruise vessels sailing into
The
"It's a terrific thing for people who live anywhere near the coast or where the sea breezes go," said David Pettit, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Margaret Gordon, a West Oakland environmental activist who suffers from asthma and has been fighting for cleaner air in neighborhoods near the Port of Oakland, said the approved regulations are a huge step forward if they come to fruition. But she's not holding her breath.
"It's good that the state is trying to do this," Gordon said. "Anything that means one less asthma, one less cancer, one less premature death is a positive step. But it's been the pattern of these big shipping companies to use lawsuits and appeals to hold up this kind of positive change.
"With international shipping having so much autonomy outside the
Indeed, international shipping companies oppose the rules, adopted unanimously by the California Air Resources Board. They argue
The Pacific Merchant Shipping Association said
"International ships running in international waters under international treaties should be handled under international laws," said T.L. Garrett, vice president of the association, which represents about 60 ocean carrier lines and cargo terminals. "We know it's the right thing to do. The question is, 'Who should be telling us to do it?'"
Shippers last year won in federal court when they blocked a 2006
The latest
It would ban ships from using so-called bunker fuel, a dirty, heavy crude oil that has the consistency of asphalt and must be heated onboard the ships to power the engines.
Beginning July 1, 2009, oceangoing vessels will have to switch to a more expensive but cleaner-burning marine fuel to power their engines and auxiliary boilers when they sail within 24 nautical miles of
The rules apply to ships headed to ports in the
Military, government and research vessels will be exempt, as will those ships that will be modified to comply with the regulation.
In 2006, ships made nearly 11,000 port calls in
The nitrogen oxide, diesel particulate matter and sulfur oxide emissions from some large ships headed to
Scientists say requiring cleaner fuels within 24 nautical miles of
While some cleaner fuels are available, the regulation eventually demands a fuel with an even lower sulfur content than is now available.
"If the refiners fail to provide the fuel, we're the ones who will be held in violation and have to pay the fees," Garrett said.
Ship operators also worry the engines on some vessels aren't designed to run on cleaner burning fuel and say it's not clear whether switching between two fuels to operate a ship would deteriorate engine equipment. The Air Resources Board intends to study both issues.
A single vessel making one visit a year to a
For passenger cruise ships, increased fuel costs for a typical
Shippers would be fined $44,500 for a first offense, with the fee escalating to $227,500 for repeat offenses.#
http://www.contracostatimes.com/environment/ci_9988434?nclick_check=1
Fake turf saves green with rebate from water district
Riverside Press Enterprise- 7/24/08
For
Their roots were so extensive that they encroached on and twisted around his sprinkler system, preventing it from properly watering the lawn.
Jacobs and his wife, Jordana, had the two trees cut down and their roots pulled out.
After the couple got permission from their homeowner's association to cover sections of their front yard with artificial turf, as part of a project to redo the landscape in front of their house, they invested $6,937 to cover three sections of the yard with 750-square-feet of artificial turf.
The Jacobs are happy they made the switch from natural to artificial turf. It looks -- and almost feels -- like real grass and remains green throughout the year.
"I didn't like fighting with my sprinklers on the weekend, and I didn't like being written up for my grass being brown," Jacobs said. Now, "I don't have to do anything to it. That's the best part."
The Jacobses recovered $225 from the investment after they learned in April they were entitled to a rebate from the Eastern Municipal Water District of 30-cents off the price tag for each square-foot of artificial turf.
Had they waited until July to install the turf, the Jacobses could have been eligible for 50 cents off each square-foot of synthetic turf.
As of July 1, the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has been offering a direct 30-cent rebate for synthetic turf purchases to its commercial and residential customers throughout its service area.
MWD's 5,200-square-miles encompass Eastern and other member water district serving western
The rebate is part of a campaign by the district to promote water conservation and more efficient water use among customers by offering them of financial incentives for purchasing synthetic turf and more water-efficient sprinklers, toilets and clothes-washers, said Andy Hui, MWD's conservation program manager.
Installing synthetic turf on a lawn the size of Jacobs, 750-square-feet, could cut water use by as much as 33,000 gallons per year and save the consumer money, said Peter Odencrans, spokesman for Eastern.
The 30-cent synthetic turf rebate is available to customers who pay their water bills to smaller local water districts or utilities: Lake Hemet Municipal Water District, the Nuevo Water Company, water departments of the cities of
On July 1, Eastern started to contribute an additional 20 cents to the money provided by MWD, bringing the total synthetic turf rebate available to customers billed by Eastern to 50 cents.
Before July 1, MWD used to reimburse its member districts for rebates paid out to their customers, but the rebates and cash payouts are now centralized, Hui said.
MWD also has a program offering 75 cents off the price per square foot for purchases of artificial turf by public agencies, including city governments and school districts. Some Inland public agencies have taken advantage of this rebate.
Richard Beck,
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_W_turf25.4b6a5a3.html
Bill aimed at settling
Riverside Press Enterprise- 7/24/08
A bill to resolve a decades-old San Jacinto Valley Indian water rights dispute is headed for President Bush's signature with passage of the Soboba Band of Luiseño Indians Settlement Act late Thursday in the U.S. Senate.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Mary Bono Mack, R-Palm Springs, passed the House of Representatives in May.
The legislation implements a 1991 federal government settlement and another settlement with
"I am thrilled an agreement has been reached that will benefit the many individuals and families impacted by this ongoing water dispute," Bono Mack said in a news release. "We would not be at this point without the many years of hard work and cooperation by the tribe, our local water districts and local leaders."
The legislation provides "a secure and reliable water supply not only for the tribe, but the community," Loretta Tuell, Washington, D.C.-based legal counsel for the tribe on the water issue, said by phone. In Indian water rights cases, negotiations, rather than litigation, are "the best means to come to resolution," she said.
The settlement awards the tribe $18 million from local water districts, $11 million from the federal government and the right to 2 billion gallons of water a year from the aquifer. The tribe agreed to use no more than half the water allotment for the first 50 years. What isn't used will be available to other local water providers.
"Water reliability, which gives our communities more independence, is of great value to all of us," said Randy Record, Eastern Municipal Water District director for the
The tribe accused non-Indians of improperly draining water from beneath its reservation, beginning in 1865. The best-known instance was in the 1930s, when MWD contractors drilled a tunnel through the
The tribe claimed seepage into the tunnel caused its wells to dry up. MWD was unable to seal the tunnel to prevent leakage.
The tribe began meetings with the Eastern and
The parties reached a proposed settlement in 2003, which the bill, once signed, will finalize.#
http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_E_soboba25.4ad8172.html
Flooding emphasizes need for dam on Eagle Canyon
The Desert Sun- 7/25/08
By Rasha Aly
Jacquie Jaurequi did not expect to have her home surrounded by water when she awoke Sunday after the early morning downpour.
The water came rolling down the mountain across the street. There was no stopping it.
“It was a rushing river,” said Jaurequi, who manages Tramview Mobile Home Park on
“We couldn't get out,” she said.
Businesses along
The flooding didn't come as a surprise to city officials. Instead, it brought to the forefront an ongoing problem in
“It's a priority project,” said Mitch Nieman, development project manager.
There's been a problem with floods happening in the area because of
Although it hasn't happened in recent history, a “100-year flood” could wreak havoc throughout the southwestern portion of the city.
Last year, three auto dealerships had planned to build on a vacant lot on
While Eagle Canyon is on land which belongs to the county, the city of Palm Springs and the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, “Cathedral City is the city that is most affected by the flooding,” Nieman said.
The Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District,
But there's a glitch in the process: between $28 million to $38 million is needed to complete the comprehensive project, he said
Besides the dam, two line extensions need to be built connecting the overflowing water to the White Water Channel — lines which would help alleviate flooding, Nieman said.
Extension line 43 would help stop the flooding in the Tramview Mobile Home Park area in
According to Dusty Williams, general manager of the Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, the project is not slated to start until spring 2010.
The outlets extension line project won't start until a few years after the completion of the dam, Williams said.#
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080725/NEWS01/807250316/1006/news01
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