Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
August 1, 2008
1. Top Items -
Delta pump owners request more time for fish-protection plan
The Sacramento
Local mayors urge Coastal Commission to approve desalination plant
Water officials back bond, canal
The
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Delta pump owners request more time for fish-protection plan
The Sacramento
By Matt Weiser
The state and federal owners of massive water export pumps in the Delta have asked a judge to grant them additional time to prepare a new operating plan to protect threatened fish.
The state Department of Water Resources and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation face a Sept. 15 court deadline to deliver a new biological opinion on their operations to protect the Delta smelt. The document, produced in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, sets operating limits for the pumps to minimize harm to fish.
The agencies lost a federal lawsuit over their operations last year, and federal district Judge Oliver Wanger in December ordered them to prepare a new biological opinion.
The two giant pumping systems near
In a letter to Judge Wanger today, the water agencies asked for three more months to prepare the biological opinion, saying they "no longer believe it will be possible" to meet the Sept. 15 deadline. The Bee reported July 1 that the Fish and Wildlife Service repeatedly pleaded with Reclamation to provide more data to complete the study in time, but got no response.
Kate Poole, an attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said today her group won't contest the request for a deadline extension to Dec. 15.
"Our primary concern is that they do the biological opinion right, rather than fast,"
http://www.sacbee.com/378/story/1124955.html
Local mayors urge Coastal Commission to approve desalination plant
By Michael Burge, STAFF WRITER
Speaking at the office of the
“Seawater desalination will provide a drought-proof water supply,” Sanders said, noting he has declared a water emergency and called on residents to reduce consumption by 20 gallons a day.
The Coastal Commission tentatively approved Poseidon's proposal in November, but added 22 conditions. It will decide whether Poseidon's latest proposal meets those conditions at a hearing scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday at
Poseidon would build the plant on the grounds of the Encina Power Station and the city of
The company has proposed making the plant “carbon neutral,” meaning it would contribute no new greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
Other mayors attending the press conference Thursday were Bud Lewis of Carlsbad, Jerome Stocks of Encinitas, Cheryl Cox of Chula Vista, Jim Desmond of San Marcos, Mickey Cafagna of Poway and Jim Janney of Imperial Beach. #
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080731-1747-bn31desal.html
By BRADLEY J. FIKES, Staff Writer
Seven mayors endorsed the plant, to be built near the coast at the Encina Power Station. They are: Bud Lewis of
The mayors said the plant is vital for a secure water supply, especially now that
"This is a must," Lewis said.
The desalination plant would deliver 50 million gallons a day, or 9 percent of the water consumed in the county.
If all goes well at the Aug. 8 Coastal Commission hearing, the desalination plant is expected to begin production in 2011, said Peter MacLaggan, a senior vice president at Poseidon Resources, the Stamford, Conn.-based company proposing to build the plant. The hearing takes place at 9 a.m. in the Oceanside City Council chambers.
Assuming the commission endorses the plans, the final approval needed for construction is from the state Lands Commission, MacLaggan said. That commission is tentatively scheduled to consider the proposal Aug. 22.
"This is a huge milestone for the project," MacLaggan said of next week's hearing. "We're going to complete our permit and entitlement process, which has been under way for five years. That will clear a path for us this fall to close the financing for the project, and move forward next spring with construction."
The commission is scheduled to consider two plans from Poseidon to compensate for environmental damage caused by the plant, which will occupy 4 acres. One plan is to restore coastal wetlands at another location, probably in
Some environmentalist groups such as the Surfrider Foundation oppose Poseidon's specific proposals for the desalination project, while not opposing desalination in principle.
The authority says just 17 percent of water used in the county comes from local supplies. However, that includes reclaimed water, as well as reductions in demand from water conservation. Not counting reclaimed and conserved water, just 10 percent comes from local sources.
All of the water to be produced at the plant is under contract.
Constructing the plant would provide about 2,100 jobs, and 400 permanent jobs once the plant begins operating, MacLaggan said. The plant will work by forcing seawater through membranes with microscopic holes, excluding the salt and only letting freshwater through.
After their news conference, the mayors drank water produced from a pilot plant at the Encina site. The pilot plant can produce drinkable water from seawater in 20 minutes.#
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/07/31/business/z57c3d57a6458cfd588257497007314e3.txt
Water officials back bond, canal
The
By ALISHA SEMCHUCK, Staff Writer
PALMDALE - Water officials from
Jerry Johns, deputy director of the Department of Water Resources; Laura King Moon, assistant general manager of the State Water Contractors Association Inc.; and Ron Davis, state legislative director for the Association of California Water Agencies, were among the speakers at a water issues workshop organized by the Palmdale Water District.
The event focused on water shortage concerns of
If the proposed bond makes it onto the Nov. 4 ballot and gains voter approval, it would update the state water system by increasing storage, improving conveyance, protecting the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta ecosystem and promoting greater water conservation efforts.
Called the Safe, Clean, Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2008, the measure would allot $2 billion for water supply reliability; $1.9 billion for delta sustainability; $3 billion for statewide water system operational improvement and $1.3 billion for conservation and watershed protection. It contains $800 million for groundwater protection and water quality as well as $250 million for water recycling.
"The bond itself won't solve the immediate crisis, but it's an important part of it," King Moon said.
At last, water industry officials can utter "the words which we have not been able to speak for the last 20 years - peripheral canal. A peripheral canal should be part of the conveyance approach. That's the most promising (plan). It has a lot of flood plain benefits," she said.
Though many people are more comfortable with the idea than in years past, some are still reluctant to support it, so King Moon said it will require a major public relations campaign.
"There's a lot of politics involved," she said, so proponents must "make sure people understand why it is needed."
The Schwarzenegger-Feinstein package also has elements of legislation introduced in September by state Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, to ensure water quality, flood control and wildlife preservation.
"The delta is many things to many people - a place to live, a unique ecosystem. We look at the delta as it was," said Johns, a biologist. "It's not as it was. The delta is ever-changing."
That area has experienced subsidence and sits below sea level. It suffers the impact of invasive species. The delta already has suffered 165 levee failures.
"The earthquake potential is enough to get us to move," Johns said. "The system was designed in the 1920s (and) built with 1940s or 1950s technology. If we look out 25 to 30 years, we're looking at a loss of water supply."
Like King Moon and Davis, Johns urged support of the bond and of the peripheral canal.
One design suggestion for that canal would be a structure six football fields wide, King Moon said.
"Fairly shallow and fairly wide: that's the current concept. The water table is high in the area where it is planned."
But the concept is not finalized, so the design could change.
Because of the routes the peripheral canal would traverse, King Moon said, "we'll be negotiating easements."
Proponents have until Aug. 16 to meet the secretary of state's deadline to get the bond on the Nov. 4 ballot,
http://www.avpress.com/n/31/0731_s4.hts
No comments:
Post a Comment