A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
September 15, 2008
2. Supply –
Opinion
Think tank solutions run dry in our valley
The
Green Gadget: Drought fighter
The
Two districts plan $200 million aquifer: Padre Dam would pump cleaned wastewater to Helix
Water bond difference must be solved
The
Editorial
Water bill deserved to die, for now
Capital Ag Press- 9/12/08
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Opinion
Think tank solutions run dry in our valley
The
Most likely, the Pacific Institute is sincere in suggesting ways to save water. Last week, the Oakland-based think tank issued a study that said if valley farmers would just be a little water-wiser, the state could save a lot of liquid. The co-authors even suggested that 20 reservoirs could be filled with the water saved by simply using better conservation methods down on the farm.
So why build even two more reservoirs -- as Gov. Schwarzenegger, Sen. Dianne Feinstein and many who depend on water are urging -- when all we have to do is re-educate a few wasteful farmers?
Perhaps the study's conclusions are applicable in some areas of the valley, but if we followed all of co-author Peter Gleick's suggestions around here, we could end up with thousands of thirsty city dwellers and ruined cropland.
Many of our farmers flood irrigate -- the very practice the Pacific Institute finds so wasteful. By switching to sprinklers and drip systems, says Gleick, farmers could save millions of gallons that then could be used to water the lawns of city dwellers. While true, it doesn't tell the whole story.
Flood irrigation does more than simply help tomatoes, peaches, walnuts, almonds, alfalfa and hundreds of other crops grow. It is also crucial for replenishing our underground aquifer -- the largest source of fresh water for everyone.
Irrigation helps ensure that won't happen around here.
"It's very complicated," said Vance Kennedy, a retired hydrologist and farmer near
Other soils have more clay, causing water to sit longer where it either nourishes plants or evaporates. The soil mix can change at different depths. Our area has many soil types, but most are fairly permeable -- meaning some of the irrigation water nourishes plants and some recharges the aquifer. Over time, we end up drinking that water.
But we wouldn't drink it if it were salty -- and neither would plants. Water flowing from the mountains often contains mineral salts. When water is put on soil in small amounts, plants soak up most of it -- just as the scientists at the Pacific Institute prefer. But when applied more sparingly, water doesn't soak far into the soils and the salts are left near the surface. Enough salts can turn even rich soil sterile. On the other hand, flooding the soil dilutes the salts and pushes them past the root zones, keeping the dirt fertile.
New irrigation methods are being developed to use saltier water, but for now it remains a problem on less permeable soils.
In Monday's Sacramento Bee, Gleick offered suggestions for solving the state's water problems, including "new water-rate structures" to encourage efficiency and better enforcement of
Faced with a water emergency, we're being offered lots of ideas. Professor David Zetland from the
There is no shortage of ideas for better use of our water. But there is a shortage of water. And until we find better ways to capture more than we do now, plans to conserve it won't amount to much.#
http://www.modbee.com/opinion/story/429132.html
Green Gadget: Drought fighter
The
By Debra Atlas, Contributing writer
Office estimates 36 states will face water shortages by 2010. With
HydroPoint Data Systems Inc. of
Its WeatherTrak system automatically adjusts irrigation schedules based on landscape needs and daily local weather conditions for highly efficient irrigation. More than a timer, after programming WeatherTrak with the physical makeup of your landscape area, the service takes over.
WeatherTrak, recently featured on Ed Begley's "Living with Ed" cable TV show, uses more than 40,000 weather stations and satellites (primarily from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) to gather data to calculate evapotranspiration (ET) rates.
ET combines daily amounts of water plants use and the evaporation from the soil to determine how much water the soil needs to be replenished. WeatherTrak pushes that information to individual controllers at the end of each day.
Should sudden weather changes occur, WeatherTrak can turn off controllers or change settings remotely.
While the system is not available to individual residents, it is available to landscape contractors and suppliers through the Toro Company, which has partnered with HydroPoint. Toro's Web site is www.toro.com.
HydroPoint's controllers — compatible with most irrigation systems — are designed for residential and commercial use. Numerous municipalities, including
The city of
"The statistics are rather shocking," said Chris Spain, HydroPoint's chief strategy officer.
WeatherTrak can also reduce runoff by up to 71 percent, according to an EPA test of HydroPoint's technology.
And that's important to many
The town of
Corporations and builders are recognizing the benefits of this conservation system. Shay Homes, a division of J.F. Shea Company, Inc., provides HydroPoint's controllers for free with their new homes.
Closer to home,
"They're fantastic," said William Timmins,
WeatherTrak's average list price is $425, based on the necessary number of watering stations or zones – from a small home of six to nine stations to a large home with a big yard needing 18 to 24. The yearly subscription maintenance service (standard with all irrigation weather systems) is $48.
"We're leveraging technology that delivers tangible bottom-line benefits and environmental benefits," says
Debra Atlas is a freelance environmental writer and professional speaker. She can be reached at debraatlas@gmail.com#
http://www.redding.com/news/2008/sep/14/green-gadget-drought-fighter/
Two districts plan $200 million aquifer: Padre Dam would pump cleaned wastewater to Helix
By Mike Lee
Squeezed by the most severe drought in at least two decades, a pair of water districts in
The idea, modeled after a much larger project in
Helix would store the water underground for later use, creating a drought-proof supply of about 5,000 acre-feet a year, equal to about 10 percent of the district's deliveries. The aquifer also would provide water for trees and shrubs in a stretch of the river that usually is dry.
The Helix board is expected to authorize an environmental review of the roughly $200 million project at its meeting Wednesday. It will probably take 10 years to complete all aspects of the proposal – assuming it passes the review and survives opposition from residents who would have to endure several years of sand mining related to the project.
“Not only are we helping our own district, but we are helping the statewide reliability of the water supply,” said Charles Muse, president of the Helix board. “If we can provide the district with new water, that is water we don't have to buy from” wholesalers such as the Metropolitan Water District and the San Diego County Water Authority.
At the Padre Dam district, officials are considering a major expansion of their wastewater recycling plant that would allow it to treat more sewage and to higher standards of purity.
The Helix and Padre Dam districts would split the project's cost, though the details haven't been worked out, said Neal Brown, director of engineering and planning for the Padre Dam agency. The price includes upgrades for the treatment plant, an 11-mile pipeline to carry the purified wastewater and percolation ponds along the river.
The districts are seeking state and federal grants to offset their expenses.
“Our board is excited about the potential of this thing, but the numbers are big enough that we have to fine-tune this quite a bit before we start breaking any ground,” Brown said.
Interest in similar projects is growing in
“Local initiatives like this . . . are going to get us through the water challenges we face,” Jacoby said.
Purifying wastewater for use as tap water has been a touchy topic in
The city's water department is preparing to launch an $11.8 million demonstration project next year. If the pilot project eventually becomes a full-scale program, it likely would be the first of its kind in the state.
Mark Weston, Helix's general manager, said the district had been studying groundwater storage for a few years. He hopes the drought has diminished opposition to the concept in his district, which serves about 260,000 people in
“People are becoming more sensitive to how unreliable our water supply is. . . .
The Helix-Padre project would span about 500 acres in the
In recent years, environmentalists have been trying to restore habitat on the property as part of a regional effort to revitalize urbanized stretches of the
Weston said the ecological and water-supply goals are compatible. Over the next decade, he envisions, a private contractor will mine at least 10 million tons of sand from the floodplain. Sand removal would create what Helix officials call “a more natural topography” in the valley, and revenue from the sand-mining rights would help pay for the aquifer project.
The Helix district has dug one small percolation pond in the floodplain and installed a series of wells to monitor water movement. Results from that test should be available by year's end.
Eventually, the north edge of the river would be lined with ponds of purified water. That water would filter into the ground and flow south to about 30 wells designed to pump water into Helix's treatment system for distribution to customers across East County.#
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080914-9999-1m14helix.html
Water bond difference must be solved
The
By Anna M. Caballero
Farming is never easy. But with water shortages throughout
The problem is acute in
Water levels in San Luis Reservoir are alarmingly low. According to the Department of Water Resources, the lake today holds less than 32 percent of its average volume for August and only 15 percent of full capacity.
For the past several weeks I have spent many hours co-chairing a special Assembly Democratic caucus water working group that reflects a cross-section of the different geographic regions, political perspectives and concerns found within our caucus. The group was appointed by Assembly Speaker Karen Bass to develop consensus on a water bond that would provide solutions to our water quality and supply problems.
The result of that work is AB 8xx, a bill I have jointly authored with my working group co-chair, Assembly Member Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) and with Assembly Member Lois Wolk (D-Davis). The bill would place a $9.8 billion general obligation bond measure on the November statewide ballot.
The bill is modeled on a proposal prepared by Gov. Schwarzenegger and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, but reflects changes that our working group believed are necessary to win the votes needed for passage in the Legislature.
Significantly, AB 8xx attempts to break a political logjam that has for years prevented passage of a water bond measure. Republicans have traditionally insisted on new dams as a condition of supporting a bond, while environmental groups have argued that additional conservation and water reuse measures should be funded before the state allows for construction of major new dams. AB 8xx provides $3 billion for new storage facilities heavily weighted in favor of the construction of dams.
Every region of the state has its own water issues, and this measure includes competitive local grant programs designed to help.
If this measure was passed by the voters,
In
We spent many hours negotiating with our Republican colleagues. A key difference was the Republicans' insistence that funding for new storage facilities be continuously appropriated, rather than appropriated annually by the Legislature following the oversight budget hearings that apply to all other programs. While some members of the Democratic caucus were willing to support funding for dams, a $3 billion blank check was too far for most Democratic legislators to support. We worked hard on a compromise position but unfortunately, the clock ran out before we were able to reach a final agreement in this legislative session.
Regrettably, we will not have a water bond on the November ballot. But I am encouraged that we were able to make progress in bridging historical differences on water policy. The Legislature is still in an extraordinary session called by the governor because of the water crisis. We need to continue our discussion through the fall to be ready with a solution as soon as possible.
As Tim Quinn, executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies, said in an informational hearing on AB 8xx, "This is the closest we've been in my career to finding a winning proposal. The elements of success are in front of you. We can't let this opportunity pass."#
http://www.thecalifornian.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080913/OPINION/809130333
Editorial
Water bill deserved to die, for now
Capital Ag Press- 9/12/08
Farmers and ranchers dodged a bullet this legislative session. A potentially damaging proposal to reduce
Sponsored by outgoing Assemblyman John Laird, D-Santa Cruz, the measure was well-intentioned. Much of
Asking the community to do so is not out of line. But Laird's ill-fated bill initially would have required
Eventually the bill was modified to require farmers to adopt a series of "best practices" in their water use. Again, sounds reasonable on its face. Again, the devil lurks within.
If you water your tomatoes using furrows, you might lose a percentage to runoff or evaporation. It's still better than running an overhead sprinkler at noon on a hot summer day. Now drip irrigation will irrigate that same field of tomatoes with less water, but installing it in 500 acres of processing tomatoes is a spendy proposition.
Under the proposal, you might be required to buy that drip system. It would ruin the economics of the crop, and you'd probably switch to something of higher value to pay off that drip system.
Once again, we're talking about legislating crop patterns.
This is precisely what several influential environmental groups want. It is well known that cotton is Public Enemy No. 1 in their eyes, and alfalfa is not far behind. Yes, alfalfa requires a fair bit of water - but it is cheaper and better for the environment to grow it here in
State Sen. Mike Machado, D-Linden, was instrumental in defeating the Laird bill. Machado's criticisms of the measure were legion, but among them a few stand out:
If you change crop patterns to dryland agriculture such as barley or wheat, what will that do to the economy? A hundred acres of cabbage generates far more cash, and creates far more jobs, than 100 acres of barley on a hillside.
Should farmers save water in, say,
Some of the less-efficient watering systems actually have side benefits. Flooding orchard floors helps recharge the area's groundwater.
What about the processors? The vintners? The dairymen? Making wine requires water, as does processing tomatoes. Yes, there are ways to make these enterprises more efficient, but health laws require a lot of water be used in the making of such products. If a processor is in town, does its water use get charged against the citizens?
Keep in mind that the Natural Resources Defense Council was the prime mover behind the Laird bill, aided by the Metropolitan Water District of Los Angeles, one of the state's thirstiest - and most ruthless - seekers of water.
They will return next session, most likely with a new legislative sponsor. Should the bill receive a proper vetting, a landmark water efficiency and conservation bill may not be a bad thing.
But agriculture must be involved in the process, and the urban majority must understand that the world's most productive farmland -
http://www.capitalpress.info/main.asp?SectionID=75&SubSectionID=767&ArticleID=44396&TM=62718.26
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