A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
September 11, 2008
3. Watersheds –
Trinitas water piping idea not feasible, district says
By
SAN ANDREAS - Calaveras County Water District will soon warn county land-use planners that it is simply not possible within five years to pipe surface water to the Trinitas golf course development near Wallace.
Water District directors Wednesday also expressed irritation that no one with the county government consulted with the district before issuing an environmental report that calls for such a water system as one of the mitigation measures required for the 280-acre golf resort and luxury home development on Ospital Road just east the San Joaquin County line.
"I have a high level of frustration with the county for many reasons, and this is just one of them," Calaveras County Water District Director Jeff Davidson said.
Davidson and his colleagues on the board voted unanimously to send a written response to the Trinitas environmental report that challenges several of the document's statements on water matters. Areas in which the CCWD disagrees with the Trinitas report include:
» The report's conclusion that Trinitas will deplete groundwater supplies. CCWD said there isn't data available to support that conclusion, and that groundwater levels in the area are already dropping about a foot to 18 inches a year due primarily to massive well pumping in
» The report's conclusion that there is insufficient water for the Trinitas project. For the same reasons as above.
» Requiring that surface water be piped to Trinitas within five years. Although the CCWD does hope ultimately to deliver farm irrigation water to the Trinitas area, it will take more than five years and will cost much more than the Trinitas resort alone could pay, district officials said.
» Requiring the golf course to be irrigated with reclaimed water. CCWD officials said there isn't enough reclaimed water available, either from septic systems or from the CCWD plant at La Contenta near Valley Springs. And it doesn't make sense to spend millions to pipe treated wastewater to Trinitas when there are plenty of places to dispose of it in Valley Springs.
Still, CCWD officials do agree with county planners on several fundamental issues, including a requirement that Trinitas pay for monitoring of the local groundwater table. And the CCWD ultimately agrees that for a variety of reasons, it is best that surface water someday be provided to the area as an alterative to using wells tapping a declining aquifer.
"The groundwater is not the long term supply for this project," Steve Hutchings, the district engineer for the CCWD, said.
The Trinitas project has been mired in a variety of environmental challenges for several years. The golf course portion of the resort was built while the land in question was still receiving a tax break because it was an agricultural preserve and under a Williamson Act contract. The course was built without first doing an environmental impact report.
The after-the-fact environmental report now in draft form is unusual in that it considers what measures, if any, should be taken to mitigate environmental damage already done by the course's construction and operation.
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080911/A_NEWS/809110326
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
DWR's California Water News is distributed to California Department of Water Resources management and staff, for information purposes, by the DWR Public Affairs Office. For reader's services, including new subscriptions, temporary cancellations and address changes, please use the online page: http://listhost2.water.ca.gov/mailman/listinfo/water_news. DWR operates and maintains the State Water Project, provides dam safety and flood control and inspection services, assists local water districts in water management and water conservation planning, and plans for future statewide water needs. Inclusion of materials is not to be construed as an endorsement of any programs, projects, or viewpoints by the Department or the State of
No comments:
Post a Comment