Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
September 4, 2008
5. Agencies, Programs, People
New center will help visitors explore Delta, advocate says
Contra Costa Times
Rancho Mirage saves green with new green
Rancho Mirage joining others in changing landscape to conserve
The Desert Sun
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New center will help visitors explore Delta, advocate says
Contra Costa Times – 9/3/08
By Mike Taugher, staff writer
For most Californians, the Delta is a place out of sight and out of mind — and hard to navigate even if you know where it is.
Ken Scheidegger is trying to change that.
Three years ago, he started up a plan for a massive visitor center in Rio Vista — a place where commuters, tourists and those just passing through could stop and get some directions, some ideas about where to go and some information about what he calls California's "heartland."
That dream is close to reality, with construction permits nearly in and an aggressive plan to build the 7,728-square foot center in the coming months.
"This is going to take the Delta from being one of the most ignored, hard-to-find places in the world to one of the easiest," said Scheidegger, a former university oceanographer.
Through the nonprofit Discover the Delta Foundation he started, Scheidegger hopes the center becomes a hub for Delta visitors, where they can get information and directions to the historic town of
The parking lot will have plenty of spaces for school buses because organizers are hoping teachers from the Bay Area,
The way Scheidegger sees it, the Delta has been fought over and even written off to some extent because of a wave of bad publicity about concerns from mercury in the fish to the ability of Delta levees to hold up in an earthquake.
And because of the importance of the Delta to the state's water supply — two in three Californians get at least some drinking water from the Delta, and San Joaquin Valley agriculture is heavily dependent on it — state water officials are exploring the possibility of building a canal to deliver water around the Delta.
The result is a lot of arguing over the Delta with a relatively small voice coming from the people who actually live there.
For all its well-publicized problems, Scheidegger said, there is also a lot right about the region.
"We're trying to tell the story as only Delta people can tell it," said Scheidegger, whose family first came to the Delta in the 1890s.
"We have plenty of water, yes, but it's more than just the water."
Scheidegger said the threat of earthquakes to Delta levees — one of the main arguments in favor of delivering water through a canal, which would deprive the Delta of fresh water — is exaggerated.
"This boy was standing on that parking lot during Loma Prieta," Scheidegger said, pointing outside his office.
"You could see the water sloshing out in the slough," he added, pointing a channel out his window. "Did the Delta levees fall apart? No."
The information center will be built near the intersection of state highways 12 and 160, the busiest intersection in the Delta.
There will be educational displays on the geography, history and ecosystems of the Delta, a conference room and a place to schedule tours of the region.
The idea, though, is not to keep people in the center, but to help make the Delta more accessible to them by helping people find whatever it is in the region that might interest them.
"I think it's very, very important for people today to find this place that's so close to them," he said.
The plan fits in well with one of the main goals of an independent plan called Delta Vision, which called the Delta, "one of the state's most distinct regions, combining a unique physical geography of islands and river channels with a cultural heritage as enduring as any in California. ... But despite this fact, it is little known or recognized by most Californians, including many of the millions living in the cities just outside the Delta's boundaries."
"It's wholly consistent with what we're talking about — to create a sense of value in the Delta," said Delta Vision executive director John Kirlin. "We've got to do a better job of making it understood and valued."
Scheidegger said he thinks the center could be built by the end of the year, though the nonprofit foundation is still raising funds. It has received grants from Delta counties and is trying to attract members to raise additional money.
For more information, see the Discover the Delta Foundation's Web site at www.discoverthedelta.org.#
http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_10365150?nclick_check=1
Rancho Mirage saves green with new green
Rancho Mirage joining others in changing landscape to conserve
The Desert Sun – 9/4/08
By Colin Atagi, staff writer
RANCHO MIRAGE — City Hall is undergoing a $480,000 landscaping renovation that city officials hope will conserve resources and set an example for other landscape projects.
Trees may have been spared, but 90 percent of the 66,000 square feet of land surrounding the building is being replaced by desert landscaping.
Once the project is complete, the remaining 6,300 square feet will have synthetic turf.
Water usage should decrease by 60 percent, bringing the monthly water bill from $2,000 to $800, Public Works Director Bruce Harry said.
“We felt we were a bad example — we had all this grass around City Hall,” he said.
Electricity consumption should drop, bringing the $500 monthly bill to $150, Harry said.
He said the city's annual $25,000 maintenance cost should go down by 50 percent.
Several
Officials at the
Rancho Mirage's landscaping project was set into motion about a year ago.
The project was further focused about two months ago, when the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design announced it was launching a program that will give to appropriately landscaped yards.
Certification verifies a project is environmentally responsible, profitable and a healthy place to live or work, according to the USGBC's Web site.
The American Society of Landscape Architects requested members apply to submit their projects as prototypes for the new program.
“And now we're trying to get Rancho Mirage City Hall LEED certified under the new program,” said Costa Mesa-based landscape architect David Volz, who is working on the local landscaping project.
He submitted an application to the Green Building Council to review the site and is awaiting an answer from the organization.
In the meantime, work will continue through mid-November on the Rancho Mirage project.
The final landscape design will be a “celebration of the desert,” Volz said, featuring desert plants such as ocotillo, red yucca and trailing rosemary. Rocks and boulders and lighted entry columns also will be a part of the new scheme.
“It's a city hall; it should be a good example of sustainability,” he said. “Because it's a public landscape it seemed it should be an example.”
Medians
City Hall isn't the only place in the city getting a “green” facelift.
Drivers might have noticed empty medians and lane closures outside City Hall as the city updates the Highway 111 median landscapes on the west and east end of the city.
The medians previously were under the California Department of Transportation's jurisdiction and contained oleander trees.
“(The medians were) overgrown, very difficult to maintain and had high water usage,” Harry said.
After the city took over jurisdiction several years ago, a decision was made to rid the area of the poisonous trees.
Total work on the medians will cost about $900,000. The cost covers other medians in the immediate area.
Sporadic traffic delays might occur through mid-November, city officials said.
She didn't think delays were worth “digging up the yard,” but she understood why it was happening after learning about the project, she said.
“It'll be better for the environment,” she said as she parked across the street from City Hall.
“The only downside is (City Hall) is directly on Highway 111, so the construction work is more noticeable and causes problems.”#
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080904/NEWS01/809040313/1026/news12
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