[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 9/16/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

September 16, 2008

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People -

 

 

U.S. boundary official, plane missing

El Paso Times

 

Sacramento conservation group buys Yolo ranch land

Sacramento Bee

 

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U.S. boundary official, plane missing

El Paso Times – 9/16/08

By Diana Washington Valdez

 

EL PASO -- An extensive search was under way late Monday after a plane carrying a pilot and three people, including the U.S. and Mexican commissioners of the International Boundary and Water Commission, failed to make a scheduled landing in Presidio, officials said.

 

U.S. Commissioner Carlos Marin and Mexican Commissioner Arturo Herrera flew out of El Paso International Airport in a chartered Cessna four-passenger prop plane, said Sally Spener, spokeswoman of the El Paso-based agency. They left about 10:05 a.m. to fly over Presidio and Ojinaga to check on flooding along the Rio Grande.

 

The Associated Press identified the third passenger as Jake Brisbin Jr., executive director of the Rio Grande Council of Governments.

 

"They were supposed to land in Presidio, but did not arrive as scheduled," said Spener. "A search is under way by the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. Air Force and Border Patrol. We also notified the Mexican authorities."

 

Marin's wife, Rosa Marin, said she had not heard from her husband.

 

"We don't know any more than the agency knows. We are letting the agency handle the information as it becomes available," she said.

 

Carlos Marin oversees the U.S. side of the agency that is responsible for settling water disputes and enforcing boundary and water treaties between the U.S. and Mexico.

 

The White House appointed Marin U.S. commissioner of the IBWC in 2006. He is a UTEP graduate.#

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_10473422

 

Sacramento conservation group buys Yolo ranch land

Sacramento Bee – 9/13/08

By Mary Lynne Vellinga, staff writer

 

A Sacramento land preservation group announced Friday that it has bought a 1,682-acre ranch in Yolo County just across the Sacramento River from Sacramento International Airport.

 

The purchase of the former Knaggs Ranch by the Sacramento Valley Conservancy, working with the Yolo Land Trust, ensures the property remains undeveloped. It also represents a potentially groundbreaking instance of cross-river cooperation between Yolo County and the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency, which helped fund the deal.

 

"This important acquisition serves as a model for regional collaboration that will strengthen regional flood protection, preserve our heritage, and help support continued local food production and our agricultural economic base," said Assemblywoman Lois Wolk, who represents Yolo County.

 

Most of the land – renamed the Elkhorn Basin Ranch – will continue to be used for growing walnuts and other crops, said Aimee Rutledge, executive director of the Sacramento Valley Conservancy. But a portion of the acreage will be restored to the riparian forest that existed before it was chopped down in the 1970s.

"You can see the beautiful old valley oaks along the levee," said Debbie North, conservation director of the Yolo Land Trust, as she pointed toward a remnant of the old forest along the river's edge.

 

The purchase price was not revealed, but Yolo County tax records indicate it was about $11.9 million. Sacramento Valley Conservancy is listed as the purchaser. The Yolo Land Trust holds conservation easements protecting the property from development, according to county records.

 

The state Department of Water Resources contributed $5 million, and SAFCA gave $3 million. Other funding sources included the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the Resources Legacy Fund.

 

While the property won't be used for flooding, representatives of the flood control agencies said they view it as an important part of the local flood control system. If the land were ever developed, the sandy farm levees would require extensive upgrades and could increase the flood risk across the river in North Natomas.

Elkhorn Basin Ranch is bordered on one side by the levee containing the Yolo Bypass and on the other by the Sacramento River levee. Water often seeps through the levees in winter and floods low-lying areas.

 

As Rutledge stood under the shade of walnut trees, the sound of a tractor droning in the distance, development pressure seemed a long way off from this corner of Yolo County. But she pointed out the property's location just a few minutes from downtown Sacramento and Woodland.

 

The Department of Water Resources contribution came from money set aside in Proposition 84, a 2006 water and parks bond to fund projects that reduce flood risk through conservation and farmland preservation, said Earl Nelson, the program's manager.

 

"One of the purposes of this program is to acquire rights for development in areas that cannot be feasibly made safe from flooding," Nelson said.

Stein Buer, executive director of the Sacramento flood agency, said SAFCA doesn't want to see more urbanization across the river from Natomas. It is the first time SAFCA has invested in land outside its jurisdiction, Buer said. The agency obtained authority to buy easements on land outside its boundaries under AB 930, a 2007 bill by Assemblyman Dave Jones, D-Sacramento.

 

In return for Yolo County's cooperation, SAFCA has pledged to help Yolo improve its rural levees so they provide better protection for farms.

Elkhorn Ranch is the second largest purchase to date for the 18-year-old Sacramento Valley Conservancy, a small group that grabbed headlines in 2003 when it bought Deer Creek Hills, a 4,060-acre ranch in eastern Sacramento County where developer C.C. Myers once dreamed of building a retirement community.

In total, SVC has protected nearly 10,000 acres of land through ownership and conservation easements. Yolo Land Trust holds easements protecting 8,600 acres from development.#

http://www.sacbee.com/378/story/1232860.html

 

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