[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 9/17/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

September 17, 2008

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People -

 

 

Breaking the grass addiction

The North County Times- 9/15/08

 

Quenching a neighbor's thirst : Woodbridge sells Mokelumne water to East Bay

Lodi News-Sentinel- 9/15/08

 

Flood control coming to Rancho Cucamonga-Fontana border

The San Bernardino Sun- 9/16/08

 

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Breaking the grass addiction

The North County Times- 9/15/08

By Phil Strickland

 

"The game," as Sir Arthur famously penned for his sleuth to whisper, "is afoot."

In this case, after a year of enticing grass to grow here rather than follow God's direction and letting it grow where it wants to, the battle ---- it's no longer a game, what with neighbors casting odd looks and the HOA reminding again that the stuff on the dirt is supposed to be green and growing ---- is fully engaged.

As if by divine intervention, it rarely rains and, in order to protect the delta smelt, a 2-inch fish that smells like a cucumber, from going the way of the dodo, a federal judge has turned off the pumps that move most of the state's water to its increasingly parched residents and farmland.

Given the drought, killing the water supply and increasingly stringent water regulations, you're in luck if¦nbsp;you can't get the hang of growing grass in the desert.

With politicians, water districts, conservationists and the water bill all advising there is a better way to grow your lawn and homeowner association officials looking increasingly concerned at the mention of "xeriscape," we've set out to feel nature's pain and loosen the restraints binding nature as much as possible.

That's not as easy as letting the dead grass return to the earth from whence it came and scattering some cactuses about. Nope, not that easy.

First, if you're in an HOA, you've got to¦nbsp;maintain the proper percentage of yard under cultivation. In this case, it's 70 percent. That is to say, no more than 30 percent bare dirt.

Second, there are the microclimates. If you've been to the Temecula Farmers Market, you've seen those really neat exotic blooming cut plants for sale.

They grow' em in Fallbrook. Going to put in some of those, right? Yeah, brighten up and soften all that cactus. Fuhgeddaboutit.

But they grow in Fallbrook. Right. Not Temecula, not Murrieta, Fallbrook.

Trying to grow them here, not 15 miles from their home earth, would be like trying to catch a delta smelt in Murrieta Creek. It's the microclimate thing.

So, not only must you remember to ask whether a plant is drought-tolerant, you also need to know whether it is frost-resistant. Hills count.

Then, there's watering. If you are pushing headlong into xeriscape ---- no putting-green yard commingled with desert flora ---- you're pretty much home free on watering and a good part of the maintenance and associated expenses.

But, if you must retain some grass, be aware that some plants like it dry and suffer if set where they'll be watered along with the thirsty turf you're trying to persuade to minimize. That reveals a whole cosmos of drip and soaker hoses, bubblers, spraying devices of various sorts and weather-controlled timers.

And this is easier than growing grass?

So they say for the long run, but perhaps it's time to re-examine landscape restrictions, not to diminish turf, but to allow well-presented alternative treatments.

Temecula's neighborhoods are as well-kept as most you'll see, and that's thanks in large part to HOAs, but there's a point where reality sets in ---- and the reality is, we live, essentially, in a desert.#

http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/09/15/opinion/strickland/z869d14e1481edadf882574c50068a352.txt

 

 

 

Quenching a neighbor's thirst : Woodbridge sells Mokelumne water to East Bay

Lodi News-Sentinel- 9/15/08

By Ross Farrow, Staff Writer

 

The Woodbridge Irrigation District is helping residents in Alameda and Contra Costa counties with their critical water needs by selling them a little more than 6,000 acre-feet of water.

The irrigation district board approved the sale on Thursday, while the East Bay Municipal Utility District board approved it the previous day.

The deal calls for Woodbridge to sell at least 6,000 acre-feet for $1.2 million. EBMUD will receive as much as 9,000 acre-feet, based on how much water Woodbridge has available. The additional cost is $200 per acre-foot.

Woodbridge has between 6,000 and 7,000 acre-feet available to sell to EBMUD, according to John Wookey, Woodbridge irrigation District's assistant to the manager.

The deal is for this year only, through Oct. 15. EBMUD will use the water to help its 1.3 million East Bay customers who are subject to mandatory water rationing this year.

The Woodbridge district, which serves agricultural customers in Woodbridge, Thornton and areas west and south of Lodi, has water to sell EBMUD because Woodbridge had conserved water due to the dry winter, Wookey said.

Woodbridge's water savings dates back to July, when EBMUD informed Woodbridge officials that Woodbridge would get only 39,000 acre-feet of water from the Mokelumne River this year because Pardee Reservoir contained less than 375,000 acre-feet. Woodbridge normally gets 60,000 acre-feet during normal and wet winters. So WID cut down water allocations to its customers.

But Woodbridge Irrigation District filed a protest, claiming that Pardee had more water storage than EBMUD thought. After hours of negotiations with three arbitrators, the East Bay Municipal Utility District agreed in August to give the Woodbridge Irrigation District its full allocation of 60,000 acre-feet.

Since Woodbridge conserved water, thinking it would only get 39,000 acre-feet, the district had some extra water to sell to EBMUD.

Wookey said the water being sold across Altamont Pass isn't the same water that Lodi purchased from Woodbridge. Lodi has purchased five years worth of water at 60,000 acre-feet, but has "banked" the water because it doesn't have a water treatment plant yet to house the Woodbridge water.

Meanwhile, Ed Steffani, manager of the neighboring North San Joaquin Water Conservation District, criticized the Woodbridge-EBMUD deal because the Woodbridge water is leaving San Joaquin County.

North San Joaquin, which doesn't have the infrastructure to pump 20,000 acre-feet out of the Mokelumne River, has asked the city of Lodi to donate the water it purchased from Woodbridge to North San Joaquin to help replenish the parched groundwater basin in the northern and eastern part of the county. The Lodi City Council hasn't taken action on North San Joaquin's request.

 

There are neat plants that thrive naturally in our clime. Grass isn't one of them.

Phil Strickland is a resident of Temecula and a regular columnist for The Californian. E-mail: philipestrickland@yahoo.com.

http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2008/09/16/news/3_water_080916.txt

 

 

 

Flood control coming to Rancho Cucamonga-Fontana border

The San Bernardino Sun- 9/16/08

By Jason Pesick

 

A minor traffic inconvenience now at Foothill Boulevard and East Avenue means a lot less hassle at any of the flood-prone streets crossing the San Sevaine Channel in the future.

 

Contract workers on Monday poured concrete for a water diversion structure that is the final phase of the San Bernardino County flood-control project at the Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana border.

 

When the $150 million project is finished in January, it is expected to provide 100-year flood protection to areas stretching from the foothills to the Riverside County line.

 

That means trouble spots such as Fourth Street and the Southern Pacific Rail Road tracks crossing the channel will be eased, said Bill Collins, San Sevaine/Etiwanda project cheif for the county's Department of Public Works.

 

The seven-mile San Sevaine Channel divides Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana in the north and runs east of Etiwanda Avenue through unincorporated portions of the county and Ontario in the south.

 

Developments such as the San Sevaine Villas, an affordable housing project slated for Rancho Cucamonga, will begin construction when the project is completed.

 

"The project will help any property along that storm drain corridor," said Mike Nelson, economic development manager for Rancho Cucamonga. "Once that is in, the properties will have greater value."

 

The Hermosa storm drain project, along Hermosa Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga, had a similar impact. Undeveloped parcels near the Hermosa storm drain channel remained empty despite growth in other areas of the city. That changed after Rancho Cucamonga 

 

Redevelopment Agency made improvements to the storm drain system.

 

"We took care of the infrastructure and almost overnight, developers were able to develop the property," Nelson said.

 

County Supervisor Paul Biane said the San Sevaine project will benefit an estimated 100,000 residents in the area.

 

"In the area where Rancho, Fontana, Ontario and the unincorporated part of the county come together, flooding had been really dangerous," Biane said. "When this last piece of the project is complete, it will take care of that last bit of surface flooding."

 

East Avenue will not be accessible from Foothill Boulevard during the duration of the project. During construction, Foothill will be reduced to one lane in each direction over the channel.#

http://www.insidesocal.com/news247/2008/09/flood-control-coming-to-rancho.html

 

 

 

 

 

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