Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
October 10, 2008
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
Moving breakwater could bring better waves and cleaner beaches to the city, but it could also cause flooding. Residents are getting involved early to push for a federal study.
Eastern Municipal Water District to give away free toilets, installation
Riverside Press
San Francisco Chronicle
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Moving breakwater could bring better waves and cleaner beaches to the city, but it could also cause flooding. Residents are getting involved early to push for a federal study.
By Mark Medina,
The 55
The proposal calls for moving or reconfiguring the 2.2-mile eastern portion of the 8.4-mile
On Wednesday evening, the 55 residents met with engineers for the first of three public workshops devoted to the Long Beach Breakwater Reconnaissance Study.
Officials from the city and the
"You're taking a big chance if you do something without including the community," said Bill Sundell of
At one table, Dale Brown, who runs the website sinkthebreakwater.com, noted that the
On June 18, the same day the City Council agreed to join the California Coastal Conservancy in funding the breakwater study, a 16,000-gallon sewage spill entered the
Will Cullen, another city resident, said he "didn't realize until we sat down and brainstormed at our table" that removing the breakwater could leave portions of
Several residents attending the meeting said they appreciated the exchange of ideas.
"I'm used to talking to Surfrider members who just want to bring waves back to
"Here I'm talking to my neighbors who have homes they want to protect and people who want to go sailing in calm water. We all talked, exchanged ideas and recognized the different benefits to the community."
Congress has denied earlier requests to have the Army Corps of Engineers study a removal of the breakwater, said Tom Modica,
Russell Boudreau, principal coastal engineer for Moffatt & Nichol, said the city might be able to secure federal support if it can show economic advantages of removing the breakwater.#
Eastern Municipal Water District to give away free toilets, installation
Riverside Press Enterprise
By Gail Wesson, staff writer
The Eastern Municipal Water District has a new twist this year in its ongoing efforts to conserve water by replacing water-guzzling toilets in its central and southwest
Instead of homeowners picking up a new toilet at a central site then turning in an old toilet a week or two later, district directors embarked on a new strategy of hiring a company that does the installations.
The program, which started in February, was so popular that the 4,000 toilets were taken in four months.
"We actually had to put 3,000 people on reservations," said spokesman Peter Odencrans. "We're going through the process of contacting these people and try to make arrangements for them."
Eastern's board authorized the installation of another 5,500 toilets at its Sept. 24 meeting.
Residents who are eligible and want to swap out their pre-1994 toilets for a high-efficiency model should contact the program, Odencrans said.
Applicants must be residential customers who get their water directly from the district, not a city water district or separate water district, such as Rancho California Water District.
The existing toilet must use 3.5 gallons per flush or more and the customer may not have participated in previous toilet programs.
Feedback from customers indicates some customers sought new toilets this time because they physically weren't able or couldn't afford a plumber to install a new toilet, Odencrans said.
The new toilets will be installed by contractor California Water Conservation Co.
Old toilets are destroyed.
The budget for this new giveaway is about $1.84 million, funded by the district, a state drought assistance grant and a water bill credit from the district's water wholesaler, Metropolitan Water District.
For more information, call 1-888-878-6818 or 951-956-2181, or visit www.toiletprogram.com
Information about rebate programs for customers served by cities or other water districts is available at www.conservation rebates.com/programs/mwd /homeowner.html#
http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_S_toilets10.45a36b4.html
San Francisco Chronicle – 10/10/08
By
(10-10) 04:00 PDT Waterford,
"Phil finds the water," said Frank Assali, an almond farmer and convert. "No doubt about it."
Stine is a "water witch," one of a small band of believers for whom the ancient art of dowsing is alive and well.
Emphasis, of course, on well. Using nothing more than a Y-shaped willow stick, Stine has as his primary function determining where farmers should drill to slake their crops' thirst, adding an element of the mystical to a business where the day-to-day can often be painfully plain.
Asked how he does it, Stine has a standard retort.
"I just tell people," Stine said, "it's the amount of lead" in your haunches.
Scientists pooh-pooh dowsers like Stine, saying their abilities are roughly on par with a roll of the dice. But water witches have been much in demand of late in rural
The dry period has resulted in farm layoffs, restrictions on residential and agricultural water use, and hard times for all manner of ancillary businesses, like tractor dealerships and roadside diners.
"There is a domino effect to the point that a little clothing store goes out of business in a town, because the people living there move on," said Doug Mosebar, the president of the California Farm Bureau.
The state estimates nearly $260 million in crop damages through August. The drought has been particularly hard on areas like the Central Valley and in
The dry times have meant good business for people like Blake Hennings, a well driller in
"We only had one bad one," said Hennings, whose brother Curtis also dabbles with the dowser. "How they do it is beyond me."
How many rural witches are still around is an open question. Water witches have no trade unions - or covens. Few advertise, or dowse full time.
Stine, for example, offers his services without charge, though he says he does accept thanks of another sort. "I got a bunch of gift certificates," he said.
Stine is 77 and retired from a successful irrigation business in
'There it goes'
On Assali's land, Stine worked fast, practically speed-walking. And then, after about 150 feet, the willow bowed suddenly - inexplicably - toward Stine's chest.
"There it goes," he said, his hands straining against the stick.
And so it went, again and again as Stine moved along the property's perimeter, planting perhaps 20 flags. Assali said he would start drilling on Stine's recommendation as soon as he could. #
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/10/BALM13DUEC.DTL
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