[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 10/30/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

October 30, 2008

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People –

 

Floating to save the L.A. River

An Army Corps of Engineers biologist who took part in a kayak trip to show the waterway is navigable may face dismissal for her actions.

Los Angeles Times

 

DWR Press Release:

DWR Releases Climate Change White Paper

 

Water projects receive approval

Sacramento Bee

 

Sacramento Delta levees get FEMA scrutiny

Sacramento Bee

 

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Floating to save the L.A. River

An Army Corps of Engineers biologist who took part in a kayak trip to show the waterway is navigable may face dismissal for her actions.

Los Angeles Times – 10/30/08

By Heather Wylie

Heather Wylie is a biologist with the regulatory division of the L.A. District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The opinions expressed are her own and do not reflect the official views of the corps

A kayak trip I took this summer may cost me my job.

I am a civilian biologist working for the Army Corps of Engineers. On my personal time, I joined a trip down the Los Angeles River to protest actions by my own agency to undermine the Clean Water Act.

My superiors scoured the Internet for proof and found two photos of me on a blog. Claiming that my "participation undermined [its] authority," the corps has proposed suspending me for 30 days, a punishment one step below termination. More than two months after advocating this penalty, it has yet to make a decision.

In July, a dozen kayakers took a three-day journey down the 52-mile L.A. River; I joined them for 20 miles. The purpose of our regatta was to show that the entire river is "navigable-in-fact" -- a classification that is crucial to preventing the rollback of Clean Water Act protections throughout the watershed -- and to highlight similar threats facing waterways across the nation.

More than 30 years after its enactment, the Clean Water Act is now in legal turmoil. A 2006 U.S. Supreme Court decision, Rapanos vs. United States, first muddied the waters. The court held that to continue to regulate pollution under the Clean Water Act, the government has to prove there is a "significant nexus" between the wetlands in question and "navigable-in-fact" waters.

The term "navigable-in-fact" comes from 140 years' worth of court rulings. Waterways that have or can generate interstate or foreign commerce through boating (including seasonal, hazardous or solely recreational use) are navigable-in-fact and thus subject to the provisions of the Clean Water Act. So our kayak trip was meant to underscore that the L.A. River -- and all the streams that feed into it -- deserve protection under that law.

Last year, in response to the court ruling, the corps and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency put together a document spelling out new, more restrictive methods for analyzing which waters will continue to be subject to the law. With a big assist from the Bush administration, developers and industry successfully lobbied the agencies to use the new guidebook as an opportunity to push the majority of our nation's streams and wetlands out of reach of the Clean Water Act.

In the view of many, the restrictive standards cripple the Clean Water Act. In a memo released by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Beverly Hills), the top EPA enforcement official complained that the change has blocked the majority of Clean Water Act prosecutions.

Fortunately, the corps' shenanigans and the attention our protest and that of others drew to the issue triggered an unusual countermove: The EPA permanently stripped the corps of any further responsibility for determining the status of the L.A. River and Arizona's Santa Cruz River.

Still, scores of other watersheds across the nation remain in jeopardy. A navigability analysis of the Gila River in Arizona has just been completed, designating only 6.9 miles as navigable-in-fact. This has enormous implications; the Gila River flows hundreds of miles across the width of Arizona, and its watershed covers vast areas of the state. The analysis focuses on a small section of the Gila near the site of a proposed development where lobbyists are pushing for relaxation of environmental protections. In response, the corps has proposed removing Clean Water Act coverage from several creeks at the site. If the EPA doesn't overturn it by Tuesday, these rollbacks will become final and set a detrimental precedent.

Legislation to restore the Clean Water Act and protect our rivers from being polluted, or our wetlands from being drained for development, is still pending in Congress. It needs to be a top priority.

I picked up a paddle to make a point about protecting the integrity of our waters, including the much-abused L.A. River, and to protest the leadership of my own agency. The Army Corps of Engineers, all the way down to the Los Angeles District, has chosen to subvert the Clean Water Act, which the agency -- like myself -- has sworn to uphold. To me, protecting our waters, our greatest public-trust resource, is not just our job; it is our patriotic duty.

As a federal employee, I did not forfeit my 1st Amendment rights to speak out or to petition my government to redress wrongs -- on my own time. To my surprise, my demonstration about the Clean Water Act has turned into a fight about the extent to which public servants will be allowed to serve the public, our true employers, while off-duty. I stand by my actions, and I have not put my paddle away.#

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-wylie30-2008oct30,0,712832.story?track=ntothtml

 

DWR Press Release:

DWR Releases Climate Change White Paper

10/30/08

 

Sacramento – The Department of Water Resources (DWR) today released a report urging California’s water managers to develop climate adaptation strategies.

 

The report, Managing an Uncertain Future: Climate Change Adaptation Strategies for California’s Water, details how climate change is already affecting the state’s water supplies and sets forth a number of recommendations to help avoid or reduce climate change impacts to water resources.

 

Disturbing trends over the last half century suggest California faces a shrinking snowmelt, increased flooding, longer droughts and a rise in sea level.

 

The report proposes ten adaptation strategies in four categories. Chief among those recommendations is that California must develop a sustained investment strategy to reliably finance the state’s water future.  The report also suggests that regional and local entities implement a diverse portfolio of water management techniques to better address uncertainties of changing water patterns.  This management approach, known as Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM), is already in place throughout the state and a key part of Gov. Schwarzenegger’s vision for California’s water future.  IRWM will become the core strategy in water planning to adapt to the challenges posed by climate change.

 

The report strongly suggests that statewide water management systems also adapt as the climate changes.  Strategies include coordination of land use, watersheds, reservoirs, floodplains and aquifers to protect public safety, preserve water quality and supply and provide for the ecosystem.  California must expand research of climate change and its impact on water and the environment as well.

 

DWR’s report is the latest in the administration's efforts to address climate change and will feed into the state’s overall climate adaptation strategy. The report follows on the heels of the Air Resources Board’s Proposed Scoping Plan, which contains water efficiency and conservation measures and is designed to mitigate climate change impacts by reducing California's greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2020.

 

To view the full text of Managing an Uncertain Future; Climate Change Adaptation Strategies for California’s Water, visit http://www.water.ca.gov/climatechange/articles.cfm

The public will have the opportunity to discuss the report in detail at the Climate Change Adaptation Summit hosted by DWR and the Water Education Foundation Nov. 13-14 in Long Beach. To learn more about the summit or to register, visit http://www.watereducation.org/doc.asp?id=852&parentID=849.#

http://www.water.ca.gov/news/newsreleases/2008/102908climatewhitepaper.doc

 

Water projects receive approval

Sacramento Bee – 10/29/08

By Cathy Locke

Residents of a rural El Dorado County community seeking replacement of a 30-year-old water tank took heart Monday when the El Dorado Irrigation District board approved funding to design the project.

 

But the bond market will determine whether the new tank, needed to ensure adequate flows for fire hydrants in the 124-home Rancho del Sol subdivision near Camino, is built in the coming year.

 

The board authorized the sale of $133 million in fixed-rate bonds to fund a portion of the nearly $389 million worth of capital improvement projects proposed through 2012. Finance director Mark Price said the bonds likely will be issued in two installments, the first in January and the second in late 2009.

 

"We're going to sit on the sidelines and see what size of debt we want to issue based on market conditions and decide the best time to weigh in," he said.

The district serves about 100,000 customers in western El Dorado County.

 

The bond issue is needed to pay for major ongoing projects, such as expansion of water and wastewater treatment plants in El Dorado Hills, as well as smaller projects like the Rancho del Sol water tank.

 

General Manager Tom Gallier said the El Dorado Hills Water Treatment Plant expansion could be postponed if there were a significant slowdown in growth. Housing construction has declined, "but a lot of commercial projects are still coming out of the ground," he said.

 

In addition to the credit crunch, the district also faces uncertainties about revenue from connection fees and worries that the Legislature might withhold the district's share of property tax revenues to solve state budget problems.

 

Dave Houston of Citigroup, the district's bond underwriting firm, said the water agency is in a better position than the state, "which had to do a bond issue to keep the doors open. You're doing it to keep construction on track, but you don't need it right away." #

http://www.sacbee.com/eldorado/story/1352037.html

 

Sacramento Delta levees get FEMA scrutiny

Sacramento Bee – 10/30/08

By Loretta Kalb

 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is again zeroing in on Sacramento Delta levees, seeking assurances from owners of about 85 miles of barriers that they will withstand a 100-year flood.

 

The effort, under way in counties throughout the region, stems from a 2005 policy requiring that local jurisdictions nationally verify that their levees can hold back a flood having a 1 percent chance of striking in a given year.

 

Throughout Sacramento County, about a dozen reclamation districts, the city of Elk Grove and owners of other publicly owned levees have until late January 2009 to vouch that they can give FEMA proof that their levees will withstand such flooding. If the districts agree to go through the process, they'll have another 20 months or so to provide documentation.

 

Districts that can't document their levees' integrity will be drawn into a FEMA flood hazard zone, requiring residents with federally backed loans to buy flood insurance and that any new construction be as much as 16 feet above ground. Business owners would face similar requirements.

 

The potential consequences are similar to those now looming over homeowners and residential and commercial builders in Sacramento's Natomas neighborhoods.

"The message I'm trying to get out is, if they buy their flood insurance earlier, it will be cheaper," said George Booth, senior engineer and floodplain manager for the Sacramento County Department of Water Resources. "And if you're planning to build something, you'd better get a permit quick."

 

Booth said about 85 miles of levee in south Sacramento County may become part of the process, covering approximately 34,000 acres.

 

Producing documentation will be difficult for some reclamation districts that do not have the money to endure expensive engineering and structural work to meet FEMA certification by fall 2010.

 

But several mainly agricultural reclamation districts on Sutter, Randall and Libby McNeil islands do appear headed for flood-zone designation.

One district, Randall Island Reclamation District 755, is small, at just 408 acres.

 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asked the district to correct its levee problems over a year ago, said Judy Soutiere, flood-risk manager for the corps.

 

"Once they feel they've fixed everything, they need to let the Corps of Engineers know and the state Department of Water Resources," Soutiere said. "If they have corrected it, we can go back out there to reinspect."

 

That has to happen quickly, however.

 

Kathleen Schaefer, a FEMA engineer, said if a district does not meet that corps requirement, FEMA will have no choice but to place it in the flood-zone maps due in fall 2010.

 

Schaefer said FEMA is working on updating data on tentative levee maps of the area and will make those available to local planners in about two weeks. #

http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/1355326.html

 

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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 California.