Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
December 1, 2008
4. Water Quality –
Coachella Valley Agencies offering progress updates
The Desert Sun
Outcome of Recent Water-Quality Events to Shape
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Coachella Valley Agencies offering progress updates
The Desert Sun – 11/30/08
By Keith Matheny
·
The Salton Sea might have fallen off the radar in
A multi-billion-dollar plan to restore the sea is stalled in the Legislature. But lesser, quieter progress toward at least the beginnings of a solution continues, officials said.
On Thursday, the state departments of Water Resources and Fish and Game will update the public on activities at the sea.
“It's been a year since we've been out to the public, so we felt it was time to get back out there, let them know there's work that's been going on and what that work has been,” said Kim Nichol, an environmental program manager with the Department of Fish and Game.
The program will include a legislative update, Nichol said. Senate Bill 187, sponsored by state Sen. Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego, was signed into law in September, specifically earmarking funds from voter-passed Proposition 84 for initial restoration work at the
Another bill by Ducheny that would have set up a local governance structure for sea restoration, however, died in committee this year.
Thursday's meeting also will include information on preliminary plans and concepts the state is developing for sea restoration, and programs in the works for monitoring air quality, water quality and species at the sea.
The
Left untreated, experts predict fish and bird habitat will be lost and the exposed lake bed will create massive dust woes for miles.
“Our goal is to get something in place before the salinity of the Salton Sea gets so high that we won't have fish at the sea any longer, and therefore birds won't have anything to eat,” Nichol said.#
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008811300325
Outcome of Recent Water-Quality Events to Shape
By SHANDA M. BELTRAN
Shanda M. Beltran is a senior counsel in the Orange County office of Allen Matkins practicing in the Land Use, Environmental and Natural Resources group.
Development in
An ongoing court battle has the potential to reshape storm water regulation entirely. Pending renewal, the statewide construction storm water permit contains proposed provisions that could dramatically raise the cost of construction and even affect feasibility. Pressure to regulate the design of projects through local storm drain permits continues to squeeze the industry.
Court Battle to Impact All Water Quality Programs
In August, a trial court handed down a rare victory for the regulated community to several Los Angeles-area cities and the Building Industry Association in the case of City of Arcadia v. State Water Resources Control Board. The court's ruling would force the Los Angeles Water Board to revise all of its water-quality standards applicable to storm water to make them more reasonable and achievable economically.
Basin Plans, akin to General Plans for water, contain water-quality standards which identify the beneficial uses of waterbodies (i.e., fishing or swimming) and establish the maximum amount of pollutants that can be present in the waterbodies. Water-quality standards provide the base for water-quality regulation. Permits incorporate the standards, and several other regulatory programs are tied to maintaining the standards in local waters.
Revision of the standards, per the court's order, will affect all businesses, developments and construction projects with permits in
The
Both the State Water Board and three environmental groups are challenging the trial court's order and will likely file formal appeals of the trial court's decision. As the case continues, and while the water boards are determining how to review the standards per the court's directive, the water-quality standards remain unchanged.
To underscore the importance of the
The moratorium was issued because each of the permit programs it halted contain terms that require permittees to not violate water-quality standards. Because the standards were called into question in the
Only through a quickly negotiated stipulation with the cities and BIA, and against the wishes of the environmental groups, was a resolution reached that put the construction industry and other permitted groups back in business.
The moratorium demonstrates the importance of the
Construction Storm Water Permit to
Transform the Industry
One of the permits that was temporarily affected by the
This permit is undergoing renewal by the State Water Board with drafts issued in March 2007 and March 2008.
The current draft permit contained proposals for new stringent water-quality regulations never before seen in
The implications of the revisions to the permit are significant to all those in the construction and development industries. Compliance with this permit program can be extremely costly as failure to properly comply with construction storm water permits has led recently to multimillion-dollar lawsuits and agency enforcement actions reaching six- and seven-figure settlements.
After having received hundreds of written comments on the permit, the State Board staff is now reevaluating the permit before issuing another draft. Speculation holds that the State Board staff is awaiting a proposal by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency later this year related to the validity of numeric limits for construction projects before continuing to press for such limits in the
Public Storm Drain Permits to
Shape Project Design
The public storm drain permits in
The permit for
The proposed numeric limits on storm flows would lead to trickle-down requirements and costs imposed upon all businesses and citizens in the county to implement and/or pay for the installation of storm water treatment plants necessary to comply with the numeric limitations. One estimate maintains that households in the county would see increases of $600 per year in storm water fees to pay for new systems.
The proposed stringent limitation on impervious cover would likely make infill development extremely difficult to implement and would require the dedication of large areas of land to storm water retention. These types of design restrictions would take land use planning out of the hands of local governments and place it in the hands of the Water Board.
The EPA has interjected itself directly in the processing of the public storm drain permits, calling for restrictions such as those proposed in
Processing of the
With the pressure imposed by the EPA, the
http://www.carealestatejournal.com/newswire/index.cfm?sid=&tkn=&eid=898105&evid=1
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
No comments:
Post a Comment