[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 12/2/08

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

December 2, 2008

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People –

 

Paper or ?

Voice of San Diego

 

Southland Students Bring Together Water Conservation, Art

The Wall Street Journal

 

American States Water Company to Present at 2008 NYSSA Conference

The Wall Street Journal

 

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Paper or ?

Voice of San Diego – 12/2/2008

By Rob Davis

 

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San Diego's City Council is poised to consider Wednesday whether to address that type of litter at its source. A council subcommittee will discuss Wednesday morning whether the city should outlaw the use of plastic bags in grocery stores and pharmacies.

 

Plastic bags have become ubiquitous in California: Residents use an estimated 19 billion annually -- 519 per person. And while once viewed as more environmentally friendly than paper -- no trees are chopped down to make a plastic bag -- cities across the state are increasingly targeting the one-use flimsy plastic sacks as a way to reduce litter, cut petroleum consumption and ultimately facilitate a shift to reusable bags. San Francisco, Malibu, Fairfax and Manhattan Beach have all banned plastic bags, which unlike paper do not break down easily in the environment.

San Diego's proposed law would require large grocery stores and pharmacies to stop bagging items in plastic as of July 1, 2009. They'd instead be required to use recyclable paper bags or cloth bags. Customers would have to pay a 25-cent fee for each paper bag, aiming to increase cloth-bag use.

Those lobbying for the ban say it's an important step in keeping bags out of an ocean increasingly beset by plastic pollution. Turtles can mistake bags for jellyfish and suffocate or suffer clogged intestines when they eat them.

"We need to change our behavior as consumers and think about where these bags are going after we're done with them." said Danielle Miller, outreach director for San Diego Coastkeeper, an environmental group supporting a ban. "There's an impact to the beach and the community. We don't want our beaches to be strewn with plastic bag litter."

 

Bans elsewhere have had different motives. In San Francisco, which approved a ban in March 2007, the city wanted to keep residents from putting plastic bags into their curbside recycling bins, said Mark Westlund, spokesman for the city's Environment Department. The city doesn't accept bags in its curbside program and found them getting caught in the gears of its recyclables sorting facility, Westlund said. Reducing litter was a side benefit, he said, not the main thrust.

The American Chemistry Council, a lobbying group representing plastics manufacturers, opposes bans and says promoting bag recycling efforts is a better option. San Diego does not include plastic bags in its curbside recycling program.

"By forcing a ban on plastic, you'll just go to some competing material," said Tim Shestek, a council spokesman. "We're not suggesting we're better or paper's better -- we think recycling is really the answer."

California residents only recycle a small number of their plastic bags. The California Integrated Waste Management Board estimates they recycle 5 percent of bags.

The state has taken some steps to increase plastic-bag recycling at grocery stores and pharmacies throughout California. Since July 2007, stores have been required to provide plastic bag recycling receptacles for customers and make reusable cloth bags available. Evidence so far suggests the effort has not been particularly effective.

Charlene Graham, a board spokeswoman, said early data collected by retailers indicate those expanded recycling efforts netted an additional 1 percent of plastic bags. (A formal report will be released in May 2009.)

Other cities in the region have flirted with plastic bag bans. Solana Beach banned using plastic bags for door hangers and advertisements. The city also signed an agreement to deliver its residents' plastic grocery bags to a company that recycles them into outdoor fencing. Encinitas, which has been weighing a ban on plastic bags in stores, is currently drafting an ordinance for its City Council to consider.

In San Diego, the council's natural resources committee would have to first approve the ordinance and send it to the full council for a hearing. The committee meets Wednesday at 9 a.m. (earlier than its typical 2 p.m. meeting time) at City Hall.

If the proposal clears the committee Wednesday -- Coastkeeper's Miller said she was hopeful it would -- it would not be heard at council until next year, when new members are in place.

 

Mayor Jerry Sanders has not taken a position, a spokesman said. Councilman Kevin Faulconer and Councilwoman Donna Frye, the two non termed-out members of the natural resources committee, could not be reached for comment Monday.#

 

http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/articles/2008/12/02/news/bagban120208.txt

 

Southland Students Bring Together Water Conservation, Art

The Wall Street Journal – 12/1/2008

 

LOS ANGELES, Dec 01, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- There is probably no more relevant wall calendar for 2009 in Southern California than one loaded with water-saving tips. And 36 students from throughout the Southland have contributed their conservation ideas and artwork for Metropolitan Water District's annual "Water is Life" student art calendar.

 

The colorful calendar debuts this Wednesday, Dec. 3, at a recognition program at Metropolitan headquarters, 700 N. Alameda St. in downtown Los Angeles.

Artwork featured in Metropolitan's wall calendar consists of 36 winning entries submitted by students in grades K- 12 from throughout the district's six-county service area. The winners were selected last summer during the agency's annual water conservation poster contest, which drew close to 150 entries submitted to nearly all of Metropolitan's 26 member public agencies.

 

"A calendar which offers daily reminders of our precarious water supply situation with helpful hints for conserving is both a practical statement about an important message and a beautiful expression of art," said Metropolitan General Manager Jeff Kightlinger.

 

"The need for conservation is very real and Metropolitan's education program has brought that reality home to Southland students to share with their family and friends," Kightlinger said.

 

Metropolitan's 2009 "Water is Life" calendar is part of the agency's largest on-going public outreach and advertising campaign aimed at reminding Southland water consumers to be mindful of water waste and to take advantage of regional incentive programs to replace outdated and water-wasting appliances and irrigation systems.

Metropolitan's main sources of imported water are facing unprecedented challenges because of statewide drought, record-dry conditions for eight of the last nine years along the Colorado River, and deteriorating environmental conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

 

The student's artwork will be on display at Metropolitan's headquarters building before heading out on a Southland tour of Metropolitan's member agencies. Dates for the artwork tour will soon be announced.

 

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is a cooperative of 26 cities and water agencies serving nearly 19 million people in six counties. The district imports water from the Colorado River and Northern California to supplement local supplies, and helps its members to develop increased water conservation, recycling, storage and other resource management programs. #

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Southland-Students-Bring-Together-Water/story.aspx?guid={BDD18CC8-F7E4-4EE6-B4FE-B17F531E2B22}

 

American States Water Company to Present at 2008 NYSSA Conference

The Wall Street Journal – 12/2/2008

 

SAN DIMAS, Calif., Dec 02, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- American States Water Company

 

AWR  announced that Floyd E. Wicks, President & Chief Executive Officer, will present a company overview at the 12th Annual Water Industry Investor Conference, Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 7:20 a.m. Pacific Time, which is being hosted by the New York Society of Security Analysts, 1177 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY.

 

Interested parties may listen to the live audio-only webcast by visiting www.aswater.com and selecting the "Event Calendar" link located on the AWR website "Investors" page. Listeners are encouraged to visit the web site at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the scheduled presentation to register, download and install any necessary audio software. The presentation will also be recorded and can be replayed beginning December 4, 2008 at 8:00 a.m. PT through December 18, 2008.

About American States Water

 

American States Water Company is the parent of Golden State Water Company, American States Utility Services, Inc. and Chaparral City Water Company. Through its subsidiaries, AWR provides water service to 1 out of 37 Californians located within 75 communities throughout 10 counties in Northern, Coastal and Southern California (approximately 255,000 customers) and to over 13,000 customers in the city of Fountain Hills, Arizona and a small portion of Scottsdale, Arizona. The Company also distributes electricity to over 23,000 customers in the Big Bear recreational area of California. Through its non-regulated subsidiary, American States Utility Services, Inc., the Company contracts with the U.S. government and private entities to provide various services, including water marketing and operation and maintenance of water and wastewater systems.#

 

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/American-States-Water-Company-Present/story.aspx?guid=%7B4930A34D-B3AB-4E6A-BAE6-20571EB92405%7D

 

 

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