Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
February 04, 2009
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
Legislative Analyst's Office advises state to take over local groundwater use
The Lodi
Editorial - This is wrong time to give up on desalination
The Marin independent Journal
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Legislative Analyst's Office advises state to take over local groundwater use
The
By Ross Farrow
Local farmers and water purveyors are concerned about a report urging state authorities to take over groundwater regulations from the locally elected officials you might see in the local supermarket.
The California Legislative Analyst's Office recommends that the Legislature turn groundwater over to the state, which would remove local control and possibly cost everyone more money to have that groundwater, according to at least two farmers.
"There are so many regulations," said Joe Valente, president of the San Joaquin Farm Bureau and lifelong
Catherine Freeman, senior fiscal and policy analyst for the Legislative Analyst's Office, said she welcomes ideas from farmers, water purveyors and anyone else to solve what is a statewide water problem. Her office hasn't prescribed just how the state should regulate groundwater, she said.
"It's not an easy answer to solve," Freeman said. "A farmer in the north state, central state and south state would have pretty different opinions. There are a lot of folks with great ideas out there."
No legislative hearings have been set on the groundwater proposal, Freeman said.
Valente and Clements farmer Joe Mehrten say they fear that the state would require water meters, find out how much water everyone's using and charge for it.
Valente, vineyard and orchard manager for John Kautz Farms, says farmers assume that if you own a piece of property and you have water underneath it, you're allowed to use that water.
While the Legislative Analyst's proposal would increase state administrative costs to establish new programs, there would be long-term savings to public and private entities across the state, according to a report on water issues throughout the state.#
http://www.lodinews.com/articles/2009/02/04/news/7_groundwater_090204.txt
This is wrong time to give up on desalination
The Marin independent Journal – 2/4/09
Editorial
THE MARIN Municipal Water District board is under pressure to delay approval of the environmental report on its proposed desalination plant.
A coalition that includes several local conservation groups has surfaced at the last minute in a bid to derail the district's long-studied desalination plan.
Opponents say the district can solve its water-supply dilemma through more aggressive conservation.
We believe that would be a risky strategy.
This is not the time to be casting aside water-generating tools. Marin and
Voting to certify the desalination report at tonight's public hearing is a far cry from approving construction of a plant. It is a legal step that amounts to certifying that an independent study and public process was completed.
The water district that serves Central and Southern Marin has spent more than five years studying desalination and more than two years working on the EIR. That study included spending more than $1 million on building and running a pilot desalination plant that turned bay water into drinking water. The plant tested water quality issues and possible environmental impacts.
At a time when President Barack Obama will be looking for "shovel ready" public works projects as part of his economic stimulus plan, the district would be foolish to pull the plug on this project.
Local conservation groups once supported the district's pursuit of desalination. Some of the groups saw desalination as a way to kill the district's voter-endorsed plan to build a new, larger pipeline to Warm Springs Dam and
The groups have raised some valid issues, among them concerns over the cost of the plant and the amount of electricity it would require.
We also are disappointed, however, given the many opportunities over several years to voice their concerns, that these groups have waited so late in the process.
Given the dire straits the district and its customers face with drought conditions, this proposal to take a proven and viable water-supply option off the table is irresponsible.
We agree that stepped up conservation will be necessary. Marin has an impressive record of conserving water, especially during droughts. Conservation has been a mantra of the Marin Municipal Water District for more than 30 years. Per-capita water use by customers is 25 percent less than it was in the 1970s.
Is there more that MMWD and its customers can do? Yes.
But we also cannot afford to abandon desalination, a legitimate - if costly - insurance policy against more droughts. The need for a stable water supply grows more obvious each day. At this point, to give up on desalination would be a mistake.#
http://www.marinij.com/opinion/ci_11624202
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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