Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 17, 2009
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
Both sides claim victory in legal fight over Vail Lake
Riverside Press Enterprise
World Bank appeals for water investment
Associated Press
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Both sides claim victory in legal fight over Vail Lake
Riverside Press
A civil suit judgment allows a Riverside County lake to remain a source of drinking water, but the man who brought the suit says he's happy with the ruling as well.
Bill Johnson and the Rancho California Water District clashed in court over
Johnson countered in a suit that the water district lost control of the lake when it failed to build a pipeline to import water to the lake and stabilize its level.
On Friday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Lawrence W. Fry ruled in the eight year old battle by siding with Rancho.
Michael Cowett, water district general counsel, said the ruling ensures that the lake 10 miles east of Temecula will continue to be a local water source. The majority of the district's water is imported from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. But Cowett said a third of the water supply comes from local sources.
Johnson said the Fry's ruling was a "win-win" because the judge ordered the district to construct a pipeline to keep
According to Cowett, the district's control of the lake stems from an agreement between the Vail Ranch and the developer of what eventually became Temecula.
The developer, Kaiser Corp., formed the water district to serve the thousands of homes under construction in the region. Under the agreement, the district took over the lake and agreed to maintain a high enough water level for recreation, Cowett said.
In a countersuit, Vail Lake USA argued that by not building the pipeline, the district violated the agreement and lost its rights to the lake. Johnson said the lake's water level has been a constant issue and the district has not maintained the required minimum level.
While acknowledging the pipeline was part of the agreement turning the lake over to the district, Cowett said water levels have not been a problem. He said the district has been planning to build the pipeline for the past five or six years as a way to store imported water at the lake.#
http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_S_vail17.4461a18.html
World Bank appeals for water investment
Associated Press – 3/17/09
By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
The first global economic contraction since World War II threatens to overshadow the scarcity of clean water in many poor regions, where inadequate sanitation is a major cause of deadly disease and a drag on economic development. The United Nations says the total cost of replacing aging water supply and sanitation infrastructure in industrial countries could be as high as $200 billion per year.
Jamal Saghir, director of energy, transport and water at the World Bank, said there were not significant funds earmarked for water investment in the stimulus packages of the
"We can do more with the same or even less," he said in an address to a packed auditorium at the World Water Forum, a weeklong global conference that is held every three years to issue recommendations on how governments should conserve, manage and supply water. It ends March 22.
Thousands of delegates from governments, nonprofit groups, businesses and other institutions have gathered for the conference, which is being held in a converted slaughterhouse on the banks of the Golden Horn inlet in
government policies on water are key topics.
Some experts estimate that most of the world's population will face water shortages in the decades ahead as populations expand and ecosystems deteriorate. The International Union for Conservation of Nature, an environmental network based near
"Water laws must seek a workable balance between the water rights of business users and people who have traditional livelihoods," said Alejandro Iza, director of the union's environmental law center. "Without this, the costs to the economy and damage to the environment can be very high."
The union said poor water and sanitation services have sapped an estimated 1 percent of GDP in
Two activists from California-based International Rivers were detained and escorted Tuesday to the airport for deportation after demonstrating at the opening ceremony, the group said. Ann-Kathrin Schneider of
Some activists have said the forum helps big water companies to promote their own interests at the expense of the needy. But Caroline Boin of the International Policy Center, a London-based research center, said less than 5 percent of global water management is private and that the "real culprits" are governments that encourage waste by allocating water to special interests and other political allies.#
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