Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
March 24, 2009
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
EPA reverses Bush, says warming imperils public
San Francisco Chronicle
Yolo residents protest flood-zone changes
Delta officials to state legislators: Remember us
Opinion:
Exxon Valdez, 20 years later
San Francisco Chronicle
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EPA reverses Bush, says warming imperils public
San Francisco Chronicle – 3/24/09
(03-24) 04:00 PDT
The Environmental Protection Agency has sent a proposal to the White House finding that global warming is endangering the public's health and welfare, according to several sources, a move that could have far-reaching implications for the nation's economy and environment.
The proposal - which comes in response to a 2007 Supreme Court decision ordering the EPA to consider whether carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases should be regulated under the Clean Air Act - could lay the groundwork for nationwide measures to limit such emissions. It reverses one of the Bush administration's landmark environmental decisions: In July 2008 then-EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson rejected his scientific and technical staff's recommendation and announced the agency would seek months of further public comment on the threat posed by global warming pollution.
"This is historic news," said Frank O'Donnell, who heads the public watchdog group Clean Air Watch. "It will set the stage for the first-ever national limits on global warming pollution. And it is likely to help light a fire under Congress to get moving."
But business groups decried the move as an economic disaster.
"By moving forward with the endangerment finding on greenhouse gases, EPA is putting in motion a set of decisions that may have far-reaching unintended consequences," said Bill Kovacs, vice president of environment, technology and regulatory affairs at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "Specifically, once the finding is made, no matter how limited, some environmental groups will sue to make sure it is applied to all aspects of the Clean Air Act.
"This will mean that all infrastructure projects, including those under the president's stimulus initiative, will be subject to environmental review for greenhouse gases. Since not one of the projects has been subjected to that review, it is possible that the projects under the stimulus initiative will cease. This will be devastating to the economy."
In December 2007, EPA submitted a written recommendation to the White House urging the Bush administration to allow the EPA to state officially that global warming is a threat to human welfare. But senior White House officials refused to open the document and urged Johnson to reconsider, saying such a finding would bring sweeping regulatory requirements under the 45-year-old Clean Air Act. An EPA analysis had found the move would cost utilities, automakers and others billions of dollars while also bringing benefits to other economic sectors.
Several congressional Democrats had urged EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to move ahead with an endangerment finding on the grounds that it was scientifically warranted and would help push Congress to enact a national cap on greenhouse gases. Unlike former President George W. Bush, President Obama backs such mandatory limits.
The EPA action "signals that the days of ignoring this pressing issue are over," said Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., whose Senate committee is working on a climate bill.#
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/24/MN5H16LG13.DTL
Yolo residents protest flood-zone changes
By
Residents of the town of
About four dozen residents gathered in the town hall in neighboring
They expressed frustration with the changes to FEMA's flood-zone map that probably will result in higher rates for federal flood insurance as well as requirements that new buildings be elevated above any projected flood levels. The planned changes are scheduled to take effect next year.
Residents also questioned FEMA officials about how their flood risks could be determined without established elevations for individual properties. The officials said the burden would be on property owners to show that their buildings sit above the flood zone.
"This is extremely unfair," said Van Overhouse, an electrical engineer who lives near Yolo.
Lifelong residents of the town – which is four blocks long and has about 400 residents – say it has never flooded and the changes are unnecessary. But FEMA officials said Cache Creek, known for rising quickly during storms, presents a danger. It flows in a steep-sided gully just behind
The local levees, probably pushed up by farmers in the early part of the 20th century, do not meet current standards, FEMA officials said.
"We're having to put people into a flood zone for your own safety and your own protection," said Jana Critchfield, a flood insurance specialist with FEMA.
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, FEMA has been on a mission to update and digitize its flood maps, which are used to determine federal flood insurance rates nationwide.
The changes are affecting communities throughout the
In
Officials there have embarked on an ambitious and expensive levee improvement project.
FEMA changes will reclassify the small unincorporated communities of Yolo, Knights Landing and
Residents of those towns say the current FEMA rating of low-to-moderate risk more accurately reflects the fact that their towns have not flooded since levees were constructed decades ago.
Many levees were built by farmers with sand and soil from their fields and sloughs. Narrow and steep-sided to begin with, the levees have eroded and become overgrown with thick coverings of trees, shrubs and grasses.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers now requires levees be made of densely packed clay and concrete and to be clear of all vegetation except for mown grasses. The mounds must have gently sloping sides and wide flat areas on top.
County planners said the cost of bringing the levees up-to-date could be anywhere from $8 million to $18 million a mile. Recent estimates have been in the range of $15 million a mile, they said.
That, said David Morrison, a county planning official, prohibits upgrading levees around small towns and in rural areas.
He estimated improving the 35 miles of levees near Knights Landing would cost half a billion dollars, with the local share being about 25 percent.
"I don't think the people of Knights Landing have $125 million," he said. #
http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/1723641.html
Delta officials to state legislators: Remember us
Speaking to a new Delta stewardship committee headed by state Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis,
"We feel this is possibly historic that the five of us have been able to get together and agree on as much as we have," San Joaquin County Supervisor Larry Ruhstaller said.
The five-county coalition, which formed in 2008, called for the Delta to be recognized as a place and not merely as a water supply or an ecosystem.
Wolk - who has a similar viewpoint - introduced a series of water bills last month, including one that would create a Delta conservancy, a flexible tool that she believes would protect agriculture, increase recreation and public access, promote tourism and help the environment.
Another Wolk bill would establish a stewardship council to balance water supply, environment and the needs of the people of the Delta.
No fewer than 200 agencies have been involved in managing the Delta in the past, a cumbersome governance structure that many feel has contributed to the deterioration of the environment and unreliable water supplies for two-thirds of
A state Cabinet-level Delta Vision committee said in a December report that more discussion was needed on long-term governance before a final decision could be made. The same report, however, said ground could be broken for a peripheral canal in 2011.
Wolk and others criticized the state for pushing a canal without legislative or voter approval, and without a clear governance system in place.
Mike McGowan, a
"We are not whining," he said. "We are trying to tell you that there are things in the Delta that are very near and dear to our hearts. ... We do not want you to forget about us."
Those who live, work or play in the Delta worry that large-scale habitat restoration plans could wipe out farmland and that a canal would divert fresh water around the Delta, worsening water quality.
The legislative process is just beginning; at least five multibillion-dollar water bonds have been introduced, along with other bills to address how the Delta is governed.
At Monday's hearing, Wolk thanked the officials from San Joaquin, Yolo, Contra Costa, Solano and
"I thought it was very important for people to hear your voices and to hear your voices together," she said.#
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090324/A_NEWS/903240317
Opinion:
Exxon Valdez, 20 years later
San Francisco Chronicle – 3/24/09
By Carl Pope
Carl Pope is the executive director of Sierra Club, the nation's oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization.
Today marks the 20th anniversary of one of the worst environmental disasters in history, the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
After two decades, the memory of the spill persists for the commercial fishermen and
What has the oil industry learned since the spill? Not much. Oil spills are still a regular occurrence. Just weeks ago, a tanker off the coast of
Here in the Bay Area, memories of the 2007 Cosco Busan spill are still fresh: Oil slicked birds, blackened beaches, and a stifled crab season.
It's not just tanker accidents that pour oil into our oceans, threatening to destroy fisheries and the coastal economies that rely on them.
Since 1993,
Contrary to what the oil industry would like us to believe, there is no effective method for cleaning up an oil spill. And where there are tankers and offshore drilling, there always will be spills.
Instead of opening the door to more Exxon-style disasters with expanded offshore drilling, we should be embracing the clean energy solutions that will keep our beaches and marine life safe.
More offshore drilling will do nothing to lower gas prices or create energy independence. It will only add to the billions of dollars that oil industry executives have raked in year after year.
Fortunately, the Obama administration understands that Americans want clean energy and the jobs that come with it, not more bloated oil industry profits.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced that his agency will be working to develop more of our nation's clean energy resources. Salazar is also allowing expanded public scrutiny for the offshore drilling plan that President George W. Bush pushed through in his waning days in office.
On April 16, Salazar will hold a public hearing on offshore drilling here in
Bay Area residents who care about California's coasts should let Salazar know that we support the administration's commitment to renewable energy, and that we want to leave the drill-everywhere days of the Bush administration behind us.#
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/03/24/EDLU16LLAK.DTL
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