Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
April 16, 2009
1. Top Items–
Interior chief says Calif.
The Associated Press
California to receive federal funding for water, earthquake needs
The
Feds step in with $260 million for California
The
Water projects to get $260 million of stimulus
The San Francisco Chronicle
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Interior chief says Calif.
The Associated Press – 4/15/09
By Samantha Young
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif. -- Interior Secretary Ken Salazar urged California on Wednesday to modernize its antiquated water system while pledging $260 million in federal stimulus money to help fund a variety of water projects.
He and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took an aerial tour of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the conduit through which Northern California water flows to millions of acres of farmland and some 25 million people in the
The delta has become a highly troubled resource, with state water pumping, urban and agricultural pollution, and three years of below-average precipitation wreaking havoc on its habitat and the state's water supplies.
After the helicopter flyover, Salazar told reporters that
He pledged that the federal government was ready to help
"It is time to modernize, it is time to make hard choices, and it's time for the federal government to re-engage in full partnership with the 21st century water system for the state of
The $260 million is part of $1 billion announced by the Bureau of Reclamation for water projects intended to create jobs across the West.
An additional $135 million will be available to all states for grants for water recycling projects.
"By themselves, these investments cannot and will not solve all the problems we face, but they are a first step," Salazar said during a news conference at Mather Field, a former Air Force base in the
Two months ago, Schwarzenegger declared a state emergency because of
Three years of lower-than-normal precipitation combined with federal restrictions on pumping, which are designed to protect a threatened fish, have led to water cutbacks throughout the state.
The state has said it will deliver only a portion of the water typically allocated for cities and farms this year. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has said it will not deliver any water this spring to farms south of the delta.
Such low delivery estimates prompted farmers to leave large swaths of land unplanted this season. Residents in cities stretching from
On Tuesday, Southern California's regional water wholesaler voted to tighten deliveries and raise fees for its 26 member agencies, which supply all or some of the water used by 19 million
An estimated 2,500 people, many of them farmworkers, are in the midst of a four-day march across
On Wednesday, Schwarzenegger reiterated his call to build more dams and urged state lawmakers to place a water bond on next year's ballot.
"We must work together to fix
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass and state Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, both Democrats, said lawmakers intended to craft a comprehensive water bill by the summer.
Schwarzenegger also favors building a canal to pipe river water around the delta, an idea rejected by voters in 1982. The Interior Department said $4 million of the stimulus money will go toward a delta habitat plan that features a possible canal system.
Salazar declined to endorse building new dams or a canal. He did rule out suspending federal environmental laws, as some members of
"That is not the solution here," Salazar said. "The solution that we're looking at is one that is going to have to be comprehensive in nature that takes into account the huge variations you're seeing in water supply."
Environmentalists welcomed the federal government's interest in
"The management of the water system requires much more than throwing money or pouring concrete on the ground," said Jim Metropulos, a senior advocate with the Sierra Club.
From
http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/1783307.html
California to receive federal funding for water, earthquake needs
The
By Jia-Rui Chong and Bettina Boxall
At two stops in
Salazar detailed the $260-million pledge for water projects at a midday appearance in
A significant amount of the money will go toward long-term projects, including $26 million for fish restoration in
"We believe we can't fix all of this without the federal government," Schwarzenegger said.
Salazar announced the funding after a helicopter tour with Schwarzenegger of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, the source of much of
Salazar announced the $29.4-million budget for improving the national and international earthquake monitoring network at a
"The timely delivery of earthquake information can mean the difference between life and death," he said in a statement. "With nearly 75 million Americans living within earthquake-prone areas, this investment is long overdue."
About two-thirds of the money will go toward modernizing seismic networks across the
Some of the old seismometers most in need of replacement include "short-period analog sensors," which do not record the full range of ground motion,
Other improvements will shorten the period of time seismologists have to wait before collecting information from sensors in the field.
The rest of the money will go toward improving GPS stations that measure deformation in the earth's crust and to seismic stations in other parts of the world operated by the
It was unclear how much of the $29 million would end up in
But given the state's high level of earthquake risk and existing partnerships between local universities and the Geological Survey, California will probably receive "a significant portion," officials said.#
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-quake-funds16-2009apr16,0,6209883.story
Feds step in with $260 million for California
The Sacramento
By Matt Weiser
U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced the funding at
Funding will be directed at projects overseen by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. It includes $31 million for safety projects at Folsom Dam, mainly to assist ongoing construction of a new flood-control spillway.
Another $4 million will pay for planning related to a habitat conservation plan in the Delta, where a controversial diversion canal is proposed to address water supply and habitat concerns.
The biggest allocation is $110 million to build new pumps and fish screens at the Red Bluff Diversion Dam on the
The archaic facility is the largest unscreened water diversion left on the
The Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority is ready to start construction this spring, said General Manager Jeffrey Sutton.
"It's been a big problem for salmon and steelhead and sturgeon, which try to migrate past the dam, for a long time," said Kate Poole, an attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council. "This is the big sum of money they needed to actually fully construct the project."
Perhaps more important was Salazar's promise on Wednesday that the federal government will again assume a large role in helping solve
Reclamation's
Yet the federal government has largely stood on the sidelines for nearly a decade while
Salazar announced the funding after touring the Delta by helicopter with Schwarzenegger. The Delta is the locus of the state's water and environmental problems, where declining fish species and drought have reduced water deliveries.
Reclamation and the state operate separate Delta pump systems that provide water to 23 million Californians and 3 million acres of farmland.
"The Delta is a stark reminder that
That was music to the ears of state officials, including Lester Snow,
Snow was in charge of the CalFed Bay Delta Authority in the 1990s, when the federal government made big promises about helping
"It's a sea change in the way we're going to deal with Delta issues," Snow said Wednesday. "We have a secretary of Interior showing a personal interest in these very difficult resource issues we have in
Other funding as part of Wednesday's announcement includes:
• $40 million for drought relief projects such as drilling new wells and assisting with water transfers, especially in the beleaguered San Joaquin Valley, where Delta water cutbacks have caused mass crop fallowing and unemployment.
•
The state is also now eligible for another $135 million in federal grants for water recycling projects. This brings
Jay Lund, a UC Davis professor of civil and environmental engineering, said stimulus money will help generate jobs in construction, among the hardest-hit sectors in
But he said Californians should not fool themselves into thinking this money will solve their water woes; the problems are too big.
"There will never be enough federal money to cover all of
http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1784082.html
Water projects to get $260 million of stimulus
Cash-strapped
“The drought is a stark reminder that
"It's time to modernize. It's time to make hard choices. And it's time for the federal government to re-engage in full partnership ... with the state of
After three years of less-than-normal rainfall and shrinking snowpack in the state,
The federal money will pay for shovel-ready projects that had idled as state officials scrambled to find funds. In addition to the $260 million announced Wednesday,
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger thanked President Obama for helping secure the federal funds, which will be part of tens of billions of dollars likely to flow to the
"It symbolizes the (federal government's) intent to be at the table and help us rebuild our infrastructure," Schwarzenegger said.
Wednesday morning, Schwarzenegger and Salazar took a helicopter tour above the fragile Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a source of contention in the state's debate over how to route water flowing from the Sierra to millions of Californians while protecting the delta's natural habitat.
Salazar said he recognizes both the "conflict and the opportunities" for the delta, saying that while there will be difficult choices,
The Bay Area will benefit from the federal funds, including $20 million that will pay for fish screens on a canal that sends water from the delta to 550,000 residents of
Officials at the Contra Costa Water District, which operates the federally owned canal, said the money will mean all of its current intake canals will have the screens, which prevent fish such as chinook salmon and endangered delta smelt from being sucked into the water system.
Installation of the screens will start this summer, said district spokeswoman Jennifer Allen.
"We'll have an opportunity to move forward on a project that's beneficial to our customers and that provides statewide benefits ... for the fish populations," Allen said.
Other projects include:
-- $40 million to provide emergency drought relief by digging groundwater wells and improve water transfers and exchanges.
-- $110 million to build a pumping plant at the Red Bluff Diversion Dam near Redding to protect fish while diverting water to irrigate 150,000 acres of farmland in the west Sacramento Valley.
-- $30.8 million to repair water infrastructure at Folsom Dam east of
-- $26 million to restore fisheries (salmon and steelhead) at
-- $4 million to help implement the Bay Delta Conservation Plan, which seeks to restore the delta ecosystem while balancing the needs of 25 million Californians who rely on the delta for water.
Environmental and agricultural groups, which are often at odds with each other in the state's water debate, applauded the federal government for the funds.
Mike Wade, executive director of the California Farm Water Coalition, called Wednesday's announcement encouraging, especially the funding for a pumping plant at the Red Bluff Diversion Dam.
"That is critical for farmers in the western
Cynthia Koehler, an environmental lawyer and consultant with the Environmental Defense Fund, said Salazar's visit was an important step toward restoring
"After the last eight years, we're extremely gratified to get the attention on the (delta) and
"We have a great deal of hope that they will focus on the severity of the fisheries crisis here and help us turn that around."
In particular, Koehler praised Salazar for improving
"We need to be moving away from these old, false choices between fish and food," Koehler said. "This is a secretary that understands you don't solve problems by continuing conflict."#
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/16/MNUQ1735QH.DTL
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