A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 6, 2009
2. Supply –
Thirsty North Bay
The
Valley officials urge use of treated wastewater
The
Water plan to let MWD buy
The
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Thirsty North Bay
The
By Jeff Quackenbush
The prospects for easing long-term water-supply issues in some of the
“This authorization is certainly good news, but there is a lot of work to be done,” said Felix Riesenberg, principal Napa County water resources engineer partly overseeing the Milliken-Sarco-Tulucay Creek Recycled Water Project, commonly called MST. “The next step is to get the money appropriated.”
The project, located in the groundwater-sparse area east and northeast of
At the same time, headway made over the past few years between North Coast agriculture and water regulators hit a snag after a recent accusation from a federal agency that the death of protected fish in two waterways in Sonoma and Mendocino counties coincided with water drawn for vine frost protection, according to Nick Frey, president of the Sonoma County Winegrape Commission.
“The letter from the enforcement arm of NMFS didn’t do any good, but we salvaged that,” Mr. Frey said. A February letter from National Marine Fisheries Service enforcement officers to the State Water Resources Board recommended swift action to control frost-control water use this spring.
Mendocino County cattle rancher Peter Bradford, a California Farm Bureau Federation board director for Mendocino and Lake counties, said that restrictions for drawing water from the Russian River, mandated under Assembly Bill 1610 to save water for protected fish, may have eased at the upper end of the river this frost season.
“Our latest understanding is that we will be allowed to pump for frost protection, but looking down the road we do not know about summer usage for irrigation,” Mr. Bradford said. Such an irrigation cutback could force his family to cull their beef cattle herd that grazes along the
The state water board will hold a workshop in
The winegrape commission and other local fisheries service officials have been part of a public-private group called the Sonoma County Salmonid Coalition. The group has been looking for ways that property owners in Dry Creek, Alexander and Knights valleys can farm while water quality and quantity needed for protected fish is restored.
Grower trade groups are set to meet today with fisheries service officials to try to finalize best-management practices that could be a prelude to a system for Section 4(d) “special take” consultations with the service under the Endangered Species Act, according to Mr. Frey.
Meanwhile, water agencies involved in the North Bay Water Reuse Authority, which governs the North Bay Water Recycling Program, are looking for ways to come up with the other three-quarters of the funding for the first phase, according to North Bay Water Reuse Authority Program Manager Chuck Weir. Possible sources could be a state revolving fund set to get hundreds of millions of dollars of economic stimulus money and $134 million for Bay Area water, park and coastal restoration projects from the Proposition 84 bond of 2006.
However, federal funds require local money, so some
The draft environmental document is due to be released in May.#
Valley officials urge use of treated wastewater
The
By Daniel Tedford
While Southern California cities are considering mandatory water rationing, experts say
There is, of course, a catch.
That usable water is recycled sewage from sinks, showers and toilets.
But there is an increasing effort by experts to make use of our cleaned-up wastewater.
"It is a resource we have and we have paid for it - we paid to treat the water," said Azusa City Councilman Keith Hanks, a civil engineer for
Water-treatment plants run by the Sanitation Districts of
At the three treatment plants in the
"Part of my job is to do more. We haven't reached the end point where we are using all of our water," Hartling said. "We try and find markets for the recovered material. We turn wastewater into water supply, lemons into lemonade."
"We in
Despite the need, getting recycled water put to use has major obstacles.
It is costly, needs a separate pipe system, and as of now, doesn't reach everywhere.
"It is a lot more expensive and a lot more effort in putting in the distribution system," said Dave Bruns, the assistant department head for financial planning with the Sanitation Districts. "Somebody has to step up and put in the resources for the new distribution system. Right now, under law, that is the water company."
Recycled water goes through three stages of treatment. Stage one removes solids through skimming and filtering out items that fall to the bottom. Stage two uses oxygen to create microorganisms that eat "the bad stuff," experts said. The last stage uses filters and disinfectants to create water good enough for swimming, fish life and body contact.
"Water conservation and water recycling are becoming more and more prominent," said Bob Muir, spokesman for Metropolitan Water District. "Every drop that is recycled means you are freeing up the equal amount for potable uses."
While pure enough for other uses, most recycled water in the
"This is the premier way to use recycled water because it is not time-dependent. It is essentially filling a hole in the ground," Hartling said. "Just about half of what we use goes to groundwater recharge."
That water eventually becomes potable.
One of the best uses for recycled water is irrigation, Hartling said. Golf courses, cemeteries, parks and other large grass areas are optimal for the nutrient-rich water.
Another issue stalling broader use is storage. Most water comes in during day time hours when people are using sewage items, but irrigation - where treated water is used - is usually done at night. And with millions of gallons waiting in line, there isn't a place to keep all the unused water. Instead it's dumped in rivers, which flow to the ocean.
Hartling tries to find other places for the water to go, namely industrial factories: a paper mill in
"The economy can change on you," Hartling said. "They (all) went out of business."
The cost is being estimated for a pipeline from the
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"We are maximizing the use of what people have used in the past as a waste product, but it is a resource," Hartling said.
An advanced treatment center would add 20,000 acre-feet of water - enough for 100,000 people for a full year, Hartling said. One acre-foot is about 326,000 gallons.
In the end, Hanks sees projects like this and the prominence of wastewater as a natural solution to southern
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_12074682
Water plan to let MWD buy
The
By Michael Gardner
OVERVIEW
Background: Imperial Valley farmers agreed to a water deal that requires them to leave some land unplanted to provide water for the struggling
What's changing: Metropolitan Water District is seeking to buy that water in return for paying for projects to help restore the inland sea, which would shrink as a result.
The future: Various parties and the state must settle issues such as air quality and other potential environmental drawbacks before the plan can be put in to effect.
But that section looms large today.
If put into effect, the plan could bring an additional 700,000 acre-feet to Southern California over the next 10 years – roughly equivalent to building a temporary reservoir without investing a dime in concrete.
Further, the deal could generate about $166 million to help restore the slowly dying Salton Sea and rejuvenate the depressed
But with all of its promise, the proposal has pitfalls. The plan would shrink the sea and create more blown dust, which has been linked to high rates of childhood asthma.
There is also the possibility that state taxpayers could be liable for repairing long-term environmental harm caused by a large water transfer.
Nevertheless, leading
The provision was crafted as part of the seven-state agreement that reallocated water out of the Colorado River and set parameters for Imperial Valley farmers to sell some supplies to the
At the same time, deal-makers required that the Imperial Irrigation District fallow enough land so that a predetermined amount of water would flow to the shrinking Salton Sea, a hypersaline wildlife haven straddling Imperial and
That's where the little-noticed section of the pact comes into play.
To solidify support for the broader deal, language was inserted allowing the Metropolitan Water District to buy the water that the Imperial district is being required to send to the sea to keep up water levels and protect fish and wildlife.
In return, Metropolitan will pay for programs designed to minimize air-quality problems and repair other environmental impacts associated with the plan.
If launched this year, a long-shot possibility, the plan would funnel $166 million to projects along the sea that have been stalled by state budget problems.
Metropolitan's water take would be delivered incrementally, capped at a cumulative 700,000 acre-feet – enough for 1.3 million households for a year.
“The sooner the decision can be made, the better,” said Roger Patterson, Metropolitan's representative in the talks.
New supplies are essential, say the water agencies involved. In two weeks, the Los Angeles-based wholesaler is expected to impose mandatory rationing on its customers, including the San Diego County Water Authority.
“Metropolitan is interested in having as much water as possible going to the coast. The more water Metropolitan has, the better situation we are in,” said Halla Razak, who monitors Colorado River issues for the
Much is at stake inland. There, officials in Imperial and
“The whole process can only benefit us,” said Andy Horne, who oversees natural resources development issues for
Developers have been cautious, waiting to determine whether the state will implement its $8.9 billion, 75-year blueprint to revitalize the lake,
The nearly two-year-old restoration plan has not yet caught on even among the most water-aware lawmakers, who are preoccupied with the drought, water bonds that could pay for new dams, and the potential collapse of the economically and environmentally vital Sacramento Delta.
“Our issues are equally as important, yet have taken a back seat,” said Brian Brady, general manager of the Imperial Irrigation District. “Even before this latest financial meltdown the state has been really dithering around with it.”
The administration of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger must sign off on the new water proposal, but his Natural Resources Agency secretary, Mike Chrisman, remains uncommitted until some issues, particularly the state's future liability, are resolved.
Key parties, including the
Funding remains the top obstacle, Chrisman said.
“It's going to be a hard sell,” he said.
That's why the proposal involving Metropolitan buying water and paying for some mitigation is being pursued so aggressively, say those involved.
“It could be a real trigger point” for revitalizing the sea, said Horne, who was a key part of the original river-sharing debate as an Imperial Irrigation District director.
That doesn't sway clean-air advocates, already disturbed by large amounts of dust blowing off the shore.
“This would be just making the scenario worse,” said Luis Lechuga, who monitors
On the surface, the new Metropolitan water sale does not seem to offer benefits to the
But the proposal is attracting support there because it could overturn the original river-sharing requirement that some land be left unplanted to create more water for the sea. Currently, 20,000 acres are idle, costing laborers their jobs and businesses their sales.
The district says investing in water-saving practices would conserve the same amount of water sent to the sea that could be used for farming.
“Fallowing land doesn't create jobs,” Brady said. “Planting does.” #
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