[Water_news] 5. DWR'S CALIFORNIA WATER NEWS: AGENCIES, PROGRAMS, PEOPLE - 4/13/09

Department of Water Resources

California Water News

A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment

 

April 13, 2009

 

5. Agencies, Programs, People –

 

Water agencies tap technology

The San Diego Union Tribune – 4/12/09

By Anne Krueger

 

The days of meter readers stopping by houses every month or two to determine how much water has been used are nearing an end in some areas of San Diego County.

 

At least a third of the county's 23 water agencies are installing automated meters that use radio signals to relay information on customers' consumption.

 

Officials say automated meters will revolutionize their utilities. When a customer calls to complain about a high bill, employees can look up the information and report exactly the times and dates when water use spiked.

 

The Padre Dam district, which serves 23,000 East County customers, has a pilot project testing 265 automated meters in Alpine and Santee. If it's successful, Padre Dam's board will be asked to approve spending $6.5 million to install automated meters for the entire district.

 

Padre Dam is planning to use a system in which the information is relayed back to the office from a network of battery-powered meters. A system that San Diego's water department is considering would still require meter readers to go out in the field but it would allow them to gather data on laptop computers in their trucks from thousands of customers at a time.

 

The water department will ask the City Council on April 21 to approve financing the $19.2 million pilot project.

 

“Water is a resource. This allows us to better manage that resource,” said Karen Gassaway, information technology manager for the Padre Dam district.

 

Other water districts using or testing an automated meter reading system include Helix, Otay, Vallecitos and the Carlsbad Municipal Water District. Most use the “drive-by” system instead of the more complex systems that send information over a network back to headquarters.

 

Districts that have installed the automated meters say they haven't laid off meter readers but have shifted them to other duties, such as customer service.

 

The main advantage of the automated meter readers, officials say, is that they provide information on water usage every few minutes or on an hourly basis, registering just a few gallons of water.

 

Padre Dam's director of engineering, Neal Brown, said even a trip to the bathroom in the middle of the night might register on the meter.

 

“We may not see one flush if you have a low-flow toilet,” Brown said. “If you double flush, we may see it.”

 

After three days of constant water usage, employees at the Padre Dam Municipal Water District call customers who have the automated meters to warn them they may have a leak.

 

Jim Salvatore, who owns an industrial park on Prospect Avenue in Santee, said Padre Dam officials let him know there was constant usage in the two buildings at the site. Salvatore said he replaced a broken valve and discovered an unused toilet was leaking. Combined with conservation efforts by the tenants, he said his water bill went down by about $200 a month.

 

“I think it's great,” Salvatore said. “It's going to be better when they get it online and we can check it ourselves. We can spot check every month and see what's going on.”

 

Padre Dam officials said the automated meters would replace older meters that tend to under-register water usage. The district estimates it may be losing $250,000 to $500,000 a year in revenue because of inaccurate meter readings.

 

The district's spokesman, Mike Uhrhammer, said the agency is now studying whether the automated meters are more cost-efficient than the old meter-reading system. If they are deemed worthwhile, the district may seek a bond this summer or fall that would include the automated meters, he said.

 

The automated readers will also help water districts keep better track of water wasters if rationing begins this year. If landscape irrigation is limited to certain days during a drought, “we can see if everyone is irrigating on the right day,” Uhrhammer said.

 

The technology behind automated meter reading has been around for more than two decades. The first large-scale system was installed in New Jersey in 1986, and since then, cities around the country – from Atlanta to Denver – have put in automated meter systems. In California, the utility district serving the San Francisco Bay area is among the agencies testing the technology.

 

The Olivenhain Water District has increased from 14,000 meters to 25,000 meters in the past 10 years but hasn't had to add more meter readers because it's been installing automated meters as customers are added, General Manager Kimberly Thorner said. Meter readers now also act as customer service workers, helping residents and businesses better conserve water, she said.

 

“We have fully converted and we love it,” Thorner said.

 

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/apr/12/1m12meters23033-water-agencies-tap-technology/?metro

 

Sacramento River land now open to the public

The Chico Enterprise – Record – 4/12/09

By Toni Scott

Previously closed land along the Sacramento River is now open to the public, with the help of Chico-based restoration group River Partners.

 

More than 600 acres of land on two units of the Sacramento River National Wildlife Refuge opened for public use March 28, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service crediting River Partners for their help in restoring 400 acres of the land and providing the local community with a new resource.

 

"We don't open our sites to the public until they have been restored," said Kelly Moroney, assistant refuge manager. "Until they are restored, some sites lie fallow or are old farming land and not available for public use."

 

Hunting, fishing, wildlife observation, photography, interpretation, and environmental education are now permitted on 200 acres of riparian habitat on the La Barranca unit just south of the Red Bluff Diversion Dam and 450 acres at Drumheller North and Drumheller Slough units near Princeton.

 

River Partners restored 200 acres at each site, planting the area with native plants that can withstand flood waters and attract wildlife.

 

Tom Griggs, senior restoration ecologist for River Partners, said the completed work provides a "special" opportunity for California residents and visitors, who now have increased access to experience the beauty and pleasure of the Sacramento River watershed.

 

"The recreation area is an opportunity for anyone who lives in the Sacramento Valley," Griggs said. "It's a great resource and adds to the quality of life. There's not only pleasure in the beauty of the spot, but there is also the chance of seeing deer or birds that you wouldn't have before."

 

The Drumheller units can be accessed by a paved road, although access to the La Barranca is by boat only. Moroney said visitors can utilize a boat launch approximately two miles upstream near the Red Bluff Diversion Dam to access the site.

 

Both areas are free to visit and are open year-round from 1 1/2 hours before sunrise, to 1 1/2 hours after sunset, with Moroney saying that the Drumheller units have already received several visitors since opening almost two weeks ago.

 

"It's turkey season right now and there's a big interest in hunting wild turkeys," Moroney said.

 

Although both organizations count the opening of the land as a celebrated accomplishment, Griggs and Moroney both said that the current economic climate could threaten future work on sites intended for public use.

 

"There are other projects like these that are in progress and now frozen," Griggs said. "Work cannot be done on them. We're now looking for positive ways to solve that problem."

 

Moroney added that the budget freeze has affected some of the refuge's projects as well, but said he still expected that approximately 800 more acres along the Sacramento River will be opened to the public next year.

 

"The budget freeze has affected us, but we have other properties that we still plan to restore," Moroney said.#

 

http://www.chicoer.com/news/ci_12126130?source=rss

 

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