Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 21, 2009
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
Santa Rosa
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Utility backs tighter laws
The
Water director slammed for questioning public employee contract costs
The
Get fluoride into the fight against decay
The
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Santa Rosa
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat – 4/20/09
By Bob Norberg
Leaders of
The local officials said they are already leaders in conserving water and don’t need the restriction: “We are being aggressive about it. We don’t need less water to be aggressive in our water conservation,” said Petaluma Mayor Pam Torliatt.
Those customers, represented by the Water Agency’s Water Advisory Committee, include the cities and water districts from
On Monday, the committee signed a letter protesting the order and seeking less stringent restrictions.
“I really believe it was hastily put together and not discussed beforehand,” said Jake Mackenzie, committee chairman and
The order was handed down two weeks ago as part of an approved request by the Water Agency to reduce summertime flows in the
The state also ordered the Water Agency to cut
The committee, instead, is asking that the river diversion be 20 percent, the conservation goals be 20 percent, and that the state rescind the ban on irrigation of commercial turf.
“Water conservation implementation and recycled water development and use have been mainstays of our region’s water portfolio, leading to the region’s gallons per capita per day use being significantly below the statewide average...,” the letter states.
At the same time, the committee’s letter promises that commercial turf would be eliminated over time.
“What my industry would like to see is we be allowed time to adapt,” said Dave Penry of Pacific Landscaping.
If the state’s order stands,
Even if the state rescinds the order, however, the cities and districts will still be getting less water this year.
The amount of of water available from
In the past two years, conservation levels of 15 percent were in force because of a lack of water in
Glen Wright,
Santa Rosa Mayor Susan Gorin said it will not be business as usual.
“Local jurisdictions know how important conservation is,” Gorin said. “We are already working with commercial and private property owners and jurisdictions for conservation goals ... the intent is to see it go up a notch or two.”
The state Water Board has set a May 6 hearing date on the order.#
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090420/articles/904209916
Utility backs tighter laws
The
By Jason Wells
CITY HALL — The Glendale Water & Power Commission voted 3 to 0 Monday to back tighter mandatory water conservation laws that would charge consumers more for failing to use 10% less than they did three years ago.
Consumers would also be cited for hosing down driveways, irrigating lawns between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., or illegally using water for a number of other uses, according to a draft proposal that utility officials plan to bring to the City Council in May.
The restrictions are already included in the city’s voluntary water conservation ordinance.
Under the proposed rules, property owners would be billed at least twice the regular rate for any water used over their individually assigned “goals,” which would be 10% less water than what they used in 2006.
The restrictions are modeled on similar ordinances adopted by other agencies, and come a week after the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California announced it would cut wholesale water deliveries by 10%, forcing member cities to reduce their own consumption or face expensive penalties.
Glendale imports at least 65% of its water from MWD, and would have to pay roughly $1,500 more per every acre foot of water that it had to buy above its reduced allotment, adding weight to the need to effect real behavioral changes among property owners, utility officials said.
Since the voluntary 10% conservation program was enacted more than a year ago,
“We are currently in extraordinary times when it comes to water conservation,” Glendale Water & Power General Manager Glenn Steiger said.
But commissioners on Monday expressed concern that some of the provisions meant to push customers into conservation mode may be too harsh, and sought assurances from city officials that tamer options would be explored before a final draft reached the City Council.
Under the proposed rules, customers could appeal their overuse charges, but only after paying a nonrefundable $50 fee.
Officials included the charge as a way to recover the cost for processing the thousands of appeals that are expected to come through the utility during the restrictive period.
Joy Gaines, a conservation and marketing specialist for the utility, said more than 10,000 appeals were filed in the early 1990s, the last time mandatory restrictions went into place.
Of those, about 60% were successful, she said, but hearing officers were allowed to take into account more circumstances when hearing appeals than they would now.
It also costs the utility about twice as much to process an appeal, she added.
Even so, Glendale Water & Power commissioners included a provision into the draft that wouldn’t charge property owners the $50 fee if they could prove that more occupants had moved in since the base 2006 year, meaning they should be allowed larger water allotments.
“I just don’t want to get to the point where people don’t have the money to get their appeal heard,” Commissioner Hugh Yao said.
Property owners who use more than their bimonthly allotments would be charged double their regular rate after receiving a warning. After the first penalty is imposed, their rates would quadruple under regulations that already exist, but that would be folded into the draft headed to City Council.
Those who stay within their bimonthly allotment would see virtually no change in their bills beyond the obvious savings from using less water, which alone presents a problem for Glendale Water & Power, officials said.
Unlike electricity, utilities are barred from charging customers more than the actual cost to provide water, which means reserves for providing the service are historically skimpy.
As a result, Glendale Water & Power is ill-positioned to offset the drop-off in revenue that would come with more water restrictions. If no change were made to the current rates, the drop in demand would open up a $4.12 million deficit in the projected 2009-10 fiscal year budget, and steadily increase if the conservation rate were to increase, according to a report to the commission.
“We can tighten our belts as much as we can, but fixed expenses are fixed expenses,” said Peter Kavounas, assistant general manager for the water division.
Calling the potential deficit “unacceptable,” Commissioner Terry Chan joined with her two other colleagues in directing utility officials to develop a separate rate adjustment plan to compensate for lost revenue.
Commissioners Patrick Foley and Ed Ebrahimian were absent Monday.
The plan would include minor adjustments to the current rate plan, with a more extensive overhaul possible after 2009-10 fiscal year, when the last of a three-year water rate increase is implemented, utility officials said.
The City Council would have to approve the changes.#
http://www.glendalenewspress.com/articles/2009/04/21/politics/gnp-conservation21.txt
Water director slammed for questioning public employee contract costs
The
By Jennifer McLain
In a letter attacking comments made by Metropolitan Water District of Southern California Director Bill Robinson, a labor leader wrote that he was disappointed in Robinson's "anti-labor" sentiment.
"It is highly inappropriate and offensive, and borders on poor-faith bargaining, for an MWD director to publicly express such anti-labor opinions during the course of negotiations," wrote Antonio Perez, president of the Management and Professional Employees Association of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, in the April 6 letter.
"Director Robinson's comments are deeply insulting and a slap in the face of all employees," he wrote.
Robinson is an elected board member of the Upper District, which is located in
The Metropolitan Water District pumps water from the Colorado River and the Sacramento River/San Joaquin River Delta and transports it to
At a budget workshop in March, Robinson argued that members of MWD's four bargaining units should be sharing some of the cost-cutting pain as a way to avoid rate hikes.
"Are the four unions ... immune to hard times?" Robinson, who has served on the board since 1989, said at the meeting. "Because it seems if we are really going to get serious and oppose breathtaking rate increases on the ratepayers ... our four unions ought to be sharing in some of the pain."
MWD has a $1.98 billion budget, and employs 2,021 full-time people and 31 temporary positions.
As MWD prepares the 2009-10 fiscal year budget, the board of directors voted this week to increase water rates by 20 percent this year, and plan to raise them by as much next year.
The water supplier also voted to implement an allocation plan that cuts the amount of imported water local agencies will receive by 10 to 15 percent.
Perez said that while he understands it is Robinson's role as an elected leader to protect ratepayer money, Robinson's approach stifled the labor negotiation process.
"There is a time and a place for comments and views made by the directors of the negotiation process, and it should be confidential," Perez said.
But open government expert Peter Scheer, executive director of the California First Amendment Coalition, said that Perez's request of Robinson to reserve his comments for closed session meetings is "ridiculous," and is "not the way democracy works."
"The whole point of the (state open meeting laws) is to make local government discuss the really important issues in public," Scheer said. "How is it an anti-labor stance to ask whether employees, who represent a share of the budget, be included in budget review process?"
Perez said that labor costs account for about 10 percent - or nearly $200 million - of MWD's overall budget.
"Even a devastating 10-percent reduction in labor would result in a relatively minor 1-percent reduction in overall cost," Perez said. "It is highly debatable whether a reduction of this size would substantively affect the rate increases ..."
Plus, the employees have already been impacted by declining revenues and increasing expenditures, he said. In the last budget, while there were no layoffs, there were hiring freezes, which have resulted in more work for existing employees, he said.
Records show that among the benefits received by MWD employees include medical and vision coverage, 85 percent of tuition reimbursement up to $9,000 a year, 14 paid holidays and three personal days, retirement benefits under CalPERS, and deferred compensation.
Gilbert Ivey, MWD chief administrative officer, said that labor negotiations are expected to be concluded by the end of June.
Ivey said the terms of conditions, including cost-of-living adjustments or benefit increases, are being negotiated.
Today, Upper District will discuss the comments made by Robinson, who was only recently appointed to serve on the MWD board and replaced director Tony Fellow.
Fellow, who is still on Upper's board and was the former vice chairman of the MWD, said that Robinson's comments do not reflect the thoughts of Upper District.
"The MWD director represents the wishes of the majority of the board and, hopefully, the residents of the
http://www.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_12185295
Get fluoride into the fight against decay
The
By Jane Clifford
When it comes to prevention of tooth decay, most dental health providers point to fluoride, a mineral naturally present in food and some water supplies.
The San Diego County Dental Society notes that, “Today, primarily as a result of fluoride, damage caused by (cavities) can be reduced and, in most instances, prevented.”
The most common way to get that fluoride is in the water supply to the home. The most up-to-date information on the availability of fluoride in San Diego County water supplies shows varying levels, from 15 percent to 26 percent of the city of San Diego's imported water supply being treated (fluoridated) water, to a number of county water districts having 100 percent optimally fluoridated water (Carlsbad, Escondido/Rincon Del Diablo, Fallbrook, Helix, Padre Dam, Rainbow, Ramona, Vallecitos, Valley Center and Vista.)
While there are some people who question the addition of fluoride to their water, health providers are behind it as a safe and effective measure.
“Fluoride can actually reverse the enamel breakdown of drinking soda and juice,” says Joel Cohen, policy and community education director of the Dental Health Foundation, based in
Dentists understand families' concerns.
“If you have concerns about fluoridation, that should be an individual conversation with your dentist,” says Dr. Jean Chan, a pediatric dentist in
Ages 2 and older should use toothpaste with fluoride.
“Use a smudge or pea-sized amount,” says Chan.
Del Fierro says the concern is that children need to be of an age where they will spit the toothpaste out and not swallow the fluoride.
The two dentists also say to read the labels on bottled water, to see if it contains fluoride and to discuss fluoridated bottled water with your dentist to be sure you're not going to get too much fluoride.
They also point out that some water filtering systems in the home actually filter out fluoride.
“A point-of-entry filter into the house – reverse osmosis or distillation – generally takes the fluoride out,” says Chan. “Point-of-use filters, like the refrigerator or Brita, generally don't take the fluoride out.”
And finally, Del Fierro says, if there isn't enough fluoride in the local water supply, dentists may recommend fluoride treatments in their offices or over-the-counter fluoride rinses. #
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DWR’s California Water News is distributed to California Department of Water Resources management and staff, for information purposes, by the DWR Public Affairs Office. For reader’s services, including new subscriptions, temporary cancellations and address changes, please use the online page: http://listhost2.water.ca.gov/mailman/listinfo/water_news . DWR operates and maintains the State Water Project, provides dam safety and flood control and inspection services, assists local water districts in water management and water conservation planning, and plans for future statewide water needs. Inclusion of materials is not to be construed as an endorsement of any programs, projects, or viewpoints by the Department or the State of
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