Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
April 30, 2009
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
Water Coalition want to take plight to D.C.
The
City Hall to fight water district
The
Regional agencies take lead in updated water plan
The
Climate change, population growth drive projections
The
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Water Coalition want to take plight to D.C.
The Fresno
By Robert Rodriguez
Members of the California Latino Water Coalition, who recently staged a four-day protest march that drew thousands, said Wednesday that they now want to take their plight to
"We want to keep building the momentum and bring civic leaders and celebrities to
Rodriguez, who led the demonstration that began in Mendota on April 14 and ended with a rally at the San Luis Reservoir, joined more than 50 others at the Fresno County Farm Bureau offices for a planning meeting.
Among the first steps is to thank the marchers and supporters with a free comedy show on May 9 in Firebaugh.
"Right now, people need something to lift their spirits. It's good to see people laugh," Rodriguez said. "Besides, Jay Leno did it for the auto workers, and I'm a lot funnier."
Rodriguez said he wants to invite some of his fellow comedians, including Gabriel Iglesias.
The March for Water, as the event was called, drew protestors from every walk of life and included farmers, farmworkers, business owners and politicians.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger attended the final day of the rally and was criticized by some for not doing enough.
During Wednesday's meeting, coalition members vowed to not let their cause be ignored or misunderstood. They want to continue to raise awareness and pressure lawmakers for more water.
Among the goals is to ease the Endangered Species Act to allow more water through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta for Valley farms.
Coalition members argue that environmental restrictions have pinched water supplies, forcing growers in the Westlands Water District to fallow thousands of acres. And unemployment rates in some rural communities have reached 40%.
Mario Santoyo, a member of the coalition, said it succeeded in accomplishing one of its main objectives: drawing state and national attention to the issue.
Now, he said, the coalition needs to continue to spread its message that water for Valley farms should not be restricted for the benefit of endangered species in the delta.
"We need to continue to let the entire state know that this is a problem," Santoyo said. "We need to make changes to the ESA [Endangered Species Act], and we need to make that trip to
Coalition supporter and
"But we are not going to stop until we win this,"
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1368136.html
City Hall to fight water district
The
By Alisha Semchuck
PALMDALE - City officials have geared up to fight water rate increases proposed by the Palmdale Water District and are urging all property owners within the water district boundaries to join the battle.
City officials plan to send a letter to all property owners within the water district, urging them to write letters of protest to the water district said Mike Mischel, director of Public Works for the city.
"We feel that strongly about this issue," Mischel said.
Under state law, the proposed rate hikes - which are expected to amount to increases of 65% to 200% for some customers - can be blocked if more than 50% of the district's property owners protest in writing. The protests must be submitted before the end of a public hearing scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 13, in the water district offices,
Protest letters must contain the tax assessor's parcel number, which can be found on the annual property tax bill.
The decision to urge property owners to oppose the rate hike follows a letter from Palmdale City Manager Steve Williams to water district directors requesting a postponement of rate hikes until city officials and
"The formulas used to determine the rate are very complex and do not appear to be based on accurate information," Williams stated in that letter. Furthermore, he added, neither the water district staff nor city employees were able "to calculate what the new costs will be."
"Steve's letter says it all, the parameters of what we would like, what has to happen for the community to be able to walk together on this," Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford said Tuesday. "I think Steve's letter outlines how you get there and bring the entire community along."
PWD General Manager Randy Hill defended the proposed rate increase as a necessity.
"The (water) district has a serious problem, and it's one that has to be addressed," Hill said.
Hill said the new rates are needed because the district's financial reserves have dwindled to dangerously low levels and because water usage is approaching the district's maximum water supply.
"Our proposed rate increase addresses both of those issues. It encourages water conservation. And it generates the revenue we need," Hill said.
Hill said the district has $4 million in reserve, compared to $45 million five years ago. He said he does not know how much reserves have changed in the last 1½ years, since former General Manager Dennis LaMoreaux was placed by the PWD board on administrative leave, then resigned.
Based on the water rate budget study developed by Raftelis Financial Consultants Inc., a firm the PWD board contracted in September for $136,000, the water agency needs $30 million of revenue in 2009 and $39 million in 2010 "to meet expenses and carry out the district's programs," Hill said. "The proposed rate (increase) will ensure that money."
Hill said those figures reflect total revenue required for those years. If passed, the rate increase would provide $18 million to PWD in 2009 and $21.5 million in 2010, based on the Raftelis report.
City officials question the accuracy of the Raftelis report.
"It's unfortunate that we have to take this position, but the interest of our community members has driven us to this point," said City Councilman Tom Lackey.
Lackey said the increase is "not clearly justified. That's part of the problem."
"When you ask that kind of sacrifice from a resident, you have to clearly justify the reason why. That hasn't taken place. There's too many ambiguities, too much generalization. That doesn't wash. That isn't the way you're supposed to operate," Lackey said.
When the city was going through its budgetary crisis and had to make cuts and sacrifices, Lackey said councilmembers, the mayor and administrative staff sought input from residents to resolve a deficit of potentially $27 million.
"We're just trying to support the community and get the Palmdale Water District to be more responsive," Lackey said.
The rate hike has the community talking, including members of the Palmdale Woman's Club, whose board members are expected to discuss May 7 whether to protest the increase, past president Patricia Shaw said. The club is a Palmdale Water District property owner through its ownership of its clubhouse, and many of the club members are retired and living on fixed incomes.
At this time of economic shortfalls in the third consecutive dry year, many water agencies have raised rates or restructured their water rate budget structure, including Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency, a wholesaler, and Quartz Hill Water District, a retailer.
AVEK raised its rates by roughly 3.6% in January, said board member Keith Dyas. Another increase of an undetermined amount is expected to take effect on Jan. 1 , he noted.
Notice will go out in midsummer for a public hearing in September on the 2010 rate proposal, Dyas said.
Peggy Powell, a Quartz Hill Water District board member, said that agency adopted a new water rate budget structure following the Irvine Ranch Water District model, the same basic model that Raftelis drafted for the Palmdale Water District. It is based on the number of residents in a household, lot size and area of the property that requires outside water, plus several other factors.
Quartz Hill Water District General Manager
In a three-year increase, Reed said, water bills are going up approximately 2% each of those three years. The average residential bill in 2007 went up $1.43 a month to $19.64 for customers with three-quarters-inch water meters, and $2.05 a month to $28.28 for residential customers with one-inch meters.
The Quartz Hill board in January unanimously passed a resolution for a new water budget rate structure that changed usage charges and also added a monthly charge for the first 10 units of water - 7,480 gallons - whose cost had been included in the monthly flat rate, Reed said. Under the new rate structure, some customers have the potential to lower their monthly bills. If they stay under 75% of their monthly allocation, then they get a discounted price.
Reed said customers who take advantage of that discount will pay 63 cents per 748 gallons, less than the 67 cents per unit Quartz Hill Water district pays to purchase the supply. The Quartz Hill district general manager said the difference is subsidized by people paying for higher tiers because they exceeded their allocations.
"Everything over 67 cents goes into a water conservation fund for rebates and (conservation) programs," Reed said.
John Mlynar, Palmdale's communications manager, said people can go to the city's Web site at cityofpalmdale.org, where a copy of the letter from Williams to the water board is posted as well as a sample letter people can use for their own protest purposes.
"We put a copy of the letter (Williams) sent so people can understand the reasoning behind it - understand what we're thinking. If people feel the same, they can click on and download a sample letter in English or Spanish that they can mail or walk in by 7 p.m. (Wednesday) May 13," Mlynar said.
Exactly how many property owners must protest to block the Palmdale rate increase is not known.
Hill said he did not know how many properties are within the Palmdale Water District boundaries, but he would find out by Thursday's water district board meeting.
Williams said city officials are researching how many properties are in the water district. He estimated there were possibly 30,000 to 40,000 property owners.
"That number is just a guesstimate off the top of my head," Williams said. "We are obtaining information that would give us the mailing addresses."
Williams said his main grievance is the lack of communication from the water district regarding the increase, which he said makes the situation seem like public policy decided behind closed doors.
"The city has gone through a very rigorous process in adjusting our budget to address a sharp decrease in revenue, which included public meetings, transparent public disclosure of our financial situation," Williams said. "I believe the Palmdale Water District should do the same thing to disclose to the public the full rationale leading to the proposed rate increase."
Ledford concurred.
"We need to do a little more discovery as a community," Ledford said. "We need the community as a whole to speak out with one voice. That's how you do it. We've got to engage the stakeholders. We're in it with them. That will get the message across."#
http://www.avpress.com/n/29/0429_s4.hts
Regional agencies take lead in updated water plan
The
By Megan Bakker
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An updated state water plan will place emphasis on regional agencies to develop and implement water management strategies, pushing to diversify agencies’ water sources and reduce dependency on water transfers, according to officials within the state’s water department.
“Think of it as a financial portfolio, and how you want to be diversified,” said Mark Stuart, the chief of the southern district of the state’s Department of Water Resources.
While the water plan is only an advisory document, it is used by an increasing array of legislators and local agencies to drive their water policy decisions, said Paul Dabbs, the supervising engineer and project manager for the water plan.
“This is the only document that looks at the entire state and its problems,” Dabbs said.
The state water plan places a heavy emphasis on regional water plans and efforts that local agencies can coordinate.
The Imperial Irrigation District has already worked on conservation measures like the lining of the
Other options in the future could include increasing groundwater storage, which the IID is working on with Coachella Valley Water District, and water recycling programs.
The IID is also working on its own regional water planning measures. There are two different regional plans, one that is driven solely by the IID, and another, which must be approved by the state, that incorporates the county and the cities.
“Then, from talking with the county and the cities, it became clear that we needed a regional management plan,” said Anisa Divine, the IID’s senior planner for resources planning and management department.
The second plan, called the Integrated Regional Water Management Plan, was submitted to the state Wednesday, and would create an “Imperial Region.”
“The IRWMP process would engage the stakeholders in the community and help to build consensus and support for solutions to pressing water supply and demand problems,” Divine said in an e-mail.
If the state approves the plan, the Imperial Region could apply for state funding for water projects that are developed by the region.
Wednesday’s meeting also focused on getting input from local agencies.
Participants said that the Colorado River Region section could focus more on the
Divine said her focus was on ensuring that the state’s plan accurately reflected the Imperial Valley’s and the
“I’m working on ground truthing,” Divine said.
Divine said she also plans to closely follow agricultural water use efficiency data.
Candace Nelson, from the Imperial County Farm Bureau, was also on hand to provide an agricultural perspective.
“I think agriculture provides a huge value to the state,” Nelson said. “Don’t leave agriculture as an afterthought.”
Members of the public can review the draft of the state’s water plan at www.waterplan.water.ca.gov, and can submit comments to the agency until June 5.#
http://www.ivpressonline.com/articles/2009/04/30/local_news/news06.txt
Climate change, population growth drive projections
The
By Megan Bakker
One of the core components in the updated state water plan claims that without conservation measures, a combination of climate change and increased population growth will drastically drive up demand.
“If the temperatures get warmer, there will be more rain and less snow, which will affect run-off in the state,” said Paul Dabbs, the supervising engineer and project manager for the water plan.
The water plan predicts that
Based on this data, combined with models for population growth, government action and changes in technology, the water plan predicts three basic scenarios for water use statewide.
“We’re taking a look at existing water demands and projecting out,” Dabbs said.
In one scenario, with expansive growth and minimal action, the state water plan predicts that by 2050, the state of
“It’s a more efficient future,” Dabbs said.#
http://www.ivpressonline.com/articles/2009/04/30/local_news/news07.txt
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