Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
May 7, 2009
1. Top Item–
Land owners, state square off over canal planning
The
Delta landowners say no to peripheral canal survey
The
Wider tiger salamander protections restored
The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat
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Land owners, state square off over canal planning
The
By Matt Weiser
Dozens of property owners in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are challenging a state demand to access land for studies related to a controversial water canal.
The state Department of Water Resources has filed court petitions in five counties seeking access to 36 properties whose owners have rejected the department's request for access. The first hearing on those petitions was scheduled today in
DWR is in the preliminary stages of investigating a modern-day version of the peripheral canal, a concept rejected by voters statewide in 1982. The canal is being considered anew as a device to avoid direct water diversions from the Delta, which serve 23 million Californians but also kill millions of fish and alter aquatic habitat.
The proposed earthen canal would divert a portion of the Sacramento River's flow at a point near
DWR wants access to hundreds of private parcels for a three-year period to study soil conditions, habitat and wildlife. The information would inform preliminary studies on the canal. Some of the work would involve trenches 12 feet deep and 20 feet long, and drilling up to 200 feet deep.
Property owners say the requested access is overly broad and threatens farming practices and enjoyment of the land.
Some also claim DWR has not established the necessary legal authority to begin studying a canal.
"The general feeling down here is that the state, egged on by its (water) contractors, is just going to try to roll over the Delta," said Tom Zuckerman, a property owner on Rindge Tract, an island near Stockton, who is challenging DWR's access request.
DWR spokesman Matt Notley said about half of the property owners it has contacted have granted access. He said the department doesn't want to harm land or property owners during the surveys.
"Any damage that occurs because of us, they'll be compensated," he said. #
http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/1839762.html?mi_rss=Our%2520Region
Delta landowners say no to peripheral canal survey
The
By Matt Weiser
Property owners in five counties around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are protesting plans by the state to survey their land for a controversial new water canal – opposition that has landed them in court.
The conflict marks a rocky start to the rebirth of the peripheral canal, a plan to divert the
Three dozen property owners in the Delta have refused to let researchers from the California Department of Water Resources onto their land to study soil properties and environmental conditions. As a result, state Attorney General Jerry Brown has petitioned the courts in Contra Costa, Solano, Yolo, San Joaquin and
"The general feeling down here is that the state, egged on by its water contractors, is just going to try to roll over the Delta," said Tom Zuckerman, a land owner on Rindge Tract, a Delta island near Stockton, who is one of those challenging the state.
Property owners oppose the terms of access sought by DWR. But perhaps more importantly, they're challenging the validity of the project itself, claiming the state doesn't have authority yet to study a canal.
"We don't think they're proceeding legally," said Dante Nomellini Sr., a
A Delta canal is drawing renewed interest as a means of addressing environmental and water security problems affecting the entire state.
The Delta is the largest estuary on the West Coast of the
Troubled species include the Central Valley fall-run chinook salmon, which plunged to record levels last year, prompting closure of commercial salmon fishing in
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's Delta Vision Task Force last year recommended a Delta canal after two years of study. The aim is to divert a portion of Sacramento River flows directly to diversion pumps near
Two canal options are proposed, stretching up to 50 miles long and at least 600 feet wide. They could be combined with an additional "through-Delta" canal built by reinforcing existing levees.
DWR wants access to 125 parcels over a three-year period in a first phase of work. Spokesman Matt Notley said about half of those have so far agreed to provide access.
Two additional phases involve 338 more properties. So the list of objecting owners is likely to grow.
The surveys could include digging trenches up to 12 feet deep and 20 feet long, drilling holes up to 100 feet deep, trapping wildlife and surveying historic resources.
The agency wants access for as much as 60 days over a three-year period. It is offering each owner a $500 payment for inconvenience and a promise to fix any damage.
The lengthy access period is needed because wildlife surveys require return visits over several seasons, said DWR spokesman Matt Notley.
"We do not want to get in the way of their farming operations or anything else that would disrupt their life," he said.
Some landowners claim $500 isn't enough for the inconvenience, especially on farm properties with permanent crops like vineyards and orchards. Others contend extended access is a "taking" that could harm their livelihoods.
"A lot of the landowners would like not to have it happen, or at least be compensated in a way they feel is more fair," said Brian Poulsen, a
At the core of many objections is a philosophical dislike for the project itself.
The Delta canal remains one of
Nomellini contends the Legislature must first approve the canal, then the obscure California Water Commission must vote to access private land.
But DWR Chief Counsel David Sandino said existing law gives DWR power to study new water projects, and the water commission's vote is needed only to purchase land.
"We believe we have broad authority to go forward and do environmental surveys and geologic surveys for water- related activities," he said. "The court has authority to give us that entry and can also prescribe, if it feels necessary, appropriate conditions." #
http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/1840673.html
Wider tiger salamander protections restored
The
By Bleys W. Rose
Environmentalists and federal wildlife regulators have settled a federal lawsuit on tiger salamander habitat, agreeing to roll back the clock to 2005 and return to the days when all 74,000 acres of the Santa Rosa Plain were considered as protected.
The agreement reverses the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s 2005 attempt to limit habitat consideration to 21,000 acres west of Highway 101. It also renders moot a locally inspired attempt to craft building permit procedures and mitigation banks in lieu of any habitat designation.
The agreement approved April 10 by the U.S. Court of Appeals in
“If anywhere near 74,000 acres is adopted, the housing industry in
But Peter Galvin of the Center for Biological Diversity, which sued the federal government to force full habitat designation, said development interests are using the slumping economy to justify bad environmental practices.
“It is am important victory because we wanted to make sure the tiger salamander stayed on the list of endangered species, that recovery plans for habitat protection remain and that the process is re-energized,” Galvin said. “Developers tried to take environmental protections away and they failed.”
The 74,000-acre plain stretches from the Laguna de
The Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group based in
Such designation would require developers to study whether salamanders are present and to mitigate impacts if the nocturnal amphibians are adversely affected by construction.
The agreement effectively puts an end to the group of industry, environmental and government leaders called Santa Rosa Plain Conservation Strategy, which attempted to streamline the permitting process and establish mitigation banks for habitat preservation. That effort was put on hold about a year ago when
County planning director Pete Parkinson said the effort has not gone to waste because developers have been getting project approvals by agreeing to fund mitigation banks that are increasing the extent of salamander habitat.
“Although the conservation strategy was never adopted by anybody, the city and the county are still using the guidelines because it shows where mitigation can take place and shows the way projects can move ahead,” Parkinson said. “Frankly, critical habitat designation is not going to change anything very much.”
Al Donner, assistant field supervisor for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said the agreement calls for his agency to repropose the 74,000 critical habitat designation by August. The federal agency would then begin public hearings, take new public comment and conduct an economic analysis of the impact.
By July 2011, the agency is supposed to announce a decision, he said.#
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090506/articles/905069882
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