Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
May 22, 2009
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
A towering landmark is humbled in Rio Vista
The
Livingston once again delays vote on water fees
The
Message is clear: conserve
The
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A towering landmark is humbled in Rio Vista
The
By Bill Lindelof
RIO VISTA – For all of Dick Brann's life, the water tower has been perched along the banks of the
The 132-feet-tall tower has been as much a part of the river town's identity as striped bass or the nearby lift bridge.
When you saw the tower from boat or car – and you could for miles away in the flat-as-a-pool-table Delta – you knew Rio Vista was near.
"It's a landmark," he said.
Brann never saw the water tower being built even though he grew up here. After all, he's only 92. The water tower is more than a century old.
The bottom tank of the two-tank tower supplied water for drinking, and the top one fed a flume that transported asparagus into a cannery.
During canning season, the river was white with floating "asparagus buds," the discarded ends of the vegetable.
On Thursday, Brann and other Rio Vista residents watched history as the tower started to come down. At a minute before 4 p.m. the top tank was lifted off and then placed on the ground.
"It's pretty spectacular," said Sue Schaber, program manager for the Discover the Delta Foundation.
The remaining lower tank and tower looked pretty squat, she said. Even though the entire tower will be disassembled, it won't become steel scrap for
After refurbishment, plans are to put it on a barge and take it across the river to be erected again as part of a Delta history and tourist center and farmer's market planned by the Delta Foundation.
According to the foundation, the tower dates to 1904 when the property was used by Rio Vista Canning and Packing.
Sometime between 1910 and 1920, the property was sold to Del Monte and the on-site cannery was called California Packing Corp. Plant No. 22, or Calpak.
It was considered the largest asparagus cannery in the world. Ninety percent of the world's canned asparagus, mostly white asparagus, was packed there.
In the early 1950s, Blackwelder Manufacturing Co. bought the property but only used the lower tank to supply drinking water for the site.
In the mid-1960s the tower, feeling its age, sprang some leaks and was no longer used to supply water.
In 1990, the Dutra family took over the property and emblazoned the company name on the upper tank. It recently donated the tower to the foundation. #
http://www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/1883533.html
Livingston once again delays vote on water fees
The
By Danielle Gaines
The fee -- which is also under consideration for wastewater treatment -- is a contentious topic which the council has been grappling with for several weeks.
Before the council discussed either of the issues, Assistant City Attorney Melanie Donnelly explained that there would be no public comment since the public hearing on each matter was closed at the May 5 meeting.
Two City Council members wanted more discussion even after Mayor Daniel Varela asked for a motion to continue the vote to the next meeting because councilmember Martha Nateras wasn't at Tuesday's meeting.
Councilmember Frank Vierra motioned to continue the vote on the condition the council would have a short discussion, but the motion was closed before any conversation. The council still discussed the matter, prompting a second vote for the same.
Rodrigo Espinoza said the council should host a public workshop to explore alternatives other than the three that were considered in the public hearings.
"These three scenarios are too hard (on people financially) for me to vote on," Espinoza said.
Varela said it was time for the debate to end.
"We are at a point now where we have to make a decision," he said.
Donnelly confirmed that the only way the city can look at new options is to restart the voting process that would include hiring a new consultant to conduct a feasability study.
The current study cost the city $100,000, officials at the meeting said.
The City Council has discussed for weeks which of three scenarios to implement new water fees is best.
In a public protest ballot last month, only 401 of the 3,000 service accounts in the city voted "no" to an increase. If the majority had, the council could not have acted at all.
The city hasn't raised water services fees since 1995 and wastewater fees since 2002.
The water system serves roughly 14,000 people.
The council is expected to vote at their next meeting on June 2. #
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/livingston/story/855591.html
Message is clear:
conserve
The
By Mary O’Keefe
Last Saturday Crescenta Valley Water District opened its doors at the
This is an annual awareness event. Each year the water available for Californians continues to dwindle while demand rises. The battle between conservation and consumer has been going on for years, but this year the choice is to save or pay — really pay.
CVWD supplies its customers in part from ground water but must also import water from Foothill Municipal Water District which receives its supply from the Metropolitan Water District. In April, the MWD told its distributors that they would be receiving less water.
“We will have significant, 10% to 15% [reduction of water] for the agencies; less water this year than the base years 2004, 2005 and 2006,” reported Nina Jazmadarian, FMWD manager.
The shortage is due to two main factors, Jazmadarian said. One is the drought that continues to plague the state and the other is the pumping restriction on the
This will result in mandatory water conservation required by July 1 for CVWD customers, according to Dennis Erdman, CVWD general manager.
“The message we want to deliver and to continue to deliver is to ask our customers to partner with us in saving water, particularly outdoor water usage,” Erdman said.
He added that most residents have already made improvements to the inside of their homes and, although more can always be done to conserve, it is the outside use that needs to be curtailed.
CVWD has created a brochure that outlines what will be asked of customers to save water. Measures include no water hose usage on any paved areas. Additionally, the use of water for any purpose that results in excessive runoff onto any paved or landscaped areas will not be allowed. Water used to clean, fill or maintain levels in decorative fountains or similar structures must be part of a recirculation system. Leaks from any facility, inside and out, must be repaired within 72 hours after the customer is notified of the leak. There will be no watering, sprinkling or irrigating between the hours of 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. of any landscaped or vegetated areas. Exceptions are made for drip irrigation systems or weather-based irrigation controllers. And residential timers cannot run for more than a total of 15 minutes, regardless of the number of stations.
The district will charge significantly for any household that goes over its allotted amount of water. Residents can track their usage on their bill.
To help with these efforts, at Water Awareness Day the district handed out shower heads designed to save water, hose nozzles that cut off the flow of water to save when it is not being used and kitchen faucet attachments that help control water waste. CVWD also handed out shower timers.
“I know it is difficult,” Erdman said. “Teenagers like to take those long showers.”
He added that using a timer may not stop those long showers, but it could help raise awareness of the amount of time spent and water used.
While the adults learned conservation information, children enjoyed a bounce house and got a chance to pet a shark, among other sea creatures.
The Aquarium of the Pacific was on hand to help teach kids, and adults, how water affects everyone and everything on the planet. Representatives gave demonstrations on how water irrigation works and what really happens to litter when it is thrown to the ground, of how it makes its way into storm drains and out to sea.
The day was fun but there was an undercurrent of urgency at conservation booths.
“We love our green lawns and our [
Glendale Water & Power is updating the city’s ordinance for review and approval by the City Council, with action due to begin June 19. The proposal must be approved by the City Council prior to the implementation of mandatory water conservation.
GWP provides water to 32,500 customers. The city-owned utility also generates, transmits, and distributes electricity to 83,300 residential, commercial and industrial customers.
“We are all in this together,” Erdman said.#
http://www.crescentavalleyonline.com/articles/2009/05/22/news/cnws-water.txt
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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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