Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
June 30, 2009
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
Walnut Creek mother, daughter die after riptide pulls them under at
Contra Costa Times
Mother, daughter die after being swept out to sea
2 people swept away off
Mother, daughter die after being pulled from waters off
Keeping an eye on the water
Auburn Journal
Study on changing breakwater to be ready for City Council by mid- or late July
Mayor doesn't pay city for water service
On the Waterfront: Familiar names in Harbor Commission speculation
Wizard of water law
Riverside Press
Rising sea prompts concern about sand replenishment
Water conservation class at La Quinta Resort
The Desert Sun
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Walnut Creek mother, daughter die after riptide pulls them under at
Contra Costa Times-6/30/09
A mother and daughter from
The Santa Clara County Medical Examiner's office today identified the victims as 41-year-old Romila Higgins and 5-year-old Indali Higgins.
The two were standing about shin-deep in the water around 4:20 p.m. when the undertow apparently pulled them away from the shore,
"I'm sure the mother was trying to get the child back in, but they both succumbed," Lunny said.
The two were taken to
Mother, daughter die after being swept out to sea
Authorities say a mother and her young daughter are dead after they were swept out to sea by a riptide off a beach in
A Cal Fire official says the 40-year-old woman and 5-year-old girl were pulled from the waters off
After the two were taken to
Cal Fire Division Chief Richard Sampson says the incident took place during a family outing at the beach.#
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/jun/30/2-people-swept-away-off-san-mateo-county-beach/
2 people swept away off
Fairfield Daily Republic-6/29/09
Authorities say a woman and a 5-year-old girl have died after they were swept away in the waters off a beach in
The unidentified victims were transported to
Authorities say the U.S. Coast Guard helped to find the 5-year-old in the water after rescue crews responded to the beach around 4:21 p.m.
Cal Fire Division Chief Richard Sampson says several other people were also swept out, but were able to get out of the water on their own and seek medical help.
http://search.dailyrepublic.com/display.php?id=111069
Mother, daughter die after being pulled from waters off
A mother and her young daughter have died after being pulled from the waters of
According to the sheriff's office, emergency crews responded to the beach at about 4:20 p.m. on reports of adults and children in the water.
The sheriff's office initially reported four adults were treated at the scene and two children were taken by helicopter to
Coast Guard Lt. Steve Youde said the Coast Guard transported one of the victims, a young girl, to a hospital. He said the Coast Guard was notified at about 7:45 p.m. that the young girl and her mother had died.
Lunny said it appears the group of people had been playing or swimming in the water when the incident happened.#
Keeping an eye on the water
Placer marine unit says education key to preventing boat accidents
Auburn Journal-6/30/09
By Jenifer Gee
Two recent fatalities on
“It isn’t all fun and games out here,” said Josh Tindall, deputy with the Placer County Sheriff’s marine unit.
Speed was the factor in the death of a 53-year-old
Tindall said many boaters gun it out of dock areas well before they reach the 100-yard boundary that allows speeds over 5 mph.
“They think they can leave the docks and they can hit it,” Tindall said.
Tindall is one of about 12 deputies who work on the marine unit, which patrols area waterways including Folsom Lake,
“Most of the time it’s about prevention and education,” said Josh Shelton, marine unit deputy. “A lot of people just aren’t aware of boating safety laws.”
The lack of education sometimes is a result of a lack of requirements for boaters. There is no course or test boaters have to pass, yet
Those boating under the influence of alcohol or drugs are another problem,
Boaters are allowed to drink and have alcohol on their boats, but
“Boating is inherently dangerous,”
Tindall and
Tindall said four to five years ago a pair of brothers was at the Rattlesnake Bar entrance to Folsom Lake. One brother jumped on an idle jet ski. The force of his jump pushed the Jet Ski over his brother. The body was found a few yards away under an overhang.
“A lot of times people think we’re jamming them up on little things,” Tindall said. “But (accidents) happen.”
A
“We always go over the rules before we go out,” Sina Rahe said. “We have a two-minute sit down.”
Rahe said the family has taken a few safety courses ever since they bought a boat.
“We think we’re pretty well-versed in boat safety,” Rahe said. “You have to be defensive as well as offensive when you’re out there.”#
Study on changing breakwater to be ready for City Council by mid- or late July
By Joe Segura
The city's engineering consultant firm is putting the finishing touches on two reports to be reviewed by the City Council in mid- or late-July for a key decision on whether the city should move ahead with changes to the breakwater.
The $100,000 Moffatt & Nichol reconnaissance study is looking at whether there may be value to taking down all or part of the breakwater, which encircles much of
The study is an extremely preliminary step. The Army Corps of Engineers must agree to examine the study and Congress must approve funding for such an effort before reconfiguring the breakwater can even be considered more than a pipe dream.
With this first step, watchful coastal property owners, environmentalists and surf advocates should have a sense of whether the project will move forward or whether it's dead in the water.
The Moffatt & Nichol study includes an analysis and a project management plan, and they're being prepared in the format required by the Army Corps of Engineers, according to Tom Modica, manager of government affairs.
The Army Corps will then determine if there is a federal interest in reconfiguring the breakwater, to conduct further reviews and studies about potential changes.
The report will be available to the public, Modica said Monday. Once a final report is ready, it will be made available on the Breakwater website, http://www.longbeach.gov/citymanager/ga/breakwater/default.asp.
The public will be able to comment on the consultant study results at the council's review. The meeting will include a presentation by Moffatt & Nichol, followed by comments and questions by the council, with an opportunity for public comments.
Last week, Congresswoman Laura Richardson announced that she secured $100,000 in the House Appropriations Subcommittee Energy and Water Report for review of the city's reconnaissance study.
While the study itself is funded by
That phase of review could cost millions, Modica cautioned, adding that breakwater reconfiguration costs would most likely need to be shared by the city and environmental agencies.
The inclusion of $100,000 in the House Subcommittee report is very good news for the study; however, several steps must be taken first: a vote by the full House Appropriations Committee, a vote by the full House of Representatives, a similar process on the Senate side, and then potentially a conference committee decision if the amounts were not exactly equal in the two bills.
While the congressional schedule varies every year, Modica said Congress attempts to pass all appropriation bills prior to Sept. 30, since Oct. 1 is the beginning of the federal government's fiscal year.
"We hope to know by then if this funding is secure," Modica said.
Modica encourages members of the public to relay questions or comments via email at breakwater@longbeach.gov.#
Mayor doesn't pay city for water service
By Jesse B. Gill
Mayor Jon Harrison voted in January to increase water and sewer rates, and was one of the three councilmembers who voted June 22 in favor of a controversial joint-powers authority that would siphon $2.5 million dollars meant for improvements to the city's water pipelines and dump it into the General Fund for a 2-1/2 year period.
The city does not run water pipes into the neighborhood on
"I am in the Western Heights Water District,"
In January, the council unanimously approved a water-rate increase of 8.5 percent in 2009 and 2010, and sewer increase by 12 percent over the same period. The rate hikes were meant to make improvements to the city's water system. A portion of the money generated by the rate increase - $2.5 million per year for 2-1/2 years - will now be diverted into the General Fund because of the JPA approval.
Harrison said the company he pays did not influence his vote on either the
"I think I'm doing what's best for the city of
Councilman Pete Aguilar echoed
"I don't think that has any bearing," Aguilar said. "I think we have to judge on the best proposal in front of us at the time."
The other two councilmembers who voted to approve the JPA - Mayor Pro Tem Pat Gilbreath and Aguilar - live in areas serviced by the city's water system.
"I am certain that Jon didn't know where his water was coming from if that's the case," said Councilman Mick Gallagher, who voted for the water-rate increase in January but against the JPA plan June 22. "That could happen to someone very easily."
City Water Resource Manager Chris Diggs said that the money taken from the Municipal Utilities Enterprise Fund through the JPA will not impact improvements the city's reservoirs and wells. The money taken by the JPA plan would have gone to improve some - not all - city water pipes.
"It only impacts pipeline," Diggs said. "It only includes what we call local mains."#
On the Waterfront: Familiar names in Harbor Commission speculation
By Kristopher Hanson
Mayor Bob Foster remains tight-lipped, but speculation swirling around his opportunity to appoint a new harbor commissioner has settled on a few names familiar in
Among those believed on the short list are former state legislator Betty Karnette, retired L.B. Fire Chief Harold Omel, union leader Mike Mitre and attorney/mediator Leo VanderLans.
The group are among those reportedly jockeying for the seat vacated by Jim Hankla, whose rocky six-year tenure on the board culminated this month after nearly five decades inside and out (mostly in) of Long Beach government.
Karnette, termed out in December after 14 years in the state Assembly and Senate, is supported by a coterie of Democratic Party activists who point to her experience working on environmental and trade initiatives in
The longtime teacher threw her hat into the ring after bowing out of the race for State Superintendent of Public Instruction in February, where she faced a formidable fund-raising challenge from Northern California Assemblyman Tom Torlakson.
Omel, chief from 1993-1997 and a popular longtime president of the city's firefighters union, is another top contender and has picked up the endorsement of Fifth District Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske, among others.
As Schipske noted in a June 25 blog post (www.gerrieschipske.com), Omel possesses "long-time experience in public safety I thought would be a great addition to the current board."
Attorney VanderLans, a former Long Beach Water Department Commissioner with ties to the city's powerbrokers, is reportedly another short-lister.
VanderLans last made headlines in 2006, when he was party to a lawsuit challenging a proposed fee hike at the Virginia Country Club, whose governing board sought to raise the minimum membership transfer fee to $40,000.
VanderLans' work as a court-appointed mediator could prove useful on a harbor board known to clash behind the scenes on policy.
And then there's Mitre, a longtime force within the powerful International Longshore and Warehouse Union, Local 13, whose presence could help repair Foster's image in the labor community.
Respected for his tireless - and at times highly passionate - promotion of expanded trade through
Since taking office in 2006, the moderate Democrat Foster has helped kill a "labor peace" agreement at hotels on city land while also working to scuttle a proposed ban on big-box grocers.
And in 2008, Foster unexpectedly broke with Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa on a plan to encourage truck driver unionization in the port, earning the wrath of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, who accused him of caving to big business.
So far, the mayor has remained mum, though he indicated through a spokeswoman Monday that he would "announce an appointment in the near future."
If his last appointment to the harbor board is any indication, however, it may be months before the commission receives a fifth member. In 2008, nearly five months passed before Foster appointed commissioner Susan Wise to replace the seat vacated June 30 by Doris Topsy Elvord.
Ultimately, whomever is picked will need the approval of the Long Beach City Council, who reserve the right by majority vote to veto Foster's appointment.#
Wizard of water law
Riverside Press Enterprise-6/25/09
By Janet Zimmerman
When Art Littleworth came to
Over the years he not only witnessed the changes that came with growth, he had a hand in many of its most significant moments, from desegregation of schools in the 1960s to revival of the Mission Inn.
Littleworth, 86, is known for his civic accomplishments and his expertise in water law. Those who worked with him over the years describe Littleworth as an artful negotiator who was willing not just to lend his name to good causes, but to roll up his sleeves and pitch in.
"He is an extraordinary good lawyer and an extraordinary good citizen," Riverside Mayor Ron Loveridge said.
As an example, the mayor recalls a Keep Riverside Beautiful campaign in which Littleworth, the chairman, swept gutters and picked up trash along
"You don't see that often, a man of his standing and status willing to do physical labor," said Loveridge, who tapped Littleworth many times over the years to participate in blue-ribbon city committees.
Littleworth's resume, peppered with many such community-minded projects, is nine pages long.
Perhaps his best-known work is the 22 years he spent as a special master appointed by the Supreme Court to hear a water dispute between
In March, the high court unanimously upheld Littleworth's final report on the case, one of five books tied up with red ribbon that he keeps at the
On the couch in his living room recently, Littleworth scrawls thoughts on a yellow legal pad, the spoken word not readily accessible to him since a stroke last year affected his speech and left him partially paralyzed. His right hand rests in his lap, the cane he uses is nearby, and so is Peggy, who fills the gaps in conversation.
Characteristic of his determination, Littleworth attends speech and physical therapy three times a week and is now clocking half-mile walks. An avid photographer, he is working on taking pictures using a tripod and a stool to keep him steady. Dramatic, colorful nature shots from past trips to Africa, Antarctica,
And he still consults on cases for partners of his law firm, evidenced by stacks of papers in his study.
Littleworth is a senior partner in the Riverside law firm Best Best & Krieger, which he joined as a young attorney fresh out of
For more than 20 years, Littleworth has sponsored a
Leaving a legacy of community service is Littleworth's goal, he said. Among his proudest accomplishments is the voluntary integration of
It was "my most significant community achievement, not only for the education benefits but for the coming together of the community as one people," he wrote in an e-mail.
Littleworth served on the
The pressure to integrate grew in 1965, when
Littleworth and the assistant superintendent negotiated a delay of the boycott, and the school board soon unanimously agreed to bus minority students to achieve racial balance.
Lewis Vanderzyl, a current school board member, credited Littleworth with achieving a resolution.
"It was especially his leadership, his stature in the community and the manner in which it was conducted that were elements in making it a success," Vanderzyl said. "His quiet, judicious manner stood him in good stead, and stood the district in good stead. People respected his judgment, I think with good reason."
Littleworth attended
Littleworth came to
In 1999, he was a member of a mayor's panel that reviewed Police Department use-of-force rules after the controversial shooting of Tyisha Miller by police the year before.
In the mid-'70s, he became the first board president of the Mission Inn Foundation, formed to resurrect the historic hotel. At the time, Littleworth was a member of the Monday Morning Group, a collection of community leaders that lobbied
The city eventually bought the inn, and the foundation ran it for many years before it was renovated and sold to the current owner, Duane Roberts.
"I feel real happy I had a role in that," Littleworth said in an earlier interview.
In 2004, the foundation honored him with the Frank Miller Civic Achievement Award. Miller founded the Mission Inn and was long active in the city's affairs.
Littleworth said he still sees some of the
"I miss the orange groves and the small town connections of knowing everyone, but I appreciate that
http://www.pe.com/rss/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_littleworth26.38a6171.html
Rising sea prompts concern about sand replenishment
By Dave Downey
With global warming threatening to raise sea levels, environmental groups are challenging the wisdom of spending millions of dollars to put sand on area beaches ---- especially if it is only going to wash back out to sea.
The world's oceans rose throughout the last century as the planet gradually warmed and the warmer sea waters expanded, scientists say.
And the melting ice sheets on
It is against that backdrop that the San Diego Association of Governments, a regional planning agency, is launching an environmental study this summer to set the stage for a 2012 beach restoration project.
That project would be patterned after one in 2001 that pumped enough sand onto a dozen San Diego-area beaches ---- including 10 in
Then, it cost $17.5 million. The price tag for the sequel is expected to reach $25 million or more.
Then, as now, the goal was to widen the region's thinning beaches to make coastal communities more attractive and to attract tourists so that they continue pumping billions into the local economy.
Proponents also say that the extra sand can buffer vulnerable coastal bluffs against destructive winter swells.
Whatever the goal, said Mark Massara, coastal programs director for the Sierra Club, it will seem as if public officials are merely throwing money into the Pacific, because the ocean will soon reclaim the sand.
Indeed, just a few months after residents and tourists frolicked on broad, freshly nourished beaches in the summer of 2001, a powerful Thanksgiving Day storm scoured
And within five years, the other beefed-up beaches had largely returned to the condition they were in before the SANDAG project.
"This (new) project makes no sense at all in light of the 2001 failure," Massara said. "You would think we would have learned from what happened in 2001, but some of these sand lobbyists didn't get the memo. We cannot continue to act like ostriches here and put our heads in the sand ---- because there isn't any."
Sand replenishment proponents counter that they have, in fact, learned something.
Solana Beach Councilman Joe Kellejian, who sits on SANDAG's shoreline preservation committee, said regional officials found that coarse sand stays on beaches longer than finer sand.
And they learned some of the best offshore locations to dredge sand from the ocean bottom.
True, the sand didn't last as long as officials had hoped, Kellejian said.
But he said not all of it washed into the ocean, either.
He said some of it stayed nearby and, for several years, swept back on shore in summer.
Not only do replenishment opponents consider it foolish to pump sand onto the shore in the current economic climate, they say it is particularly unwise to artificially widen beaches when a more quickly rising sea is likely to scour away the sand at a much faster rate.
"You're playing God," said Fay Crevoshay, a spokeswoman for Wildcoast, an environmental group based in
And, said Mark Rauscher, assistant environmental director of the Surfrider Foundation in San Clemente, a flurry of recent state and regional reports suggests that the sea will take the sand back much faster in the future because of global warming.
"These things are happening much faster than they (scientists) originally thought," Rauscher said. "And at some point we are going to have to ask, 'How much money do you keep throwing in the ocean? How long can you keep that up?' What that number is, I don't know. But it's something that needs to be asked, and I don't think it is being asked."
To be sure, Kellejian said, local officials will have to confront the rising sea.
But he said, "It's going to be a long, long time before that sea level rise is going to affect the
And with the scenic shoreline being the centerpiece of the region's tourist-oriented economy, Kellejian said beefing up beaches will continue to be a worthwhile investment for some time.
Visitors come to
"They want to go to SeaWorld. They want to go to the
According to a recent state Department of Boating and Waterways report, 8 million people annually visit the shoreline from
Industrial civilization is largely to blame for the beaches' condition.
"We've paved over
Indeed, said San Diego County Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, chairwoman of the shoreline preservation committee, one need only take a trip to the Del Mar Fairgrounds to see why the beaches aren't as big as they were historically.
There, large piles of sand are blocked from heading out to sea through the mouth of the San Dieguito River.
"All of that sand is just sitting there. It can't get through because of that railroad bridge there," Slater-Price said.
With all of the man-made barriers, scientists figured the source of most present-day sand was the Santa Margarita and San Luis Rey rivers of
But in the past five years, Driscoll said, scientists have discovered the bluffs generate most of the sand that spreads along the shore.
It turns out most of the sand coming down the rivers is flushed so far out to sea by storms it never reaches the shore, he said.
As the sea rises still faster, scientists think those bluffs will be pummeled much more frequently by storms.
But even though humans have dramatically altered the natural systems that gave birth to the region's once-wide beaches, that doesn't mean regional leaders shouldn't try to fix the mess, Slater-Price said.
Slater-Price said some beaches are holding up better today, in part because of that project eight years ago.
"
Shelby Tucker coordinates SANDAG's beach planning and says that part of fixing the mess entails restoring the amount of sand that experts believe used to be on the shore long ago.
Tucker said it is believed that if the region eventually can pump 30 million cubic yards of sand into that near-shore area, a sort of equilibrium will be created and a wider strip of sand will remain on the beaches.
"Right now we're trying to play catch-up," she said. "Once you get enough sand in the system, you just have to maintain it."
Still, even maintaining the system would require adding 400,000 cubic yards annually, Tucker said.
By comparison, SANDAG put 2 million cubic yards on the beach in 2001.
Jim Jaffee, a
But Jaffee said a much more comprehensive approach is needed to ensure wider beaches, including a plan to stop the proliferation of man-made sea walls that block natural processes and to gradually abandon coastal buildings that are immediately in the path of the approaching sea.
"We're just living in a dream thinking that laying sand down is the only solution that is going to work," he said.
Gary Murphy, a long-time Encinitas resident and surfer, suggested that it is also crucial to restore the near-shore kelp beds, which when healthy can help diffuse some of the biggest waves that tend to cause the most erosion.#
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2009/06/28/news/sandiego/z5cc715a56ee577e9882575df00609e91.txt
Water conservation class at La Quinta Resort
The Desert Sun-6/27/09
Palm Springs-based American Leak Detection will offer homeowners a class on water conservation July 9 at the La Quinta Resort,
The class, part of the resort's La Quinta University how-to seminar series, will include tips on finding leaks, reading a water meter and maintaining a swimming pool.
“Many people don't realize just how easy it is to save money when it comes to water conservation,” said Jim Carter, senior director of corporate field services for American Leak Detection.
The registration cost for the entire La Quinta University series is $59.#
http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009906270347
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