A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
June 26, 2009
2. Supply –
Businesses required to stop serving water to customers automatically, as of July 1
Water worries on iconic farms;
Rate hike a threat to flower, strawberry fields, operators say
San Diego Union-Tribune
MMWD board accepts desalination report, but not all its findings
Marin Independent Journal
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Businesses required to stop serving water to customers automatically, as of July 1
North County
By Andrea Moss
The campaign is the latest in a series of efforts to make sure all the district's customers know about water restrictions that kick in July 1.
Diners at the city's restaurants will still be able to get water with their meals after the restrictions take effect ---- but they will have to ask for it, rather than getting it automatically. The same goes for water refills.
Vallecitos conservation specialist Lisa Urabe said Thursday that besides saving the obvious water in glasses that go untouched, the change will save half a gallon of wash water per glass.
"So it can add up to a large water waste," she said.
"Personally, I always like to have a glass of water with my meal," he said outside Sorrento Pizza off
The mandatory water conservation measures are a result of a Level 2 Drought Alert the district declared in May.
District officials hope the move will help them meet a regional goal of reducing water use by 10 percent in the face of ongoing drought and a court ruling last year that restricted the pumping of water from the state water delta.
The situation has the potential for significant impact in
The Vallecitos water district serves about 80,000 water customers in a 45-square-mile area that includes most of
District officials spent recent weeks trying to make sure city officials and residents knew the water restrictions were coming.
Vallecitos customers have already been told, for instance, that they will have to water their landscaping before 10 a.m. or after 6 p.m., and limit watering to three days a week after the restrictions take effect. The full list of restrictions is at www.vwd.org.
Discontinuing the automatic delivery of water to restaurant customers is also on the list.
Urabe said the water district purchased 25,000 disposable cups that don't have to be washed as part of the campaign targeting restaurants. Each restaurant that calls the district's office can get 1,000 cups for free until they run out, she said.
The restaurants are asked to use the cups for water served to customers who request it. Made of cornstarch that disintegrates in a landfill within 50 days, the cups have a printed message explaining how much wash water the restaurant saved by using the disposable cup instead of a glass.
The district is also offering "tent cards" that restaurants can set on their tables to explain why they no longer serve water automatically.
Ray Garcia, senior vice-president of operations for Real Mex Restaurants, which owns the Acapulco Mexican Restaurant and Cantina in
He said his company already had implemented water conservation measures ---- including frequent faucet checks and maintenance designed to eliminate water leaks ---- at its restaurants on its own.
Some of the restaurants, including the San Marcos Acapulco, have already stopped serving water automatically, Garcia said.
"We've been doing it for so many years already that (employees and customers) are used to it," he said.
Water worries on iconic farms;
Rate hike a threat to flower, strawberry fields, operators say
San Diego Union-Tribune 6/26/09
By Michael Burge
And the same may be true for The Flower Fields, a trademark
After receiving notice that the city planned to more than double water rates for agriculture, representatives of the two farm operations told the City Council that could kill their operations.
“Water is about 10 percent of our productivity cost,” said Peter Mackauf, general manager of the Carlsbad Strawberry Co. The business has about 60 acres in cultivation, mostly strawberries, at Interstate 5 and
“If you double water costs, you've basically eliminated all profit potential,” Mackauf said.
He said the company converted the fields to a drip irrigation in the 1980s, so it's conserving as much as it can.
The council eventually voted Tuesday to hold agriculture water rates steady for the time being, and have city staff propose another set of rates for agriculture.
Increases in residential and business water rates were adopted during the water-rate hearing, under a tiered schedule to meet mandated cuts and increasing wholesale costs.
The city says the new charges will mean a 10 percent increase, or $7.56 per month, for most users.
Mackauf said unlike other businesses, the strawberry company has no control over the price its product draws when it goes to market, because that's dictated by supply and demand.
“Even if we cut down to 2 acres, the likelihood of us getting a much better price is not very great,” he said.
Asked if the fields are in jeopardy of going out of business, Mackauf said, “It is if water rates are increased (and) if the farmer does not have a reasonable likelihood of making a profit.”
Mackauf also said The Flower Fields, at
Chris Calkins, president of CB Ranch, which owns The Flower Fields, told the council that the strawberry and Flower Fields are special.
The city required the Ecke flower-growing family to set aside the 53-acre Flower Fields “in perpetuity” in exchange for the right to develop its 471-acre Carlsbad Ranch.
The ranch today includes Legoland
And in November 2006, voters passed Proposition D, called “Preserve the Flower and Strawberry Fields and Save the Carlsbad Taxpayers Money,” which promised that the city would preserve farming on those lands “as long as it is economically viable for the landowner.”
Calkins said The Flower Fields are unique among all water customers.
“Nobody else in the city is required to use water,” Calkins told the council Tuesday.
“You have a set of policies . . . that says this must stay in farming and must stay in flower farming,” Calkins said, noting the property is bound by a conditional-use permit that requires the company to plant flowers every year.
Mayor Bud Lewis agrees that the strawberry and Flower Fields hold a special meaning for
“I promised back in the '80s that I would do what I could to preserve The Flower Fields,” Lewis said.
MMWD board accepts desalination report, but not all its findings
Marin Independent Journal – 6/26/09
By Mark Prado
The Marin Municipal Water District Board of Directors agreed with assertions of a new report that said conservation is important, but didn't fully embrace the notion that it would be enough to satisfy Marin's future water needs.
Board members responded to the report Wednesday in front of an overflow crowd at its headquarters in Corte Madera.
The report, "Sustaining Our Water Future," was issued earlier this month by the Washington D.C.-based nonprofit consumer organization Food & Water Watch.
The report concludes that the district doesn't need to build a desalination plant and could instead employ conservation measures, curb leaks and improve reservoir operations to meet future water needs.
"You did a super job to all our benefit," board member Jack Gibson told the report's author, James Fryer, a former water district conservation program manager.
Board president Alex Forman agreed, but said the district still must look at other water resources beyond conservation to meet potential water needs.
"One of our jobs is to guarantee there is a water supply," he said. "I'm not talking about for some large garden in Ross, I could care less about that. I'm talking about water for Marin General and Kaiser, and for restaurants and for schools. We have to remember
Most of Marin's water supply comes from reservoirs on
That pipeline is long gone and no longer an option.
"We have to think about the worst-case scenario," said board member David Behar. "We just can't ignore it."
In February, the MMWD Board of Directors directed its staff to keep open the possibility of a controversial 5-million-gallon-a-day desalination plant as part of a package of steps to address the county's future water needs. But a final decision on desalination won't come until 2011.
The Fryer report suggests the water district has overestimated the expected water shortfall because it based it on high-use years, not demand in a normal year.
By replacing inefficient fixtures, improving landscape irrigation, plugging system leaks and enhancing reservoir operations, Marin could have a reliable water supply without desalination, according to the report.
Those who spoke to the board agreed.
"You should do a vote on this," said Michael Hartnett. "All we can say is give conservation a chance."
Former
"This is a real solution. It ought to be your blueprint for our water future. We obviously do not need desalination," he said.
http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_12691145
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