Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
June 18, 2009
3. Watersheds –
East Bay dam expansion plan raises hackles in Sierra
Contra Costa Times
County proposes terms for land deal
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
East Bay dam expansion plan raises hackles in Sierra
Contra Costa Times-6/17/09
By Mike Taugher
Running through the shade of alders and towering valley oaks in the Sierra foothills, the
The source of 90 percent of the water delivered in the
It is a popular place for leisurely floats and learning to kayak, with a few mild rapids, one moderate Class 3 run, and miles of remarkably pure water. Last year, federal land managers recommended classifying it as wild and scenic, the highest environmental protection possible for a river.
But the
"We think people in the
Although raising the dam is far from a done deal, the Oakland-based district's board of directors last week approved an agreement to move forward with investigating the dam-raising option in partnership with water agencies in Calaveras, Amador and
eager to move forward and have yet to act on the agreement.
Separately, a draft environmental report on how the district will meet water needs into 2040 includes raising the dam in its preferred option, touting the hydroelectric power from the gravity fed system as a green, low-carbon footprint alternative.
River advocates say raising a dam is anything but green.
"For East Bay MUD, which serves water to some relatively sophisticated people, it's kind of a return to a '20s, '30s and '40s mentality," said Ron Stork, senior policy advocate for the environmental group Friends of the River. "You're going to take more water from a river that has nothing left to give."
In the Sierra foothills, the plans also have reignited the embers of animosity that began in the 1920s when the district condemned land to build the reservoir and then bought some of the region's water rights in the 1950s for a price that, in retrospect, led to severe seller's remorse.
And then there were the water district's attempts in recent years to keep kayakers out of the river immediately upstream of the reservoir.
"People always said they didn't want us to have access to it because they wanted to flood it," said Chris Wright, the Foothills Conservancy's executive director.
Now, Wright says, those fears are being realized.
"We have this colonial power that comes in and extracts our resources and we don't have any voice in what they do to our river," said Wright.
The Oakland-based water district delivers the Sierra water to 1.3 million in Contra Costa and
Even though the district plans to complete its
"
The district can offset growth by more efficient use of water and expanded recycling projects, but it still has two challenges: the district's board of directors wants to cut a worst-case scenario for water rationing from 25 percent to 10 percent, and its water supply is expected to decline during droughts as the demand for water grows in the foothills, where some water rights have priority over the East Bay.
As the district looked for ways to meet its water supply through 2040, expanding Pardee was an obvious option because, for years, EBMUD and water agencies in Calaveras, Amador and
"We would like to use the regional project to get peace on the river," Coate said. Other options, like buying into a less controversial offstream reservoir expansion being considered by the Contra Costa Water District, would not settle those water disputes, he said.
To survive droughts in the next three decades, the district's favored alternative would study expanding Pardee and considering desalination plants with other Bay Area water districts.
Desalination, which is often considered a panacea, uses a lot of energy and creates a disposal problem for the concentrated brine wastewater.
"We don't need both," Coate said.
Desalination also would do nothing to address water rights disputes on the Mokelumne.
But taking more water out of the Mokelumne could raise its own problems. The river is an important tributary to the Delta, which is in a severe environmental decline, at least partly due to water use.
In its 644-page environmental study, EBMUD did not consider how raising Pardee Dam might affect flows into the Delta. Coate said that analysis would be done if a decision is made to replace the dam.#
http://www.contracostatimes.com/top-stories/ci_12611066
County proposes terms for land deal
By Nicholas Grube
With the impending Hurdygurdy Creek land deal poised to take private property off Del Norte County's tax rolls, the Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday to put forth a proposal that would mitigate the loss of revenue and provide leverage for future negotiations.
In that proposal, the supervisors ask that in exchange for the Smith River Alliance buying more than 5,400 acres in the Hurdygurdy Creek watershed and turning it over to the U.S. Forest Service for inclusion in the Smith River National Recreation Area, the county will be compensated with land, money and a promise to coordinate with local officials on everything from forest management to access issues.
"We have been asked to support this process, and without a proposal we found that we were unable to blanketly support it," Del Norte County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerry Hemmingsen said. "We can either stand our ground, having no acquisition happen between the federal government and the Smith River Alliance, or we can have our own proposal and negotiate from there."
The supervisors have long been opposed to converting private lands into public ownership through acquisitions. They say doing so can stymie a local government's ability to make money off property taxes and restrict land use to a point where the community cannot benefit.
After learning about a $1 million allocation in the federal budget for the purchase of the watershed area from ALCO Holdings LLC the supervisors sent a letter to U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein telling her they opposed the idea of spending public dollars to buy private property in Del Norte County without input or support from the local government.
The letter also asked Feinstein to help facilitate negotiations between the landowner, U.S. Forest Service and the county to ensure Del Norte received adequate mitigation should a sale occur.
But with this new proposal, it appears the county will no longer need the senator's assistance. Instead, they are initiating the mitigation process on their own in an attempt to obtain the compensation they feel they deserve.
To replace lost tax revenues, the county wants nearly $900,000. It also wants 160 acres of U.S. Forest Service that is located in the Peacock Creek watershed near
There is also a request that the federal government maintain the road system in and around Hurdygurdy Creek acquisition to provide for better access. As a part of this facet of the proposal, the county wants an assurance that the Forest Service will repair a roadway that leads to 17 acres of land that was transferred to Del Norte as part of last year's 9,500 acre
One aspect of the proposal that the supervisors highlighted Tuesday was the need to include phrasing that makes it clear that Del Norte wants to be involved in any U.S. Forest Service project that occurs within the county.
District 5 Supervisor David Finigan said this will give the county "leverage" with state and federal agencies, and could mean that any future negotiations that occur will do so with input from local government officials.
"What we need to do is have a recognition that we are equals," Finigan said. "There needs to be a cooperative effort through coordination."
The proposal will now go to the Smith River Alliance, which is the non-profit agency that is working to secure the land from ALCO Holdings.
Grant Werschkull, the executive director for the Smith River Alliance, was at Tuesday's board meeting, and said he fully supports the idea of getting mitigation for the county.
"I support the proposal the county prepared," Werschkull said. "I applaud it and agree with it in principal."
Before the county receives any of the money or land it's asking for, he said there will need to be a number of meetings with U.S. Forest Service officials and representatives of ALCO Holdings to negotiate the terms of a final deal.
An official from ALCO has already said the company supports mitigation for Del Norte County. Even though the business hasn't put any figures on the table yet, Werschkull said the county's proposal is a good first step, and one that he can build on to find a "win-win" scenario that works for everyone.
"Let's use that pony, so to speak, to do the best that we can for the community," Werschkull said. "To me there is real power right now. There's a pony, let's get on it."#
http://www.triplicate.com/20090617106232/News/Local-News/County-proposes-terms-for-land-deal
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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
No comments:
Post a Comment