Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
June 22, 2009
3. Watersheds –
Environmentalists baffled by Obama's strategy
Bonding money funds
Mercury News
Creekside residents in
Marin Independent Journal
'Rivers of a
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Environmentalists baffled by Obama's strategy
By Jim Tankersley
As a candidate for president, Barack Obama wooed environmentalists with a promise to "support and defend" pristine national forest land from road building and other development that had been pushed by the George W. Bush administration.
But five months into Obama's presidency, the new administration is actively opposing those protections on about 60 million acres of federal woodlands in a case being considered by the
The roadless issue is one of several instances of the administration defending in court environmental policies that it once vowed to end.
Its position has been a disappointment to environmentalists who had hoped for decisive action in rolling back Bush-era policies.
Administration officials say that in some cases, they are defending the policies to prevent the courts from settling the issues -- a prospect that would restrict the government's ability to set the environmental agenda. They say the task of setting policy is better left to government agencies and legislators.
"We have set out on a very clear path toward improving our nation's environmental laws and policies so they balance
Still, the strategy has puzzled some environmentalists because the administration has used the courts to backpedal from Bush policies in some areas, including spotted owl protection, energy efficiency standards and hazardous-waste burning.
Most prominently, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson dropped an appeal to the Supreme Court in a case that struck down Bush-era limits on mercury pollution from coal power plants, which environmentalists called too lax.
Whatever the overall strategy, the result has been a series of cases in which President Obama appears to be taking positions in court that run counter to his stated goals.
The Interior Department this spring, for example, defended a Bush plan to lease western
When the Bush administration announced the plan in 2008, then-Sen. Ken Salazar of
But today, Interior Secretary Salazar is opposing a court challenge from environmentalists to block the leases.
A Interior spokesman declined to comment on the department's position, but other officials noted that negotiations are underway on a possible out-of-court settlement, and the government's hand in these negotiations may be stronger if it continues to fight in court.
Administration lawyers have also fought environmentalists in court over a coal mining technique known as mountaintop removal.
The administration successfully argued this year that the court should reject the environmentalists' suit, in part because officials were already developing new standards for mountaintop mining projects.
They announced the standards last week, though many environmentalists criticized them for doing too little to protect against water pollution and other effects of mountaintop mining.
In the road-building case, the governor and the attorney general of
"Obviously, we'd love for the Obama administration to withdraw the appeal," Oregon Atty. Gen. John Kroger said in a telephone interview, "or otherwise help us to get the right rule."
Administration officials say they are committed to protecting roadless areas but have decided to pursue the goal through policymaking rather than in the courts. As part of that effort, the Agriculture Department last month announced a de facto one-year moratorium on development in most roadless areas.
In broad terms, administration officials say relying on court cases to deal with such issues entails greater delays and uncertainties.
"Our judgment is, we're going to have these court cases for a long time to come, and therefore we'd have uncertainty for a long time to come," said Robert Bonnie, a senior advisor in the Agriculture Department, which is responsible for a large proportion of federal forest lands.
Some environmental groups warn, however, that there is a risk to the strategy of opposing an issue to ultimately support it.
If the courts agree with the government and allow the building of more roads in wilderness areas, the administration could face enormous difficulties in achieving its ultimate goal of keeping the roads out.#
Bonding money funds
Mercury News-6/19/09
By Rachelle Gines
The 2009 Nevada Legislature and Gov. Jim Gibbons approved a new law that requires issuance of up to $100 million in general-obligation bonds to pay for environmental improvement projects at
The bonds also will help water quality, forest management, air quality, transportation, recreation and maintenance projects.
"In general terms, the focus of the money and the projects is
Biaggi said recent projects have slowed the decline in Tahoe's clarity, which currently averages about 70 feet, and the goal is to increase that to 80 feet by 2028. Tahoe has lost an average of one foot of clarity per year since the 1960s.
"The loss of clarity is slowing because water quality projects are working and making a difference," Biaggi said, adding that the eventual goal is to increase clarity to 100 feet.
The clarity is hurt by sediments from urban areas and nutrients from fertilizers in gardens and lawns, which appear in runoff to the lake. Sediments deflect light on Tahoe's surface, causing the water to appear muddy, and nutrients can
cause algae overbloom.
The environmental projects also will focus on forest health of the
The $100 million in bonding money funds
Besides the bonding money, lawmakers approved Gibbons' cuts to
TRPA has already completed budget cuts, Biaggi said, adding, "
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_12650365
Creekside residents in
Marin Independent Journal-6/21/09
Brent Ainsworth
During the rainy season, Novato Creek has a voracious appetite, taking Volkswagen-sized bites out of people's backyards in the swirling aftermath of each storm.
Gerry and Glenna Godwin have lost one-third of their backyard, including a 13.2-ton bay tree, to the creek off
A mile away, Mary Page's backyard near
Who is responsible for preventing such erosion? In some cases, it's
"I'm at a standstill because financially I can't afford to do anything," Page said. "It has grown to be a much bigger project than it was originally. I'm fed up."
Obtaining environmental impact reports and permits to make creekbed improvements and save eroding property can costs hundreds of thousands of dollars as well as approval from several agencies. Rock reinforcement called rip-rap works in some cases, but bio-engineered solutions are required in other places.
There is no easy answer to coordinated flood control, but a proposed Novato Creek Watershed Stewardship Program could result in progress if the city approves it.
The Novato City Council last week showed support for the concept during a community workshop but did not have majority support to spend $210,000 on it now to help pay for technical studies, program management and a final work plan. The issue is expected to reappear on a future agenda.
Councilwoman Pat Eklund said there's no question properties along
"The question is how can the planning effort be paid for when the city has a $3 million budget deficit, the state is asking us for $1 million and we're laying off and furloughing city staff," she said.
Bad timing or not, Farhad Mansourian, the county's director of public works who lives in Novato, would like the city to approve the program sometime soon so it can incorporate much of what has been learned in the Ross Valley over the past few years.
In
Page, who has lived on Novato Boulevard for 30 years, contends that drainage improvements made along nearby Eucalyptus Avenue three years ago were so effective that creek water shoots at her yard with much more force than in the past, providing a penetrating firehose effect.
"They won't fess up to that," Page said of city brass. "It hits my bank directly. I used to have 50 feet (of yard) across and now it's about 30 feet."
Dietrich Stroeh, a Novato resident and civil engineer with CSW/Stuber-Stroeh Engineering Group, got so frustrated when he tried to help Page solve her problem that he threw up his arms in disgust during a tour of the site with civic and government officials, Page said.
"We had a plan together design-wise to fix that issue, but the city didn't have any money to work on their side at Miwok Park, so nothing got done," Stroeh said. "Nobody wants to fund anything anymore. ... It is mired in bureaucracy, right, wrong or indifferent."
Page spent $77,000 to start the bio-engineered method, which involves huge logs and eucalyptus roots rather than rip-rap. The project started but then stopped abruptly because the firm handling the job didn't obtain all the required permits. Massive logs still sit in Page's yard as well as a neighbor's yard.
"That's $77,000 of her own money that was wasted," Gerry Godwin said. "That poor lady."
The Godwins live a few yards north of the bridge where Novato Creek runs under
"We live here because it's beautiful. The creek is beautiful and we see a lot of wildlife," he said. "But this is wiping us out. If I wanted to sell my home, I don't think I could get anything for it. We don't have half a million dollars to get all the studies done to move forward. We're retired."
In the Godwins' view, the creek should be the responsibility of the city public works department because residents have been paying flood control taxes for decades. They see it as an emergency situation because trees 60 or 70 feet high are being undermined by creekwater erosion and are about to topple onto homes, fences, backyard sheds and other structures.
A major deterrent to property owners solving their own erosion issues privately are the federal mandates in place to protect wild salmon and steelhead trout. When asked how many government agencies have to coordinate efforts for effective flood control, Mansourian said, "several million."
On the list of agencies that have a stake in flood control are the county flood control district, cities, community development agencies, state fish and game, regional water quality control, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the National Marin Fisheries Service.
"That's why there is a watershed process," Mansourian said. "Floods do not discriminate, just like fire. They don't care who owns what or who is responsible for what.
"The watershed process does not say we're going to take over the world. It says, regardless of who you are, let's study this and work toward a solution to our flooding problems. Let's coordinate the efforts."
There have been so many years of problems and inactivity, 77-year-old Gerry Godwin is pessimistic about a coordinated solution any time soon. He predicts it would take at least five years of bureaucratic paperwork to get anything started.
"I'll be long gone by then," he said.
The Southern Marin Watershed Stewardship Program was launched last week with guidance from the Marin County Flood Control District. Next on the list are programs in
The Marin County Flood Control District hopes to establish a countywide watershed management program so that teamwork can lead to progress fighting flooding and erosion.
Farhad Mansourian, the county's public works boss, said chances of nailing down state and federal funding for improvement projects are greatly enhanced if it is seen as a combined effort by many municipalities.
In
Mansourian is asking the Novato City Council to commit $210,000 to launch the stewardship effort and help pay for program management, technical studies, engineering, final workplans and a public election preparation campaign to gain voter support to create an assessment district.#
http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_12661723?IADID=Search-www.marinij.com-www.marinij.com
'Rivers of a
Nelson Rossig, a 100-year-old
Rossig is the star of a new documentary, “Rivers of a
The film uses first-hand accounts of legendary fly fishermen to re-live the Golden Era of angling along
The film also takes aim at decades of unregulated logging and water withdrawals that aided in the demise of the
”Rivers of a
Next week's Arcata and Fortuna screenings are the only scheduled
”Rivers of a
http://www.times-standard.com/ci_12654531?IADID=Search-www.times-standard.com-www.times-standard.com
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