Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
June 4, 2009
4. Water Quality –
Tainted water discovered
State senate cuts
The Desert Sun
The Desert Sun
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Tainted water discovered
By Alex Breitler
The agency that supplies
In late October, the Stockton East Water District detected a manufactured chemical known as carbon tetrachloride in water that had already been treated, and later concluded that the chemical came from chlorine tanks used to purify water at the district's plant on
The public was not notified because the district considered the risk minor, said Kevin Kauffman, general manager of Stockton East. State health officials agreed that immediate notification was not necessary.
Carbon tetrachloride, or CCl4, was detected at a level exceeding state standards, but lower than a more relaxed federal standard. The highest readings, Kauffman said, were 1.2 or 1.3 parts per billion; that's like a half-teaspoon spilled into an Olympic-size swimming pool.
"It's such a minor risk, it's not noticeable," Kauffman said.
Still, one entity that supplies
California Water Service Co., which delivers water to 42,000 homes and businesses in central and south Stockton, conducted its own tests and detected the chemical "at or below" the state standard, said Ross Moilan, district manager for CalWater. He said the water is safe since officials are using groundwater to dilute the tainted surface water.
"There's nothing to be alarmed about," Moilan said.
The city of Stockton, which takes water from Stockton East and supplies it to north and south Stockton, also conducted its own tests and didn't find any CCl4, Municipal Utilities Department Deputy Director Bob Granberg said Friday. He agreed that the water is safe.
Exposure to high levels of CCl4 can damage the liver, kidneys and nervous system, and the chemical has been proven to cause cancer in animals, according to the Centers for Disease Control. It has been used as a pesticide, as a cleaning fluid and as a degreaser.
No one would know that Stockton East's water was contaminated had it not been for an accident in late October. A Stockton East employee drove a pickup into a canal upstream of the treatment plant.
The driver was fine, but officials were worried that gasoline, oil or other substances had fouled the water.
A battery of tests turned up nothing related to the accident, but officials did find CCl4 in water that had already been treated at the plant.
Further investigation showed that the chemical came from one-ton chlorine gas tanks. CCl4, a chlorine byproduct, escaped into the water in relatively high concentrations as each chlorine tank approached empty.
Officials have changed how they use the tanks, a temporary solution. Switching to liquid chlorine might be a permanent solution, Kauffman said Friday.
"We really want to guarantee it won't happen" in the future, he said.#
http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090104/A_NEWS/901040331
State senate cuts
Desert Sun-6/04/09
By Jake Henshaw
The state Senate on Wednesday decided that a council intended to oversee the restoration of the Salton Sea should instead only evaluate options during the next couple of years for the troubled
But Sen. Denise Ducheny, D-San Diego, the bill's author, said more work will be done on the measure, and the chairwoman of the committee where the bill was revised insisted there's no intention to delay restoration work.
‘‘We don't think we are slowing (restoration) down,'' said Sen. Christine Kehoe, R-San Diego, chairwoman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. “But we want to move out those upfront costs, move them out a few years and hope that the economy will recover and we can go forward in a timely way.''
Salton Sea Authority President Peter Nelson said he ‘‘understand(s) that the climate in
He supported Ducheny's effort to try to rework the bill to ensure that initial work can continue at the sea.
‘‘At this juncture, if it is still a workable document, let's keep trying to work it and get an implementing council instead of an evaluating council,'' he said.
‘‘Why bother with a council if it is just going to evaluate?'' he asked. ‘‘We need to do something that is effective, large or small.''
The bill previously directed the proposed Salton Sea Restoration Council primarily to implement the first phase of a 75-year, $9 billion restoration plan developed by a state-local committee overseen by the state Resources Agency.
The long-term goal is for the council, including groups of local officials and other interests overseen by a 17-member executive committee, to direct the long-term restoration effort.
Commitment issues
But Ducheny and restoration supporters have had trouble getting the state to commit to costly long-term restoration, especially without a clear funding plan.
‘‘What we've been hearing from everybody is they're unwilling to make that sort of commitment to exactly what a $9 billion project in 2015 will look like,'' Ducheny said. ‘‘That I understand.''
She said the committee has a responsibility to track the restoration work and that her job is to write bill language that will acknowledge this duty while ensuring that work in the first phase continues.
‘‘We need to make sure we're careful so (the bill) does the right thing and (council members) have the authority to continue,'' Ducheny said.
Her measure, Senate Bill 51, next goes to the Assembly.
The state is legally obligated to restore the salty sea, which is in danger of drying up and creating environmental problems including dust storms in the
Some of the early work at the sea has targeted preservation of endangered fish as well as development of data on air, fish, birds and sea sediment.
Phase one activities are estimated to cost $543 million from 2011 to 2013, with possible federal contributions, but major funding has yet to be nailed down.
There is only about $11 million left in previously approved bond funds to help finance some initial work, according to the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Ducheny has argued the council is necessary to develop financing options as well as to oversee and adjust restoration work as new information becomes available.
To help address state concerns about financing, the state director of finance and treasurer have been added to the council.
The secretary of Natural Resources Agency also has been placed on the council that includes other state as well as local and tribal officials.
SB 51 now requires the council to evaluate the alternatives in the existing $9 billion restoration plan and make recommendations to the Legislature by Jan. 1, 2011.
‘‘I think if we can get the bill out (of the Legislature), it's OK,'' Ducheny said.#
Western gull-billed terns nest in only two places
The Desert Sun-6/04/09
By Kevin Matheny
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The Center for Biological Diversity wants to add a rare
Only about 300 to 500 of the Western gull-billed terns exist in the
The center is filing a scientific petition with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeking the endangered status.
Prompting the center's action is a plan by Fish and Wildlife to intentionally destroy some 43 percent of the tern's nests and eggs this year in San Diego in a population control measure, as the bird preys on two other threatened bird species, the Western snowy plover and the California least tern.
Fish and Wildlife Service should concentrate on acquiring more habitat for the birds, not stopping the nesting of a portion of an already threatened population, said center conservation biologist Tierra Curry.
“Historically these three birds would not be nesting right next to each other,” she said. “It's a recent development. All of the habitat has been condensed into this very small area. It's a very unnatural situation.”
At the
The bird is one of few species to nest at the sea during the hot summer months. The Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge hosts the largest nesting colony of the terns in the
Fish and Wildlife Service spokeswoman Stephanie Weagley said the agency has not yet received the center's petition.
“We need to review the petition first and then determine if there's substantial information to pursue a listing of the western gull-billed tern,” she said. “Until then, we can't speculate on what the outcome will be.”
Curry noted that the Fish and Wildlife Service on its own sought an endangered species designation for the Western gull-billed tern in 2004.
“There's scientific consensus that this bird is endangered, so hopefully it will move through the process quickly,” she said.
The Center for Biological Diversity hasn't ruled out seeking a court injunction to prevent the destruction of tern nests and eggs at the
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