Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
June 18, 2009
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
Santa Clara Valley Water District accused of being awash in cash while county and cities drown in red ink
San JoseMercury News
Tahoe depths reveal mysteries
Local ocean lovers oppose new state protection plan
Ukiah Daily Journal
Redevelopment Agency faces tough budget choices
The Willits News
Something’s Missing Here
Santa Clarita Valley Signal
Tahoe Daily Tribune
Cowboy uses lariat to rescue boy in well
Tri-Valley Herald
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Santa Clara Valley Water District accused of being awash in cash while county and cities drown in red ink
San JoseMercury News-6/17/09
By Sandra Gonzales
In a highly critical report Wednesday accusing the Santa Clara Valley Water District of overspending and poor financial management, a civil grand jury found that the agency lacks oversight, transparency and accountability.
"Given the pervasive nature of the lax attitude toward any kind of fiscal control, it will take much more time and leadership from the board of directors to make the needed impact on capital and operational spending," the report states.
The
The report further stated, "the district has been questioned on its spending for years and has made little to no effort to become cost effective."
As a result, the grand jury called for more openness, an independent review committee to oversee the board, a 15-year-master plan on future spending and term limits for the board of directors. Earlier this spring, directors voted to place a term-limit measure on the November 2010 ballot.
"We accept the report in the spirit it's provided, but it's not unusual for a civil grand jury to look for more negatives," said Sig Sanchez, chairman of the water board. "There are some areas where if they had gone into more depth, the recommendations may have been a little different." He hopes to have a formal response in one month.
Wednesday's report comes amid a summer drought and several years of controversies over the district's spending habits, including approving salaries to its managers higher than those at most other
"There's been a lack of oversight and they have gone beyond their scope of work," said Don Kawashima, grand jury foreman. "We hope they look at their expenses and what they are spending."
Last month, Beau Goldie was named as the new CEO of the district, which has a $358 million annual budget funded mostly by water charges and property taxes.
"It's difficult to receive criticism, but I welcome it," Goldie said.
He pointed out that $24 million has been cut from the next fiscal budget, in part, by delaying projects, reducing the district's fleet of vehicles and by eliminating 29 positions, though none by layoffs. In addition, he noted that the district did not raise groundwater production charges this year.
"We're moving in that direction," Goldie said, referring to a continuous effort to cut costs. "We're not done and we're making sure our dollars are spent efficiently and effectively."
The four-part report also made the following allegations:
• The district overspent on its new drinking water quality lab. The final cost was $13 million over the original $8.1 million estimate and only 18 employees occupy the 18,400-square-foot building:
• The Alviso Slough restoration project is not appropriate for the district because it does not improve watersheds, streams and natural resources, and the district should cease funding it and look at other, more obvious potential flood-damage areas first.
• The proposed $1.38 million Gold Street Education Center, a large open gazebo where children can learn the history of Alviso, is a poor use of the district's funds and no more should be spent.
One of the largest local government agencies in Silicon Valley, the 750-employee water district provides drinking water and flood protection to 1.8 million people in
Earlier this spring, the district's board members called for 15 percent mandatory water conservation this summer — the first since the end of the last drought in 1991.
The report also criticized the district's campaign for the 15-year special parcel tax, which voters narrowly passed in 2000 for its Clean Safe Creeks and Flood Protection Plan. In 2004, the Fair Political Practices Commission fined the district and its treasurers, Susan A. Pino and Rick L. Callender, $24,000 for failing to disclose $190,000 in contributions for that campaign in a timely way.
In a positive note, the report noted that reductions in the last fiscal budget made by previous interim CEO Olga Martin Steele were "a step in the right direction." In the past fiscal year, the district slashed $11 million from its budget by cutting 28 staff positions, reducing travel, and reducing overtime in half.#
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12615596?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com
Tahoe depths reveal mysteries
Sub brings hidden Tahoe world to light
By Jeff DeLong
A geology professor at the
"It reminds me of a helicopter under water," Schweickert said of the vehicle that offered him a fish-eye view of a major earthquake fault off Tahoe's north shore.
The two-person submersible, captained by Scott Cassell of the nonprofit Undersea Voyager Project, made more than 40 dives in Tahoe and nearby
Other explorations are planned in the Pacific and
"Tahoe is desolate but beautiful. It has a unique charm underwater," said Cassell, 47.
The
Cassell dreamed up the Undersea Voyager concept along with veteran submariner Andreas Rechnitzer in 2003 as the pair worried about failing fisheries, the sea's impact on climate and the fact that the vast majority of the Earth's oceans remain unexplored. He made the effort his "life's mission" after Rechnitzer died in 2005.
Lake Tahoe, with a unique ecosystem and a host of environmental troubles -- including sediment pollution and algae robbing its famed clarity as well as invading plants and animals -- seemed a good place to start. At 1,645 feet deep, Tahoe is second only to
At
The crew saw evidence that the trees were rooted in the lake bottom, welcome news to John Kleppe, a UNR researcher who has studied the trees for years. Kleppe has long dealt with skeptics who argue the trees simply fell into the lake, becoming embedded in sediment after sinking.
Kleppe contends the trees are evidence of major ancient droughts that lowered the lake level for centuries, allowing the trees to grow until changing climatic conditions raised the lake and submerged them.
"It's a very good record of climate change," Kleppe said.
The team also discovered a single-cell, parasitic organism resembling a jellyfish on some ancient trees in Fallen Leaf at a depth of 100 feet, Cassell said. Scientists are now examining the creature.
"It looks like it could be a new species," he said.
The vessel's Tahoe journeys were essentially a shakedown for adventures to come, Cassell said.
"Our test case is here at
Scientists jumped at the chance to examine submerged mysteries they might never otherwise be able to observe firsthand.
Schweickert had the opportunity to study the submerged portion of a major fault stretching from the lake through
The fault, which he said had ruptured within the past few thousand years, likely caused an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 to 7. That's sufficient strength to have generated a tsunami on Tahoe's surface up to 30-feet high in places, Schweickert said.
Geologic evidence shows such tsunamis have happened at Tahoe in the distant past and could again.
Schweickert has used remote submersible vehicles to study Tahoe's depths, but this is the first time he's been able to travel underwater.
"It's just magical," said Peri Best, 48, a Napa, Calif., resident training to pilot the sub and who was aboard for a number of the sub's Tahoe missions.
"It's like a
The sub's time at Tahoe, valued at about $250,000, was donated by its manufacturer and owner, SeaMagine Hydrospace Corp. of
Cassell, who in November 2006 led the team that was the first to successfully film a giant squid in its natural habitat in the
He will be accompanied by Charles Moore, who discovered the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" in 1997 while returning from a sailing race.
"I'm going to film it, analyze it and display it for everybody to see," he said. "I want to see the proof. I want to see the evidence."
After that, Cassell plans an underwater circumnavigation of Catalina and the Channel Islands off the
Next spring, he plans a three-month, 700-mile voyage of the environmentally troubled
The long-term effort, which Cassell said would be funded by private donations and contributions by governments, will involve dives at 33 countries. The group is now in negotiations for funding from the Mexican government to fund explorations in the seas of that country.
The Undersea Voyager Project is trying to raise $3 million to purchase a three-person sub capable of diving to 1,500 feet for the global expedition.
"Our focus is the water. What is at 1,000 feet?" Cassell said. "We really are going where no one has gone before.
"It's the most hostile place on the planet that supports life, the top of the abyss."
Cassell said he hopes to bring attention to Tahoe's troubles and ecological problems threatening the world's oceans. The goal is to collect data and attract sufficient attention to prompt people and governments to halt pollution and over-fishing and take other actions to protect threatened bodies of water.
"There's a reality we don't want to face, that the oceans are dying," Cassell said. "And when the oceans die, so does mankind."#
http://www.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009906170430
Local ocean lovers oppose new state protection plan
Ukiah Daily Journal-6/18/09
By Frank Hartzell
A privately-funded state program could turn one quarter of the offshore coasts of Mendocino, Humboldt and Del Norte counties into underwater parks.
Not surprisingly, the creation of Marine Life Protection Areas is controversial among many consistent foes of offshore oil drilling and other ocean development.
But in this case, the usual ocean protectors are so far all opposed to the new level of protection.
The Marine Life Protection Act (MLPA), which passed in 1999, is finally about to be felt in the
Constantly interrupted by the annual state budget debacles, the state has been working sporadically for a decade on creating protected areas in five different regions. The MLPA process for the north central coast, which ends in Point Arena, is now concluding.
This summer, the state seeks to begin the process of creating another set of underwater parks — from Alder Creek just north of Point Arena to the Oregon Border.
Between 20 and 25 percent of the prime fishing areas off
With state budget crises having drowned the process twice, the MLPA parks are now being created with private money from corporate trusts like the Packard Foundation and the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation.
Local seaweed harvesters, recreational fishers and abalone divers have led a crusade against the implementation of MLPAs. There have been criticisms of the process being confusing and much of the planning being done in private.
The Salmon Restoration Association spent $2,500 this month from the money it raises from the annual World's Largest Salmon Barbecue in an effort to help fishermen and the community understand the issue better. The money will help organize meetings and other public outreach so that locals can better understand the MLPA process.
The SRA pledged another $2,500 once opportunities to explain the process to locals become clearer. For example, the SRA money will seek to help fishermen use GIS software to try out different kinds of maps and see how their information compares to science guidelines.
Although the process represents increased environmental protection for the ocean and is being pushed aggressively by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, local reaction so far has ranged from bemusement to strident opposition.
While the Department of Fish and Game website is loaded with information about the MLPA process, the sections regarding the area from Point Arena to the
For the past four years, seaweed harvester John Lewallen of Philo has led opposition to the MLPA process. Lewallen says the process is a corporate plot intended to divide ocean protectors, with the ultimate result being offshore oil drilling.
The waters offshore Mendocino County have long been a target for oil drilling and are being considered for drilling in a process headed by the Obama administration.
Lewallen is among those upset too, that sustainable ocean uses are lumped in with all other kinds of extraction.
Jim Martin, vice president of the Salmon Restoration Association, suggested the study funds. He points out that at a time the state is closing hundreds of revenue producing state parks, there is no state money available for a large number of underwater parks.
"Fishermen will support marine protected areas (MPAs) when they are based in science and have clear, quantifiable goals that are integrated into existing fishery management. However, without the commitment of public funds for the monitoring, evaluation and enforcement of the new network of MPAs, they become paper parks' protected in name only," said Martin.
Martin is also a top official of the Recreation Fishing Association and a member of the Mendocino County Fish and Game Commission. He criticizes the cost of the program, which has multiplied exponentially since it was proposed. He said local impacts in loss of revenue for party boats and commercial fishermen would add greatly to the cost.
"We find the costs estimated to implement the MLPA are simply staggering: at minimum, $35 million per year. Budget concerns are an issue with every government entity in the state, and our county board of supervisors is very concerned about the job losses associated with these impacts to recreational and commercial fishing businesses," Martin said.
Perhaps most irksome to locals is that the MLPA process is not following open government rules. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has allowed industry to plan its wave energy process in much the same way.
"Special interest groups have hijacked the MLPA," Martin said. "The Packard Foundation has picked up most of the tab for the public meetings and has influenced key policy decisions. Contracts with the MLPA initiative staff are not subject to legislative oversight or public scrutiny, as they would have been had the process been conducted under the Department of Fish and Game."
Martin says state law that requires DFG to take public input and come up with a preferred alternative has been violated by the public-private backroom nature of this process.
"The Department of Fish & Game has been completely marginalized in the MLPA process. The agreement between the governor and the Resources Legacy Fund Foundation stripped the DFG of its statutory role. This worked greatly to the disadvantage of the final regulatory package we have before us today," Martin said.
Cindy Arch, who has been involved in ocean preservation efforts locally for many years, worries that large-scale fishing and even fish farming could be among the motives of the private backers.
"Aquaculture is a big goal. Remember those cute little cards the Monterey Bay Aquarium (Packard) puts out telling folks which seafood is best' and which to avoid. I have a collection from over the years, and guess what? Farmed fish are now the majority of the best' fish to eat," Arch said.
"I find this focus on science policy interface' very disturbing as it is funded by the charitable arms of huge businesses. Look at how much money has been pumped into
The Ocean Protection Council, which has worked to defeat energy production in the ocean, has taken a stance against the MLPA as proposed for this area.
Many locals want local planning, not division of the ocean by corporate and state interests.
The Department of Fish and Game is in the early stages of planning local meetings, beginning with Portland, Ore.-based Ecotrust workshops for commercial and recreational fishermen June 22 and 23, and July 2.#
Redevelopment Agency faces tough budget choices
The Willits News-6/17/09
By Linda Williams
The Willits City Council has voted to suspend the city façade grant program, the energy and water conservation grant program, and a series of other miscellaneous reductions and changes in allocations to the Redevelopment Agency budget.
Left in the budget, at least temporarily, was a water conservation officer.
The changes can be left as is or revised when the final 2009-2010 Willits city budget comes up for adoption June 24.
The business consolidation loan for MetalF/X remained in the works, especially after City Manager Paul Cayler told the council he and MetalF/X President Gordon Short agreed the loan could be provided during the next fiscal year with a two-year payback.
This would allow the funding to be set aside during the 2009 and 2010 fiscal years and not be such a large percent of any one year's budget. With the quicker payback the impact on the city's finances would also be reduced.
The biggest area of council contention associated with the Redevelopment Agency budget was the hiring of a water conservation officer. Councilmen Bruce Burton and Victor Hanson opposed even including the position in the preliminary budget.
The city has yet to work through the possible repayment of $682,851.86 in Redevelopment Agency funds Mendocino County Auditor-Controller Meredith Ford claims the city has been overpaid since 2001. Whether the city will actually repay any or all of that total is unknown at this time.
In recent years the Redevelopment Agency fund has been depleted by a series of grant overruns and the
When the Water Enterprise Fund dropped into the red, the city council authorized much of the $570,000 cost of the
During the 2008-2009 budget year, the council transferred $100,000 from the RDA budget to provide contingency funds for the Kids Club construction. The council also authorized another $150,000 as a loan in 2007 to be repaid when the city received
The Ballfields Project fund balance was a negative $749,900 in June 2008. The fund balance would have been much worse had not the redevelopment agency fund contributed $315,000 to the fiscal year 2006-2007 RDA Fund. In the 2008-2009 budget, the RDA fund contributed another $100,000 to the project.
More than $40,000 in emergency contract costs came from the RDA Fund in December to complete the Safe Routes to School grant for Blosser Lane.#
Something’s Missing Here
Santa Clarita Valley Signal-6/18/09
Opinion
By Lynne Plambeck
Last Thursday, community members filled a large local school auditorium to talk to the Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Fish and Game about their proposed Newhall Ranch permit.
The 21,000-unit housing development will require a permit from these agencies to allow changes to the
All but two or three speakers stated reasons that such a permit should not be granted and asked the Corps and Fish and Game to deny the permit request.
But several individuals and agencies were notably absent. For one thing, not a single member of the Santa Clarita City Council attended the hearing.
Now, you would think that Council members, who have stated over and over again that they want to protect the Santa Clara River and preserve a ring of open space around our city, would be concerned about a 21,000-unit project on its borders that will forever change the Santa Clara, L.A. County’s last unchannelized river — but apparently they are not.
You would think Council members would have something to say about building in the flood plain and our water supply, or at least want to hear their community’s concerns, but apparently not.
Three Council members announced their intention to run again Thursday — but none of them attended this hearing held the same day about a project that will substantially impact the quality of life for all Santa Claritans, increase traffic and reduce our water supply.
Not a single elected member or representative from a water district attended the hearing. (Not even myself, since the Newhall County Water District held a meeting the same night and did not think to adjourn it so that their members could attend this important public hearing.)
Perhaps they didn’t want to admit that they already had to negotiate with
If they had to do this now, how will these agencies supply the tens of thousands of units already approved, but not yet built in the Santa Clarita Valley, not to mention the 21,000 units in Newhall Ranch?
We will all just use less they say, and our water rates will go up.
The facilities to clean up the polluted Saugus aquifer so that this source can supply existing residents are still not operational some five years after the agencies first said they would be completed.
And the production from the clean-up process will only generate half the amount of water previously provided by the polluted wells.
But with a slight of hand worthy of a magician before the housing crisis, the water agencies claim we will have no problem providing water for all the new housing units as well as the Newhall Ranch project.
I wonder who will bail us out with a water supply when all their predictions predictably fail. Water is not like money. You can’t just print more when you run out.
No city planning commissioner attended, though they have been taking field trips to nearby cities to observe infill and mixed use development, something the Newhall Ranch project definetely is not.
Understandably, no one from
They would not want to show bias by speaking for or against a project on which they must decide.
But since the “preferred alternative” in this permit would change the plan currently before the county, you would think they would want someone to be there to at least to hear what others were saying.
After all, this is the largest project currently before them. It has been controversial for many years.
It will substantially add to traffic and air pollution in Santa Clarita and the San Fernando Valley, in spite of the developer’s rather absurd assertion to the effect that everyone who lives there will work in the
Lastly, you would think the county would want to hear how a company in bankruptcy and possibly facing Chapter 7 dissolution will pay for all the promised mitigation required by this project.
Will taxpayers like you and me end up picking up the tab for this huge proposal that most folks in the community don’t want?
It’s time for our public officials to start representing us. They should have attended this important hearing.
But luckily, the community has power, too. That power was demonstrated when so many people turned out last Thursday to exercise their rights and protest this hearing.#
http://www.the-signal.com/news/article/14543/
Tahoe Daily Tribune-6/16/09
The South Lake Tahoe Yacht Club's annual boat parade will take place on Sunday, Father's Day.
The theme this year is “It's a Grand Ole Flag,” and the boats should be decked out in plenty of red, white and blue flags.
Boaters should begin to circle up at 10:30 a.m. at the Tahoe Keys Homeowners Big Water Entrance to the lake. Boats will then proceed to
Boaters are encouraged to make their boats as festive as possible. There will be an award for the best decorated boat.#
http://www.tahoedailytribune.com/article/20090616/NEWS/906169980/1056
Cowboy uses lariat to rescue boy in well
Tri-Valley Herald-6/18/09
It was a cowboy to the rescue when a 7-year-old boy fell into an abandoned water well in southwest
Reed Nations lassoed Jonathan Easter out of the well with a lariat Tuesday morning before rescuers summoned by his grandmother could arrive.
Jonathan was helping his aunt clear brush around an old house near Doddridge, about four miles from the
Jonathan escaped with only a cut on his arm,
Nations is a modest cowboy. Arkansas State Police Sgt. John Bishop said Nations doesn't want any notoriety.
Firefighters have covered the well.#
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