A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 27, 2009
2. Supply –
Huge tunnel to be built under San Francisco Bay
Mercury News
June water use falls to 32-year low after stricter sprinkler rules take effect, DWP reports
Bridging troubled waters;
New construction projects ensure steady water supply, but come at a price to consumers
Southern California pins rain hopes on fickle El Nino;
Predicted wet winter may not pan out, some warn.
Contra Costa Times
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Huge tunnel to be built under San Francisco Bay
Mercury News – 7/27/09
By Paul Rogers
Hoping to protect one of the Bay Area's main water supplies after the next major earthquake, construction crews will soon embark on a job that sounds like something out of a Jules Verne novel: building a massive, 5-mile-long tunnel underneath
The project is believed to be the first major tunnel ever built across the bay.
Using a giant boring machine, workers will carve a 14-foot high corridor through clay, sand and bedrock from
"All the experts tell us that within the next 30 years, there is a 63 percent chance of having a major earthquake in the Bay Area," said Ed Harrington, general manager of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which is in charge of the project.
"By building extra tunnels and strengthening our pipelines, it means we have much greater assurance that we'll have water after the next earthquake."
Bids on the tunnel will be advertised Friday.
Only 12 companies in the world are certified to perform the job, which is estimated to cost $347 million. Digging will start next spring on the
The job is part of a $4.5 billion renovation by the San Francisco PUC to upgrade its water system. Commonly known as the Hetch Hetchy System, the network of tunnels, pipes and reservoirs delivers water 167 miles through gravity-fed pipes from Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in
Biggest system
The largest water system in the Bay Area, it provides some or all of the drinking water to 2.5 million people from North San Jose through the Peninsula to
Another agency, the Santa Clara Valley Water District, provides water to 1.8 million people in
An engineering marvel, the Hetch Hetchy system was built following the 1906 earthquake, when
The tunnel, for example, will replace two large steel pipes built in 1925 and 1936 that sit on the floor of the bay, and could easily break in a major quake, cutting off water for weeks.
"Being buried deep in stronger, tighter materials, there is much smaller vulnerability to being pulled apart from shaking and liquefaction," David Schwartz, a geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey in Menlo Park, said of the proposed tunnel. "From an engineering point of view, it's much stronger."
Schwartz noted that since the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, a 6.9 magnitude event that killed 63 people and did $6 billion in damage, other Bay Area agencies have been hard at work. Racing to beat the next earthquake, Caltrans has retrofitted dozens of freeway overpasses and is rebuilding the
"The question is, can we get it all done in time?" Schwartz said.
Retrofitting needed
Many of the region's hospitals have not been retrofitted. And thousands of old buildings, including homes and unreinforced masonry buildings, remain at risk.
USGS scientists say there is a 63 percent chance of a quake of 6.7 magnitude or larger hitting the Bay Area by 2036. Geologists are most concerned about the
With that backdrop, the San Francisco PUC won approval from
The project also will rebuild pipelines, water treatment plants and Calaveras Dam, north of
Despite the sensitive politics of anything involving the bay, environmentalists did not oppose the new tunnel.
"The environmental effects of a tunnel would be less than if they built new pipelines across the marshes," said Florence LaRiviere, co-founder of the Citizens Committee to Complete the Refuge, in
And the earthquake risks are real, so "it is entirely appropriate," she said.
Still, LaRiviere said she wants the PUC to remove the old pipes when the tunnel is done to restore the shoreline to its natural state. For now, the agency plans to leave them in place as a backup.#
http://www.mercurynews.com/localnewsheadlines/ci_12902506?source=rss
June water use falls to 32-year low after stricter sprinkler rules take effect, DWP reports
By David Zahniser
Just as
Water use by DWP ratepayers fell by 11% in June, compared with the same month in 2008, utility officials said.
"I want to thank our customers for cutting their use. It’s paying off,” said Jim McDaniel, senior assistant general manager of the DWP's water system. “What we have asked them to do isn’t easy, but the results are proof of their efforts.”
The DWP imposed a rule June 1 barring ratepayers from using lawn sprinklers at any time other than set hours on Monday and Thursday.
With turf across the San Fernando Valley turning various shades of yellow and brown, the City Council voted last week to provide exemptions from that rule for public parks, golf courses and other large landowners who can prove they have met the DWP's conservation targets another way.
Still, Councilman Greig Smith went further Friday, calling for the DWP to add a third watering day to allow residents to keep their trees and turf from dying during triple-digit heat. Smith's plan calls for a maximum of eight minutes of sprinkler use on each of three days, instead of 15 minutes of sprinkler use on each of two days.
The data released this morning by the DWP also said water use in single-family homes was 12.7% lower in June compared with the same month in 2008.
On June 1, the DWP also reduced the amount of water that single-family homeowners can purchase for the lowest price, a charge known as the Tier 1 rate. Residents who used more than their Tier 1 allocation were charged a higher rate for any water that was considered by the DWP to exceed a household's "basic" needs. #
Bridging troubled waters;
New construction projects ensure steady water supply, but come at a price to consumers
The picturesque
The stone shrine -- built in 1934 next to the southern rim of
But while the temple invokes a sense of quiet triumph, the faint sound of an electric saw whirring in the background, beneath a fountain of orange sparks, serves as a reminder that man's tenuous victory over nature comes at a high price. Cities that buy water from Hetch Hetchy not only have to pay a hefty sum to maintain the crumbling infrastructure, but they also have to plan ahead for global warming and population growth -- factors that could turn the bountiful resource into a scarce commodity.
The San Francisco Water Department began its renovation of the aging Pulgas channel July 15, but plans to refurbish it have been in the works for several years -- part of San Francisco's $4.4 billion effort to renovate the entire Hetch Hetchy system. Last week, workers began replacing corroded pipes, fixing the cracks at the bottom of the stone channel and reinforcing the sides of the channel with steel plates.
The Pulgas work is one of about 85 parts of the Water System Improvement Program, which
The overall work plan also includes 14
While
This month,
A 5 percent increase may be a drop in the bucket for many
"If you look at what's happening with the rates, they've already started down this path," Ratchye said.
The major construction projects (and, consequently, the swelling water bills) may help explain why
Last month, the City Council endorsed a new water-supply contract with
The new contract -- considered a huge milestone for the 26 agencies that buy water from
Among the biggest beneficiaries could be
Mayor Peter Drekmeier, who works as a program director for the Tuolomne River Trust, called
Drekmeier's group has been among the leading proponents of including a cap-and-trade clause in the new contract. Under this provision,
At a recent council discussion of the new water contract, Palo Alto Councilman Greg Schmid also expressed enthusiasm about the new provision, which he said could give water-rich communities an inducement to conserve water and give thirstier communities new options for expanding their supply.
"An effective cap-and-trade market could generate real incentives for conservation among some buyers," Schmid said. "It could be tailored to people who really need it and could really benefit everyone in the Bay Area."
But while the cap-and-trade system offers cities a carrot for conservation, another provision in the new contract provides a stick. Under the new agreement, if the wholesale customers collectively use more than 184 million gallons per day,
The clause is intended to address the Bay Area's greatest challenge: population growth. The Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency (BAWSCA) expects the population in its service area to grow by about 16 percent between 2007 and 2030. Water usage over the same span is projected to climb to about 208 million gallons per day -- far more than the 184 million gallons
Extended droughts could make the situation worse, as could global warming, which Drekmeier said is expected to reduce the Sierra snowcap by 20 to 50 percent.
"There's going to be a lot more people and less water available," Drekmeier said. "The thing we have to do now is prepare for that uncertain future."
Faced with the grim numbers, BAWSCA is now working on its own long-term plan for water conservation, said Art Jensen, the agency's CEO. Jensen told the
Palo Alto Councilman Larry Klein, who sits on the BAWSCA board of directors, said the threats of global warming, future droughts and population growth all offer
"Part of the water-supply contract is looking at future demand and planning for increased water conservation," Klein said. "We'll have to redouble our conservation goals."
Ratchye, who is in charge of
"I think the whole system is at a very high risk of water shortages," Ratchye said. "I think we are, even without additional people, always at risk -- but it could easily get worse with climate change and more people."
The cost of retrofitting the Hetch Hetchy system may be the primary reason why the average
According to a survey BAWSCA released earlier this year,
Utilities staff say one major reason for
This week, for instance, the
Ratchye said the city has been methodically replacing and upgrading the aging infrastructure of all of its utilities over the past 15 years or so. "I believe we have a capital program that is larger than average," Ratchye said. "We also have an older system, and we're now going through it and replacing it."
At the same time,
This fall,
Palo Altans upset about the skyrocketing water rates should also reserve some blame for themselves.
Peter Drekmeier, who is one of the city's leading proponents of using more recycled water, says Palo Altans' landscaping habits are the prime reason they use close to 120 gallons of water per capita per day, roughly twice as much as their neighbors in
"
The city tries to mitigate this problem by using recycled water to maintain the Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course and Greer Park.
But Drekmeier and Klein both said the city's high water consumption offers a lot of low-hanging fruit -- simple measures residents can adopt to conserve.
One major step would be to populate local gardens with native plants, which require little water, Drekmeier said. One local gardener, Kirsten Essenmacher, said the switch to native-plant gardens is already generating major momentum around town.
Three years ago, Essenmacher started a native-plant garden in her
In April, about 450 people came over during the city's annual native-garden tour to check out her path-lined garden and its arrangement of sages, grasses, persimmons, coffee berries, snow berries and other native species. That's more than twice the number who showed up just a few years ago, she said.
One reason for the renewed interest, Essenmacher said, is
"More people are wondering how to reduce their water," Essenmacher said. "This large rate increase we've been having in the past three years and the drought made people more aware of all the environmental issues."
Essenmacher said many local gardeners are exploring a "new aesthetic" that represents a departure from the traditional East Coast look. People are also discovering that native-plant gardens don't have to be limited to prickly, cactus-like plants, she said. And the more they learn, the more they replicate.
Based on past experience, the city budgeted for 10 participants to sign on per year. But between last June and April, 142
"I think people started hearing about water shortages and have become more concerned, but we'd love and appreciate having more people get involved," Kinnear said.
Joe Teresi, an engineer from the Public Works Department, said the city also offers programs for limiting storm runoff. Some of these have the secondary benefit of conserving water, he said.
One program, for example, offers a $50 rebate for people who install rain barrels to capture water running off from their roofs -- water that could then be used to water plants. Another program offers up to $1,000 for residents and $10,000 for companies to install above- or below-ground cisterns, which can capture larger volumes of rain water. Teresi said one customer installed a 50,000 gallon underground tank in her yard last summer and has been using the rainwater to irrigate her yard.
"It's amazing how much water you can collect," Teresi said. "The whole tank was filled up in one year."
But city leaders aren't ready to celebrate victory just yet. Klein observed that while staff may feel good about having a hundred-plus participants getting involved in the landscaping rebate program, the number is miniscule when compared with the size of the city and the pressures ahead.
"When you consider that we have about 25,000 residences and more than 15,000 single-family homes, obviously a hundred participants a year isn't going to do it," Klein said. "We'll have to step things up considerably," he added. "There's a lot more that can be done." #
http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=13174
Southern California pins rain hopes on fickle El Nino;
Predicted wet winter may not pan out, some warn.
Contra Costa Times – 7/25/09
By Zeke Barlow
Bill Patzert calls it the "great wet hope."
"You say `El Nino' and everyone's eyes light up," said Patzert, a climatologist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
So when the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recently predicted that El Nino conditions were returning, some started dreaming of a season flush with water that could drag
But don't bust out any celebratory umbrellas just yet, Patzert warned.
"In the last decade, we have had a lot of false starts on El Nino, and at this point, it looks like deja vu all over again," he said. "The smart money is on another dry winter."
NOAA's
But all El Ninos are not created equal.
Patzert said that even if there is an El Nino this winter — and he is dubious — it will likely be a moderate one that could kick the rainfall up to a normal range, an increase from the dry depths of recent years that pushed the state into a drought.
Eric Boldt, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, agreed that it's too early to predict deluges this winter. El Ni os can show up without the rain often associated with them, he said. And there are plenty of El Ninos that come and bring only an average amount of rain, which would still be welcome, considering that about seven of the past 10 years have had below-normal rain, he said.
"It's not definite that it's going to happen," he said of a wet winter. But an increase in storms would be welcome as the snowpack in the Sierra Nevada shrinks and water supplies in
"It's definitely a signal, but not a 100 percent guarantee that you are going to get above- average rainfall, but it gives us an idea of where we are going for the winter," he said.
Don Kendall has been around long enough to know better than to get his hopes up for rain. The general manager for Calleguas Municipal Water District, which supplies state water to most of eastern
"I've been burned by El Nino previously," he said. "It's not something I would be counting on. I'm just hoping for an average year."
Besides,
Fishermen, though, could feel the pinch if a powerful El Nino arrives, warming the oceans slightly and sending the fish farther north.
During the last El Nino, in 1997-98, the squid catch in
Fish such as sardines and mackerel, which sea lions depend on for food, move north, resulting in a dramatic increase in the number of dead and dying animals on
A weak El Nino could be good for surfers, said Nathan Cool, forecaster for Wetsand.com.
If the storms stay out at sea and don't bring torrential rains to the coast, it could be the right mix of enough wave energy and clean waves to make for a few nice sets, he said. #
http://www.contracostatimes.com/california/ci_12916685
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