A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 30, 2009
2. Supply –
North Coast
Redwood Times
Water rights battle might dry up today;
Man aims to prove city duped rate payers to serve wineries
The Weekly Calistogan
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North Coast
Redwood Times – 7/29/09
By Redwood Times staff
A suite of projects designed to protect the health, economy and water supply while restoring the fisheries of the North Coast Region are back on track after payment was received for over $3.2 million in invoices that have been outstanding since the December 2008 bond freeze.
On December 17, 2008 the Pooled Money Investment Board (PMIB) suspended work on over 5,000 bond-funded projects in response to the State’s budget woes. This suspension had catastrophic effects on
The North Coast IRWMP was developed by a coalition of cities, counties, special districts, non-governmental organizations, tribes, watershed groups and interested stakeholders from Del Norte, Siskiyou, Modoc, Humboldt, Trinity, Mendocino and
In
In the Mattole River watershed, where bond funds are facilitating erosion control, stream flow enhancement, wildfire hazard reduction, and other projects critical to the survival of the river’s native coho and Chinook salmon runs, Executive Director Jeremy Wheeler of the Mattole Restoration Council expressed appreciation for the substantial support from his local community during these challenging times, “to navigate these straits, we have been supported by the local community and the patience of our contractors, and have realized how deep is the backing we can count on from the people we serve in promoting the cause of watershed recovery. In the last days of June, the State came through with what it owed us. We have now repaid our community bridge loans in full, and realize that through all of these struggles, we have become stronger together.”
North Coast Integrated Regional Water Management Plan (NCIRWMP) leaders,
Humboldt County Supervisor Jimmy Smith, Chair of the NCIRWMP’s Policy Review Panel, the governance body of the seven county, multi-jurisdictional collaboration, said “We have tracked this process since day one. We engaged every agency and received strong support from Senator Wiggins and her staff Zuey Goosby, Assemblymember Chesbro and his staff John Woolley, and from dedicated staff at DWR and Scott Couch at the State Water Resources Control Board. Their advice and willingness to help was instrumental in tracking our funds through this challenging process. We worked hard to convey the hardships placed on our contractors and their families. Throughout the ordeal our regional team was cohesive and determined. I am very proud of their strength and their political prowess.” Smith went on to say, “We look forward to continuing projects that provide vital services to residents in
For a complete list of impacted projects and for more information about the North Coast IRWMP and its projects, visit www.northcoastirwmp.net. #
http://www.redwoodtimes.com/garbervillenews/ci_12938034
Water rights battle might dry up today;
Man aims to prove city duped rate payers to serve wineries
The Weekly Calistogan - 7/30/09
By John Waters Jr.
Today marks a turning point in a legal claim that the city of
The case goes before Napa County Superior Court Judge Ray Guadagni for a critical pre-trial ruling today. If Guadagni rules for the city, the case essentially will be over. If not, then the city and a
“I will learn (July 30) whether the court accepts my opposition to a motion by the City of Calistoga for a demurrer on the basis of the evidence, or I will lose,” said Grant Reynolds, of San Diego, who filed a claim for damages on behalf of Debbie O’Gorman, the last remaining descendant of Calistoga Pioneer Alfred Tubbs. Tubbs’ son signed the 1939 agreement with the city that is at the heart of the dispute.
“If I lose I will take this up on appeal because something is definitely wrong here. As I see it, the water rate payers of Calistoga have been reamed by an arrogant system of government that has outright lied to benefit some local wineries and vineyard owners in the
Calistoga Senior Engineer Jim Smith, responding to e-mailed questions from The Weekly Calistogan, said Reynolds’ claims lack merit. Smith said the city’s water rights “are issued by the state of
“We disagree with the allegations made in the legal case, and will be vigorously defending the city with several strong defenses,” he said. “Beyond stating that, I can’t comment further.”
Springs, eternal
Reynolds claims the 1939 agreement bound the city to allow some water to flow from Kimball Reservoir to maintain the
One year ago this month, California Department Fish and Game Lt. Don Richardson wrote a two-page letter to the city saying the state required a streambed alteration agreement, which includes the need for protective pass flows and the measurement of water inflow to the reservoir.
Richardson, who is now retired, reported to the city that its team of three inspectors discovered six concerns with the Kimball Dam and reservoir: Insufficient bypass flows, failures to install monitoring devices for creek flows into the reservoir and bypass flows through the dam, lack of compliance with city water rights, lack of compliance with a 1982 agreement with Fish & Game and failure to garner an agreement with Fish & Game for diversion of water from the reservoir.
“Right now, there is approximately five gallons per minute entering Kimball Reservoir from the stream above (about the flow rate of a garden hose),” Smith wrote. “Regarding the question of whether springs do exist or did previously exist under the body of the reservoir — I do not know. I have heard anecdotal information that this is so, but I have seen no information to confirm this is true.”
Reynolds said he has obtained proof from the California Department of Water Resources, including photos and maps made prior to the construction of the dam, that show a year-round flow.
“Our obligation is to provide a summer-time bypass flow which is at least equal to the inflow into the reservoir,” Smith’s e-mail continued. “This practice has been in place for many years, and we comply with the requirement. Our practice has not changed from year to year.”
Smith said in 2008 the city was releasing slightly more than 20 gallons per minute into the stream below Kimball Dam.
Damming evidence
In his opposition to the city’s motion for a demurrer — a motion that the case be dismissed because evidence is not properly presented or shows no violation of the law — Reynolds that the city has never addressed the concerns pointed out by the DF&G inspection because “they don’t want anyone; Tubbs’ relatives or anyone else, to know exactly how much water is coming in or out of the reservoir because it would shed light on how much of the water, meant for the residents of Calistoga, is actually going to agricultural use.”
Reynolds said some water is being supplied to at least one winery is evident in an agreement the Calistoga City Council approved with Rombauer Vineyards in June 2004 that gave Rombauer city water at the rate of $1,824 an acre foot.
According to a series of e-mails between former Calistoga Water Department Supervisor Steve Anderson and several department heads,
“I don’t think the citizens of Calistoga had their rates increased to give a customer outside our use area water for ag use,”
He copied then-Public Works Director
That same day,
On 7:42 a.m. that day,
Thereafter,
Taking the lead
While
Appointing itself lead agency, the city authorized a petition on service area changes and, through its building department, filed a negative declaration under CEQA, exempting itself from the environmental review and hearing process.
The water resources control board has since said it lost the documents from the city, but “believes the city” may have provided them, even though there is no proof to that effect.
The agreement to sell Rombauer 20 acre feet annually, plus whatever Rombauer needed for indoor use, at $1,824 per acre foot was recorded in August of the same year. This kicked open the door for the city to begin to serve the other nearby wineries, according to Reynolds.
In addition to filing a motion to stop the suit, the city also asked for a protective order against unveiling any more evidence until 30 days after Judge Guadagni’s ruling on today’s motion is announced.
Said Reynolds, “In providing the evidence proving the case should not go forward, the city of
“For example, they claim that the Tubbs’ descendants should have known about the Rombauer agreement and suspected they were being cheated, but because she relied on her ancestors’ contract with the city of
According to Reynolds, O’Gorman only found out about the problem in 2008, when the water resources control board told her that
http://www.weeklycalistogan.com/articles/2009/07/30/news/local/doc4a71127c21a77413196010.txt
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