Department of Water Resources
California Water News
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 21, 2009
4. Water Quality –
Mill Valley sewer board not interested in full consolidation
Marin Independent Joutrnal
What's in that bottle? U.S. Congress says water unclear
Calgary Herald
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Mill Valley sewer board not interested in full consolidation
Marin Independent Joutrnal-7/20/09
By Jim Staats
While refusing to go the distance toward full consolidation of its various districts, leaders of a troubled Southern Marin sewage agency are willing to support a "functional collaboration" of services, staff and resources.
The agency's board of commissioners, representing the six sewer districts of the Sewerage Agency of Southern Marin, agreed with some findings of a Marin County Civil Grand Jury report but rejected the main thrust: a call to merge the districts.
The network of sewer districts lining Richardson Bay have suffered from chronic problems, including sewage spills, large fines, maintenance issues and aging pipes. The grand jury report, titled "Southern Marin Sewers: Cracks in the System," concluded that they could run more efficiently if they combined.
"We don't want to become one agency for several reasons," said SASM board president Jim Jacobs. "Bigger is not necessarily better. We feel we can provide local service better than if we were just one agency."
Jacobs, a hydrogeologist who represents the Tamalpais Community Services District, said cost structure and operation differences among agencies would make any merger difficult.
"We support functional consolidation, which to me means that many of the activities we are going to do we do as a joint venture," he said, "but what we don't want is for all of us to become one Southern Marin agency where all the (district) boundaries are the outline (of the agency)."
Agency general manager Steve Danehy said, "Where duplication of efforts can be avoided, such as engineering services and even to monthly reporting services to the regulatory agency, SASM strongly supports that approach."
State Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, has pending legislation that would move decision-making authority for consolidation away from district directors and into the hands of the countywide Local Agency Formation Commission. He said he wasn't surprised with Thursday's response by SASM.
"It's a lot to ask somebody who's been told by outsiders that they need to consolidate or merge their entity out of existence," Huffman said. "But I do agree with the grand jury that this is what needs to happen."
The push for consolidation follows a settlement reached in April on a $1.6 million fine by the state water board in response to spills of more than 3 million gallons of raw sewage in January 2008.
The agency, which serves 28,000 residents, collects and treats sewage from six entities - the city of Mill Valley, Tamalpais Community Services District, Almonte Sanitary District, Alto Sanitary District, Homestead Valley Sanitary District and Richardson Bay Sanitary District.
Out of the six districts, only the city of Mill Valley agreed to consider consolidation.
Mill Valley Mayor Andrew Berman, who serves on the agency's board, said, "We just see that there are many ways to work more effectively, even short of LAFCO consolidation."
Wayne Bush, the city's public works director, said since the city is a municipality, "political consolidation does not eliminate our agency; unlike our special district counterparts, who therefore must consider the community impacts of dissolution."
The Mill Valley City Council was scheduled Monday to discuss its own response to the report. Each district is required to submit individual responses, due in August.
Sejal Choksi, of San Francisco Baykeeper, said in opposing consolidation the board has framed the problem as one of local rights.
"In reality, this is a problem that has been caused by allowing the financial interest of a few (the special districts and board members) to outweigh the public's interest," she said.
Jacobs said ratepayers can expect increases in the future.
"We have to keep improving the plant and replace deteriorating pipes," he said. "We're running an aging system."#
http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_12878284?IADID=Search-www.marinij.com-www.marinij.com
What's in that bottle? U.S. Congress says water unclear
Calgary Herald-7/20/09
By Maggie Fox (Reuters)
Bottled water makers make millions off people who believe their products are purer than tap water, but consumers do not realize that they are less regulated than plain old tap water, according to a U.S. Congressional report released on Wednesday.
The report from the General Accountability Office also found that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has little power to regulate the safety of bottled water, and even states with the power to regulate it concentrate more on tap water.
The report was just one piece of ammunition unleashed at the bottled water industry at a hearing of the House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
"Of particular note, FDA does not have the specific statutory authority to require bottlers to use certified laboratories for water quality tests or to report test results, even if violations of the standards are found," the GAO report reads.
Jane Houlihan of the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization that submitted a second report to the committee, said in a statement: "Many people assume bottled water is healthier and safer to drink than ordinary tap water.
"But some companies have lured consumers away from the tap with claims of health and purity that aren't backed by public data."
Sponsors of the hearing agreed.
"Americans are willing to pay top dollar for bottled water, which costs up to 1,900 times more than tap water and uses up to 2,000 times more energy to produce and deliver," Michigan Representative Bart Stupak told the hearing.
"Over the past several years, however, bottled water has been recalled due to contamination by arsenic, bromate, cleaning compounds, mold, and bacteria. In April, a dozen students at a California junior high school reportedly were sickened after drinking bottled water from a vending machine."
Joseph Doss, president and chief executive officer of the International Bottled Water Association, told the hearing that Americans drank 8.7 billion gallons (33 billion liters) of water in 2008, or 28.5 gallons (108 liters) per person.
"Sales revenues for the United States bottled water market in 2008 were approximately $11.2 billion," Doss said. "Bottled water consumption is about half that of carbonated soft drinks and only slightly ahead of milk and beer.
The GAO found that the FDA does not regulate a compound called DEHP in bottled water. The Environmental Protection Agency regulated levels of DEHP, a so-called phthalate linked to some health risks, in tap water.
"Specifically, FDA deferred action on DEHP in a final rule published in 1996 and has yet to either adopt a standard or publish a reason for not doing so on the safety of bottled water," the GAO said.
Doss said DEHP was unlikely to be in bottled water, which he said was governed by several layers of regulation.
Stupak pointed out some of the claims by bottled water makers.
"Aquamantra uses the design on its labels to affect the molecular structure of California natural spring water to make it more refreshing and wholesome to drink," one company's website claims.
Poland Springs water talks about a polio victim who lived 52 years more after drinking water from its spring.#
http://www.calgaryherald.com/What+that+bottle+Congress+says+water+unclear/1774433/story.html
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