Department of Water Resources
California Water News
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 1, 2009
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
Ferry assists rescue of Sea Scouts
Vallejo Times-Herald
Power outages disable Coyote Valley Dam
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Soledad sets rules for conserving water
The Salinas Californian
SoCal water district starts conservation crackdown
Ventura County Star
Wasting water draws most complaints by far
San Diego Union-Tribune
Our View: More action needed on water issues
Merced Sun-Star
Oxnard residents discover their homes are in flood plain
Ventura County Star
NV irrigation district's criminal case in court
San Jose Mercury News
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Ferry assists rescue of Sea Scouts
Vallejo Times-Herald-7/1/09
By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen
The Vallejo Ferry figured prominently in the rescue of more than two dozen Sea Scouts on Tuesday, after their boat started taking on water in the Suisun Bay near Concord, a Coast Guard official said.
"The ferry Intintoli, heard the distress call, and responded," Coast Guard Petty Officer Levi Read said. "The Intintoli was in the San Pablo Bay at the time."
The 85-foot Sea Scout Ship Farallon, out of Berkeley, reported just before noon that it was taking on water, Read said.
The Coast Guard stations in Vallejo and Rio Vista both responded with one boat each and a helicopter, and plucked 33 people, including 27 Sea Scouts, out of harm's way, Read said.
The rescue boats transported the passengers to the ferry, which took them to the Vallejo Ferry Terminal where emergency medical personnel were waiting, he said. The rescue was completed by about 1 p.m. No injuries were reported, he said.
"I want the captain and crew of the Intintoli to get their props in this situation," Read said. "The ferry was a major source of help in this rescue. We couldn't have done it as smoothly without them."
All the Farallon's passengers were wearing life vests, Read said.
The ship's flooding was controlled, and it was making its way under its own power with a Coast Guard escort Tuesday afternoon to Alameda Bay Shipping Lots for repairs, Read said.
The incident is under investigation by the Coast Guard, he added.
The Coast Guard Sector San Francisco office, which includes Vallejo, conducts about 1,000 search and rescue operations annually, Read said.#
Power outages disable Coyote Valley Dam
Santa Rosa Press Democrat-7/1/09
By Laura Norton
A series of power outages near Ukiah Tuesday night disabled the Coyote Valley Dam at Lake Mendocino, dropping Russian River water levels by as much as 24 inches.
The dam lost power at 9:38 p.m. It was manually operated throughout the outage, said Brad Sherwood with the Sonoma County Water Agency. .
The City of Ukiah operates the area’s utilities. Officials in the utilities department did not know the length or extent of Tuesday night’s outage.
Low waters might be noticed in the Russian River until about 9:30 this morning, Sherwood said.
Agency biologists are monitoring the river and rescuing any fish or wildlife that have been stranded by the dip in water level.#
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090701/NEWS/907019981
Soledad sets rules for conserving water
Drought conditions force lawn-watering restrictions in city
The Salinas Californian-7/1/09
By Leslie Griffy, Kimber solana and Mike Hornick
On Tuesday, the city issued its first-ever mandatory water-conservation measures, limiting when residents can water their yards and asking customers to cut back usage.
"It was just time to do something," said Cliff Price, Soledad public works director.
Though the community isn't running out of water, the drought coupled with high demand during hot weather stretches the city's ability to pump water to replenish storage facilities.
The move comes less than a month after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger issued an executive order declaring a drought after three years of droughtlike conditions.
"For the areas in Northern California that supply most of our water, this March, April and May have been the driest ever in our recorded history," Schwarzenegger said in a statement.
The executive order directs local water agencies to encourage conservation, which is what Soledad is doing, Price said.
While there won't be fines for wasting water, there will be ample education.
Under the conservation measures, homes and businesses with odd-numbered addresses can water only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Those with even-numbered addresses can drench their lawns on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
Watering isn't allowed on Mondays, under the plan.
Other water-saving projects, including a water-recycling center, are under way in Soledad.
Public works staff members will help residents comply with the new rules. They'll even do home visits to advise residents who want to cut back on water waste in their homes.
Soledad resident Maria Marquez, who lives in a house with an even address number, said, "If we have to follow it, we'll do it."
Similar programs exist in San Francisco and San Diego, but Monterey County officials say they don't plan to require conservation in unincorporated areas.
Soledad takes water from the Salinas Valley Groundwater Basin, sharing its area of the basin with Greenfield and local farmers. Greenfield City Manager Roger Wong said his city has no plan to require water conservation.
Wong said Greenfield has the capacity to store and deliver up to 2 million gallons of water each day.
"We're doing pretty well," he said. "Maybe we just collect more water."
Salinas also gets its water from aquifers and has no immediate plans for measures like Soledad's.
"Mandatory water conservation is not unusual, but it's not that desperate for us," said Denise Estrada, the city's director of maintenance services. "That's not to say it couldn't happen. But there's been no discussion so far."
Salinas has had water-conservation ordinances in the past, most recently in 1991. It prohibited watering to the point of runoff, set time limits for landscape irrigation and laid down other rules.
The city's water is provided by two private companies, California Water Service and Alco Water.#
SoCal water district starts conservation crackdown
Ventura County Star-7/1/09
By Zeke Barlow
Today is the day to take a good look at your lawn and figure out how much water it really needs. You might turn off the tap while brushing your teeth, too. And washing down your driveway should have stopped some time ago.
Starting today, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California is forcing its water purveyors to cut back distribution by 15 percent or pay a hefty penalty.
This means in Thousand Oaks, customers may be asked to limit watering their landscaping to three days a week. Repeat offenders could be fined. Already in Simi Valley, anyone watering their lawns during the daytime faces fines.
In Agoura Hills, customers will have to pay for any water they use over their allotted amount.
In Camarillo, they are drilling a new well in hopes of offsetting the 15 percent reduction.
“Everyone needs to step up,” said Eric Bergh, resources manager for Calleguas Municipal Water District, which supplies all or part of the water to most cities in eastern Ventura County with water from the state. “I think we are going to see a reduction in water use.”
Voluntary conservation measures in the last few months didn’t yield the 10 percent reductions sought by the district. But Bergh said he’s hopeful an aggressive media campaign to encourage reductions will work.
Several years of drought — both in Northern California and along the Colorado River, which are the sources of Metropolitan’s water — and a court decision limiting the amount of water pumped from Northern California in order to protect the endangered Delta smelt have led to the water reductions.
Bergh said local water agencies won’t have less water flowing through the taps. But if a year from now they have gone over their allotted amount of water, the financial cost will be huge.
Water purveyors now pay $769 per acre foot of water from the state. If the agency goes over its water limit, it will have to pay $2,513 for every acre foot. If the agency goes more than 15 percent over its allocation, it would have to pay $4,135 per acre foot.
Those increases would be passed down the line to local water districts, which could then pass the cost on to customers.
Cities around the area are enacting measures to keep that from happening.
Jeff Reinhardt, spokesman with Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, which serves Westlake Village, Agoura Hills and other regions of western Los Angeles County, said if his district uses as much water this year as it did last year, it will have to write a $10 million check to Metropolitan.
Starting today, Las Virgenes customers will see their monthly water allotment in their water bill. The amount is based on parcel size, but the figure can be appealed for larger families or other reasons. For every 748 gallons a user goes over the allotment, there is a $3 surcharge. A household uses anywhere from 200 to 300 gallons a day, Reinhardt said.
The majority of customers should be able to make those reductions simply by cutting back on water used on landscaping, he said.
“People who already conserve will not be punished,” Reinhardt said, saying that their previous conservation efforts should help them meet their allotment. But people who let their sprinklers run for hours and watch the water flow down the sidewalk will have to make some changes.
In Thousand Oaks, the City Council is considering a measure that would limit residents to watering their lawns three days a week between the hours of 5 p.m. and 9 a.m.
“Most people during the summer use about 70 percent of their water outdoors,” said Mark Watkins, public works director for the city. He said the ramped up restrictions should be enough to reduce usage by 15 percent.
Though he said they city is relying on customers to voluntarily comply, if they are found to be violating the ordinance, they could be fined $100 for the first violation, $200 the second time, and $500 for the third offense.
Simi Valley, which gets virtually all its water from the state, passed an ordinance earlier this year that prohibits watering during the day, among other restrictions. It initially exempted the city from the rules, but the City Council later amended the resolution to include the city.
Assistant Public Works Director Joe Deakin said he thinks customers will adjust their behavior without too much difficulty.
“It does require a change in behavior and perhaps a change in perspective for some,” he said.
In Camarillo, which gets about 60 percent of its water from the state, the city is drilling a new $200,000 well off Los Posas Road that should be able to offset any reductions, said Tom Fox, public works director. However, the city is working on a public education campaign to encourage customers to conserve.
Customers in the western half of the county who get their water from Casitas Municipal Water District — which gets all its water from Lake Casitas — aren’t being forced to conserve as much as those who get water from the state. But the district is still encouraging customers to conserve.#
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/jul/01/socal-water-district-starts-conservation/
Wasting water draws most complaints by far
San Diego Union-Tribune-7/1/09
By Jeff Ristine
Traffic passed by one of the potholes on southbound Kearny Villa Road last month. (Howard Lipin / Union-Tribune) - THE PROBLEMS: “Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink.”
The famous line from Samuel Taylor Coleridge's “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” had nothing to do with public works, but it's a notion on the minds of many contacting The San Diego Union-Tribune's Just Fix It column this year.
The region's drought emergency has many readers more sensitive to unexplained trickles along a curb line or chronic seepage from a crack or utility box cover in the street.
They are among more than 500 complaints received so far this year at Just Fix It.
The Union-Tribune began the column Feb. 7, 2007, asking readers to report persistent problems local government hasn't taken care of, despite complaints. Rough roads, bike lanes and curb cuts remain other topics of discontent among the column's readers.
FIXED: One place not suffering “water, water everywhere” is the Witherby Street approach to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. Over the years the condition of the narrow, heavily traversed street — with numerous cracks and potholes carved out by ever-present seepage — triggered more complaints to Just Fix It than any other single issue. The problem grew visibly worse this year around Witherby's underpass to Pacific Highway.
Many passersby, speculating a broken water main was to blame, accused the city of turning a blind eye to enormous waste. Street officials and San Diego Gas & Electric Co., which had done some trenching in the area, said that much of the flow at the below-sea-level street was groundwater from San Diego Bay, emerging at high tides.
Finally, in April, SDG&E and the city set out to try to do something. The utility sent a contractor out to fill the cracks and potholes in the street and to seal joints associated with trenches it previously dug; city crews followed up later with a fresh, smooth slurry seal, completed last week.
For now the work seems to have done the trick. In recent visits Witherby was not quite bone dry, but there was no ponding.
“It appears to be OK,” said Hasan Yousef, deputy director of the San Diego Street Division. Absent a major redesign of the area, “it's not going to be 100 percent watertight, but if you look at it, it's, I would say, a 95 percent improvement from the way it was before. (The water) dries out and it doesn't run like it used to.”#
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jul/01/wasting-water-drawsmost-complaints-far/
Our View: More action needed on water issues
Merced Sun-Star-7/1/09
Opinion
Salazar offers relief, but it is really up to the Legislature to fix state's problems.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar offered some federal assistance to ease the California water crisis, and that at least shows the Obama administration finally has put this emergency on its radar screen.
But this problem is too complex for quick fixes, and it will take state and federal action to resolve it.
So far, lawmakers in California have not offered a comprehensive water solution and that's another failing of the state Legislature.
But Salazar responded to the pressure of agriculture and farmworker groups with several key announcements Sunday.
This action would not have come without the intense pressure they put on the Obama administration the past few months.
At a town hall in Fresno, Salazar said $160 million in Recovery Act funds will go to the Central Valley Project, which manages the dams and canals that move our water around.
Salazar also named Deputy Interior Secretary David J. Hayes as the "water czar" who will coordinate solutions between federal agencies and state officials.
The interior secretary also reminded farmers that today, pumps in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta will be turned on and will operate for the rest of this year. That will help some, although the action should have come sooner.
Farmers have targeted environmentalists and the Endangered Species Act as the villains.
But it's the Legislature and governor -- both past and present -- who have failed to meet the growing water needs of the state.
California's population has doubled since the last major water project was built in the state.
But state lawmakers continue to dodge this issue, fearing that they'll anger one of the many interest groups involved in the issue.
We believe that agricultural, urban and environmental water needs can be accommodated with a comprehensive water plan. There would have to be compromises by all parties to the water debate.
The solution must include building dams, expanding underground storage through water banking and dramatically increasing water availability through conservation efforts.
The local congressional delegation, especially Reps. Dennis Cardoza and Jim Costa, played a big role in getting Salazar to Fresno. But much more must be done.#
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/177/story/928554.html
Oxnard residents discover their homes are in flood plain
Ventura County Star-7/1/09
By Scott Hadly
The letters started arriving Saturday at about 1,700 homes in Oxnard, letting people know that they’re in a flood zone.
A recently revised map includes hundreds of homes that were not previously thought to be in the flood plain.
“We were caught by surprise,” said Wally Olsen, a retired naval officer who lives in the gated Victoria Estates.
Olsen said he first heard about the changes a few months ago. The effect on those in the flood zone is more than the added cost of expensive flood insurance.
“I think once these homes are included in a flood zone their values are going to take a nose dive,” he said.
He’s concerned primarily by two issues. The first is that the new maps are based on a new prediction on how much water would flow down the Santa Clara River during a so-called 100-year flood. The new estimates amount to an almost 50 percent increase over the previous predicted flow, going from 165,000 cubic feet a second to 245,000 cubic feet per second.
“I’m skeptical about any science coming out of Washington,” Olsen said.
The second concern is that the 5-year-old gated community was built on new fill that is actually higher than the original elevation.
“I want to know if they’ve based these maps on that new elevation or not,” he said.
Earlier this week city officials hosted another in a series of neighborhood meetings about changes to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Flood Insurance Rate Maps.
Homes in the flood plain — primarily in South Bank, Windsor North, River Ridge and Victoria Estates, which include about 6,000 people — will now be required to have flood insurance, said Ken Ortega, Oxnard’s director of public works, who also lives in the flood plain.
By enrolling in the flood insurance program before the end of the year, residents qualify for a reduced rate, Ortega said.
The average annual cost is about $1,700, but city officials said property owners who enroll during a six-month window after the map is finalized can get a substantial discount. The cost of the first year’s insurance for those owners would be about $300, and $800 per year thereafter.
“They’ll have to enroll by Jan. 10, 2010, to get the preferred rate,” Ortega said.
Property owners in the flood zone with federally insured mortgages are required to buy flood insurance.
The next community meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. July 8 at the Oxnard High School Performing Arts Center at 3400 W. Gonzales Road.
Representatives from FEMA will be on hand to answer questions about the flood maps and insurance at 7 p.m. July 20 at a citywide meeting at Oxnard High’s Performing Arts Center. Residents will have the next six months to comment on the accuracy of the maps and the inclusion of specific properties. In January of next year, after taking into account the appeals and protests, FEMA will issue a final determination for the maps.#
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/jul/01/oxnard-residents-discover-their-homes-are-in/
NV irrigation district's criminal case in court
San Jose Mercury News-7/1/09
Federal prosecutors are continuing to try to build a criminal case against three officials for an irrigation district in northern Nevada accused of defrauding the U.S. government.
An evidentiary hearing is scheduled in U.S. District Court in Reno at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday on a number of motions related to subpoenas for evidence and the indictments of the three officials for the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District.
District project manager David Overvold, district lawyer Lyman McConnell and a district employee, John Baker, are accused of falsifying records documenting the delivery of water to area farmers and ranchers from 2000 to 2005.
They men have said they are not guilty of the charges.
If convicted, they each could face more than 20 years in prison.#
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DWR’s California Water News is distributed to California Department of Water Resources management and staff, for information purposes, by the DWR Public Affairs Office. For reader’s services, including new subscriptions, temporary cancellations and address changes, please use the online page: http://listhost2.water.ca.gov/mailman/listinfo/water_news . DWR operates and maintains the State Water Project, provides dam safety and flood control and inspection services, assists local water districts in water management and water conservation planning, and plans for future statewide water needs. Inclusion of materials is not to be construed as an endorsement of any programs, projects, or viewpoints by the Department or the State of California.
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