Department of Water Resources
California Water News
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 7, 2009
City, water district dispute to wash up in court
Antelope Valley Press
Some against Dreamfield at Lake Balboa
L.A. Daily News
El Monte-based water district receives $5.5 million in federal grants
Pasadena Star-News
SB City Council favors drought-friendly landscaping law
San Bernardino Sun
Lawyer again plumbs depths of state water issues
Fresno Bee
Holiday weekend sees hydrants broken, house sink
Eureka Times-Standard
Man rescues friend from swimming pool, then flees
Chico Enterprise-Record
6-year-old Reno boy drowned in Lake Lahontan
Modesto Bee
City to introduce irrigation education
Antelope Valley Press
Sacramento River Discovery Center camp looks at life in water
Red Bluff Daily News
Raft Races set for next weekend
Crescent City Triplicate
Ex-sailor has a passion for tiny bay island
S.F. Chronicle
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City, water district dispute to wash up in court
Antelope Valley Press-7/6/09
By Alisha Semchuck
Representatives from the city of Palmdale and the Palmdale Water District are set to square off about a water rate increase, Wednesday, before a Superior Court judge in downtown Los Angeles.
City officials filed a complaint with the court on May 8 to block a proposed rate hike, which the district board approved 3-2 at a public hearing on May 13 despite vocal protests of more than 200 customers. The increase raised monthly bills of some district customers anywhere from 65% to more than 140%.
A city attorney filed a request for a preliminary injunction prior to the public hearing in hopes of stopping the increase, according to court documents.
Both parties are slated to meet before Judge Conrad Aragon at 8:30 a.m. in Department 49 on the fifth floor of the Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 N. Hill Street, Los Angeles, to see if the judge will grant the injunction, a court spokeswoman said.
"We are going to ask that the court find any increase they adopt is void and invalid," said Palmdale Assistant City Attorney Judy Skousen in early May.
In the meantime, the cost of water for customers served by the district went up beginning May 14, the day following the public hearing. Aside from the couple of hundred people who packed the water district board room and spilled into the hall and out into a side yard, the agency received letters of opposition from 2,122 property owners, district attorney Tim Gosney announced at the public hearing.
However, under state law it would take 12,771 letters from property owners who object to the hike - that's just over 50% - in order to prevent the increase.
Administrators from Palmdale School District sided with the city in opposing the hike.
"We are very outraged by the rate hike you are proposing," said Kamal Al-Khatib, executive director of the Guidance Charter School on Palmdale Boulevard, near 12th Street East.
He suggested the board form an ad hoc committee that includes community residents to discuss the budget and what would be a fair and reasonable increase.
The sizeable rate hike resulted from a new water budget rate structure that board members adopted in a plan developed by a Pasadena-based firm called Raftelis Financial Consultants, Inc., which the board contracted in September 2008 at a cost of $136,000 to conduct a six-month study.
District General Manager Randy Hill repeatedly told water district customers if the rate hike fails, the district would face drastic measures to compensate for a financial shortfall. Cures he cited included defaulting on district bills, laying off employees or filing bankruptcy.
Hill even said, without a rate hike, district administrators might be forced to resort to all three options, or any combination of those three. Based on Hill's arithmetic, the district would be down to $140,000 by July 31 and the agency operates on a roughly $25 million annual budget.
Resident Terry Bird chastised the board for hiring Raftelis and spending $136,000 for a six-month task and paying an additional $10,000 referral fee to another consultant who found the Pasadena consultant.
"If you go into bankruptcy, so what?" Bird said a higher level of government "will appoint a trustee. To use words like bankruptcy, those are scare tactics."
Al-Khatib said he has balanced the charter school budget for eight years and the water district needn't have spent thousands of dollars for the consultant's rate structure. "I can help you for free."
Resident Linda Fontaine took issue with Hill, who was paid $215,000 a year, roughly $37,000 more than his predecessor, Dennis LaMoreaux.
LaMoreaux worked at the district nearly 20 years, until board member Jeff Storm won election in November 2007 and took his oath in December of that year. With directors Dick Wells and Dave Gomez, he voted to put LaMoreaux on paid administrative leave.
Later, during a special meeting after coming out of closed session, the board announced LaMoreaux's resignation with the board agreeing to pay him $350,000 in settlement.
In addition to the higher salary, Hill receives $1,000 a month for a car allowance, money the board did not pay LaMoreaux.
"One thousand a month in a car allowance and you take our money," Fontaine said. "How dare you?"
Even with that much of a rate increase, the highest in the water district's history, the agency still fell short of funds, according to Hill. During a meeting on June 4, he told board members they needed to cut $700,000 from the budget.
Then, one week later, at a meeting on June 10 that amount nearly doubled, to $1.3 million in needed cuts, based on Hill's math. At that meeting, the board voted 4-1 to lay off five employees, which included the Human Relations manager in a one-person HR Department.
Board members also voted to have the remaining staff take two days a month of unpaid furlough.
Hill volunteered to take a $15,000 pay cut after an article in the Antelope Valley Press questioned whether he would include his salary in the mix of budget reductions.
At that point, Wells assured Hill the board would bring his salary back up as soon as possible.#
http://www.avpress.com/n/06/0706_s8.hts
Some against Dreamfield at Lake Balboa
L.A. Daily News-7/6/09
By Dana Bartholomew
When it comes to parks, Lake Balboa has been the San Fernando Valley mecca for walkers, picnickers and paddleboaters alike.
That's why some community groups are aghast at a city proposal to put an L.A. Dodger Dreamfield for disabled kids inside the city's busiest water park.
"This is not a Dreamfield. This is a nightmare," said Glenn Bailey, coordinator for Friends of the Sepulveda Basin. "Everyone who uses that park feels that putting the field there is the wrong location."
The Board of Recreation and Park Commissioners will decide Wednesday whether to approve an environmental study that would pave the way for the city's first baseball diamond in Los Angeles for disabled children.
The ball field, for children from 6 to 18, would be built south of Lake Balboa a stone's throw from shore, north of the access road and just east of the universal-access playground and bathrooms.
But because the city lacks the $400,000 needed to build the ball field, city officials say further commission approval will be needed.
In November, the L.A. Dodgers Dream Foundation had promised to build 42 ballfields throughout the city, including the Dreamfield for disabled kids.
But backers of the Friedman Charitable Foundation that had promised to match up to $5 million in Dodger money were sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission for investor fraud, with foundation assets frozen.
The frozen Friedman assets included a $10 million pledge to the Children's Museum of Los Angeles, insuring it's collapse this spring.
"This is not a final approval, because we're not sure that the Dodger Dream Foundation is participating," said city parks spokeswoman Jane Kolb. "They were going to pay for the field, and we're not sure they will participate at this time.
"If we find the money, we can approve it in a separate vote."
Nonetheless, city officials vow someday to construct the Sepulveda Basin field.
"Building the Dodger Dream Field next to the universally accessible playground will give disabled kids greater opportunities to play with their peers and our neighborhoods a chance to be charitable," Councilman Tony Cardenas, whose district includes Lake Balboa, said in a statement.
The ballfield has already drawn opposition from neighborhood groups who contend it doesn't fit in at the 27-acre lake constructed in 1992.
Earlier this year, the Lake Balboa Neighborhood Council opposed the project on grounds it should be built along other sports facilities at the pending Sepulveda Basin Sports Center.
The Friends of Lake Balboa, an advisory group to the parks department, had also weighed in against the project.
City officials say the ball field would host disabled children at off-peak hours during the week, requiring the removal of just two young saplings at the site. School buses would park across Balboa Boulevard.
Critics contend the field would impact wildlife, disrupt an annual Persian New Year's celebration and would tax the limited parking at one of the most popular parks in the city.
While residents worry picnic tables could be displaced, city officials say that none would be affected.
Bailey said the park commission vote should be postponed to a scheduled meeting on Aug. 12 in the Sepulveda Basin, when peak-users would get a chance to comment.
"It's taking a prime meadow area next to the lake, popular with picnicking and relaxing in the park," Bailey, a co-chair of the Friends of Lake Balboa, said. "Are taxpayers going to pick up the remaining tab, given the departure of the Friedman money?"#
http://www.dailynews.com/search/ci_12765460?IADID=Search-www.dailynews.com-www.dailynews.com
El Monte-based water district receives $5.5 million in federal grants
Pasadena Star-News-7/6/09
A local water district received two grants totalling $5.5 million out of 27 grants issued for water reclamation and reuse projects nationwide by the Bureau of Reclamation.
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced on July 1 that the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District, located in El Monte, would receive nearly $6 million out of a total of $134.3 million made available under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Upper District received a $600,000 grant for its Rosemead Extension Project, and another $4.7 million for its City of Industry Project.
Both projects are intended to bring recycled water treated at the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County to green areas such as parks, golf courses and schools.
These water projects - known as "Title XVI" projects for the title of Public Law 102-575 that established the program - facilitate the reclamation and reuse of wastewater and naturally impaired ground and surface waters.
The $134.3 million for these projects is part of President Barack Obama's $1 billion investment of ARRA funding provided by the Department of the Interior for water projects across the West.
These 27 projects will team non-federal sponsors with local communities and the federal government to provide growing communities with new sources of clean water while promoting water and energy efficiency and environmental stewardship.
Federal funding will be leveraged to construct a total of more than $675 million in Title XVI projects.
Of the nearly $135 million in funding announced by the Department today, the Bureau of Reclamation will utilize about $4.2 million - or 3 percent - to ensure the projects' compliance with federal regulations and statutes as well as adherence to the Recovery Act goals.#
SB City Council favors drought-friendly landscaping law
San Bernardino Sun-7/6/09
By Andrew Edwards
A proposed law that would make life easier for homeowners wishing to "retire" grass lawns in favor of more drought-tolerant landscaping is moving forward.
Homeowners generally use more water to maintain lawns and plants than for drinking. The law would encourage residents to decorate their yards with shrubs, ground covers, trees and native plants that consume less water than grass lawns. Rocks could also be incorporated in landscape designs.
The City Council voted unanimously Monday to have the council's Legislative Review Committee discuss the proposed law when the committee meets Tuesday. The proposed "Water Wise Landscape Ordinance" would free participating homeowners from San Bernardino's existing prohibition against allowing their properties to be home to dead and dry grass and landscaping.
The proposed law would give allow homeowners to apply for permits to retire their lawns and install drought-resistant landscaping by the subsequent May 31.
"This is an entirely voluntary program for people who have landscapes they would like to convert," said proponent Susan Lien Longville, a former city councilwoman who is now director of the Water Resources Institute at Cal State San Bernardino.
If the council committee favors the proposal, the council could adopt the new law in the future. Longville said she wants to be the first person to receive a landscaping permit if the proposal becomes law.#
http://www.sbsun.com/search/ci_12764364?IADID=Search-www.sbsun.com-www.sbsun.com
Lawyer again plumbs depths of state water issues
Fresno Bee-7/6/09
David J. Hayes is once again No. 2 at the Interior Department and No. 1 for California water.
Call it political déjà vu.
After an eight-year absence, the Stanford-trained environmental lawyer has reclaimed both the California water portfolio and the title as deputy secretary of the Interior. The high-profile, high-risk assignment puts him back in the middle of the Central Valley’s interminable fish-vs.-farm water disputes.
“I expect I’ll have to pay taxes in California, I’ll be spending so much time out there,” Hayes said, half-jokingly.
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar introduced Hayes as his department’s go-to California water guy at a Fresno town hall meeting a week ago. Beyond serving as what he calls the “chief operating officer” of the $10 billion-a-year Interior Department, Hayes will coordinate the Obama administration’s role in California water use.
When Valley congressmen are unhappy, they’ll call Hayes. When irrigation district officials want their concerns really heard, Hayes is their man. When decisions get made on protecting species or approving projects, Hayes will be in the middle of things.
Unsolved dilemmas are now his problem, including what to do about irrigation drainage on the San Joaquin Valley’s west side. Specific proposals will now float across his desk.
These might range from a proposed “Inter-tie” connecting California’s state and federal aqueducts to a proposed $26 million “Two Gates” project that would permit more irrigation deliveries by protecting fish from being sucked into Delta-area water pumps.
“Both projects are on our radar screen,” Hayes said, adding that “we’re going to give a vigorous review” to the Two Gates proposal widely promoted by Valley lawmakers.
California’s complex water challenges have long invited the appointment of special emissaries.
“I’m pleased the president has assigned somebody to California water,” said Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa. “That offers a little bit of hope they will actually do something.”
For Hayes, the burden is a familiar one. A 55-year-old native of New York state, Hayes graduated from the University of Notre Dame and Stanford Law School. Active in environmental issues, and a former vice chair of the board of American Rivers, Hayes was deputy Interior secretary during the Clinton administration.
Between 1999 and 2001, Hayes focused on Colorado River conflicts and California’s Bay-Delta problems, among others.
Hayes returned to the law firm Latham & Watkins after his Clinton administration job expired. There, public records show, he was registered as a lobbyist for San Diego Gas & Electric, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and a handful of other firms.
The lobbying registrations temporarily impeded Hayes’ confirmation for the Interior Department post, as did some of his commentary about Republican environmental postures.
“Like Ronald Reagan before him, President Bush has embraced the Western stereotype to the point of adopting some of its affectations, the boots, brush-clearing and get-the-government-off-our-backs bravado,” Hayes wrote in April 2006 for the Progressive Policy Institute.
Under questioning by Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Hayes conceded his anti-Bush language was “overly florid.”
Hayes’ 11-page article, though, also promoted what he termed a “moderate” Western agenda that included more federal flexibility in dealing with private landowners and avoidance of a “Washington-is-always-right model” of decision-making.
Now, overseeing 70,000 Interior Department employees, Hayes will get a chance to put his stated principles into practice.#
http://www.fresnobee.com/local/story/1517810.html
Holiday weekend sees hydrants broken, house sink
Eureka Times-Standard-7/7/09
Two allegedly alcohol-related accidents in Humboldt County over the weekend resulted in two fire hydrants destroyed and one house sunk.
In McKinleyville, 21-year-old Vanessa Schoonmaker allegedly failed to stop her 1999 BMW at a stop sign Saturday at the intersection of School and Anderson roads around 5:30 p.m. She collided with a fire hydrant on the corner, shearing it off at the ground, then collided with a fence, according to a California Highway Patrol press release. She then allegedly ran from the scene and returned later to attempt to drive away.
A large amount of water was released from the hydrant into the road before the McKinleyville Public Works Department stopped the flow. Schoonmaker was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and booked into Humboldt County jail.
On Sunday, 20-year-old Samoa resident Joaquin Lopez Juarez allegedly drove a 1997 Chevrolet Astro into two parked vehicles and fled the scene eastbound on Sunset Exit then southbound on Samoa Court, according to a CHP release.
He then allegedly collided with two fences and a fire hydrant before returning home and running inside.
The large amount of flowing water caused a sinkhole to form under a nearby house, according to the release. CalFire determined the home to be not inhabitable and called the Red Cross to give aid to the three male residents of the home.
The driver was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, hit and run and driving with a suspended license. He was booked into Humboldt County jail.#
http://www.times-standard.com/ci_12767149?IADID=Search-www.times-standard.com-www.times-standard.com
Man rescues friend from swimming pool, then flees
Chico Enterprise-Record-7/7/09
By Megan McCourt
An Orland man's life was saved Friday after he nearly drowned, because a friend pulled him out of a swimming pool and resuscitated him.
Cory Croff, 24, had been drinking with his friend, Josh Sligar, at the Orland Estates Mobile Home Park on Friday afternoon, said Glenn County Sheriff Larry Jones.
Sligar left briefly, and when he came back, Croff was lying face down at the bottom of the pool. There were no witnesses to what happened.
"I'm sure alcohol is going to be a factor here," Jones said. "They both had quite a bit to drink."
Sligar jumped into the pool and pulled Croff out of the water.
Croff is significantly larger than Sligar, according to Jones. "I'm sure it was a struggle for him."
After rescuing his friend from the water, Sligar administered CPR until Croff revived, and then left the area. Both men are parolees and alcohol is in violation of the terms of their parole, Jones said.
Sligar was located at his grandmother's residence down the street at the Orland Mobile Home Park. He returned and was "very cooperative" with authorities.
"He saved the man's life," Jones said.
Croff was in a semi-conscious state when ambulances arrived. While being dragged out of the pool, Croff received an injury to his hip, which was bleeding.
He was taken to Enloe Medical Center in Chico, treated and released.#
http://www.chicoer.com/advertise/ci_12766985?IADID=Search-www.chicoer.com-www.chicoer.com
6-year-old Reno boy drowned in Lake Lahontan
Modesto Bee-7/7/09
A two-day search in northern Nevada has ended with the discovery of the body of a 6-year-old Reno boy who apparently drowned in Lake Lahontan.
Apollo Fuller was reported missing Saturday afternoon after he reportedly fell off a water trampoline and into the lake at Lahontan State Park's Beach 3.
Lyon County Under Sheriff Joe Sanford says a boater or camper noticed the body in the water late Monday and notified a park official.
Over the weekend, about 60 officers from various agencies and at least one dog searched the shore and woods and distributed fliers with a photo and information about the boy.
A sheriff's official said 1,300 vehicles were stopped and searched before authorities learned he'd been seen earlier on the trampoline in the lake.#
http://www.modbee.com/state/story/772955.html
City to introduce irrigation education
Antelope Valley Press-7/7/09
The city has joined the Irrigation Association and EPA WaterSense in declaring July as "Smart Irrigation Month" to emphasize the benefits of water-saving practices, products, and services.
The Irrigation Association chose July because it is typically the peak month for irrigation.
"All across the nation, landscape irrigation is estimated to account for roughly one-third of all residential water use," senior engineering landscape technician Connie Brown said.
"Smart irrigation practices use less water and can promote healthy lawns and reduced water bills."
To help guide your water usage, the city advises residents to water only as needed; detect and repair all leaks to irrigation systems; use soaker hoses and drip irrigation systems; install moisture sensors on sprinkler systems; and hire a certified professional to install and maintain any irrigation systems.
The city has been a leader in water conservation, having won numerous awards and commendations for its water saving measures.
The city's water conservation ordinance, which was adopted in 1991, has been instrumental in maximizing water use throughout the city by establishing efficient standards for plan approval on all landscape and irrigation projects.
Tools utilized by the city to save water include decreasing watering days and times, conducting regular water audits, increasing turf mowing heights, xeriscaping, use of technologies such as the Maxicom water management system, installation of synthetic grass, recycling pool water, installation of water saving devices, and others.
Last year, the city reduced its water usage by 30%.#
http://www.avpress.com/n/07/0707_s8.hts
Sacramento River Discovery Center camp looks at life in water
Red Bluff Daily News-7/7/09
The Sacramento River Discovery Center has invited children 6 to 12 to explore "Life in the Water" at the center, 1000 Sale Lane.
This week-long day camp from 8 a.m. until noon each day starting July 13 will investigate how life makes a go in the water and how water makes life go.
Campers will explore how fish climb ladders, use microscopes to look at small water creatures and explore Ben's Pond and the East Sand Slough. This will be a fun, wet exploration of the Sacramento River Watershed.
The Summer Camps program is at the Discovery Center in the Mendocino National Forest's Red Bluff Recreation Area. The program makes use of the 488-acre area as the classroom and provides an outdoor hands-on learning environment.
The programs are provided, in part, thanks to grants from the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki and the PG&E Foundation.
The cost is $50 per camper per week.
Information is available from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the center, at 527-1196, center manager Carlene Cramer at ccramer@tehama.k12.ca.us or Zachary Whitten zwhitten@tehama.k12.ca.us.#
Raft Races set for next weekend
40th annual event on tap for Gasquet
Crescent City Triplicate-7/4/09
By Kurt Madar
It’s a race, and it’s only a mile, but some participants try to take as long as possible to complete it.
The 40th annual Gasquet Raft Race takes place next weekend, and while people may not dress up anymore, or design extravagant floats, the spirit is still the same, said organizers.
“Most people aren’t even interested in winning,” said spokeswoman Eileen Evermore. “Instead it’s all about the fun, being on the river.”
Evermore hastened to add that the race does have its competitive participants.
“The rafts and kayaks in the single-person category go first because they usually are trying to win,” Evermore said. “I mean they go past my house like bullets.”
According to Evermore and organizer Candy Fox, the race quickly becomes a hilarious romp through one of the cleanest rivers in the United States complete with water fights and lots of laughter.
The race starts at noon below the Horace Gasquet Bridge on Gasquet Flat Road on Saturday, July 11, but participants need to be at the roadside registration by 10 a.m.
“It’s required that people are fully registered by 11:30 a.m.,” Evermore said. “After registration they can go right on down to the river and wait for their heat.”
The race is separated into 10 categories based on number of occupants per raft or kayak and age levels. It costs $15 per person and the first place winner gets a trophy.
“Sponsored rafts cost $20 and then $15 per person,” Evermore said.
The mile-long race ends at the Forest Service river access at Highway 199 and the west entrance of Gasquet Flat Road, Evermore said.
Children under 12 need to be accompanied by an adult, no alcoholic beverages are permitted during the race and life jackets are strongly recommended, Evermore said.
“There will be plenty of micro-brews at the American Legion barbecue after the race, though,” Evermore said. “People usually have a great time.”
The American Legion hosts a barbecue after the race with Taylor’s polish sausages and hot dogs.
Mad River Brewing Co., Six Rivers Brewery and Lost Coast Brewery will all provide beer, and music will be provided by Gemini Entertainment.
“In the lawn next to the American Legion Hall there will be arts and crafts booths,” Evermore said.
The after-race event costs $8.50 per person and is a fundraiser for the American Legion.
“This race has history,” Evermore said. “It’s been going on since approximately 1969, and when I got here in ’74 it was a tradition.”
According to Evermore, the race used to be run by the Women’s Auxiliary of the volunteer fire department as a fundraiser.
“Back then businesses would sponsor floats, people would wear costumes; it was really like a water-born parade,” Evermore said. “There were even categories like best costume and best float. The spirit is still the same though, people just don’t seem to dress up anymore.”
Nearly 25 years ago, third-generation Gasquet resident Candy Fox took over the organization of the race.
“Candy and the American Legion have really kept this thing alive,” Evermore said.
Evermore wanted people to remember that the registration area at Horace Gasquet Bridge would likely be congested.
“People should expect to drop gear and crews off and then go find parking,” Evermore said. “But most of all people should expect to have a lot of fun.”#
http://www.triplicate.com/20090704106380/News/Local-News/Raft-Races-set-for-next-weekend
Ex-sailor has a passion for tiny bay island
S.F. Chronicle-7/6/09
By Peter Fimrite
His sailing and island-hopping days are over, but Malcolm Sowers' heart still beats for Red Rock, a tiny, windswept island next to the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
The lonely, reddish rock was where pirates allegedly buried gold, where Russian fur hunters camped, where miners collected ore and where detectives once went looking for guns and explosives hidden by anarchists.
It has historically been visited only by the occasional bird-watcher, a few kayakers and Sowers, who has such an affinity for the island that he one day intends to become a part of it.
The 87-year-old retired psychiatrist watered a Monterey cypress tree he planted on the western slope of the island for 34 years until he got too old to sail through choppy bay waters lugging gallons of water. He is now hoping that the tree will survive long enough for his ashes to be sprinkled there after his death.
"The island symbolizes my whole connection with sailing in the bay for so many years," said Sowers, who lives in Castro Valley. "I call the tree my memorial cypress tree."
The island, which is the only private island left in San Francisco Bay, was put up for sale this year for $10 million, but nobody seems to want the 179-foot-high hunk of rock that is home to Sowers' forlorn-looking tree.
The owners - Mack Durning, a retired San Leandro real estate investor, and David Glickman, a former San Francisco attorney turned Bangkok gem salesman - have been trying to unload the rocky 6-acre outcropping for years.
But the island, located on the dividing line between San Francisco and San Pablo bays, has some drawbacks.
For one, it does not have any buildings, roads, water, sewer or electricity, and prospects for those amenities in the future are grim.
It also sits on the boundaries of three counties - Contra Costa, San Francisco and Marin - and any development would have to be approved by the three-pronged bureaucracy. Entrepreneurs willing to brave that gauntlet would likely face opposition from environmentalists, the oversight of a few state regulatory agencies and wildly expensive logistical complications.
"People always ask me what I'm going to do with the island," Durning said recently with a chuckle. "I tell them I'm going to get back at my kids by giving it to them."
Sowers, who never asked permission to visit the island in the first place, still worries about what will become of his tree, the flowers he and his wife of 65 years planted and the rugged beauty of a place that he alone has nurtured for decades.
"Every time it goes up for sale, they trot out an old picture of a harbor," Sowers said. "It's absolutely impossible and impractical. Red Rock should become part of the regional park system at a greatly reduced price and preserved as a bird sanctuary."
Glickman and Durning bought Red Rock for $49,500 in 1964. They proposed a 20-story hotel, casino and yacht harbor, which generated so much opposition that they began trying to sell the island along with the idea.
Durning said the Rolls Royce-owning Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, a spiritual leader who ran a notorious Oregon commune and was once dubbed the "sex guru," was going to buy Red Rock until his commune collapsed in 1985, and he was deported.
An elegant Orange County lady wearing high heels once toured the island and handed over a $50,000 down payment, but she could not raise the rest of the $1 million she agreed to pay, Durning said.
Sowers, a graduate of UC Berkeley and the UCSF medical school, said he first visited Red Rock on a 30-foot sailboat in 1948 while he was in the Army undergoing training in psychiatric care. It was love at first sight.
"When you sit on the top in the afternoon, the sunset makes a silvery reflection in the water," he said recently at a Berkeley waterfront diner. "It makes the sailboats look like toys."
He has gone back every year, often with his wife, Helen, his children and friends. He planted the Monterey cypress in 1974 because, he said, "it needed a tree."
He soon realized the tree needed watering, so he built a drainage system next to the trunk and started making regular trips to the island, where he would lug jugs of fresh water through sage, poison oak and along a treacherous ridge to his tree.
A few other pine trees have since materialized, apparently planted by Sea Scouts and other visitors.
"I was hoping for my tree over the years to become like the one at Cypress Point," he said.
He and his wife have subsequently surrounded the tree with Amaryllis belladonna, a flower commonly known as a Naked Lady. The pinkish blooms can be seen in August from the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
After three heart attacks and a bout with cancer, Sowers can no longer get out to his beloved island, where he has already laid the ashes of his mother, his aunt and his aunt's husband.
Whoever owns the island in the future, he said, will also own a piece of Malcolm Sowers.
"I make people blush when I say I am going to have my ashes scattered among the Naked Ladies," he said. "Until that time, my tree will have to be on its own."
Malcolm Sowers isn't the first person drawn to this rusty red hunk of rock in the bay near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.
-- In the early 1800s, rumors circulated that pirates had buried gold on the island, which was called Treasure Rock and Golden Rock on old shipping charts. Early Spanish settlers called the island Moleta.
-- In 1812, Russian and Aleut fur hunters camped there while pursuing sea otter, then abundant in San Francisco Bay.
-- The first and only full-time occupant was Selim E. Woodworth, the son of the poet Samuel Woodworth. Selim built a house on the island in 1851, and placed a flagpole and cannon at the summit. The island was officially declared Red Rock that same year. Woodworth attempted to claim title, but the government kept the island on grounds that it might be a good spot for a lighthouse or military fortification. Woodworth was caretaker of the island until his enlistment in the Navy.
-- In 1866, speculators began removing the heavy deposits of manganese. At least 200 tons of rock were mined. Norwegian and Swedish sailors also removed some 200,000 tons of rock from the island for use as ballast on trans-Atlantic voyages. The rubble was later sold in Europe for use as paint pigment.
-- In 1916, the mining tunnels, now used by bats and seabirds, were purportedly used by anarchists to hide guns and dynamite. San Francisco police Inspector Arthur Reihl searched, but did not find the cache. He nevertheless liked what he saw and filed a mining claim, which was accepted in 1923, making him the first private owner. He cleaned out the tunnels, but never did any mining.
-- In 1925, a carbon dioxide striker bell was placed on the island by the Coast Guard. The 4-ton solid brass bell was used until 1961, to alert fog-bound boaters that they were about to slam into an island. It was subsequently stolen.#
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/07/07/BAEM184GMC.DTL
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