Department of Water Resources
California Water News
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 23, 2009
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
Perfect storm hits district
San Bernardino County Sun
MMWD board will appoint fifth board member
Marin Independent Journal
Third Street to be closed for flood work
Napa Valley Register
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Perfect storm hits district
San Bernardino County Sun-7/22/09
By Wendy Leung
Cucamonga Valley Water District officials said they have been hit by a perfect storm.
Actually, the state is in desperate need of a different kind of storm but we have not had one those in a while.
Several years of a serious drought coupled with a court decision to limit the amount of water that can be pumped from a Northern California delta have created this so-called perfect storm.
To cope, Metropolitan Water District, which sells imported water to the Cucamonga Valley Water District, is raising rates in September, which is three months earlier than usual.
The local water agency will then pass the cost right to residents later that month.
If the Cucamonga Valley Water District Board of Directors passes the rate hike at its Aug. 11 meeting, an average household will see their bill go up $4.16 every two months.
At a community meeting on Tuesday, water district General Manager Robert DeLoach said the agency has been hardly immune from the current economic slowdown.
"We're no different than any other business," DeLoach said. "We're no different than your household."
In June, the district cut its budget by 10 percent and laid off 13 employees. It was the first time the district has been affected by layoffs.
Residents on Tuesday asked questions about the rate hike, and some took the opportunity to complain about the tiered rate system that the district implemented last year. Residents
will have another opportunity to provide comment on the rate increase at a public hearing on Aug. 11.
About 53 percent of the water supply comes from water imported from Northern California and purchased from the MWD.
In years past, MWD rates have either remained stagnate or increased by about 5 percent or less. This year, however, the agency is raising rates by about 17 percent and is expected to increase by another 17 percent next year.
MWD is charging its customers more because of the ongoing drought as well as a decision by a federal judge in 2007 calling for a reduction in water exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to protect the delta smelt, an endangered species of fish.
The water district just can't absorb the rate hikes implemented by MWD any longer, according to DeLoach.
The proposed increase is expected to begin on Sept. 1, when a unit of water will increase by 8 cents. The increase will appear as a separate line item on the bill.
A typical household pays $97.66 for 52 units of water every two months. With the proposed hike, the average household will pay $4.16 more.#
http://www.sbsun.com/search/ci_12892796?IADID=Search-www.sbsun.com-www.sbsun.com
MMWD board will appoint fifth board member
Marin Independent Journal-7/22/09
Mark Prado
The Marin Municipal Water District Board of Directors voted unanimously Wednesday night to appoint a successor to fill the seat of Alex Forman, who died earlier this month.
The current four members could have put the seat on a ballot, but because the vacancy occurred within 130 days of the November election, state law requires the vote be held in April.
"We need someone in that seat over the next nine months," said David Behar, who is taking over the board presidency from Forman.
But not everyone was convinced that was the way to go.
"You will just get someone to bend to your will," said Mario Ghilotti of San Rafael. "That's not what the people want."
The board will now seek applicants and appoint the successor, which would have to occur by Sept. 7 under state rules. That person would have the seat until November 2010, at which time that board member will have to win re-election on the ballot for a two-year term to retain the seat.
Because the board will appoint the board member there will be four seats open on the five-seat board in the November 2010 election.
With a referendum on desalination plans and the district's use of pesticides a possibility for the ballot, district critic Bill Rothman said it could be the "mother of elections" for the water district.
The new director will join the board at a critical time, when the future of Marin's water supply could be determined.
The board is wrestling with a decision to proceed with a $105 million, 5-million-gallon-a-day desalination plant that could protect the county if it is faced with a drought.
But members of the community are pushing the district toward conservation to meet needs, although the board maintains it has one of the most aggressive water-saving plans in the state.
Forman died July 9 at age 62 after a long battle with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. He was first diagnosed in May 2005.
Forman was honored at the Wednesday night meeting with a proclamation. Several people spoke of him and his dedication to the environment.
"Alex didn't run for the board because he wanted to run, he ran because he felt he had to," said Larry Minikes, president of the Tamalpais Conservation Club.#
http://www.marinij.com/marinnews/ci_12895811?IADID=Search-www.marinij.com-www.marinij.com
Third Street to be closed for flood work
Napa Valley Register-7/22/09
By Kevin Courtney
With federal stimulus money about to kick the Napa flood project into high gear, plans are afoot to close Third Street for at least two months after next month’s Napa Town and Country Fair and use the former Napa Pipe site as a soils dump.
Third Street will be shut between Soscol Avenue and Lawrence Street, which is parallel and to the east of Soscol, so that the roadway and Napa Valley Wine Train tracks can be elevated.
Julie Lucido, local flood district manager, said work won’t start until after the new First Street bridge over the river opens in early August, giving motorists an alternate east-west route, and after the fair completes its five-day run Aug. 16.
Officials from the city, the flood district and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were scheduled to meet today to work on detour plans and strategies for keeping the closure of Third as short as possible, Lucido said.
She added that while lanes in both directions will be closed for two months or more, some vehicles will be able to detour nearby, using Sixth and Burnell streets.
The corps’ general contractor, Suulutaaq Inc., has hired Balzac Communications of Napa to keep residents informed of project impacts over the next two and a half years, Lucido said.
The flood project received $99.5 million in stimulus money this spring. This federal bonanza will help to pay for Suulutaaq’s $65 million contract for rail relocation, including the construction of two bridges, one over the river and one over a planned flood bypass channel.
Suulutaaq also will raise the tracks on First and will have to close First between Soscol and McKinstry Street for several months. But this won’t happen until 2010, Lucido said.
In separate contracts, special federal funds will also pay for the construction of flood defenses along Napa Creek and the design of a bypass channel in the Oxbow district.
The corps is expected to award a contract for Napa Creek next July, Lucido said.
The Napa flood district intends to haul surplus soil from the construction of terraces on Napa Creek and the bypass to Napa Pipe, located south of the city limits on Highway 221.
On Tuesday, the flood district board approved a disposal agreement with Napa Redevelopment Partners, the owners of Napa Pipe, to receive 250,000 cubic yards of soil over the next five years.
Napa Redevelopment Partners intends to stockpile the dirt while processing plans with the county for a mixed-use development of 2,580 homes and other commercial uses, flood officials said.
Napa Pipe’s owners will need the soil to elevate the 152-acre property above flood waters regardless of whether the mixed-use project is approved or the site remains industrial, Rick Thomasser, flood control operations manager, said.
Napa Redevelopment Partners will apply to the county for a use permit o stockpile the soil, Thomasser said. Both the flood district and Napa Pipe will do environmental impact studies, he said.
The district had originally intended to dump dirt from the final stages of the flood project on district-owned land at the foot of South Jefferson Street.
This plan was abandoned in December 2007, after homeowners at the Napa Yacht Club and residents of the Meadows Napa Valley senior facility objected to more years of dust and noise.
Napa Mayor Jill Techel, who sits on the local flood board, said the district will need to work out ways of hauling soil that minimize disruption downtown. The flood project work may create as many as 25,000 truckloads of dirt.
Thomasser said the district was fortunate to have an alternative dump site as close as Napa Pipe, several miles away. The corps will pay only the cost of hauling.
“Whatever ultimately happens on our property, we’re going to want dirt,” Keith Rogal, a partner at Napa Pipe, said Tuesday. “We get material we’ll make use of at some point and the county and taxpayers get to dispose of the excavated material at least cost.”#
http://www.napavalleyregister.com/articles/2009/07/22/news/local/doc4a66a78f22815996335121.txt
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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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