Department of Water Resources
California Water News
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
August 28, 2009
1. Top Items–
Major water bond proposed in the Capitol
Capitol Weekly
Proposed state H2O laws raise eyebrows
Sonora Union Democrat
Winning the water war
Napa Valley Register
Faux Better or Worse
To save water, some cities let residents replace grass lawns with artificial turf.
Miller-McCune
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Major water bond proposed in the Capitol
Capitol Weekly-8/27/09
By John Howard
A plan to get voter approval on $11.7 billion in new water projects that include reservoirs, Delta environmental protections and even a massive canal is under consideration in the Capitol, the latest in a series of proposals targeting California's water problems.
The plan - not yet in the form of a bill - would place a bond issue before voters in November 2010. It is being pushed by Assemblymember Anna Caballero, D-Salinas.
Lawmakers in both parties and the governor have been attempting to negotiate a water package that includes new storage and greater deliveries of water into the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta east of San Francisco and to the San Joaquin Valley and Central California.
They also are considering the construction of a canal to carry water from the Sacramento River in the north around the Delta to the California Aqueduct, which would move the water southward.
Some environmentalists oppose the proposal as harmful to the Delta, and Delta interests are fearful of being frozen out of the discussions.
The Delta, a vast estuary under court-ordered environmental protections, is crucial to the negotiations because most of the state's drinking comes through the delta.
The notion of going to the ballot for voter-approved borrowing is controversial, partly because the state's weak economy may not be conducive to a bond sale and partly because lawmakers are hesitant to take on more state debt.
Supporters of the storage projects and canal, including the public water agencies, believe a fee schedule is more efficient and politically feasible than borrowing.#
http://www.capitolweekly.net/article.php?xid=y872cj20gidpth#
Proposed state H2O laws raise eyebrows
Sonora Union Democrat-8/27/09
By Michael Kay
A salvo of state bills could raise Calaveras County residents’ water fees and require more paperwork from the Calaveras County Water District.
Drought in Southern California, wildlife decline in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and population pressure on California’s water supply have prompted state legislators to begin work on at least five bills attempting to address the problems, officials say.
CCWD Water Resources Manager Ed Pattison said the efforts would suck supplies from upstream water districts.
“The metropolitan areas are really driving these bills,” he said. “They’re pushing for an ‘everyone pays’ principle.”
Additional water conservation measures, mandated water contributions to other districts, fees to fix state water infrastructure and additional reporting requirements could be in store for the county if the bills pass as currently written, according to Pattison.
“There’s just a suite of unfunded mandates that accompany these bills,” he said. “There is a lot of opposition to these bills.”
Calaveras County Water District added its voice Wednesday, voting to sign onto a letter drafted by the Placer County Water Agency opposing the five bills.
District General Manager Larry Diamond and staff will draft another letter to be sent to the sponsors of each of the bills and to newspapers in their districts, as well as State Sen. Dave Cox, R-Fair Oaks, whose district includes Calaveras County.
“If people in these areas knew these bills were going to come to our county and degrade our environment, I don’t think they would support them,” said Director Jeff Davidson.
The five consist of Senate Bill 261, Assembly Bill 49 and three bills still being drafted, but known for the time being as AB 1, SB 1 and SB 2.
“One of the glaring omissions of this process is that the upstream providers of this water have not been included,” said CCWD Board President Bob Dean.#
http://www.uniondemocrat.com/2009082797665/News/Local-News/Proposed-state-H2O-laws-raise-eyebrows
Winning the water war
Napa Valley Register-8/28/09
By Timothy F. Brick
Opinion
A generation ago, Southern California water managers thought they had the solution for dealing with the hub of the state's water system — the magnificent Northern California estuary known as the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. They wanted to build a canal from the delta to the existing aqueduct system that sustains San Joaquin Valley agriculture and Southern California.
They were wrong. And now we finally have the chance to do it right.
Five draft bills as part of an overall plan have been introduced in the Legislature that could lead to better governance in the delta and wise water management statewide. Like all drafts, some areas need refining. Like all complex packages, there are voices calling to delay and to defer. But delaying and deferring are no longer options. The Legislature must put the delta on a path to recovery for the sake of the environment and the state's $1.8 trillion economy.
In 1982, I was among the critics who successfully fought the so-called peripheral canal in a historic statewide election. Why? There was no visible effort to conserve water, to diversify supplies through recycling or to restore the delta itself. To paraphrase a fellow critic, the plan was all plumbing and no policy.
This time, there is a plan to mandate water conservation statewide and to bring water management into the 21st century.
Most important, there is a proposal to restore tens of thousands of acres of delta habitat to provide shelter and food for salmon and other threatened species.
Southern California doesn't seek more water from the delta. But it is obvious that a major investment in a new and better way to move water supplies across the delta is necessary to maintain something close to our traditional supply.
The alternative is to risk losing this supply altogether through additional environmental restrictions or a collapse of the system from a large earthquake that seismologists predict for the coming decades.
The region's water system depends on reliable baseline supplies to make emerging strategies work, such as recycling, conservation and groundwater cleanup.
For the delta, chances like this don't come along very often. We've never seen an entire package like this that advances water policy and makes the responsible plumbing changes. We're at the brink of a sustainable water future for California — if we seize the moment.#
Brick is chairman of the board of directors of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. This essay originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
Faux Better or Worse
To save water, some cities let residents replace grass lawns with artificial turf.
Miller-McCune-8/27/09
By Nate Berg
It's the largest irrigated crop in the United States, with more than 32 million acres in production, according to a 2005 study from the journal Environmental Management. But this crop isn't eaten by people or, usually, animals.
It's the front lawn, and cities across America are trying to save water by encouraging homeowners — through rebates and tax benefits — to get rid of it.
People, though, are stubborn things, and they still want their lawns. "I think it's safe to say that by far the lion's share of new homes have lawns," said Walter Molony, a senior public affairs specialist at the National Association of Realtors. "It would be a small, single-digit percentage that do not."
In the face of this demand for green, cities across the country are trying to find a middle ground, and for some, it is artificial turf. The current crop of synthetic lawn is several steps up from the AstroTurf of old; it looks and feels like real blades of grass but, of course, doesn't need mowing.
Based on what it says is increasing demand, the Southern California city of Garden Grove recently lifted a citywide ban on artificial turf on residential properties. Residents there can now convert their front yards to fake grass and receive a modest rebate from the local water district.
"There's a lot of people that really want to do their part in conserving water," said Lee Marino, a senior planner in Garden Grove. "But there's always going to be that segment of society that, regardless, they're going to want natural materials. They don't like the idea of fake."
As Garden Grove is allowing it, however, other Southwest municipalities are finding reasons to say no to faux. Glendale, Ariz., had once given rebates to residents for installing artificial turf as a water-saving alternative. The savings turned out to be modest and conversions ended up causing environmental problems.
The city stopped giving rebates after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released an advisory in June 2008 associating artificial turf with a potential exposure to lead dust, created as the fibers making up some phony grass blades age and wear.
"When the advisory came out, we thought it was best to err on the side of caution if it had something to do with public health," said Jo Miller, the city's water conservation program manager.
A concern that seems to be making more of an impact on city policy decisions than the CDC advisory is the tendency of artificial turf to get really hot.
"During the day it can heat up and be as hot as the asphalt in parking lots," Miller said. So even though it's not alive, fake grass still needs water to keep cool and to clean up when the neighbor's dog leaves something behind.
Other cities in Arizona are following Glendale's move away from artificial turf — but incompletely. Rebates still exist for converting lawns in Scottsdale, but officials there are steering residents away from artificial turf and toward xeriscaping their yards with native plants that require little water.
"A natural landscape with soil that is breathing and living and has actual plants in it that are transpiring is a lot more beneficial than a plastic landscape," said Christina Klien, water conservation coordinator for the city of Scottsdale.
As climate change exacerbates water shortages in arid areas, more cities will need to limit water use. Lawn-watering is an obvious target for regulation; lawns may themselves become targets for widespread prohibition.
Las Vegas, for example, has banned the use of grass for road medians, streetscaping and "front lawns that nobody ever stepped foot on unless they were pushing a lawnmower," says Doug Bennett, conservation manager at the Southern Nevada Water Authority.
Despite emergent environmental concerns, the homeowner who wants but doesn't use a grass lawn may represent a prime market for sellers of artificial turf. For homeowners looking to keep up appearances or comply with the rules of their homeowners association, after all, what really matters is that yards look like yards.
But Bennett suspects that even those who think fake grass can pass, aesthetically speaking, for real will have adjusting to do if they make the switch. "You have to keep it in perspective," he says. "It looks like a lawn, but it's really a plastic rug."#
http://www.miller-mccune.com/science_environment/faux-better-or-worse-1389
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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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