California Water News
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
August 5, 2009
2. Supply –
Water crisis threatens county's future
San Bernardino County Sun
Millbrae prepares for big increase in water rates
Contra Costa Times
West Basin water district gets final desalination plant approval
Torrance Daily Breeze
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Water crisis threatens county's future
San Bernardino County Sun-8/4/09
By Supervisor Gary C. Ovitt
Opinion
San Bernardino County remains in the midst of our statewide and national recession. The economic challenges are on multiple fronts from the decimated housing industry to a slowdown in manufacturing and logistics. Ultimately, this vicious cycle has led to a near record unemployment rate in the region.
But there is an even greater and fundamental threat to our county's future and that is the rapidly worsening water crisis. Last year Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a drought and a state of emergency for our water supply. Since that time the problem has gotten worse.
Our local water providers are being asked to do more with less due to a snowpack water content decline, reductions from the Colorado River, limited access to the Delta and a less than heightened urgency to conserve by our general population.
So how does our water supply relate to our economic future? Inland Empire economist John Husing has consistently linked a rebound in new construction to job growth and our future economic prosperity. But future residential and commercial growth along with economic prosperity will be undermined if we do not have an adequate water supply.
Despite the current economic recession and housing depression, our state still faces a severe drought. We must address these challenges now and prepare for the pent-up demand for new housing that will inevitably increase when the housing market improves.
It's been said that new retail follows new rooftops. Or put another way, commercial developments with new jobs are attracted to new home residents who serve as a growing consumer base. But if our county's water supply is uncertain then we cannot meet future new housing demands, commercial growth will also wane and our region could be stuck in the economic doldrums for years.
Waiting for the state and federal agencies to help us with our water situation is not an option. If we want to move our region forward we are going to have to band together and do it ourselves. That is why I am glad to be joining my fellow San Bernardino County supervisors to host the third annual San Bernardino County Water Conference on Aug. 20 from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the Ontario Convention Center, 2000 Convention Center Way, Ontario.
This event annually brings together water officials and representatives of city, county, state and federal governments as well as the private sector to discuss our water future and how to ensure an adequate supply. This year's event will feature topics such as Best Practices of Conservation, the Real Cost of Water, Changing Californians Water Use Habits and the California Drought and Entitlement Implications.
I invite all, especially those representing water agencies and city governments, to attend the water conference and participate however they can. It will be an enlightening and productive step toward developing ideas and strategies for a sustainable water supply in San Bernardino County.#
Supervisor Gary C. Ovitt is chairman of the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. He represents the 4th District, which includes Chino, Chino Hills, Montclair and Ontario.
http://www.sbsun.com/search/ci_12992999?IADID=Search-www.sbsun.com-www.sbsun.com
Millbrae prepares for big increase in water rates
Contra Costa Times-8/3/09
By Elizabeth Pfeffer
The city is heading toward a sizable residential water fee increase that will raise rates 35 percent over the next five years to meet swelling wholesale costs set by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, which manages the region's water system.
Last week, the Millbrae City Council unanimously approved the plan, which will now be subject to a public hearing. The current residential rate of $3.95 per unit, plus meter charges, hasn't been raised in more than a year.
Whether the fee increase comes now or later, suburban households, accounting for two-thirds of water usage under the SFPUC, will not be able to escape the financial burden of the commission's $4.3 billion water-improvement program, which includes critical seismic retrofitting of a system that crosses five fault lines to pump water from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, according to Public Works Director Ron Popp.
"We don't have any choice," Popp said. "We've done exploration with ground wells, (but) we essentially buy all our water from San Francisco."
Rather than surprise Millbrae residents with a drastic increase down the road, Popp said the city hopes to ease the blow by incrementally raising fees approximately 7 percent annually over five years. The city's wholesale purchasing costs have jumped almost 27 percent in the past two years and are expected to go up 17 percent to 21 percent every year for the next four years.
Millbrae residents will have the opportunity to weigh in at a public hearing Sept. 22. By law, they should receive written notice a minimum of 45 days before the meeting, which provides time for citizens to formally contest the action. If a majority of water users objects to the fee increases, the city will have to go back to the drafting table.
According to a Public Works report, "Every city in San Mateo County either has or will be increasing their rates to provide sufficient revenues to pay their increased water purchasing costs to the SFPUC."
"We would prefer to gradually increase (the rates) instead of a one-time, substantial step up," Millbrae Mayor Robert Gottschalk said. "I think everyone would appreciate paying a little more each year."#
West Basin water district gets final desalination plant approval
Torrance Daily Breeze-8/3/09
By Melissa Pamer
A regional water agency has received the go-ahead to build a temporary facility in Redondo Beach that will turn seawater into drinking-quality water.
For Carson-based West Basin Municipal Water District, the demonstration desalination project is one step toward a goal of obtaining nearly a tenth of its water supplies from the Pacific Ocean.
The district last month received the final approval it needed from the Regional Water Quality Control Board. The California Coastal Commission and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers signed off on the plant in April.
The $8.8 million project, set to be housed next to the Los Angeles Conservation Corps' SEA Lab, will filter about 580,000 gallons of water daily through an old power-plant intake pipe.
A fine mesh will seek to minimize the intake of tiny ocean organisms - a concern for environmental groups that have argued more emphasis should be placed on conservation and recycling.
Water from the demonstration will not be used for drinking. Instead, the project will be used for research, particularly on water intake technologies, district officials said.
The project is intended as a temporary precursor for a full-scale desalination plant - likely in El Segundo - that would filter 20 million gallons of seawater per day and provide 9 percent of the district's water supplies.
The goal is to reduce reliance on water imported from outside the region, district officials said.
"You can look at ocean desalination, at recycling, at conservation none of them is the silver bullet," said Paul Shoenberger, assistant general manager of West Basin, which distributes water to most of the cities in the South Bay area.
"We believe in a diverse portfolio of water. The more sources you have, the more reliable you are. And ocean desalination fits the bill."
The rising cost of imports, along with the dropping cost of desalination, have made desalting attractive to an increasing number of water agencies, Shoenberger said.
The Redondo Beach desalination project will take about a year to build and will run for at least two years, he said.
The district is currently in the process of dismantling a small pilot desalination plant that was built in El Segundo in 2002 in preparation for the upcoming demonstration plant, which will be 10 times as large.#
http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_12985198?IADID=Search-www.dailybreeze.com-www.dailybreeze.com
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