Water Education Foundation

Palmdale Water District names new chief: Randy Hill takes post following LaMoreaux

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 23, 2008 at 6:49 am

From the Antelope Valley Press:

A new general manager began his first full day Friday at the helm of Palmdale Water District. District board members voted 3-2 in closed session during a special meeting Thursday to hire Randy Hill for the position, which has been open since April 2, when former water district General Manager Dennis LaMoreaux resigned under board pressure. LaMoreaux had been with the water district more than 19 years when the board, in a 3-2 vote, placed him on paid administrative leave on Dec. 26, 2007, prior to negotiating termination of his contract.

Hill, 45, worked as general manager of the Victor Valley Water District in Victorville from 1999 to 2006, and until January was manager of Southern California Environmental Infrastructure Group, a division of Stantec, a consulting firm specializing in planning, engineering, architecture and environmental sciences. Before Victor Valley, he was manager of operations for three years for a water district in Montclair.

Hill was a finalist for PWD’s top post with the water district’s Assistant General Manager Curtis Paxton, who has been handling most of the day-to-day district business for nearly a year. Bob Toone, a former Palmdale city manager, has been serving on a part-time basis as interim general manager during the search for someone to fill the vacated post.

Water district Attorney Tim Gosney said initially, in closed session Thursday, a motion was made and seconded to hire Paxton as general manager. That motion failed by a vote of 2-3, Gosney said, with board members Linda Godin and Raul Figueroa voting for Paxton and board members Dick Wells, Dave Gomez and Jeff Storm casting the “no” votes.

Next the motion was made to appoint Hill as general manager, and again the vote split, with Wells, Gomez and Storm voting “yes” and Godin and Figueroa in opposition, Gosney said. “The search is over. The district has a new general manager,” Gosney declared.

“Randy Hill, welcome aboard,” Wells said.

Read more from the Antelope Valley Press by clicking here.

November 23, 2008 · Filed Under Antelope Valley, Other Water Agencies

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Victorville considers 13 percent water hike

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 18, 2008 at 5:41 am

From the Victorville Daily Press:

The City Council tonight will consider a more gradual increase in water fees, as protests over the proposed 26 percent hike and updated state figures roll in.

The Victorville Water District is now asking for an increase of roughly 13 percent in the coming year to offset costs passed down from the California Department of Water Resources. If the hike is approved, the average resident should see a total increase of roughly $9 a month, rather than nearly $17 under the previous proposal, according to the council agenda. “It’s reflecting our new best guess,” said Reggie Lamson, manager of the city’s water department.

The state originally told water agencies to plan for the worst, anticipating a leap from $315 per acre foot — or the amount an average household uses in a year — to costs “not to exceed $399.” Though the city still doesn’t know what the final price will be, with figures not expected to be finalized for months, Lamson said his department is now looking at a range of $340 or $350 an acre foot. “We readjusted our expenses to reflect that,” Lamson said.

Read more from the Victorville Daily Press by clicking here.

November 18, 2008 · Filed Under Other Water Agencies

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West Basin’s solar powered system produces more power, performs beyond expectation in first year; saves water agency $90,000 in annual power costs

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 7, 2008 at 6:19 am

From Market Watch:

West Basin Municipal Water District’s 60,000 square feet of fixed-tilt photovoltaic panels at the Edward C. Little Water Recycling Facility is performing beyond expectations. In the first year of operation, the system produced 11% more electricity than expected. Based on capacity output and solar power area in place, the system was estimated to produce 814,199 kW of electricity and actually provided 903,800 kW for its first year of operation (January to December 2007). This power generation represented an annual power cost savings of $90,000.00.

“Obviously, we are very pleased with our decision to invest in green energy to produce water locally at our water recycling facility, and these results show that solar power is not only feasible, but performs very well while reducing our carbon footprint,” said Donald L. Dear, President of the Board of Directors of West Basin MWD.

The system has been in continuous operation since it was installed in late 2006 and, through September 2008, has produced approximately 160 megawatt hours or 1,596,104 kilowatt hours of energy.
West Basin’s use of solar power in its recycled water operations has kept 521 tons of carbon dioxide from being released into the environment that would otherwise have been released through the use of traditional energy sources. These emissions savings are equivalent to planting a tree plantation of approximately 147 acres of trees or not driving 1.3 million miles.

More from Market Watch by clicking here.

November 7, 2008 · Filed Under Great Green Ideas, Other Water Agencies

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Eastern Municipal Water District’s tiered rates punish biggest users, reward frugal

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on November 6, 2008 at 5:49 am

From Riverside’s Press-Enterprise:

The heaviest residential water users from Moreno Valley to San Jacinto to Temecula could pay 33 percent more than they do now under a tiered rate system proposed by Eastern Municipal Water District. But low and moderate users would likely see no increase, and possibly a decrease, under the plan, said Chuck Rathbone, the district’s chief financial officer.

Tiered rates were proposed in July. The numbers revealed Wednesday at a district board meeting are the first definitive indication of what prices would be.

The board will meet again Wednesday to hear more details and is expected to vote Nov. 19 whether to go ahead with the plan. Final approval is scheduled for Jan. 7 at the board’s headquarters in Perris.

Two proposed rate changes are in the works for Eastern’s 130,000 households.

Read more from the Press-Enterprise by clicking here.

November 6, 2008 · Filed Under Conservation, Other Water Agencies

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Castaic Lake Water Agency not waiting for a drought; Six pending water projects in the pipeline

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 28, 2008 at 9:58 pm

From Aquafornia’s home base of Santa Clarita, land of the perpetual bulldozer, this from the Signal:

New home construction is slow, but local water officials are pressing forward with six work projects that require changes to pipelines, treatment plants and pumping stations in anticipation of a massive increase in demand for water over the next 20 years.

Members of the Planning and Engineering Committee of the Castaic Lake Water Agency are recommending that the board approve work on six ongoing projects including cleanup of perchlorate on groundwater at the Whittaker-Bermite site and replacing old pipes at the pump station near Castaic Lake. Water agency engineers found faulty non-aligned pipes when making repairs at the lake.

The statewide drought - as declared by Governor Schwarzenegger in June - created lower water levels at Castaic Lake which means water drawn for Santa Clarita Valley ratepayers must by pumped to a filtration plant near the lake. When lake water levels are high, water drawn from the lake bypasses the existing pump station and feeds directly into the Earl Schmidt Filtration Plant. Water must be conveyed to pumps at the Schmidt Intake Pump Station, however, when levels are low.

“Castaic Lake is supplied by other State Water Project ‘conservation facilities’ that currently have low water levels - specifically San Luis Reservoir and Lake Oroville,” the agency’s Engineering and Operations Manager Brian J. Folsom wrote in an e-mail Monday. “To the extent that those reservoirs are not replenished by Mother Nature this coming winter, the level in Castaic Lake may also be affected,” he wrote.

More from the Santa Clarita Signal by clicking here.

October 28, 2008 · Filed Under Other Water Agencies

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One valley, one water supplier, Santa Clarita Valley water official says

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 21, 2008 at 5:57 am

From Aquafornia’s home base of Santa Clarita, a commentary by Dan Masnada of the Castaic Lake Water Agency about having only one water retailer for Santa Clarita Valley (population about 260,000) instead of four:

One of the Santa Clarita Valley’s top water officials sees one valley, one vision, one water agency.  Dan Masnada is general manager of the Castaic Lake Water Agency, which wholesales an uninterrupted supply of clean, safe drinking water to water retailers in the SCV, as the agency’s mandate dictates.

As he balances a dwindling supply of drought-diminished water with a development-heavy demand, Masnada and others at the agency see many benefits in streamlining the community’s supply of water.

“We have one valley. We have one city. Why doesn’t it seem logical to have one retailer?” Masnada said.

Currently the agency sells State Water Project water to four local water purveyors: the Valencia Water Company, the Newhall County Water District, Los Angeles County Waterworks Division 36 and the Santa Clarita Water Division. The latter purveyor, formerly an independent retailer, is now owned by the Castaic Lake Water Agency.

Read more from the Santa Clarita Signal by clicking here.

October 21, 2008 · Filed Under Other Water Agencies

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New Elsinore Valley treatment plant cleans water, reduces dependency on imports

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 14, 2008 at 6:29 am

From Riverside’s Press-Enterprise:

Like the US and its quest for foreign oil independence, local water agencies always look for ways to rely less heavily on drinking water imported from other sources.

Officials from the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District expect that a new water-treatment plant will, in addition to reducing arsenic levels in the drinking water, cut the district’s dependence on water from sources such as the Colorado River Aqueduct system by 10 to 15 percent, saving ratepayers more than $1.2 million annually.

“It’s everyone’s goal to rely more on their own supply than to tap other supplies that are truly at a premium right now,” Elsinore Valley spokesman Greg Morrison said Monday after a tour of the facility. “And, imported water is expensive.”

The water district supplies drinking water and sewer services for more than 38,000 customers in a 96-square-mile area that covers Lake Elsinore, Wildomar and a portion of Murrieta. About 45 percent of the district’s drinking water comes from its groundwater supply and Canyon Lake, and 55 percent is imported.

Read more from Riverside’s Press-Enterprise by clicking here.

October 14, 2008 · Filed Under Other Water Agencies

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Amador Water Agency confronts Berry lawsuit over dry Jackson Creek

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 14, 2008 at 6:15 am

From the Amador County Ledger Dispatch:

With an eye toward informing the Amador Water Agency Board of Directors of the nature of the lawsuit filed last week against the agency by Ken Berry, Item 6B on Thursday morning’s board meeting agenda was: Small Diameter Pipeline Litigation.

“To have full transparency,” said AWA general manager Jim Abercrombie, “we put this lawsuit on the agenda. In the past, the board has repeatedly wanted to respect the property owners (along the dewatered Amador Canal) and offer them as many options as possible.”

Abercrombie went on to estimate a loss of approximately $300,000 per year if water were to be fed back into Jackson Creek to provide dilution water for the Jackson wastewater treatment plant, which could result from the lawsuit. He also expressed a concern that such a use of water could be considered wasteful in the eyes of the state.

“This may be somewhat confrontational,” began AWA Director Terry Moore, who had brought some prepared verbiage. “The settlement agreement between the agency and (Preserve Historic Amador Waterways, in an earlier lawsuit over the Amador Transmission Pipeline project) included a provision that neither PHAW nor its individual members will ask for a stay on the pipeline project.”

Read more from the Amador County Dispatch by clicking here.

October 14, 2008 · Filed Under Other Water Agencies

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Water rationing falls short of EBMUD’s goal

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on October 3, 2008 at 6:00 am

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Nearly five months after an East Bay water district imposed the strictest water rationing plan in the Bay Area, the agency’s 1.3 million customers have cut back - but not quite as much as officials had hoped.

Savings across parts of Contra Costa and Alameda counties served by the East Bay Municipal Utility District have reached 11.3 percent, officials said Wednesday. Water managers had hoped fixed leaks, shorter showers, and less frequent lawn watering would net a 15 percent reduction.

With experts forecasting the third dry winter in a row, the district said the pressure is on. “There will be rain this weekend, but who knows for how many days, or how much rain will make it into our reservoirs - this weekend and this winter,” said Laura Luong, public information representative at the district. “Since we declared the drought May 13, (savings) started slow, but our customers are getting the message. We just need to remind them that they need to conserve for what’s to come.”

Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.

Mike Taugher explains the good and the bad of EBMUD’s system:

The Oakland-based district, which serves 1.3 million people in the East Bay, depends on a fairly isolated water system. It gets 95 percent of its water from aqueducts connected to the Mokelumne River in the Sierra Nevada.

The river’s watershed received very little snow or rain after mid-February, prompting district officials to forecast dangerously low reservoirs. The East Bay district is one of a few water agencies around the state that have imposed water rationing of some kind this year.

Although the district is vulnerable to droughts, it can also recover more quickly than other California water agencies. A single year of average rain and snow would refill the district’s reservoirs.

Read more from Mike Taugher by clicking here.

October 3, 2008 · Filed Under Conservation, Other Water Agencies

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Liquid justice: Shortage prompts city to consider a policing program to target water-wasters, but some experts see another way

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 18, 2008 at 4:13 pm

From Pasadena Weekly:

When the city declared a potential water shortage late last year, the Pasadena Water and Power Department launched a conservation campaign that grew to include stylish newspaper and bus-stop ads featuring mug shots of fictionalized water criminals.

“Wasting water is a serious offense,” reads the caption underneath such dastardly characters such as Busted Sprinkler Bruno, Lawn Soaker Lana, Driveway Hoser Dave and Long Shower Larry, each representing a specific wasteful behavior that officials are asking residents to cease.

While these advertisements appear to get the conservation message across in a playful way — really, what could be taking teenage Larry so long? — they may also be preparing us for a time when people who do such selfish things would actually be treated as criminals.

On Monday, City Council members are expected to set a schedule of fines that, if put into effect at a later date, would make such activities as hosing off a driveway or watering a lawn during most daylight hours an infraction that could carry penalties of $50, $100 or $200. First-time violators, however, would be let off with a warning.

In spite of the warning, Pasadena residents have not reached a goal of using 10% less water:

… some water experts believe there is a way Pasadena could reach its conservation goals without imposing fines and keep prices down for those who do their part. Michael Hurley, chair of the city’s Environmental Advisory Commission and a water resources manager with the environmental consulting firm Malcolm Pirnie, believes the city should adopt a budget-based water rate structure.

Like many other utility companies, PWP bases its water rates on meter size and actual usage. The larger your meter, the more you pay up-front — a type of “standby charge,” explained Kwan, that covers the cost of having water ready to deliver through a big or small meter. When it comes to what people actually use, there’s a tiered rate structure for each meter size that starts charging more per gallon after a certain level of usage is reached.

Switching to a budget-based rate structure would determine a reasonable amount of water use for each household and business in Pasadena by taking into account how many people are using water at the location and how much irrigation is required for the lot. Use less than your budget and pay a very low rate; go over your fair share and pay double or triple that rate, or more.

Read more from Pasadena Weekly by clicking here.

September 18, 2008 · Filed Under Conservation, Other Water Agencies

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Anaheim asks residents & businesses to cut back on water

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 18, 2008 at 4:02 pm

From the O. C. Register:

One of the county’s largest cities is calling on residents and businesses to cut back on water usage in light of the statewide drought.

The call for voluntary water conservation applies to the city’s 54,000 residential units and 7,000 commercial customers, including major water users such as Disneyland, Angel Stadium and the Honda Center, as well as dozens of large hotels. Those customers receive water through the Anaheim Public Utilities Department.

The resolution is intended to motivate the public to take the need for saving water more seriously.

“Anaheim’s outreach campaign and our enhanced conservation programs have allowed us to currently hold off on recommending greater appeals for water-use reduction,” Mayor Curt Pringle said in a statement.

The city might consider adding a “drought surcharge” to water bills if drought conditions persist, but the council would consider that later, said Mike Ebbing, spokesman for Anaheim’s Public Utilities Department.

Read more from the O.C. Register by clicking here.

September 18, 2008 · Filed Under Conservation, Other Water Agencies

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Quenching a neighbor’s thirst: Woodbridge sells Mokelumne water to East Bay

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 17, 2008 at 6:05 am

From the Lodi-News Sentinel:

The Woodbridge Irrigation District is helping residents in Alameda and Contra Costa counties with their critical water needs by selling them a little more than 6,000 acre-feet of water. The irrigation district board approved the sale on Thursday, while the East Bay Municipal Utility District board approved it the previous day.

The deal calls for Woodbridge to sell at least 6,000 acre-feet for $1.2 million. EBMUD will receive as much as 9,000 acre-feet, based on how much water Woodbridge has available. The additional cost is $200 per acre-foot.

Woodbridge has between 6,000 and 7,000 acre-feet available to sell to EBMUD, according to John Wookey, Woodbridge irrigation District’s assistant to the manager.

The deal is for this year only, through Oct. 15. EBMUD will use the water to help its 1.3 million East Bay customers who are subject to mandatory water rationing this year.

The Woodbridge district, which serves agricultural customers in Woodbridge, Thornton and areas west and south of Lodi, has water to sell EBMUD because Woodbridge had conserved water due to the dry winter, Wookey said.

Read more from the Lodi News-Sentinel by clicking here.

September 17, 2008 · Filed Under Other Water Agencies, Water Transfers

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Chino Basin Desalter Water authority mulls addition

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 16, 2008 at 5:56 am

From the Contra Costa Times:

Chino Basin Desalter Authority may need a new partner in its joint-powers authority to help fund an expansion of its infrastructure to clean salt from the region’s major water supply. Western Municipal Water District, which serves western Riverside County, has pipes in place that could be used for the expansion and would provide $46 million of the $120 million needed, officials said.

Some agency officials with the six-member authority have expressed concerns about Western Municipal joining. They cite concerns over the impact on their voting strength, future water supplies and operation costs, officials said.

But Ken Willis, chairman of the Chino Basin Watermaster, a court-ordered forum where agencies can voice concerns and come to agreements over water issues, said he supports Western’s proposal. “It’s a long-range benefit, and it will make for better relations in the future,” he said. “It fits the overall goal of the region.”

Read more from the Contra Costa Times by clicking here.

September 16, 2008 · Filed Under Other Water Agencies

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San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District fights plan to merge with larger water agency

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on September 15, 2008 at 5:38 am

From the San Bernardino Sun:

A small water agency continues to resist plans that would result in it being absorbed by a larger water provider. At issue for the public is whether merging the agencies would lead to higher property taxes. Leaders of the two water districts disagree on the question of whether East Valley water users will get soaked.

The San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District, with five employees and seven board members, is the agency resisting the merger with the larger San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District.

The two agencies play different roles in the San Bernardino Valley’s water system. The Conservation District is charged with storing clean Santa Ana River and Mill Creek water supplies, whereas the Municipal Water District imports water for sale to local water providers.

Officials in favor of consolidating the water agencies say a merger would simplify water management in the San Bernardino Valley, but the warning from the Conservation District is that combining the two agencies could result in higher property taxes around the East Valley. “The public needs to be aware that there is more than just a small likelihood that this will cost them money,” Conservation District general manager Robert Neufeld said.

Neufeld’s counterpart at the Municipal Water District, Randy Van Gelder, disagrees. He replies that the consolidation will eliminate the Conservation District’s fees and thus lead to overall savings for San Bernardino area water users.

Read more from the San Bernardino Sun by clicking here.

September 15, 2008 · Filed Under Other Water Agencies

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EBMUD sets ‘loggers’ to listen for leaks

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 31, 2008 at 6:39 am

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

In the middle of the night, when most of Berkeley is sleeping, hundreds of underground objects are listening for sounds that people can’t hear. They haven’t been planted by terrorists, spies, FBI agents or mystics. Instead, the East Bay Municipal Utility District is installing the acoustic devices, known as “loggers,” in an unprecedented pilot project to conserve water by finding leaks in water mains before they surface.

The effort was conceived of before the drought, but has taken on added urgency because of it. Within a few months, the loggers will be all over town. More than 300 are in place, with as many as 900 yet to come.

“You can hear a water leak before you see it,” said David Wallenstein, an associate engineer in the utility’s water department who is overseeing the project. “And nighttime is the best time to hear leaks. It’s supposed to be quiet then, and you can detect noise when there shouldn’t be noise.”

The noise made by leaks travels nicely in metal pipes, Wallenstein said, and is distinct from the normal flow in a water main, which is fairly subdued. “The loggers are looking for loudness and consistency,” he said. “They’re looking for something continuous - not someone taking a shower.”

Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.

August 31, 2008 · Filed Under Other Water Agencies

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Western Municipal Water District board to consider average rate increase of about 13 percent

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 30, 2008 at 1:15 pm

From the Riverside Press-Enterprise:

Western Municipal Water District customers could see higher bills starting in October. The district’s board on Wednesday will consider a proposed water rate increase at a 6 p.m. public hearing. The proposed increase will vary depending on the area, but on average customers in the Riverside area will see an increase of about 13 percent.

Customers in the Murrieta area will see an average increase of 5 percent, said General Manager John Rossi. The increase in the Murrieta area is significantly lower because customers there are already paying more for water, he said. The district serves about 20,000 customers in the Riverside area and 2,400 customers in the Murrieta area. Last year, the district raised rates for the first time in nine years, Rossi said.

As the state faces a water shortage, Western is paying more for its water. Western buys most of its water from the Metropolitan Water District, which raises its rates every year, Rossi said. In January, MWD’s rates will increase by 14 percent partly because the district has to purchase additional water supplies. A judge cut water supplies from the Sacramento Delta by about one-third last December to protect a threatened fish. Another key supply for Southern California, the Colorado River, is experiencing an eight-year drought.

“It’s not business as usual with our water supply,” Rossi said. “In dry times, water is worth a lot more and is sold at a higher price.”

Read the rest of this article from the Press-Enterprise by clicking here.

August 30, 2008 · Filed Under Other Water Agencies

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South San Joaquin Irrigation District saves enough water to supply 120,000 families

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 24, 2008 at 5:30 am

From the Manteca Bulletin:

South San Joaquin Irrigation District is on target to save enough water to serve 120,000 typical California families for a year when flows from the Bureau of Reclamation ends on Sept. 30.

That savings - projected at more than 30,000 acre feet of water - is the direct result of SSJID division managers successfully executing water conservation measures the board put in place in May. An acre-foot consists of 325,851.4 gallons of water or enough to met the needs of four typical families in California for a year. At the time, the SSJID board made it clear they felt they had an obligation as a California entity to do whatever they could to conserve water with much of the state facing water shortages due to the drought even though the SSJID was in good shape.

The board will decide Tuesday during their 9 a.m. meeting at the district office, 11001 East Highway 120, what to do with the water.

The board could seek a Warren Contract with the Bureau of Reclamation to hold over their water in storage in light of their obligation to district farmers as well as the cities of Manteca, Tracy and Lathrop to provide water next year should the drought continue in 2009 and get more severe. If the Bureau is willing to execute such a contract, it would cost the SSJID around $20 an acre-foot to have the Bureau store it at New Melones and guarantee its use for the SSJID in 2009.

SSJID General Manager Jeff Shields said in conversations with the Bureau that indicated they normally don’t do Warren Contracts but they have been asked to do so by a number of agencies this year due to the prospective of a drought in 2009.

August 24, 2008 · Filed Under Other Water Agencies, San Joaquin Valley

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Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency faces possible shakeup

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 16, 2008 at 6:33 am

From the Antelope Valley Press:

For the first time since Neal Weisenberger gained a seat on the Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency board of directors, he faces an election challenge.

Lancaster resident Marlon Barnes, a 47-year-old Northrop Grumman Corp. firefighter and Air Force veteran, has put in his bid for AVEK’s Division 6 seat, a post Weisenberger has occupied for 11 years.

Water agency board members in 1997 appointed Weisenberger to fill the vacated seat of Duard Jackson, a retired California State University, Los Angeles professor who moved out of the area. Since being appointed to the board, Weisenberger, a 52-year-old Antelope Valley College agriculture and landscape professor from Lancaster, has run unopposed.

In fact, director Dave Rizzo, also up for re-election, considered Weisenberger to be lucky in the 1998, 2000 and 2004 elections for not having to campaign. “Now he has to earn his position like everyone else,” Rizzo said with a smile, adding that he was kidding.

But neither Rizzo nor Weisenberger is laughing too hard. They believe a politically motivated strategy is behind an effort to unseat them and longtime board member George Lane, who has served as a board director since 1977.

“I heard rumors that there were certain people looking for someone to run against me,” Weisenberger said. Therefore, when Barnes filed his papers, he added, “I wasn’t surprised … because of the rumors.”

Taxes, groundwater adjudication and water quality are expected to be the main issues. Read more from the Antelope Valley Press by clicking here.

August 16, 2008 · Filed Under Antelope Valley, Other Water Agencies

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San Juan Water District announces potential pilot program to transfer water – otherwise unavailable to customers – to pay for infrastructure

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 15, 2008 at 10:20 am

From the San Juan Water District, this press release:

The San Juan Water District is seeking benefits from dry-year surface water supplies that are otherwise unavailable for customer use. As a party to the Sacramento Water Forum Agreement
(2000), the District will forgo some Folsom Lake water during dry years to benefit American River fisheries, wildlife and recreation. During those periods, the District taps into groundwater supplies and implements conservation measures to address local water needs.

Once downstream of the confluence of the American and Sacramento Rivers, the District has the right to transfer forgone water for the benefit of its wholesale ratepayers. “We have two choices in dealing with that water,” said Shauna Lorance, the District’s general manager. “We can just let it go with no benefit to our customers, or we can transfer it to other agencies in exchange for resources to fund facilities for dry year water supply reliability.”

Toward that end, the District is entering into preliminary talks with two California water agencies to discuss concepts for a multi-regional water management pilot program. Yesterday, the district’s Board of Directors voted to pursue partnership discussions with the Santa Clara Valley Water District, a Central Valley Project and State Water Project Contractor, and the San Diego County Water Authority.
In concept, up to 7,000 acre feet of forgone water could be transferred by the District to partnering water agencies.

Proceeds from those transfers would be used to build dry-year facilities, such as groundwater wells and pump stations, which are needed to enact provisions of the Sacramento Water Forum Agreement. In absence of other revenues, the costs for new dry-year facilities would be passed on to customers through future rate increases.

“It’s still very conceptual, but we think a multi-regional approach will benefit our customers,” said Lorance. “We gain revenues to pay for much-needed infrastructure, and participating agencies increase their ability to meet water demands in dry years.”

The pilot program is consistent with statewide policy that encourages water transfers, conjunctive use and conservation measures to mitigate impacts of drought conditions. State policy also promotes cooperation between water districts to address water shortages. As such, multi-regional collaboration could boost local efforts in securing state bond dollars for infrastructure and system improvements.
“We have a very real need to offset costs for dry-year infrastructure projects,” said Dave Peterson, a
member of the District’s Board. “But, we’re also doing the right thing by helping other regions. The health of Bay-Area and San Diego economies are directly related to the health of our local, state and national economies. We can and must be a part of the solution.”

Staff from the three agencies will meet in coming weeks to discuss development of the pilot program and talk with interested stakeholders. If approved, the program could be implemented as early as March 2009 for a one-year period, with options for a longer-term agreement if proven successful.

For more information, visit the District’s Web site at www.sjwd.org.

San Juan Water District is a community services district that provides drinking water to more than 265,000 people in portions of Sacramento and Placer counties. In addition to serving retail customers in Granite Bay, east Roseville, and the northeast portion of Sacramento County, the district wholesales water to Citrus Heights and Fair Oaks water districts, Orange Vale Water Company and the city of Folsom (north of the American River) and periodically to Sacramento Suburban Water District.

For a FAQ Sheet on the program, click here.

August 15, 2008 · Filed Under Other Water Agencies, San Diego, Water Transfers

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Costly water shell game points to need for reservoirs

Posted by: Aqua Blog Maven on August 14, 2008 at 6:11 am

From the Contra Costa Times, this editorial, which is reacting to this story regarding the dealings of the Kern County Water Agency, who (allegedly) made a pile of money at taxpayer expense:

Article 21 is a shameful example of a state water program that backfired. There was insufficient oversight, which allowed for the excessively large water deliveries and the degradation of the Delta. In effect, Article 21 was nothing more than a shell game that allowed a water agency to bilk the public and do environmental harm.

Unfortunately, it is not an isolated case of water policy failure. More than $3 billion has been spent since 2000 in efforts to improve the Delta environment and water supplies. The result has been an ecological collapse and a court order to sharply reduce water deliveries. Everyone is the loser.

At the root of much of California’s water woes is the lack of adequate storage. Water demand has risen, and the state’s population has doubled since the last major reservoir was built. Water storage collected at environmentally sound levels in state reservoirs during wet months can make enough water available for users and the Delta ecology in dry periods.

Adequate supplies of fresh state-owned water would preclude any need to have regional agencies bank water for anything other than their own use.

It is past time that California got serious about constructing new reservoirs or substantially enlarging current ones. The state’s economy, particularly agriculture, and the Delta environment are at risk.

Read the full text of the editorial from Contra Costa Times by clicking here.

August 14, 2008 · Filed Under Other Water Agencies, Water Storage

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