Researchers race to make desalination eco-friendly while there’s still time

Posted by: Maven on July 31, 2008 at 11:16 pm

From YubaNet.com:

There’s one way Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego researchers see the future of desalination in California going.

Before a regulatory structure can take shape to govern how seawater is treated and transported to a thirsty public, a gubernatorial order will be handed down that fast-tracks the construction of desalination plants during an episode of extreme drought when battles over water turn violent. Ecological casualties would be assured.

It’s decidedly not what coastal engineer Scott Jenkins and marine biologist Jeffrey Graham hope for. Since 2000, the two have served as consultants to two desalination projects in Southern California that have been proposed by the Connecticut technology firm Poseidon Resources. In the course of their inquiry, the two scientists have come to see widespread construction of desalination plants as inevitable for California but hope that when they debut, state regulators and nature itself are ready for them.

“Are these plants really going to be there when we need them?” said Jenkins, “Will they be there to drought-proof us?”

Read more from Yuba.net by clicking here.

How can Schwarzenegger campaign for his water bond while slashing salaries?

Posted by: Maven on July 31, 2008 at 11:09 pm

From Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org:

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger must live in a parallel reality from the one that Californians actually live in.

The same Governor who is working relentlessly to pass a budget-busting $9.3 billlion water bond today, with absolutely no sense of irony, issued an executive order slashing the salaries of 200,000 state workers to the federal minimum wage of $ 6.55 per hour and immediately laying off 20,000 temporary workers until California passes a budget.

“Today I am exercising my executive authority to avoid a full-blown crisis and keep our state moving forward,” Governor Schwarzenegger said. “This is not an action I take lightly, but we do not have a budget, and as Governor, I have a responsibility to make sure our state has enough money to pay its bills.” …

On Schwarzenegger’s watch, Central Valley king salmon have collapsed to the lowest recorded population level, due to the Governor’s zeal in increasing water exports to his buddies in corporate agribusiness. The same increase in water exports is also the key factor in the collapse of three pelagic species – the delta smelt, longfin smelt, juvenile striped bass, and threadfin shad – as documented by a team of federal and state scientists.

The same Governor who is slashing Governor’s salaries last week spoke at a Capitol rally touting the “benefits” of a $9.3 billion “compromise” water bond sponsored by him and Senator Dianne Feinstein. The proposal, opposed by a coalition of fishing groups, Indian Tribes, conservationorganizations and Delta residents, includes two new dams and a peripheral canal. The bond would build the infrastructure to export more even more water out of the Delta, further imperiling collapsing salmon and other fish populations.

Read more from Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org by clicking here.

California water operations threaten survival of iconic salmon fishery; Fishermen, seafood restaurant and conservationists call for improved water management in the San Francisco Bay-Delta

Posted by: Maven on July 31, 2008 at 11:00 pm

From the NRDC, this press release (hat tip to Joy – thank you!)

SAN FRANCISCO (July 24, 2008) – California salmon could soon disappear permanently from the state’s rivers, restaurant menus and supermarkets if massive water diversions from the San Francisco Bay-Delta continue unabated, according to a new report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Association (PCFFA) and Water 4 Fish.

The report, “Fish Out of Water: How Water Management in the Bay-Delta Threatens the Future of California’s Salmon Fishery,” describes how the State Water Project and Central Valley Project contribute to declining salmon populations, by reducing the availability of water necessary for migration and spawning, killing tens of thousands of juvenile salmon by sucking them into giant pumps used to export water, and blocking salmon’s migration route with their dams. The report comes on the heels of a federal court ruling that water project operations in the Central Valley jeopardize the survival of several salmon runs, and a few months after state and federal agencies closed California’s commercial salmon fishery for the first time ever due to record low numbers of fish returning to spawn.

“The future of California’s salmon fishery is completely dependent on how we manage water in the Bay-Delta ecosystem,” said Doug Obegi, NRDC staff attorney and lead author of the report. “California agencies must implement existing requirements to restore salmon, reform management of the water projects, and reduce water diversions. California can meet its water supply needs and restore salmon and the health of the Delta ecosystem by investing in fish friendly water supply alternatives, including water conservation and recycling. If we do so, Californians will once again be able to enjoy abundant local salmon in their rivers, on their lines, and on their plates.”

Read on for more information and a link to the post: Continue reading “California water operations threaten survival of iconic salmon fishery; Fishermen, seafood restaurant and conservationists call for improved water management in the San Francisco Bay-Delta” »

Tap water has 1/100 impact of bottled water

Posted by: Maven on July 31, 2008 at 10:50 pm

From AlterNet:

We have forgotten about our closest source of water at home – the tap. Yet one of the simplest ways to reduce our environmental impact, to save money (not a ton…yet!) and to free ourselves from shopping and storage hassle, is by saying goodbye to bottled water. A life cycle assessment commissioned by the Swiss Gas and Water Association traced the entire life cycle from water extraction to serving it up in a glass.

Their findings showed that tap water has less than one percent of the impacts of un-refrigerated bottled water. Even when the tap water is refrigerated its impact is only one quarter of that of bottled water. These astonishing figures show that tap water is hands-down the greenest and most responsible choice.

The biggest impacts for bottled water come from the refrigeration, packaging and transport. Refrigeration also substantially increased the impacts of the tap water scenarios thanks to the energy consumed to power the fridge. Returnable bottles and jugs had lesser overall impacts when the distances for their transport were short. But as the distances increase, the higher weight glass bottles resulted in an “on the whole” higher environmental impact as compared to the PET bottles.

Read more from AlterNet by clicking here.

Dropping Lake Oroville levels may require boat launch ramp extensions

Posted by: Maven on July 31, 2008 at 7:11 am

From the Department of Water Resources, more bad news for Lake Oroville, the main reservoir on the State Water Project, in this press release:

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) reports that Lake Oroville’s boat launch ramps will soon be left high and dry by the rapidly dropping water level. The reservoir currently holds about 1,315,000 acre feet of water with a surface level of 707.85 feet. That’s only 37 percent of capacity and just 49 percent of average for this time of year.

When the level drops to 707 feet at Lime Saddle Marina (probably tomorrow or Friday), 705 at Bidwell, and 700 at the Spillway, normal boat launch operations will cease. At that point, DWR will use steel mat extensions to allow one-lane launching at Bidwell or Spillway, depending on conditions. Boaters are advised that conditions are subject to change due to weather, changing lake levels or other variables. Four wheel drive vehicles are recommended when using the temporary ramps.

Lake Oroville’s lowest historical level was 645 feet above sea level (when it held 882,000 acre-feet) on Sept. 7, 1977. DWR officials fear the lake may drop below this level before wet weather returns.

Specific information about the daily launch conditions can be obtained by calling the California Department of Parks and Recreation at: (530) 538-2200. Lake Oroville elevations can be obtained by calling the DWR Lake Conditions Recording at (530) 534-2307, or accessing the DWR Web site at http://www.lakeoroville.water.ca.gov/about/stats/levels.cfm

New reports available on economic efficiency of water use & allocation, tribal communication, and financing Delta improvements and environmental mitigation

Posted by: Maven on July 31, 2008 at 6:53 am

From the California Water Plan E-news:

Economic efficiency of water development & allocation:
A paper recently submitted to the Delta Vision Blue Ribbon Task Force examines the economic efficiency of water use and allocation in California. It was written by economist Roger Mann. The paper identifies key issues related to the economic efficiency of water development, allocation and use in California and discusses general policy changes that might improve economic efficiency. Click here to read the report.

Tribal Communication Plan:
A Tribal Communication Plan has been posted on the Water Plan Web site. It is intended to help everyone involved in the California Water Plan – including the Department of Water Resources and all
other state and federal agencies – to communicate appropriately and effectively with all California Native American Tribes about water issues that may affect them in their territories and ancestral
homelands. Click here to read the report.

And from my own wanderings, this report from the California Research Bureau, commissioned by the Delta Vision Task Force titled “Financing Delta Improvements and Environmental Mitigation”:

Resolution of the Delta’s water supply, water quality, and fish problems may involve
building various structures, possibly including gates, pumps, canals, levees, and dams, and undertaking landscaping rearrangements to improve habitat for several species of flora and fauna. Resolution also involves changing water flow regimes in ways that would make more or less water, but probably less, available for human uses. This work and these changes will cost serious money. Cost estimates for many of these actions have not yet been developed. This paper explores approaches to financing these “improvements” and “mitigations.” While a little abstract, this is abstraction that matters. It will determine from whose pockets a good deal of money will come.

California has a long history of financing water projects. The first section of this paper reviews this history, in hopes of identifying water-financing principles that might be adapted to Delta improvements and mitigation. Some deep-seated controversies about how Delta improvements should be financed have roots in this history, and it may be helpful to point them out.

A core idea in California’s approach to financing water projects is that beneficiaries should pay for them. Decades ago, this was a straightforward proposition – people or water districts should pay for the necessary dams, canals, and pumps and the costs of operating them in proportion to the amount of water they received. In the current age of rising environmental sensitivity, it is a little muddier. An alternative formulation that applies, at least crudely, to housing developments and highway projects, is that project proponents should pay to mitigate at least some of the environmental harm that their project is likely to cause. The second section of this paper explores this controversial subject. It seems unlikely that any consensus can be reached about how to finance facilities in the Delta without reaching some agreement about how to deal with this matter.

Read the full text of this report by clicking here.

“An implementation strategy for the California Ocean Protection Council resolution to reduce and prevent ocean litter” named California Progress Report’s site of the day

Posted by: Maven on July 31, 2008 at 6:22 am

From the California Progress Report:

California’s Ocean Protection Council (OPC) staff today released “An Implementation Strategy for the California Ocean Protection Council Resolution to Reduce and Prevent Ocean Litter”. This is a 23 page “final draft,” open for comments, that contains the strategy to reduce and eliminate ocean litter by banning plastic bags and containers statewide. Recommendations also call for plastic manufacturers to recover and dispose of their products and for product user fees to be assessed.

If you read this report, you will find out how serious the problems our ocean has from litter, how it affects fish and marine mammals, and why it is so important that California take bold action.

Action will not come without strong opposition from the plastics industry. This report sets the stage for action that will have far reaching benefit for ocean health—but only once it has been adopted by the OPC. Most of the recommendations will require legislation to be enacted.

The implementation strategy identifies three primary approaches that California should take to eliminate marine debris. California should: (1) establish a “take-back” program for many types of product packaging that would require plastic packaging manufacturers to take these products back and dispose of them properly; (2) institute a statewide prohibition on single-use plastic bags and polystyrene takeout containers; and (3) impose fees on other packaging.

OPC staff is seeking comments on the draft in writing by August 21. Staff will incorporate changes to the draft based on comments received. The OPC is also soliciting public comment during its meeting September 11 at 9 a.m. in Half Moon Bay.

Just take a look at how the report begins in describing the current situation off California’s coast and you will recognize what is at stake:

“Ocean litter – also commonly referred to as “marine debris” – is a persistent and growing problem worldwide. The general composition of ocean litter is 60-80% plastics, although it has reached 90-95% in some areas. Plastic debris in an area north of Hawaii known as the Northwest Pacific Gyre has increased 5-fold in the last 10 years. Similarly, off Japan’s coast, researchers found that floating particles of plastic debris increased 10-fold in 10 years from the 1970s through 1980s, and then 10-fold again every 2-3 years in the 1990s. In the Southern Ocean, the amount of plastic debris increased 100 times during the early 1990s. These are just a few examples of an expanding body of research that demonstrate that, despite the MARPOL international treaty prohibition on dumping plastics at sea, debris in the oceans is increasing at an alarming rate. This is due to the fact that 80% of the debris comes from land-based sources, particularly trash and plastic litter in urban runoff, and the generation of trash and waste is increasing.”

Read more from the California Progress Report by clicking here.

Read the final draft of the report by clicking here.

Federal agencies and Pacific Coast governors embark on ocean action plan

Posted by: Maven on July 31, 2008 at 6:13 am

From the Environment News Service:

The governors of California, Oregon and Washington Tuesday announced the details of their plan to address ocean and coastal management issues such as polluted runoff, oil spills and marine garbage along the West Coast.

The West Coast Governors’ Ocean Action Plan is the result of a 2006 agreement signed by the three governors that established a long-term partnership to tackle obstacles facing the Pacific Ocean and its coastal communities.

The three states will work together on 26 actions. They promised to advocate for stricter ocean going vessel emission standards, prevent the introduction of invasive species, explore the feasibility of offshore alternative ocean energy development, improve ocean research, increase ocean education and prevent and respond to offshore oil spills, among other efforts. Each action within the plan contains benchmarks and a timeframe for action. The governors have formally committed to report on the status of actions at the end of two years.

“This agreement is another key step in our aggressive efforts to maintain clean water and beaches along our coast,” said Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, speaking with his fellow governors via satellite. “I believe our commitment to working together and putting this plan into action will help effectively tackle critical issues up and down the West Coast,” he said, “ensuring a healthy ocean environment for current and future generations.”

More on this story from the Environment News Service by clicking here.

Multiple Federal agencies are also involved, according to this press release from the Department of the Interior:

Today, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of the Interior and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency joined the governors of California, Oregon and Washington to launch an historic action plan addressing challenging ocean and coastal management issues along the West Coast.

The action plan implements the West Coast Governors’ Agreement on Ocean Health, a 2006 agreement signed by the governors of the three states involved to forge a long-term partnership to tackle obstacles facing the Pacific Ocean and its coastal communities.

“Close collaboration on a regional basis between the states and the federal government is a critical piece of the President’s Ocean Action Plan,” said James L. Connaughton, Chairman, Council on Environmental Quality. “The new Action Plan for the West Coast is a testament to what we can accomplish when we align our efforts and work together for a better future for our oceans and coasts.”

“The federal partners are pleased to support this commitment of the West Coast governors to ocean health and conservation,” said Kameran Onley, Acting Assistant Secretary for Water and Science at the U.S. Department of the Interior. “The Department of the Interior provides ocean research and resource management experience to help the states achieve our mutual goal of providing a healthy ocean for future generations. Interior agencies including the U.S. Geological Survey, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service and Minerals Management Service share a long and close working partnership with all three states.”

The plan commits the three states to collaborate closely with federal agencies, as well as ocean users, academic institutions, the public, and other regional entities on 26 bold actions to meet seven priority goal areas related to ocean protection. The federal partners are providing the states with scientific expertise and other support from their programs that correspond to the goals of the action plan.

“This plan will work to focus everyone on common goals to protect the marine environment,” said Alexis Strauss, Water Division Director for the EPA Pacific Southwest. “We all share the same desire to address the many ocean and coastal management challenges and this effort will move everyone forward in facing those challenges.”

Read the rest of the press release from the Department of the Interior by clicking here.

To find out more and read the West Coast Governor’s Agreement & sign up for automatic updates, click here.

CSPA protests State Board’s secret order allowing export pumping

Posted by: Maven on July 31, 2008 at 5:43 am

From IndyBay.org, this press release from Bill Jennings and the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance:

Today, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) submitted a formal petition to the State Water Resources Control Board (State Board) asking it to reconsider its issuance of a “secret” Order allowing export pumping to be increased despite violation of Delta water quality standards. The Order was issued in response to a petition from the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). South Delta Water Agency has also asked the State Board to reconsider the decision.

“This despicable backroom deal undercuts one of the few remaining protections for water quality and fisheries in the Delta,” said CSPA Executive Director Bill Jennings. “It’s a clear message that the State cares more about sending water to grow cotton in the desert than it cares about protecting Delta agriculture and endangered species.”

The order, issued by one Member of the five-member State Board and without public notice or public hearing, authorizes DWR and USBR to use the Joint Point of Diversion (JPOD), even if water quality standards in the south Delta are being violated. The JPOD allows the DWR and USBR to use each other’s pumping plants interchangeably thus “maximizing” water exports from the Delta.

Not having to meet water quality standards in the Delta before using JPOD effectively eliminates one of the major protections of water quality and fisheries in the south Delta. High salinity levels severely impact the yield of Delta agriculture and measures that reduce salinity generally help fish by reducing water exports.

The Delta salinity standards, measured at three locations in the South Delta, coupled with the Vernalis instream flow and Delta Outflow requirements comprise virtually the only protection for water quality and fisheries mandated by the State of California. The salinity standards were originally included in the 1995 Water Quality Control Plan for the Bay-Delta and affirmed in State Board Decision 1641 in 2000, which implemented the 1995 Plan.

Read more of this press release from the CSPA posted on IndyBay.org by clicking here.

Measuring Tahoe’s blues: Sediment and pollution obscure lake and light

Posted by: Maven on July 29, 2008 at 10:32 pm

From High Country News:

There is something ineffable about trying to measure a thing by the point at which it is no longer measurable. But that was exactly what we were doing, leaning over the side of a boat, watching a white plate sink into Lake Tahoe. We counted off the feet on the line attached to the Secchi dish, named for Angelo Secchi, a 19th-century scientist at the Vatican, who invented this method to measure water clarity in the Mediterranean.

“10, 20, 30.”

Sunlight reflected off the white surface and refracted through the blue water, casting a crystalline halo around the dish. Then the plate began to lose definition around the edge. Soon it was just a pale diffuse
light, getting smaller and smaller in the darkening depths.

“40, 50, 60.”

“I don’t see it anymore,” I called out. The plate had descended to a depth where, technically speaking, the difference between the wavelength of the light bouncing off of it and the wavelength of the light being reflected by microscopic particles of sediment in the water had become smaller than my eyes could detect. The Secchi dish was still down there, reflecting light back up to the surface. I just couldn’t swear to it.

But Brant Allen could. “I still see it,” said the crew-cut captain of the RV John LeConte, the research vessel that had brought us out on the lake this bright morning. I counted as he continued to slowly play out the line.

“64, 65, 66, 67.”

“Now I don’t see it either,” said Allen, a fisheries biologist who has recently taken over this tradition, carried out regularly for 39 years by scientists from the University of California at Davis. Allen began reeling the dish back in and soon it came back into focus, a tiny source of light now differentiated again from the scattering luminescence of the deep blue lake.

Technically, we were measuring the declining clarity of Lake Tahoe by the point at which clarity ceases. We saw things slightly differently, as everybody does. We could measure again in the same spot, and it would be different. The lake and the light are always changing. But we had a measurement we could agree on, within a few feet, for this particular time and place.

Read more from the High Country News by clicking here.

25 painless ways you can reduce your water consumption

Posted by: Maven on July 29, 2008 at 10:20 pm

From the Organicasm blog:

Water conservation is an important part of responsible living. Water is a precious resource which is not to be squandered. Fortunately, there are a number of really easy ways to save water without a whole lot of hassle, and we’ve compiled some of the best here.

In the Kitchen

Cut down on water usage in your kitchen using these methods.

1. Wash only on a full load: This is true for both washers and dishwashers. By washing in bulk, you’ll cut down on the number of cycles you need to run. Also important to keep in mind is the fact that most dishwashers on a full load can clean dishes more efficiently than a hand wash.
2. Cut down on your disposal: Instead of using your disposal, start a compost pile for food waste.
3. Buy foods close to their natural form: Water is needed to produce just about everything from Coke to boxed mashed potatoes. You can cut down on your water consumption by avoiding processed foods that require lots of water to make.
4. For large washing jobs, fill your sink: Instead of running water to wash dishes or produce, fill your sink to wash them all at the same time.
5. Cut back on rinsing: If you’ve got a fairly new dishwasher, it should be powerful enough to clean your dishes thoroughly without pre-rinsing.

Find out more easy water conservation tips from the Organicasm blog by clicking here.

On one stretch of California coast, it’s sand, sea, and man vs. beast

Posted by: Maven on July 29, 2008 at 9:19 pm

From the Christian Science Monitor:

It’s a sunny summer Tuesday, and in the waters off La Jolla Cove, kayakers paddle toward underwater caves and swimmers dot the surface. At Children’s Pool, a sliver of beach sheltered by a 300-foot-long crescent-shaped wall, the sand is white, the water is a shimmery blue-green, and the smell – well, the smell is terrible.

The air is thick with the stench of seal poop – a scent as sour as the years-long battle for this tiny piece of shoreline. For over a decade, it’s been the pinnipeds vs. the people in a fight for control, with activists on both sides using everything from heckling and restraining orders to lawsuits and a stun gun to draw and redraw their respective lines in the sand.

Seals have been gathering here since the 1990s, gradually making Children’s Pool – created as a place for families and children – a seal rookery, a place for the animals to have babies, rest, and relieve themselves. These days, given the water’s bacteria levels, it’s no longer considered safe for humans to swim.

Until very recently, the city was asking visitors to stay behind a rope barrier that protected seals lounging at the water’s edge. But in 2005, a California Superior Court ordered the city to take down the rope, remove the seals, and clean up the pool. Animal-rights activists appealed the decision, but last month, a US Appeals Court refused to hear their case. The California Supreme Court has also declined to hear it. The city has already begun the permitting process to clear the way for dredging, says Stacey LoMedico, San Diego’s Parks and Recreation director. But that process will probably take years, and in the meantime, the battle rages on.

Read more from the Christian Science Monitor by clicking here.

Ha! The Army Corps said it couldn’t be done, but determined kayakers prove the LA River is navigable!

Posted by: Maven on July 28, 2008 at 9:25 pm

From the LAist:

They did it. Geroge Wolfe and the gang kayaked, from end to end, the LA River, proving that claims by the Army Corps of Engineers that the river was not navigable, thus not a river, were wrong. Looking at all of these photos says something to us. It says “we need this river for the people!”

The journey began on Friday afternoon (photos), continued through Saturday (photos) and finished yesterday (photos below). LAist Photographer Tom Andrews stuck with the group all weekend long and here are photos from yesterday…

More pictures from the LAist by clicking here.

ACWA takes support position on water bond proposal; package proposed by Governor, Feinstein critical to addressing crisis

Posted by: Maven on July 28, 2008 at 8:45 pm

From Marketwatch/Business Wire:

The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) has taken a formal position in support of a proposed water bond package for the November 2008 ballot. The $9.3 billion package, proposed July 10 by U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, would provide funding for local resource development, Delta sustainability and infrastructure improvements to address the state’s deepening water crisis.

ACWA’s Board of Directors voted Friday to support the package, calling it the right mix of long-term investments in backbone water infrastructure as well as water use efficiency, recycling and other local strategies to improve water supply reliability.

“The need for a comprehensive water package has never been more urgent,” ACWA Executive Director Timothy Quinn said. “We are facing some of the most severe water challenges of our time, and we need solutions today.”

While a water bond package is critical to achieving long-term solutions, Quinn said the Legislature also must move to immediately appropriate funding for critical projects already authorized under Proposition 84, Proposition 50 and Proposition 1E. The funding should be disbursed to local water agencies swiftly to allow conservation, recycling and other projects to proceed as soon as possible.

ACWA is a statewide association of public agencies whose 450 members are responsible for about 90% of the water delivered in California. For more information, visit www.acwa.com.

7th Annual H2O Conference: Call for Presentations

Posted by: Maven on July 28, 2008 at 8:21 pm

7th Annual H2O Conference: Call for Presentations

The 2008 “Headwaters to Ocean (H2O)” Conference is being organized by the California Shore and Beach Preservation Association (www.csbpa.org), California Coastal Coalition (www.calcoast.org), Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project (www.scwrp.org) and Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS) – Western Chapter (http://www.sws.org/regional/western/index.html).

The event will be held October 28-30 at the Westin Long Beach. Accomodations are available at the Westin and the nearby Courtyard by Marriott. The Courtyard is offering a government rate at the prevailing per diem.

For information about the hotels, log onto http://www.websurfer.us/coastal/h20_2008/hotel_info.htm

As always, the conference will cover a wide spectrum of coast and ocean issues, including water quality, beach restoration, wetland restoration, watershed management, desalination, coastal policy/legislation, and marine debris.

If you have been to a previous H2O Conference, you know that not only are the presentations cutting-edge and informative, but that the conference organizers take pride in serving the best refreshments and hors d’ouvres of any conference you’ll ever attend. For example, when’s the last time you attended a conference and made your own sundae during the afternoon break? There will be two evening receptions and (can we say this?) keg beer (Sierra Nevada, Stone or the like) is free each night.

A call for presentations is posted at: http://www.websurfer.us/coastal/h20_2008/call_presentations.htm

The deadline for submitting abstracts is Monday, August 18.

PowerPoint presentations from previous H2O conferences are posted at:http://www.websurfer.us/coastal/h20_2007/presentations_2007.htm

Online registration is available at: http://www.websurfer.us/coastal/h20_2008/register.htm

SPONSORS NEEDED:

The conference organizers are seeking sponsors to help underwrite the costs of putting on the event. Sponsor and exhibitor information (including the logos and hot links for last year’s sponsors and exhibitors) is posted at: http://www.websurfer.us/coastal/h20_2008/sponsors.htm

We hope to see you at the 7th Annual H2O Conference. This event improves with age!

CONFERENCE PROGRAM COMMITTEE:

David Cannon, Co-Chair, CSBPA
Steve Aceti, Co-Chair, CalCoast
Greg Gauthier, WRP
Eric Stein, SWS

Los Angeles County will dry up without a drought solution, says SCLC

Posted by: Maven on July 28, 2008 at 6:28 am

From PR Web:

“Our local, regional water agencies and private water companies need to work together to devise and implement a regional water reliability strategy,” Lee Harrington, Exec. Sec., SCLC

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) July 28, 2008 — The Los Angeles County County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) today released the preliminary findings from its study, “Where Will We Get The Water? Assessing Southern California’s Future Water Strategies.”

The study was commissioned by the Southern California Leadership Council (SCLC) and other sponsors to identify and compare water supply and reliability options for the region in light of the declining supplies from our traditional water import sources, the Colorado River, the Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta, and the Owens River.

The preliminary findings, which still await input from the water sector include:

* Traditional imported water sources from the Colorado River, San Joaquin/Sacramento Delta and the Owens River cannot be relied upon for increased supplies and may, in fact, diminish further. Addressing the environmental crisis and constructing a new water conveyance system in the Delta remains as a top priority.

* Southern California must embark on a concerted self help water supply and reliability program comprised of a portfolio of locally sourced supplies and wet year supply supplements to meet its future needs. A concerted effort would literally bring in millions of additional acre feet of water.

* Urban water conservation is one of the most promising and least costly options to extend our water supplies.

* Local storm water capture and increased use of ground water storage are the next largest and most cost effective alternatives.

* Interagency cooperation to share water resources and minimize unnecessary water transfers can be a no-cost or reduced-cost option to meet the region’s needs and can be facilitated by the Metropolitan Water District.

* Recycling water for domestic use and desalination, while expensive and more power intensive are viable options to ensure reliability of necessary supplies.

* Surface storage in the San Joaquin and Sacramento watersheds offer Southern California little in the way of water reliability and if and when deliverable would be one of most expensive and energy intensive options.

“Our local, regional water agencies and private water companies need to work together to devise and implement a regional water reliability strategy which uses southern California’s full array of water resources and infrastructure, including exchange programs, underground storage, and other shared services to meet our future water needs,” explained Executive Director Lee Harrington, Southern California Leadership Council (SCLC).

“The Metropolitan Water District can be a value added facilitator in this effort,” said MWD Chairman Timothy Brick.

“Private sector companies will partner in such efforts including the investment of needed capital for facilities,” said CEO Floyd Wicks, of Golden State Water Company. Wicks also Co-Chairs the SCLC.

About Southern California Leadership Council
The Southern California Leadership Council is a business-led-and-sponsored public policy partnership for the Southern California region. The Council provides proactive leadership for a strong economy, a vital business environment and a better quality of life for everyone who lives here. Founded in 2005 as a voice for the region’s business community and like-minded individuals to focus and combine their efforts, the Leadership Council’s objective is to help enable public sector officials, policy makers and other civic leaders to address and solve public policy issues critical to the region’s economic vitality and quality of life. The Council is comprised of business and community leaders from throughout the seven counties of Southern California and four former California governors.

The largest ‘landfill’ on earth – the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Posted by: Maven on July 28, 2008 at 6:06 am

From Digital Journal:

Or you can call it the ‘Plastic Soup’. I bet you haven’t heard about it. The world’s largest junkyard. Also rather ‘infamously’ known as the Pacific Trash Vortex.

The world’s largest landfill is located in the Northern Pacific ocean, in an area of slow moving sea currents called the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. It is an oceanic desert, its denizens phytoplanktons but scarce other marine life. Far away from the world’s shipping lanes, its chief ‘flora’ is the massive mass of floating detritus. The size of this mass believe it or not equivalent to that of the continental United States.

This huge garbage island is actually two different but linked areas – The Eastern Garbage Patch, is located between Hawaii and California and said to be the size of Texas. The Western Garbage Patch, spreads from the east of Japan to the west of Hawaii.

The patches are connected by a thin 6,000-mile long current called the Subtropical Convergence Zone. The patches are a mess and mass of debris and junk, human and otherwise collected from all corners. From discarded electronics, to children toys…it is a profusion of waste. The chief concentration though is as usual – plastic, abundant and unbiodegradable.

To read the rest of this article from Digital Journal by clicking here.

Beyond wind plan, Pickens eyes water pipelines in drought-ridden U.S.

Posted by: Maven on July 27, 2008 at 8:13 am

From Popular Mechanics (hat tip to the Sisweb):

Legendary Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens recently detailed his plan to wean America off foreign oil by blanketing the Great Plains with wind turbines. But Pickens also has a lesser-known plan that is centered on another commodity, one every bit as vital to America’s future as energy—water. If it all works out, his water plan could remake Pickens as a whole new kind of baron.

Pickens is in the planning stages of a $1.5 billion initiative to pump billions of gallons of water from an ancient aquifer beneath the Texas Panhandle and build pipelines to ship them to thirsty cities such as Dallas. So far, no city has taken up his water company, Mesa Water, on the offer. But company officials and experts agree that a continuation of the drought impacting large portions of the United States could turn Pickens into something of a water baron. His yet-to-be-built pipeline would follow the same 250-mile corridor as electric lines carrying power from his wind farms. Pickens prompted the creation of a public water supply district, run by his employees, that can claim private land for the pipeline route through eminent domain.

A drought has drained water from Texas and much of the rest of the United States. That could make water an increasingly profitable commodity for those who hold the rights. According to his Web site, Pickens owns rights to more water than anyone else. “In general, there’s a lot of it, it’s just not in the right place,” says Robert Stillwell, legal counsel for Mesa Water (and board member of the water supply district), which continues to acquire water rights in rural Texas. He dismisses questions about whether the water would be cost-competitive. For cities looking at their future water needs, he says, “cost becomes irrelevant.” As far as Mesa’s pipeline snaking across the Texas heartland, Stillwell insists that “it’s going to happen, it’s just a matter of when.”

Read more from Popular Mechanics by clicking here.

Whiskey’s for drinkin’, water’s for investing in

Posted by: Maven on July 27, 2008 at 7:35 am

From the Cleantech Blog:

Last week I put out the idea that we were approaching a tipping point in water re-use. There were a few other headlines this week which support that. For one thing California’s second largest reservoir is now ‘at its lowest level in 30 years’. Last Monday the California Department of Water Resources Director, Lester Snow, stated that next year “could be the worst drought in California history”. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein have proposed a $9.3 billion plan to the Legislature to fund a number of measures aimed at improving California’s water system.

So that’s California, – which bear in mind would be the 7th largest economy in the world if it was a country and has been the number one food producer in the United States for more than 50 years. Now let’s take a look at what’s happening in the capital of the world’s second largest economy. In Beijing, in the run up to the 2008 Olympic Games, Siemens Water Technologies has started up a wastewater reuse system at the city’s Beixiaohe wastewater treatment plant. The goal is to process 90% of the wastewater with 50% of the treated wastewater being recycled and reused.

2008 may be remembered as the year in which China hosted the Olympic Games but is also an auspicious year for another reason. 2008 is the first year in which the population of the planet will be more urban than rural. (Apparently this change occurred May 23rd 2008!). That’s an important turning point and if we are to increasingly live in cities, this of course means that we need to have means of sustainably meeting demands on water use in these cities.

Get investment advice from the Cleantech blog by clicking here. (As always with investment information, no endorsement is given or implied.)

California Water Crisis special PBS broadcast

Posted by: Maven on July 26, 2008 at 10:21 am

From Sam Spade’s San Francisco:

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta supplies water for two-thirds of California’s population, but the reliability of the state’s water supply has been declining. Scientists project that global warming will reduce the Sierra snow pack, which feeds the Delta, by at least 25% by 2050.

Changing water temperatures and runoff patterns may have adversely affected the delta smelt, salmon and other water creatures. The Chinook salmon population declined so rapidly that in April coastal salmon fishing was banned in California and most of Oregon. And court ordered protection for the delta smelt stopped pumps that supply water to central and southern California, cutting outflows by a third. The move hurt California’s $30 Billion agricultural industry which uses over three-fourths of the state’s water.

For more information and a link to the PBS special, visit Sam Spade’s San Francisco blog, click here.

State Board conducts hearing to revoke Auburn Dam water rights

Posted by: Maven on July 26, 2008 at 9:29 am

From IndyBay.org:

Here is a short report from Bill Jennings, executive director of the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, on the State Water Resources Control Board’s hearing on revocation of the Bureau’s Auburn Dam water rights that was held last Monday. “Auburn Dam is DEAD,” said Jennings. “The autopsy, obituary and eulogy have been written.”

State Water Resources Control Board Conducts Hearing to Revoke Auburn Dam Water Rights; Millions of acre-feet of water at stake

by Bill Jennings, California Sportfishing Protection Alliance

Ten years ago CSPA protested the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s request for an extension of time on its Auburn Dam water rights, which had been issued in 1970 and never put to beneficial use. Staff of the State Water Resources Control Board asked the Bureau for a CEQA document and revised plans for the Dam. The Bureau failed to provide the requested documents.

Since the State Board couldn’t conduct a hearing on the CSPA complaint without the required documents, staff had no alternative but to recommend revocation of more than 4 million acre-feet of storage and diversion rights. An evidentiary hearing (exhibits and testimony under oath, subject to cross-examination and rebuttal) was held this past Monday (21 July 08). Gary Wolf was the State Board presiding hearing officer.

CSPA submitted extensive written testimony and exhibits. CSPA Executive Director Bill Jennings and CSPA FERC Projects Director Chris Shutes testified and CSPA Board Member Mike Jackson served as CSPA’s attorney. Ron Stork of Friends of the River provided a marvelous history of Auburn Dam. Jonas Minton of the Planning and Conservation League testified.

San Joaquin County and Stockton East Water District participated in the hearing because they were concerned that revocation would eliminate their languishing hope for American River water. Other parties represented at the hearing included, the Auburn Dam Council, Sacramento County, American River Authority, Save the American River Association, Westlands Water District and San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority.

The Bureau’s defense of their water rights was embarrassingly ineffective because the Auburn Dam project is essentially dead. There has been no construction on the dam since 1975, no water put to designated beneficial use since authorized in 1970, Sacramento has embraced other alternatives for flood control and Congress has refused to appropriate money on 12 separate occasions.

Long Beach Water and Sewer Rates Increasing Oct 1st ; Water Commission Approves Combined 15.8 Percent Increase; 2 percent will mitigate lost revenue due to extraordinary water conservation effort

Posted by: Maven on July 26, 2008 at 7:42 am

From the Long Beach Water Department, this press release:

The Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners unanimously approved an increase in water and sewer rates for FY 2009 a combined 15.8 percent for all Long Beach Water Department customers, subject to a special public protest hearing to be held on September 18th. The increase will add an additional $5.39 per month to the typical single family household’s water bill, and an additional $1.30 per month to the typical single family household’s sewer bill. The total monthly combined increase for water and sewer service will be $6.69, or $80.28 annually.

The increase in water and sewer rates is driven by the sharp increase in the core costs of providing water and sewer service; many of those costs, like imported water purchases, are unavoidable. In addition to cost increases, the immediate and unavoidable need to reduce consumption of water due to an imminent, prolonged water supply shortage in California, has resulted in losses in water sales revenue used to fund core services. A small percentage (2 percent) of the combined 15.8 percent water & sewer rate increase for FY 2009 will be used to mitigate these revenue losses.

“The increase to water and sewer rates is substantial, and unavoidable,” according to Bill Townsend, President of the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners. “Imported water, upon which our city is heavily reliant, is up 14.3 percent and is expected to get significantly more expensive with each year. Construction, power, water treatment, labor and other fees and assessments we are required to pay are all up substantially. We have done everything we can as a Board, in the limited areas where we can, to mitigate these cost increases, including a 40 percent reduction next year in our water main replacement and rehabilitation program.”

For the Fiscal Year ’07-’08, water consumption in Long Beach is 6.5 percent below the 10-year average for water consumption. In turn, projected sales for 2009 have been reduced by 7 percent, an impact of $3.7 million. Water sales revenue constitutes 73.1 percent of the Long Beach Water Department’s total annual revenue. In 2009, revenue resulting from the sale of water will total $75.7 million.

“This rate increase has very little to do with our conservation success over the last 11 months,” according to Kevin L. Wattier, General Manager of the Long Beach Water Department. “Our operational costs, like the cost of imported water and electricity, are increasing at a rate greatly in excess of general inflation.”

The Board of Water Commissioners will hold a special public hearing to consider any public protest of their proposed increases to water and sewer rates for FY 2009, which begins October 1, 2008. This hearing will be held on Thursday, September 18, 2008, at 7:00 p.m., at the Long Beach Groundwater Treatment Plant Assembly Room, located at 2950 Redondo Avenue, Long Beach, California.

On July 10, 2008, the Board of Water Commissioners adopted a $105 million budget for the Long Beach Water Department for FY 2009.

For detailed information about the increase in water and sewer rates or the special public protest hearing scheduled for September 18th, please visit www.lbwater.org., or call (562) 570-2300.

The Long Beach Water Department is an urban, southern California, retail water supply agency and the standard in water conservation and environmental stewardship.

###

Ryan J. Alsop
Director of Government & Public Affairs
Long Beach Water

Experts warn California faces water catastrophe

Posted by: Maven on July 24, 2008 at 9:27 pm

From the California Farm Bureau Federation:

A congressional field hearing in Fresno this week was among a number of forums bringing attention to the worsening water disaster in California. Government officials are reviewing the scope of the crisis and looking for solutions to severe water shortages that threaten crops and jobs.

Mendota Mayor Robert Silva testified that his city–located on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley and heavily dependent on nearby farms for jobs and economic activity–already had unemployment levels reaching more than 30 percent, and that jobless rates will increase as the harvest season ends.

Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources, testified that “2008 is a disaster, but 2009 could be the worst drought in California history.”

He emphasized to congressional leaders, including subcommittee chair Rep. Grace Napolitano, D-Santa Fe Springs, and Reps. Jim Costa, D-Fresno; Devin Nunes, R-Visalia; and George Radanovich, R-Mariposa; that the state will end its water year Oct. 1 at 58 percent below normal precipitation, “but more disturbing is that we will end the year with the lowest water carryover in four decades.” Continue reading “Experts warn California faces water catastrophe” »

Dam projects historically controversial in California

Posted by: Maven on July 24, 2008 at 9:22 pm

From Circle of Blue., who is linking to On Water (Water Resources Center Archives):

On the West Coast of the United States, convincing people to support dam construction remains a historically laborious feat. As California endures drought conditions and struggles to find ways to stay hydrated, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senator Dianne Feinstein are proposing a $9.3 million bond for water that includes the construction of new dams. But the plan has provoked criticism from those concerned about the development’s damage to the state budget as well as the environment.

It turns out that dams represent an old controversy for the state. University of California’s Water Resources Center Archives and the Center for Water Resources presents a brief chronology of proposals for dam developments, focusing specifically on the 1940s, 50s, and 60s.

Read more from Water Resources Center Archive on California’s history of dams by clicking here.

Why don’t we get our drinking water from the ocean by taking the salt out of seawater? Peter Gleick, president of the Pacific Institute, distills an answer

Posted by: Maven on July 24, 2008 at 9:13 pm

From Scientific American:

Even with all of the water in Earth’s oceans, we satisfy less than half a percent of human water needs with desalinated water.* We currently use on the order of 960 cubic miles (4,000 cubic kilometers) of freshwater a year, and overall there’s enough water to go around. There is increasing regional scarcity, though.

So why don’t we desalinate more to alleviate shortages and growing water conflicts?

The problem is that the desalination of water requires a lot of energy. Salt dissolves very easily in water, forming strong chemical bonds, and those bonds are difficult to break. Energy and the technology to desalinate water are both expensive, and this means that desalinating water can be pretty costly.

It’s hard to put an exact dollar figure on desalination—this number varies wildly from place to place, based on labor and energy costs, land prices, financial agreements, and even the salt content of the water. It can cost from just under $1 to well over $2 to produce one cubic meter (264 gallons) of desalted water from the ocean. That’s about as much as two people in the U.S. typically go through in a day at home.

But switch the source to a river or an aquifer, and the cost of a cubic meter of water can plummet to 10 to 20 cents, and farmers often pay far less.

New report says providing water for fish is the surest way to create water supply reliability for California farms and cities

Posted by: Maven on July 24, 2008 at 6:14 am

From Yuba.Net:

California’s salmon are teetering on the edge of extinction and the salmon fishing industry is facing economic devastation, but a report released today establishes a framework to help address this crisis. The report concludes that providing a more reliable water supply for the San Francisco Bay Delta Estuary could help save fish, including salmon, while also helping to ensure adequate water for farms, cities, and the 25 million Californians who rely on the Bay-Delta’s water.

The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) report is titled “Finding the Balance: A Vision for Water Supply and Environmental Reliability in California.” The report outlines steps that state and federal leaders must take to end a vicious cycle of water shortages and environmental near-disasters, and instead create a stable and reliable water supply. That, in turn, should help guarantee environmental reliability – a condition where all necessary ecological, political and economic systems are in place to ensure the Bay Delta and its fisheries are self-sustaining into the future.

“Our water supplies will remain vulnerable as long as we allow the environment to remain at the brink of disaster,” said Laura Harnish, EDF’s Regional Director in San Francisco and an author of the report. “For decades, water users have sought to pump additional water out of our Central Valley streams, then species have declined, and ultimately the courts are forced to step in to prevent an environmental catastrophe. This paper outlines a way to break our endless, self-defeating water cycle and improve both water supply and environmental reliability for California’s future.”

Read more from Yuba.Net by clicking here. Read the full text of the report by clicking here.

Navajo’s give their side of the story in response to recent High Country News article

Posted by: Maven on July 24, 2008 at 5:59 am

The March issue of High Country News ran an extensive story (click here) about the Navajo Nation & the current litigation ensuing for them to claim their water rights. Ron Milford, who was featured in the article, took issue with much of it and has written a lengthy response, which High Country News is running unedited. Says High Country News: Though Milford’s statement levels a number of false accusations towards Jenkins, High Country News is running the full response by Milford et. al. here on hcn.org. We stand by the original story; it was not only well-written and comprehensive, but also accurate and balanced, giving Milford and his colleagues plenty of words to air their issues.

Mr. Milford’s response to the High Country News article:

In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. — George Orwell.

Featured in the March 17, 2008, issue of High Country News (HCN) and in the April 16 issue of the Navajo Times (the Times) was a Navajo water rights-related article by HCN’s Matt Jenkins titled “Seeking the Water Jackpot.” Letters to the HCN editor by concerned readers, like “Felice,” who wrote on 3/23/08, said things such as “I agree that Matt Jenkins did seem to have a bias against the grassroots Dine folks … .” Felice and like-minded reviewers of HCN and the Times do not know the half of it, which is why we wrote this reply.

Navajos’ Massive Unemployment

Jenkins opens his article by describing the deplorable condition of our infrastructure, including our roads, and our unemployment. He correctly said that unemployment is routinely at about 50%, and it has surged to 67%. The unemployment rate for Arizona, as we begin writing, is 4%. For the U.S. it is around 4.8%. During America’s “Great Depression” of the 1930s, it averaged 17%. The routine Navajo unemployment rate is therefore 1,150% higher than Arizona’s, almost 1,000% higher than the U.S. at large and almost 200% higher than the U.S. average during the Great Depression.

Jenkins’ condescending article suggests that Navajos should accept the state of things and the “drinking water” or, more correctly, the faucet water, focus that Navajo Nation water lawyer Stanley Pollack and his Navajo Water Rights Commission are mostly limiting their Arizona/Utah efforts to. The New Mexico settlement has similar and other serious limitations.

Having faucet water, avowedly important, nonetheless remains a minimalist start, e.g., every urban U.S. ghetto has faucet water. Also, economist and Indian law expert, Erik Jensen, has recently observed that “Substantial economic development in Indian Country will not occur without significant infusions of outside capital … .” Navajo, the largest tribe in North America, requires not a “significant” but an epic infusion of capital—the Navajo Nation is the size of West Virginia. The single major source for this desperately needed, anti-poverty, and pro-employment capital rests in the Navajo Nation’s water rights; including sovereign authority over rights, longdenied agricultural rights, and full compensation for waived and lost rights.

Pollack and the Water Commission have failed to even pose the question, “What will the last 30% of Navajos on the Nation, who still lack running water, have when the faucet water arrives?” In the absence of an immense infusion of capital, they’ll have the same 50% unemployment rate that prevails on the Nation now. Plus, without full rights, and the full compensation due for the valuable rights and priority dates waived and lost by Pollack and his Commission, Navajo will still have no sustainable way to maintain its economy or infrastructure like, say, Arizona does. What the Navajo Nation needs is something like the water and related values we already supply to Arizona; which has the fastest growth of any state in the U.S.

Read the rest of this rebuttal by clicking here.

California Latino Water Coalition takes aim at California’s water

Posted by: Maven on July 23, 2008 at 7:31 am

From emailwire, this press release from the California Latino Water Coalition:

California most important step this year will be the development of public policy where California can actually implement water conservation, protection and allocation policies that will benefit all its residents.

After experiencing two consecutive years of below-average rainfall, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proclaimed a statewide drought on June 4, 2008, requiring the Department of Water Resources to take necessary actions to help communities to conserve and ration water. The California Latino Water Coalition, an organization established in 2007 to include the participation of the state’s Latino community in the conservation and protection of the precious water supply is actively involved in developing such a public policy.

Led by comedian Paul Rodriguez and businessman Ruben Guerra, who serve as co-chairs and have linked their resources to get the Latino communities involved, the Latino Water Coalition is taking shape, and taking charge.

“We were hoping to get a bond qualified for this fall’s election to help us take steps toward conserving and protecting our water,” says Guerra, who is also the Chairman of the powerful Latin Business Association of Los Angeles.

Guerra was referring to a bond measure that would have funneled over $6 billion to initiate water conservation and protection projects. The bond measured failed initially to qualify for the November 2008 election, but Governor Schwarzenegger is making efforts to move the measure into the fall ballot.

“When this issue was brought to me, I saw my children, our future, on how important it is for us to conserve and protect our water,” Guerra adds. “If there’s no infrastructure set up and we experience a devastating earthquake, it’s possible there would be no water available for months. And, we’re talking about the near future. What about when our children are older and there are more people in this state, will we leave water available for them and their needs?”

Guerra and the Latin Business Association Board have taken this issue as a call to inform and create new habits about water conservation and protection among the Latino community.

“It is common for us Latinos to know we can get home from work and take a shower because we don’t think twice about conservation,” says Guerra. “The people need to know and think about what if we had no water?”

The California Latino Water Coalition is led by Comedian Paul Rodriguez and Latin Business Association Chairman Ruben Guerra. For more information about the California Latino Water Coalition, go to: www.gotwater.org.

America’s got water problems, and no plan to fix them

Posted by: Maven on July 23, 2008 at 7:24 am

From AlterNet:

On June 24, 2008, Louie and I curled up on the couch to watch seven of the nation’s foremost water resources experts testify before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment.

This was a new experience for us. For my part, the issue to be addressed — “Comprehensive Watershed Management Planning” — was certainly a change of pace from the subjects I ordinarily follow in Judiciary and Intelligence Committee hearings. I wasn’t even entirely sure what a “watershed” was. I knew that, in a metaphorical sense, the word referred to a turning point, but I was a bit fuzzy about its meaning in the world of hydrology. (It’s the term used to describe “all land and water areas that drain toward a river or lake.”)

What was strange from Louie’s point of view was not the topic of the day, but that we were stuck in the house. Usually at that hour, we’d be working in the backyard, where he can better leverage his skill set, which includes chasing squirrels, digging up tomato plants, eating wicker patio chairs, etc. On this particular afternoon, however, the typically cornflower-blue San Jose sky was the color of wet cement, and thick soot was charging down from the nearby Santa Cruz Mountains. Sitting outside would have been about as pleasant as relaxing in a large ashtray.

It would have been difficult, on such a day, not to think about water.

In California, of course, it was the lack thereof. Thanks to the driest spring on record in many areas — including in San Jose, where recordkeeping began in 1875 — the whole state was parched. Far worse, large chunks of it were burning. To be precise, on June 24th, there were 842 wildfires blazing, the result of “dry lightning,” which — I’ve now learned — happens when conditions are so dry that the rain never makes it to the plain. It evaporates in mid-air.

In the Midwest, on the other hand, water was everywhere, cascading across the land and through towns; or, it was threatening to do so, as terrified homeowners and volunteers desperately hoisted sandbags onto levees that were failing, due to forces as powerful as the mighty Mississippi and as seemingly innocuous as burrowing muskrats. The flooding had been ongoing for weeks, killing dozens of people, displacing thousands, and causing billions of dollars of crop, building, and other damage. With California burning and Iowa underwater, the Red Cross national disaster relief fund for 2008 was already entirely depleted, although six months of potential weather devastation of various sorts still lie ahead. The balance, its finance director had announced, was “zero.”

Read more of this story from AlterNet by clicking here.

Facing the freshwater crisis: As demand for freshwater soars, planetary supplies are becoming unpredictable. Existing technologies could avert a global water crisis, but they must be implemented soon

Posted by: Maven on July 23, 2008 at 6:38 am

From Scientific American:

A friend of mine lives in a middle-class neighborhood of New Delhi, one of the richest cities in India. Although the area gets a fair amount of rain every year, he wakes in the morning to the blare of a megaphone announcing that freshwater will be available only for the next hour. He rushes to fill the bathtub and other receptacles to last the day. New Delhi’s endemic shortfalls occur largely because water managers decided some years back to divert large amounts from upstream rivers and reservoirs to irrigate crops.

My son, who lives in arid Phoenix, arises to the low, schussing sounds of sprinklers watering verdant suburban lawns and golf courses. Although Phoenix sits amid the Sonoran Desert, he enjoys a virtually unlimited water supply. Politicians there have allowed irrigation water to be shifted away from farming operations to cities and suburbs, while permitting recycled wastewater to be employed for landscaping and other nonpotable applications.

As in New Delhi and Phoenix, policymakers worldwide wield great power over how water resources are managed. Wise use of such power will become increasingly important as the years go by because the world’s demand for freshwater is currently overtaking its ready supply in many places, and this situation shows no sign of abating. That the problem is well-known makes it no less disturbing: today one out of six people, more than a billion, suffer inadequate access to safe freshwater. By 2025, according to data released by the United Nations, the freshwater resources of more than half the countries across the globe will undergo either stress—for example, when people increasingly demand more water than is available or safe for use—or outright shortages. By midcentury as much as three quarters of the earth’s population could face scarcities of freshwater.

Scientists expect water scarcity to become more common in large part because the world’s population is rising and many people are getting richer (thus expanding demand) and because global climate change is exacerbating aridity and reducing supply in many regions. What is more, many water sources are threatened by faulty waste disposal, releases of industrial pollutants, fertilizer runoff and coastal influxes of saltwater into aquifers as groundwater is depleted. Because lack of access to water can lead to starvation, disease, political instability and even armed conflict, failure to take action can have broad and grave consequences.

Fortunately, to a great extent, the technologies and policy tools required to conserve existing freshwater and to secure more of it are known; I will discuss several that seem particularly effective. What is needed now is action. Governments and authorities at every level have to formulate and execute concrete plans for implementing the political, economic and technological measures that can ensure water security now and in the coming decades.

Read the rest of this article from Scientific American by clicking here. Hat tip to Water Wired blog for the link to the article – click here for Michael’s summary and thoughts on the article.

Restore the Delta’s weekly newsletter debates findings of the PPIC report in detail

Posted by: Maven on July 23, 2008 at 6:32 am

Restore the Delta’s weekly newsletter this week includes an extensive list of items Restore the Delta disagrees with concerning the PPIC’s report, recommending building of the peripheral canal. Here’s an excerpt:

Here is a simple laundry list of what we have found wrong with the report on the surface:

The peripheral canal will not make more water for California. Rerouting the Sacramento River will take away the Delta last major fresh water source, worsening Delta water quality.

The peripheral canal will not alter the need for a comprehensive flood management plan for the Delta to protect property, infrastructure, and more importantly the 400,000 living around the Delta.

The report’s proposal to abandon Delta islands experiencing levee failures in the interior of the Delta – or the idea to purchase and deliberately flood Delta islands – is highly problematic for the surrounding urban areas. The stress that would be put on existing urban levees would cause problems with seepage and wave erosion and would increase potential flood risk that we believe would be more expensive to repair than what’s cited in the report. Also the report doesn’t calculate potential urban flood costs from employing such a strategy.

The report’s analysis assumes that water flowing into and out of the Delta remains unchanged when the point of diversion is changed. But everyone who lives, works, and recreates in the Delta knows that with less fresh water flowing through the Delta, more salt water will intrude into local waterways.

The water quality analysis in the report is truly incomplete. It only features a discussion of a potential increase in salinity due to sea level rise, but it does not include a complete hydrological analysis of how climate change will affect the Delta. It does not examine the possibility that Sacramento River flows will decrease during dry periods, limiting or possibly stopping exports all together. The long term possibility of significantly reduced available flows also needs to be part of the water/cost analysis of a peripheral canal. And of course, there should be an analysis the evaporation factor that would result from moving such a large amount of water south in a warmer climate.

Read the whole Restore the Delta newsletter posted on IndyBay.org by clicking here.

To visit Restore the Delta’s updated website: http://www.restorethedelta.org/

CSPA Action Alert: Delta restoration bill under attack from water contractors

Posted by: Maven on July 23, 2008 at 6:26 am

From the California Sport Fishing Protection Alliance:

AB 1806, the delta restoration and mitigation bill, is in serious trouble. This bill is extremely important for the future health of delta fisheries. The situation is grim as water contractors are seriously lobbying members of the Senate Appropriations Committee to strike the section of the bill that requires the mitigation for project operations. This portion of the bill is critical to stop the declines of our delta fisheries including Chinook salmon, striped bass, delta smelt and other species.

This bill has already passed scrutiny by the assembly committees and passed on the assembly floor. The Senate Appropriations Committee is its last stop before a full senate floor vote.

The bill will be heard by the Appropriations Committee on August 4th. The only lobbyists the fish have are you, the fish NEED your help. Don’t let apathy KILL this bill!

It is imperative that EVERYONE concerned with the health of the delta write the chair and the vice-chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Further, if your district senator sits on the committee, you should write him as well.

Find out what you can do to help by clicking here.

Aqua Blog Maven note: What I want to know is … If this were to pass, and mitigation funds required to be paid, (bad for the budget woes), and after the lawyers are paid, do the fish receive the mitigation funds?

Flood of plans muddies water supply solution

Posted by: Maven on July 22, 2008 at 10:00 pm

From the California Farm Bureau Federation:

The California water crisis has stimulated a cascade of proposals from political leaders, think tanks and state agencies, aimed at improving the reliability of water supplies and the environment in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

In just the past three weeks:

* Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced an effort to qualify a $9.3 billion water bond for the November ballot.
* The Public Policy Institute of California issued a report that endorsed the idea of a peripheral canal to carry water around the delta.
* The State Water Resources Control Board approved a work plan that it said will increase its efforts to improve water quality and habitat in the delta.

At the same time, a new court ruling raised the possibility of further restrictions on water supplies in order to protect threatened salmon. California Farm Bureau Federation leaders and water experts welcomed the focus on the state’s short- and long-term water needs as they reviewed the proposals to determine the potential impacts on the state’s farming and ranching operations.

“When some people hear the term ‘water crisis,’ they think of something that’s far away,” CFBF President Doug Mosebar said. “But for many family farmers, ranchers and their employees, the crisis is here and now. We’re looking for proposals that provide the best chance for solving this crisis.”

For more on this story, Continue reading “Flood of plans muddies water supply solution” »

Court finds harm to salmon, sets remedies hearings

Posted by: Maven on July 22, 2008 at 9:41 pm

From the California Farm Bureau Federation:

A federal district court decision in Fresno last week means more legal wrangling over water for endangered salmon and steelhead runs on the Sacramento and American rivers. And it means continued uncertainty for California farmers and ranchers who depend on water delivered through state and federal water projects.

The court’s 118-page ruling is the result of a lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council and several other environmental groups, including the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. These groups have accused the government of not providing adequate protections for endangered salmon and steelhead.

Federal District Court Judge Oliver Wanger said in his decision that “based on two drought years, with critically dry hydrologic conditions in 2008, and the presently unpredictable risk of a third dry year, the species are unquestionably in jeopardy. The ESA does not permit jeopardy to a listed species to be considerably increased during the BiOp (biological opinion) reconsultation.”

“We are disappointed in the court’s decision on behalf of our Farm Bureau members,” said Chris Scheuring, California Farm Bureau Federation managing counsel. “We were of the opinion the government’s operation of the water projects was calculated for the reasonable protection of the listed species. Judge Wanger took a different view and we respect that.

“In combination with last year’s delta smelt rulings, the only reasonable conclusion to draw is that if we’re going to have a species protection statute as demanding and inflexible as the Endangered Species Act, we’re also going to have to get more water storage into the state’s water delivery system. Without that we face the prospect of consistent water shortfalls, which will be disastrous not only for agriculture, but for the 37 million people who live in California and depend on reliable water supplies,” Scheuring added.

For more on this story, Continue reading “Court finds harm to salmon, sets remedies hearings” »

Judge Wanger ruling on the salmon….

Posted by: Maven on July 21, 2008 at 8:54 am

For those of you who took the weekend off, Judge Wanger ruled on the salmon Friday afternoon. Wrap up of coverage from around the state can be found by clicking here.

Judge rules water projects imperil Central Valley salmon and steelhead

Posted by: Maven on July 21, 2008 at 6:18 am

From Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org:

Federal Judge Oliver Wanger ruled Friday that operation of the state and federal water projects in California’s Central Valley must be modified to protect threatened and endangered Chinook salmon and steelhead populations from the threat of extinction, according to this news release from Earthjustice. The court ruling took place at a time when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Senator Dianne Feinstein are pushing a $9.3 billion water bond that would build a peripheral canal and more dams at the taxpayer’s expense. If Schwarzenegger and Feinstein are not stopped from ramming their proposal through, collapsing California Delta fish and Central Valley chinook salmon will be pushed over the edge of extinction, in violation of numerous federal court rulings including the latest one by Judge Wanger.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contacts: George Torgun, Earthjustice; Craig Noble, NRDC; Zeke Grader, PCFFA; Dr. Tina Swanson, The Bay Institute; John Merz, Sacramento River Preservation Trust

Judge Rules Water Projects Imperil Central Valley Salmon and Steelhead
Fishermen, tribes, and conservationists pleased that court recognizes need for changes to state and federal water project operations to better protect fish, jobs, and local communities

FRESNO (July 18, 2008) – A federal judge ruled today that operation of the state and federal water projects in California’s Central Valley must be modified to protect threatened and endangered Chinook salmon and steelhead populations from the threat of extinction. Judge Oliver W. Wanger ruled
today that “Project operations through March 2009 will appreciably increase jeopardy to the three species,” thereby violating the law. During the court proceedings, the agencies had agreed to some operational changes, such as earlier opening of Red Bluff Diversion Dam and increased water flows on
Clear Creek, to better protect salmon and steelhead. The court did not order any additional restrictions on the operations of the water projects in this ruling.

Read the rest of this story from IndyBay.org by clicking here.

One of the great moral and political issue of our time in California —water, fish, and the environment

Posted by: Maven on July 21, 2008 at 6:10 am

From the California Progress Report:

Having grown up in Southern California in what is technically called a “semi-arid region,” watched folks watering what otherwise would be desert, and fished as a kid and younger adult, it is difficult to get out mind the worsening news about the potential—some would say looming—extinction of fish species including salmon, smelt, and steelhead trout. Something is seriously amiss as salmon fishing has been shut down for the West Coast of the United States.

There are many different facets to the interrelated issues of water usage in California—political, scientific, philosophical, and economic—just to mention a few. As I was about to finish law school in the 1970’s, a wise uncle advised me to practice in the area of water law and predicted that legal fights over this issue would intensify as the years rolled on. Although I never became a “water lawyer,” this advice keeps coming back to mind as I read the news and the reports about water and fish.

Today, we have published an article from Dan Bacher, one of many from him about water, fish, and the environment that have focused on the delta, damming of rivers, and other details this topic area. He is steadfastly opposed to a peripheral canal and critical of those who recommend it as a solution to the problems we face. Remembering the vote in the 1970’s on the peripheral canal, especially as a northern Californian now, I am also suspicious of the building of a peripheral canal and trusting the powers that be in not willy-nilly diverting increasing amounts of water from the Delta for other “needs,” including those who may have never visited the Delta or know much about it. The economic interests are titanic and the lifestyle issues (how many have become used to a bountiful supply of water in landscaping, farming, and for other uses) evoke strong feelings. To me, protecting fish species is a moral issue—and certainly has a profound practical reach, not only in the fish we eat, but is the canary in the coal mine that is our state.

A friend of mine who was a prominent legislator in the 1970’s when the peripheral canal was on the ballot—and a strong opponent of it—told me about a year ago that he was becoming convinced that a peripheral canal was in fact needed to save the Delta. The Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC), for which I have a lot of respect, has issued a 184 page report, “Comparing Futures for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta,” that examines our options and recommends the construction of a peripheral canal—but not before discussing the tradeoffs. I recommend to the general reader, at least taking a look at the accessible 6 page issues brief, “Navigating the Delta: Comparing Futures, Choosing Options,” that the PPIC has issued in conjunction with this report.

Read more from the California Progress Report by clicking here.

Mining’s toxic legacy in the California Sierras

Posted by: Maven on July 21, 2008 at 5:58 am

From the California Progress Report:

Throughout the Sierra Nevada we hear a lot about the “49ers” and the “Legacy” of mining. The iconic image of the miner and his pan is emblazoned everywhere. The stories of gold mining are fascinating tales of bravery, ingenuity, gold strikes and busts. As is often the case with history, however, only part of the story is told.

The other side of the coin is as dark and troubling as the glitter of the gold that blinded the miners to the damage they were doing to the land and its people in their pursuit of it. Cultural genocide, environmental destruction, and wide distribution of toxins are included in this dark legacy. The ongoing presence of mercury, arsenic, asbestos and other heavy metals from historic mining threaten healthy life in the Sierra more than a century after the glitter is gone.

The Sierra Fund is a nonprofit organization in Nevada City, CA, working to raise awareness of Mining’s Toxic Legacy throughout the Sierra Nevada.

The first “49ers” mined gold with pick and pan, however it was not long before industrial scale operations were built to rip gold and other minerals out of the ground in search of huge profits. Mining operations rerouted the rivers, washed away mountains, uprooted and decimated the native people through forced march and murder.

Some 26 million pounds of mercury were imported into the Sierra Nevada to use in gold mining and 13 million pounds of it was released to the environment in the process. Mercury can become highly toxic when it is in the food chain, and pollute large amounts of water, contaminate fish and poison the wildlife and humans who consume them. Since mercury affects the brain and nerves, it is especially dangerous for pregnant women and young children.

Read more on this story from the California Progress Report by clicking here.

Odds and ends: Our delusional salmon reality, water wasting rules different for different folks, are wildfires a result of weather modification?, and renaming San Francisco’s sewage treatment plant after George Bush heads to the ballot!

Posted by: Maven on July 20, 2008 at 8:03 am

Breaking news and information from the blogosphere:

Delusional reality about the salmon: Dr. Robert Lackey, a senior scientist for the EPA says we’ve got to get real about dealing with the salmon crisis. If we really want to save the salmon, we need to deal with the growing population in California. Dr. Lackey writes: If the human population levels increase as expected, options for restoring salmon runs to significant, sustainable levels are greatly limited. Consider the demand for houses, schools, stadiums (PDF), expressways, automobiles, malls, air conditioning, drinking water, consumer goods, golf courses, and sewer treatment plants. Society’s options for sustaining wild salmon in significant numbers would be just about non-existent. Read more from Dr. Lackey on the Greenversations blog, the official blog of the EPA by clicking here.

Wasting water, wasting fuel, wasting your money — there’s different rules for different folks writes Ron Kaye of the RonKayeLA blog after spending some time over at Griffith Park: A city employee was hosing leaves off the asphalt and had been at his task for a long while from the looks of the mud puddles and mini-ponds forming downhill as he inched forward with his hose. Isn’t it illegal for you and me to hose down our driveways, or at least regarded as an anti-social waste of water, especially as we are faced with a water shortage crisis later this year and are being forced to pay higher rates so we can drink recycled toilet water one of these days. Clearly, the rules that apply to ordinary people don’t apply to the city. And that goes for just about everything. Read more from Ron Kaye by clicking here.

Is weather modification and chemtrails connected with California wildfires? Or maybe they’re pagan rituals? The Sonoma Chemtrails blog speculates: … isn’t it interesting that scientists have been working on weather modification for several decades and are using it to create ‘perfect weather’ for the China Olympics but they can’t muster up some rain clouds to help with the California fires? Plus did you know that the unusual and unprecedented multiple dry lightning strikes causing hundreds of fires began on June 20-21, 2008, the summer solstice or midsummer which is a high holy day for pagans and the occult as they celebrate with bonfires? Or maybe it’s barium from chem trails in the sky… Read more from the Sonoma Chemtrails blog by clicking here.

Ballot measure to rename San Francisco’s sewage treatment plant in honor of George Bush is headed to the ballot in November: Congratulations, crazy poop plant renaming people, says the SFist, who has the official press release, which gives us a glimpse of what’s ahead: The Presidential Memorial Commission is planning a creative, art-driven general election campaign, and is putting out a general call for support from artists who want to design flyers, billboards and other attention-getting devices. “We’re hoping for an election campaign like no other,” said Mr. McConnell. More from the SFist by clicking here.

Water, a soluble problem: More trading could help to alleviate water shortages

Posted by: Maven on July 20, 2008 at 6:41 am

From Economist.com:

So world markets are short of oil, and supplies of food are running thin. The prices of all sorts of basic commodities are soaring, and now there may also be reason for many to worry about the most fundamental of necessities—water. Some experts believe so, at least, and they are spreading doom-laden warnings of a Malthusian crisis in the world’s water supply.

Goldman Sachs, an investment bank which likes to ponder the future of the world, recently suggested that a global lack of water could prove to be a bigger threat to mankind than rising food prices or the depletion of energy resources. Sir Nicholas Stern, who reviewed the economics of climate change in a big report for the British government in 2006, is worried too. He points to some big local problems, for example in the Himalayas, where melting glaciers risk disrupting supplies of usable water in the region, just as many underground aquifers are drying up. He argues that water—at least the fresh sort—is not a renewable resource, and because it is not priced properly it has been “mined” without restraint.

Global water consumption is doubling every 20 years says Goldman Sachs. According to Sir Nicholas, in many places supplies are running short as rising consumption cannot be matched by fresh rainfall. As a result, suggests Goldman Sachs, the price of water is bound to rise: bad news for the poor and thirsty, but an opportunity for investors. The excited bank even suggests that water might be considered to be the “petroleum for the next century”.

More from Economist.com by clicking here.

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