Report details how Marin desalination plan would operate
Posted by: Maven on December 22, 2008 at 6:30 amFrom the Marin Independent Journal:
The final environmental report on a plan to take water from San Rafael Bay, remove the salt and send it to Marin residents has been completed, and could get approval from water officials in February.
But even if the report is approved at the Feb. 4 meeting of the Marin Municipal Water District Board of Directors, it would not mean the desalination plan is a go in Marin. That decision would be made by the water board later in the spring as it devises a plan for what is expected to be a water shortfall in Marin in the coming years. “That decision will come at a later point,” said Paul Helliker, general manager of the Marin Municipal Water District.
The final environmental report is available at www.marinwater.org and it details how a desalination plant would operate in Marin.
A desalination plant could process 5 million gallons of water a day, cost $105 million to build and supply a large part of the county with a drought-proof source of water, according to the report.
Melting Yosemite glacier an omen
Posted by: Maven on December 22, 2008 at 6:24 amFrom the Modesto Bee:
As melting water gushed off the ice in a tinseled maze of rivulets and tumbled through a gaping chasm, the hikers watched, wondered and worried.
Unlike most backcountry travelers who pitch their tents along the John Muir Trail in the upper reaches of the Lyell Fork of the Tuolumne River, these visitors had not pushed on to scale the summit of Mount Lyell — Yosemite’s highest peak.
Instead, they scrambled up a ridge of rose-tinted granite and over a mound of dark, unstable boulders to tromp across this less well-known corner of the national park, a silvery-white sheet of ice fast becoming one of the first California landmarks to succumb to climate change.
Later in the September day, Pete Devine, a veteran glacier observer who manages educational programs for the nonprofit Yosemite Association, sat on a log and opened a notebook. “Gaunt remnant of what I saw 10, 20 years ago,” he wrote in his journal. “Lots of large boulders dot the surface. Lots of melt- water flow.”
As signals of climate change begin to come into focus in the Sierra Nevada, its melting glaciers spell trouble. Not only are they in-your-face barometers of global warming, they also reflect what scientists are beginning to uncover: that the Sierra snowpack — the source of 65 percent of California’s water — is dwindling, too.
More of the Sierra’s precipitation is falling as rain instead of snow, studies show, and the snow that blankets the range in winter is running off earlier in the spring. And snow in the Sierra touches everything. Take it away and droughts deepen, ski areas go bust and fire seasons rage longer.
Read more from the Modesto Bee by clicking here.
South San Joaquin Irrigation District remains financially sound amid economic crisis
Posted by: Maven on December 22, 2008 at 6:02 am
From the Manteca Bulletin:
Manteca Unified is looking to cut $14 million from its upcoming budget. The City of Manteca needs to reduce expenses by as much as $8 million for its 2009-10 spending plan. The State of California is facing a deficit that could balloon to $40 billion over the next 20 months. The story is the same with almost every other government agency in California. One of the exceptions is the South San Joaquin Irrigation District.
The SSJID board is meeting Tuesday at 9 p.m. at the district office, 11011 E. Highway 120 to consider adopting the operating budget for 2009.
The water agency expects to generate $28.8 million in revenues in 2009 against $24.6 million in expenses leaving them a $4.2 million cushion. The district is also under taking $20.2 million in capital improvements in 2009.
The SSJID even ‘gave up’ $1.5 million in water charges for farmers who were current on their bills. They haven’t imposed a property tax increase in 15 years. They are improving canals and installing a pressure system for drip-irrigation south of Manteca. Why are they doing so well I’ll let you find out by reading it from the Manteca Bulletin – click here.
Tehama supervisor looking out for the north state
Posted by: Maven on December 22, 2008 at 5:52 amFrom the Redding Record Searchlight:
Water, air, forestry and the Williamson Act – those are Bob Williams’ priorities as he represents rural Northern California at the state level. Williams, who is in his third year as a Tehama County supervisor, was elected this month to the executive board of the California State Association of Counties (CSAC). “I am the only supervisor north of Sacramento (on the executive committee),” Williams said. As such, he takes the responsibility seriously.
Water rights captured his attention at the annual CSAC meeting in San Diego earlier this month. “They’re talking about doing away with area of origin and going to public trust,” Williams said. “That means the water would go to where the votes are.”
He attended a workshop on the state’s water dilemma and said he was appalled by the lack of representation from the counties that would be most affected. He is trying to form a coalition with other counties, such as Siskiyou, Trinity, Glenn and Colusa, to strengthen their position and protect area-of-origin rights.
“Tehama is an agricultural county,” Williams said. “And if you don’t have water, you don’t have agriculture.”
Read more from the Record Searchlight by clicking here.
Researchers wring energy out of waves
Posted by: Maven on December 22, 2008 at 5:50 amFrom New Brunswick Business Journal:
Bobbing in Monterey Bay a mile off the coast of Santa Cruz, Calif., the bright yellow buoy doesn’t look like anything special. A playful young California sea lion frolicking nearby doesn’t give it a second glance.
But as it is buffeted by waves, the lifeboat-size buoy does something remarkable: It harnesses the waves’ power to generate electricity. Atop the buoy, two columns, each about 8 feet tall and 2 feet in diameter, hold a rubbery material that stretches and contracts like a bellows in response to the waves’ motions, generating energy with every stroke.
That material, called Electroactive Polymer Artificial Muscle (EPAM) was developed by SRI International, an independent nonprofit research and development organization whose storied history includes a demonstration of the first personal computer 40 years ago.
Generating power from waves isn’t new – in fact, an entry in Wikipedia says the idea has been around since at least 1890 – but many other approaches require costly and complicated hydraulic transmissions, SRI said. Its model, by contrast, is based on a simple, low-cost material whose motions are familiar to anyone who has ever seen an accordionist play.
“We can make electricity with something as simple as a rubber band,” said Roy Kornbluh, SRI principal research engineer and the technical lead on the project.
SRI chartered a 60-foot whale-watching boat to transport researchers, journalists, investors, and observers from the Department of Energy and Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to see the demonstration model recently, on a day with clear skies and very gentle swells.
“The water is calm today so (the) fact that we are generating power from small and irregular waves is very exciting,” Kornbluh said.
Read more from the New Brunswick Business Journal by clicking here.
Urban hydroponics: growing food in small spaces
Posted by: Maven on December 22, 2008 at 5:48 amFrom Ag Week:
Terry Fujimoto sees the future of agriculture in the exposed roots of the leafy greens he and his students grow in thin streams of water at a campus greenhouse.
The program run by the California State Polytechnic University agriculture professor is part of a growing effort to use hydroponics a method of cultivating plants in water instead of soil to bring farming into cities, where consumers are concentrated.
Because hydroponic farming requires less water and less land than traditional field farming, Fujimoto and researchers-turned-growers in other U.S. cities see it as ideal to bring agriculture to apartment buildings, rooftops and vacant lots. “The goal here is to look at growing food crops in small spaces,\” he says.
Long a niche technology existing in the shadow of conventional growing methods, hydroponics is getting a second look from university researchers and public health advocates. Supporters point to the environmental cost of trucking produce from farms to cities, the loss of wilderness for farmland to feed a growing world population and the risk of bacteria along extensive, insecure food chains as reasons for establishing urban hydroponic farms.
However, the expense of setting up the high-tech farms on pricey city land and providing enough year-round heat and light could present some insurmountable obstacles. “These are university theories,\” says Jim Prevor, editor of Produce Business magazine. “They're not mapped to things that actually exist.
Read the full text of this story from Ag Week by clicking here.
Pacific economist willing to bet $10,000 study on peripheral canal is wrong
Posted by: Maven on December 21, 2008 at 7:59 amFrom Stockton’s Record:
Jeffrey Michael didn’t step, wade or even leap into the state’s water wars. He made a cannonball splash. The 38-year-old University of the Pacific economist wrote a biting critique of a major study that recommended a peripheral canal to solve the Delta’s problems.
Michael moved here nine months ago from Maryland. He’s driven through the Delta once. He wasn’t around for decades of arguments for and against a canal. “When I started reading this (study), my assumption was that these academic experts are right and these water war veterans have an ax to grind,” he said. Closer calculations, however, turned up serious errors in the study by the Public Policy Institute of California, he said.
In that widely anticipated report, the PPIC found that while ending exports from the Delta would be best for the environment, it would be far more expensive than constructing a canal. The report was one source considered by a governor-appointed task force that later concluded that at least some kind of canal is necessary.
Michael, who presented his findings to local water officials last week, says the PPIC overestimated the state’s future population and the cost of alternative water sources that could help make up for the water that would be lost should the giant export pumps near Tracy grind to a halt.
Ultimately, the cost of ending exports and building a canal may be a wash, Michael said. And in that case, the environment should win out. Ending exports would be the way to go.
Read more from the Stockton Record by clicking here.
Many Delta regulations miss the mark, says commentary
Posted by: Maven on December 21, 2008 at 7:56 amFrom the Sacramento Bee, this commentary by Laura King Moon, assistant general manager of the State Water Contractors:
Every day, Sacramento’s wastewater treatment plant sends 13 tons of ammonia downstream to the Sacramento- San Joaquin Delta, potentially disturbing the Delta’s food web in profound and destructive ways. Agricultural runoff flows freely through the estuary’s waters. Exotic species of clams consume much of the critical food supply. Nonnative fish prey on native smelt and salmon.
Unchecked and unmanaged, these and other threats to the Delta’s fisheries are tolerated on a regular basis. Yet, in an imbalance that grows greater with every passing month, the already heavily regulated water projects in the Delta – projects that supply water to millions of California residents, businesses and farmers – get hit with restriction after restriction on water flows.
It happened in November, when the California Fish and Game Commission made a decision that could drastically reduce water supplies in an attempt to protect a single species, the longfin smelt. It happened again this week, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service imposed new restrictions – cutting up to half of the traditional water supplies in dry years – because of a different species, the Delta smelt. Come spring, still more restrictions may be looming for two different species of salmon.
The endless churn of bureaucracy and conflict surrounding the singular issue of water pumping is not creating a healthier Delta. Too many other stresses contributing to the Delta’s decline have been left unaddressed.
Read the rest of Laura King Moon’s commentary in the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.
Colorado River may face fight of its life; Increased toxins likely as energy companies seek oil, gas, uranium
Posted by: Maven on December 21, 2008 at 7:49 am
From the San Diego Union-Tribune:
The Colorado River has endured drought, large-scale climate changes, pollution, ecological damage from dams and battles by seven states to draw more water.
Now the life vein of the Southwest faces another threat: Energy companies are sucking up the Colorado’s water to support increased development of oil, natural gas and uranium deposits along the river’s basin. The mining and drilling will likely send more toxins into the waterway, which provides drinking water for one out of 12 Americans and nourishes 15 percent of the nation’s crops along its journey from Wyoming and Colorado to Mexico.
Tapping the watershed is enticing because its resources could help reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. The region could contain more oil than Alaska’s National Arctic Wildlife Refuge. It has the richest natural gas fields in the country and plenty of uranium deposits.
But scientists and water managers warn that in the rush to develop more domestic energy, the government is failing to understand that the river’s economic and ecological value is as vital to U.S. interests as anything extracted around it.
The river is so beleaguered by drought and past pollution that one environmental study called it the nation’s most endangered waterway. Researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla said the river’s reservoirs could dry up in 13 years, depriving regions such as San Diego County of their main source of water.
In the eight years President Bush has been in office, the Colorado River watershed has seen more oil and gas drilling than at any time since 1984, when the government began keeping such statistics. Uranium claims have reached a 10-year high. Last week, the administration auctioned off 359,000 acres of federal land for natural gas projects within range of two national parks near Moab, Utah. And a last-minute change in federal rules has paved the way for water-intensive oil shale mining in the watershed.
As Bush tries to complete his agenda for development, water managers and politicians focusing on the Colorado River are asking which is more valuable: energy or water
Read more of this comprehensive article from the Union-Tribune by clicking here.
Odds and ends: it’s how you operate the canal that matters, working landscapes for forestry and ag, limiting growth by water policy, water lecture series online, the earth as art, and check out the *new* water cycle!
Posted by: Maven on December 21, 2008 at 7:45 am
It’s how you operate the peripheral canal that matters, says blogger Jim Gogek: In a post that discusses the peripheral canal and the Sunrise powerlink project, Jim writes: The canal and the power line are merely conduits for resources : water and electricity that human civilization needs to survive. Whether we use these conduits in an environmentally sound way is up to us through our State Legislature and regulatory agencies. If we drain away all the water from our rivers or rely only on dirty coal-fired power plants for electrons, we're doomed. But, if we don't build vital infrastructure for water and electricity just because we're afraid of how we might use it, we're also doomed. Read more from Jim Gogek’s blog: Peripheral Canal and Sunrise Powerlink: It's up to us how we manage this critical infrastructure
Working Landscapes Adaption papers on forests and agriculture: The On the Public Record blog reviews two papers that were written by government agencies, explaining: This is actually a really exciting new development, having state agencies work on papers together. You wouldn't think it would be a new innovation, but the Governor has informed the agencies that all of our plans must say the same thing! We are quite excited by the prospect. Check it out from the On the Public Record blog: Working Landscapes Adaptation papers
Ballot initiative approved by voters to limit growth by using water policy will be the source of lots of litigation, predicts the Watering the Desert blog, commenting on a recent ballot measure approved by voters in Washoe County, Nevada (the Reno-Sparks area). The ballot measure was only one sentence long, notes the blog: Stating it in such simple terms will create extensive work for lawyers and planning administrators in that area, working out how it should be implemented. I suspect it was stated simply in order to garner support. It could be interpreted to require something pretty similar to what is required in Arizona under the “Growing Smarter Plus Act”, requiring counties and municipalities of a certain size to include a water resources element in their general plan. Read more from the Watering the Desert blog: Using Water Policy to Manage Growth – Nevada edition
California Colloquium on Water lecture series now available online from the Water Resources Center Archives: There’s an extensive listing of past lectures available to be viewed online from a wide variety of interesting and respected speakers, such as Jeffrey Mount, Peter Moyle, Pat Mulroy, David Kennedy, Environmental reporter Mike Taugher, Thaddeus Bettner of the Westlands Water District, Heather Cooley of the Pacific Institute … the list goes on and on. An amazing resource! Check it out here: California Colloquium on Water – Water Resources Center Archives.
The earth as art: from the USGS via the Sisweb The official description is: “A collection of Landsat 7 scenes created for aesthetic purposes rather than scientific interpretation.” This boring description translates to: beautiful images of earth from space. Many, of course, are of rivers. Check it out here: USGS: Earth as Art
Think you know the water cycle Well, it’s changed a little… Check out the way the water cycle works nowadays from the Water Wired blog: Postmodern Hydrologic Cycle
San Francisco Mayor OKs $1.9 billion for Hetch Hetchy project
Posted by: Maven on December 21, 2008 at 7:44 amFrom the San Francisco Chronicle:
A major regional public works project expected to create more than 28,000 jobs over the next five years took a big step forward Friday, as San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom signed a bill appropriating $1.9 billion for improvements to the Hetch Hetchy water system.
More Bay Area NewsThe appropriation, approved Tuesday by the Board of Supervisors, is a large chunk of the $4.5 billion overall project, which will make the aging water system less vulnerable to earthquakes. The system serves 2.5 million people in the Bay Area.
Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.
Surfers, Rejoice: Some Extreme Waves Getting Bigger
Posted by: Maven on December 21, 2008 at 7:41 am
From Wired Science:
The largest waves in the Pacific Northwest are getting higher by seven centimeters a year, posing an increasing threat to property close to the shore. And the strange part is: Scientists aren’t sure why.
Oregon State researchers found that the danger to property from these larger extreme waves will outweigh the impacts of rising sea levels caused by global warming over the next several decades.
“Over a decadal scale, the increases in wave height … have significant impacts on both erosion hazards and coastal flooding hazards and those currently exceed the influences of sea level rise,” said Peter Ruggiero, “And they probably will over the next decade or two unless something drastic happens.”
The world’s oceans are in serious turmoil. Fisheries have collapsed across the globe and scientists predict that rising global temperatures particularly nearer the poles will melt the polar ice caps and cause sea levels to rise. Waves, however, are the bringers of this bad oceanic news onto human-inhabited shores and evidence that extreme wave heights are increasing in some regions has remained relatively under the radar.
“This is the first time I’ve seen a comparison between wave height and sea level,” said Sultan Hameed, an atmospheric scientist at Stony Brook University, who organized the American Geophysical Union annual meeting session at which Ruggiero presented. “That was excellent analysis.”
Read more from Wired Science by clicking here.
Obama chooses global warming activists for science posts; Physicist John Holdren will be the president-elect’s top science advisor; marine biologist Jane Lubchenco will lead NOAA; Both advocate more action to fight climate change
Posted by: Maven on December 21, 2008 at 7:37 amFrom the Los Angeles Times:
President-elect Barack Obama’s selections Saturday of a Harvard physicist and a marine biologist for science posts signal that he plans a more aggressive response to global warming than the Bush administration’s was.
John Holdren and Jane Lubchenco are leading experts on climate change who have advocated forceful government action. Holdren will become Obama’s science advisor as director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Lubchenco will lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which does much of the government’s research on global warming.
Holdren also will direct the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Joining him as co-chairmen will be Nobel Prize-winning scientist Harold E. Varmus, a former director of the National Institutes of Health and a former medical professor at UC San Francisco; and MIT professor Eric Lander, a specialist in human genome research.
“It’s time we once again put science at the top of our agenda and worked to restore America’s place as the world leader in science and technology,” Obama said in announcing the selections in his weekly radio address.
Read more from the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.
Drinking water contamination mapped; Wide-ranging survey reveals low levels of some drugs and pesticides in US tap water
Posted by: Maven on December 21, 2008 at 7:35 amFrom Nature News:
The most comprehensive survey so far has found a slew of drugs, personal care products, pesticides and other contaminants in drinking water being delivered to millions of people across the United States. None of the compounds appeared at levels thought to be immediately harmful to human health. But the researchers were surprised to find widespread traces of a pesticide, used largely in corn (maize) growing, that has, at higher levels, been linked to cancer and other problems.
The researchers from the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) in Las Vegas tracked 51 compounds in a survey of 19 water utilities supplying more than 28 million people. Of the 20 drugs or drug metabolites on their list, most of those that the chemists detected were at concentrations of below a microgram per litre, in source water, treated water and tap water. Their findings are published in Environmental Science & Technology.
The study unexpectedly revealed relatively high levels of the pesticide atrazine, a suspected endocrine disruptor used throughout the US corn belt (the American midwest) but banned by the European Union. The authors detected atrazine in water far from farm land and even in the source water of a plant located in the most arid part of the United States, where the pesticide is not used at all.
Atrazine could be getting into water through food and drink, the researchers suggest, with, for example, many soft drinks containing corn syrup helping the pesticide to spread through the water-treatment system. However, like the other contaminants found by the team, the levels were below the US Environmental Protection Agency’s safe maximum. For atrazine, this is 3.0 micrograms per litre; the highest value recorded by the researchers was 930 nanograms (0.93 micrograms) per litre.
Read more from Nature News by clicking here.
World’s oceans turning acidic faster than expected; Acidification caused by carbon emissions could bring some oceans to a tipping point
Posted by: Maven on December 21, 2008 at 7:24 amFrom the Christian Science Monitor:
Parts of the world's oceans appear to be acidifying far faster than scientists have expected. The culprit: rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere pumped into the air from cars, power plants, and industries.
The Southern Ocean represents one of the most high-profile examples. There, scientists estimate that the ocean could reach a biologically important tipping point in wintertime by 2030, at least 20 years earlier than scientists projected only three years ago. Among the vulnerable: a tiny form of sea snail that serves as food for a wide range of fish.
Similar trends are appearing in more temperate waters, say researchers.
The studies suggest the CO2-emission targets being considered for a new global warming treaty are likely to be inadequate to prevent significant, long-lasting changes in some ocean basins.
Scientists over the past decade have detected a clear shift toward acidity since preindustrial times. But that “is not really telling you the story\” as it unfolds on smaller but ecologically important scales, says David Archer, a researcher at the University of Chicago who studies the global carbon cycle.
The new research draws on long-term data on changes in ocean chemistry and the effect of those changes on marine life. The data are giving scientists their first clear look at the importance of natural swings in sea-water acidification in estimating overall acidification trends and tipping points.
Read more from the Christian Science Monitor by clicking here.
Northern California gears up for wintry weather; skiers rejoice
Posted by: Maven on December 20, 2008 at 6:58 amFrom the Sacramento Bee:
Getting over the river and through the woods to whatever house they might be heading to could be more difficult for drivers this weekend as winter storms pound the Sacramento region.
Further ahead, it’s going to be a stormy, stormy Christmas. National Weather Service officials predict a tropical storm will slam Central California on Christmas Eve and into Christmas Day, bringing as much as 15 inches of rain to coastal areas and 4 inches of rain to the Sacramento Valley.
Today, the end of a cold front is moving through the area. The storm sprinkled little rain on Sacramento but is dumping heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada. Snow elevations are about 2,500 feet and might drop to about 1,500 feet later today, said Eric Kurth, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
Read more from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.
The Central Valley is gearing up for the storms while ski resorts are preparing for the holidays, reports the Stockton Record:
The weather services predict hazardous conditions because of high winds and heavy rains in the coming days for most of interior Northern California, including northern San Joaquin Valley, the Delta and the Mother Lode. Such large rainfall predictions often bring with them the threat of urban and small-stream flooding, the National Weather Service reported.
As blustering winds pass through San Joaquin County, falling tree branches have the potential to bring down power lines. PG&E is working to prevent power disturbances and preparing for such scenarios, spokeswoman Nicole Liebelt said, adding that the company’s customer service center will answer calls through the holidays for 24 hours a day.
“We definitely take storm season very seriously,” Liebelt said.
In the Sierra, snowstorms are expected to bring up to 2 feet of snow in elevations over 7,000 feet by Sunday, and with the cold front coming through, snow could fall at as low as 2,000 feet, the National Weather Service reported.
Before a series of storms began last weekend, the Tahoe snowpack stood at only about 2 percent of average for the date.
The snow was welcome news for Tahoe ski resorts, which are gearing up for the busy Christmas holiday period. Forecasts were calling for a chance of snow almost every day through at least Christmas at Tahoe.
Read more from Stockton’s Record by clicking here.
Southern California outlook: Recent rains boost local supplies; more rain expected next week
Posted by: Maven on December 20, 2008 at 6:49 amRecent rains have dumped 4.4 billion gallons into Orange County’s water supply, reports the O. C. Register’s Sciencedude:
The Orange County Water District coralled 4.4 billion gallons of rainwater behind Prado Dam during the storms that pounded Southern California on Monday and Wednesday a bounty worth about $9 million dollars.
The water will be released down the Santa Ana River and diverted into OCWD's recharge system.
“If there were no more rain, it would take us approximately 4 to 6 weeks to completely drain this pool into our recharge system,\” says OCWD's Adam Hutchinson.
Read more from the O. C. Register’s Sciencedude by clicking here.
More rain on the way for Southern California, too, as this story in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune tells us:
After two cold storms from the North Pacific slammed the Southland, officials are predicting a third may be on the way.
Experts forecasted a cool, sunny Saturday, with highs in the 60s, said Bill Hoffer of the National Weather Service. Sunday is expected to be partly cloudy with highs in the low 60s, Hoffer said.
But there is a 50 percent chance of rain on Monday with a high temperature expected to reach the mid-to-upper 50s. And it could keep raining through Christmas.
“These (storms) are born and bred in the Gulf of Alaska and come down along our coast,” Hoffer said.
The rain is the best bailout for San Diego County farmers, says San Diego’s Channel 6:
When it comes to rainfall so far this season, San Diego is way above normal. But, our reservoirs are still far under capacity. Years of drought in the state have left them so depleted, it is hard to imagine them filling up anytime soon.
Tenille Othero, a spokesman for the San Diego County Water Authority, said “we need enormous amounts of rain, Noah’s Ark amounts of rain to make up for the dry spell.”
But California’s farmers appreciate all the rain they can get. Perhaps no professional group cheered the downpours more than those who grow avocados.
Burnet Wohlford, who runs Heritage Ranch Management, said avocados require far more water than his citrus plants. His ranch in Escondido has a water bill of about $20,000 a month. Another ranch of his cost $40,000 a month. When it rains, he can stop the sprinklers for at least a month if not more.
The savings could help keep him in business–at least for now.
Read more from San Diego’s Channel 6 by clicking here.
Conservation deal protects land between Folsom Lake, Auburn
Posted by: Maven on December 20, 2008 at 6:30 amFrom the Sacramento Bee:
Two miles of frontage on the north fork of the American River and 558 acres of forest between the Auburn and Folsom Lake state recreation areas will be protected from development forever under a deal that closed this week.
The American River Conservancy purchased a conservation easement for the land, part of the historic Garland Ranch in El Dorado County, conservancy director Alan Ehrgott said.
The land is due east of the river, across the canyon from Auburn and immediately downstream from the old Auburn dam site.
Ehrgott called the deal a major step toward the dream of a 16-mile trail corridor around the east side of Folsom Lake that would connect with the south fork of the American.
“This acquisition will help protect existing wildlife migration corridors, the quality of water flowing downstream to Sacramento and the potential for hiking, biking and equestrian trails in the future,” he said.
Read more from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.
Butte County braces for drought; Biggest worry is that ‘worst water crisis in California history’ may lead to huge amounts of groundwater pumping
Posted by: Maven on December 20, 2008 at 6:22 am
From the Chico News & Review:
Don't let this week's rain and snow fool you. California is still in its third year of drought. If you want proof, take a look at Lake Oroville, which is at 29 percent of capacity, the lowest since 1977. Shasta Lake is just as bad.
When the state's two largest reservoirs are that short on water in December, water officials get nervous. “The Department of Water Resources calls this the most significant water crisis in California history,\” Vickie Newlin, assistant director of the county's Department of Water and Resource Conservation (DWRC), said during a meeting of the county's Drought Task Force last Thursday (Dec. 11).
As a result, there is widespread anxiety locally about the security of Northern California's water and whether there will be sufficient quantities next year for the area's farmers. Many of them are anticipating reduced allocations from Lake Oroville and Shasta Lake, while they watch well-water levels drop dramatically.
In June, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a drought emergency for much of the Central Valley. And the state Department of Water Resources (DWR) has created a drought water bank for the first time since 1991-92, the last major drought period. It's looking to deposit as much as 600,000 acre-feet of water in that bank.
And where will that water come from You guessed it: Northern California.
According to a draft of the plan, three types of water could be designated for transfer to the drought bank: currently stored water, water that can be replaced with groundwater, and water freed up by shifting crops or idling them altogether.
Read more about Northern Californian’s concerns about the drought bank in this story from the Chico News & Review by clicking here.
City of Folsom worries as water level nears intake; water officials in Central Valley are anxiously watching reservoirs, too
Posted by: Maven on December 20, 2008 at 5:57 am
From the Folsom Telegraph, with Folsom Lake currently at 25% capacity, the City of Folsom is growing increasingly concerned, as the water level is within 48 feet of the city’s intake:
A highly anticipated meeting with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and those who draw water from Folsom Lake resulted in no emergency plans for the lake’s low level.
On Monday, Folsom city officials met with the bureau, the agency responsible for releasing water from Folsom Lake, and other agencies that pull water from the reservoir in the hopes of crafting plans to deal with the lake’s dangerously low level. “We did have a meeting on Monday with a lot of the purveyors,” said Folsom Utilities Director Ken Payne. “We're going to watch the precipitation when we go through December and January.”
In a statement released by Payne late last week, he said the meeting with the USBR would address “drought year contingency plans.”
The stage two water alert will remain in effect in Folsom, he said. “Until we develop this contingency plan with the USBR and the other water purveyors that draw from Folsom Reservoir such as El Dorado Irrigation District, Roseville, San Juan Water District and others, we will wait to change our stage alert status,\” Payne said in the statement.
Those plans have yet to be formed.
The bureau announced they are holding a meeting in January with Central Valley users. “The bureau has a central valley user group meeting in mid-January so we're in a wait-and-see mode to see what happens in the next month or so,” Payne said. “This time of year it's hard to plan what's going to happen for the winter.”
They’re anxiously watching the reservoir levels drop in the Central Valley, too, in this story from the Manteca Bulletin:
San Luis Reservoir in the Coastals west of Los Banos is now down to 12 percent of its 2 million acre-feet of water capacity and is still dropping.
“It's good we're getting the snow,\” [South San Joaquin Irrigation District general manager] Shields said. “The snow pack is a critical component of the state's water storage system.
New Melones the reservoir that partially dictates the SSJID's water fortunes holds 2,420,000 acre feet of water. As of Wednesday, it was down to 1,131,000 acre feet. “I'd like to say the glass is half full but it is really half empty,\” Shields said of the continuing stress the drought is placing on the state's water supplies.
Shields believes if the snow predicted for next week materializes, it will put the SSJID in a fairly decent position for next spring given the capacity of the Tri-Dam System it operates with Oakdale Irrigation District. But even he concedes it is “iffy\” depending upon how the rest of winter plays out.
Read the rest of this story from the Manteca Bulletin by clicking here.
Call for ideas on living in a warming world
Posted by: Maven on December 20, 2008 at 5:55 amFrom the San Francisco Chronicle:
The impacts of climate change are a hot topic among scientists and environmental activists. Now the Bay Conservation and Development Commission wants to hear from another perspective: the design community.
The state agency is preparing to launch a $125,000 competition that will invite architects, planners and engineers to bring innovative proposals “to climate-proof the Bay Area,” in the words of the competition outline.
The aim isn’t to stop climate change from happening, say officials, or to build impregnable levees. The goal is to get designers thinking creatively about how to prepare for a world where the sea level might climb several feet – inundating large portions of the developed region unless something is done.
“We are looking for ideas that can lead to future standards about how to deal with rising tides,” said Brad McCrea, a development design analyst for the commission. “We want to move the discussion forward.”
Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.
Diane Feinstein calls for ‘comprehensive regulatory approach to the Delta’; sends letters to officials addressing Sacramento wastewater treatment plant & invasive species
Posted by: Maven on December 19, 2008 at 1:56 pmDiane Feinstein, in two letters sent to officials this week, called for a comprehensive regulatory approach to the Delta.
In a letter addressed to the California Department of Fish & Game, Ms. Feinstein writes “regulatory actions must be taken to address all points of stress on the Delta, including not just the State and federal water projects, but also ammonia discharges from wastewater treatment plants, the predation of native fish by striped bass and other non-native species, invasive species, lack of sufficient habitat, pyrethroids and other pesticides, other toxics and other problems”.
Ms. Feinstein further urges the Department of Fish & Game to take action on those stressors on the Delta that fall under the agencies regulatory responsibilities. You can read the full text of this letter from Diane Feinstein to the Department of Fish & Game by clicking here.
In a second letter sent earlier in the week, Ms. Feinstein addresses the State Water Resources Control Board and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board regarding Sacramento’s wastewater treatment plant facilities discharges, which contain substantial amounts of ammonia. Noting that recent research has shown that ammonia may be having detrimental effects on the ecosystem and inhibiting phytoplankton, Ms. Feinstein notes that 10 out of 11 wastewater treatment facilities located in the Delta have implemented (or are in the process of implementing) new treatment methods to eliminate ammonia. The only wastewater treatment plant not in the process of upgrading is the facility for the Sacramento area, which is also the largest.
Ms. Feinstein also notes that the permit for Sacramento’s wastewater treatment plant is operating under an expired permit and the Central Valley Regional Water Control Board has been processing the new application. She writes “I understand that such permit renewals are complex matters in the face of differing views and science which is inevitably imperfect. But the ecosystem is in nothing short of a crisis. The main water supply that fuels the state’s economy is in jeopary. Delaying action is simply not an option.”
She continues, “The State Water Resouces Control Board and its Central Valley Regional Board have an ogbligation to protect the Delta and to uphold its policies that seek to limit resource degradation by under-treated wastewater discharge and other threats.”
You can read the full text of this letter from Diane Feinstein by clicking here.
I found this on Matt Weiser’s twitter feed: https://twitter.com/sacbee_delta
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More are moving out of California than in
Posted by: Maven on December 19, 2008 at 6:24 amFrom the Los Angeles Times:
They said, “Go west,” but many Californians are going north and east.
For the fourth year in a row, more residents left the Golden State than moved here from other states, according to a report released Wednesday by the California Department of Finance. The outflow — last seen during the economic and social struggles of the 1990s — started when it became too expensive for most people to buy homes in the state, and has kept going throughout the bust with the loss of so many jobs.
The trend underscores the state’s sour economy as layoffs continue, the fiscal strain on government grows and home values continue to decline.
Though more births and rising international immigration helped boost California’s population a modest 1.16% last year, the state continued its steady stream of domestic out-migration — the movement to other states of people who live here.
During the last fiscal year, 135,173 more people moved out of California than moved in from other states. Though just a drop in the bucket for a state of 38 million people, the trend remains significant because such declines usually occur when working Californians decide better opportunities lie elsewhere. “I just gave up,” said Grace Bryant, a former Glendora resident who fled to Texas after 18 months without consistent employment as a residential appraiser. “California is too much of a struggle.”
Read more from the Los Angeles Times by clicking here.
Editorial: State must boost water storage
Posted by: Maven on December 19, 2008 at 6:13 amFrom the Contra Costa Times, this editorial:
THE TIME MAY be coming, if it is not already here, when decision-makers in Sacramento finally understand that California must store a lot more water in reservoirs or lose much of its agriculture.
That message was delivered Monday by federal regulators, who placed severe restrictions on pumping water out of the Delta. The new rules in a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permit will require more freshwater to be released into the Delta and a lot less water to be pumped out of the estuary.
U.S. District Judge Oliver Wanger ruled that the old pumping permit was highly flawed because it did not do enough to protect fish like the Delta smelt. Other species of fish in the Delta also are endangered and could face extinction without major cutbacks in water pumping.
When huge volumes of freshwater are removed from the Delta, fish are caught in the pumps. Even more damaging, salinity levels in the Delta rise, allowing invasive species such as clams, algae and plants to multiply and alter the entire estuary ecosystem.
The new permit is designed to save the Delta environment, regardless of the impact it will have on water users.
About two-thirds of Californians depend on water that flows through the Delta. However, it is agriculture that is likely to suffer the greatest impact.
Read the rest of this editorial from the Contra Costa Times by clicking here.
Kempthorne says goodbye to Colorado River group
Posted by: Maven on December 19, 2008 at 6:10 amFrom the San Jose Mercury News:
Outgoing Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne told Colorado River resource managers that he expects no major changes in federal management of the river under President-elect Barack Obama’s pick to be his successor.
Kempthorne told the Colorado River Water Users Association annual conference Wednesday in Las Vegas that he has worked with U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar over the past 2 1/2 years, and the Democratic senator from Colorado understands Western water issues.
Obama on Wednesday named Salazar as the nation’s 50th interior secretary, pending Senate approval.
Kempthorne said Salazar faces challenges overseeing the use of the Colorado River amid drought, climate change and increased pressure from farms, businesses, cities and homes in a region where 30 million people live.
“I don’t believe it’s a partisan issue,” the Bush appointee said following his keynote remarks.
Read more from the San Jose Mercury News by clicking here.
Dan Bacher: Schwarzenegger still pimping peripheral canal as he declares “fiscal emergency\”?
Posted by: Maven on December 19, 2008 at 6:09 amFrom Dan Bacher:
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, after being given the “Outdoor Villain of the Year” award by Field and Stream magazine, continues to pimp the outdated concept of a enormously expensive and environmentally devastating peripheral canal as he declares a “fiscal emergency” because of the state’s $11.2 billion revenue shortfall.
“Playing the rake is not new for Gov. Schwarzenegger, whose first turn as the Terminator saw him working to destroy the world instead of saving it,\” the magazine editorial said in September. “And the governor's win will not come as any surprise to fishermen in the Golden State, where funding for salmon and steelhead restoration has been dramatically cut despite sharply declining populations for years. During the governor's tenure, the Chinook salmon fishery in California collapsed, and on May 1, 2008, commercial and recreational salmon fishing were both banned along the West Coast in California and much of Oregon.
The latest installment in Schwarzenegger’s role as the “Fish Terminator” villain was when his hand-picked Blue Ribbon Delta Vision Task Force, against the advice of many of the members of its stakeholders group, announced its support for the construction of a peripheral canal around the Delta in its final meeting Tuesay. The peripheral canal would create the infrastructure to export more water out of the Delta to subsidized agribusiness and southern California, even though the report the task force unveiled in November called for less exports and water conservation to save imperiled fish populations.
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, campaign director Restore the Delta, pointed out this contradiction out today in the organization’s newsletter, “Delta Flows.”
“Restore the Delta staff members are once again amazed that Governor Schwarzenegger and his advisors can be confronted with facts regarding the reduction of water exports and then move toward implementing a contrary strategy in a poorly executed attempt to manage California’s water supply,” said Parrilla. “Yesterday, the Governor released a statement with his advisors that the state needs a new water strategy with a new canal.”
Farm group challenges smelt decision
Posted by: Maven on December 19, 2008 at 6:05 amFrom the Central Valley Business Times:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service failed to meet the standards of the Endangered Species Act when it issued an order that threatens to cut California's dwindling water supply by a third or more, argues a group calling itself the Family Farm Alliance in a legal challenge filed under the federal Information Quality Act.
“The law requires USFWS to base its decisions on evidence, not assumptions or its own prejudices,\” says Dan Keppen, executive director of the Family Farm Alliance, which is based in Klamath Falls, Ore.
“The more important the action, the more impact it's likely to have, the higher the quality standards to which it should be held,\” says Mr. Keppen.
Read more from the Central Valley Business Times by clicking here.
California holiday travelers to face deluge
Posted by: Maven on December 19, 2008 at 6:00 amFrom the Sacramento Bee:
It’s going to be a stormy, stormy Christmas.
National Weather Service officials predict a tropical storm will slam Central California on Christmas Eve and into Christmas Day, bringing as much as 15 inches of rain to coastal areas and 4 inches of rain to the Sacramento Valley.
The weather service calls this type of storm an “atmospheric river,” because it draws tropical moisture in a jet across the Pacific Ocean that often targets a defined area, directing rainfall like a fire hose.
Often called by the slang term “pineapple express,” such storms have been blamed for some of California’s worst flooding events.
Because California’s reservoirs are largely empty after two years of drought, flooding on major rivers is not expected. But local creek flooding can be expected, said Dave Reynolds, meteorologist in charge at the weather service’s San Francisco regional office.
He said Californians planning holiday travels should prepare for the worst and be willing to cancel those yuletide visits if necessary.
“People should start to think. They should really pay close attention to weather reports over the weekend,” Reynolds said. “Travel’s going to be ugly Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, because it’s just going to be raining cats and dogs.”
Read more from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.
Desalinization worries
Posted by: Maven on December 19, 2008 at 5:58 amFrom Health News Digest:
Due to its high cost, energy intensiveness and overall ecological footprint, most environmental advocates view desalinization (or desalination),the conversion of salty ocean water into fresh water,as a last resort for providing fresh water to needy populations. Sourcing fresh water from streams, rivers, lakes and underground aquifers and adhering to strict water conservation measures are much more viable for both economic and environmental reasons in most situations, although some desert regions with thirsty and growing populations may not have many such options.
The relationship between desalinization and climate change is complex. Global warming has increased droughts around the world and turned formerly verdant landscapes into near deserts. Some long held fresh water sources are simply no longer reliably available to hundreds of millions of people around the world.
Meanwhile, expanding populations in desert areas are putting intense pressure on existing fresh water supplies, forcing communities to turn to desalinization as the most expedient way to satisfy their collective thirst. But the process of desalinization burns up many more fossil fuels than sourcing the equivalent amount of fresh water from fresh water bodies. As such, the very proliferation of desalinization plants around the world,some 13,000 already supply fresh water in 120 nations, primarily in the Middle East, North Africa and Caribbean,is both a reaction to and one of many contributors to global warming.
Read more from Health News Digest by clicking here.
Storms raise water level in 9 San Diego area reservoirs
Posted by: Maven on December 19, 2008 at 5:55 amFrom the San Diego Union-Tribune:
This week’s heavy rains have raised the water level in San Diego’s nine reservoirs, but the lakes are still far from capacity. “We need a whole lot more to get them back up to normal,\” said Nathan Grima, an assistant civil engineer with the city of San Diego’s water department. “We’re still considered under drought conditions.
Most of the county has received more than twice the rainfall it normally would receive by this point in the season. San Diego has recorded more than 2.5 inches this week alone. The total for the season, which begins July 1, is 5.37 inches. Normal is 2.54. Ramona has recorded 6.06 inches; normal there is 3.5.
But the reservoir levels were low before the fall storms because of three straight dry years in Southern California. Even after the deluges Monday and Wednesday, the city’s reservoirs averaged only about a third full. All reservoirs around the county, which are owned by various cities and water agencies, averaged just below 50 percent full before Wednesday’s storm.
The combined storage capacity of the city of San Diego reservoirs is 202,872 acre-feet. As of yesterday, the total water stored was 66,106 acre-feet. An acre-foot is roughly 325,850 gallons and enough to meet the demands of two typical households for a year.
Wednesday’s storm delivered a gift of 3,209 acre-feet of water to the city’s reservoirs, and runoff should continue to raise the lake levels over the next few days. Monday’s storm brought a similar lift to the lakes.
Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune by clicking here.
Rosamond to promote water conservation
Posted by: Maven on December 19, 2008 at 5:51 amFrom the Antelope Valley Press:
So far when Antelope Valley residents turn on their kitchen and bathroom faucets the water pours out without interruption: Rosamond Community Services District officials want to keep it that way by taking proactive steps. They put together a comprehensive plan for water conservation that involves community education and cooperation.
Rosamond district General Manager Jack Stewart said the agency’s staff currently is updating the water conservation ordinance because of a reduced “availability of water” from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, compounded by issues that concern the Valley groundwater basin, such as an increasing water demand because of rapid population growth.
“It needs to be updated,” Stewart said.
Once completed, the revised ordinance will somewhat resemble the water-conservation ordinances developed in Palmdale, Lancaster and other Valley communities, he noted.
Although Rosamond Community Services District had an existing ordinance, Stewart said, “we didn’t have a water conservation educational program – a way to explain to customers how to conserve.”
Read more from the Antelope Valley Press by clicking here.
Boeing ordered to remove tainted soil; Stormwater is carrying away contaminants at former test site
Posted by: Maven on December 19, 2008 at 5:49 amFrom the Ventura County Star:
Boeing Co., the owner of a former rocket engine and nuclear test site south of Simi Valley, has been ordered to remove contaminated soil to keep pollutants found in storm water from running off the site.
Heavy metals, perchlorate and other toxic materials have been found in stormwater running off the Santa Susana Field Laboratory at two outfalls that drain into Dayton Canyon Creek and the Arroyo Simi.
The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board issued the order on Dec. 3. Stormwater traversing the field lab has contained pollutants that exceed limits set in a permit previously issued by the board.
In 2007, Boeing was fined for exceeding limits of chromium, dioxin, lead, mercury and other pollutants in wastewater and stormwater runoff over a period of nearly 18 months.
“It’s a new approach but is not a radical change from what we have been doing,” board spokesman Stephen Cain said.
Read more from the Ventura County Star by clicking here.
C&H Sugar charged with polluting waterway
Posted by: Maven on December 19, 2008 at 5:45 amFrom the San Francisco Chronicle:
State water quality regulators are charging the century-old C&H sugar refinery in Crockett with dumping sugar, coliform bacteria, mercury and other chemicals into the Carquinez Strait over the last three years, potentially harming fish and marine life.
The more than 50 violations could cost the company as much as $500,000, depending on the findings of a hearing scheduled in February, according to the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board.
“These are older facilities, and that’s what we face throughout the state – old pipes, old plants,” said Dave Clegern, spokesman for the State Water Resources Control Board, which oversees the regional agency. “They need to be monitoring this and have people trained to catch these things before we have 34 of them.”
Regulators said 34 of the illegal discharges, 32 of which contained sugar, emanated from the plant, which uses water to cool its refining system. The remaining discharges came from storm-water runoff, a minor oil spill and from a sewage treatment plant operated by C&H and which serves the refinery and 1,100 properties in the Crockett area.
Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.
Recent storms do little for water supply outlook; Despite wet weather, snowpack remains well below normal; continued conservation critical
Posted by: Maven on December 18, 2008 at 2:18 pmFrom the Long Beach Water Department, this press release:
Long Beach Water officials are today reminding customers to continue conserving all the water they can by taking advantage of the recent wet weather and shutting off irrigation systems until the middle of next week. While recent storms have provided local rain and snow, snowpack in the northern Sierra Nevada is currently 90 percent below normal for the year. Northern Sierra snowpack is a primary imported water source for Central Valley and southern California farms and cities. Long Beach imports half its water supply.
“We need to take advantage of the rain we’ve received over the last couple of days and use it wisely,” according to Matt Lyons, Director of Conservation and Planning for the Long Beach Water Department. “This rain is enough to allow all of us to shut our irrigation systems off for several days.” Between 50 and 70 percent of all the water used in Long Beach is used outside the home, primarily on lush, non-native landscapes. “Not having to irrigate for 4 to 6 days saves vast amounts of water,” added Lyons.
Compounding the necessity to conserve, earlier this week, federal wildlife officials released NEW restrictions on pumping from northern California, further exacerbating the water supply reliability problems for imported water users in cities like Long Beach, as well as San Joaquin Valley farms. The curbs placed on pumping water through the Bay Delta are intended to save the Delta Smelt, an endangered fish, from extinction. A new biological opinion, released on Monday by Fish and Wildlife’s office in Sacramento, supports continuing current pumping restrictions, which have resulted in a 20 to 30 percent reduction in water deliveries, but also adopts additional pumping restrictions that the agency believes will help improve Delta Smelt habitat. These additional restrictions could in some years cut imported water deliveries to the Central Valley and southern California by half, which is a worst case scenario, but entirely feasible. Again, the Bay Delta (State Water Project) provides about 30 percent of southern California’s imported water supply.
According to Kevin Wattier, General Manager of the Long Beach Water Department, the extremely weak snowpack, coupled with desperately low water storage throughout the state, not to mention the endangered species issues in the Bay Delta itself, should be a catalyst for southern California water managers to immediately increase action on extraordinary conservation measures. “We need a region-wide, full-scale effort to permanently prohibit certain outdoor watering activities.”
“Mandated prohibitions on certain outdoor uses of water, which were adopted in Long Beach in September of 2007, continue to be the very best, most immediate way to save vast amounts of water,” states John Allen, President of the Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners. With these mandated prohibitions, over the last twelve months, Long Beach residents have consumed less water than at any time over the past 10 years. Consumption for the past 12 months is 10.1 percent below the historical 10-year average. “We understood there would be a learning curve for us all, and that exercising these new practices would help us become the very best prepared city in southern California to deal with severe shortages; we’re ready and we think it’s prudent that other communities do the same,” he added.
The Long Beach Board of Water Commissioners has continued to call for increased action throughout southern California, with regard to extraordinary water conservation, and particularly prohibitions on certain outdoor uses of water.
Long Beach Water 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
Another Sierra storm brews, heavy snow, high winds
Posted by: Maven on December 18, 2008 at 2:12 pmFrom the San Jose Mercury News:
Another winter storm was headed Thursday for much of the northern Sierra and Lake Tahoe, where another foot or so of snow was expected at lake level by Friday and up to 2 feet at higher elevations.
Between 2 and 4 inches of snow was forecast for the valley floors in Reno and Carson City by Friday morning, the National Weather Service said.
Blowing snow was expected to reduce visibility with winds gusting up to 45 mph in the valleys and up to 100 mph over mountain ridges.
“It will be a fairly quick-moving system, with Tahoe and Truckee (Calif.) north getting the most precipitation,” said Jessica Kielhorn, a meteorologist for the weather service.
A winter storm warning was set to go into effect from 4 p.m. Thursday to 10 a.m. Friday at Lake Tahoe and the northern Sierra. A winter weather advisory was set for 10 p.m. Thursday to 10 a.m. in Reno and Carson City, and extending to 4 p.m. Friday at points east, including Fernley, Fallon and Lovelock.
Read more from the San Jose Mercury News by clicking here.
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