Manteca needs to act on recycled water policy, says editorial
Posted by: Maven on December 30, 2009 at 6:27 amFrom the Manteca Bulletin, this editorial:
“It's time to stop pontificating.
The Manteca City Council needs to put in place a concrete policy for water recycling in 2010. It ultimately will make fiscal sense and it will go a long way toward curtailing a future water crisis for Manteca.
And water recycling : complete with the installation of purple trunk pipelines : must be a part of the 1,050-acre Austin Road Business Park development agreement. If the coalition of developers doesn't agree to do so, then this City Council must not allow the project to annex to the city.
Austin Road Business Park will have an impact on Manteca's economy : as well as resources and lifestyles : much like an elephant walking across Jell-O. Its presence will be felt by everyone in Manteca. … “
Read more of this editorial by clicking here.
Delta Intertie gets environmental approval
Posted by: Maven on December 30, 2009 at 6:25 amFrom the Eureka Times-Standard:
“A plan to connect state and federal canals to improve the reliability of water deliveries across the San Joaquin Valley and beyond has received environmental approval.
The $34 million Intertie Project would connect the Delta Mendota Canal and the California Aqueduct using a 500-foot underground pipe and pumps. … “
Read more from the Eureka Times-Standard by clicking here.
Canal buoy stringers avoid charges
Posted by: Maven on December 30, 2009 at 6:23 amFrom the Imperial Valley Press:
“John Carlos Frey and John Hunter, the two men who illegally entered the All-American Canal to install a buoy line, will not face charges for their actions.
On Nov. 17, the men strung a buoy line across the All-American Canal to raise awareness about drowning deaths in the canal, particularly those of illegal immigrants.
“I think that there is a lack of awareness within the community at large in the Imperial Valley and San Diego County about the fact the canal continues to drown people on a regular basis,\” Frey said.
An Imperial County sheriff's deputy issued the men citations at the canal for breaking a county ordinance.
Frey said the Imperial County District Attorney's Office rejected their cases based on a “matter of justice. … “
Read more from the Imperial Valley Press by clicking here.
Fallowing funds distributed to IID farmers
Posted by: Maven on December 30, 2009 at 6:21 amFrom the Imperial Valley Press:
“Farmers who have participated in the Imperial Irrigation District's fallowing program began collecting their checks from the IID on Tuesday.
The compensation covers years 2005 through 2008. “It's longer than we would've liked or intended, but these are public funds, and they require a thorough and careful process,\” said IID Assistant to the General Manager Kevin Kelley.
The IID Board of Directors, which serves as the Local Entity, voted Monday 4-0 to approve the distribution of the $4.08 million in compensation to 37 participating farm service providers. Director Anthony Sanchez was absent. … “
Read more from the Imperial Valley Press by clicking here.
Tuesday’s top of the scroll: Nunes, Hannity & bloggers react to the 60 Minutes story
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 8:17 amDid anyone like the 60 Minutes show Apparently not, if this round-up of commentary is representative of the sentiment. Devin Nunes appeared on Sean Hannity’s show, saying “Seventy-five percent of it was a piece on (Governor Schwarzenegger), which is ridiculous, because he’s been a day late and a dollar short,” the Valley Republican told guest host Tucker Carlson. “The Governor has yet to go back to Washington D.C. to meet with President Obama or Speaker Nancy Pelosi.”
Here’s the clip (hat tip to KMJ Radio):
Bloggers didn’t think much of the program, either. Starting with the On the Public Record blog, in a series of two posts, OTPR says scale is important, especially in regards to the part in the story where they say that 130,000 almond trees have basically become compost:
” … (130,000 almond trees)*(1 acre/105 almond trees) = 1238 ACRES OF TREES!!!!
(1,238 almond acres)/(710,000 acres of almond trees in CA) = 0.0017
That's almost 0.2% change in the California almond acreage!!!
Even with this devastating loss, the Californian almond harvest this year was 1.6 billion pounds shelled (up from 1.3 billion pounds shelled last year) accounting for 85% of the world's almond production. C'mon, Sixty Minutes. I know tractors ripping out trees look awesome, but so does the annual Almond Almanac. A few seconds of searching would have given you some perspective on this. It would have told you how big the imminent impact is going to be. And that even with the drought, there were more almonds harvested this year than ever before. … “
Full text of this blog post from On the Public Record by clicking here.
In a subsequent post, OTPR takes issue with the portrayal of “water wars”:
” … Seriously, we are not in a water war. I can tell you this because if it were a war, I'd be on the front lines. I am a water bureaucrat, baby, deep in the trenches of the decades-long water war. In real life, this means I work in a very ordinary cube in ordinary clothing. No one ever takes any shots at me. (Sometimes, someone suggests that I re-phrase something before we release it to the public.) No one took any shots at anyone during the protracted negotiations for the new water legislation. So far as I know, Judge Wanger walks to his car un-escorted and unafraid, which means that we are really and truly not in a water war.
Instead, we're in an extended, complicated, multi-party conflict over resource use that will be resolved through incremental progress in courts, administrative plans, white papers and legislation (or maybe earthquake-caused collapse of Delta levees). I am sorry if that doesn't give our Action Governor a boner, but that is not a war. The conflict is not exciting. … “
Aquafornia Note: To me, the term ‘water wars’ is simply much easier to say than “extended, complicated, multi-party conflict over resource use”. And, I don’t know about you, but I do find it exciting and interesting, otherwise I would not bother to write this blog. (I tell people it’s like a football game: the action’s just as brutal but the game never ends.) But that’s me. And probably you, too, if you read this blog regularly! :)
Read the full text of this post from On the Public Record by clicking here.
Emily Green from the Chance of Rain blog says she’s tired of the well worn “whiskeys for … ” cliche:
” … Those instantly overtaken by boredom whenever a speech (tv program, headline, fill in the blank) opens with the threadbare Twain quote “whisky is for drinking, water is for fighting,\” be further warned: Lesley Stahl opens with it.
Beyond the cliches, the esteemed news magazine offers a decent potted version of our water woes. An empty promise of a free drink to anyone who counts how many times Stahl called the Delta smelt “tiny. … “
And what about that Latino Coaliton Read the full text of this blog post from Chance of Rain by clicking here.
Restore the Delta says they expected better from the network program that went after tobacco so fervently, noting that they didn’t bother to interview anybody who lived in or depended on the Delta, as well as this:
” … Restore the Delta gives Professor Jeffrey Mount an unqualified “A” for saying that farmers need to stop relying on water transfers. But he gets a resounding “F” as in “fragile,” the word he once again applied to Delta levees. The implication, as always: they’re too fragile to be worth maintaining. But Mount knows we have to maintain them, not just for water transfers and farming but to protect infrastructure and manage flooding in the whole region.
Mount’s model of saltwater intrusion was indeed alarming, but the Governor’s conveyance dream will not address the problems of saltwater intrusion into the Estuary and the Delta, especially if it diverts resources from levee management. … “
Read the full text of this post from Restore the Delta by clicking here.
Lloyd Carter took issue with the neglect to mention the drainage-impaired lands of the west side:
” … Not once did she mention the selenium-tainted soils of the Westlands Water District. Drainage water from the Westlands fields contains selenium, which got into the food chain at the Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge 25 years ago and killed thousands of birds and triggered deformities in bird embryos.
Thanks, in part, to an excellent report by 60 Minutes’ Ed Bradley on March 9, 1985, the poisoned evaporation ponds at Kesterson were closed. Sadly, this latest 60 Minutes report on Westlands is far off the mark.
Twenty-five years later the estimated cost for providing drainage to the 600 growers who operate on a thousand square miles in Westlands is set at $2.7 billion.
Leslie Stahl should have asked the governor what he is doing about the drainage problem. Answer He’s doing nothing. … “
Read the full text of Lloyd Carters remarks by clicking here.
Holly Doremus at the Legal Planet blog says:
” … That story is demonstrably false on at least two different levels. First, while the San Joaquin valley has had a tough economic year, its woes have not been driven by water shortages. According to this independent report from economist Jeffrey Michael at the University of the Pacific, the real culprit is the collapse of the housing market and therefore of the construction industry … ”
…
Second, it's not true that California agriculture had a bad year across the board. Farming has always been a boom-bust business, as overplanting gluts the market and tough growing conditions deplete it. But 2009 was not a bust year. The California tomato crop, for example, hit an all-time high both in total production and in dollar value at the farm. As for the almond grower that complained to 60 Minutes that he was having to destroy his trees, take that with a grain of salt. Almond trees have a relatively short life-span, so orchards are continually removed and replanted. … “
Read the full text of this post from Legal Planet by clicking here.
Tom Lang (who hails from the Central Valley) seemed to think it was okay, and made this interesting point:
” … It is interesting that Governor Schwarzenegger took the CBS crew to San Luis Reservoir, which was designed and built on the west side of the Valley to exclusively store pumped Delta water as opposed to natural mountain run-off as are a multitude of other dams built on the east side of the Valley. San Luis Reservoir's low level this past fall (when the reservoir segment was filmed) was entirely due to the pumps being off or operated at low capacity earlier in the year, not a “drought\” as the report would have viewers believe.
On a trip past the same reservoir just before Christmas, it was apparent to my wife, Aletha, and me that the lake was being refilled : it didn't look nearly as empty as when CBS correspondent Lesley Stahl commented on it.
According to the California Department of Water Resources website, more than 800,000 acre-feet of water is being stored in San Luis as of today's date : up from 473,257 acre-feet at this same time last year. … “
Read the full text of this post from Tom Lang’s blog by clicking here.
E. J. Schultz of the Fresno Bee finds someone else who is happy and sums it up in this post from the Fresno Bee News Blog:
” … So if Northern Californians and enviros are mad, then Valley growers must be happy Yep.
Water issues are “very complex,” said Sarah Woolf, a Westlands Water District spokeswoman whose brother-in-law was one of a couple farmers interviewed by 60 Minutes. “I think they did a nice job.”
Read the full text of this post from the Fresno Bee News Blog by clicking here.
State bond lets firms profit from water
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 8:16 amFrom the San Francisco Chronicle:
“Private companies could own, operate and profit from reservoirs and other water-storage projects built with billions in taxpayer dollars under a little-noticed provision of the $11.1 billion water bond that was approved by the Legislature and goes before California voters next year.
Lawmakers barely discussed the provision while considering the bond, and water experts who were asked about it by The Chronicle said they knew little about it or why it was a necessary part of the plan to overhaul the state’s water system.
The bond bill’s author, state Sen. Dave Cogdill, R-Modesto, and other backers of the proposal said the provision provides the state with flexibility for how water storage projects can be financed.
Critics, however, said it opens the door to the privatization of the state’s most precious resource as California’s population grows and water becomes more scarce. … “
Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.
Delta stability debated
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 8:15 amFrom ABC Channel 10 (Sacramento, Stockton & Modesto):
“STOCKTON, CA – As he travels the state promoting his plan for fixing California’s water system, Gov. Schwarzenegger portrays the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as on its last legs.
“A major earthquake could crumble this levee system. We’ve seen what happened with Katrina (flooding New Orleans) if we wait too long to build infrastructure,” said the governor recently at an event near Rio Vista.
But one farmer in San Joaquin County said Schwarzenegger isn’t painting an accurate picture because of the work done by reclamation districts.
“There’s ongoing maintenance, construction, repair and improvements to the levees. We take care of the levees because we have a vested interest to take care of them. They’ve done all the settling they’re going to do over 150 years,” said Mike Robinson of Robinson Farms.
Robinson said the real reason for predictions the delta is in danger is Schwarzenegger’s plan for a peripheral canal. … “
Read more from ABC News 10 by clicking here.
The Oh Decade: ‘Katrina Effect’ helped bolster flood defenses in California
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 8:13 amFrom the Sacramento Bee:
“In August 2005, millions of Californians stood in stunned silence in front of their television sets. Before them were images of New Orleans submerged in water, with desperate people clinging to rooftops.
More than 1,800 people died during Hurricane Katrina and the floods it unleashed. It was the deadliest U.S. hurricane in more than a half century, and it brought home the risks of living behind levees.
Twice following Katrina, I traveled to New Orleans, first as a reporter and then as a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity. Along with my wife, I spent two weeks clearing out people’s homes that the floodwaters had inundated.
Unless you’ve been flooded yourself, it’s difficult to comprehend the heartbreak. Imagine your most prized possessions : photo albums, works of art : smothered in mud and mold.
Katrina was both a natural and a man-made disaster, and in California, it had special resonance.
Many communities here : from Sacramento to Stockton to canyon neighborhoods in Southern California : face a threat of deep flooding. … “
Read more from the Sacramento Bee by clicking here.
Western Weather Blog: Storms stacked up in the Pacific, but.
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 8:10 am
Now don’t you just hate that ‘but’ part. Will El Nino be El No Show Patience, says meteorologist Ken Clarke from Accu-Weather’s Western Weather Blog, who fills us in on what’s in store for us in the next week:
“The current satellite picture of the central and eastern Pacific show a couple of nice storms lined up. A third is off the picture to the west that is destined to affect the West before next week.
But, these storms are not aimed at the Southwest but more at the Northwest, the northern third of California, and the central and northern Rockies.
We do have one disorganized trough just west of central and southern California today. Unfortunately any precipitation this brings to California tonight will be spotty and light and mainly occur central and northern sections. A shower could also occur in the lower elevations of central and southern Arizona tonight into tomorrow with periods of snow in the mountains bringing a few inches. Certainly not a big or important storm. … “
ESA overhaul a ‘work in progress’ for Obama administration
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 8:04 amFrom the New York Times:
“The Fish and Wildlife Service is considering wide-ranging revisions to the 1973 Endangered Species Act, the agency director said in an interview last week.
“There is no question there are places we can make improvements in the way we do business,” the service director, Sam Hamilton, said. “We are taking a hard look … to see regulatory-wise, administrative-wise, are there ways to improve”
The regulatory revisions are a “work in progress” that he said could provide new definitions for some key provisions, including those addressing critical habitat and consultations between service biologists and other agencies over projects that could harm protected animals and plants. … “
Read more from the New York Times by clicking here.
Findings on how plants breathe may save water
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 8:02 amFrom the New York Times:
“New information on how plants breathe may help scientists engineer plants that require less water, according to a report published this month in Nature Cell Biology.
While it has been known for half a century that a plant's pores, called stoma, can open at varying rates depending on the concentration of carbon dioxide in the air, scientists did not understand how the process worked until now, said Julian Schroeder, the study's lead author and a professor of biology at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Schroeder and his colleagues report that they identified the specific sensors in plants that detect carbon dioxide and prompt a plant's pores to open and breathe.
The tighter a plant can keep its pores, the less water it loses and the less water it requires to grow. And since carbon dioxide levels are 40 percent greater than in preindustrial times, it would seem that plants could now get plenty of carbon dioxide with out losing too much water an odd and perhaps beneficial consequence of the accumulation of greenhouse gases. … “
Read more from the New York Times by clicking here.
The toilet that can save our water and energy problems
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 7:55 amFrom AlterNet:
“Upwards of 3 million people die annually from diarrhea, dysentery, and parasitic diseases — all for the want of clean water. Meanwhile, each year in the water-rich United States, 2.1 billion gallons of the world’s most precious liquid are used, not to water thirsty crops or slake parched throats, but to flush human waste from home toilets to municipal sewers. While harvesting rainwater and recycling graywater are fine strategies, it’s time to get to the seat of the problem. We need a Toilet Revolution.
As frequently happens, the solution to this modern problem can be found in the recent past — and the Third World present. Jeff Conant, author of The Community Guide to Environmental Health, has traveled the world in search of the perfect “waterless toilet.” He found it in the Mexican town of Tepotzlan, which boasts hundreds of “non-traditional waterless” eco-loos. In the 1980s, Tepotzlan’s innovators got a boost when former UNICEF worker Ron Sawyer settled in to help the locals design a new generation of “eco-san” toilets. … “
Read more from AlterNet by clicking here.
Dan Bacher commentary: Mother Jones article promotes corporate agribusiness astroturfing
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 7:53 amFrom Dan Bacher at IndyBay.org, this commentary reacting to this Mother Jones article posted here (Nov 9):
“A shabbily researched article on California water, the “New Dust Bowl,” appeared in the November-December edition of Mother Jones magazine, a publication supposedly known for its investigative reporting. The “New Dust Bowl” sounds just like a headline from the Sean Hannity Show or Fox “News” – and the article reads like a propaganda piece for growers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley.
“On the west side of the valley, which is often last in line for deliveries from federal water projects, farmers are selling prized almond trees for firewood, fields are reverting to weed, and farmworkers who once fled droughts in Mexico are overwhelming food banks,” claims the author, Josh Harkinson, who sounds here like a speech writer for one of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s rants for a rally of the Latino Water Coalition, an Astroturf organization set up by the Governor and corporate growers. “In short, the valley is becoming what an earlier generation of refugees thought they’d escaped: an ecological catastrophe in the middle of a social and economic one,a 21st century Dust Bowl.”
How can a so-called progressive magazine push the agenda of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, corporate agribusiness and right wing astroturfers and not quote anybody from the Delta or fishing communities And what about Delta farmers and farmworkers that are threatened by water exports to agribusiness on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley
This piece makes much of the corporate media reporting on the water issue, which leaves much to be desired, look “fair and balanced” in comparison. Mother Jones would be spinning in her grave if she saw how Harkinson accepted the agribusiness spin on California water politics and the lies of an Astroturf group such as the Latino Water Coalition as virtual gospel truth. … “
Continue reading the rest of Dan Bacher’s commentary at IndyBay.org by clicking here.
Ocean aquaculture legislation unnecessary and a concern for coastal and fishing communities and environment
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 7:37 amFrom Food and Water Watch:
” “On Christmas Eve, a bill introduced by Representative Lois Capps (CA-23) to allow offshore aquaculture in federal U.S. waters became available to the public. Also known as ocean fish farming, this practice is the mass-production of fish using open net pens or cages located about three to 200 miles offshore (in most ocean areas). This bill is unnecessary and not a step toward protecting our oceans and fishermen's jobs from harms associated with ocean fish farming.
“While Representative Capps may intend legislation as a safeguard against a piecemeal approach to developing and regulating ocean aquaculture, the ultimate effect is of streamlining the process for the industry to better establish itself in the U.S.
“Ocean fish farming can have devastating effects on the environment and fishing jobs and produce lower-quality fish for consumers. Environmental problems can include escapement of fish, pollution of surrounding waters with excess feed and fish waste, and transmission of parasites and diseases to wild populations. These problems will not be fully mitigated by the bill, which enforces very limited liability for damages to natural resources.
“Economically, fish farms can undercut the prices that local fishermen receive for their catch, further threatening an already vulnerable job market. This industry is not a solution to the question of how to meet the growing demand for seafood. … “
Read more from Food & Water Watch by clicking here.
Event: G’Day USA 2010: Australia-US Water Sustainability & Management Forum
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 7:30 amFrom the Australian Government:
“Register Now: You are invited to take part in the one day conference for the unique opportunity to hear from over twenty leading Australian and US policy makers, industry leaders and research experts.
About the event: Take advantage of this invaluable opportunity to learn how Australia is responding to the critical challenges of reduced rainfall and prolonged drought. Join us in learning more about efforts to mitigate impacts on urban users, agricultural users and finding water for the environment. Also hear about why Australia is moving to desalination in both coastal and inland communities as part of its integrated approach to water management. Presentations and interactive dialogue will create an unprecedented forum for collaboration and exchange of ideas with the aim of finding innovative solutions for water sustainability and management. … “
This free workshop is scheduled for January 14th at the Intercontinental Hotel in Century City. For more information or to register, click here.
Replacing vital Bay Area water link a delicate endeavor
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 7:25 amFrom the San Francisco Chronicle:
“The last time engineers got a peek inside Irvington Tunnel, the 3.5-mile-long linchpin of the Bay Area’s water system, Willie Mays had just inked the most lucrative contract in baseball history, the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” was a hit, and the future Silicon Valley was blanketed with zucchini and apricots.
The year was 1966.
Since then, the tunnel in the hills above Fremont has become so indispensable that its operators at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission can’t take it out of commission to check for leaks or blockages or to make repairs – despite the fact that the worn concrete and timber tube dates back to the late 1920s and lies between two major earthquake faults.
Last month, however, the water agency that supplies water to 2.5 million people in San Francisco and parts of San Mateo, Santa Clara and Alameda counties cleared a major hurdle in the effort to relieve the strain on Irvington. The board approved a $250 million project to build a sister tunnel parallel to the existing tunnel. Construction is expected to start in the spring and be completed by early 2014. … “
Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.
The San Francisco Examiner continues it’s in-depth & excellent coverage of the Hetch Hetchy Water System Improvement Program with this story on the tunnel project:
” … The pipes that cross the water leak badly, leading vegetation to flourish at their corroded metal seams. But the ramshackle 1920s-era bridge crosses sensitive wetlands that are protected by federal environmental laws. Those laws effectively prevent water officials from accessing or maintaining the pipeline.
“You basically can't walk on it,\” Project Manager Joe Ortiz said. “We have some pretty extensive environmental regulations certainly the most that I've seen on any project that I've worked on in 23 years. In the '20s, they could do anything. But nowadays, with our regulations, it's almost impossible to step on the land.
An underwater 9-foot-wide metal pipeline is planned to eventually replace both Bay-crossing pipes, although it's not known whether they will be removed because dismantling efforts could disrupt wetland wildlife.
Tunnel construction efforts using a heavy-duty tunnel-boring machine are expected to begin next year and last until 2015. The tunnel will pass up to 100 feet beneath the Bay floor. … “
Read more from the San Francisco Examiner by clicking here.
Calaveras Dam rebuild will boost capacity
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 7:15 am
From the San Francisco Examiner:
“Rebuilding a dam in the East Bay that was not designed to withstand a major earthquake will allow additional drinking water to be stored for Bay Area residents and protect the area near the reservoir from flood damage after a temblor.
A multibillion-dollar, 12-year project by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is overhauling the Hetch Hetchy water system to help protect drinking-water supplies after earthquakes for the 2.5 million customers served by the agency.
One of the major projects is rebuilding the Calaveras Dam, which is the second-largest drinking-water reservoir in the SFPUC system.
Many of San Francisco's reservoirs were built over seismic faults in the early 20th century because the fault lines naturally create concave depressions in the earth, and Calaveras Reservoir is one of those. … “
Read more from the San Francisco Examiner by clicking here.
Picture of Calaveras Dam by flickr photographer ATIS547 (Creative Commons).
Foster City steps up water conservation efforts
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 7:10 amFrom the San Mateo Daily Journal:
“Foster City is on the brink of adopting two ordinances that will significantly reduce water usage at any new developments or major remodels in the city.
Peninsula cities face limits on water usage until at least 2018 as imposed by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and Foster City is one of the first Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency members to consider new laws aimed at saving water.
“We are trying to do everything we can to conserve,\” said Foster City Mayor Rick Wykoff, who also sits on the BAWSCA board. “Water is the biggest single problem the Peninsula faces in the next 15 years.
SFPUC imposed a 184-million-gallons-per-day limit to the entire BAWSCA 26-city and -district membership Oct. 31, 2008 and demands within the BAWSCA service area are projected to exceed available supplies by 2015, according to a staff report by Ramon Towne, Foster City's director of Public Works. … “
Read more from the San Mateo Daily Journal by clicking here.
Court eases brake on park closure: Carnegie OHV gets a few more weeks, but still needs sediment permit
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 7:05 amFrom Stockton’s Record:
“TRACY – They prayed for divine intervention. A court order worked just as well.
Less than three hours after a sometimes somber, often angry rally attended by hundreds of dirt bike riders on a drippy Monday afternoon, the state’s 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco announced Carnegie State Vehicular Recreation Area can remain open – at least a few more weeks.
Carnegie had been expected to close today under an earlier ruling by an Alameda County Superior Court judge, who outlawed off-highway vehicle use at the park until it gets a permit for sediment eroding into a seasonal creek.
Such permits usually take six months or longer to write.
“It’s great news,” said Phil Jenkins, division chief for California State Parks. “Our hope is we’ll be able to remain open while we go through all the processes we need to go through.” … “
Read more from the Record by clicking here.
Watering wise: New weather station in Gilroy aims to help irrigation efficiency
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 6:59 am
From the Gilroy Dispatch:
“As farmers face drought conditions and tightened restrictions, growers are trying to be as water-efficient as possible. A new weather station in Gilroy allows them to do just that, monitoring information on solar radiation, wind direction and speed, humidity, and air and soil temperature that local growers can access online.
Syngenta, a Switzerland-based seed company, paid about $5,000 for the basic weather station before attaching additional devices to it. The station stands at Syngenta’s Holsclaw Road site about two miles south of Leavesley Road. The Santa Clara Valley Water District maintains the weather station, which provides data to the state Department of Water Resources’ California Irrigation Management Information System that is posted online.
“It is a useful tool for the community,” said Joe Benson, site manager for Syngenta. … “
Read more from the Gilroy Dispatch by clicking here.
French firm joins Valley nuclear plant plans
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 6:57 amFrom the Fresno Bee:
“Areva, a French engineering conglomerate, has signed on to help plan and build a nuclear power plant in the San Joaquin Valley — if that ever becomes possible.
A letter of intent announced Monday with the French firm is a launching point for the plant to go from the drawing board to reality, said John Hutson, president of Fresno Nuclear Energy Group LLC.
“They’re the largest builder of nuclear power plants in the world,” Hutson said of Areva. “For them to want to sign with us is a pretty big deal.” … “
The firm hopes “not only to provide inexpensive power for California’s electrical grid, but also to power desalination plants to reclaim water for west side farming.” Read more from the Fresno Bee by clicking here.
NUCLEAR NOTE: Off topic for the water blog, but interesting nonetheless: there is another fuel that can be used for nuclear energy, one that produces energy without all the problematic nuclear waste. It’s called thorium, and it was profiled in this month’s Wired Magazine. Read it here: Uranium Is So Last Century Enter Thorium, the New Green Nuke
Decision pending on toxic runoff being dumped into San Joaquin River from Merced County Westside farms
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 6:51 amFrom the Merced Sun-Star:
“Roughly 100,000 acres of farmland along the Fresno-Merced county line have been moved one step closer to being allowed to continue discharging toxic runoff into the San Joaquin River until 2019, according to a Dec. 22 decision by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation.
The discharge had been scheduled to cease this year.
The San Luis Delta Mendota Water Authority — whose members farm 100,000 acres in south Merced County — was given a green light by federal authorities to slowly draw down toxic discharges over a decade instead of stopping immediately. This is according to a Bureau of Reclamation’s decision of record on the project’s environmental impact study.
The agreement was reached, according to the decision, to “allow the Grassland Area Farmers time to acquire funds and develop feasible drain water treatment technology to meet water quality objectives by Dec. 31, 2019.”
But there’s still one hurdle to overcome before the agreement can be set in stone. … “
Read more from the Merced Sun-Star by clicking here.
San Jacinto: New law aims to conserve water
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 6:49 amFrom the Hemet/San Jacinto Valley Chronicle:
“San Jacinto has joined with other Riverside County communities in a water conservation law that requires developers to provide water-efficient landscaping and limits the hours during which landscaping can be watered, among other provisions.
The law took effect this month and affects new development of 2,500 square feet or more and relandscaping of yards that are 5,000 square feet or more that requires a building permit.
That is also the threshold at which the requirement for a separate landscaping water meter kicks in, though home owners will not be required to install a separate irrigation meter for their lawns, even if they are that size or larger.
Planning Director Asher Hartel told the City Council during deliberations on the new requirements that the provisions that most affect individuals are a ban on irrigation between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., a ban on run-off from irrigation, a ban on washing down hard surfaces such as driveways and sidewalks, and a requirement to fix water leaks.
Rates that encourage water conservation already in effect were incorporated into the law by reference. … “
Read more from The Valley Chronicle by clicking here.
San Diego: Keeping copper in check – Boating industry worries about antifouling paint permit
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 6:46 am
From the San Diego News Room:
“A much-anticipated permit to help curb the release of pesticides into the San Diego Bay could have a major financial impact to the boating industry and local marinas.
The proposed permit, being formulated by the State and Regional Water Resource Quality Control Boards, is targeting the use of copper-based paints used by boaters. Copper-based paints are applied to the bottoms of boats to stop marine life or fouling organisms from attaching to the boats. Without the paints, boats would become less efficient as increased drag would be created by attached organisms. The copper-based paints also prevent boats from picking up non-native species and bringing them into local waters when they return.
“Without those pesticides, the boats don't run,\” said Roy Hobbs, Executive Officer of Shelter Island Boatyard and founding director of the San Diego Port Tenants Association. … “
Read more from the San Diego News Room by clicking here.
Photo of San Diego Bay by flickr photographer Ted Drake (Creative Commons).
Abatti decides to rescind QSA appeals vote; IID Board to re-vote Jan. 5
Posted by: Maven on December 29, 2009 at 6:41 amFrom the Imperial Valley Press:
“The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors will vote again on starting the appeals process for the tentative invalidation of the nation's largest agricultural-to-urban water transfer. The appeals process would begin if the Quantification Settlement Agreement invalidation is finalized.
The board decided Monday to accommodate Director Michael Abatti's decision to rescind his original vote.
The board had voted unanimously Dec. 15 in favor of expressing its intent to appeal the QSA's tentative invalidation if it becomes final.
Abatti said he had voted in favor of initiating the appeal process because legal counsel advised the board that action was necessary before the final QSA ruling. … “
Read more from the Imperial Valley Press by clicking here.
CBS’ “60 Minutes” covers the California water crisis in “Why California is Running Dry”
Posted by: Maven on December 28, 2009 at 7:44 amFrom CBS 60 Minutes:
Click here to read print version.
Web Extra: California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says his state needs to take a dieter’s approach to water consumption:
Peter Gleick on saving our tap water: The problem and solution
Posted by: Maven on December 28, 2009 at 7:40 amFrom Peter Gleick at the City Brights blog:
“In general, tap water in the United States is remarkably safe — the envy of people in much of the rest of the world. The water-related diseases that still kill millions of people throughout the world, like cholera, typhoid, dysentery, and more, were effectively eliminated in the United States 100 years ago when we started treating our water with filtration, chlorination, and other modern water-treatment systems.
But our tap water isn’t as safe as it should, and can, be.
A December 16th article in the New York Times by Charles Duhigg called new attention to challenges facing the country’s municipal tap water system. We have known for a long time that the Safe Drinking Water Act — the nation’s law regulating contaminants in our tap water — is in need of updating and reform. We have also known for a long time that research into the health effects of many contaminants has been underfunded, slow, and piecemeal. Such research is extremely hard to do because of the vast numbers of possible chemical contaminants and the difficulty of identifying health effects of exposures to low concentrations or complex mixes of different chemicals. … “
Continue reading this post by Peter Gleick at the City Brights blog by clicking here.
To save the planet, save the seas, says commentary
Posted by: Maven on December 28, 2009 at 7:25 am
From the New York Times, this commentary by Dan Laffoley, the marine vice chairman of the World Commission on Protected Areas at the International Union for Conservation of Nature:
“For the many disappointments of the recent climate talks in Copenhagen, there was at least one clear positive outcome, and that was the progress made on a program called Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Forest Degradation. Under this program, key elements of which were agreed on at Copenhagen, developing countries would be compensated for preserving forests, peat soils, swamps and fields that are efficient absorbers of carbon dioxide, the primary heat-trapping gas linked to global warming.
This approach, which takes advantage of the power of nature itself, is an economical way to store large amounts of carbon. But the program is limited in that it includes only those carbon sinks found on land. We now need to look for similar opportunities to curb climate change in the oceans.
Few people may realize it, but in addition to producing most of the oxygen we breathe, the ocean absorbs some 25 percent of current annual carbon dioxide emissions. Half the world's carbon stocks are held in plankton, mangroves, salt marshes and other marine life. So it is at least as important to preserve this ocean life as it is to preserve forests, to secure its role in helping us adapt to and mitigate climate change. … “
Read more from the New York Times by clicking here.
The plastic bag that dissolves in water
Posted by: Maven on December 28, 2009 at 7:21 am
From Environmental Graffiti:
“Vanishing without a trace might not be appreciated in friends and lovers but is an excellent relationship to have with one's used packaging material. What becomes a pile of plastic garbage is that it should just disappear into thin air, right Well, a newly developed plastic bag does just that : it completely dissolves in water.
Companies use it when sending their products, magazines for example, to users, who can simply dissolve it at home : no trace of the bag left, less plastic on the environment. Our only question is: Why hasn't anyone come up with this concept before
Cyberpac, a UK-based packaging company, has developed a range of products : called Harmless : that use a hydro-degradable plastic that is up to three times stronger than polythene, lighter and leaves no damaging residue after dissolving in water. A bit skeptical of this promise, we've taken a look at the dissolving bag's actual disappearing act. … “
Read more from Environmental Graffiti by clicking here.
16 million tons of uranium mill tailings moving away from Colorado River site
Posted by: Maven on December 28, 2009 at 6:53 amFrom the Grand Junction Sentinel:
“Crews have taken the first bites out of the old uranium mill-tailings pile in Moab, Utah, beginning a yearslong process of transferring it far from the Colorado River.
Abut 630,000 tons will have been moved from Moab to the disposal cell near Crescent Junction by year's end, said Wendee Ryan of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Energy Department and its contractor, Energy Solutions Corp., began moving the tailings pile this year.
Moab residents and downstream water providers lobbied for years to have the 16-million-ton pile of mill tailings moved from its spot along the north bank of the Colorado River to a cell up against the Bookcliff Mountains at Crescent Junction that is deemed less likely to contaminate the river.
The pile is being moved by train from Moab to the disposal cell 30 miles north. … “
Read more from the Grand Junction Sentinel by clicking here.
Rethinking runoff as usable water supply: Activists push to capture, store rainfall
Posted by: Maven on December 28, 2009 at 6:50 am
From the Arizona Republic:
“TUCSON – Thickets of native trees shade the street in front of Brad Lancaster’s downtown home, a patch of urban greenery that owes its survival to the strategic management of concrete.
Lancaster and his neighbors worked with the city to cut gaps in the curb to allow storm water to fill earthen basins carved out around the trees. No drinking water is used to support the landscaping, a lush array of mesquite, paloverde, cholla and prickly pear cactus and desert shrubs.
“It used to be the streets flooded around here, and I thought, ‘It’s like a creek,’ ” said Lancaster, an author, lecturer and rainwater-harvesting evangelist. “Then I realized, it is a creek. There’s all the water we needed, and it’s free.”
With the curb cuts, the basins, some reshaping of the lot and the installation of two 1,200-gallon cisterns, Lancaster’s one-eighth-acre property can now harvest as much as 100,000 gallons a year. … “
Read more from the Arizona Republic by clicking here.
Lake Oroville levels low, but not hopeless
Posted by: Maven on December 28, 2009 at 6:46 amFrom the Chico Enterprise-Record:
“Dry weather conditions were evident on Sunday as water levels in Lake Oroville reached their lowest point since February. The elevation rated just higher than 670.5 feet in early afternoon a drop of almost 138 feet since May, according to the Department of Water Resources.
Water levels have dropped precipitously during the last few months, leaving an effect on houseboats and anglers in the area.
Many boats have migrated away from their normal locations at the marinas due to the low depth, taking refuge along the West Branch arm of Lake Oroville. Dozens of these boats could be seen forming a line extending from Lime Saddle Marina all the way to the Highway 70 bridge on Sunday.
In the area, the receding water line left at least 230 vertical feet of shoreline visible. … “
Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record by clicking here. Check out a photo gallery of Lake Oroville pictures taken for this story by clicking here.
More wells planned in Chico to measure pollution
Posted by: Maven on December 28, 2009 at 6:31 amFrom the Chico Enterprise-Record:
“Fifteen more wells are going to be dug to help tell how far contamination has spread in groundwater under a south Chico neighborhood. The state Department of Toxic Substances Control announced plans for more wells in a fact sheet it sent residents and other people this month.
The fact sheet concerns what the department calls the Skyway Subdivision Groundwater Plume. It was found in 2003 beneath a neighborhood on the south side of Hegan Lane, just west of Glen Oaks Memorial Park.
The pollutants, which came from a manufacturing plant nearby, had contaminated private wells used by residents on such streets as Skyway Avenue and Cessna Avenue. More than 60 homes in the area now have safe water because they’ve been connected to the Cal Water system. … “
Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record by clicking here.
Action plan due on north Chico plume
Posted by: Maven on December 28, 2009 at 6:29 amFrom the Chico Enterprise-Record:
”
“By late January or early February, the state expects to announce its plans for cleaning up a polluted site near the North Valley Plaza mall. The “action plan” will be available online and at the Chico library, said Carol Northrup, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Toxic Substances Control.
Chemicals have contaminated the soil and groundwater in a 6.5-acre area near the intersection of East Avenue and Cohasset Road. The pollution came from a business called the North Valley Plaza Cleaners, which operated at 801 East Ave. from 1964 to 1997.
While the chemicals have spread over a wide area, they haven’t gone deep enough to pollute water used for drinking, Northrup said. … “
Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record by clicking here.
Multibillion-dollar Hetch Hetchy water project protects supply
Posted by: Maven on December 28, 2009 at 6:24 am
From the San Francisco Examiner:
“SAN FRANCISCO Julie Labonte didn't know what her high-achieving career as a water engineer held in store for her as she bounded down Mount Kilimanjaro in 2005, propelled by gravity, in the midst of a yearlong globetrot.
The Canadian-born, U.S.-trained engineer had walked away from an illustrious career with the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission for a multi-continental jaunt, peppered with frequent climbs of rugged mountains.
While working for the SFPUC which oversees such services as water and sewers around the region in San Francisco and its suburbs over a decade, Labonte had managed fluoridation of the water supply, a water treatment plant, utilities strategies for major redevelopment projects and massive sewer improvements.
“I always had this love for water,\” said Labonte, who holds related master's degrees from UC Berkeley and San Diego State University. “I understood very early on that water would eventually be the place to be because of the need for water, the shortage of water and the misuse of water. … “
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