9-11-08

 9-11-08Fresno BeeFreshwater fish in N. America in peril, study says...SETH BORENSTEINhttp://www.fresnobee.com/640/v-printerfriendly/story/858836.htmlAbout four out of 10 freshwater fish species in North America are in peril, according to a major study by U.S., Canadian and Mexican scientists. And the number of subspecies of fish populations in trouble has nearly doubled since 1989, the new report says. One biologist called it "silent extinctions" because few people notice the dramatic dwindling of certain populations deep in American lakes, rivers and streams. And while they are unaware, people are the chief cause of the problem by polluting and damming freshwater habitats, experts said.In the first massive study of freshwater fish on the continent in 19 years, an international team of dozens of scientists looked not just at species, but at subspecies - physically distinct populations restricted to certain geographic areas. The decline is even more notable among these smaller groups. The scientists found that 700 smaller but individual fish populations are vulnerable, threatened, or endangered. That's up from 364 subspecies nearly two decades ago. And 457 entire species are in trouble or already extinct, the study found. Another 86 species are OK as a whole, but have subspecies in trouble.The study, led by U.S. Geological Survey researchers, is published in the current issue of the journal Fisheries. Researchers looked at thousands of distinct populations of fish that either live in lakes, streams and rivers or those that live in saltwater but which migrate to freshwater at times, such as salmon that return to spawn...Lahontan cutthroat trout remains threatened in NV...SANDRA CHEREBhttp://www.fresnobee.com/384/v-printerfriendly/story/858469.htmlThe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has rejected a petition to end federal protection for the Lahontan cutthroat trout - the Nevada state fish which has been listed under the Endangered Species Act for nearly four decades. A group called Dynamic Action on Wells Group, Inc., had sought to declassify the fish as threatened, claiming among other things in a December 2006 petition that removing the fish from federal oversight was warranted because of habitat improvements in the Pyramid Lake-Truckee River Basin. But Bob Williams, field supervisor for the service in Reno, said while efforts are being made to restore the native fish, it still faces many challenges to its existence across its habitat range. "We did not find that the petition presented substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that removing Lahontan cutthroat trout from the list may be warranted," Williams said.Clifford Thompson, a Yerington resident and a member of the group originally formed to protect domestic water wells, characterized the fuss over Lahontan cutthroat a "farce." The "fish is a fake fish to start with," he said when reached by phone Wednesday. "They've been extinct for how many thousands of years." Thompson, who described himself as a "student of the constitution," argued that the Lahontan trout found in the Walker River Basin were bred in fisheries and therefore are not the same genetically as the historic species and are undeserving of protection. "Now they want to take our water from agriculture to save a damn fish," he said. "This is a big farce to get control over the water."...Williams said the agency is in the midst of a five-year review of the species and will consider any new data on the status of it recovery. Biologists say the biggest threats come from water diversions, introduction of non-native fish species, and habitat fragmentation. Krebs Wilderness site hangs in the balance...Michael Doylehttp://www.fresnobee.com/263/v-printerfriendly/story/859360.htmlWASHINGTON -- The future of a proposed John Krebs Wilderness in the southern Sierra Nevada could hinge on some last-minute horse trading -- literally. A key Senate committee today is expected to approve a massive public-lands bill packed with more than 90 provisions, including some to restore the San Joaquin River, recharge Madera County ground water and study the San Joaquin Valley's water future. The 700-plus-page package is the last, best chance for any public-lands bill to succeed this year. But unless negotiators resolve questions about the proposed John Krebs Wilderness, potentially including how commercial horse-packing operations would be handled, the bill to honor the former Fresno-area congressman could be left behind...Tulare VoiceTonight’s Race Track Meeting Postponedhttp://www.valleyvoicenewspaper.com/tv/stories/2008/motorsportspostponed.htmTulare - The Town Hall meeting on the proposed Tulare Motor Sports Complex that was planned for tonight has been rescheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25.The 34-member Motor Sports Community Advisory Committee postponed the meeting because it wants to first meet with Rob Johnson and Dave Swindell, project partners with Fresno developer Bud Long.The group, which includes proponents and opponents of the project, as well as members who are undecided, spent 21/2 hours on Sept. 4 meeting with Long and Tulare City Manager Darrel Pyle.That session included questions about the city's involvement in the 711-acre project... The meeting with Johnson, former president of the now defunct Pike's Peak Racing Association and a well-known person in the racing world, and Swindell, who runs racing facilities in Santa Maria, is expected to occur next week, said Lynn Dredge, president of the non-profit Tulare Industrial Site Development Foundation (TISDF), which is facilitating land purchases for the 711-plus acre project...Plan Could Save Greenbelt Between CitiesAg Land Mitigation Plan Going Countywidehttp://www.valleyvoicenewspaper.com/vv/stories/2008/greenbelt.htmTulare County - Tulare County will join an effort to save prime ag land in the county by setting up a mitigation land bank – a plan launched in the past few months by the cities of Tulare and Visalia. Now the county, TCAG and rest of the cities are likely to join together - folding the same formal mitigation plan into their general plan policies...The idea has been discussed for months and gained traction earlier this spring at a LAFCo hearing when Supervisors Steve Worthley and Allen Ishida suggested the concept of a joint effort with the cities that would address urbanization of farmland locally.By establishing a countywide mitigation plan, cities can essentially inoculate themselves from complaints that urbanization of farmland has not been addressed in their jurisdictions through their general plans. Visalia Council Member Greg Collins says by having a mitigation policy in place when development projects are approved that require annexation of farmland, it helps protect the jurisdictions from lawsuits like we have seen across the state.Discussion of policies that slow sprawl and the loss of prime ag land across California has led to several counties setting up such a bank...Money Already Available?...Big Shadow of Motorsports DealThe City of Tulare has proposed adoption of such a policy on its own if necessary indicating it will include an ag land mitigation policy in its new general plan even before it got sued by the Sierra Club recently.The issue is important in Tulare over the planned annexation of some 700 acres of farmland for the big Motorsports complex - an issue that the Tulare County Farm Bureau cited as part of the reason for its opposition to the project. Now the new ag land mitigation policy language is included in both its general plan policy and the EIR for the Motorsports.The issue has been raised by groups like the American Farmland Trust which cite figures for loss of farmland to development in the county and statewide. The organization says between 1990 and 2000, some 10,000 acres here was lost to development, The counterargument is that more farmland came on line during the same period. But AFT says about 58% of the land lost was high quality and the county stands to lose another 112,000 acres by 2040 under projected growth estimates...Stockton RecordOpen space may be a closed subjectCalaveras nowhere near reaching accord...Dana M. Nicholshttp://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080911/A_NEWS/809110336/-1/A_NEWSSAN ANDREAS - The hundreds of Calaveras County residents who have asked over the past two years to have the county's General Plan strengthened to protect the area's wide-open spaces are likely to be disappointed.That's because the Calaveras County Board of Supervisors, which ultimately will approve a revised General Plan, is not close to having any consensus on whether to protect those spaces or even how. That clash became evident Tuesday as board members told county staffers what they think of the proposed vision and guiding principles for the General Plan revision effort now under way.The proposed principles include protecting open space and wildlife habitat, having well-maintained roads and establishing clear boundaries for communities. Those principles and the list of issues the General Plan is proposed to address came out of a series of public meetings held in towns throughout the county in 2007.Supervisor Merita Callaway attended some of those meetings and said the vision statement accurately captures what residents want for the county. But she said it is simply not "reality." She said the vision statement should be modified to set goals that are achievable...And several board members either oppose regulation that might prevent further low-density housing development on former ranch lands or disagree with the notion that such a goal is even appropriate..."What is wrong with Rancho Calaveras?" Supervisor Russ Thomas said, referring to the 5,000-acre development along Highway 26 near Valley Springs...Trinitas water piping idea not feasible, district says...Dana M. Nicholshttp://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080911/A_NEWS/809110326SAN ANDREAS - Calaveras County Water District will soon warn county land-use planners that it is simply not possible within five years to pipe surface water to the Trinitas golf course development near Wallace.Water District directors Wednesday also expressed irritation that no one with the county government consulted with the district before issuing an environmental report that calls for such a water system as one of the mitigation measures required for the 280-acre golf resort and luxury home development on Ospital Road just east the San Joaquin County line...Davidson and his colleagues on the board voted unanimously to send a written response to the Trinitas environmental report that challenges several of the document's statements on water matters. Areas in which the CCWD disagrees with the Trinitas report include:» The report's conclusion that Trinitas will deplete groundwater supplies. CCWD said there isn't data available to support that conclusion, and that groundwater levels in the area are already dropping about a foot to 18 inches a year due primarily to massive well pumping in San Joaquin County. The CCWD letter will say that Trinitas' water use is minuscule compared to pumping happening to the west in San Joaquin County.» The report's conclusion that there is insufficient water for the Trinitas project. For the same reasons as above.» Requiring that surface water be piped to Trinitas within five years. Although the CCWD does hope ultimately to deliver farm irrigation water to the Trinitas area, it will take more than five years and will cost much more than the Trinitas resort alone could pay, district officials said.» Requiring the golf course to be irrigated with reclaimed water. CCWD officials said there isn't enough reclaimed water available, either from septic systems or from the CCWD plant at La Contenta near Valley Springs. And it doesn't make sense to spend millions to pipe treated wastewater to Trinitas when there are plenty of places to dispose of it in Valley Springs...The Trinitas project has been mired in a variety of environmental challenges for several years. The golf course portion of the resort was built while the land in question was still receiving a tax break because it was an agricultural preserve and under a Williamson Act contract. The course was built without first doing an environmental impact report.The after-the-fact environmental report now in draft form is unusual in that it considers what measures, if any, should be taken to mitigate environmental damage already done by the course's construction and operation.Trinitas documents onlineTo see the draft environmental impact report for The Ridge at Trinitas, visit the Calaveras County Planning Department Web page at www.co.calaveras.ca.us/cc/Departments/CommunityDevelopmentAgency/Plannin.... Scroll down to "Planning Projects" and click on "Trinitas."The deadline for comments on the draft environmental impact report is Sept. 29. Comments can be mailed to Calaveras County Planning Department, 891 Mountain Ranch Road, San Andreas, CA 95249 or sent by e-mail to trinitas@co.calaveras.ca.usSan Francisco ChronicleHigh-speed rail plan a key ballot measure...Michael Cabanatuanhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/10/MN6812P3E1.DTLCalifornians will decide in November whether to make a hefty down payment on a flashy new ride that's swift, sleek and already popular in Europe and Asia.Proposition 1A on the Nov. 4 ballot would authorize the sale of $9.95 billion in bonds to help start construction of an 800-mile high-speed rail network that would send electric trains zipping between Northern and Southern California at up to 220 mph...The system would be the largest public works project in California history - bigger than the California Aqueduct - and would cost $32 billion for the main line between San Francisco and Los Angeles and an additional $10 billion to complete the network by adding extensions to San Diego, Sacramento and Riverside County. The state is banking on getting about a third of the construction budget from state taxpayers, a third from the federal government and a third from private investors.Should a majority of voters approve, California would proceed with plans to build the nation's first true high-speed rail system with an initial line running between San Francisco and Los Angeles or, perhaps, Anaheim. The bulk of the bond revenues - $9 billion - would be spent on planning and building the system, and the remaining $950 million would be devoted to connecting rail service, such as BART, the Altamont Commuter Express and the Capitol Corridor...The pros and consA collection of transportation, environmental and business groups support Prop. 1A. High-speed rail, they say, would offer a fast, greener, less costly and less complicated way to travel up and down the state.Taxpayer groups and the California Chamber of Commerce are against Prop. 1A. Opponents say the state, stuck in a seemingly interminable battle over how to spend its limited revenues, can't afford high-speed rail. The cost of repaying the bonds over 30 years would total $19.4 billion and would require an annual repayment of $647 million, according to the state legislative analyst...Planning for the futureThe 800-mile system would resemble the letter "Y," with a long tail, placed in the center of the state. The initial line would start in San Francisco, head down the Peninsula along the Caltrain right-of-way with stops in Millbrae, Palo Alto, San Jose and Gilroy. It would zip across the Pacheco Pass to the San Joaquin Valley, stopping in Fresno and Bakersfield, with a possible station in Visalia. It then would bypass the Grapevine, heading instead to Palmdale with stops in Sylmar and Burbank before reaching Los Angeles and, possibly, Anaheim and Norwalk. Extensions are planned to Irvine, to San Diego through Riverside County and to Sacramento...UC will refit stadium while building center...Carolyn Joneshttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/11/BAQH12RPOI.DTL&hw=uc&sn=003&sc=549A day after tree-sitters gave up their 21-month fight to save a grove of trees next to UC Berkeley's Memorial Stadium, campus officials said they plan to jump-start repairs to the stadium in addition to building a sports training center.The university hopes to start upgrading the 85-year-old stadium before the training center is finished in early 2011, shaving at least a year off the development timeline. "Because we've lost significant time with the legal issues, we're looking at ways to accelerate the stadium project," said assistant athletic director Bob Milano. "We're very cognizant of the safety problem there, and we're trying to make up for lost time."The stadium renovation must be approved by the UC Board of Regents, and the university has not decided how to fund the project, Milano said. The cost has not yet been determined, although officials had estimated the training center cost to be $124 million.Memorial Stadium, which sits atop the Hayward Fault, has not been renovated since the early 1980s, and most of the building has not been altered since it was built in 1923. Three lawsuits, including one from the city of Berkeley, challenged the university's development plans over seismic, safety and environmental issues...Other elements of the southeast campus long-range plan - a new parking garage, a new building for the law and business schools, and several other projects - have not been approved and won't begin until Memorial Stadium is renovated in 2012 or later...Santa Cruz SentinelUC Santa Cruz tree sitters have no plans to exit redwoods despite Berkeley protest's end...J.M. BROWNhttp://www.santacruzsentinel.com/localnews/ci_10435254After a police-negotiated end of a UC Berkeley tree-sit on Tuesday, demonstrators taking part in a similar protest perched in the redwoods at UC Santa Cruz said Wednesday they fear the university will try to remove trees or take other action before fall classes begin in two weeks.Jennifer Charles, a spokeswoman for the 10-month tree-sit demonstration opposed to university growth plans, said protesters are "on guard" for increased security or any potential tree-cutting operations. However, she acknowledged that she had no reason to believe the university had any firm plans to do anything.It is unclear whether the Berkeley tree sitters are connected to UCSC demonstrators, who Charles said do not intend to end the protest as its one-year anniversary, Nov. 7, approaches. She said three demonstrators remained in the trees above Science Hill on Wednesday, though the number often changes.Jim Burns, a UCSC spokesman, said the university has no immediate plans to remove demonstrators, who have been ordered by a county judge to exit the trees...Chancellor George Blumenthal has said the university is far from being prepared to begin construction on a biomedical facility planned for the redwood grove where demonstrators are occupying three trees in platforms at least 75 feet above the ground. He also has said he can't discuss any plans to remove tree sitters but has acknowledged any such operation would be difficult and dangerous...But Charles said tree sitters believe "their presence is more important than ever" after the resolution of lawsuits brought against the university by the city and a coalition of concerned citizens about the university's Long-Range Development Plan.The tree sitters say construction of buildings planned to accommodate 4,500 new students by 2010 -- as outlined by the growth plan -- will require cutting numerous trees and could displace native animal species. Charles has said the university-city agreement mainly addresses water and traffic impacts on the city, not environmental concerns on campus...Los Angeles TimesA clash between UC Berkeley's priorities and those of its neighborsTree-sitters are grounded after a failed fight to stop a proposed athletic center, but that isn't the only contentious issue...Richard C. Paddockhttp://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-trees11-2008sep11,0,2044394,print.storyBERKELEY — She calls herself Dumpster Muffin and lived in a tree on the UC Berkeley campus for more than seven months. In her view, university officials are bullies who want to destroy nature for the sake of football..."This whole fiasco could have been avoided," Dumpster Muffin said. "It was just so bullheaded and arrogant. We've had enough of the university pushing people in this town around and it's time for a change."Although few may share her belief that good meals can be found in dumpsters, she is not alone in her view that the university has run roughshod over the community.Opponents of the project, including neighbors, oak lovers and the city of Berkeley, say the university neglected community concerns about traffic, parking and the loss of the grove."They have mismanaged this from Day One," said attorney Stephen Volker, whose lawsuit on behalf of neighbors and environmentalists succeeded in holding up the project for 21 months. "They have never hesitated to take a hard line throughout this process."...Though campus leaders expressed relief over the end of the standoff, they also conceded that they could have prevented some of their problems by communicating better with their neighbors at the outset.For the university, there is much at stake in the plan to build a training center for student athletes on the site...At UC Berkeley, football has become big money. With alumni donations, ticket sales, television revenue and sponsorship deals, the program took in more than $28 million last year. Football Coach Jeff Tedford, who makes $2.8 million a year, is the highest paid employee in the University of California system...But the biggest problem facing 70,000-seat Memorial Stadium is invisible: The historic stadium sits squarely on the Hayward fault, one of the most dangerous earthquake faults in the state.Talk about moving the goal posts. Seismic experts say half the stadium -- with one goal post -- is now traveling north at a rate of millimeters per year. The other half, and the other goal post, are heading south.The university insists it is still safe to hold games in the stadium but classifies its condition as "poor." Under state law, the university is prohibited from building a new structure on the fault line. It can either repair the facility or demolish it...In 2006, the UC Board of Regents approved construction of the training center as the first phase of the renovation. The idea was to complete the 142,000-square-foot center, move the athletes and coaches out of the stadium, and then begin work on the stadium itself.But a judge's ruling in the lawsuit filed by the Panoramic Hill Assn., the California Oak Foundation and the city of Berkeley prevented the university from proceeding. Meanwhile, Dumpster Muffin and her fellow tree-sitters took up residence in the grove.The land in dispute is a 1.5-acre strip next to the stadium and across a busy street from the Haas School of Business and the Boalt Hall School of Law. Most of the trees there were planted in the 1920s when the stadium was built...Over time, hundreds of people climbed up into the trees, some staying a few hours, others for months.They cited a smorgasbord of causes: saving the oaks, protecting wildlife, preserving what they said was a Native American burial ground, halting pollution, protecting human rights and stopping UC military research...As the university battled in court, it also gradually hemmed in the protesters -- erecting fences, pruning the trees, cutting the tree-sitters' ropes and removing some of their platforms.By the time a state appeals court cleared the way for removal of the trees last week, only four people were occupying a single tree...But Volker, the opponents' attorney, said the campus acted before the appeals court had time to examine the arguments in the case."The university rushed to chop the trees down," he said.The parties could be heading for a replay.Volker, who lives near the stadium, filed suit earlier this year to block the university's plan to build a major energy research laboratory in a canyon half a mile from the stadium.As a state agency, the university does not have to follow city zoning laws, a sore spot with some neighbors and city officials. But Vice Chancellor Denton, who oversees capital projects, said the university does everything it can to work with neighbors and city leaders."There is no doubt that dealing with the city of Berkeley is a real challenge," he said. "We do everything we can not to be the 1,000-pound gorilla. It's not our goal to trample them to death. It's our goal to listen." 9-11-08 Department of Water ResourcesCalifornia Water NewsA daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment…September 11, 2008 1.  Top Item  Press Release: UC RiversideUCR Botanist to Study Role of Plants in Southern California’s Drought UC Riverside Newsroom…September 11, 2008 RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A UC Riverside botanist has been awarded a grant from the National Science Foundation to study how Southern California’s plants affect the region’s drought. Louis Santiago, an assistant professor of physiological ecology in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences, will investigate which plant species in Southern California are most susceptible to drought and how their disappearance might impact the amount of water available for human use. The research could lead to a better understanding of how changes in vegetation caused by climate change affect the amount of plant water evaporated from desert chaparral ecosystems of Southern California. “The evaporation of water from plants to the atmosphere is dependent on weather, and can be affected by extreme weather events, such as drought, floods or heat waves,” said Santiago, the principal investigator of the two-year, $175,000 grant. “In our study, we will use measurements of water in plants as well as mathematical modeling to predict how much water plants evaporate over long periods of time. This knowledge is a key to identifying plant species that are most vulnerable to extreme drought.” California’s current drought has been caused by a number of factors including two years of below-normal rainfall. Statewide rainfall was below normal in 2007 and 2008, with many Southern California communities receiving only 20 percent of normal rainfall in 2007. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a statewide drought in June 2008. Southern California’s drought has weakened trees and exacerbated a bark-beetle infestation in the San Bernardino, San Jacinto, and Palomar Mountains. The trees threaten life and property from windstorms, wildfires and subsequent erosion. Brandon Pratt, an assistant professor of biology at California State University Bakersfield, noted that Santiago’s work on drought tolerance could not have come at a more important time. “Southern California has been gripped by severe droughts in the last decade,” he said. “Dr. Santiago’s study will help shed light on which species are most in peril of succumbing to drought-induced death.” Pratt explained that Southern California is a global plant biodiversity hotspot that in some ways is more threatened than the rain forests. “One of the chief threats is climate change, and Dr. Santiago’s work will help to deepen our understanding of this threat and will contribute to understanding of how to mitigate its negative impacts,” he said. Richard Minnich, a professor of geography at UCR and fire ecology expert, noted that Southern California has been in a water deficit for urban and agricultural use ever since the Owens River aqueduct was completed in the early 20th century.“It is vital to understand relationships between plants and water in chaparral and desert watersheds that deliver valuable small additions to the region’s water supply,” Minnich said. “This study will evaluate important questions on the effect of drought on plant species, especially in view of the recent great drought and die off or dieback of forest trees and shrubs of the chaparral. The findings will also help in the assessment of watershed transpiration in the region’s fire regimes.” Santiago’s project will create opportunities for UCR students to do research on local ecosystems. “Our students, like most Southern Californians, are familiar with water-related services such as freshwater supply, flood protection and recreation,” Santiago said. “I expect this project will excite many of our students, preparing them to become leaders of natural resource management.”#http://www.info.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/display.cgi?id=1919 2. Supply – Editorial:Best water deal won't flow from courtroomAntelope Valley Press – 9/09/08 After nine years of legal maneuvering over rights to pump water from the Valley's underground aquifer, Antelope Valley water districts, cities, farmers, property owners and others go back to court next month for a new phase of trial - but still no conclusion is in sight.  It's time for the Valley's leaders to stop this slow, costly, cumbersome attempt to rely on a judge to solve the Valley's water problem and solve it themselves. Farmers and Lancaster city officials have endorsed a proposal that is a worthwhile starting point for a negotiated settlement.  The proposal is to allow pumping to continue at current rates while an independent expert monitors well levels. If well levels drop, that would indicate what's called an overdraft, in which more water is being pumped out than is replenished from rain or other sources. Water districts, farmers and other well users then could meet again to agree how necessary cutbacks in pumping should be shared.  Using observations of well levels, taken over several years, would provide hard evidence that well pumping is too great, as opposed to the theoretical calculations of replenishment rates advanced - and disputed - by numerous studies over past decades.  Collecting data on well levels could mean no final apportionment of well pumping rights for 10 years or so, but the court battle is unlikely to provide a final resolution before then, at the rate it is progressing.  The groundwater legal battle began in 1999 with a lawsuit filed by Bakersfield-based Diamond Farming, asserting that it had first rights to pump from the groundwater basin beneath its east Antelope Valley farmland. Bakersfield-based Bolthouse Farms filed its own lawsuit in 2001.  Another lawsuit was filed in 2004 by attorneys for the county's Waterworks District 40, which supplies water for much of the Valley, saying they were trying to ensure a safe supply for customers and protect the underground water basin.  Now, scores of parties are involved, including water suppliers, farmers, municipalities and individual landowners. A class of landowners who don't own wells has been certified as a party to the lawsuit, as has a separate class of small landowners who pump small amounts of water. The next phase of the trial, starting Oct. 6, will focus on whether the Valley's aquifer is one continuous flowing underground stream, or whether it is separated into underground pools that function independently of one another. The significance is whether a farmer's well in Littlerock draws down well levels in Lancaster, and vice versa.  Valley farmers are worried the water litigation, technically called adjudication, could lead to drastic cutbacks in their water use and thus their crop acreage. Farmers say their wells are not showing the drop that would occur if the aquifer were being pumped too heavily. What's needed is an equitable settlement based on hard data.#http://www.avpress.com/n/10/0910_s7.hts 3. Watersheds – Trinitas water piping idea not feasible, district saysStockton Record – 9/11/08…By Dana Nichols, staff writer SAN ANDREAS - Calaveras County Water District will soon warn county land-use planners that it is simply not possible within five years to pipe surface water to the Trinitas golf course development near Wallace. Water District directors Wednesday also expressed irritation that no one with the county government consulted with the district before issuing an environmental report that calls for such a water system as one of the mitigation measures required for the 280-acre golf resort and luxury home development on Ospital Road just east the San Joaquin County line. "I have a high level of frustration with the county for many reasons, and this is just one of them," Calaveras County Water District Director Jeff Davidson said.Davidson and his colleagues on the board voted unanimously to send a written response to the Trinitas environmental report that challenges several of the document's statements on water matters. Areas in which the CCWD disagrees with the Trinitas report include:» The report's conclusion that Trinitas will deplete groundwater supplies. CCWD said there isn't data available to support that conclusion, and that groundwater levels in the area are already dropping about a foot to 18 inches a year due primarily to massive well pumping in San Joaquin County. The CCWD letter will say that Trinitas' water use is minuscule compared to pumping happening to the west in San Joaquin County. » The report's conclusion that there is insufficient water for the Trinitas project. For the same reasons as above. » Requiring that surface water be piped to Trinitas within five years. Although the CCWD does hope ultimately to deliver farm irrigation water to the Trinitas area, it will take more than five years and will cost much more than the Trinitas resort alone could pay, district officials said. » Requiring the golf course to be irrigated with reclaimed water. CCWD officials said there isn't enough reclaimed water available, either from septic systems or from the CCWD plant at La Contenta near Valley Springs. And it doesn't make sense to spend millions to pipe treated wastewater to Trinitas when there are plenty of places to dispose of it in Valley Springs. Still, CCWD officials do agree with county planners on several fundamental issues, including a requirement that Trinitas pay for monitoring of the local groundwater table. And the CCWD ultimately agrees that for a variety of reasons, it is best that surface water someday be provided to the area as an alterative to using wells tapping a declining aquifer. "The groundwater is not the long term supply for this project," Steve Hutchings, the district engineer for the CCWD, said. The Trinitas project has been mired in a variety of environmental challenges for several years. The golf course portion of the resort was built while the land in question was still receiving a tax break because it was an agricultural preserve and under a Williamson Act contract. The course was built without first doing an environmental impact report. The after-the-fact environmental report now in draft form is unusual in that it considers what measures, if any, should be taken to mitigate environmental damage already done by the course's construction and operation.http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080911/A_NEWS/809110326 4. Water Quality - Working Around Salty Residue in Nation’s BreadbasketSalt buildup in America’s most productive farming area could idle thousands of acres. But there are, ahem, solutions …Miller-McCuneOfficial: Yuba River algae blooms worst in 20 years - The Grass Valley Union Working Around Salty Residue in Nation’s BreadbasketSalt buildup in America’s most productive farming area could idle thousands of acres. But there are, ahem, solutions …Miller-McCune – 9/11/08 By David C. Richardson- a writer based in Baltimore, Md., specializing in topics related to science, the environment and public policy. While California’s farmers grapple with a record-setting drought, an ancient enemy lurks beneath a layer of topsoil in an area that’s been dubbed “the most productive unnatural environment on Earth.” Just below the surface of 2.5 million acres of California’s most fertile and productive farmlands lie pockets of residual brine. Perched, shallow groundwater infused with boron, sodium sulfate, selenium and other minerals common to seawater points to the submarine origins of the state’s fertile Central Valley, which by dollar value produces as much as a quarter of the nation’s agricultural value. Jose Faria, manager of agricultural drainage for California’s Department of Water Resources, said the region’s farmers have customarily met the challenge of saline, perched groundwater through specialized irrigation practices, designed to wash salts away before seeding, to keep them from infiltrating the root zone and endangering crops.That, he said, creates highly saline runoff that presents a thorny disposal problem of its own.A Job for a Plumber The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, in an effort to solve the problem, in the 1960s proposed taking salt- and mineral-laden runoff from farm to sea over a 300-mile drainage network. However, as the project started, strange things began happening in areas receiving the farm drainage. Public outcry arose when nightmarish deformities were observed in birds nesting near Kesterson Reservoir, a lake that had served as a temporary storage basin for farm runoff until the drain project was completed. Investigators traced the deformities to selenium — a nutrient in tiny doses but toxic in larger ones — that washed from farms and concentrated in the lake. In 1983, after the completion of only two miles of the proposed drain, the scheme was abandoned. The lake’s waters were deemed hazardous, the surrounding park was shut down and birds were discouraged from roosting in the area. (Furthermore, as a result of Kesterson, the U.S. Department of the Interior started looking at other sites in the federally irrigated West and, in 1985, founded the National Irrigation Water Quality Program to identify and possibly fix similar problem sites. Funding for the program, however, essentially dried up in 2005, with remediation having occurred at only two places, Utah’s Middle Green River and Colorado’s Gunnison/Grand Valley.) After that, farming became more difficult as California regulators, responding to environmental concerns, clamped down on irrigation discharges. According to Baryohay Davidoff, chief of agricultural water management for the California Department of Water Resources, San Joaquin Valley growers have since been required to virtually “eliminate all discharges of agricultural drainage in the areas affected by selenium.” Farmers along the western San Joaquin Valley were left to watch helplessly as salts and minerals accumulated on their fields, with no better prospect than an appeal for government compensation, as they retired ever-widening swaths of formerly productive farmlands. But in the current era of tightening budgets and looming food crises, Faria said the land retirement solution has become “unsustainable.” And equally important, in order to prevent encroaching desertification — similar to what, he says, in ancient times “happened in Mesopotamia” — the drainage issue will have to be addressed, and soon. In the few short decades since Kesterson, Faria said growers in the Westlands Water District alone have been forced to retire 100,000 acres of farmland, as a consequence of salt damage and selenium contamination — one-sixth of the massive district’s arable acreage. The economic consequences, he said, are staggering, with lost farm productivity estimated at $200 million per year in the district — not to mention the cost of compensation paid to farmers and the loss of opportunities for the region’s farmworkers and their families. Taking the minerals out of the drainage is wildly expensive. According to Heather Cooley of the nonpartisan think tank Pacific Institute, desalination can cost up to thousands of dollars per acre-foot, far beyond the reach of agricultural water users. Plus, Faria noted, the most-promising drainage-water desalination systems are still in various stages of development, not yet ready for widespread application. Furthermore, constructing drainage basins to retain briny water on farm property, the traditional solution to saline runoff, requires taking valuable acreage out of production — something small-scale farmers are loath to do. Faria said official estimates of the cost of providing a comprehensive drainage system for the affected croplands hover around $2.7 billion. And, he said, none of the agencies involved “have that kind of money lying around.” However, Faria believes one readily available solution — a practice called Integrated on-Farm Drainage Management — can preserve farmland while protecting the environment. And farmers adopting it out of necessity, he said, are realizing its virtues. Crop CirclesIFDM rests on two pillars: source control and drainage reuse. Source control simply means limiting the amount of water used in irrigation (which obviously limits drainage). Davidoff said the state provides irrigation districts with several resources to help farmers accomplish this, including a network of 260 weather stations, as well as irrigation specialists equipped with mobile laboratories to test soil characteristics and advise farmers on improved irrigation practices. Upgrading from traditional flood and furrow watering to sprinkler or drip irrigation, recommendations endorsed by Faria, allows growers to target their watering can where it’s needed most. But it’s IFDM’s recommendations for drainage reuse that get agriculturalists’ creative juices flowing. For example, in a typical IFDM scenario, Faria said, high-value water-intensive crops, such as iceberg lettuce or cantaloupes, are grown in the center of the fields; water applied to these crops is allowed to drain into a surrounding buffer zone of salt-tolerant crops, such as alfalfa. Each successive ring of vegetation takes up its share of water, leaving behind an ever-more-concentrated saline effluent. Along the perimeter of the fields, practitioners grow a ring of even-more-salt-tolerant trees, such as pistachios, or halophytes, such as salt grass, which, as its name implies, thrives in saline conditions. Finally, any water not taken up by the plants themselves is channeled to a solar evaporator, which captures the dry salt residue.IFDM “saved the farm,” said Michael Andrews, whose AndrewsAg Inc. farms 2,000 acres in the Bakersfield area. “We had a mini Kesterson right here on the farm,” he said. In an effort to comply with mandated drainage restrictions, Andrews said, between 1995 and 1998, farm runoff had been collected and stored in a 100-acre, traditional farm drainage basin on the property. Over a period of just a few years, the pond had accumulated near-toxic levels of selenium. “We even had the deformed birds,” Andrews added. A low-value cotton crop was the only thing, he said, that could be grown in the saline soil. And the combination of marginal productivity and regulatory liability had driven the appraised value of the property to zero. According to Andrews, after learning about IFDM at a conference several years ago, he “shut down the ranch for a year, let the basin dry out, converted the plumbing and reconfigured the drainage system” for reuse. Now, with less than 10 percent of his acreage dedicated to salt-tolerant crops and halophytes, Andrews said, he grows “12 different items,” Including highly marketable fruits and vegetables. “The salt-tolerant crops and halophytes are up-taking almost all of the drainage.” As a bonus, he said, the salt grasses volatilize selenium as they grow, removing the element from the drainage and rendering it harmless.He also said switching to IFDM has reduced overall drainage volumes on the farm by 90 percent, and selenium levels by 80 percent, well below the toxicity threshold. In addition to a new harvest of alfalfa and salt grass, Andrews has entertained inquiries concerning an unusual farm crop — the salt crystallizing in the ranch’s solar evaporators. Andrews offers advice to farmers considering making the transition to IFDM, through his Web site. While he conceded “it’s not easy. It takes capital, regulatory cooperation and patience,” the approach transformed “marginal farmland into exceptional farmland. … We converted an environmental liability into an asset valued at $10 million. Converting to IFDM is well worth it.”http://www.miller-mccune.com/article/637 Official: Yuba River algae blooms worst in 20 yearsThe Grass Valley Union – 9/11/08…By Laura Brown, staff writer Warm temperatures combined with a low water year have encouraged an unwelcome green visitor to infest popular swim holes on the South Yuba River. Algae blooms are a normal occurrence in rivers and lakes during the summer months and typically do not pose health risks to humans. Some years are worse than others. “It’s showing up everywhere. We saw similar kinds of stuff in the ‘80s,” said John Hiscox of the California Department of Fish and Game.Swimmers in the Bridgeport area this time of year will see more than the usual amounts of bright green hair-like slime attached to rocks and floating in the shallows. Though unpleasant, people shouldn’t be concerned. “The Yuba is a healthy system,” said Jen Hemmert, a watershed monitoring specialist for the South Yuba River Citizens League. “The algae is not going to be something harmful to recreate in or consume.“It should naturally be in the water. It’s a food source for fish and macroinvertebrate,” he added.“Algae are photosynthetic. They start to bloom when sunlight increases,” said SYRCL’s river scientist Gary Reedy. He is concerned that excess algae could rob oxygen from the water and cause swings in pH levels, which could harm fish. Though some fish deaths related to algae have been reported in private ponds this summer, problems with dissolved oxygen in rivers is uncommon because water is constantly moving, Hiscox said. Algae needs sunlight, warm temperatures and nutrients such as phosphorous and nitrogen to grow. This year’s low flows and warm summer temperatures have combined with human-caused nutrient loading, ranging from waste water treatment plants to excess human bodies slathered with sunscreen, to produce the perfect recipe for algae blooms, Reedy said. Algae has also been known to trigger an increase in dissolved carbon, which fuels the growth of more bacteria that consumes mercury and changes into a form that fish can ingest, Reedy said.Algae is an indicator of water quality, so SYRCL began a new monitoring program this year, visually surveying three areas along the upper watershed. Since July, algae has increased below the town of Washington at the confluence of the Yuba River and Poorman’s Creek and below the Spaulding Dam at Lang’s Crossing. An area below where the Donner Summit Public Utility District discharges effluent into the river also is monitored. This summer the California Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a violation to the district after algae blooms were discovered below the discharge area.Higher flows released from Spaulding Dam and cleaner water are needed to reduce algae, Reedy said. “Hopefully we’ll get an early winter,” Hiscox said. Cold temperature caused by winter rains and snow melt will kill algae, Hiscox said.On September 22, Nevada Irrigation District will increase flows in Canyon Creek and the SouthYuba River from 4 cubic feet per second to 150 cubic feet for five days. Increasing the water volume is part of an insert flow study in an ongoing re-licensing program for the NID’s water projects on the Yuba and Bear rivers.The flush of water could help remove some of the algae, Hiscox said.“It will scour it out and move it on down,” he said.#http://www.theunion.com/article/20080910/NEWS/809109972/1066/CLASSIFIEDS&parentprofile=-1 5. Agencies, Programs, People -EditorialReservoirs needed - Contra Costa TimesBay Area leaders see good in green3 MAYORS, 5 POTENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR ATTEND - San Jose Mercury News EditorialReservoirs neededContra Costa Times – 9/7/08AS CALIFORNIA continues to endure another dry year, complicated by ecological damage to the Delta, the threat of scarce water supplies increases.Population growth, reduced water pumping from the Delta and the loss of excess Colorado River supplies in Southern California places an ever-increasing stress on a water system that needs substantial updating. To temporarily help ease the situation, state water officials plan to create the first drought water bank in California since the dry spell of the early 1990s.The bank would allow water users, mostly farmers in the Sacramento Valley, to sell water to dry areas of California from the Bay Area to San Diego.Water levels at major reservoirs are low and getting worse. Some are at half their normal levels for late summer. Even if we have an average rainfall during the winter, the reservoirs are not likely to be refilled.  Making matters worse, restrictions on water pumping could make it difficult to replenish reservoirs even if rainfall is above average during the wet season.In fact, there is only about a 50 percent chance the drought water bank purchases could be delivered through the Delta next year because of pumping limits.The banked water that will be sold is sure to be expensive. Water rates are already high and could be a lot higher as growth in demand outpaces the availability of new supplies. In addition to higher costs, water districts are putting both voluntary and mandatory rationing plans into effect to reduce water usage.  It is not just the dry weather that is causing water shortages, rationing and higher prices. After all, the current dry period is hardly a major drought. What should be becoming increasingly clear is that California simply does not have an adequate water storage capacity. That should come as no surprise because the state has not built any large reservoirs in decades. Greater conservation, water banks and rationing may be enough to get us by for a few years. But eventually, California is going to need large new reservoirs or significantly increased capacity at current ones. Despite the need to act now, there does not seem to be enough support in Sacramento for increasing our water storage capacity.Unfortunately it is likely to take a severe drought and the ensuing water crisis to create the political will to build the reservoirs that should be under construction now.#http://www.contracostatimes.com/opinion/ci_10407952?nclick_check=1 Bay Area leaders see good in green3 MAYORS, 5 POTENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR GOVERNOR ATTENDSan Jose Mercury News – 9/10/08…By Matt Nauman, staff writerClimate change could be devastating for California. But an aggressive response to it could mean cleaner air and water, reduced oil use and lots of green jobs, panelists at a Silicon Valley Leadership Group event said Wednesday. The 10th annual SVLG event, held on the Santa Clara University campus and coinciding with the release of the group's "2009 Silicon Valley Projections: Clean & Green" report, attracted heavyweight politicians, including five possible candidates to be California's next governor, and some top Bay Area CEOs. In a variety of panels, with topics ranging from the coming green economy and transportation to housing, building and land use, the various speakers talked about opportunities and challenges. The mayors of the Bay Area's three biggest cities — San Jose's Chuck Reed, San Francisco's Gavin Newsom and Oakland's Ron Dellums — pledged their support for a regional climate-change compact. The compact, not yet fully completed, will include pledges by the cities to use more renewable energy, generate more green jobs, decrease water usage and divert more waste from landfills. "It gives us the ability to share best practices in real time," Newsom said. "We want to be the world center of clean tech, but we can't do it without San Francisco and Oakland," Reed said. Dellums, while acknowledging the potential of cities and other government entities working together, sounded a somber note. "At the end of the day," he said, "we're at the margins of an enormous problem that dwarfs us all." Besides the three mayors, five potential candidates to become governor in California in 2010 attended the event. They included two Republicans — Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner and ex- Congressman Tom Campbell — and three Democrats — Lt. Gov. John Garamendi, Attorney General Jerry Brown and Newsom. That lineup speaks to the importance of Silicon Valley and how important clean-tech has become in solving global warming. "Having so many candidates here, it's great," said former San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery, at the event to give a SVLG award to developer and Oakland A's and San Jose Earthquakes owner Lew Wolff. "It's important that they come here and see real people trying to work on real problems."Poizner agreed. "The program here today at Santa Clara University is an excellent group of people who have the knowledge, the leadership and the technology to help move this state forward and this country forward to get us off of our dependence on foreign oil," he said.#http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_10430428?nclick_check=1  ------------------------------------------------------------- DWR's California Water News is distributed to California Department of Water Resources management and staff, for information purposes, by the DWR Public Affairs Office. For reader's services, including new subscriptions, temporary cancellations and address changes, please use the online page: http://listhost2.water.ca.gov/mailman/listinfo/water_news. DWR operates and maintains the State Water Project, provides dam safety and flood control and inspection services, assists local water districts in water management and water conservation planning, and plans for future statewide water needs. Inclusion of materials is not to be construed as an endorsement of any programs, projects, or viewpoints by the Department or the State of California.  9-11-08Meetings9-15-08 Merced City Council Redevelopment Agency agenda...7:00 p.m.http://www.cityofmerced.org/civica/filebank/blobdload.asp?BlobID=6663September 17 PLANNING COMMISSION, 7:00 PM                  18 MERCED COUNTY ASSOCIATION                      OF GOVERNMENTS, 3:00 PM                  25 LOCAL AGENCY FORMATION COMMISSION,                      10:00 AMOctober      06 CITY COUNCIL MEETING, 7:00 PM                  08 PLANNING COMMISSION, 7:00 PM                  16 MERCED COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF                      GOVERNMENTS, 3:00 PM                  20 CITY COUNCIL MEETING, 7:00 PM                  22 PLANNING COMMISSION, 7:00 PM                  23 LOCAL AGENCY FORMATION COMMISSION,                      10:00 AM 9-16-08 Merced County Board of Supervisor meeting...10:00 a.m....not available at this time. http://www.co.merced.ca.us/CountyWeb/Check late Friday afternoon for update at:http://www.co.merced.ca.us/CountyWeb/   or   http://www.co.merced.ca.us/boardagenda/webagenda/September            September 16, 2008   Board Meeting/Final Budget HearingsOctober            October 7, 2008            Board Meeting            October 21, 2008            Board Meeting             9-17-08 Merced City Planning Commission meeting...7:00 p.m.http://www.cityofmerced.org/depts/cityclerk/boards_n_commissions/planning_commission/2008_planning_commission/2008_planning_commission_agendas.aspAgendas are posted the Monday before a Wednesday Planning Commission Meeting MCAGhttp://www.mcagov.org/What's NewMerced County Regional Housing Needs Planview DRAFT Plan ...http://www.mcagov.org/publications/trans/2008/RHN08draft.pdfPavement Management Systemview FINAL Report ...http://www.mcagov.org/publications/trans/2008/FINALPMS.pdfPublic Participation Plan view plan ...http://www.mcagov.org/publications/2008/ppp.pdf9-17-08 - COC...2:00 p.m....not available at this time.http://www.mcagov.org/coc.html9-18-08 Governing Board...3:00 p.m....not available at this time.http://www.mcagov.org/govbrd.html 9-25-08 LAFCo agenda...10:00 a.m.http://www.lafcomerced.org/pdfs/2008/9_25_2008/Agenda/092508.pdf  -------------------------------------------------------------CENTRAL VALLEY SAFE ENVIRONMENT NETWORKMISSION STATEMENTCentral Valley Safe Environment Network is a coalition of organizations and individuals throughout the San Joaquin Valley that is committed to the concept of "Eco-Justice" -- the ecological defense of the natural resources and the people. To that end it is committed to the stewardship, and protection of the resources of the greater San Joaquin Valley, including air and water quality, the preservation of agricultural land, and the protection of wildlife and its habitat. In serving as a community resource and being action-oriented, CVSEN desires to continue to assure there will be a safe food chain, efficient use of natural resources and a healthy environment. CVSEN is also committed to public education regarding these various issues and it is committed to ensuring governmental compliance with federal and state law. CVSEN is composed of farmers, ranchers, city dwellers, environmentalists, ethnic, political,and religious groups, and other stakeholders.