12-29-08

 12-29-08Sacramento BeeYolo County ranch's sale of water prompts lawsuit threat...Mary Lynne Vellingahttp://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1503272.htmlThe owners of the vast Conaway Ranch in Yolo County this year sold much of its annual allotment of water to an irrigation district in Central California – prompting the threat of a lawsuit by environmental groups.Yolo County leaders who two years ago were in court trying to seize control of Conaway through eminent domain are keeping a wary eye on what its private owners are doing. The county dropped its lawsuit in exchange for greater assurances that the land would not be developed, and that its ample supply of Sacramento River water would not be sold out to outside interests.Conaway Ranch is unusual in the region for its large size, proximity to downtown Sacramento and habitat for myriad waterfowl species. Much of the ranch lies in the Yolo Bypass flood area. "The good news is I haven't seen any real material changes on the ground; they're still farming it," said Supervisor Mike McGowan, who led the eminent domain charge. "I'm not ecstatic about the water transfers," he said.Tovey Giezentanner, a spokesman for the Conaway ownership group, emphasized that the sale of 12,000 acre-feet of water to the San Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority was for one year only. The county was first given a right to negotiate to buy the water, in compliance with the terms of the court settlement, he said. When the county demurred, and the water was sold, Conaway paid Yolo a 2 percent fee on the $2 million sale.Conaway is owned by the Conaway Preservation Group, which is led by Sacramento developer Steve Gidaro and includes other prominent Sacramento developers and builders. Their purchase of the 17,300-acre property for $60 million in 2004 stoked suspicion that a plan to build on the ranch and sell off its 50,000 acre-feet of Sacramento River water would be forthcoming. An acre-foot of water covers 1 acre a foot deep, enough to supply an average family of five for a year.The land was previously owned by National Gas and Energy Transmission, a successor to PG&E Properties.Conaway Preservation Group has insisted it wants to preserve Conaway – a place where some of its members enjoy hunting ducks – and make money from its attributes as farmland, habitat and flood basin.Giezentanner said the ownership group has pursued that strategy since the county dropped its lawsuit."We've been hard at work trying to do the right thing," he said.For instance, Giezentanner said, Conaway is negotiating with the city of Davis to use part of the ranch as a disposal site for the city's treated wastewater, which would be used to irrigate crops that would be fed to animals.The city of Davis faces a state requirement that it upgrade its sewage treatment plant, which could cost $200 million.Maintaining the current level of treatment but disposing of the water on Conaway – rather than into the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta – could be a much cheaper option.Davis Public Works director Bob Weir said the Davis plant discharges about 5.6 million gallons of treated sewage per day, which now winds up in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The city plans to go before the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board in early February to discuss the possibility of using Conaway instead."The regional board is interested in promoting the use of recycled water, and they're also supportive of looking at regional wastewater solutions," Weir said. "We believe this meets both of those objectives."He noted, "Our treatment plant is right next to Conaway."Giezentanner said Conaway is discussing a similar agreement to handle sewage from Woodland. In addition, the ranch is viewed as a possible long-term supplier of water to Davis and Woodland.The settlement agreement that ended the county's eminent domain lawsuit contains no guarantees that Conaway's water will remain in Yolo – or even in the Sacramento region. It merely gives the county the right to negotiate for the water before it is sold, and requires Conaway to pay a fee to the county if it sells the water somewhere else.Much of Conaway Ranch is used for rice farming, a water-intensive crop. Still, the ranch is an efficient user of water due to a closed drainage system, and it usually does not draw its full allocation, Giezantanner said.This year, the ranch sold about 12,000 acre-feet of water, he said. In order to make the water available, about 1,000 acres of rice fields were fallowed, and 500 converted to crops that don't require as much water.On Dec. 16, the Butte Environmental Council and the Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice that they plan to sue the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for allowing the transfer. The groups contend the review by the wildlife service did not adequately determine the effect of the water transfers on the endangered giant garter snake, which relies on rice fields for habitat.Leaders of the two groups said water transfers from north to south are becoming an increasingly significant issue after two years of drought and increasing demands on the state's water supply."Our concern is with the giant garter snake and the habitat," said Lisa Belenky, senior attorney for the San Francisco-based Center for Biological Diversity. "Most of this area was wetlands originally, and it was converted to cropland. The rice crop is more similar to native wetlands, so it was able to be a substitute habitat for species." Commercial real estate broker scrambles in depressed economy...Jon Ortizhttp://www.sacbee.com/business/v-print/story/1503308.htmlSecond of four partsA drive to Chico would have been unthinkable a year ago. Boyd Cahill would have been too busy, the deal too small, the time too precious.That was before the banks failed, credit markets seized up, the stock market had a nervous breakdown and some of Northern California's biggest retailers went bankrupt. Now retail commercial real estate brokers such as Cahill are working harder for their commissions. There are fewer tenants and more empty stores. Jittery lenders are squeezing nervous landlords. The landlords, drowning in a deepening pool of empty space, want new tenants. Now."The phones haven't been ringing like they used to. There just aren't a lot of tenants looking for space," Cahill said last week as he drove from his TRI Commercial office in Roseville to show a soon-to-close McMahan's Furniture store in Chico. "So you have to get out of the office more and work smarter and a little harder."Commercial real estate is in trouble. The industry figures that about $530 billion in commercial mortgages will need refinancing within three years. Meanwhile, the credit markets have come to a standstill and commercial rents are down.Brokers such as Cahill are suffering along with their clients. For a while, they were uneasily holding ground while colleagues in residential real estate were seeing their livelihoods melt away as home sales plummeted.Then the bad economy got drastically worse and the commercial business crashed. The industry's biggest player is in trouble. Cahill and others believe next year won't be much better. That will cost many brokers their jobs."A lot of people are going to leave the business," said Carlton Lowen, a longtime Chico real estate broker. "The new folks will be the first to go. They're not patient. In this market, you need patience."Earlier this month some of the nation's biggest property developers warned that thousands of office complexes, hotels and shopping centers face bankruptcy and foreclosure. The industry wants the federal government to include it in a program created to salvage car loans and student debt.Northern California's retail real estate – the bedrock of Cahill's 36-year career – is a small link in that taut economic chain."Making sure that a buyer can qualify for a loan has become my No. 1 priority," Cahill said during his drive to Chico. "You have to know that the person you're dealing with has the wherewithal to make a deal. Sometimes, especially in this economy, the best thing to do is to tell them not to go ahead."Cahill decided to make the Chico drive after talking with a potential buyer on the phone: "When the guy told me he'd already talked to his bank, I knew he was serious."The 40-year-old McMahan's store on Cohasset Road in Chico lists for $1.9 million. "Going out of business" signs festooned the building's front. It's closing next month.Many retailers are following a similar course.Department store chain Mervyn's LLC and KB Toys are using the holiday shopping season to go out of business. Linens 'n Things shut down earlier. Their closures and others will add hundreds of thousands of vacant square feet to the Sacramento area's inventory. The space won't be easy to lease.Locally, Colliers International says that about 4 million square feet of leasable store space – roughly equal to four Arden Fair malls – was vacant in November. That's about 8.8 percent of the total retail space in the area and a 1.2 percentage point jump from the third quarter of this year.The rate would be higher, experts say, but landlords are cutting prices to help out struggling tenants. Prime spaces that once leased for up to $3.50 per square foot have come down to $3, according to a November report from Colliers International.This holiday season's lousy retail sales numbers indicate more trouble ahead."But you know, good brokers can make money," Cahill said. "People still want to do deals, and now they really need you. Some are at risk of losing their property."Commercial real estate brokers earn commissions of around 6 percent by selling their time and their knowledge. They use those two things to put together buyers and sellers, landlords and tenants, builders and land owners. No deal, no dough.Cahill's knowledge runs deep from a 36-year career in local retail real estate.After graduating from the University of Santa Clara in 1965, Cahill joined the Navy and flew surveillance missions in Vietnam. He joined the Sacramento office of CB Richard Ellis Inc. in 1972.A decade later Cahill established his own firm, then sold it. He's had a hand in hundreds of deals from Sacramento to the Oregon border involving small proprietors and huge chains. His clients included McDonald's Corp., Target Corp., Office Depot Inc. and WinCo Foods Inc.But the deals, big or small, are fewer and farther apart now. "There's no more shrimp on the plate," Cahill said. "It's down to the radishes now."A couple of years ago he was feasting on shrimp. Cahill usually had 30 deals in various stages as retail echoed the housing boom. The business practically came to him.Then the economy tightened. So did his business."When things get tough, it might get down to five or 10 deals cooking. That means your 'kill ratio' has to be better," he said, referring to the percentage of transactions that a broker closes.Good brokers with relatively little experience have a 30 percent to 50 percent kill ratio, Cahill said. Experienced brokers close 60 percent to 80 percent. "These days, because you're doing fewer deals, you'd better be hitting the high end of your range," he said.Cahill arrived in Chico around 10 a.m.He walked the potential buyer through McMahan's sparsely stocked showroom and empty warehouse space. They surveyed the lot.The buyer had questions about everything – on the easements and traffic patterns, on the building's wiring, on whether the roof leaks.Cahill steered the conversation back to whether the buyer could get cash to do the deal and had a business model that would succeed in the space.The meeting ended an hour later. Cahill's assessment: "That guy is for real. I'm glad I came up to meet him."A commission check could be months off. Lenders used to dole out money based on drive-by "windshield appraisals." Now they want detailed evaluations of properties and business plans before they'll let go of their cash. Closing escrow takes more time."Not long ago you could move a property in 90 to 120 days," Cahill said as he drove through Yuba City. "Now you can go six months, a year."As "the toughest year" of his career closes, Cahill said the first half of 2009 doesn't look much better.He thinks more retailers will file for bankruptcy protection, adding to vacancies and making it even more competitive to land the few tenants looking for space.The shakeout will strike commercial brokerage firms, too, Cahill said. His company just closed its Sacramento office and pulled staff to Roseville. CB Richard Ellis, the world's largest commercial real estate company, has seen its stock price fall 75 percent within the past year.Some firms demand a bigger cut of the commission brokers earn. Some charge for marketing materials and research information.Outside the office, clients want more accountability, Cahill said, and they're quicker to switch representatives if they don't see progress."(Brokers) have to perform," he said as he neared Roseville. "A landlord getting yelled at by his bank needs to have a program to present to the lender. There's no time to fool around."It was after 3 p.m. when Cahill returned to his office. He wrote notes on his Chico presentation and called the building's owner with an update.Then he started working the phones for other leads. Stockton RecordStimulus funds could benefit Lode golf courseTrinitas would chip in to help fund water pipeline...Dana M. Nicholshttp://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081229/A_NEWS/812290302WALLACE - A proposed golf course resort and luxury home development on the far western edge of Calaveras County would be among the beneficiaries of a new water pipeline that would be built with federal economic stimulus dollars, if Calaveras County Water District gets its way.The district didn't set out to find a way to use New Deal-style spending to benefit a golf course, officials said. Instead, district leaders for decades have wanted to pipe water to serve farms around Wallace and Burson, and the Trinitas Golf Course on Ospital Road came along at the right time both to benefit and to help."We need private partners to make this work," said David Andres, general manager of Calaveras County Water District.Mike Nemee, the owner of the Trinitas golf course and also an olive grower, has offered to chip in $1 million toward the cost of the pipeline.The pipeline would carry untreated Calaveras River water, probably starting somewhere near Jenny Lind and ending, at least initially, at Trinitas. The multiple goals the project would serve include providing surface water to farms so they would be less likely to deplete groundwater supplies by over-use of wells, providing water that could be used to re-charge the groundwater basin, and securing water rights on the Calaveras that officials here fear may otherwise someday be lost.As it now stands, the district has rights to tens of thousands of acre-feet of water each year that are simply allowed to flow downstream to Stockton and the Delta. In California, agencies that fail to make use of all the water to which they have a right risk being usurped someday by other agencies that are able to use the water.Andres said the initial pipeline segment might cost $6 million or $7 million, but that it could cost $20 million or more to build the final system that would link communities from Jenny Lind and Burson.The water line would solve a problem for Trinitas, which is trying to secure a conditional use permit and other approvals from Calaveras County's government.County leaders have signaled strongly that they want new developments to be served by surface water systems in order to reduce problems with wells, including their potential to deplete the groundwater table. Whether (or when) Trinitas will receive all the needed approvals is an unresolved question.The latest of several efforts to craft an acceptable environmental impact report for the project is now overdue.And the project has critics who point out that Nemee has run afoul of regulators a number of times over the years, including by building the golf course in an agricultural preserve while he was receiving a tax break for keeping the land in farm production.Nemee argues that building a golf course is the best way to preserve open space in the area and to create a viable second business that can help him preserve his olive orchard.Andres said that the proposed water line would carry raw water suitable for irrigation, not drinking."In some senses, a water supply would enable that area to remain in agriculture," Andres said. "It is a logical place to go."Improving the viability of farms - as well as helping the development of the golf course - would create jobs, one of the things that federally funded stimulus projects will be expected to do under the pending Obama administration.Critics of Trinitas, however, are skeptical that the pipeline will boost farms rather than housing development."If it is approved, I think there are those who would like to see pretty much solid development all the way down to Highway 26," said Lew Mayhew, a member and leader of Keep It Rural Calaveras, a group formed specifically to opposed the golf course.Mayhew also questioned whether the federal government would fund a pipeline that would benefit a development that is the target of questions and criticism by some federal agencies.The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, for example, in response to the Trinitas environmental impact report, said that Nemee had destroyed habitat and should be required to remove the concrete and cobblestones he used to line some waterways on the property.Nemee says that the Fish and Wildlife Service has never sent staff to visit his property, and that staff from other regulatory agencies have said he did nothing illegal to the waterways.He believes federal authorities will be pleased by a pipeline project serving western Calaveras County."The feds have stated that they want fast-track projects that create jobs and stimulate the local economy," Nemee said.San Francisco ChronicleAncient birds pay annual visit to Lodi...Carolyn Joneshttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/29/BANK15008P.DTL&type=printableElegant, long-legged holdovers from the Jurassic Era have moved into Lodi for the winter, pecking for alfalfa and frogs in flooded farm fields.More than 6,000 greater sandhill cranes, among the largest birds in North America, can be seen through February, roosting in Lodi's wetlands, where they've been attracting crowds since they began arriving in November. "It's amazing to watch these ancient birds - they're like pterodactyls - while they're basically out clubbing," said Jim Mead, a retired air traffic controller and amateur bird-watcher who drove from Alameda to Lodi last week to observe the red-headed birds. "They hop around, they spread their wings, they jump for no apparent reason. They're really fun to watch."The cranes have been visiting Lodi for millennia, migrating from their breeding ground in Oregon and northeastern California to feast on the marsh grasses and slimy critters that live in the flooded farm fields and wetlands around Lodi. In late February and early March, they return north to build nests and lay eggs.While in Lodi, the cranes can be found at several bird reserves and on farmlands, where they swoop down at sunset and roost overnight in puddles and ponds to keep safe from coyotes and other predators. The state Department of Fish and Game leads crane tours through February, but the public can view the 5-foot-tall birds almost anywhere."They glide in like an airplane. They're just absolutely beautiful when they land," said John J. Vatsula, a crane docent with Fish and Game. "After they land, they dance around and introduce themselves. And they have this magnificent fluting gurgle."Age of the dinosaursCranes are among the oldest birds in existence, dating from the age of the dinosaurs. The greater sandhill crane population is relatively stable, although the bird is listed as threatened by the state. Lesser sandhill cranes also visit Lodi, as well as other Central Valley spots, although Lodi draws the largest population of the greater cranes.Lodi celebrates the arrival of the cranes every November with a Sandhill Crane Festival, which includes tours, lectures and an art show. Lodi has not cornered the market on crane adoration, however. Around the world, cranes are considered symbols of prosperity, peace and good luck, said David Moore, a state Fish and Game supervisor in the Bay-Delta region."Because of their grandeur, their height and grace, they're universally embraced," he said. "When you see them in flight, en masse, it can be awe-inspiring."Loyal matesCranes are also celebrated for their loyalty and romance, said biologist and bird-watcher David Yee of Galt. Cranes are monogamous; many mate for life and are very selective about choosing a mate. They're loyal not only to their mates but to their visiting spots, returning to the same fields year after year, he said."To be out there and see all these regal, very attractive birds ... it's reminiscent of what the Central Valley must have been like hundreds of years ago," he said. "You can close your eyes feel something very, very dramatic and wild."Teacher founded Shorebird Park Nature Center...Shelah Moodyhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/28/LVRG14TF69.DTL&type=printableAs a child growing up in Berkeley during the '60s, Patricia Donald loved reading National Geographic and Time magazines, where she says she learned about the pollution of the earth and its oceans, and the human-caused disruption of the balance of nature."There was a lot of scary stuff going on in those days," said Donald. "It just felt really important to try to empower people to understand the space and the habitat they lived in, to help protect it instead of fighting against it all the time. Luckily, I had a lot of people who helped me believe in my dream."Now an environmental educator and activist, she's dedicated to preserving and protecting Berkeley's natural habitat. In 1980, with financial assistance from the city, Donald founded the Shorebird Park Nature Center at the Berkeley Marina. Donald, in her role as recreation coordinator and naturalist, runs the nature center with two full-time staff members. Donald began her career in environmental education while working as a science teacher at Cragmont Elementary School in Berkeley. "I felt like a magic person, and all I was doing was turning the kids around and saying, 'Don't just step on it, look at that snail, that ant, that insect. They are your neighbors. They are part of what you hear and you feel and you see every day."Among its many functions and attractions, the center offers hands-on environmental education programs for children. Through the Low Tide Program, kids learn about the marina's inhabitants through the aquarium and multimedia presentations in the center. Then they explore the rocky shoreline, dock and Berkeley pier. The animal programs focus on fish, birds, marine mammals and bay scientists. The children learn about wildlife through interactive stations, videos and PowerPoint presentations. "We talk about house finches, sparrows, mourning doves and jays, and then we talk about the birds that are found at the marina, along the shoreline, and the fact that birds evolved from dinosaurlike animals," said Donald. "We look at the pelican and how it survived because of the lack of poisons in the environment. We talk about the impact of plastics on all of these animals." For adults, the nature center offers teacher in-service training workshops, classes in green home building and volunteer docent training programs for people seeking careers in the environmental field.Several years ago, with help from the Berkeley City Council, the Waste Management Authority and other organizations, Donald raised money to construct a straw bale building - a green facility - that now houses the visitor's center next to the portable classrooms at the nature center so that they could accommodate growing classes. For 23 years, the nature center has sponsored International Shoreline Cleanup, organizing volunteers from Berkeley, Albany and Emeryville to remove trash and plastics from the shoreline. Last year, Donald played a crucial role in saving birds from the East Bay that had been saturated with oil from the Cosco Busan spill. With the help of trained personnel and volunteers, the nature center became a triage center for the birds before they were transported to the International Bird Rescue Research Center in Fairfield for cleanup. In conjunction with the Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and the city of Berkeley, Donald also trained volunteers to clean up oil at the marina. The nature center is always looking for more volunteers, she said."The thing that I like best about the program is the interaction with people, and the wealth of information that people bring when they join our program. I love the 'aha' that I'm able to bring out in people. It changes their lives. To be able to find the magic words that make the connections for people so that they can make the world a better place is pretty cool."Drillers eye oil reserves off California coast...Jane Kayhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/29/MN4G14QMVE.DTL&type=printableThe federal government is taking steps that may open California's fabled coast to oil drilling in as few as three years, an action that could place dozens of platforms off the Sonoma, Mendocino and Humboldt coasts, and raises the specter of spills, air pollution and increased ship traffic into San Francisco Bay.Millions of acres of oil deposits, mapped in the 1980s when then-Interior Secretary James Watt and Energy Secretary Donald Hodel pushed for California exploration, lie a few miles from the forested North Coast and near the mouth of the Russian River, as well as off Malibu, Santa Monica and La Jolla in Southern California."These are the targets," said Richard Charter, a lobbyist for the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund who worked for three decades to win congressional bans on offshore drilling. "You couldn't design a better formula to create adverse impacts on California's coastal-dependent economy." The bans that protected both of the nation's coasts beginning in 1981, from California to the Pacific Northwest to the Atlantic Coast and the Straits of Florida, ended this year when Congress let the moratorium lapse.President-elect Barack Obama hasn't said whether he would overturn President Bush's lifting last summer of the ban on drilling, as gas prices reached a historic high. Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Col., Obama's pick as interior secretary and head of the nation's ocean-drilling agency, hasn't said what he would do in coastal waters.The Interior Department has moved to open some or all federal waters, which begin 3 miles from shore and are outside state control, for exploration as early as 2010. Rigs could go up in 2012.National marine sanctuaries off San Francisco and Monterey bays are off-limits in California. Areas open to drilling extend from Bodega Bay north to the Oregon border and from Morro Bay south to the U.S.-Mexico border.Drilling foes say the impacts of explosive blasts from seismic air guns that map rock formations, increased vessel traffic and oil spills should be enough to persuade federal agencies to thwart petroleum exploration. California's treasured coast, with its migrating whales, millions of seabirds, sea otters, fish and crab feeding grounds, beaches and tidal waters, are at risk, Charter and other opponents say.According to the Interior Department, coastal areas nationwide that were affected by the drilling ban contain 18 billion barrels of oil and 76 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in what the agency called yet-to-be-discovered fields. The estimates are conservative and are based on seismic surveys in the late 1970s and early 1980s, before the moratorium went into effect.California's shareThe agency's last estimate puts about 10 billion barrels in California, enough to supply the nation for 17 months. That breaks down to 2.1 billion barrels from Point Arena in Mendocino County to the Oregon border, 2.3 billion from Point Arena south to San Luis Obispo County and 5.6 billion between there and Mexico."If you were allowed to go out and do new exploration, those numbers could go up or down. In most cases, you would expect them to go up," said Dave Smith, deputy communications officer of the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, which oversees energy development in federal waters.In California, any exploration and drilling would be close to shore, experts say. In contrast to the Gulf of Mexico, where drilling could occur in waters 10,000 feet deep, California's holdings lie on its narrow, shallow continental shelf, the underwater edge of land where creatures died over the millennia to produce the oil.If the Interior Department decides to explore off California's coast, it could probably do so, some attorneys say. If a state objects to a lease plan, the president has the final say. Once an area has been leased, the California Coastal Commission may review an oil company's plan to explore or extract resources to assess if it is consistent with the state's coastal management program. Conflicts can end up in court, said Alison Dettmer, the commission's deputy director.Californians have generally opposed drilling since a platform blowout in 1969 splashed 3 million gallons of black, gooey crude oil on 35 miles of beaches around Santa Barbara, killing otters and seabirds. The destruction of shoreline and wildlife sparked activism and led to the creation of the Coastal Commission.But when gas prices peaked a few months ago amid cries of "drill, baby, drill" at rallies for GOP presidential candidate John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin, 51 percent of Californians said they favored more offshore drilling, according to a survey by the Public Policy Institute of California.In July, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne jump-started the development of a new oil and natural gas leasing program and pushed up possible new coastal activity by two years.The Interior Department is reviewing comments about which coastal areas to include in the next five-year leasing plan. Oil companies want all of the nation's coastal areas open and say they can produce oil offshore in a way that protects the environment. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who opposes new offshore development, has offered comments, as have environmental groups.Obama's energy plansObama's administration and Congress will have the final say over which regions, if any, would be put up for possible lease sales. In Congress earlier this year, Salazar, Obama's nominee for interior secretary, supported a bipartisan bill allowing exploration and production 50 miles out from the southern Atlantic coast with state approval. The bill died."We've been encouraged that the president-elect has chosen Sen. Salazar," said Dan Naatz, vice president for federal resources with the Independent Petroleum Association of America, a group with 5,000 members that drill 90 percent of the oil and natural gas wells in the United States. "He's from the West, and he understands federal land policy, which is really key." During this year's presidential campaign, Obama was bombarded by questions about high gas prices and said new domestic drilling wouldn't do much to lower gasoline prices but could have a place in a comprehensive energy program.After introducing his green team of environment and energy chiefs recently, Obama said the foundation of the nation's energy independence lies in the "power of wind and solar, in new crops and new technologies, in the innovation of our scientists and entrepreneurs and the dedication and skill of our workforce."He spoke of moving "beyond our oil addiction," creating "a new, hybrid economy" and investing in "renewable energ y that will give life to new businesses and industries."Obama didn't mention oil drilling. When a reporter asked him if he would reinstate the moratorium, he said he wasn't happy that the moratorium was allowed to lapse in Congress without a broader thought to how the country was going to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. He reiterated his campaign position that he was open to the idea of offshore drilling if it was part of a comprehensive package, adding that he would turn over the question to his team.In the 1970s and 1980s, before the moratorium on offshore drilling fully took effect, the federal government produced a series of maps showing areas in California of prospective interest to the oil industry. Those maps offer clues to where oil companies would bid if they had the opportunity.North CoastThe last proposed lease sale in 1987, thwarted by the moratorium, would have opened 6.5 million acres off the North Coast. Off Mendocino and Humboldt counties, the tracts for sale lay from 3 to 27 miles offshore, and some of the 24 planned platforms, some of them 300 feet tall and each with dozens of wells, would have been visible from land.Tourism and commercial fisheries would have been affected, according to an environmental review then, while as many as 240 new oil tanker trips from Fort Bragg and Eureka to San Francisco Bay refineries were predicted under the full development scenario. The probability of one or more spills occurring would be 94 percent for accidents involving 1,000 barrels or more, according to documents.Rep. Lois Capps, D-Santa Barbara, a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, recently said oil drilling will be part of a comprehensive energy policy focusing on renewable sources, but she would like to see drilling occur only on land and in the Gulf of Mexico where infrastructure is in place.Capps well remembers the Santa Barbara spill almost 40 years ago."I was living in Goleta. I just had two children, and my husband was a young professor at UC Santa Barbara. It was a devastating experience," she said. "The birds and other animals got trapped in the oil. So many people waded out in boots just inch by inch trying to rescue our wildlife. It ruined our tourism for many years."I think about it all the time, especially last week when we had had a spill at the same platform. It was a small spill, 1,000 gallons, but it was a wake-up call."TVA head pledges to test wells near coal ash spill...KRISTIN M. HALL, Associated Press Writerhttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/25/national/a052635S76.DTL&type=printableThe CEO and president of the nation's largest public utility promised Sunday to address the health and safety concerns of a community near a major coal ash spill in eastern Tennessee.Tom Kilgore, who heads the Tennessee Valley Authority, said the utility will pay to test local wells for contamination and would start air quality testing.Kilgore spoke to between 200 and 300 residents who gathered Sunday to get answers about the environmental and economic impact of Monday's spill."This is not a time when TVA holds its head high," Kilgore said. "I'm here to say we are going to clean it up and we are going to clean it up right."More than a billion gallons of coal fly ash, a byproduct of burning coal, spilled Monday when the dike burst on a retention pond at the Kingston Fossil Plant. The spill covered 300 acres with sludge in Harriman, about 35 miles west of Knoxville. It dumped a mix of ash and water in the Emory River, causing residents of nearby Kingston to worry about their drinking water.TVA has said the water is safe to drink.Three homes were destroyed and 42 property owners had damage of some kind, according to Roane County emergency management officials.Crystell Flinn's home and all her belongings were swept away by the ash slide, only three days before Christmas. Now, she and the rest of her family are living in a hotel paid for by TVA.Kilgore said TVA is providing for the short-term needs of the three families whose homes were destroyed, but Flinn said there is nothing to return to."It looks like a tsunami," Flinn said. "It's not like they can scoop it up and scrape it off."The meeting was to have been held in a community center but was moved to a larger space, a local high school gymnasium, because the crowd was larger than expected.Kilgore fielded some angry questions, responding to all of them in a measured tone. He promised to send TVA staff to follow up with individual property owners.Many residents complained during the meeting that the spill would decrease the value of their homes, many of which sit on the banks of the river or nearby Watts Bar Lake. Others said they were worried their cattle would ingest contaminated grass or water.Sandy Dickman's home was spared, but his land is covered with several feet of gray sludge. He said he doesn't believe the water is safe."I don't think I'll be drinking the water," he said.Dickman moved to the area in 1975 and said he's always suspected that the holding pond would fail.Kilgore was asked again Sunday what caused the failure of the pond. He replied that TVA is still investigating.TVA has said cold weather and above normal rains contributed to the dike's burst.Dickman said he fears what will happen when the sludge dries out and turns to dust."Once that stuff dries and the wind picks it up, then the trouble starts," Dickman said. "It will look like a blizzard in the Arctic."Kilgore said the TVA is currently focusing on cleanup, but could not say how long it would take.A handful of people in the audience carried anti-coal industry signs, including one that said "Clean Coal is a myth."The Southern Alliance for Clean Energy said Saturday that authorities should more strongly warn residents that muck from the spill could pose health risks.The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation said Friday that the mixture of coal fly ash and water didn't pose an immediate risk to residents unless they ingested it.Elevated contaminant levels were found in water samples in the immediate area of the spill, but not around the intake for the Kingston Water Treatment Plant, which supplies drinking water to residents, state officials said.Allowing loaded guns in national parks a reckless move...Dianne Feinstein. Dianne Feinstein represents California in the U.S. Senate.http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/12/29/ED5D14VH27.DTL&type=printableWith its days numbered, the Bush administration has made an unnecessary and dangerous change to a 25-year-old regulation that bans concealed, loaded firearms in America's national parks and wildlife refuges.This regulation, created by the Reagan administration, has done an outstanding job of making these special places among the safest in the nation. And it did so without imposing unreasonable restrictions on gun owners - it merely required that weapons be unloaded and kept in a place that's not readily accessible, such as a car trunk.But this 11th-hour rule change - slipped in by a lame-duck administration late on a Friday with Congress out of session - will let people with concealed weapons permits bring loaded firearms into national parks and wildlife refuges.This is an astonishingly reckless move, made in the absence of any public outcry in favor of changing this rule. In fact, the public consistently rates our national parks at the top of federal government programs that work well. There is no reason to fix a system that Americans overwhelmingly tell us is not broken. Simply put, this is the Bush administration's parting gift to the gun lobby - at the expense of the health and safety of the public, park rangers and wildlife.Here's why it's a bad move:Allowing loaded and accessible weapons in our national parks will create a dangerous environment for the millions of Americans and tourists from around the world who visit our national parks every year. These park visitors expect a safe and enjoyable experience - not loaded guns and stray bullets.Poaching will increase in our national parks, upsetting the delicate balance between park visitors and wildlife. It will create a confusing patchwork of regulation that will be impossible to enforce. That's because some parks, like Death Valley National Park, cross state lines. California prohibits concealed weapons in its state parks. Nevada does not. Which state's law will apply at Death Valley? The new regulation itself is vague and confusing because it permits state law on gun possession to determine whether guns are allowed in national parks. But many states - including California - generally allow the carrying of concealed weapons with a permit, but prohibit their possession in state parks. The new regulation isn't clear on which state law applies. The regulation that the Bush administration repealed goes back more than 100 years in some national parks, including Yellowstone. It was applied across the board in 1983, and it's been critical in giving park visitors a real sense of safety.This sense is supported by the facts. In fact, the odds of becoming a victim of violent crime in our national parks are 1 in more than 708,000, according to the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees.That's less than the odds of being struck by lightning.The people who know our parks best oppose this rule change. They include the retired Park Service employees group; the National Park Rangers Lodge of the Fraternal Order of Police; the National Parks Conservation Association; the Association of National Park Rangers; and the American Hunters and Shooters Association. These great parks are national treasures, and they should be respected as such.I agree with what the writer Wallace Stegner said in 1983: "National parks are the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst."If there is any good news, it is this: President-elect Barack Obama will take office on Jan. 20. I hope he moves quickly to reverse this monumentally reckless move by his predecessor.Inside Bay AreaPort of Oakland facing $12 million shortfall...Cecily Burt, Oakland Tribunehttp://www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_11321111The resolutions are in, and it's shaping up as a lean, mean new year for the Port of Oakland, which also operates Oakland International Airport.Despite layoffs and other cost-cutting measures this year, the port's number crunchers say the predicted gross revenues of $298.7 million this fiscal year will fall $12.1 million short unless steps are taken to reduce costs or increase operating revenues before then.Given the global economy, the dire state of the airline industry, and the declining number of shipments coming in and going out of the port's marine terminals, the former seems a more likely solution, said Marilyn Sandifur, the port's public information officer."The global economic crisis has redefined what we are able to do," Sandifur said. "The port's situation is very different today than it was a year ago or even three months ago."To close the gap, on Dec. 18 the Board of Port Commissioners voted to temporarily lay off nonessential staff for 13 days this fiscal year, matching steps taken by the city of Oakland to reduce its own $42 million budget deficit. The port layoffs affect 54 percent of its workforce for a total estimated savings of $1.3 million, or $100,000 a day, Sandifur said.The board also approved an action plan with a series of short- and long-term measures to address the port's finances, some of which include:

• Reducing $4 million in personnel expenses. Is it possible to achieve that figure without layoffs? Port staff said they will try.
• Limiting expense growth to 1 percent next fiscal year and 3 percent thereafter. Past expense growth averaged 7 percent.
• Reducing or delaying capital improvement projects.

The cost-saving steps highlight a change in philosophy for the Port of Oakland, by inviting more public-private partnerships to manage and upgrade port facilities rather than doing it alone.For example, in the past, as landlord, the port would take the risk, do the design and build whatever needed to be built, usually to its customers' specifications. Now it is looking for companies willing to invest the time and money to upgrade, modernize and manage facilities in exchange for long-term contracts.The port recently put out a request for proposals to find a concessionaire to modernize and manage the Outer Harbor Terminal, which involves berths 20 through 24, for a term of 50 years. The port also is planning to issue a request next year for qualifications to find a "master lessee" for its 168-acre portion of the former Oakland Army Base land, where the Port once had planned to relocate its intermodal rail yard before market forces and competition put that plan on the back burner.The lessee would assume ownership of the port's existing leases at the base and define potential development options for the land, whether it be rail, warehousing, distribution facilities or parking to support maritime activities and serve the port and the region."We are facing economic challenges during a very difficult period, without precedence for our port," said Victor Uno, president of the Board of Port Commissioners. "During this year, there has been a decline in passenger traffic at our airport, as a number of airlines have closed or reduced service at Oakland International, and our maritime operations are also affected by the worldwide economic contractions affecting goods movement."About $11 million of the shortfall is attributed to the decline in the port's aviation sector, compared with $1 million in the maritime division. Inbound container movement continues to decline. Year-to-date figures from January through November reflect a 7.8 percent drop compared with the same time period a year ago, Sandifur said. Container exports had been up more than 4 percent earlier this year, as the weak dollar made U.S. consumer goods, agricultural products and raw materials more affordable. Exports still are up 1.8 percent, compared with last year, but the number of container exports are likely to fall lower as the dollar gains strength again, Sandifur said.The new measures follow corrective steps the port took last fiscal year when the economy sputtered and the airlines started running into trouble.The port restructured its debt, reducing interest costs by $18 million. It also eliminated, modified and delayed planned capital improvement projects for a savings of $400 million.For example, the port wanted to add another airline passenger terminal at the airport when passenger activity was booming not all that long ago. But that project won't be considered until business picks up again, Sandifur said.The port ordered a hiring freeze last fiscal year. Further cuts were made this fiscal year by first eliminating vacant positions that weren't related to safety and security services, followed by reductions of about 40 employees in late August and early September, mostly in areas that had worked on capital projects, Sandifur said. Overall, 100 positions were eliminated, leaving a staff of 575.Uno said the port would continue to tighten its belt."Earlier this year we adopted a budget that called for austerity and reorganization," Uno said. "Since that (time) we have been closely monitoring our financial health. We are working hard to address the port's overarching financial concerns, and 2009 will be a very challenging year."Contra Costa TimesSpecies act needs checks...Washington Post editorialhttp://www.montereyherald.com/opinion/ci_11328731The Bush administration had the good sense to stop trying to push through last-minute regulations that would have made it easier to build coal-fired plants and other polluting facilities near national parks. It was wise to hold off on changing "new source review" rules that govern when power plants must add pollution-reduction equipment. But it couldn't leave well enough alone when it issued regulations that essentially gut the Endangered Species Act. Because the rule will take effect before Barack Obama assumes the presidency, he's stuck with it. But relief could come by way of the courts. This so-called midnight regulation, despite White House chief of staff Joshua Bolten's directive against such a move, is brought to you by the Interior Department. In May, it listed the polar bear as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act because global warming is shrinking Arctic sea ice. The law was never intended to make up for President Bush's inaction on climate change. But Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne's attempt to protect the polar bear without taking on the larger task of regulating carbon emissions eviscerates the Endangered Species Act. Section 7(a)(2) of the Endangered Species Act says that "Each Federal agency, in consultation with and with the assistance of the Secretary, shall insure that any action authorized, funded or carried out by such agency is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered species or threatened species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of habitat. ..." Where Kempthorne got it right is in preventing the effects of "global processes" (climate change) from triggering consultation "because of the inability to separate out the effect of a specific Federal action from a multitude of other factors that contribute through global processes." But Kempthorne went further by reinterpreting the statute to mean that agencies do not have to consult the Fish and Wildlife Service (or any other service) for actions that may affect any species, not just polar bears. Currently, the give-and-take of the consultation process produces compromises that allow projects to go forward while minimizing the harm to protected species. But Interior's new rule eliminates that vital check on the ambitions of agencies that want to complete projects. Such a check will become increasingly important as President-elect Obama and Congress move to make infrastructure repair and revitalization (roads, high-speed rail, wind farms, etc.) an essential part of an economic stimulus plan. A balance must be struck between that plan and protecting species and the environment. No doubt environmental groups will sue to stop the regulation. By settling out of court on terms that are favorable to the plaintiff and that match the new president's philosophy, Interior Secretary-designate Ken Salazar and the Obama administration could nullify Kempthorne's ill-advised rule much faster than by undertaking the long process of issuing new regulations. Los Angeles TimesArsenic levels too high in Kern Valley State Prison's drinking waterThree years past deadline, California has no solid plan to reduce the arsenic, which has been linked to cancer. Officials spent money to design a filtration plant and then decided not to build it...Michael Rothfeldhttp://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-arsenic29-2008dec29,0,6488232,print.storyReporting from Delano — Beside a field of rolling tumbleweed in this remote Central Valley town, the state opened its newest prison in 2005 with a modern design, cutting-edge security features and a serious environmental problem.The drinking water pumped from two wells at Kern Valley State Prison contained arsenic, a known cause of cancer, in amounts far higher than a federal safety standard soon to take effect.Yet today, nearly three years after missing the government's deadline to reduce the arsenic levels, the state has no concrete plans or funding to do so. Officials spent $629,000 to design a filtration system and then decided not to build it, while neglecting to inform staff and inmates that they were consuming contaminated water.After the prison finally posted notices last April on orders from the state Department of Public Health, the inmates continued drinking the water, under protest."We have no choice," said Larry Tillman, 38, who was serving time for burglary. "We should at the very least receive bottled water, or truck in water from another city."Most correctional officers at Kern Valley State Prison take bottled water to work -- some say they prefer it anyway -- but administrators created a form letter to reject requests for alternative water from some of the 4,800 inmates. The administrators say the health hazard from arsenic, a chemical used in industry and farming, is insignificant, and they promise to filter the water some time in the next few years."It's not that major of an issue," said Kelly Harrington, the prison's new warden.But long-term exposure to arsenic, common in Central Valley communities, has been linked to cancer of the lungs, skin, kidneys, liver and bladder and to other maladies.The situation, critics say, is emblematic of the short-sighted planning and creeping pace of the mammoth prison bureaucracy as it struggles to house 170,000 of California's most undesired residents.The state has placed many of its lockups far from major cities, in rural areas with nothing as far as the eye can see, where they are embraced by residents desperate for jobs and commerce. But officials have sometimes ignored health threats endemic to these regions.Between 1987 and 1994, the state built four prisons in a part of the Central Valley known as a hotbed of valley fever, a sometimes severe infection that usually affects the lungs. Health experts estimate that the state has spent millions to treat inmates for the disease, spawned by a fungus in desert soil.In 2007, the year after five inmates died from valley fever, the state proposed expanding five prisons in the Central Valley but later backed off on two of the sites. One proposed expansion site, Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga, had an outbreak that sickened 520 prisoners in 2006. A Fresno County grand jury concluded last year that the prison, built in 1994, should not have been put there.At the California Institution for Women in Chino, the state has been buying bottled water for prisoners for five years -- at a current annual cost of $480,000 -- because of nitrate levels that violate federal standards in the water supply to the facility and to the nearby California Institution for Men. Nitrates, which are chemical compounds that often get into soil from fertilizer and manure, can cause a blood disorder in fetuses and infants.Chino-area municipalities have built systems to filter their own water, and the state hopes to complete a similar project a year from now for both the women's and men's prisons. But Chino Mayor Dennis Yates, who says sewage from the men's prison has long polluted the Santa Ana River, is skeptical of state officials' competence."Even if you do give them money, they don't do anything," Yates said. "It's just a huge, bloated bureaucracy."In 2001, four years before Kern Valley prison opened, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ordered a reduction in the maximum level of arsenic in drinking water from 50 parts per billion to 10. Water suppliers had until Jan. 23, 2006, to meet the new standard. Recent testing has shown the arsenic level in one prison well at 23 parts per billion and the other at 15.One day this month, in a low-slung white building with blue doors known as Facility C, prisoners bunking in a crowded gymnasium drank from the water fountain and used water from the sinks to make their soup. Some newcomers said they had not been told about the contamination upon arrival at the prison."I just came from an institution where the water was just atrocious, definitely foul," said Ramon Diaz, 25, who had three years remaining on a sentence for drug dealing. "This to me is like spring water here, and you come to find out that it's not the way it should be, either."Corrections Department officials said they could not explain why a filtration system was not included in the prison's design because most of the employees who worked on it had since left. Later, the agency developed plans to add a filtration plant. It obtained $2.5 million from lawmakers for that purpose in 2006.But planners abandoned the idea, electing instead to incorporate the project into an overall prison expansion approved by lawmakers. Flaws in the legislation have postponed the expansion indefinitely.State project manager Gary Lewis said the filtration plant is in the "conceptual study phase."This year the EPA has ordered 11 California water systems to reduce excessive arsenic levels. One was the city of Delano, which serves the North Kern State Prison, a few miles from Kern Valley prison. On Dec. 12, after inquiries by The Times, the state public health department ordered Kern Valley State Prison to come up with a plan by February to comply with the arsenic law.The prison's chief medical officer, Dr. Sherry Lopez, said there was no immediate danger from the lockup's water, based on an e-mail she received in April from a poison-control expert who said arsenic is "much more a regulatory problem than a public health problem.""It kind of reassured me and everybody else here that everything is OK," Lopez said.But Dr. Gina Solomon, a scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group, said that the law is important and that disempowered populations, such as prisoners and poor rural workers, often suffer because of lax enforcement."The standard was set for a reason, and the reason is that arsenic is known to cause cancer in humans," she said. "So the clock is ticking. The longer that people are drinking the water, the higher the risk."Many of Kern Valley's prisoners are serving life terms, but even those with shorter stints are worried."It's definitely a concern for us if there's an abundance of arsenic in the water and we're ingesting that," said Dylan Littlefield, 36, an inmate from Hollywood with five years remaining for attempted robbery and drug dealing. "Who knows if we're going to be treated properly?"The healthcare system in the state's prisons has been turned over to a federal receiver by a judge who said substandard treatment has caused many needless deaths behind bars. The receiver, J. Clark Kelso, was not alerted to the arsenic problem by the state, his top aide said."We're concerned about the potential health risks and we have to look into it," said John Hagar, the receiver's chief of staff. "Constructing facilities that are inadequate from the beginning is unfortunately part of a long-standing trend with the Department of Corrections, so I'm not surprised."Antelope Valley PressPalmdale supports aqueduct-feeding delta...ALISHA SEMCHUCK...12-28-08 http://www.avpress.com/n/28/1228_s3.htsPALMDALE - Statewide water shortages could leave the Antelope Valley like a sitting duck if supplies from the State Water Project - the California Aqueduct - are cut off.Realizing the need to act now to prevent a future crisis, the Palmdale district's board of directors in early December voted 5-0 to contribute from $360,000 to $399,000 to the Delta Habitat Conservation Conveyance Program - an effort to save the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, which feeds the aqueduct. Jon Pernula, the Palmdale district's water and energy resources director, recommended that board members adopt a resolution supporting the funding agreement based on information he learned about conditions in the delta. "I enjoyed the briefings we had on this fairly complex issue," Pernula told the board. "This (resolution) authorizes the (board) president and (district) general manager to sign the funding agreement." A solution for the delta is "sorely needed," Pernula said. "It's important to us to have that happen," board President Dick Wells said. Director Raul Figueroa agreed and moved to approve Pernula's request. Without a fix, the Antelope Valley faces a double dilemma. The region is hydrologically described as a closed groundwater basin, meaning the underground streams do not flow in and out from other areas. The aquifer contains a limited supply, not enough to meet local water demand in an area plagued by rapid population growth. Further complicating the issue, the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta has been the recent target of environmental concerns that focus on dwindling populations of indigenous fish species including the delta smelt, prompting a judge's decision to reduce the amount of water flowing into the aqueduct. Valley water purveyors are mindful of the delicate balance needed to keep the delta habitat healthy and at the same time keep drinking-quality water delivered to 25 million residents throughout the state as well as supply water to more than 750,000 acres of agricultural land. Pernula explained that the concept for the Delta Habitat Conservation and Conveyance Program began in March when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger directed the state Department of Water Resources to work with other state and federal agencies to kick off a public environmental review process needed for the Bay Delta Conservation Plan. The impetus is to develop a "comprehensive, long-term conservation plan for the deteriorating" delta, according to the plan. The goal of the plan is to ensure recovery of threatened and sensitive species and their habitats in the delta "in a way that also will provide for the protection and restoration of water supplies." The state agency is beginning the environmental analysis and preliminary engineering studies, Pernula said, which includes conveyance alternatives such as a system once called the peripheral canal - an infrastructure that goes around rather than through the delta. Current estimated cost for the Delta Habitat Conservation and Conveyance Program is roughly $140 million spread over three years, Pernula noted. Half of that expense, or $70 million, is to be funded by the Department of Water Resources through agreements with State Water Contractors, an association of 29 agencies including the Palmdale Water District, Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency and Littlerock Creek Irrigation District. The other $70 million is expected from federal water agencies. Palmdale Water District dollars would pay the district's share of the environmental analysis and preliminary engineering costs, Pernula said. That amount ranges from $360,000 to $399,000 depending on the percentage of participation from other State Water Contractors, and is based on the Palmdale district's allocation from the state agency. "We've got a lot of commitments so far," Pernula said. "Most of the agencies are taking action this month."