Department of Water Resources California Water News: Top Items 1/11/10

'I think we dodged a bullet' Preliminary Eureka damages at $12.5 million; one major injury reported

Eureka Times-Standard-1/10/10

At a multi-agency press conference this afternoon, Humboldt County officials reported that the county fared well in Saturday's earthquake, with only one major injury -- a broken hip -- reported.

”On the whole, I think we dodged a bullet,” said State Assemblyman Wesley Chesbro, D-Arcata. “It could have been far, far worse.”

Eureka Fire Chief Eric Smith reported that his department has received 119 reports of damage, and that a “liberal” and preliminary assessment indicates an estimated $12.5 million in damages to public and private structures within city limits.

No such estimates were available for the county as a whole, or for other municipalities.

Smith reported that an estimated 14 people were displaced by the quake, and have made accommodations through the Humboldt County chapter of the Red Cross to stay in local hotels and motels.

In Eureka, which reportedly received the brunt of damages in the county, several buildings -- mostly un-reinforced masonry structures -- have been cordoned off and determined unsafe.

Humboldt County Administrative Officer Phillip Smith-Hanes said that St. Joseph Hospital reported that 27 people came to the hospital Saturday night for emergency care. All were treated and released, Smith-Hanes said, except for one person who suffered a broken hip.

Mad River Community Hospital, Smith-Hanes said, reported a couple of visits, but no serious injuries. Fortuna's Redwood Memorial

Hospital and Garberville's Jerald Phelps Community Hospital reported no earthquake-related emergency room visits Saturday, according to Smith-Hanes.

North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, and Chesbro said at the press conference they will do everything possible to help with state and federal responses to ensure a full recovery.

The city of Eureka and Humboldt County have declared state of emergencies, and Smith-Hanes said the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors will take a vote Tuesday on whether to uphold the county's declaration, which would automatically appeal to the governor's office for assistance.

All officials on hand at Sunday's press conference praised Pacific Gas and Electric Co. for its response to the quake.

”PG&E's response has been pretty amazing,” Chesbro said.

PG&E spokeswoman Jana Morris said that a peak of 36,000 customers were without power Saturday night, but said that by 6 a.m. power had been restored to all but two customers.

Morris also said that PG&E has determined that at least 10 natural gas lines were compromised in the quake. Of those, Morris said two had been repaired and crews are currently working on the other eight.

Officials were not immediately able to comment on the state of county schools, or whether they would be in session Monday.#

http://www.times-standard.com/ci_14161827

N. California dodges major damage in 6.5 quake

S.F. Chronicle-1/11/10

By Don Thompson (Associated Press)

Northern California's Humboldt County escaped with what appears to be just minor damage from a powerful weekend earthquake, and residents and officials say their quake readiness played a role.

"We're very, very fortunate that it's not worse, but there is a lot of damage," Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., said in a Eureka press conference Sunday.

Damage from Saturday's offshore 6.5 magnitude quake was widespread but so far minor as agencies continue their assessments — cracks in walls and floors, temporary power outages, shattered windows, toppled store shelves, broken dishes and home appliances and fixtures, some bent railings on bridges.

A preliminary estimate of damage in Eureka came to $12.5 million, said the city's fire chief, Eric Smith. No countywide assessment was available.

There were no serious injuries. More than two dozen people sustained cuts and bruises mainly from shattering glass and an elderly woman broke her hip.

"I think we can attribute some of this to being prepared," said Phil Smith-Hanes, Humboldt County spokesman. "Folks in this area are used to living in earthquake country."

Agencies and residents say they were earthquake-ready with plans in place and an awareness of safety measures such as not hanging heavy things on walls. That helped avert destruction and panic, and sped along the recovery, officials said.

Rick Littlefield, owner of Eureka Natural Foods, said earthquakes are "part of the rules of the game up here."

The quake left some of the grocery store's aisles ankle-deep in broken bottles, jars and spilled goods, a loss Littlefield estimated at about $20,000. But the shelves were bolted in place, so they didn't topple. A generator kept power going.

When the temblor hit, about 150 people were shopping, he said.

"A lot of customers freaked," he said Sunday morning. "People just dropped what they had — in the checkstand even. People who were in the middle of a transaction just bailed and left their stuff."

But no one was hurt, and damage was limited to some easy-to-fix cracks on the floor. Littlefield kept his sense of humor as he tried to tackle the sticky mess in the shampoo and juice aisles with a wet/dry vacuum that was soon overflowing with bubbles.

At least, he said, "it smelled really good."

The quake's location — centered in the Pacific about 22 miles west of Ferndale and away from urban areas — also helped the region escape relatively unscathed what could have been a major disaster. A quake of similar size — 6.7 magnitude — killed 72 people and caused $25 billion in damage in 1994 in the Los Angeles area.

An earthquake analyst with the U.S. Geological Survey said that while earthquakes cannot be predicted, a series will generally start with the largest tremor, then taper off in size and frequency. A magnitude-4.2 aftershock struck the region late Sunday night, the latest of many to hit the area since the quake.

"Almost always we see this pattern where they taper off," said Don Blakeman, with the USGS. This quake happened at the intersection of three plates — the Pacific, the North American and the Gorda.

Power outages were widespread, affecting about 36,000 customers initially, but a quick response restored electricity to all by early Sunday, said Janna Morris, a spokeswoman for Pacific Gas & Electric Co.

The utility company was surveying gas lines by helicopter and on foot. Ten problems with gas pipes were reported; by Sunday afternoon, two had been repaired, and crews were working on the rest, said Morris. The company's former nuclear power plant outside Eureka suffered no damage.

"Our crews worked very quickly," said PG&E spokesman David Eisenhauer. "We practice for this type of event, this type of emergency. We have earthquake plans; they were put in place and went very smoothly."

A hazmat team responded to the Eureka campus of College of the Redwoods to a report of spilled chemicals in a lab.

Smith, the fire chief, told the Eureka Times-Standard Sunday evening that just one chemical spilled and the cleanup went smoothly.

California Department of Transportation crews out surveying roads and bridges found no significant damage by Sunday morning, said Stan Woodman, Caltrans maintenance manager for the district encompassing Humboldt county.

Woodman felt the quake at his home in McKinleyville — "It was rocking and rolling," he said. But the only consequences for transportation infrastructure have been some bent rails on bridges and slight settling by an inch or 2 of approach ramps, he said.

In the city's historic downtown, two lanes of traffic were blocked where a brick-and-mortar building sustained some damage. An entire block was closed to traffic in front of the Eureka theater, where the four-story 1930s Art Deco marquee was visibly cracked and tilted toward the street. Bricks from the upper floor of another building came through the roof of a garage below it, crushing a car.

Elsewhere, a wood-frame house in a residential area shifted off its foundation and dropped into the crawl space below, splintering the stairs leading to the front porch. A window broken in the quake was boarded up.

The only evacuations were of this single-family home and an apartment complex that housed 14 people.

At Bayshore Mall, the shaking loosened some ceiling tiles, broke shop windows and lights, and knocked about merchandise. Engineers also were surveying for structural problems, said Mitch Metheny, operations manager for General Growth Properties, which owns the mall.

Sprinklers caused a fair amount of water damage at the facility, but initial inspections revealed no deeper trouble, he said. Tenants likely won't be allowed in until Monday, and the stores will probably remain closed to customers for a few days longer, Metheny said.

As in much of the town, he said, the mall suffered "a lot of minor damage — pervasive but minor."#

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/01/09/national/a172520S33.DTL

No tsunami warning after 6.5 earthquake 27 miles from Eureka

Crescent City Triplicate-1/9/10

No tsunami warning was issued after a 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck in the Pacific Ocean 27 miles from Eureka on Saturday afternoon.

There have been multiple aftershocks since the 4:27 p.m. earthquake, which originated 10.2 miles under water, according to the U.S. Geological Survey Web site.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, there was no danger of a tsunami hitting the western coast of California.

There were reports of possible injuries in Eureka.

Del Norte County authorities, while acknowledging there was no tsunami warning, said local emergency personnel were on alert.

The quake caused stores to close in Eureka, people were evacuated and the power went out all over the city. The shaking lasted around 30 seconds.

USGS geophysicist Richard Buckmaster said the quake was felt as far south as Capitola in central California, and as far north as Roseburg in central Oregon.  Aftershocks followed, the biggest registering at a magnitude of 4.5.

The Bayshore Mall was closed off to customers and employees, and there were possible injuries, according to the Times-Standard newspaper. One employee reported that several people were picked up by ambulances.

Mall Employees also reported light fixtures falling out of the ceiling and floor tiles popping up off the ground, the newspaper reported. Another employee reported seeing chunks of the ceiling fall onto customers. 

Police in Ferndale, the community closest to the quake’s epicenter, said the jolt caused stucco to fall off City Hall and broke shop windows, strewing the historic downtown streets with glass shards.

“I thought a tire had blown off my truck because it was so hard to keep control of the vehicle,” Officer Lindsey Frank said. “Power lines were swaying, and I could see people in the fields trying to keep their balance.”

Televisions tumbled and objects were knocked off walls in Arcata, one resident said.

“The whole town is kind of freaked out right now,” said Judd Starks, the kitchen manager at a bar and restaurant known as The Alibi. “All the power is out, people are out walking around.”

Jo Wattle, a public works employee working in the public information post at the Humboldt County Sheriff's Office command center, told Triplicate reporter Adam Madison there have been reports of street lights and power lines down on the ground. Wattle said Humboldt county law enforcement and emergency crews' first concern was addressing multiple water, sewage and gas leaks that have been reported.

She said there have been no reported injuries as of 6 p.m.

The earthquake knocked out the power in Arcata, and one resident said many people had objects knocked off walls and televisions tumble.

“It was huge — one of the biggest earthquakes we’ve had up here in 20 years,” said Judd Starks, the kitchen manager at a bar and restaurant known as The

Alibi. “The whole town is kind of freaked out right now. All the power is out, people are out walking around.”

Sandra Hall, owner of Antiques and Goodies in Eureka, said furniture fell over, nearly all her lamps broke and the handful of customers in her store got a big scare. She said it was the most dramatic quake in the 30 years the store has been open.

“It was shaking for a very long time,” Hall said.

The quake was stealthy in Crescent City, strongly felt in some areas and unnoticed in others. Still others heard it instead of feeling it.

"It was a roller not a shaker," said Kurt  Mack Harvey, a Del Norte resident for 40 years. "I'm from Southern California originally, there was no sharp shaking, just a rolling motion."

Another Del Norter, Ryan Schaffer, said, "I thought for sure it was the big one. I want to go watch for a tidal wave."

One man who wouldn't give his name was on a ladder taking down Christmas lights in Crescent City when the quake hit.

"I was at the top of my ladder, it was slippery already, and suddenly the damn thing started shaking like it needed a drink," he said. "Luckily it wasn't enough to knock me off. I wasn't even bothered till after."

Triplicate reporters Nicholas Grube and Kelley Atherton were shopping at the Target store in Eureka on Saturday.

"I felt a slight vibration on my feet," Grube said. "Then it started to shake a little harder. There was  a loud boom. The lights went out. We crouched on the floor. It was still shaking. Even if we wanted to get up, I don't know if we could have."

Atherton added: "The sound of the building shaking was probably the scariest."

"You could hear yelling and screaming," Grube said. "Children were crying."

Employees urged shoppers to stay calm. As they exited, one woman who had just arrived asked if the store was closing.

"I drove all the way from Hoopa to go shopping today," she said.

Dan Bowermaster of San Francisco was with relatives in Eureka when the quake hit. He said he had been in several moderate and large quakes throughout California but had never felt anything as dramatic as this one.

“It just spiraled bigger and bigger,” Bowermaster said by phone. “It was extremely unsettling, it was shaking in kind of a circular way.”

Bowermaster said the refrigerator in his cousins’ home moved 3 or 4 feet, and glassware fell off the shelves and broke. He drove across town shortly after the quake and saw many store windows destroyed.#

http://www.triplicate.com/20100109107909/News/Local-News/Update-No-tsunami-warning-after-65-earthquake-27-miles-from-Eureka

Time to fix the 'Delta fix'

Woodland Daily Democrat-1/10/10

By Lois Wolk

Opinion

In this season of New Year's resolutions, it is natural to reflect on the past and set goals for the year ahead.

Just two months ago, the Governor and legislative leadership hailed the recently enacted water deal as a monumental step forward to save Delta.

Ironically, that enthusiasm is not shared by many of those that live, work and play in the Delta region. Those that know the Delta best are all too aware that the celebrated water package leaves much more to be done in order to save the largest estuary on the west coast.

Every generation has attempted to fix the Delta. Past efforts have been based on 19th century outmoded ideas, bad process, billions in public subsidies, and, in the end, the chronic failure of state agencies to follow good science or enforce existing laws designed to protect the Delta and Northern California. In many ways, the most recent water package sets a course to repeat this tragic history.

This newest "fix" relies upon voters approving an $11.14 billion pork laden bond measure on November's ballot. That bond will help finance the costs of a new peripheral canal -- a ditch the equivalent of a 100-lane freeway, 48 miles long, through prime farmland, diverting water from the Sacramento River around the Delta directly to pumps and aqueducts southward.

Supporters of the canal, the water exporters, hope that separating the fish from the water further upstream will protect them from court rulings requiring the water to flow naturally through the Delta. Others, including Delta residents, farmers and fishermen, disagree.

Yet the biggest problem isn't necessarily what is in this package, it is what was left out:

Respected legal experts representing Northern California water agencies warned that the package lacked water rights protections and would uproot the decades old priority system of water rights, risking the municipal and agricultural water supplies of Northern California for the benefit of water exporters to the South. These legal experts were discounted and the protections were omitted.

The five Delta counties were excluded from the process and the solution.

Environmentalists asked for legally enforceable standards that would guarantee the Delta enough freshwater flow for fish and other wildlife to survive. Instead, they got unenforceable "flow criteria" to determine what the Delta needs, but not what it will actually get. "Trust us," they were told. "It's the best we can do."

Financial experts, including the State Treasurer and the non-partisan Legislative Analyst Office, warned that unprecedented and growing bond debt would further exacerbate California's budget crisis and require deeper cuts to health care, education and social programs across the state. They stressed the need to require that those who benefit from these expenditures pay for them, not all taxpayers. The financial experts were ignored.

Now we are left with a new water policy full of loopholes, irresponsibly financed, and replete with vague promises unlikely to produce a positive outcome.

Now it's the Delta fix that needs fixing. We must close the gap between the headlines and the policy, the hype and the reality.

Water flows necessary to sustain the Delta's ecosystem and communities must be protected. Historic safeguards, including the priority water rights system, must be upheld to protect Northern California communities, save California's largest salmon runs, and restore the health of the fragile Delta estuary.

Finally, new water projects and their impacts must be paid for by those who benefit from them, not taxpayers who have already paid and continue to pay for their own water systems through their own water bills. Reliance on massive new borrowing forces Californians to into a no-win choice between water projects and education, public safety, healthcare and all other programs that rely on the general fund.

Defeating the bond in November is just the first step. Next we need to come up with responsible policies and a realistic financing plan that will achieve the desired outcomes we all share. Most important, we need to involve the people in the communities who will be forever affected by the changing Delta ecosystem and economy. It's not too soon to get started. Let's make 2010 count.#

State Senator Lois Wolk represents the 5th District.

http://www.dailydemocrat.com/guestopinions/ci_14160868

170 Delta landowners resist push toward peripheral canal

Stockton Record-1/11/10

Editorial

State water officials are seeking access to 170 Delta properties whose owners are saying no. But this access dispute has less to do with property rights and privacy than with the state's obvious interest in digging a ditch - a peripheral canal - to take north state water around the Delta and ship it south.

These landowners, some of them anyway, are trying to block a water project they believe is ill-conceived, being rammed down their throats or both.

No peripheral canal, which supporter Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger likes to call a conveyance system, has been formally proposed, let alone approved. But the just-passed package of five state water bills allows it to happen, and a seven-member Delta panel that will oversee state water issues will have the power to make it happen. The fact that the governor will name four of the panel's seven members is a pretty clear indication that's the direction the state is headed, the lack of a strong scientific or engineering basis and the concerns of Delta region residents and officials be damned.

Make no mistake, the forces aligning to push a peripheral canal project are strong. Their financing and organization, from south state water districts to south Valley farming and water interests, grows each day. So does their vitriol (as does that of Delta residents). It takes nothing more than a drive south on Interstate 5 to see the rage. Billboards dot the freeway blaming Congress for the drought - a "Congress created dust bowl" sign sitting in a parched field, for example - and how water is essential to life. One billboard near Kettleman City even demands that Stockton stop dumping its sewage into the Delta (which it doesn't).

They want more of the water that now goes through the Delta, and they mean to have it.

First, though, comes the ground work, literally. State Department of Water Resources officials want onto selected Delta lands to do things such as survey, drill test wells, take soil samples, observe boat traffic, trap animals and look at historical artifacts. Some landowners have gone along. But entry to 170 properties is being denied, and the state has gone to court to force access. How exactly the matter will play out is unknown.

The government's right of eminent domain - taking private property for what's believed to be a greater public good - is well-established although often controversial. In Stockton, for example, two restaurants, Arroyo's and Cancun, were forced to move in recent years when the city determined private redevelopment projects where more important.

Those, however, were specific proposals, not a maybe-we'll-dig-a-ditch idea. And in this case, it's not a matter of a survey crew mapping a plot. The state wants to move in backhoes and well-drilling equipment. It wants nighttime access.

No homeowner would like the idea of a public official's knock at the door demanding backyard access for a crew carrying shovels and traps and night-vision goggles. Now add to that intrusion the strong hint that a railroad right of way was being considered through your yard.

A judge's studied consideration of the situation is the least a property owner has the right to expect.#

http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100111/A_OPINION01/1110302/-1/A_OPINION

Sacramento's Pocket absorbs brunt of water project effects

Sacramento Bee-1/10/10

By Robbie Waters

Opinion

Unbelievable as it may be, less than 30 days after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the five historic water bills Nov. 12, the State Department of Water Resources began public scoping on yet another water intake facility proposed for the Sacramento River across from the Pocket.

This one is called the North Bay Aqueduct Alternative Intake Project and would take water from the Sacramento River in the Pocket and deliver it through an 84-inch underground pipeline to Solano County and Napa County water agencies.

Reasoning for the necessity of this state project states that Solano and Napa water agencies currently grapple with less than optimal water quality. "The water is difficult and costly to treat in order to meet drinking water standards," the state's Notice of Preparation stated. Why Sacramento residents should suffer so that Napa can have cheaper water is not explained.

And suffer we would. From past experience we know the construction of these massive infrastructure facilities erodes the quality of life for our Sacramento residents with noise, unceasing dust, bright night lighting and earth-shaking pile-driving. The alteration of the rivershed, recognized by the city of Sacramento with the Sacramento River Parkway designation in 1997, would be permanent and irrevocable, affecting all Sacramento residents who use the parkway for recreation.

One troubling issue is a lack of coordination from our friends at the state of California among all the water projects. Currently, the Pocket in Sacramento has the Freeport Regional Water Project water intake winding up construction, two more proposed intakes from the Bay Delta Conservation Plan to convey water around the Delta, ultimately to the Bay Area, the Central Valley and Southern California, and this new North Bay Aqueduct Alternative Intake Project.

That makes four water intakes for three projects in the past five years.

All concentrated in the 6-mile stretch of river where the densely populated Pocket is located – even though the Sacramento River, at 447 miles, is the longest river in California. From all three projects, the intakes proposed for the Pocket would ship water to the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Fresno, Los Angeles, Napa, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Solano, Ventura and more.

Is anybody at the state willing to implement a systemic, logical approach and analyze the cumulative impact of all these water projects on the community? These massive and intrusive projects present a grossly disproportionate impact on our neighborhoods.

Another deeply troubling issue here is dismal public outreach on the part of the Department of Water Resources.

Notice of the public scoping for the latest project consisted of the required legal notice in The Bee classified ads and on the Department of Water Resources Web site. Unless you were an insider, most Sacramentans would not recognize "North Bay Aqueduct" as pertaining to them even if they happened upon these items. There was no additional outreach to the city of Sacramento by the Water Resources project manager or the consultants.

The timeline was unrealistically compressed. We learned of the project at Thanksgiving, but the public scoping meetings were over by Dec. 14, which is less than three weeks from notice to completion of scoping. This small window does not allow adequate time for community-based organizations to get the information and distribute it to their members, thereby ensuring that all members of the public can participate.

The timing of the public scoping in December suggests the state did not genuinely seek public input. The meetings for the public were scheduled in the busy pre-holiday weeks when most people are distracted with holiday events and tasks, or are out of town. It's for this very reason that we, at the city of Sacramento, do not host public scoping meetings in December unless it's urgent.

I have written a formal letter of protest on this proposal to the Department of Water Resources, basically informing them of my discontent with the manner in which they have handled this latest proposal and that I will personally testify at future hearings on this proposal. I will not stand by while our community is targeted.

Yes, it's unbelievable. Water issues will continue to be controversial in 2010 and are likely only to increase in contentiousness. These are complex projects that have serious, daily impacts on our quality of life. Systemic coordination and public outreach at the state level need to be more effective for Sacramentans and all Californians in 2010 and beyond.#

Sacramento City Council member Robbie Waters represents District 7, which includes the neighborhoods of the Pocket, Greenhaven, Meadowview and Valley Hi.

http://www.sacbee.com/325/story/2449107.html

City must fess up on utility monies

Sacramento Bee-1/11/10

Editorial

The city of Sacramento needs to come clean. Over the last 13 years, have city officials ignored state law and diverted millions of dollars in utility funds to pay for general government services in violation of Proposition 218?

Approved by state voters in 1996, Proposition 218 has been a thorn in the side of local governments ever since. It bars cities and counties from using the fees paid by utility ratepayers for water, sewer, garbage pickup and other utility services to pay for other general government expenses, things like parks, libraries, police and fire protection.

An explosive report issued by the Sacramento County grand jury last week accuses the city of Sacramento of illegally diverting more than $21 million in city utility ratepayer funds to the city's general fund programs since 1996.

According to a confidential memo obtained by The Bee, the City Attorney's Office warned city officials in March 2008 that utility funds may have been improperly diverted. After that memo was issued, former Utilities Department Director Gary Reents hired an outside consultant to quantify the alleged violations.

Reents says City Manager Ray Kerridge refused to pass that report on to the City Council and ordered him to keep it a secret as well. Kerridge says he wanted a more detailed legal opinion before going to the council.

Information about the potential violations came out just as the city was beginning to experience the full brunt of the economic downturn. In the summer of 2008, Sacramento was struggling to close a $58 million budget gap.

City finance officials had proposed 20 percent cuts for most agency budgets and 8 percent cuts for police and fire. Hundreds of positions were being eliminated and layoffs were looming. If acknowledged at that time, the violations alleged by the consultant would have made an already very difficult budget situation even worse.

Reents ignored the city manager's order and passed the private consultant's report on to council members. Some members of the council remember remember receiving it. Others don't. And some discounted his claims because Reents had just retired from city service under a cloud.

At the time, his department was embroiled in a federal investigation over black-market water meters and other missing equipment. At least one member of the council, Rob Fong, says he saw the report and discussed it with Kerridge, who, Fong says, promised to look into the matter and get back to the council. That never happened.

Now that the grand jury has issued its report, the city's Proposition 218 problems cannot be ignored. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association says it plans to file suit against the city.

Even before the grand jury report was issued, the city had adjusted its procedures to end the most questionable spending practices. But the law is complex, and determining which expenditures are permitted and which aren't won't be easy.

The grand jury says ratepayer money was used improperly to subsidize water rates for the city Parks and Recreation Department; that the city illegally spent $2 million in utility funds to buy property for the proposed Natomas Auto Mall; and that another $1 million a year was illegally allocated to help pay for upgrades for downtown development projects. The city also spent ratepayer funds to pick up trash after the Jazz Jubilee and other festivals and to clean up illegally dumped debris.

Some of the expenditures cited – the Natomas Auto Mall purchase, for example – are clearly improper. But others the grand jury questioned are hard to fault. Why shouldn't utility ratepayer funds be used to pick up illegally dumped debris, a public service that legitimately benefits all ratepayers?

The city of Sacramento has 90 days to respond to the grand jury report. The council and the public deserve a full public hearing on the matter sooner than that. If there are Proposition 218 violations, the sooner the council knows what they are and how they are likely to impact the city's already precarious budget, the sooner it can take the necessary steps to respond.#

http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/story/2451807.html

Riverside, San Diego counties water use down 13 percent

North County Times-1/10/10

By Dave Downey

A half-year into the water-use restrictions that were triggered by Metropolitan Water District's regional supply cuts, local providers in Riverside and San Diego counties are staying within allocations and are not in danger of being socked with fines that probably would be passed on to residents, officials say.

Metropolitan directed local providers throughout Southern California to take 10 percent less of the water it pipes in from Northern California and the Colorado River for the 12-month period that began July 1 than they did during the previous year.

And the giant Los Angeles-based agency has threatened to hammer providers with massive financial penalties if they take more than they are supposed to.

However, collectively, the region's providers have ordered 13 percent less water than they could have by this time of the year and still be on track to stay within allocations, said Brandon Goshi, manager of resource analysis for Metropolitan.

"It looks good so far," Goshi said in a telephone interview.

But, cautioned Bob Muir, a Metropolitan spokesman, "That doesn't mean that the trend is going to hold."

That trend is based on preliminary water-use figures for the first five months since the Metropolitan ultimatum took effect, or July through November.

Typically, half of a year's water is consumed in July through November, Goshi said.

That's because the year-to-date period includes the hottest and driest months.

Through November, the three primary providers in San Diego County and western Riverside County report they are staying within the directive.

The San Diego County Water Authority, which provides water to a majority of the San Diego area's 3 million residents, is 21 percent below its allocation, said Bob Yamada, water resources manager for the authority.

In Riverside County, consumption is 15 percent under the allocation for Western Municipal Water District, said Michele McKinney Underwood, a district spokeswoman.

Western distributes water to about 850,000 people concentrated in the Interstate 15 corridor, including Lake Elsinore, Wildomar and parts of Murrieta and Temecula.

Over at the Eastern Municipal Water District, which serves 675,000 people in Menifee, Moreno Valley, French Valley, Hemet, Perris and Temecula, water use is down 10 percent, said district spokesman Peter Odencrans.

The three area providers, which distribute water to agencies and cities that sell water directly to homes and businesses, attribute much of the reduction to people heeding warnings about the drought and trimming lawn and garden watering.

"They've done a super job of using water wisely," McKinney Underwood said.

And many are doing more than was asked of them.

"The performance to date has certainly exceeded our expectations," said Yamada, of the San Diego authority. "There is a real commitment on customers' part to adhere to the water restrictions that are in place and to practice changes in their lifestyle."

But providers said part of the reduction is a result of the avalanche of foreclosures that has buried the local economy.

And the economic downturn has brought home construction to a halt, meaning that Eastern, which had one of the fastest-growing territories of any water agency in the state during the housing boom, doesn't have to worry ---- for now ---- about any savings being eclipsed by new growth.

"We're glad that the pressure on us from new construction is off," Odencrans said. "We're glad to have a little breathing room right now."

The pressure of staying within Metropolitan's allocations is off throughout the area, because consumption is down just about everywhere.

For example, comparing water use for the last five months with the same period in 2008, consumption is down 14 percent in the Olivenhain Municipal Water District, which serves Encinitas, Carlsbad, Fairbanks Ranch and Elfin Forest, and 12 percent in the Vallecitos Water District that takes in parts of San Marcos, Vista and Escondido, district officials said.

In Riverside County, consumption is down 10 percent year over year in the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District, which serves Lake Elsinore, Canyon Lake and Wildomar, and 9 percent in the Rancho California Water District, which covers Temecula and a portion of Murrieta, officials said.

Those declines are on top of reductions the year before.

Riverside and San Diego counties typically get 60 percent to 75 percent of their water from Metropolitan.

Whether the big wholesaler will slash supplies again next summer depends on how much snow falls in the Sierra Nevada this winter.

While residents wait to see what kind of winter we have, they can help matters by taking advantage of the rain, cool temperatures and dormant lawns and cranking up conservation efforts an extra notch, said Matt Stone, general manager for Rancho California Water District.

"This is the best time of year ... to save on outdoor water consumption," Stone said, during a late December storm.

Over the long term, officials are hoping to improve the region's supply through an $11.1 billion water bond on the November 2010 ballot that would finance construction of canals to deliver water to Southern California without harming Sacramento-San Joaquin delta fish.

That legislative package includes a requirement that urban dwellers trim water use 20 percent by 2020.

Steve Arakawa, manager of water resources for Metropolitan Water District, said that 20 percent would be subtracted from a community's average per capita use over 10 years ending sometime between 2005 and 2008.

And so, he said, communities probably will receive credit for their conservation efforts of the past year.#

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/swcounty/article_6306bcee-2a08-598d-a7f3-2c649eff3803.html

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