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Lost Wages

That old Western truism, "Whiskey is for drinking, water is for fighting," certainly applies to Nevada.

Water officials in the urban southern part of the state have long argued they need to siphon water from the rural north to quench arid Las Vegas, the state's economic engine. But with the recession halting the growth that guzzled so much of the Colorado River, rural residents fearful that their land may turn into, well, California's Owens Valley have been handed a new line of argument in the water warfare.

The two sides will continue to do battle at a series of hearings this month regarding the Southern Nevada Water Authority's proposed pipeline. So observers of the long-running feud were amused when the authority's Las Vegas museum, the Springs Preserve, announced its selection for a recent kids movie night:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2011/08/las-vegas-water-grab-owens-valley-chinatown-rango.html

Californians need water, but desalination projects are bogged down

Officials blame the slow progress on red tape, a disorganized local industry and environmental opposition.

Carpinteria Water

water is the most precious resource on earth..just stop and think where would you be without it? water is life... from the creeks where the waterbugs swim, to the water that trickles over country roads to the mesmerizing motion of the ocean....

WTF???

Sable, the Sewage-Sniffing Dog, is going to Santa Barbara

but who's gonna sniff for dog shit pollution on the beach??

Vermontville, MI - April 4, 2010: - Environmental Canine Services LLC (ECS) in Vermontville MI, was recently awarded a grant from the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) to take Sable, the first dog in the world to be scent trained to track sources of human waste in storm drains, to Santa Barbara California.  The City of Santa Barbara Creeks Division will collaborate with Sable and his trainer/handler (Scott Reynolds of ECS), along with Dr. Patricia Holden of University of California Santa Barbara, to test canine scent tracking and confirm the results with microbial source tracking (DNA-based techniques) for human fecal markers, at the same sample locations. 

The research may be the first of its kind.  The results of the study could provide valuable information about the ability of scent trained canines to discriminate between human sewage and animal fecal sources in stormwater and surface waters.  This would make it easier to target the sources of E.coli contamination that cause beach closings and contaminate lakes and streams.

"We are really excited about being a part of this research project with the City of Santa Barbara and WERF", says Karen Reynolds, President and canine handler at ECS.  "This could really open the door for using scent trained canines to assist agencies with a rapid screening method for stormwater monitoring." 

Karen Reynolds is training with Logan, a two year old collie mix, with a strong nose and an even stronger personality.  Karen and Logan will accompany Scott and Sable to Santa Barbara as a source of secondary confirmation of Sable's findings . Daniel Ringel, Environmental Technician for ECS, is also training with his Akita mix Sky. Dan will be assisting with the technical reports at the end of the study.

 All three ECS canines were adopted or rescued and trained as scent detection dogs to help protect the environment. 

You can learn more about ECS and their services at www.ecsk9s.com.  For more information about WERF please visit www.werf.org. 

unbelievably stupid idea!!

Nunes and neocons claim California trading healthcare votes for water after big rain storms...

ok, so every neocon from Oklahoma to Alabama to California is fretting about Obamacare passing and who's going to pay for it. Who do you think, the robber barons of the past will be the underwriters of today! Big corporations will! Rich socialites will and maybe nonprofits sitting on billions of dollars will. There are a few ultra-conseravtives in central California and Devin Nunes is one of them. He is one of the Newt Gingrich new Republicans and wants water to flow freely to the San Joaquin Valley farmers, of which his family is one...he claims the feds have turned off the spigot and have harmed farmers in the central valley. Now, with the Obamacare care vote on Sunday, two democratic districts will be favored by Obama with more water..at least that's what Nunes wants you to think. Nunes spends a lot of time on FOX NEWS bandying about conspiracy theories about 1960s radicals and hippies who have, through environmental policy, reduced the water available to his Fresno farmboys..if only it were that simple, but we're talking water here, and water in the west is never simple. Read "Cadillac Desert" by Marc Reisner for a good idea of what happened..

  water

according to the neocons:

Curiously Timed Announcement: On March 17, 2010, the Department of Interior (DOI) announced that they were allowing new water supplies to flow through the Central Valley Project in California. The news was not scheduled to be released for at least two weeks, but DOI explained that the early announcement came at the behest of two particular House Democrats:

apparently these folks don't know the history of water in California..and by history I don't mean what Brittney Spears was wearing yesterday....

Despite the benefits of the Central Valley Project, many CVP operations have resulted in disastrous environmental and historical consequences. The salmon population in four major California rivers have declined as a result, and many natural river environments, such as riparian zones, meanders and sandbars no longer exist. Many archaeological and historic sites, as well as Native American tribal lands, now lie submerged under reservoirs for the CVP, which has received heavy criticism for promoting high-water-demand irrigated industrial farming that in turn has polluted rivers and groundwater. USBR has also been known to stretch the boundaries of many state and federal regulations in its operations of the CVP. The Central Valley Project Improvement Act, passed in 1992, intends to alleviate some of the problems associated with the CVP.

In recent years, a combination of drought and regulatory decisions passed based on the Endangered Species Act of 1973 have forced Reclamation to turn off much of the water for the west side of the San Joaquin Valley in order to protect the fragile ecosystem in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and keep alive the dwindling fish populations of Central Valley rivers.

REPRESENTATIVE (R - CA) Devin Nunes gets a lot of money from industrial farmers, casinos/gambling, dairy farmers, pharmaceutical companies, and beer wine and liquor industry...it's no wonder he doesn't want healthcare to pass for he thinks his corporate sponsors will have to pay for it.... the irony is the very farmers who cry about water are the ones who depleted and contaminated their own groundwater basins and central rivers in the valley and opened the doors for not only good environmental stewards to fix their mess but also extremists who try to fix and protect everything!!

Water Privatization Threatens Workers, Consumers and Local Economies

Our country’s good public operators have kept water safe and affordable for most households, but despite their successes, they are coming under attack. Private control of water is threatening their jobs, their livelihoods and the wellbeing of entire communities.

Multinational water corporations are trying to convince elected officials that privatization is a miracle cure for budget deficits and aging water lines. They claim that it will reduce operational costs, but they neglect to advertise that any savings will come from cutting corners, downsizing the workforce, decreasing salaries and wages and impeding unionization. They will turn a public resource and service into a profit center.

These practices are irresponsible. They can lead to service problems and maintenance delays. What’s more, because companies tend to just pocket the difference in labor costs, ratepayers and taxpayers are unlikely to see their bills reduced.

Because of high bills and lost jobs and income, privatization can negatively affect local economies. While workers spend their hard-earned dollars in their community, the multinational corporations operating municipal water systems send earnings generated locally overseas to international stockholders.

So, in effect, they transfer money out of town when they cut labor costs to increase their profits.

Continue reading.

Private Water Company  wants 43% rate increase!

By Sondra Murphy
Last week’s presentation by a Golden State Water Company official to the Ojai City Council went over like a wet blanket. Ken Petersen, GSWC Coastal District regional manager, briefed the city on the 43 percent increase they are asking for from the California Public Utilities Commission. Petersen said a public meeting on the rate case was still under way at Nordhoff High School.

After a review of GSWC’s history, Petersen explained that the proposed increase, as reported in the OVN’s Jan. 22 issue, is to cover the cost of the deteriorating water system’s infrastructure and capital projects aimed at improving it. “We still have water mains that have been in the ground since 1929,” said Petersen, “and that, of course, affects water quality.”

If it sounds a bit like déjà vu to customers, it is because the same claims were cited by GSWC, an American States Water Company subsidiary, back in 2007. After going through an onerous CPUC hearing process, GSWC was allowed a 35 percent rate increase in 2008.

Petersen cited upgrades to aging pipes and supply wells, such as the San Antonio tank, as two of the reasons the increase is being sought. “Rates are established to allow recovery of operating costs and provide an opportunity to earn fair rate of return on investment,” Petersen said. “Since the last comprehensive general rate case in 2007, facility and operating costs have increased, resulting in the need to file the current proposal.”

Regarding increases in operating costs, Petersen specified water and electricity supply expenses, materials and supplies, group health insurance, property insurance, maintenance expenses, and postage. Petersen also said the company will be seeking a change from bi-monthly to monthly billing statements. “We have only five people working here in the coastal area and we would need an extra person reading that meter,” he said, if the rate case is approved.

“I’m sure we are all moved by your case for a rate increase, but what your customers are probably wondering is, ‘What are customers getting for these increases?,’” said Council-woman Sue Horgan. She added that it was her understanding that GSWC was directed at the last increase to submit reports to the city. “To my knowledge, we have received no such report.”

“The master plan that Mr. Petersen referenced is to be that report, but I have not yet seen it,” said city manager Jere Kersnar.

“I would suggest you start with those issues before giving us reasons for an increase,” Horgan advised Petersen.

“It sounds like you’re just assuring your rate of return to investors on the backs of the Ojai community,” said Councilwoman Betsy Clapp. “I’m fundamentally opposed to private water corporations owning public water. I think it’s pretty deplorable that, two years later, you’re asking for an increase of this amount.”

ojaivalleynewsblog

do you fear the water??

There are many factors that can influence the concentration of bacteria in a sample of water," said Alexandria B. Boehm, the Clare Boothe Luce Assistant Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Stanford and lead author of the ES&T study. After conducting extensive field studies of Southern California beaches, Boehm is extending her research to the sandy shores of Northern California not far from the Stanford campus.

"A lot of water sampling is done once a day, but there usually is a one- to four-day delay between the time a sample is taken and testing results are known," she explained. "In our study, we found that a lot of pollution events last just one day or one hour, so the problem is likely to have passed by the time a warning sign is posted."

The result, Boehm said, is that people may be barred from swimming at beaches that are actually clean, while contaminated beaches may be inadvertently kept open, exposing swimmers, snorkelers and surfers to a wide range of illnesses -- some producing mild symptoms (such as chills, fevers and upset stomachs) and some that are potentially lethal (including hepatitis and meningitis). Beach closures also can have a serious economic impact on restaurants, shops and other local businesses.

"Decisions to post or close a beach should not be based on the concentration of indicator bacteria in a single grab sample," Boehm noted. "It's not that the single sample standard doesn't protect people, it also overprotects them and says the beaches are dirty when they're not."

 

Dangerous Currents

 

Flawed Tests

 

 

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Peninsula water supply on hot seat

By KELLY NIX

Published: June 20, 2008

SACRAMENTO — AN ATTORNEY for the State Water Resources Control Board accused California American Water Company Thursday of illegally diverting water from the Carmel River for years and doing little to find a replacement water project.

The attorney, Reed Sato, also accused Cal Am of trying to “bootstrap” a 13-year-old water cutback order into a permit to continue illegal pumping.

Peninsula Water Wars

California & Mexico Water Wars

Ventura Water Crisis

 

 

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In the Owens Valley, resentment again flows with the water

By Louis Sahagun
May 16, 2009

Reporting from Lone Pine, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is quietly prospecting once again for land and water rights in the Owens Valley, sparking tense disputes among residents over the agency's influence on their economic stability.

Unlike previous battles between Owens Valley residents and the DWP, which focused on the environmental and economic damage caused by L.A.'s pumping of local water supplies, the current campaign seeks to break the agency's grip on land the locals say is needed for commerce, hospitals, parking and affordable housing along a 112-mile stretch of Highway 395 east of the Sierra Nevada.

 

 

"sustainable communities -- that's what they are sucking out of this place along with our water," said Scott Palamar, a photographer who moved to Lone Pine in July after his Malibu home was destroyed by a brush fire in 2007. "The DWP only wants just enough infrastructure to support its own operations. Beyond that, they don't seem to care."

LATIMES

 

 

 

 

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$100,000,000 Water District Debt..

 

one hundred million!!

 

 

 

that's what Carpinterians have to pay down!

 

The little board room was full for the Carpinteria Water District board meeting on Wednesday evening. District manager Charles Hamilton with help from his staff, gave us a blow by blow account of this year's water costs. The rates will go up, but not by the huge numbers that were rumored. The most troubling aspect of the presentation was the huge debt the district is dealing with: one hundred million dollars...costs keep rising, water standards get extremely stringent, state water costs go up and we're are stuck with the bill! The mind boggling debt figure had a few folks in the room angry. Local writer Ann Bardach suggested the district file for bankruptcy. Others questioned the need for covered reservoirs and too strict water standards. 

The district said one cost  is related to the Zaca fire. The fire aftermath has increased the cost of treating water at the Cater Plant in SB due to the high volume of particulates fouling water plant filters. We have to pay $480,000 for the extra maintenance! How much did the ranch that started the fire pay? A small fine and the judge let them off the hook..what a crock! It is criminal and the Santa Ynez ranch needs to pay! A few more public hearings will be held and the rate payers have a chance to protest the increases to force the board into other options...maybe this time a message will be sent. The board needs to be more aggressive in fighting some of these costs..more pro-active in saving money. However, the debt won't be paid anytime soon. The board requested that more members of the public attend meetings to help  out with ideas to solve the budget issues....a good idea! In the mean time, the water staff should be supported and paid for their professional service!

 

 

 

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USGS Study: Are Shorebirds Polluting Santa Barbara's Surf?

By Melinda Burns

Monday, June 18 2007

Kelp accumulates bird droppings, then washes into the sea. Photo by Melinda Burns/SBN Everybody knows that dirty creeks pollute the ocean during storms. But why is the surf in Santa Barbara sometimes unsafe for swimming in summer, when no creeks are running?   It’s a question that led local officials in 2004 to initiate a $500,000 study of ground water, creek water and the ankle-deep water they call the “splash zone” at East and West beaches near Mission Creek. Citizens’ groups such as Heal the Ocean have long suggested that the city’s aging sewer system was leaking into the ground water and travelling underground into the surf. But preliminary results from the study, which is funded in part by Heal the Ocean, suggest that city sewers are not to blame, the authors say.   Gulls pick through the kelp on the beach near Mission Creek. Photo by Melinda Burns/SBN The real culprit, they say, might be the shorebirds. Under this hypothesis, seagulls and other birds pick through the kelp for food; the kelp sits on the beach accumulating a lot of sea bird manure, or guano; a higher-than-usual tide comes along, washes the kelp off the beach, and bingo! The surf tests high for fecal bacteria.   John Izbicki, a U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) hydrologist from San Diego who heads the study, said that hundreds of samples taken from 13 ground water wells, Mission Creek and the ocean for more than two years do not show that city sewers are polluting the ground water. “So far, we have not found direct evidence of contamination on the beachfront or in Mission Creek from the sewer water,” Izbicki said. “One of the concerns was the main sewer line along West Beach. But we have not seen evidence of fecal bacteria contamination from that line.”   East Beach at Mission Creek is the second most polluted beach in the county. Photo by Melinda Burns/SBN At the same time, he said, when scientists collected pounds of kelp off the beach in buckets, let the kelp sit in distilled water for awhile and then decanted off the water and tested it, they found, to their surprise, that it was quite contaminated.   “We got very high concentrations of fecal bacteria,” Izbicki said. “Classicial microbiological thinking says that as that stuff sits on the beach, the bacteria should be dying. But they may be far more persistent than we thought.” There are no studies linking guano with illness in humans. In addition to birds, other potential sources of beach water pollution could include dogs, seals and humans, Izbicki said. Fecal bacteria are present in the gut of all warm-blooded animals. Hillary Hauser, executive director and co-founder of Heal the Ocean, said the group would be pleased if the study finds conclusively that city sewers are not the cause of ocean contamination. “It’s what you don’t know that drives you nuts,” Hauser said. “But the jury’s still out as to what is going on in the ground water in this area.” Birds have been found guilty in the past for polluting the ocean. In 2001, a DNA study performed by the University of Washington found that thousands of seagulls, attracted by the Tajiguas landfill, were the cause of fecal contamination at Arroyo Quemada Beach, then the No. 1 most contaminated beach in the county. The gulls sat on the beach for hours and the tide carried their guano into the water. It had been previously thought that the landfill or nearby septic tanks were leaking into the ocean. But soon after a falconer began scaring away the bi