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Thursday, January 12, 2006 Quote of the Day: "I find excitement in discovery. The excitement is not in the fact that you created something, but that you've found something beautiful that's always been there." Richard Feynman (Thanks to John Barbieri for this one!) Born on this Day: Jack London, Tex Ritter, Henny Youngman, Ray Price, The "Amazing Kreskin", Joe Frazier, Wayne Wang, Drew Pearson, Rush Limbaugh, Ricky Van Shelton, Howard Stern, Kirstie Alley, George Duke, Jeffrey Bezos, Melanie Chisholm, and Andrew Lawrence. On this Day in 1915: The U.S. Congress established the Rocky Mountain National Park. Be sure to check out the Agency Links and Other Links under the Resources section in the left column. We are continually updating the info. Today's addition: Butte County Water & Resource Conservation. Sent to more than 20,000 readers nationwide... and thousands more via our lineup of online ads like the one above that appears on watertechonline.com Latest postings: Otay Water District: Electrician I/II Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District: Sr. Field Maintenance Worker - Utility Maintenance Western Municipal Water District: Public Information and Conservation Representative Golden State Water Company: Water Quality Engineer Golden State Water Company: Water Quality Technician II Golden State Water Company: Water Quality Technician III Want more? See all postings. Today's News —  Security Blasting caps found in Huntington Beach harbor (Associated Press, 1/12) "Divers worked Wednesday to recover at least eight wired blasting caps discovered in a Huntington Beach harbor. Authorities ordered a ban on cell phone use to prevent accidental detonation of the devices." Divers find commercial-grade explosive in canal (Associated Press, 1/12) "Commercial-grade explosives discovered in a canal south of Los Angeles prompted authorities to ban cell phone use Wednesday to prevent accidental detonation." —  Water Supply Yuba County water transfer decision delayed (Marysville Appeal-Democrat, 1/12) "The Yuba County Water Agency has 10 days from Tuesday to prepare more reasons for delaying revised releases on the lower stretches of the Yuba River." Judge approves West Creek water plan (The Signal, 1/12) "A superior court judge has ruled that adequate environmental studies of water availability were conducted for West Creek, a 2,300-home north Valencia development originally approved in 1999, giving the project’s developer the green light to build." Environmental documents available for renewal of 18 interim water service contracts (Bureau of Reclamation, 1/11) "The Bureau of Reclamation announces the availability of the Draft Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA) and the Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the proposed renewal of 18 interim water service contracts." Negotiations several Central Valley Project San Luis Unit long-term water service contracts (Bureau of Reclamation, 1/11) "The Bureau of Reclamation announces the re-opening of negotiations with several Central Valley Project (CVP) San Luis Unit Contractors to renew agriculture and municipal and industrial water service contracts for a period of 25 years." Proposed Warren Act Contract with the Sacramento Suburban available for review (Bureau of Reclamation, 1/11) "The Bureau of Reclamation and the Sacramento Suburban Water District have completed negotiations for a contract under the Warren Act for the use of Reclamation's Folsom Reservoir to convey a total of up to 29,000 acre-feet per year of non-Central Valley Project (Project) water when excess capacity exists." —  Calfed Metropolitan board ratifies initial step of plan to overhaul Calfed environmental restoration efforts (MWD News Release, 1/11) "The first step toward a sweeping overhaul of environmental restoration efforts in the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta that would provide up to $60 million for various projects and studies over the next two years was ratified today by Metropolitan Water District’s Board of Directors."   —  Water Quality San Diego, drink it in (Voice San Diego, 1/12) "Historical neglect and a tattered credit line have jeopardized the city of San Diego water system's compliance with state health regulations, a confluence of events that could threaten the future quality of the city's drinking water if left unattended." Feinstein demands studies on perchlorate (Riverside Press-Enterprise, 1/11) "A California senator demanded Tuesday that the military make good on a congressional directive to conduct a major health study on a rocket-fuel chemical found in water and food consumed by millions of Americans." —  Surface Water IID Board approves All-American Canal action (IID News Release, 1/11) "The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors approved two actions during its Jan. 10, 2006, regular meeting concerning the project to concrete line a 23-mile portion of the All-American Canal." Lining the canal and the chaos theory (Imperial Valley Press, 1/11) Editorial: "Whether the Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors should refrain from voting today on the All-American Canal lining project, as the Imperial County Farm Bureau has requested in a formal letter to the board, we cannot say." Road sand turning Lake Tahoe water murky (Fox Reno, 1/11) "Last year, snow removal operations resulted in about 10,000 tons of sand and 2,000 tons of salt being dumped on roads in the Lake Tahoe Basin, according to state, county and city transportation department estimates." —  Floods/Stormwater Unable to fix New Orleans levees by June, Corps decides on floodgates (Associated Press, 1/12) "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has decided to proceed with proposed flood gates as a way to prevent storm surge from building up in three of the city's major drainage canals, two of which breached during Hurricane Katrina."   Bethel Island officials seek emergency funds (Contra Costa Times, 1/12) "Officials of the special district that maintains Bethel Island's levees declared a state of emergency Wednesday in the Delta community." $40 million damage in North Coast counties (Associated Press, 1/12) "Recent floods caused more than $40 million in damage to farms, ranches and vineyards in Sonoma, Napa and Mendocino counties, agricultural officials said." DWR closes Sacramento Weir (DWR News Release, 1/11) "The Department of Water Resources completed closing all of the gates at the Sacramento Weir early Tuesday afternoon, January 10, 2006. Twenty of the gates were opened on December 31, 2005 when the Sacramento River reached 27.5 feet at the I Street Bridge, with a rising forecast." More cash would flow for Sacramento protection (Sacramento Bee, 1/11) "The Sacramento region's flood defenses would get a significant boost - ranging from bulldozers and dump trucks to engineers and maintenance workers - under the governor's proposed budget for next year." Residents demand flood control (Santa Rosa Press Democrat, 1/11) "As residents of flood-prone areas urged the Rohnert Park City Council to do something about their neighborhoods, city officials Tuesday said a cumbersome permit process is prolonging the problem." —  Wastewater Pismo's new plant means no spills, fewer bills (SLO Tribune, 1/11) "The city's newly upgraded wastewater treatment plant is now on line after plant employees connected two new main units designed to more efficiently treat the 1.2 million to 1.3 million gallons of sewage a day that flow to the plant." —  Meetings AWA: WaterWise Breakfast Series (AWA of Ventura County, 1/11) January 19. "The program “The Big Water Picture” will provide the latest information on: Fox Canyon GMA Plan Revisions, Seawater/Saline Intrusion, Agriculture Water Quality Issues, Santa Clara Watershed Chlorides, and Grant Funded Projects." For online registration, click here. —  Local/Agency News Metropolitan board seats new delegation from city of Los Angeles (MWD News Release, 1/11) "Four new directors representing the city of Los Angeles were seated today on Metropolitan Water District’s Board of Directors." DWP to reopen bidding on dust control (Los Angeles Daily News, 1/11) "The DWP Commission voted Tuesday to start a new bid process for work in the Owens Valley, where a dust-control project has generated concerns about rising costs." Amador Water Agency to consider eminent domain for pipeline route (Ledger Dispatch, 1/11) "The Amador Water Agency Board of Directors is scheduled Thursday to consider resolutions 'declaring the necessity for and authorizing commencement of eminent domain proceedings respecting pipeline easements' in 13 properties on which the Amador Transmission Pipeline would encroach." —  Everything Else AWWA publishes Demonstration of Emerging Technologies for Arsenic Removal - Volume 2: Pilot Testing (AWWA, 1/11) "This second of two volumes presents the results of a cooperative research effort between industry, academia, utilities to evaluate and demonstrate the treatment effectiveness of a wide range of technologies for arsenic removal."   About the California Water News The California Water News is a weekday e-mail with links to current news stories in the California water resources industry.  Subscription is free to qualified persons!  Please go to our subscription page to subscribe.  For more information, you can also see some frequently asked questions. Referrals to new subscribers are welcome, as are suggestions for new links, news stories, opinion pieces, and your agency's press releases.   Any documents you e-mail us may be published on our web site and linked to from the News, subject to editorial discretion. Ken Harlow Brown and Caldwell 400 Exchange, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92702 714-689-4852