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Monday, January 23, 2006 Quote of the Day: "The nice thing about egotists is that they don't talk about other people." Lucille S. Harper Born on this Day: John Hancock, Potter Stewart, Ernic Kovacs, Jeanne Moreau, Chita Rivera, Rutger Hauer, and Richard Dean Anderson. On this Day in 1978: Sweden becomes the first country to ban aerosol sprays because of the damage they cause to the environment. 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: City of Tustin: Water Equipment Operator Eastern Municipal Water District: Environmental Services Manager MWD of Southern California: Engineer MWD of Southern California: Engineering Technician III American Water: Water Conservation Specialist Want more? See all postings. Today's News —  Water Supply Negotiations under way to buy water rights (Monterey Herald, 1/22) "Looking for ways to supply future development and stanch seawater intrusion, the Marina Coast Water District is negotiating with a 100-year-old water company in Greenfield to buy water rights that predate 1914 California water laws." Proposal aims to limit Fort Ord water use (Monterey Herald, 1/22) "Residents of thousands of planned homes in three major Marina developments on Fort Ord could face huge water-bill surcharges if they use too much water." Fletcher saw potential for land – just add water (SD Union Tribune, 1/22) "'Water on our coast lands is surely the blood of the soil,' wrote Col. Ed Fletcher in his memoirs, published in 1952. Water also made possible the growth of entire communities." Bureau of Reclamation announces initial water supply outlook for Water Year 2006 (Bureau of Reclamation, 1/20) "The Bureau of Reclamation today announced its initial Water Year 2006 outlook for available supplies from the Federal Central Valley Project (CVP)." —  ACWA's "Water Blueprint" Water 'Blueprint' critical to future (NC Times, 1/21) COMMENTARY. "In May, the Association of California Water Agencies, representing more than 440 public agency members, released 'No Time to Waste: A Blueprint for California Water,' in hopes that officials at the local, state and federal levels would begin to discuss and solve California's future water concerns." (See the "Blueprint" below.) No Time to Waste: A Blueprint for Calif. Water (ACWA, 2005) "The purpose of ACWA's No Time to Waste: A Blueprint for California Water is to provide the water community’s vision for how California can meet its future water needs. The Blueprint is intended to serve as an action plan for policy makers, legislators, the Schwarzenegger Administration and others to follow to address the many challenges confronting California’s water supplies." —  Water Quality Water used by U.S. troops contaminated (Associated Press, 1/23) "Troops and civilians at a U.S. military base in Iraq were exposed to contaminated water last year, and employees for the responsible contractor, Halliburton, couldn't get their company to inform camp residents, according to interviews and internal company documents." Clean-water fee ballots arriving in mailboxes (NC Times, 1/21) "Ballots began landing in thousands of mailboxes throughout the city Friday. The ballots, for Proposition C, ask property owners whether the city should assess a $5 monthly fee to support Encinitas' clean-water program." Bad water affects Boulevard schools, restaurant (SD Union Tribune, 1/20) "Tacos Mexico Restaurant on Old Highway 80 in Boulevard has been closed since Jan. 3 after water samples showed the presence of total coliform, said Mark McPherson, head of the county Department of Environmental Health division that regulates small water divisions." —  Dams and Levees Feinstein highlights need for levee repair (CBS, 1/22) "Speaking before a group of business leaders in Santa Rosa last night, California's senior Senator said she would spearhead an effort to shore up California's levee system." Century-old dams being decommissioned (Associated Press, 1/22) "A century ago, when engineers for the fledging Portland General Electric were looking for places to harness rivers to supply a growing demand for electricity, they found the Sandy River tumbling off the flanks of Mount Hood, the snowcapped volcano that is the highest point in Oregon." Tales of two levee systems: Delta at a crisis point (San Francisco Chronicle, 1/21) OPINION. "The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is one region where we can never win the war against nature. So we should quit trying. It's time to place the delta permanently off limits to development." —  Salton Sea Salton Sea work bound to impact air quality (The Desert Sun, 1/22) "If the Salton Sea becomes lower, smaller and drier, the air quality of the Imperial and Coachella valleys could suffer. As such, a major issue facing Salton Sea restoration is how to address these potentially significant air-quality impacts." —  Surface Water Scientists explore ways to rejuvenate waterway (Associated Press, 1/22) "If the striped bass in David Ostrach's laboratory are any indication, the fish of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are in deep trouble." 100,000 Steelhead trout found dead at hatchery (LA Times, 1/22) "Hatchery workers discovered about 100 adult and 100,000 yearlings floating Friday in the Coyote Valley Dam fish imprinting facility at Lake Mendocino, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers." Trinity County wades back into water fight (Times Standard, 1/21) "Trinity County supervisors on Wednesday weighed in on the state and federal government's proposal to pump more water from the Sacramento River Delta, a plan, they wrote, that could hurt fish in the Trinity and Klamath rivers." —  Floods A silver lining in Napa's flood cloud? (Vallejo Times-Herald, 1/22) "Despite a thorough drenching that flooded Napa's downtown and caused an estimated $70 million in damages to the city and $115 million worth of losses countywide, the half-completed Napa River flood control project still proved its worth."  Napa still waiting to hear from the feds (Napa News, 1/22) OPINION. "The estimated damages of the flood in Napa County are in excess of $110 million. That is nearly one-third of all the damage done -- $350 million worth -- throughout the state by the storms that pounded locations from Los Angeles to Mendocino in late December." —  Wastewater and Runoff Ventura fined for wastewater treatment plant (KESQ, 1/21) "Ventura has been slapped with a fine for allegedly continuing to dump dirty water into the Santa Clara River." RiverPark drainage won't just run off (Ventura County Star, 1/22) "In the past, storm runoff from El Rio, nearby strawberry fields and an adjacent industrial park flowed across the RiverPark property into drains that dumped directly into the Santa Clara River. Along its journey, that runoff picked up a blend of trash and other contaminants, which it delivered directly into the county's largest waterway."   —  Toxic Cleanups Tracking toxics near you (San Francisco Chronicle, 1/23) EDITORIAL. "Yet now, the EPA has taken the first steps to weaken the law by proposing a higher threshold and less frequent reporting and eliminating the need to report releases of some of the most toxic chemicals, including lead, mercury and PCBs. U.S. manufacturers applaud the move, saying it will reduce paperwork for small business." Bids for Bermite nearing $60 million (The Signal, 1/21) "The Whittaker-Bermite property — the Santa Clarita Valley’s “doughnut hole” — has drawn two developer bids approaching $60 million each for 996 acres of polluted land that sold in 1999 for $10 million and a promissory note from a company that later went bankrupt." —  Solid Waste New rules bar 'e-waste' from state landfills (Merced Search, 1/22) "Don't throw away that dead battery, old cell phone or broken digital camera. As of Feb. 9, it will be illegal to send household electronic waste - e-waste - to California landfills." —  Local/Agency News ACID removal disputed (Redding Record Searchlight, 1/22) "The president of a local water board may have overstepped her authority earlier this month when she told a fellow board member he was disqualified from his seat, legal experts said last week." Ken Hunt named to Paradise Irrigation District (Paradise Post, 1/21) "A man who has managed couriers and cappuccinos can add a new entry to his resume: water. The Paradise Irrigation District chose loan officer and Colonial Coffee and Tea co-owner Ken Hunt to fill their vacant Division 1 director's seat at Wednesday night's board meeting." EMWD's “Curious Beings” wins CASA award (EMWD News Release, 1/20) "Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) was honored on January 20, 2006 with a California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA) 2005 achievement award. The awards recognize the achievements of publicly owned wastewater treatment agencies throughout California." —  Everything Else Pacific tsunami centers go on 24/7 staffing (Associated Press, 1/21) "When news of a big earthquake hits in the middle of the night, it takes geophysicist Bruce Turner five minutes to fumble for his beeper, throw on a coat, scrape ice off his car windshield, drive a mile to work and transmit a tsunami alert from the West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center." Ex-heads of EPA blast Bush on global warming (MSNBC, 1/20) "Six former heads of the Environmental Protection Agency — five Republicans and one Democrat — accused the Bush administration Wednesday of neglecting global warming and other environmental problems."   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