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Thursday, May 11, 2006 Quote of the Day: "Why isn't there a special name for the tops of your feet?" Lily Tomlin Born on this Day: Irving Berlin, Martha Graham, Salvador Dali, Denver Pyle, Louis Farrakhan, Dick Garcia, Dr. Robert Jarvik, Frances Fisher, Mark Herndon, Martha Quinn, and Natasha Richardson. On this Day in 1910: Glacier National Park in Montana was established. If you missed this yesterday, please click here to see Paul Cockrell Wastewater Art Gallery, including shots from the EBMUD, Delta Diablo Sanitation District, San Francisco's Oceanside Water Pollution Control Plant, the Tahoe Truckee Sanitation Agency ... and more. Sent to more than 24,000 readers nationwide... and thousands more via our lineup of online ads like the one above that appears on watertechonline.com Latest postings: Valley County Water District: Executive Assistant/Board Liaison Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District: Office Services Supervisor Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District: Water Production Operator III Orange County Water District: Assistant Director of Engineering Union Sanitary District: Facilities Maintenance Manager Want more? See all postings. Today's News —  Water Supply Placer pumping station wins approval in House (Sacramento Bee, 5/11) "An American River water pumping station under construction for as much as $55 million will be transferred to Placer County Water Agency upon completion under legislation approved Tuesday by the House." Water plans key to Central Valley's future (Modesto Bee, 5/11) "Regional planning — based on cooperation and finding common solutions — forms the backbone of the state's latest strategy to ensure a reliable water supply for its burgeoning population." Draft EIR/EIS released for the Contra Costa Water District alternative intake project (Bureau of Reclamation, 5/10) NEW RELEASE. "The Bureau of Reclamation and the Contra Costa Water District (CCWD) have released the Draft Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) for the CCWD Alternative Intake Project for public review and comment." —  Pollution and Runoff Source of pollution by San Marcos park in dispute (SD Union Tribune, 5/11) "Contaminated water and trash have been reported in a storm-water channel next to Bradley Park, which was built on top of an old landfill." Plating company guilty in water pollution case (SD Union Tribune, 5/11) "A Santee plating company and its owner were convicted yesterday of illegally letting heavy metals and acids flow into the municipal sewer system." Legislation seeks abandoned mines cleanup (EPA, 5/10) NEW RELEASE. "The Good Samaritan Clean Watershed Act aims to lower legal roadblocks to cleaning up more than half a million abandoned hardrock mines that litter the American landscape. The legislation, introduced on behalf of the Bush Administration, would remove the potential liability for volunteer organizations willing to restore watersheds affected by acid drainage from the mines." Sounding alert on Santa Clara pollutants (San Jose Mercury-News, 5/10) "A chance exchange between an Intel contractor and construction workers at Pedro's Restaurant in Santa Clara has prompted a new look about how the public should be told about soil and water pollutants." Sri Lanka's water still suffers effects of tsunami (Associated Press , 5/10) Thanks to Mark Moss for this one: "Thousands of wells along Sri Lanka's coast remain unusable because of contamination caused by the 2004 Asian tsunami, a government official said, as international monitors urged new measures to tackle the problem." —  Dams and Levees Licensing issue still unresolved for Stockton dam (Stockton Record, 5/11) "The dam from which Stockton gets most of its water remains under investigation for not being properly licensed while its operators hustle to resolve the issue with state officials." Quake could break levees (Mercury News, 5/11) "Even a moderate earthquake could cause California's aging levee system to collapse, flooding 400,000 homes and sending brine into the drinking water of homes across Northern California." New levee board shows its pro-developer tilt (Sacramento Bee, 5/10) COLUMN. "Last year - on Sept. 16, to be precise - the state Reclamation Board, a relatively obscure state agency that oversees flood protection levees, approved a potentially far-reaching policy to intercede when local governments and developers propose residential subdivisions behind levees designed to protect farmland." —  Surface Water Cities seek to keep drugs out of waterways (Examiner, 5/11) "Peninsula agencies this week are asking residents to clean out their medicine cabinets and bring drugs in for disposal in an effort to keep prescription drugs out of area waterways." Woodbridge district accused of water violations (Lodi Sentinel, 5/10) "The irrigation district allegedly spilled silt into the Mokelumne River, which could cause salmon eggs to suffocate, according to Fish and Game spokesman Patrick Foy. Foy said he wasn't aware if any salmon eggs died." Putting Napa Creek first (Napa Valley Register, 5/10) "Bowing to strong neighborhood pressure, the Napa City Council voted Tuesday night to make flood defenses on Napa Creek the community’s top flood control priority." Trinity River torrent (Eureka Times-Standard, 5/10) "The massive snowpack and heavy rains winter dealt this year are swelling the Trinity River, which will run higher this spring than in any spring in decades." —  Wastewater State has concerns over Lodi's wastewater facility (Stockton Record, 5/11) "Lodi officials received notice from state regulators last week that the city's wastewater treatment plant wasn't adequately testing treated effluent and was in violation of state rules." More wastewater found in a creek east of Gilroy (Gilroy Dispatch, 5/10) "State and county water inspectors have identified another wastewater spill in a creek east of Gilroy, the same site where 240,000 gallons of cow manure and other harmful farm wastes were dumped last spring." —  Local/Agency News Elsinore Valley water board meeting rescheduled (NC Times, 5/11) "With members out of town at a conference, today's water board meeting has been rescheduled for Monday." Clovis water service protest letters may be invalid (Fresno Bee, 5/11) "Local Agency Formation Commission officials Wednesday received a sizable stack of protest letters against a proposed water service area north of Clovis, but it's not clear how many are valid." SSJID wins ACWA's 2006 Clair Hill Award (Business Wire, 5/10) "The Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA) today presented its prestigious Clair A. Hill Award to the South San Joaquin Irrigation District for its South County Water Supply Program: A Promise Kept." WRD offers free groundwater tour - May 18 (WRD of Southern California, 5/10) NEW RELEASE. "The tour will include a briefing of WRD projects at our office in Cerritos. We will then board a bus to the San Gabriel River Spreading Grounds where you will see firsthand the extensive work WRD’s team of Hydrologist and Engineers has been doing to secure the highest water quality for our Groundwater storage project." —  Everything Else California sees fewest butterflies in 40 years (MSNBC, 5/10) "The number of butterflies migrating through the state has fallen to a nearly 40-year low as populations already hurt by habitat loss and climate change encountered a cold, wet spring, researchers said."   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