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Monday, May 22, 2006 Quote of the Week: Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please. Mark Twain Born on this Day: Laurence Olivier, Michael Constantine, Peter Nero, Susan Strasberg, Richard Benjamin, Bernard Shaw, Michael Sarrazin, Bernie Taupin, Al Corley, Naomi Campbell, Alison Eastwood, and A.J. Langer. On this Day in 1967: "Mister Rogers' Neighborhood" premiered on PBS. 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: Rancho California Water District: Electrical Controls/Instrumentation Technician I/II/Senior City of Carlsbad: General Manager, Water Operations East Bay Municipal Utility District: LT Associate Civil Engineer (Wastewater Design Water Education Foundation: Writer/Special Projects Coordinator Brown and Caldwell Engineering: Supervising Engineer Brown and Caldwell Engineering: Senior Engineer Want more? See all postings. Today's News —  The Tunnel Tunnel blasters (SD Union Tribune, 5/21) "When Lake Hodges and the Olivenhain Reservoir are connected, scheduled to be operational by September 2008, the $104 million project will link Lake Hodges for the first time in its 88-year history to the aqueducts that carry water from the Colorado River and Northern California." Tunnel's turbines to produce hydroelectricity (SD Union Tribune, 5/21) "San Diego is not known as a hydroelectric hotbed. The image of large dams with gigawatt-churning turbines is more typical in the Pacific Northwest. But one component of the tunnel under construction between Lake Hodges and the Olivenhain Reservoir is a 40-megawatt power plant. One megawatt powers about 1,000 typical." —  DWSRF DWSRF has financed 4,400 projects since inception (WaterWeek, 5/19) "The federal Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) had provided almost $9.5 billion to finance nearly 4,400 projects in all 50 states and Puerto Rico through FY2005, reports USEPA in a report on the 9-year-old program." —  Water Quality Cold War technology could help determine  Stockton's groundwater's health (Stockton Record, 5/22) "Remnant technology from the Cold War era could help geologists determine the health of Stockton's groundwater." Dublin, San Ramon tap water fluoridated again (Contra Costa Times, 5/20) "Dublin San Ramon Services District customers who've mourned the loss of fluoride in their tap water, can dry their tears." Rancho California district to remove arsenic (NC Times, 5/20) "The Rancho California Water District is set to start reducing high levels of arsenic in a well after its board approved buying the necessary equipment." Pendleton ending bottled water distribution (NC Times, 5/19) "The Marine Corps is ending the distribution of bottled water to residents that began after tests last summer showed the presence of lead in the water serving some base homes." China says south coast water pollution "serious" (Reuters, 5/19) "China has admitted that measures to tackle 'serious' water pollution in the southern booming province of Guangdong are not working, state media reported on Wednesday." —  Dams and Levees Folsom Dam at 50 (Sacramento Bee, 5/22) "It's kind of tough to be the Folsom Dam. You provide drinking water and power for hundreds of thousands of people. You hold back storm water that would flood cities. You cool things off for the fish at Nimbus Hatchery. You're the reason there's a beautiful lake in Folsom." Former farmer helps find levee weak spots (Stockton Record, 5/22) "On a stormy December night more than 20 years ago, Mike Stefani got the kind of phone call Delta farmers dread." Corps' levee work in New Orleans is faulted (LA Times, 5/22) "A wide range of design and construction defects in levees around New Orleans raise serious doubts that the system can withstand the pounding of another hurricane the size of Katrina, even after $3.1 billion in repairs are completed, a team of independent investigators led by UC Berkeley's civil engineering school said Sunday." Who'll pay bill for Auburn dam study? Stay tuned (Sacramento Bee, 5/20) "Costly studies for big federal water projects are supposed to be funded partially by local governments that would benefit from the projects, but the studies planned for a multipurpose dam at Auburn may turn out to be an exception." —  Surface Water and Fish Fish-flow study receives $30,000 from agency (Contra Costa Times, 5/22) "The Livermore-Amador Valley's water wholesaler will contribute $30,000 to a study of water flows needed in Alameda Creek and its tributaries to restore steelhead trout runs to and from San Francisco Bay."  With the Delta at stake, nothing is peripheral (Sacramento Bee, 5/20) EDITORIAL. "Of all the proposals for California's massive water system, none is more controversial than a canal around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Voters defeated the so-called Peripheral Canal in 1982. Now the idea is back as a proposal to solve a new array of problems." Rescuers warn of Kern River's wrath (Bakersfield Californian, 5/20) "Kern County Sheriff's Department officials updated the number of drownings on a sign at the mouth of the Kern River Friday from 224 to 234. The figures have been tracked since 1968." Excess water flow impacts dam's capacity (KGET, 5/20) "Snow is melting off the mountains and creating higher than usual water levels around Kern County. In fact, so much water is running off the Sierra Nevada Mountains, it’s causing too much of a good thing." —  Wastewater Arcata can't dodge wastewater fine (Eureka Times Standard, 5/20) "Water quality regulators wouldn't budge on a $297,000 fine levied against Arcata's celebrated marsh waste treatment facility for violations of its poorly fitting permit." —  Radioactive Waste DOE to halt strontium leaking toward river (Tri-City Herald, 5/20) Thanks to Bonnie Macdonald for this one: "The Department of Energy plans to begin laying a trap next week for wayward radioactive strontium that's leaking into the Columbia River." —  Security Classes Security classes offered by some colleges (LA Daily News, 5/20) "The major also can lead to positions with cities, water agencies and refineries, as all such places have to consider terrorism and disasters with day-to-day operations, said Barry Gribbons, College of the Canyons vice president of institutional development." —  Local/Agency News Opinions split on raising DWP rates (LA Times, 5/21) "Ollie McWilliams has been living on a fixed income since she retired as a nurse in the 1990s. News that the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is trying to increase its rates has her thinking about returning to the old-fashioned way of lighting her home." Speaker selected for Yolo water panel luncheon (Woodland Daily Democrat, 5/20) "Steve Hall, executive director for the Association of California Water Agencies, will be the keynote speaker at Yolo County Flood Control & Water Conservation District's annual Water Conservation and Stewardship Award luncheon, scheduled for Thursday in Woodland." Idyllwild Water District celebrates solar success (Riverside P/E, 5/20) "The Idyllwild Water District celebrated the success of its solar project that has ended its dependence on traditional electricity sources during a dedication ceremony Friday." Governor to appoint Democrat as head of Cal-EPA (Los Angeles Times, 5/20) "Linda Adams will be named director of the California Environmental Protection Agency today by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, an administration source said." —  Everything Else We'll keep buying, Aqua America CEO says (Water Tech Online, 5/19) "The head of Aqua America, the largest private owner of water utilities in the US, says he thinks the company can stay on its pace of buying 25 to 30 water companies a year, according to a May 19 Reuters report." Seeking sex from women with late water bills (MSNBC, 5/20) "The 72-year-old mayor was arrested this week on charges he sought sex from two women in exchange for preventing their water from being turned off." Report: Hole in ozone may be gone by 2050 (Reuters, 5/20) "The ozone hole over the Antarctic is likely to begin contracting in the future and may disappear by 2050 because of a reduction in the release of chlorofluorocarbons and other ozone-depleting gases, according to a team of Japanese scientists." 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