“An advisory committee wants Monterey County Water Resources Agency officials to ask the Board of Supervisors to put money where its mouth is.
“The regional advisory committee, charged with developing a plan to use a Salinas River water permit to battle seawater intrusion, asked water agency officials on Thursday to consider asking the supervisors to help pay for the effort.”
“When property is sold within the Soquel Creek Water District, outdated toilets and showerheads must be switched out with more efficient devices to meet a state standard that will change in January.
“Officials with the district serving 35,000 customers from Capitola to La Selva Beach announced this week that toilets using more than 1.6 gallons per flush must be replaced with those using 1.28 gallons.
From the Monterey County Herald, in a commentary by Ed Mitchell:
“Two years ago, a major competitor to farmers and vintners came into Monterey County when the first fracking permit went to the Board of Supervisors. I was there that day and have been working since to get a fracking ordinance established in Monterey County.”
“With regulators having put the kibosh on allowing farmers to cut trees and brush and remove debris and sediment, the Salinas River channel is estimated to accommodate only half the water volume of recent years, a situation farmers underscore by recalling the disastrous flood of 1995.”
“The freezing temperatures the Salinas Valley experienced Wednesday night into Thursday morning have damaged Monterey County’s $15 million lemon crop, a grower said Thursday. …
“The cold snap is expected to last at least through Sunday, according to the NWS.”
“A former Monterey County water official admitted in 2011 he knew in early 2010 that county water board member Steve Collins was being paid for his work on the failed regional desalination project, a possible conflict of interest.
“However, in a tape recorded message, former Water Resources Agency General Manager Curtis Weeks said he told investigators for the county that he believed Collins was working for the Marina Coast Water District and not the project manager, RMC Water and Environment.”
From the California Department of Water Resources (DWR):
“Deemed in the 1990s a seismic risk by DWR’s Division of Safety of Dams, 92-year-old San Clemente Dam in Monterey County is scheduled for demolition in the fall of 2015. … Along with removing the risk of dam failure, the project includes re-routing the Carmel River and opening up the waterway for native steelhead trout to freely swim and spawn, and recover red-legged frog habitat.”
“A study of Salinas Valley spinach crops has led to important information for farmers to reduce over-application of fertilizer, which becomes a health risk when it seeps into groundwater.
“The study, conducted by the University of California Cooperative Extension, included researchers from Monterey County who looked at the critical balance of how much nitrogen fertilizer is absorbed, or ‘taken up’ by spinach, versus how much is applied by growers.”
“A coalition of environmental groups and an elderly Monterey County woman filed a lawsuit against state water regulators for failing to protect the public from toxic agricultural discharge.
“The suit, filed on behalf of Antonia Manzo, a Monterey County resident, by Monterey-based The Otter Project and Monterey Coastkeeper and five other organizations, alleges that the state Water Board passed a regulation governing agricultural discharge that is so weak it is in violation of state law.”
“Employment, rapid growth, water quality and supply, and the cost of living all topped a list of concerns for San Luis Obispo County residents surveyed as part of a report released Tuesday.”
“Two lawsuits were filed in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court late Monday challenging a county emergency ordinance that limits pumping from the Paso Robles groundwater basin.
“The lawsuits could be the first step in putting the basin into adjudication, a lengthy and expensive process that puts the courts in charge of managing the basin.”
From the San Luis Obispo Tribune, in a commentary by Phil Dirkx:
“The Paso Robles groundwater basin is in more trouble. You’ve probably heard that we’ve been pumping water from that basin faster than nature replaces it. We’ve also been having a drought. …
“Let’s not become the modern Anasazi. Let’s regulate pumping to ensure a sufficient reserve water supply.”
“A state Public Utilities Commission judge has indefinitely postponed review of a highly secretive settlement agreement proposal between California American Water and Monterey County over the failed regional desalination project.”
“The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday will again consider adopting specific criteria for granting exemptions to pumping restrictions in the depleted Paso Robles groundwater basin.
“The goal is to grant exemptions to projects that were already in the pipeline when a partial moratorium on new vineyards and other growth was declared Aug. 27.”
“Lake San Antonio in southern Monterey County is known for its year-round water recreation. Except this year. It’s dry as a bone.
“That has had an impact on businesses depending on boaters, anglers and fresh water enthusiasts of all stripes. It also poses a potential risk to growers downstream next summer.”
“Marina Coast Water District officials have agreed, in secret, to pay the attorney of former general manager Jim Heitzman for representing him during depositions in a civil case aimed at determining the validity of the failed regional desalination project agreements.
“The decision, approved in closed session, was never announced in open session and district officials still have no intention to do so.”
From The Salinas Californian, in a commentary by Norm Groot:
“As we close out the year here in the Salinas Valley, you have probably noticed that many of the fields that were once green with vegetables and lettuce are now bare dirt, carefully tilled and furrowed. … So, you wonder, what do farmers do when their fields are not producing products for our hungry nation? …
“There is a lot of regulatory compliance that continues for farming operations.
“As the city weighs its next move in a stalled effort to expand water service to UC Santa Cruz, environmental watchdogs say university growth must be part of a new outreach plan involving water supply.
“The City Council on Tuesday rescinded two of three resolutions made in August 2010 supporting an environmental analysis underpinning requests to expand the city’s sphere of influence to include 240 acres of the undeveloped North Campus area and provide water and sewer service to new residential and academic facilities.”
“Nearly 70 people came to listen and vent their frustrations about local water policies Nov. 6 during the first meeting of a loosely formed new group, Cambrians for Change.
