“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outdated toilets and showerheads must be switched out with more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.
