Author Archive for sammykayed

America is Not Immune to the Water Crisis

Published on 05/01/2012 in water shortage, water wars and world water supply. 0 Comments Tags: , , , .

Retrieved from: IMDB

“In the U.S., we tend to think of “the water crisis” as a problem for other countries, but as we show in Last Call, we are not immune. By the interconnected nature of the resource, the crisis is global, its impacts domino-like. We shouldn’t feel insulated just because water flows freely from our taps.

“But we do feel insulated, don’t we? For a while I contemplated calling the film A River in Egypt, but I realized that the problem isn’t denial — which implies willful dismissal of facts — but ignorance. Water problems barely register on our list of concerns.

“I grew up in Northern California. We never had a lawn; we let the hillside go brown in drought years. We had a bucket in the shower to catch the water that came out before it got warm. In starting Last Call at the Oasis, I was somewhat smug in feeling that I knew something about water issues.

“I realize now that all I really knew was drought. I didn’t factor in climate change, groundwater depletion, contamination, outdated water laws, the battle between industry and the environment, etc., etc. All of which made this production a continually eye-opening experience for me. A sampling: we learned that there are estimates that that the aquifer in the Central Valley, which produces a quarter of our nation’s food, might be depleted in as little as sixty years. One third of U.S. counties face water shortages by 2050. And of the more than 80,000 chemicals used in the United States, many of which end up in our water supplies, only 5 are regulated under the Toxic Substances Control Act. What’s going on is big, and it is crucial that we understand it. This is water — essential for all life. Could the stakes be any higher?”

Read more: Huffington post

sammykayed

Elwha sediment not just mud, it’s nourishment

Published on 04/30/2012 in aquatic ecosystems, dam removal and hydrology. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Retrieved from: Seattle times

“The sediment loads in the Elwha River are spiking because the reservoir behind former Elwha Dam is now completely gone. That means the settling of fines that used to occur in the lake is no longer happening so all that material is pouring into the river, and heading on down to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It’s a dramatic sight.

“The distinct line is caused by the difference in density between the fresh water of the Elwha and the salt water of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The heavy sediment loading is coming primarily from the area that used to be Elwha Dam. In this photo the Elwha River, right, meets the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The plume is flowing east with the tide — up, in this photograph, as Roorda flies north.

“And while the amount of sediment is large — about 50 times normal levels for the Elwha — don’t call it mud. Sediment is a single word for a whole range of material that the river has been depositing behind the two dams for the past 100 years: rocks, gravel, cobble, sand, silt, and clay. About 40 percent of that material is expected to eventually make its way out to sea.

“Restarting the river’s natural transport capacity is one of the most important aspects of Elwha River recovery. Big mountain rivers like the Elwha eat a steady diet of wood and rocks and sand and gravel, moving the material with the energy of their perpetual flow down gradient to the sea. Wood and sediment rebuild the natural structure and complexity of the riverbed: meanders, side channels, gravel bars, pools and riffles. A big mountain river like the Elwha naturally transports a fantastic amount of material — but it’s all been stuck up behind the dams, some 24 million cubic yards worth. Well now with the dams coming out — and Elwha Dam already completely gone — that material is on the move.”

Read more: Seattle times

sammykayed

An Army Corps of contradictions

Published on 04/19/2012 in displacement of people, levees and management. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Retrieved from: Sacbee

“Even as it clings to a policy requiring state and local agencies to clear trees from levees, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has granted one of its own districts a variance to plant 30,000 trees along the levee-lined Sacramento River.

Huh?

“The Corps has always been an agency of internal contradictions, but this one suggests a higher level of Dilbert-like bureaucratic incongruity. How can the top leadership of the Corps reasonably expect flood agencies to strip trees from riverbanks – putting themselves in conflict with environmental laws, and possibly undermining the structural integrity of levees – when the Corps is letting one of its own act like Johnny Appleseed?

“Ever since New Orleans was inundated during Hurricane Katrina, the national Corps office has aggressively enforced vegetation removal on levees, attempting to make trees a culprit for other institutional failings that led to the flooding of the Big Easy.

“Here in California, flood agencies and environmental groups have objected.

“Friends of the River has sued, and the California Department of Fish and Game has filed notice of intent to sue.

“Such lawsuits stand a good chance of success, partly because the Corps’ own research has shown that trees planted at the toe of levees can actually benefit public safety. Their roots help reinforce the levees’ integrity.

“The stakes are particularly large here because, as The Bee’s Matt Weiser noted in a story Saturday, early 20th century engineers built California’s levees close together to scour out old mining sediment. That has left us with little riparian forest – essential for fish and wildlife. The Corps, if its national office were to have its way, would mow down that remaining forest.

Read more here: Sacbee
sammykayed

Protecting Bay Area’s Water Supply in Event of Major Earthquake

Published on 04/18/2012 in levees and management. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Retrieved from: Llnl

“One day before the 106th anniversary of the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, Mayor Ed Lee was in San Mateo County on Tuesday to mark a major milestone in securing the region’s water supply in the event of a future major earthquake.

“Lee joined San Francisco Public Utilities Commission general manager Ed Harrington and San Mateo County Supervisor Adrienne Tissier on the banks of the Lower Crystal Springs Reservoir, where improvements to the 124-year-old Crystal Springs Dam have just been completed.

“The dam improvements — which doubled the width of the main spillway and raised the height of a parapet on top of the structure by 9 feet — were part of the SFPUC’s $4.6 billion Water System Improvement Program, which consists of 81 seismic improvements to water delivery pipelines, dams and reservoirs from Hetch Hetchy to San Francisco.

“Harrington said the seismic upgrades “virtually guarantee” the reliability of safe drinking water for 2.6 million Bay Area residents within 24 hours of a major earthquake.

“These projects now serve as our reinforced lifeline to deliver Hetch Hetchy water around the Bay,” Harrington said.

“Five years ago we would not have had the same reliability we have today,” he said.

Read more: Bay citizen

sammykayed

Direct drinking water recycling could prevent floods

Published on 04/18/2012 in dams, management and rainwater harvesting. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Retrieved from: Rainwater Harvesting

“Direct potable reuse (DPR) of wastewater could free up billions of litres of water from reservoirs around Australia, giving cities a greater buffer to capture and control major flooding events, says Dr Stuart Khan, an at the UNSW Water Research Centre.

“Current plans for water recycling in Australia generally involve Indirect Potable Reuse (IPR), where is treated to a high standard and then returned to rivers, lakes and aquifers,  where it mixes with environmental waters before being re-extracted for further treatment.

“But Dr Khan says a better approach, which is more cost effective and less energy intensive, is to skip the dam altogether. With DPR, highly treated wastewater is introduced directly to drinking water treatment plants, without re-entering the natural environment along the way.

“In Queensland alone, DPR would be the equivalent of immediately constructing a new 425-billion litre reservoir, without the cost of construction or having to relocate a single home or farm, says Khan.

“This added ‘virtual’ storage space represents a 30% increase on the volume currently reserved for flood mitigation in this region, his research shows.

“DPR probably would have saved Brisbane from the 2011 floods from Wivenhoe,” he says. “The big inflow peak of around 1900 GL that occurred between 9 and 13 January could have been contained in the dam, rather than spilled.”

Read more:  Phys

sammykayed

Water meters to cost €40 a year for 20 years

Published on 04/16/2012 in management and water technology. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

Retrieved from: Independent

“Homeowners face an annual €40 standing charge for 20 years just to cover the cost of water meters. That is before they hand over a cent for the water they use.

“The Irish  Independent has learned of fresh details about the standing charge which will be levied on 1.35 million homeowners.

“Environment Minister Phil Hogan intends the €40 annual bill to cover the cost of the water meter as well as installing and maintaining the new system.

“But a government spokesman tried to defuse the looming row over the charges pointing out that there will be no upfront bills.

“As the Opposition branded the contradictory statements over costs householders will face, ‘a communications fiasco’, the spokesman said that the political hare was off and running since the weekend confirmation that householders would have to pay several hundred euro for water meters.

“The prospect of paying a yearly charge for two decades will shock homeowners already forking out a range of fees.

“The National Pensions Reserve Fund (NPRF) is providing a loan of €450m for the water metering programme.”

Read more: Independent

sammykayed

Plan to tap groundwater for profit shows need for better state policy

Published on 04/13/2012 in groundwater, privatization, water rights and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Retrieved from: Desert survivors

“Imagine a lake half as large as Lake Tahoe, containing 17 million to 34 million acre-feet of water. That is what lies under the Cadiz and Bristol valleys in the Eastern Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County. Cadiz Inc., a privately held company, owns 34,000 acres that overlie this vast groundwater basin. The company plans to extract 2.5 million acre-feet of the water, a public good, over the next 50 years and sell it back to the public at a profit.

“This project raises several concerns, some of which are directly related to the project while others point to the need for a public debate and discussion about California’s groundwater laws.

“Here are some facts about the project: Cadiz is proposing to extract on average 50,000 acre-feet of groundwater from the basin each year for 50 years. The intended rate of extraction of groundwater is significantly greater than the estimated natural recharge rate (the speed that groundwater is refilled naturally by rain and snow) of 5,000-32,000 acre-feet a year, which will lead to unsustainable mining of groundwater during the life of the project. The groundwater will go into a 43-mile-long pipeline to transport it to the Colorado River Aqueduct, where it will be distributed to several water utilities in Southern California.

“Cadiz claims that the project will facilitate the beneficial use of groundwater that would otherwise naturally drain toward Bristol and Cadiz dry lakes (ephemeral lakes) and be “lost” to evaporation at the lakes and to transpiration by plants in the adjoining valleys. But the project proponents’ characterization of the water lost to evaporation and transpiration as non-beneficial is inaccurate. Some of the water that flows to the dry lakes and evaporates from the basin supports survival of local desert ecosystems, which depend upon the ability of groundwater reaching the surface; therefore, removal of this water would adversely affect these ecosystems.

“The bottom line is that the project relies on unsustainable mining of groundwater, designed to extract groundwater at a rate exceeding natural recharge. In other words, it uses water in excess of the estimates of the water lost to evaporation, which is both a nonrenewable use of water and unsustainable in the long term.”

Read more: Sac Bee

sammykayed

Water Risk Threatens Businesses, National Security

Published on 04/10/2012 in climate change, displacement of people, drought, floods and management. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , , .

Retrieved from: Forbes

“One of climate change’s biggest impacts is on water systems. Unreliable water can impact both corporate bottom lines and jeopardize natural security, as two recent reports point out.

“Climate change is changing precipitation patterns and intensity, increasing the incidence of droughts, floods, and erosion. These changes are making water supply and quality more difficult to obtain, affecting runoff and soil moisture, increasing water temperatures, decreasing snowpack and lake and river ice, threatening fish and aquatic species, and allowing saltwater intrusion and sea level rise. These changes are difficult to plan for, as past water patterns can no longer be used to predict the future. That uncertainty is problematic for businesses and can cause political strife, but some states and regions are taking proactive steps to avoid water trouble and will therefore be more reliable places to do business.

“A recent report from the Natural Resources Defense Council ranked U.S. states based on how their governments are planning and preparing for the water–related impacts of a changing climate, including whether they have strategies to reduce the greenhouse gas pollution that contributes to climate change and whether they have adaptation plans for projected climate-related impacts. The report includes an interactive online map highlighting the unique water vulnerabilities each state faces and what each is doing — or not doing — to prepare. Climate modeling was drawn in part from a 2009 report (PDF) from the U.S. Global Change Research Program, but the NRDC report also considered state’s policies. It said:

“Some states are leading the way in preparing for water-related impacts with integrated and comprehensive preparedness plans that address all relevant water sectors and state agencies. Unfortunately, other states are lagging when it comes to consideration of potential climate change impacts — or have yet to formally address climate change preparedness at all.”

Read more: Forbes

sammykayed

Opposition to Santa Cruz desalination plant lobbies for signatures

Published on 04/08/2012 in desalination, privatization and solutions and outreach. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , , .

“Opponents of the $115 million desalination plant proposed in Santa Cruz gathered on West Cliff Drive on Saturday to gather signatures to place a measure on the ballot that would change the city’s charter to require a future vote on the plant.

“The group needs to collect the signatures of 5,000 people registered to vote in Santa Cruz to get on the November ballot. Organizers say they’re about halfway there. The City Council passed an ordinance requiring such a vote in March.

“Four council seats are up in November,” said Rick Longinotti. “We want to make sure the right to vote can’t be revoked with future city councils.”

“City officials have been planning to team with the Soquel Creek Water District to build a desalination plant in Santa Cruz since 2004.

“They’ve since spent several million dollars on studies, designs and the running of a pilot plant.

“Water Department officials say the permanent plant would be used to supplement the water supply during drought years. In nondrought years, Soquel Creek would have access to the desalinated water as an alternative to its underground aquifer supply.

“Saturday’s gathering included five former mayors and former county Supervisor Gary Patton.

“The anti-desalination group of more than 50 folks took a walk through the Westside streets where the proposed desalination pipelines would run.

“Their rally took place on the bluff above Mitchell’s Cove. The spot was chosen because that’s where the brine-filled wastewater would be returned to the ocean.

“Former Mayor Tim Fitzmaurice, who was on the council when the idea was initiated in 2004, said protecting the environment from possible damage by the plant would be his foremost concern when deciding how to vote.”

Read more: Mercury news

sammykayed

Scarce water spreads disease on waterfowl refuge

Published on 04/07/2012 in aquatic ecosystems, management and water shortage. 0 Comments Tags: , , , , .

Retrieved from: High on Adventures

Dave Mauser walked the edge of a mudflat, peering underneath the dried brown rushes where one coot after another had gone to hide and then die.

“Now the coots are getting the worst of it,” said Mauser, head biologist on the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge, the nation’s first large marshland preserved for waterfowl habitat. “Prior to that it was the snow geese and the white-fronted geese.”

Standing in line for scarce water behind both endangered fish and agriculture, Lower Klamath Lake has watched one marsh after another dry up in recent years. Now migratory geese, ducks and other waterfowl that come here by the millions following the Pacific Flyway are so closely packed together that an outbreak of avian cholera has killed more than 10,000 birds, mostly pintail ducks, Ross’ geese, snow geese and now coots.

First reported in the United States in the 1940s, the disease is not new to the refuge. Bald eagles that congregate here in winter depend on the deadly bacteria to provide them easy food. But what is different about this year is that only half the refuge’s 31,000 acres of marsh are flooded, creating perfect conditions for a broader kill off.

Lying on the east side of the Cascade Range along the Oregon-California border, the shallow lakes and marshes of the Upper Klamath Basin were once known as the Everglades of the West, providing a place to rest and eat for untold millions of birds on the Pacific Flyway.

Record rains in March allowed the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to start delivering all the water the refuge could take through the Ady Canal, but that will only be enough to flood 4,000 acres more before it runs out, said Cole. Prospects for this summer are not looking good.

Meanwhile, a deal that raises the refuge’s water priority on a par with farms, while laying out how water is divided in drought years, has been stymied in Congress.

Read more: Mercury News

sammykayed