The week that was, 9/26-10/2/2010
Posted on | October 2, 2010 | 1 Comment
The Tribal Council on Wednesday tabled a bill that would have given the tribe 31,000 acre-feet of water a year from the Colorado River, the un-appropriated surface flows from the Little Colorado River and nearly unlimited access to two aquifers beneath the reservation. — Navajo lawmakers table proposed water settlement, Associated Press/Arizona Capitol Times, September 30, 2010
“I urge the Senate to pass S.2891, the Hoover Dam Power Allocation Act, which reauthorizes the dam for the next 50 years and expands access to its power to Native Americans and other previously excluded groups.” — Press release, Grace Napolitano commemorates 75th anniversary of Hoover Dam, September 28, 2010
“Put enough agreements on top of it that it becomes meaningless.” — Southern Nevada Water Authority general manager Pat Mulroy on her new strategy to get around inequities inherent in the Colorado Compact, Las Vegas’ worried water czar, New York Times, September 28, 2010
“This morning I came, I saw and I was conquered …” “…enough water, for example, to cover the whole State of Connecticut to a depth of ten feet …” “Salinity, sedimentation, pesticide contamination, diminishing hopes of replenishment, the dangers of aging, collapsing dame…” — Hoover Dam quotations, UC Berkeley
Had she staged the whole scenario to murder her husband? — Colorado man apparently killed by Mexican pirates, Denver Post, October 2, 2010
District farmers are paying part of the cost — about $10 per acre more in annual irrigation assessments. Most of the funding, however, is coming from the federal and state governments under a federal law that contributes money for the district to automate its canal, create small canal-side reservoirs that store water until it is needed, and to install large sections of pipe in the distribution system. That law allows the district to keep a third of the water it saves, while two-thirds is returned to the river for instream flows. — Irrigation districts investing in water conservation, Yakima Herald-Republic, September 29, 2010
Between 5,500 and 7,500 jobs were lost due to water shortages in the San Joaquin Valley last year, and most of the blame goes to the weather, not to environmental protection. — Fewer job losses linked to Delta, drought; Old data cited by Whitman, Fiorina overstate economic impact of water issues, researchers say, Contra Costa Times, September 29, 2010. This link for A Retrospective Estimate of the Economic Impacts of Reduced Water Supplies to the San Joaquin Valley in 2009 by Jeffrey Michael et al, via Aguanomics
“If he wants to pick a fight with an entire Valley population whose economy hinges on a fair share of water, we’ll give him one.” — San Joaquin Valley congressman Jim Costa swiping at Bay Area Rep George Miller over Miller’s defense of Bay-Delta fisheries, California Democrats battle over water subsidies for farmers, McClatchy, October 1, 2010
… taking water from the environment and the fish costs jobs too, though we’ve traditionally ignored or failed to estimate these costs. — Peter Gleick, Misusing California water numbers for political purposes: Jobs, fish, and lies, City Brights, San Francisco Chronicle, September 30, 2010
“Put the guns away. Everybody has to do this through the law. Cabot has to follow the law. You have to follow the law.” — Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger pleads for calm with residents of Dimock, PA, whose wells have been contaminated by methane, allegedly by gas fracking by Cabot Oil & Gas Co., Pennsylvania targets driller for tainted water, Tulsa World, October 1, 2010
“If you drill another well, there’s no guarantee whatsoever right now, given that we still have gas migrating through the geology, that that well won’t become contaminated at some point.” — Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger, DEP Secretary: No end in sight for methane leaking into Dimock water from gas wells, Scranton Times-Tribune, October 2, 2010
The oil and gas industry maintains that hydraulic fracturing has been used safely for decades and that there has never been a proven case of groundwater contamination caused by fracking. — GE launches device to recycle fracking water, AP/Seattle Times, September 30, 2010
“All up and down Coal River people have cancer.” — Bo Webb, founder of “Appalachia rising,” One man’s fight against mountain top removal in West Virginia, Los Angeles Times, October 2, 2010
“When people were saying, ‘BP’s days are numbered in the U.S.,’ Russia said, ‘We’ll take you.’ Russia, by helping BP in its bleakest hour, will definitely raise its standing among Western nations.” — Oil analyst Fadel Gheit, In Russia, BP sees a second act, New York Times, September 28, 2010
“I think that here, when we talk about manganese, we’re seeing levels that are more appropriately an aesthetic concern.” — Joseph Grande, Madison Water Utility water quality manager, Madison water experts downplay report on manganese/intelligence, Wisconsin State Journal, September 27, 2010
“We believe this is the best long-term solution to make sure everybody has clean water.” — Joan Kenney, installation director, Badger Army Ammunition Plant, Army proposes building new water system for residential wells affected by chemical spilling, Wisconsin State Journal, September 30, 2010
“If you want to tow an iceberg here, we want to hear about it.” — Chuck Ahrens, vice president, San Antonio Water System, Massive water deal proposed to move water from counties east of Austin to San Antonio, Austin American Statesman, September 29, 2010
Woodmoor [Water & Sanitation District] has filed an application to move water it does not yet own from Pueblo and Otero county ditches by exchanges through facilities it does not control to its system in northern El Paso County. — Water Board: Time to stop speculation, Pueblo Chieftain, September 29, 2010
$8.8 million for landscaping at a La Verne treatment plant is prudent when MWD is constantly raising water rates on customers rocked by the sharp economic downturn? Spending $7.9 million for a marina, visitor center and RV park at a Riverside County lake is prudent for a water wholesaler? … [The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California] just does what it wants to do and expects its clients to shut up and go along. — Editorial, MWD: Arrogance is in water giant’s DNA, San Diego Union Tribune, September 30, 2010
For a full round-up of California water news, go to Aquafornia, the newsfeed of the Water Education Foundation, or to UC Berkeley’s On Water. For San Diego water news, try Groksurf’s San Diego. Or, for all things fresh water, do check in with WaterWired.
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October 4th, 2010 @ 5:51 am
Hoover power (from my book): the US Congress — not markets, highest and best use, or willingness to pay — decides who gets access to the 4 billion kilowatt-hours (14,400 Terajoules) of hydroelectric power Hoover generates. The wholesale value of that power is $168 million per year (at 4.2 cents/kwh), but the Congress only charges cost. Since this is 1.8 cents/kwh, that means that the Congress gets to choose the lucky buyers who get the annual $96 million discount.