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Offer made to lease Reno-area water authority to private investors

Offer made to lease Reno-area water authority to private investors

By Jeff DeLong, Reno Gazzette Journal
July 15, 2008

Local water authority officials Wednesday will discuss whether they should consider leasing all or part of their water distribution system to outside investors.

Under one scenario, the 7-year-old Truckee Meadows Water Authority would lease its assets for 50 years in return for $100 million to $160 million payment to Reno, Sparks and Washoe County.
"Evidently, there are folks in the investment market that are very interested in investing in infrastructure assets," said Lori Williams, TMWA general manager. "It could be as broad as somebody stepping in and taking over the operation of TMWA. It could be just a piece of that."
Mike Carrigan, the Sparks councilman who chairs the nonprofit authority's board of directors, said he is open to considering a deal but is worried investors would be pressured to turn a profit by raising rates or deferring maintenance.
"The only reason somebody would do this is to make money," Carrigan said.
Williams said many employees at the utility appear uncomfortable with the proposal.

Rain Gardens Reign

Kansas City sets an ambitious goal, and communities around the country follow.
Source: Stormwater Magazine, May 2008
By Margaret Buranen

Rain gardens may have started in Maryland and been developed in Maplewood and Burnsville, MN, but it was Kansas City, MO, that put them on the map of public awareness. If, as Rodgers and Hammerstein told us in their musical Oklahoma!, “Everything’s up to date in Kansas City,” the 10,000 Rain Gardens project there is on the cutting edge of stormwater management.

Rodgers and Hammerstein aside, one thing in Kansas City is very out of date: its water and wastewater infrastructure. Some pipes have been in the ground for more than 100 years. So in August 2005, voters approved a $500 million bond issue that will fund new and improved water infrastructure for Kansas City.

The bond issue is part of KC-ONE, a comprehensive plan for the management of stormwater throughout the city and its suburbs. It will be years until all of the necessary work is completed. To help manage stormwater now, Kansas City officials started the 10,000 Rain Gardens project.

The idea came from a Stormwater Coordinating Committee meeting in May 2005.

Six months later, Kansas City’s former mayor, Kay Barnes, together with Jackson County Executive Katheryn Shields and Johnson County Commission Chairman Annabeth Surbaugh, launched the program at a regional rally.

The project’s Web site (www.rainkc.com) is listed as a resource in the handouts of rain garden programs all around the country. Scott Cahail, manager for the Water Services Department of Kansas City, said in the summer of 2007 that the Web site had received more than 100,000 hits.

Barnes installed a rain garden at her home, as did Dan McCarthy, president of Black & Veatch, a global engineering company that works in the water and energy fields. Black & Veatch employees planted the first corporate rain garden in Kansas City. McCarthy wrote an editorial for the local paper, urging other corporations to install their own rain gardens.

One by one, the number of rain gardens in Kansas City grows. There are two at City Hall. The local ReHabitat store has a small rain garden. Hallmark has one at its corporate headquarters. One of the most interesting is shaped as a boomerang and measures almost 5,500 square feet. It was installed in Theis Park by students at the Kansas City Art Institute. For good measure, they added messages on taking care of the environment.

Mt. Airy Rain Catchers
Influenced by the efforts in Kansas City and other cities, community rain garden programs are starting in many locations. One such program is in Ohio.

Until the post–World War II expansion of suburbs, the Mt. Airy section of Cincinnati, OH, was a small community of farms and country homes surrounded by woodlands. Now more than 9,500 residents live in the 3-square-mile area. As in other suburban areas, the growth of population and corresponding paved surfaces has increased stormwater runoff in Mt. Airy and pollution in its Shepherd Creek watershed.

...for complete article, please visit website below.

Truckee River draft storage and public review

Submitted article, Lahontan Valley News


The Bureau of Reclamation announces the availability of a Draft Storage Contract with the Truckee Meadows Water Authority (TMWA) for a 60-day public review and comment period.  BOR and TMWA recently completed negotiations for the storage of TMWA's municipal and industrial water in the BOR's federal reservoirs located in the upper Truckee River Basin. A water storage contact between TMWA and BOR is required before the Truckee River Operating Agreement (TROA) can be approved.

TROA would implement Section 205(a) of the Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water Rights Settlement Act of 1990, Title II of Public Law 101-618 (Settlement Act). It would modify existing operations of designated reservoirs to enhance coordination and flexibility while ensuring that existing water rights are served and flood control and safety of dams requirements are met.

TROA would, in part, (1) enhance conditions for the threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout and endangered cui-ui in the Truckee River basin; (2) increase municipal and industrial drought protection for the Truckee Meadows (Reno-Sparks metropolitan area); (3) improve Truckee River water quality downstream from Sparks, Nevada; and (4) enhance streamflows and recreational opportunities in the Truckee River Basin.

At the time TROA takes effect, the Settlement Act provides that a permanent allocation between California and Nevada of water in the Lake Tahoe, Truckee River and Carson River basins will also take effect.

The draft storage contract is available on BOR's TROA website at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/troa. If you encounter problems accessing the document online, please contact Lynnette Wirth at (916) 978-5102 or lwirth@mp.usbr.gov.

Written comments on the draft contract must be received by close of business on Aug. 29, 2008, and should be mailed to Kenneth Parr, Bureau of Reclamation, 705 North Plaza Street, Room 320, Carson City, NV 89701-4015, or faxed to (775) 882-7592, or e-mailed to kparr@mp.usbr.gov. All comments become part of the public record.

For questions or to request a copy of the draft contract, please contact Mr. Parr at 775-882-3436. Additional information on TROA is available at http://www.usbr.gov/mp/troa/.

Planning initiative gathers more than 28,000 signatures

By Susan Voyles • svoyles@rgj.com • June 28, 2008
Reno Gazette-Journal

More than 28,000 signatures were turned in Friday to the Washoe County Registrar of Voters for a citizens initiative to force regional planning to be based on replenishable water resources found within the county.

The 28,388 signatures are about 10,000 more than the 18,083 signatures required for the question to be put on the November ballot. If a sample shows they have more than the required number of verified voter signatures, officials said it would be the first binding question about limiting growth to appear on a Washoe ballot.

"We have no illusions that this fight is just beginning," said Bob Fulkerson, a petition leader at a short rally before turning in four boxes of signatures. "The monied interests and developers have us in their sights." Fulkerson also thanked County Commission Chairman Robert Larkin for challenging sustainable-growth advocates to do their own petition.

"On March 11, we filled the room and asked the Washoe County Commissioners to please put a sustainable water planning advisory question on the ballot," Fulkerson said. "Instead the chairman of the commission told us to go home and watch Oprah," he said.

"Did we go home and watch Oprah?" he asked a dozen supporters who responded with an emphatic "no." Rather than work for an advisory question, the petition backers decided to make their question binding. Larkin could not be reached for comment.

For entire story, please visit website.

Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe approves Truckee River Operating Agreement

Source: Reno Gazette-Journal
June 6, 2008, Staff Report

The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe voted in a special election Saturday to approve the Truckee River Operating Agreement.

The ballot question was, "Should the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe approve and sign the Truckee River Operating Agreement (TROA) and implement TROA subject to the conditions stated in Public Law 101-618?"

The official results by eligible voters was 183-35.

The TROA is touted as a comprehensive management plan for the Truckee River, with proponents saying the agreement, among the U.S. government, Nevada, California, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe, the Truckee Meadows Water Authority, and others, would triple the amount of water storage Reno-Sparks during times of drought and enhance recreational opportunities on the river and its reservoirs.

To view entire article, please visit website.

Climate Change: Forests, wildlife, fire danger all expected to be affected by warming Sierra

By Greyson Howard, Sierra Sun

Many doomsday predictions of climate change focus on rising oceans, flooding coastlines and submerged cities, but some scientists are watching the Sierra to gauge other significant impacts.

Looking into the future it isn’t hard for researchers to picture the many different Sierra ecosystems — wrapped like bands around different elevations — retreating rapidly upward, squeezing each other and eventually running out of elevation to climb.

As future temperatures rise, predictions are for snow to melt faster and streams to swell earlier, out of sync with the breading cycles of aquatic species like fish and frogs. Dry summers would leave entire forests more susceptible to fire and pests than ever before.

And, many experts agree, the changes become amplified as they move up the food chain, throwing the Sierra Nevada’s entire ecosystem, meticulously established over millennia, out of balance in a matter of decades. The bottom line, some scientists conclude, is the extinction of vulnerable mountain species and increased fire risk for the Sierra’s human inhabitants.

“Our concern is with the rapidity of change — most species can evolve over time and the planet has always been in flux — but it’s the rate of change, which is really unlike anything we’ve been able to study,” said Josh Viers, assistant research ecologist at UC Davis.

The Sierra Nevada has been characterized as the “canary in the coal mine,” according to the U.S. Forest Service, an early alarm for the deleterious effects of rising temperatures. But all parts of the Sierra won’t be treated equal. Despite Truckee-Tahoe’s more northern latitude, the area will likely be hit harder than the taller mountains to the south.

“The area around Tahoe and Donner Summit, for example, would be more affected then Kings Canyon,” Viers said.
And so Tahoe National Forest has been picked as an open-air laboratory for climate change — a focal point in a global issue — with researchers from academic bodies, conservation groups and the U.S. Forest Service gleaning whatever they can learn from the surrounding woods.

“When I started I was a naysayer, ready to poke holes in global warming,” said Carol Kennedy, the watershed project manager for Tahoe National Forest. “I don’t poke holes anymore.”

Retreating trees
Perhaps easiest to predict and already in progress in some cases is the steady retreat of vegetation away from rising low-elevation temperatures and towards ever-shrinking snow melt, said UC Davis’ Viers.
...
The water problem
While rising temperatures will directly affect many species, indirect affects through changing water availability may be even more drastic.

“Between 7,000 and 9,000 feet the rain/snow mix line will be most severely affected,” Josh Viers said.
This means the timing and flow of streams and river could change, possibly three to seven weeks earlier, he said.

“Everything from what’s in the streams — frogs breeding to vegetation along the side of the streams — a whole series of affects, will come from just the timing,” Viers said. The breeding cycles of both the mountain red- and yellow-legged frogs of the Sierra may no longer match with stream flows he said.

Trout require cold water, no more than 20 to 21 degrees Celsius, meaning many streams could become too warm, Viers said. Flowering plants may bloom with high flows before pollinators like bees and mosquitoes emerge.

Aspen trees, already diminishing in the West, are at risk because of drying stream habitat, Nechadom said.

And moisture could be dropping on the order of 40 to 60 percent by the year 2100, Kennedy said.

To view the entire story, please visit website.

USDA Weighs In: The Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture, Land Resources, Water Resources, and Biodiversity

The U.S. Climate Change Science Program report “Synthesis and Assessment Product 4.3 (SAP 4.3): The Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture, Land Resources, Water Resources, and Biodiversity in the United States ” integrates the Federal research efforts of 13 agencies on climate and global change. This was released 5/28/08.

The report has 38 authors from the universities, national laboratories, non-governmental organizations, and Federal service. SAP 4.3 has undergone expert peer review by 14 scientists through a Federal Advisory Committee formed by the USDA, and includes over 1,000 references. USDA was the lead agency for this report as part of its commitment to CCSP.

The report focuses on the next 25 to 50 years, and finds that climate change is already affecting U.S. water resources, agriculture, land resources, and biodiversity, and will continue to do so.

If you would like to receive the printed final report when it becomes available please send your request to ClimateReport@oce.usda.gov.

Extracted from the Executive Summary:
The CCSP agencies agreed on the following set of topics for this assessment. Descriptions of the major findings in each of these sectors can be found in Section 4 of this Executive Summary.
• Agriculture: (a) cropping systems, (b) pasture and grazing lands, and (c) animal management
• Land Resources: (a) forests and (b) arid lands
• Water Resources: (a) quantity, availability, and accessibility and (b) quality
• Biodiversity: (a) species diversity and (b) rare and sensitive ecosystems
The CCSP also agreed on a set of questions to guide the assessment process. Answers to these questions can be found in Section 3 of this summary:
• What factors influencing agriculture, land resources, water resources, and biodiversity in the United States are sensitive to climate and climate change?
• How could changes in climate exacerbate or ameliorate stresses on agriculture, land resources, water resources, and biodiversity? What are the indicators of these stresses?
• What current and potential observation systems could be used to monitor these indicators?

• Can observation systems detect changes in agriculture, land resources, water resources, and biodiversity that are caused by climate change, as opposed to being driven by other causes?

For a download of sections of this report, please visit the website.

Tests show water's fine, TMWA officials say

By Steve Timko, Reno Gazzette-Journal
May 17, 2008

No pharmaceuticals turned up in the Truckee River water that was sent for testing by the area's largest water supplier.

The Truckee Meadows Water Authority in March sent samples of water taken from the river to MWH Lab in Southern California after the Associated Press reported that up to 41 million Americans drink water contaminated with trace amounts of medicine and endocrine blockers.

After testing for 31 compounds associated with medication and other chemicals, all samples came back at a level described as nondetectable, Paul Miller, TMWA manager of operations and water quality, said at a Friday news conference.

That means there was less than one part per trillion for all of the substances, Miller said. The threshold for detecting the compounds was set at one part per trillion.

"We've gotten so good at detecting things in the water, there is no such thing as zero any more," Miller said.

Report: No chem residue found in Truckee River

By Jenny Goldsmith, Bonanza News Service
May 21, 2008

Results from an analysis on the purity of the Truckee River are back and confirm what Truckee wastewater treatment plant officials have been saying: The major water supply for Reno and Sparks is not contaminated.

In March, the Truckee Meadows Water Authority decided to sample the Truckee River after reports surfaced in an Associated Press investigation into pharmaceutical remnants in major metropolitan water supplies, said Paul Miller, manager of operations and water quality for Truckee Meadows Water Authority.

“The data shows that no pharmaceuticals or endocrine disrupting compounds were detected in the raw or finished water samples,” Miller said in a statement.

There are no direct discharge of treated wastewater into the Truckee River like there are in other municipal areas that are under investigation, but there is an indirect discharge.

The Tahoe-Truckee Sanitation Agency’s wastewater treatment plant — located east of the 267 Bypass and just one mile from the Truckee River — discharges an average of 4.5 million gallons of treated water a day into a disposal field by spray irrigation, said Jay Parker, chief engineer and assistant general manager of the plant.

To view entire article, please visit website.

Reno Water Officials Approve Repairs to Quake-Damaged Flume

May 8, 2008

RENO, Nev. (AP) - The Truckee Meadows Water Authority has approved $2.2 million in emergency funding to make repairs to an earthquake damaged water flume.

Officials say the money is needed to build a temporary pumping system to get more Truckee River water into the Chalk Bluff water treatment plant as well as to begin repairs to the Highland Ditch flume.

A 200-foot-long section of the flume was damaged by a rock slide during the magnitude 4.7 earthquake April 25.

The damage comes at a time the area is approaching its peak summer months for water demand.

Officials say the situation is complicated by the recent failure of two newly purchased pumps at the utility's smaller Glendale water treatment plant.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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