News / Announcement

Using Rain Gardens to Reduce Runoff: Slow it down, spread it out, soak it in!

lynellg — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:58:22 -0800

Free webcast offered by EPA: December 3, 2008, 10-12 pst.
Likely will be offered at Reno City Hall, 8th floor: contact Lynell Garfield for more local web presentation info. at 334-3395.

Using Rain Gardens to Reduce Runoff:
Slow It Down, Spread It Out, Soak It In!
Wednesday, December 3, 2008: Two-hour audio Web broadcast

Eastern: 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Mountain: 11:00 am - 1:00 pm Central: 12:00 pm - 2:00 pm
Pacific: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Many communities across the country are struggling to address impacts from stormwater runoff due to increased development. Green or low impact development practices such as rain gardens can help manage runoff effectively as well as provide aesthetic benefits. Rain gardens can increase property values, add beauty and habitat, reduce a community’s carbon footprint, as well as provide important water quality benefits. Join us for this exciting Webcast to learn more about these natural solutions to water pollution. Our speakers will discuss the benefits of rain gardens and share their experiences with successful community rain garden programs.

Lower Truckee River Bioassessment Symposium

lynellg — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:54:43 -0800

Two day symposium includes:
Day 1- Presentations from various groups & individuals on aquatic biological issues on the
Lower Truckee River
Day 2-Introduction to CADDIS
Causal Analysis/Diagnosis Decision Information System - A model addressing aquatic
biological stressor identification presented by U.S. EPA's National Center for
Environmental Development

Attendance is FREE, however, pre-registration by December 19 is required as
seating and parking is limited.
*For registration to attend please send an email to: kvargas@ndep.nv.gov
and provide your name, affiliation, contact information and if you will be attending Day 1, 2 or both days.

Full flyer: attached or visit website below.

Proposed Guidelines to Control Pollution from Construction Sites

lynellg — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:30:57 -0800

EPA News Release date: 11/19/2008
Contact Information: Enesta Jones, (202) 564-4355 / jones.enesta@epa.gov

(Washington, D.C. – Nov. 19, 2008) EPA is seeking comments on its proposed guidelines to control the discharge of pollutants from construction sites. The proposal would require all construction sites to implement erosion and sediment control best management practices to reduce pollutants in stormwater discharges.

"This proposal builds a foundation for cleaner streams and greener neighborhoods through improved treatment technologies and prevention practices," said Benjamin H. Grumbles, EPA’s assistant administrator for water.

In addition, for certain large sites located in areas of the country with high rainfall intensity and soils with a high clay content, stormwater discharges from the construction site would be required to meet a numeric limit on the allowable level of turbidity, which is a measure of sediment in the water. In order to meet the proposed numeric turbidity limit, many sites would need to treat and filter their stormwater discharges.

Construction activities such as clearing, excavating and grading significantly disturb the land. The disturbed soil, if not managed properly, can easily be washed off the construction site during storms and enter streams, lakes, and other waters. Stormwater discharges from construction activities can cause an array of physical, chemical and biological impacts.

Sediment is one of the leading causes of water quality impairment nationwide, including reducing water depth in small streams, lakes and reservoirs.

Information on the proposal and review: http://www.epa.gov/ost/guide/construction/

Our faults ...Researchers find two earthquake faults while studying safety of Martis Creek Dam

lynellg — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:16:48 -0800

By Greyson Howard, Sierra Sun

The Army Corps of Engineers, as part of a study into the safety of Martis Creek Dam, dug two trenches in Waddle Ranch this fall. What they found, two earthquake faults, lends credence to the dam’s ranking of one of the six riskiest in the nation. The dubious ranking, derived by the Corps, came because water is seeping under the dam through a loose glacial till, which in a worst-case scenario could result in failure and flooding in Reno.

“We found a fault in each trench,” said Ron Rose with the Dame Safety Assurance Program of the corps. “They are two separate faults, but probably related, and they do trend towards the dam.” Rose said in a previous interview it could be four years, in a best-case scenario, before the corps can come to a decision, on repairing, rebuilding, or removing the dam.

The Corps did not find any charcoal near the faults for the purpose of carbon dating, which would have indicated when the last earthquake was, and how much of a risk it presents to the dam, Rose said. Other dating options are being pursued.

More trenches will be dug both up and down stream from the dam to further map the faults, and an aerial map will be made of the surrounding landscape, Rose said. Other work around the dam will be slowing down or stopping for the winter, said Veronica Petrovsky with the corps.

For entire article, please visit website.

Tahoe National Forest use plan available for comment

lynellg — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 08:34:13 -0800

Many off-highway vehicle users feel the public comment period for Tahoe National Forest is is too short
By Laura Brown, Tahoe Sun News Service

Two months is too little time to respond to a complicated draft environmental plan for off-road vehicle use on the Tahoe National Forest, area county supervisors, motorcycle and environmental groups said. About 10 people from different groups relayed their concerns earlier this week about the plan at a county supervisors’ meeting.

Released late September, people have until Nov. 26 to review and provide input on the voluminous document numbering more than a 1,000 pages and weighing almost 12 pounds.

“This is an unreasonable amount of information for people to digest and comment on in a short period of time,” said Kyra, a member of the Nevada County Woods Riders. “We need more time.” Disillusioned off-road vehicle users contend the plan omits significant trails used by locals and doesn’t take into account the economic contributions the group provides to the county’s restaurants, motels and gas stations.

Environmental groups argue additional trails should not be added when the existing ones are poorly managed and impacts to water quality, wildlife and quiet recreationists are not being thoroughly enough addressed. So far, about 3,000 letters have been submitted via e-mail, with a majority coming as form letters from the San Francisco-based Wilderness Society, said Tahoe National Forest spokeswoman Ann Westling.

“There’s interest nationally, because a lot of people who don’t live in California visit the Sierra Nevada,” said Stan Van Velsor, a spokesman for The Wilderness Society, which is keeping a close tabs on eight national forests in the state that will release similar documents in coming months. The Tahoe National Forest is the second after Eldorado to release its draft environmental plan.

“That’s why we’re concerned this one be done right,” because it could become a templet for the others, Van Velsor said. Forest service officials are unlikely to grant an extension to the public comment period, because they must meet a deadline for a final plan in March, Westling said.

“It would have to be approved by the regional forester (in Vallejo). Due to the short time periods we’re under, that would be unlikely,” she said.

Long process
In the works for five years, the off highway vehicle route designation process started to address the increasing number of people who drive motorcycles, quads and vehicles criss-crossing the back country.

Interest in the route designation process has been strong, with more than 200 people attending an informational workshop in Nevada City last month.

For entire article, please visit website below.

Water officials target repairs

lynellg — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 08:38:08 -0800

By Merry Thomas • Fallon Star Press • November 7, 2008

If Truckee-Carson Irrigation District officials have their way, they will replace a 10-mile segment of the Fernley canal with a new, concrete barrier this winter, according to TCID Project Director David Overvold.

"We would like to build it this winter, using our own forces," Overvold said. TCID has submitted a proposal to U.S. Bureau of Reclamation engineers and the plan is being reviewed this week by BOR engineers from Denver and Sacramento, he explained.

TCID has proposed to build a 12-foot deep, one-foot wide concrete trench along 10 miles of the canal ban, and Overvold said he is certain that locals could do the work. All they need is a nod from BOR officials. A restored canal will mean water flows can be restored to capacity, at 750 to 800 cubic feet per second, rather than the 350 cfs allowed since the breach in January.

For entire article, please visit website below.

Erosion properties tested on pile burn footprints

lynellg — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:34:33 -0700

Project is the first of its kind in the Tahoe Basin
By Nick Cruit, Sierra Sun, 10/28/08

Drea Traeumer of Em Consulting performs a dye test while Micheal Ukraine, Rachel Arst, and Tim Delaney of Integrated Environmental Restoration Services collect data at a prescribed burn site on Dollar Hill in Tahoe City. The research crew is studying the effects of prescribed burns on erosion and sediment runoff into Lake Tahoe.
Seth Lightcap/Sierra SunA team of scientists meticulously monitored water flowing down a dusty rill Monday as they conducted experiments in the scorched remains of a recently burned pile of brush near Lake Tahoe.

As part of the first-ever in-depth experiments to determine how prescribed forest burning affects soil erosion in the Tahoe Basin, the team from Integrated Environmental Restoration Services and Em Consulting tested charred craters left by last week’s pile burns near Chinquapin Condominiums in Tahoe City.

Though the test spot is no bigger than the rain shadow left by a car, the impact of their data will effect how decisions are made throughout the Tahoe Basin.

Having already monitored baseline conditions before Calfire’s prescribed burn project, Em Consulting Hydrologist Drea Traeumer and Integrated Environmental scientists teamed up to run rain and rill simulators directly on the footprint of the burned piles.

While the effects of fuels reduction programs on soil properties cause tension around Lake Tahoe, Integrated Environmental rain simulators hope to shed light on the potential for erosion problems caused by water flow.

“We are happy to cooperate with the project,” said North Tahoe Fire Protection District Forest Fuels Program Manager Stewart McMorrow, who helped oversee the prescribed pile burns last week. “It’s important to know what the true effects of pile burning are.”

Discussing a slow environmental process like erosion often causes conflict because it is not easily seen. Hoping to provide “facts, not opinions,” the Integrated Environmental project is a step towards educated management level environmental decisions.

“There’s a lot of dialogue from people who think they know what’s going to happen,” said Kevin Drake Monitoring Manager for Integrated Environmental. “We’re coming up with a body of data to have dialogue with concrete information.”

Data taken from the post-burn tests is only the beginning of a complicated process.

For entire article, please visit website below.

EPA Expands Study of Pharmaceuticals in Waterways

lynellg — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 12:36:15 -0700

Wed, Oct 22, 2008 on NBC San Diego online

Originally written by ENS, August 6, 2008 - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to conduct a detailed study of the disposal methods used by hospitals, long-term care facilities, hospices and veterinary hospitals that wish to discard unused pharmaceuticals.

The EPA is seeking more information on the practices of the health care industry to inform future potential regulatory actions, and identify best management and proper disposal practices. EPA has assumed that one facility in seven, approximately 3,500 facilities, would be selected to receive the detailed questionnaire.

To gather this information, the agency has drafted an Information Collection Request and is now seeking public input on the request form. Public comments on the Health Care Industry ICR will be taken for 90 days after it is published in the Federal Register, which should occur shortly.

Drugs taken for pain, infection, high cholesterol, asthma, epilepsy, mental illness and heart problems contaminate U.S. waterways, according to a March 2008 report by the Associated Press National Investigation Team. The findings confirm a 2002 report by the U.S. Geological Survey that was the first nationwide study of pharmaceutical pollution in the nation's rivers and streams.

The questionnaire is one of several actions the agency is taking to strengthen its understanding of disposal practices and potential risks from pharmaceuticals in water.

The agency also is commissioning the National Academy of Sciences to provide scientific advice on the potential risk to human health from low levels of pharmaceutical residues in drinking water. The Academy will convene a workshop of scientific experts December 11-12, to advise the agency on methods for screening and prioritizing pharmaceuticals to determine potential risk.

"The agency's work to increase industry stewardship and scientific understanding of pharmaceuticals in water continues," said Benjamin Grumbles, EPA's assistant administrator for water. "By reaching out to the National Academy of Sciences and requesting information from the health care industry, EPA is taking important steps to enhance its efforts," he said.

For entire article, please visit website below.

A Paradox of Nature: Designing rain gardens to be dry

lynellg — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 13:00:33 -0700

By Kevin Beuttell, Stormwater E-Magazine, October 2008

Despite the proven environmental benefits of rain gardens, many people are reluctant to use them because they can be unattractive. But a close examination of the relationships between hydrology and vegetation in rain gardens suggests a solution for improving their looks and their function. Rather than think of rain gardens primarily as wet environments, we should design them as dry environments that experience only brief wet periods. This shift in thinking increases opportunities for ornamental planting without sacrificing environmental performance.

Rain gardens are one of the most frequently cited and promising strategies for managing stormwater responsibly, and because of the ubiquitous presence of impervious surfaces, these systems can be used on virtually any type of site. Rain gardens come in many forms (and go by many names, such as bioswale, bioretention, and bioinfiltration), but for the purposes of this article, the term “rain garden” is essentially meant to describe a shallow depressional area designed to use the natural capacities of soil and vegetation to retain, cleanse, and infiltrate stormwater.

The Pros of the Rain Garden
Infiltration-based stormwater management strategies, such as rain gardens, are crucial to downstream ecological health. Every parcel of land interacts with water. If water infiltrates, it can be used as a resource to nourish plants and replenish aquifers. When water runs off driveways, roads, and compacted soils, however, it becomes a liability, carrying sediments and pollutants downstream. The USEPA states that nonpoint sources, such as stormwater runoff from an urbanized landscape, are the leading causes of urban stream water-quality problems. To help, many designers are looking toward landscape solutions to water-quality and flooding problems, altering land surface functions to manipulate the way in which the land captures and absorbs stormwater.

Many other stormwater management techniques address only a portion of the problems caused by stormwater runoff. Rain gardens, however, have the potential to solve all the problems of stormwater runoff before they occur. Like other infiltration-based strategies, rain gardens mitigate the hazardous stormwater runoff aspects of development by decreasing peak flows responsible for storm surges and flooding. They reduce pollutant discharges, minimize streambank erosion, replenish groundwater, and restore base flows and aquatic habitats. Rain gardens can also offer real development cost savings by eliminating expensive belowground stormwater infrastructure in favor of combining stormwater management with ornamental landscapes.

Rain gardens can also help with temperature pollution problems. In a completely natural setting, water enters a stream or other water body almost entirely through groundwater that provides steady flows at low temperatures. But when development introduces impervious surfaces, higher temperatures often result as the runoff washes over those warmer surfaces. Higher temperatures, in turn, cause the loss of a diverse system of aquatic biota in receiving streams, ponds, and rivers that are sensitive to the warmer water.

Because of effects like these, traditional urban stormwater management has always viewed water as a burden on the landscape. Water is typically taken away through channels and pipes as quickly as possible to avoid flooding on site. But water and ecological quality can be improved when water is allowed to infiltrate, using it as a resource where it falls.

The (Perceived) Cons of the Rain Garden
Attractive and functional rain gardens are the exception, not the rule. Most rain garden installations do not include those elements that are culturally accepted as beautiful, like lush green lawns, flowering vegetation throughout the growing season, clean lines, and a maintained appearance. As a result, people see these landscapes as cluttered, unkempt, and unmanaged. Perceptions are just as important as environmental performance. If rain gardens are not perceived as attractive, cared-for environments, they will not be adopted during the design phase or managed after installation. Although preferences vary from person to person, a common theme for all is an appearance that communicates care to the viewer.

People design and manage landscapes as a reflection of who they are and how they want to be perceived. Too often, rain gardens planted with water-loving species appear unkempt and abandoned. Individual plants are often stressed and weak, particularly in areas that experience hot and dry summers. The negative perception of their ornamental character is an obstacle to their use in both new and retrofit development projects. Because many rain gardens do not come close to the ornamental quality of more traditional garden landscapes (especially from the perspective of the general public, who may be largely unaware of the environmental benefits), they are not a viable option in visually prominent areas of a site such as in parking lots or at site and building entrances. In high-visibility areas, environmental performance alone is not enough. Because one cannot see the ecological functioning of the root systems, water infiltrating through soil, and wildlife’s benefits from the landscape, it is difficult to include an ecological assessment in our judgment of landscape’s appearance. So rain gardens are not used, or are relegated to areas of the site where their messy appearance will not offend.

For entire article, please visit website.

Advances in Porous Pavement, Different types of materials and continuing research offer more options.

lynellg — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:45:32 -0700

By Tara Hun-Dorris, Stormwater Magazine, March-April 2005

Pavements are an intrinsic, seldom-thought-about part of life, particularly in urban areas. However, for developers, industrial facilities, and municipalities addressing stormwater and associated water-quality guidelines and regulations, pavement stays very much at the forefront of planning issues. “Pavements are the most ubiquitous structures built by man. They occupy twice the area of buildings. Two-thirds of all the rain that falls on potentially impervious surfaces in urban watersheds is falling on pavement,” says Bruce Ferguson, professor and director of the School of Environmental Design at the University of Georgia in Athens.

Porous pavements, designed to allow air and water to pass through, are today just a small fraction of all pavement installations. However, their popularity is steadily increasing on a percentage basis, and they have been installed in all regions of the United States, Ferguson says. “This is potentially the most important development in urban watersheds since the invention of the automobile. The automobile is causing us to build all these pavements and have all these oils that we spill. If we can transfer the environmental function of the pavement, we’ve done two-thirds of the work.”

If used properly, porous pavements can facilitate biodegradation of the oils from cars and trucks, help rainwater infiltrate soil, decrease urban heating, replenish groundwater, allow tree roots to breathe, and reduce total runoff, including the magnitude and frequency of flash flooding. Stormwater, particularly urban runoff and snowmelt, is the wastewater of the 21st century, according to John Sansalone, associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge. As reuse becomes more necessary, runoff will eventually be seen as a valuable commodity, he explains. This makes porous pavements, with their potential to revolutionize stormwater management, an important technology for the future.

Ferguson has been studying porous pavements for more than a decade. In his book, Porous Pavements (2005), Ferguson identifies nine categories of porous pavement: decks, open-celled paving grids, open-graded aggregate, open-jointed paving blocks, plastic geocells, porous asphalt, pervious concrete, porous turf, and soft paving.

For entire article, including many success stories from varied climates, please visit website.

Porous Asphalt Pavement With Recharge Beds 20 Years and Still Working

lynellg — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 12:41:44 -0700

With the right soil conditions and careful design, installations retain their ability to infiltrate.
By Michele C Adams, Stormwater E-Magazine May-June 2003

Is it possible to have a stormwater best management practice (BMP) that reduces impervious areas, recharges groundwater, improves water quality, eliminates the need for detention basins, and provides a useful purpose besides stormwater management? This seems like a lot to expect from any stormwater measure, but porous asphalt pavement on top of recharge beds has a proven track record.

First developed in the 1970s at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA, porous asphalt pavement consists of standard bituminous asphalt in which the aggregate fines (particles smaller than 600 µm, or the No. 30 sieve) have been screened and reduced, allowing water to pass through the asphalt (Figure 1 on website). Underneath the pavement is placed a bed of uniformly graded and clean-washed aggregate with a void space of 40%. Stormwater drains through the asphalt, is held in the stone bed, and infiltrates slowly into the underlying soil mantle. A layer of geotextile filter fabric separates the stone bed from the underlying soil, preventing the movement of fines into the bed (Figure 2 on website).

Porous pavement is especially well suited for parking-lot areas. Several dozen large, successful porous pavement installations, including some that are now 20 years old, have been developed by Cahill Associates (CA) of West Chester, PA, mainly in Mid-Atlantic states. These systems continue to work quite well as both parking lots and stormwater management systems. In fact, many of these systems have outperformed their conventionally paved counterparts in terms of both parking-lot durability and stormwater management.

Installations Old and New

One of the first large-scale porous pavement/recharge bed systems that CA designed is in a corporate office park in the suburbs of Philadelphia (East Whiteland Township, Chester County). This particular installation of about 600 parking spaces posed a challenge because of both the sloping topography and the underlying carbonate geology that was prone to sinkhole formation. The site also is immediately adjacent to Valley Creek, designated by Pennsylvania as an Exceptional Value stream where avoiding nonpoint-source pollution is of critical importance. Constructed in 1983 as part of the Shared Medical Systems (now Seimens) world headquarters, the system consists of a series of porous pavement/recharge bed parking bays terraced down the hillside connected by conventionally paved impervious roadways. Both the top and bottom of the beds are level, as shown in Figure 3, hillside notwithstanding. After 20 years, the system continues to function well and has not been repaved. Although the area is naturally prone to sinkholes, far fewer sinkholes have occurred in the porous asphalt areas than in the conventional asphalt areas, which the site manager attributes to the broad and even distribution of stormwater over the large areas under the porous pavement parking bays.

Other early 1980s sites, such as the SmithKline Beecham (now Quest) Laboratory in Montgomery County, PA, and the Chester County Work Release Center in Chester County, PA, also used the system of terracing the porous paved recharge beds down the hillside to overcome the issues of slope. At the DuPont Barley Mills Office complex in Delaware, the porous pavement was installed specifically to avoid the construction of a detention basin, which would have destroyed the last wooded portion of the site. More recently (1997), the porous parking lots at the Penn State Berks Campus were constructed to avoid destroying a wooded campus hillside. The Berks lots, also on carbonate bedrock, replaced an existing detention basin and have not experienced the sinkhole problems that another campus detention basin has suffered.

To view complete article and figures, please visit website.

Water quality award presented to Roland Westergard

lynellg — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 08:25:27 -0700

Special to Carson Times, via RGJ.com
October 17, 2008

Longtime water resource advocate Roland Westergard was recognized today by the State of Nevada for his lifetime of dedication to the protection of the state's water resources.

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection presented its 2008 Wendell McCurry Excellence in Water Quality Award to Westergard at a ceremony at the offices of the Nevada Department of Conservation and Natural Resources in Carson City this week, with members of his family and many friends and colleagues in attendance.

The award recognizes his nearly 50 years of work in water quality protection and water conservation education, especially relating to Lake Tahoe.

Westergard is past director of department and played a key role in the Truckee River Operating Agreement, which was signed last month after 20 years of negotiation. A major focus of the agreement is water quality.

As a member of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency's governing board from 1983 to 1998, including two years as chair, Westergard was instrumental in the development of several milestone water policies, including the bi-state compact with California and the development of water quality standards that establish beneficial uses of the lake and criteria to protect those uses. The compact was approved by Congress and signed into law in 1990.

Widely respected for his integrity and breadth of experience, Westergard is also credited with fighting for the environmental protection of Lake Tahoe and its watershed, especially during the 1980s and '90s, in the face of heavy political pressure from pro-development interests.

"No one is more committed, more passionate, or more persuasive than Roland when it comes to advocating for protection of Nevada's water resources," said Allen Biaggi, the department's director, in presenting the award. "His knowledge and experience in water resource management are virtually unmatched. When he talks about water, everyone listens."

For entire article, please visit website.

EPA faulted on waterway pollution from sprawl

lynellg — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 09:31:53 -0700

"EPA faulted on waterway pollution from sprawl"
10/15/08, By DINA CAPPIELLO, AP

Source: Directly, Department of Water Resources' California Water News online, October 16, 2008

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Environmental Protection Agency is failing to stem the pollution washing into waterways from cities and suburbs, the National Academy of Sciences reported Wednesday. The report's authors urged "radical changes" in how the federal government regulates stormwater runoff so that all waters are clean enough for fishing and swimming.

"The take-home message is the program as it has been implemented in the last 18 to 20 years has largely been a failure, said Xavier Swamikannu, one of the authors and the head of Los Angeles' stormwater program for the California Environmental Protection Agency.

Stormwater runoff is the toxic brew of oil, fertilizers and trash picked up by rain and snowmelt as the water flows over parking lots, roofs and subdivisions.

The report said responsibility for managing stormwater must shift from developers to local governments, and permits should be issued on the boundaries of a watershed, rather than state borders. Such a change probably would require a new law and take between five years to 10
years, the report said.

While urban areas cover only 3 percent of the U.S., it is estimated that their runoff is the primary source of pollution in 13 percent of rivers, 18 percent of lakes and 32 percent of estuaries.

Current law is ill-equipped to deal with the problem, the authors said.

Congress required the EPA in 1987 to start issuing permits under the Clean Water Act to industrial and construction sites. But lawmakers changed the focus on water pollution, from industrial discharges and sewage pipes to runoff, a problem that is much larger and harder to
pinpoint. The law is designed to target specific contaminants, when the problem with stormwater often is one of volume. A surge of water after a storm can cause streams to erode and fill waterways with sediment.

Benjamin H. Grumbles, the EPA's assistant administrator for water, said the findings underscored the approaches the EPA is taking. The agency requested the review in 2006, but Grumbles disagreed on Wednesday with the conclusion that the stormwater program was failing.

"We want to accelerate the progress on reducing pollution and managing stormwater. We believe sound science, pollution prevention, and watershed protection will ensure continued clean water progress," he said.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private organization chartered by Congress to advise the government of scientific matters. #

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ixaJrp5XLiIA-Z4Vl1sBsl7oOQUQD93R534O1

Washoe OKs seeking bids for levee along Truckee in Reno

lynellg — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 08:28:21 -0700

Washoe OKs seeking bids for levee along Truckee in Reno
October 15, 2008

After getting side-tracked this spring, Washoe County commissioners Tuesday approved seeking bids to construct the first major levee for the Truckee River flood control project on Indian land north of the Grand Sierra Resort. Bids sought in May were rejected after re-designs and negotiations continued on a financial agreement among Wal-Mart, the Reno-Sparks Indian Colony and the flood project.

Earmarked for flood control are $1.72 million in county sales taxes to build the levee that will help prevent flooding of the new store, the Grand Sierra and Reno-Tahoe International Airport. In May, the project was estimated at $5.8 million.

For entire article, please visit website.

Officials: Wet Winter Crucial to Reno Water

lynellg — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 08:19:47 -0700

Source: KOLO-TV8
Written by: AP
Oct 13, 2008

Reno-area water officials say a wet winter in the Sierra Nevada is crucial to restoring diminished water supplies. Back-to-back skimpy winters have left reservoirs along the Truckee River water shed low.

"This winter is everything," said Chad Blanchard, chief deputy in the federal water master's office in Reno.

Officials say unless the fall brings unusual wet weather, Lake Tahoe, the river's largest water source, could drop below its natural rim by early December - something that hasn't happened since January 2005. While officials say the Reno area won't run out of drinking water, another dry winter likely would mean minimum flows in the Truckee River set by law may not be met.

"It's getting real hard to sugarcoat things," said Bill Hauck, water supply coordinator for the Truckee Meadows Water Authority. "We will be entirely dependent on a good winter this year." What will be affected is the ability to meet the so-called "Floriston rates," a century-old law designed to guarantee a minimum flow of Truckee River water.

That flow is measured at Farad, Calif., just upstream from the Nevada line. The law designed to ensure municipal, agricultural and power generation demands from river water can be satisfied requires that flows of at least 500 cubic feet per second be maintained through the summer, dropping to between 300 and 400 cfs over the winter, depending on available storage at Lake Tahoe.

The Lake Tahoe dam at Tahoe City allows for the storage of up to 6 feet of water above the lake's natural rim. Most of that water is now gone, with the lake level at less than a foot above the rim. Depending on factors such as fall precipitation and evaporation rates, Tahoe should drop below its rim this year by early December, Blanchard said.

At that point, water managers will depend almost exclusively on water stored at Boca Reservoir to maintain minimum river flows. Boca's currently at roughly two-thirds capacity but once it is tapped to maintain Floriston rates, "it will drop dramatically," Blanchard said.

Without added precipitation, achieving the desired rates of river flow will be impossible come mid December. A big winter would help fill Tahoe and other reservoirs and allow water managers to again meet the Floriston rates, hopefully through next summer and fall.

For entire article, please visit website.

Washoe, city candidates go green at Reno forum

lynellg — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 08:31:27 -0700

By SUSAN VOYLES, RGJ.com
October 10, 2008

Wind turbines, digital billboards, a water initiative and building green were among the issues that drew more than 100 people Thursday night to hear from local and state candidates at an environmental forum in Reno. Sponsored by the Sierra Club, Nevada EcoNet and Scenic Nevada, candidates were talking green in the California Building at Idlewild Park.

Democrat Gary Schmidt, a candidate for Washoe County Commission in District 4, called for dumping Waste Management as the garbage company because of the high cost of taking things to its landfill and collection stations. He said local officials should find a way to cut those costs or provide for free dumping, cheaper than enforcing laws against dumping in the desert and organizing crews to haul away the cars. He also said recycling should be promoted more, saying businesses on East Fourth Street pay for old appliances, but "people still haul old refrigerators out to the desert."

Republican Neal Cobb, a candidate for county commission in District 3, said he has led clean-up campaigns for 20 years and agreed more needs to be done. "They will lock us out of recreational areas if we can't take care of them," he said.

Asked about legalizing digital billboards, Reno Councilman Dave Aiazzi said he wants to allow a digital billboard if the company agrees to tear down three or four other billboards. He's seeking a fourth term in Ward 5 in the northwest.

His opponent, Wayne Melton, said Reno should become the "biggest green city in the world," and people would come here to see what the city has done.

Aiazzi also wants a sculpture garden near the University of Nevada, Reno's new greenhouses near Wells Avenue, where people could check out the new alternative energy technology and get answers. "Some people want to know if a wind turbine makes a lot of noise," he said.

Reno Councilman Dan Gustin, running for a second term against Tom Herndon in Ward 1, said the greenest building is already built, applauding the conversion of the old Sahara building downtown into the Montage condominiums that opened Thursday night.

David Ward, running at-large against Councilman Pierre Hascheff, said the city should design buildings that "are green to begin with." He said the city has had to spend $50,000 to retrofit the new downtown events center to handle solar panels on the roof.

Hascheff touted work the city is doing, such as testing new storm drain systems to make sure they don't send polluted water into the river.

For entire article, please visit website.

Volunteers sought for Carson River study

lynellg — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 08:41:08 -0700

Staff report • October 6, 2008

Anyone interested in the state of the Carson River is invited to attend the third annual water quality Snapshot Day on Saturday, officials announced Monday.

The Carson River SSD is modeled after the Truckee River SSD, now in its eighth year. Volunteers, under the guidance of a water resource professional, will collect watershed information from eight locations along the river at the same time. Researchers will make visual observations of habitat and land uses, plus measure physical and chemical characteristics. Field tests will be conducted for dissolved oxygen, conductivity, pH and temperature. Water samples will be collected and analyzed at a laboratory for nutrients, sediment and bacteria. The data collected will be used to screen for potential water quality problems, help to establish baseline conditions, and provide additional data for water resource agencies.

Volunteers consist of students from local schools, scout troops and interested citizens and organizers are still looking for volunteers. For more information, contact Mary Kay Riedl at the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection Bureau of Water Quality Planning at 687-9454. This event is sponsored by the Carson River Coalition Education Working Group.

Watershed impacts irrigation

lynellg — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 08:35:46 -0700

By Merry Thomas, Fallon Star Press, via RGJ.com
October 3, 2008

If the dry weather conditions continue into fall and early winter, the region could face a slower water release than usual and create the possibility of diverting water from the Truckee River in December, according to TCID Project Manager Dave Overvold.

Releases from Lahontan Dam resumed Wednesday after having been curtailed for nearly two weeks. As of Friday, Sept. 19, which is the latest numbers available, storage was 28,361 acre-feet. The amount of water and rate at which it is released from Lahontan depends on inflow from the Carson River, Overvold said.

The Lahontan Dam is down this season by about two-thirds the average, historically. This means it's likely area farmers will receive deliveries short by about 2,000 acre-feet this season. The maximum Truckee Canal diversion allowed by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is 350 cubic feet per second, which is more than will be available by the time the flow reaches the Derby Dam, the TCID Web site stated.

"We want to keep water diverted from the Truckee River at a minimum," Overvold said.

Water gets diverted from Lake Tahoe or from Prosser or Boca reservoirs to make up the difference when there isn't enough naturally occurring water, such as rain. Tuesday, for instance, the water arriving at Derby Dam was released at 133 cfs below the dam. The rate of release from Tahoe is about 189 cfs, and the rate of flow below Derby is expected to drop this month to 113 cfs.

For entire article, please visit website.

Tahoe Rim Trail gets a new, improved section

lynellg — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 08:46:56 -0700

Emma Garrard / Sierra Sun via Tahoe Daily Tribune
October 3, 2008

The Tahoe Rim Trail added another mile to its 165-mile circumference after rerouting a section of the trail from Tahoe City to Cindercone this summer. The trail was rerouted to make a more environmentally-friendly, sustainable and scenic trail including better erosion control, water quality and protection for wildlife in the area, in particular the protected Northern goshawk, said Jim Backhus, a Tahoe Rim Trail board member and senior crew leader.

The trail, which used to be one of the least-used sections of the Rim Trail, may become one of the more popular, Backhus said. "Once people get used to it, they will find they like it more," he said.

Garrett Villanueva, a civil engineer for the U.S. Forest Service Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit who helped construct the trail, agrees it is more scenic than before. "It has amazing vistas of the lake and the upper Truckee River canyon," Villanueva said.

The trail was built with the help of the Forest Service, Nevada Conservation Corps and Tahoe Rim Trail volunteers. The project was funded by the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act. Although the Tahoe Rim Trail Association started planning the trail in 2004, it began construction last fall with most of the trail work completed this summer.

For entire story, please visit website.

Annual salmon spectacle over weekend to impress

lynellg — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 08:23:06 -0700

By Bruce Ajari, Special to the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza
October 3, 2008

It is beginning to be time for the kokanee salmon (Oncorhynchus Nerka), a landlocked sockeye salmon, to be making their trek up local streams to spawn. A popular sportfish in our region, they can be found in most local lakes including Donner and Tahoe.

The kokanee has become almost as popular in the fall among non-fishermen who love to watch these fish as they turn a bright crimson color and spawn in many of our local streams. They have even been witnessed at the outlet of Lake Tahoe below Fanny Bridge. These fish are probably coming from downstream where they come into the river from either Donner Lake or Boca Reservoir.

One of the most popular places to witness this occurrence is at Taylor Creek at the U.S. Forest Service Visitor Center where there is a stream profile chamber where you can view the fish under water. Each year there is a special event called the Kokanee Salmon Festival that takes place at the USFS Visitor Center.

According to the Forest Service, the 19th Annual Kokanee Salmon Festival will be held this year from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at the US Forest Service Visitor Center at Taylor Creek, three miles north of the City of South Lake Tahoe on California Highway 89. The festival is a weekend of family activities celebrating the annual spawning run of the Kokanee Salmon up Taylor Creek and the golden colors of Fall. Enjoy the special events, great food and meet Sammy Salmon.

The Kokanee Salmon Festival is planned as a family event encouraging participation by children and their parents in a wide variety of educational and entertaining events. This year’s celebrations include a number of events and activities that have become associated with the Salmon Festival. Back this year will be the Salmon Feed; 5k, 10k and half marathon Kokanee Trail Runs, 1/2k Kids Tadpole Trot; collectible T-shirts; creek-side interpretive programs; and special events and programs in the Amphitheater. Free gifts and activities for children. Contact the Taylor Creek Visitor Center for more information at (530) 543-2674.

Visitors can learn about the natural wonders of Taylor Creek from Forest Service biologists, as they stroll along the Rainbow Trail. This peaceful walk through colorful aspens, willows and meadow grasses will introduce visitors to a beautiful, yet fragile ecosystem unique to the Sierra. As the trail reaches Taylor Creek, Kokanee Salmon can be seen making their way upstream. A close-up view of this natural event will be available at the Taylor Creek Stream Profile Chamber, where visitors can get a below-the-surface view of the kokanee salmon in Taylor Creek.

Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care will again be serving a delicious barbecue salmon plate Saturday and Sunday. For just $14, visitors can feast on a barbecue salmon steak (the Pacific Ocean variety), corn on the cob, coleslaw, roll and a beverage. Other food items will also be available for those that haven’t developed a salmon palate yet!

Salmon will be served from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Proceeds benefit the Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care and future Kokanee Salmon Festivals. For further information regarding the Salmon Feed call (530) 577-CARE, ext. 2273. If you do not have plans for the weekend, check out the Kokanee Salmon Festival. If you do not have the time to go down to Taylor Creek, there are still local options to view the Kokanee.

The Little Truckee River above Boca Reservoir is a great viewing area. There are a number of locations where you can watch the Kokanee making their annual spawning runs. These fish tend to travel the entire length to just below Stampede Reservoir to spawn.

Bruce Ajari is a Truckee fisherman who writes columns for the Bonanza as well as other area publications.

Tahoe Keys a center for recreation — and controversy

lynellg — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 09:03:23 -0700

Adam Jensen, Tahoe Daily Tribune

Few construction projects in the Lake Tahoe Basin highlight the often-conflicting interests of development and environmental protection quite like the Tahoe Keys. Built in the late 1950s and early ’60s, the 740-acre development at the mouth of the Upper Truckee River has alternately been seen as an appealing place to live and an environmental disaster.

An estimated 5 million cubic yards of material were dredged from the marsh at the mouth of the river to create the fingers of land interlaced with 11 miles of backyard waterways that make up the Keys. The effort destroyed much of the river’s marsh and removed a major filtration system from Lake Tahoe’s largest tributary, identified by the Lahontan Water Board as a major source of fine sediment that reduces the clarity of the lake.

The draw of the development is undeniable, and marketing for the neighborhood has changed little over the past four decades.

“Most of the 1,539 members who own homes, townhouses or vacant lots have a private boat dock and are located on numerous lagoons, canals or the Tahoe Keys Marina with its boat-launching ramps,” according to the Tahoe Keys Property Owners Association. “Waterfront living provides direct access to Lake Tahoe and its many watersports. At Tahoe Keys, we enjoy breathtaking views of the lake and mountains, and enjoy amenities like tennis, indoor and outdoor pools, spa and more.”

While the attraction of living in the Keys has remained the same, the development more recently has faced a new set of environmental issues, including the fight against the introduction of aquatic invasive species into Lake Tahoe.

Eurasian watermilfoil was discovered in the Keys in the 1980s and, despite efforts to remove it, has spread to numerous locations around the lake. Researchers also have indicated the Keys area is the likely introduction point for a growing population of warmwater fish species around the lake.

For entire article, please visit website below.

Safeguards taken to keep sediment out of river

lynellg — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 08:43:00 -0700

October 2, 2008
RGJ.com

Sufficient safeguards are in place at a Truckee River construction site to ensure more sediment is not discharged into the water, officials said Wednesday.

Representatives of the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, the Truckee Meadows Water Authority and Q & D Construction, Inc. met at the site at Booth Street and Idlewild Drive. Photographs taken earlier at the site indicated plumes of sediment were flowing into the river. Since then, the contractor has erected additional containment to prevent a recurrence of the discharge, officials said.

"We feel like they are back on track for compliance," said Dante Pistone, NDEP spokesman.

Q & D Construction is the lead contractor in a $2 million project to replace aging water lines crossing the river.

Lake Tahoe dips to its natural rim

lynellg — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 11:40:23 -0700

By Greyson Howard / Sierra Sun

Now fall, Lake Tahoe and other area lakes and reservoirs are dipping, and may leave the Truckee River a comparative trickle before snow recharges the water supply again. Two slow winters in a row — feeding 31 percent and 32 percent of normal runoff into Tahoe — mean the lake could drop below its natural rim unless precipitation shows up this fall. This means the top of the Truckee River could go dry, and other water stores will have to be leaned on more heavily to supply the Reno/Sparks area.

“At this point it looks like we will get very close to Tahoe’s natural rim,” said Chad Blanchard, chief hydrologist for the U.S. District Court Water Masters Office. Currently the lake is at 6223.80, within 8 inches of the natural rim and down to just 15 percent of the dam’s total storage capacity, he said.

“As the lake drops, the amount going over the dam drops and the amount going down river drops, so we have to supplement that with others. We’re using Boca right now,” Blanchard said. “By the end of the year Boca could be very low also.”

Bill Hauck, the water supply coordinator for the Truckee Meadows Water Authority, said Boca Reservoir could empty to 5 percent of its top capacity.

Prosser Lake will dip down to about one-third its total capacity, and Stampede will be about half its normal volume, Blanchard said.

Donner Lake is being drawn down as usual this fall, emptying the top 9 feet of the lake into Donner Creek, Hauck said. Windy weather has played a major role in lake levels, especially on the enormous surface area of Tahoe, Blanchard said.

“If it is windy it creates huge amounts of evaporation off the lake,” Blanchard said.
Right now, the Truckee is meeting the minimum required rate of 500 cubic feet of water per second, called the Floriston rate, Blanchard said. Blanchard said the flow could slow beyond that minimum rate, but said water demand in Reno and Sparks also drops significantly in the winter, so supplies should be all right.

“We’re hoping for a great winter, but even if we don’t have a great winter we have adequate drought supplies in place,” Hauck said. And as for predicting what winter will bring, Blanchard said it’s too early to make any meaningful predictions. The real forecasting for water supply happens when precipitation is actually on the ground, he said.

“I talk to the weather service and the California Nevada River Forecast Center regularly,” Blanchard said. “There’s nothing concrete but we’re hoping for a wet winter.”

Water deliveries will be on hold Sept. 18-30

lynellg — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:57:22 -0700

Reno Gazette-Journal
September 19, 2008

TCID officials expect storage in Lahontan to drop down to 14,500 acre feet during the two-week shut-off. Because water will not be released between Sept. 18 and Sept. 30 and because inflow will continue from the Truckee River, it is expected that Lahontan's storage level will rise up to about 17,000 acre feet, according to Project Manager David Overvold.

Also by the end of the month, an inflow rate of between 125 cubic feet per second (cfs) and 145 cfs is expected as measured at Hazen, Overvold said.

Truckee River Cleanup Day

lynellg — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 15:50:18 -0700

For Immediate Release Contact: Lauren Siegel, Nevada EcoNet
August 26, 2008 lauren@nevadaeconet.org / 775.323.3433
Truckee River Clean Up Day
Nevada EcoNet and Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful are recruiting 500 volunteers to clean the Truckee River!

Reno, NV—Two of Reno’s most innovative grassroots organizations—Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful and Nevada EcoNet--have joined forces to produce the Truckee River Clean-up Day on Saturday, September 27th from 9am to 12pm. 500 volunteers are needed to pick-up trash, stencil storm drains, wrap trees and remove weeds.

Volunteers can sign up to volunteer at www.ktmb.org and choose one of twelve parks from Verdi through Sparks. Volunteers will receive a water bottle from REI and lunch at Cottonwood Park following the clean-up provided by Save Mart and Great Basin Brewing Co. Kayakers are also needed to float down the middle of the river and collect trash that the volunteers on the side can’t reach.

“Nevada EcoNet is excited to be a part of the 11th annual Truckee River Clean-up Day” said Lauren Siegel, Nevada EcoNet executive director. “We believe this a great family event to give back to the community.”

The Truckee River Clean-up Day was started 11 years ago by John Champion. Champion was crucial to the revitalization of the Truckee River and ending dumping into the Truckee River. This year the event coincides with National Public Lands Day.

The Truckee River Clean-up Day is sponsored by a generous grant from the Truckee River Fund through the Community Foundation of Northern Nevada. This grant pays for equipment, advertising, volunteer recruitment and coordination expenses. In addition, a new contribution was received from the Orange County Foundation to support this event.

Our community partners make this event possible including the amazing park staff of Washoe County, City of Reno and City of Sparks provide expertise, equipment and staff. Park leaders are assigned to each park to guide volunteers to perform their tasks and answer questions. Big Brothers Big Sister, Champions of the Truckee River, REI, Reno Sparks Indian Colony, Tahoe Whitewater Tours, Truckee River Foundation, Truckee River Yacht Club, and Sierra Restroom Solutions provide other essential support for the success of this event.

For more information please contact Lauren Siegel at 775.323.3433 or Lauren@nevadaeconet.org or Maia Dickerson at 851-5185, maia@ktmb.org. Please also visit www.ktmb.org or www.nevadaeconet.org for details.

Project TamesTruckee Floods By Turning To Nature

lynellg — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:53:50 -0700

Sep 18, 2008
KOLO TV-8, Reporter: Ed Pearce

There were speeches beneath the big cottonwoods just east of the Tracy Power Station Thursday morning and shiny shovels stood ready for ceremonial groundbreaking. In fact, ground was broken at what was once the 102 Ranch a month ago. A brand new meander has been carved for the river. Nearby big earth movers are beginning to create what will be new wetlands.

By late fall, this stretch of the Truckee River will start to resemble the healthy habitat nature intended, like another spot a few miles upstream. There what was once McCarran ranch was bought by the Nature Conservancy and the river and the land was restored to something resembling what it was before the ranch was built in the 1880's. In fact, the meander there was built, rock riffles added to the stream bed, native vegetation restored. Nearby new wetlands are already well established. A few years after it was built, it's just about ready for public access and recreation. More than that it's also ready for the next flood.

"It slows the water and when it floods it just spreads out over the flood plain and holds it, creating storage and keeping it from rushing downstream where it could cause damage, says Danielle Henderson, the Natural Resource Manager for the Truckee River Flood Project.”It's like a big sponge."

For entire article, please visit website.

Source of illegal clawed frogs found, officials say

lynellg — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:42:13 -0700

Tahoe Daily Tribune, Staff report
September 11, 2008

Photo provided by NDOWGame wardens with the Nevada Department of Wildlife have tracked down what they say is a source of prohibited African clawed frogs found throughout Nevada over the past few weeks, seizing 68 more frogs from homes across the state.

The company accused of sending the frogs, Florida-based Growafrog.com, paid a $3,600 fine Tuesday and agreed not to ship any more illegal frogs to Nevada, according to a statement Wednesday from NDOW. Cooperating with the state's investigation, the company provided customer records to NDOW, allowing game wardens to contact people who unknowingly purchased the frogs over the Internet, the agency said.

Growafrog.com sells tadpole kits intended for educational purposes, according to its Web site.

The president of the company, Paul Rudnick, said he was aware that the frogs are illegal in Nevada, but a mistake was made at their facility, according to the statement.

The frogs are illegal in many Western states but are legal in some states, including Florida, where the company is based, according to Cameron Waithman, the game warden captain leading the investigation.

Game wardens started the investigation last month with the seizure of 119 African clawed frogs from three Reno homes. The publicity surrounding the case prompted other people around Nevada to call NDOW to turn in illegal frogs. These calls allowed game wardens to track the source back to Growafrog.com and ultimately the seizure of 187 illegal frogs, NDOW stated.

Game wardens received calls and seized frogs in at least seven counties in Nevada, according to Waithman.

"I have been amazed at the level of cooperation we have gotten from citizens across the state," Waithman said in the statement. "People seemed to really understand the danger these frogs pose to our ecosystem and were very cooperative in turning them over to game wardens."

To view entire article, please visit website.

Lahontan cutthroat trout remains threatened in Nevada

lynellg — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:38:56 -0700

Posted at the Tahoe News and Tribune, by Associated Press
September 10, 2008

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has rejected a petition to end federal protection for the Lahontan cutthroat trout — the Nevada state fish which has been listed under the Endangered Species Act for nearly four decades.

A group called Dynamic Action on Wells Group, Inc., had sought to declassify the fish as threatened, claiming among other things in a December 2006 petition that removing the fish from federal oversight was warranted because of habitat improvements in the Pyramid Lake-Truckee River Basin.

But Bob Williams, field supervisor for the service in Reno, said while efforts are being made to restore the native fish, it still faces many challenges to its existence across its habitat range.

“We did not find that the petition presented substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that removing Lahontan cutthroat trout from the list may be warranted,” Williams said.

Clifford Thompson, a Yerington resident and a member of the group originally formed to protect domestic water wells, characterized the fuss over Lahontan cutthroat a “farce.”

The “fish is a fake fish to start with,” he said when reached by phone Wednesday. “They’ve been extinct for how many thousands of years.” Thompson, who described himself as a “student of the constitution,” argued that the Lahontan trout found in the Walker River Basin were bred in fisheries and therefore are not the same genetically as the historic species and are undeserving of protection.

For entire article, please visit website.

Municipal In-Stream Monitoring

lynellg — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 12:48:01 -0700

Stormwater E-magazine, September 2008 edition
Accountability in comprehensive sampling
By Lanse Norris

“Water is the one substance from which the earth can conceal nothing; it sucks out its innermost secrets and brings them to our very lips.”
—Jean Giraudoux

What Comprises Comprehensive Sampling?
Since the early ’70s, Cobb County, GA’s municipal in-stream monitoring efforts have evolved into a program that conducts sampling across 21 sub-watersheds at 93 chemical sites per quarter, 24 macroinvertebrate sites per year, 24 habitat assessment sites biannually, and 24 fish sites every five years. Sites were selected considering land use, proximity to industries, and stream confluences of representative reaches.

The chemical data generate a water quality index (WQI) score derived from comparing the value for any parameter of interest with values for the same available parameter from sampling results recorded throughout the Atlanta region. The index itself is a value between 0.00 and 1.00, with 0.00 representing the best value in the database for each parameter. Table 1 shows the Cobb Stream Monitoring Program chemical data for an actual site with each parameter and applicable scores. The aggregate WQI for the site is calculated as the numeric average of the available WQIs shown.

Biological sampling produces macroinvertebrate and fish data, which are scored on an index of biotic integrity (IBI). Habitat assessments are scored on a standardized form following state of Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) protocol.
A Cobb County Water System Watershed Monitoring Program Annual Report is published containing all of the chemical, biological, and habitat data collected; many permits addressing surface waters impacted by wastewater discharge, stormwater, point and non-point sources are maintained by the data. In the report, narratives for each site summarize a year’s worth of changes to the stream channel, riparian zone, and watershed itself as personnel wade upstream and drive through the watershed on the way to each site.

How Comprehensive Is It?
Ions in the Stream. Chemical monitoring parameters and methods are long-established water-quality standards prescribed by the approved 20th edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater (Clesceri et al. 1998) and are implicit in environmental regulatory sampling like National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) wet-weather ambient trend monitoring. Cobb County Stream Monitoring personnel take extra measures to ensure accuracy and integrity. For example, rather than rely on precarious dissolved oxygen (DO) meter readings, Winkler titration method dissolved oxygen samples are “fixed” in the field for more consistent and accurate analysis by Cobb’s Georgia Association of Water Professionals certified wastewater laboratory. Quality-control samples are collected at the first site for a given stream, and all samples are collected mid-depth in representative flow when possible and preserved in the field before transportation to the laboratory. Field notes supporting chemical sample characteristics are made concerning weather, degree of flow, color, odor, and turbidity.

For entire article, please visit website below.

Parr selected as BOR area manager

lynellg — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 15:07:43 -0700

September 8, 2008

Donald Glaser, Regional Director of the Bureau of Reclamation's Mid-Pacific Region, announces the selection of Kenneth Parr as the Area Manager for Reclamation's Lahontan Basin Area Office.

Parr oversees Reclamation facilities throughout northern Nevada and eastern California. His responsibilities include management of the Newlands, Truckee River Storage, Washoe, and Humboldt Projects focusing on a variety of water resources issues.

"With Kenneth's experience and his commitment to working through tough issues with many different groups, stakeholders, and community members, he provides a seamless leadership transition for this area office." said Glaser. "His dedication to seeking fair and equitable solutions for everyone is an asset to both the community and Reclamation."

Since the retirement of Betsy Rieke in June 2008, Parr has been the Acting Area Manager of the Lahontan Basin Area Office in Carson City. Prior to filling that void, Parr had been the office's Deputy Area Manager since August 2006. He joined that office as the Supervisory Natural Resource Specialist in 2002.

His Reclamation career started in 1995 at the Rapid City Field Office in South Dakota. Prior to working for Reclamation, Kenneth worked for Indian Tribes and the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Utah, Wyoming, and South Dakota as a Wildlife Biologist from 1980 to 1995. Parr earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Wildlife Science from Utah State University at Logan in 1980. Kenneth's home town is Enfield, Conn.

Landmark agreement settles long-standing river dispute

lynellg — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:03:41 -0700

By MARTIN GRIFFITH,
Associated Press Writer and published online by Lahontan Valley News
September 6, 2008

RENO, Nev. (AP) - With the scenic stream flowing behind them, officials from Nevada, California and the federal government signed a landmark agreement that settles a century-plus-old dispute over the Truckee River's water.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne joined local and state officials at the signing ceremony Saturday for the Truckee River Operating Agreement. The complex document allocates the river's waters between the two states, and balances the interests of urban users, downstream farmers and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe.

"I'm so happy that President Bush signed off on it," Reid told a crowd of about 400 at a downtown Reno park. "It's an example of what teamwork and bipartisanship can accomplish."

The Truckee flows more than 100 miles from the California side of Lake Tahoe to its terminus at Pyramid Lake on Nevada's high desert, about 30 miles northeast of Reno.

Under the agreement, California will get two-thirds of Lake Tahoe's water to Nevada's one-third, while Nevada will receive 90 percent of the Truckee's water to California's 10 percent. It also calls for Nevada to get 80 percent of the Carson River's water to California's 20 percent.

The two states approved an interstate compact on the Truckee's waters in the early 1970s, but it was never ratified by Congress. Kempthorne hailed the new agreement, saying it was similar to ones reached in recent years over the Colorado and Snake rivers. He stressed that no one surrendered any water rights under the latest deal.

"This day is part of a new day in the West - a day when step by step, agreement by agreement we resolve all the bitter water disputes in the new spirit of cooperation and partnership," he said.

The deal stemmed from Reid-sponsored legislation passed by Congress in 1990 that directed both states, the U.S., the tribe and the Reno area's water purveyor to settle their differences over the river.

Lawsuits over the Truckee spanning back to the 1800s gave it a reputation for being one of the West's most litigated rivers. Under the settlement, the amount of drought water storage for the Reno area will triple, and Reno, Sparks and Washoe County will provide water rights to improve water quality in the lower Truckee. The river system is the Reno area's only water source.

Officials said the agreement will improve conditions for the threatened Lahontan cutthroat trout and endangered cui-ui fish, as well as for Nevada wetlands. It also will enhance recreational opportunities in both states.

A final environmental study by the U.S. Department of the Interior and California Department of Water Resources found no significant adverse impacts from the agreement. The document concluded the settlement would provide a major boost to the river's water quality and fishery.

For entire article, please visit website.

EPA to look at Tahoe drainage systems

lynellg — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:11:31 -0700

Tahoe Daily Tribune article, copied from Wednesday, November 2, 2005
EPA to look at Tahoe drainage systems
By Amanda Fehd

Homeowners and businesses in Tahoe could be installing drainage systems regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for health safety reasons - and not know it.

Representatives from the EPA, Tahoe's planning agency and Nevada's environmental protection agency met by conference call last week to discuss whether drainage systems used in Tahoe fall into a category EPA alleges has the potential to contaminate groundwater. No decision was made.

A variety of drainage systems are used in Tahoe to comply with a Tahoe Regional Planning Agency ordinance requiring most property owners to install devices to catch rain and snowmelt.

Called stormwater best management practices, or BMPs, the systems are intended to prevent soil erosion.

Most not a concern

While most of the drainage systems in Tahoe are not a concern, some may be classified as Class V wells, according to Elizabeth Janes at EPA's Region Nine groundwater office in San Francisco.

Tahoe's rain and snowmelt, called stormwater, is generally very clean, diminishing risk of contamination, according to Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control board, which regulates water quality at Lake Tahoe.

However, certain drainage systems would allow any contaminants, or spills of auto or lawn chemicals, to more easily enter groundwater, according to EPA.

EPA requires inventory information from property owners who install Class V drainage systems because of their alleged potential to contaminate groundwater.

Users must also agree not to allow any substances that are threats to drinking water to enter the systems.

EPA's list of threats to drinking water includes chemicals used in household cleaning, lawn and auto care and is available at www.epa.gov/safewater/mcl.html#mcls.

The worst kind of Class V well is a drilled hole allowing water directly down to the water table. The technique is not used in Tahoe but has been standard construction practice in other parts of California, Janes said.

But Class V wells can include many other types of underground drainage systems, according to EPA.

Much of South Shore gets its drinking water only from groundwater, while the lake supplies drinking water to most of the Nevada side. Drinking water is constantly monitored for purity.

No decision yet

EPA is not ready to make a determination on designs for residential or commercial BMPs in Tahoe before taking a closer look at them, Janes said.

"We all agreed we need to sit down and look at these on location," said Russ Land, supervisor of the groundwater protection office of the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, Janes's Nevada counterpart. NDEP provides funding for TRPA's residential BMP retrofit program.

Based on his limited review of residential BMP designs in TRPA's contractors handbook, Land said none fit the definition of a Class V well.

EPA Region Nine was not so sure, Janes said.

The three agencies met after inquiries to EPA from the Tahoe Daily Tribune about whether the Class V wells were used in Tahoe. Area engineers raised the issue with the Tribune.

While Birgit Widegren, head of TRPA's soil erosion team, said it has not been interpreted in the past that Tahoe's designs qualify as Class V, EPA representatives were not certain.

Engineer approved

All Tahoe BMP designs are approved by a state engineer, according to Erik Larson, program coordinator for the Tahoe Resource Conservation District, which provides information to owners of homes where BMPs are installed.

Measures are in place to protect groundwater in Tahoe, according to Widegren. Properties expected to release pollution into rain water or snowmelt, like an auto station, are required to treat it before it is allowed to enter the ground.

TRPA's approach to BMPs is very conservative, Janes said. "They aren't ignorant of the vulnerability of their groundwater."

TRPA's BMP ordinance is aimed at reducing soil erosion, one of the main factors in Lake Tahoe's declining clarity.

"The fundamental concept of keeping soil on property is sound and how we do it may evolve over time," said TRPA spokeswoman Julie Regan. "It's a collaborative process and we will be making sure we are all in agreement."

Homes less risky

Residential properties are less of a risk to groundwater than commercial properties, Janes said.

"EPA does not want to discourage anyone from implementing their residential stormwater BMPs," said Janes. But she cautioned property owners to be responsible about chemical use such as fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides and auto chemicals.

"What you pump into the ground ends up somewhere," she said.

A fact sheet from EPA says there is concern "there may be a dramatic increase in the use of Class V wells as a (BMP) to dispose of stormwater. Infiltration through stormwater drainage wells has the potential to adversely impact [underground sources of drinking water].

The runoff that enters the stormwater drainage wells may be contaminated with sediments, nutrients, metals, salts, fertilizers, pesticides and microorganisms."

The fact sheet was put out in response to construction practices in Modesto, Janes said. It is available at www.epa.gov/safewater/uic/pdfs/fact_class5_stormwater.pdf.

Very wet winter needed to reverse drought trend for Tahoe, Northern Nevada

lynellg — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:51:39 -0700

By Jeff DeLong, Reno Gazette-Journal
September 5, 2008

Nevada continues to suffer through drought conditions, with experts saying nothing is likely to change until the arrival of winter storm season. The federal government's Climate Prediction Center forecasts persisting drought conditions through November. Western Nevada and the Sierra are experiencing moderate drought, while northeast Nevada is "abnormally dry" and east-central Nevada is in severe drought, the center reports.

Long-term weather forecasts offer little in the way of expected change with above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation expected for at least the next month.

"As we are right now, things are pretty bleak," said Gary Barbato, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service. "We don't expect any real improvement until at least Thanksgiving or after." That means flows of rivers and streams will continue to drop, Barbato said in a recent drought statement. Some springs and wells in the hardest-hit areas have dried up, while the region continues to face extreme wildfire danger.

Nevada officials have not declared a drought, but California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger did in early June. On Aug. 27, 53 of California's 58 counties were given disaster declarations as the result of continued drought conditions, including those nearest to Reno: Lassen, Plumas, Sierra, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Alpine and Mono counties.

Lake Tahoe was at 1.2 feet above its natural rim Thursday and unless some unusual storm activity arrives this fall, and none is expected, it will drop to its rim by early December.

Last weekend, cool and strong winds accelerated the evaporation rate at the lake. Over four days, .18 feet evaporated, said Chad Blanchard, chief deputy water master.

"We had a huge loss over the weekend. The evaporation rates were unbelievable," Blanchard said. "It was definitely one of the worst four-day periods I remember."

For entire article, please visit website.

Fernley Developers Targeted by Canal Proposal

lynellg — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 15:00:37 -0700

KOLO TV-8
September 5, 2008

FERNLEY, Nev. (AP) - Developers would face new requirements if they build homes or commercial buildings near the aging Truckee Canal in Fernley under a proposal being considered by the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District.

The district board wants to require developers to install an impermeable barrier in any section of the Truckee Canal above new development.

Dave Overvold, TCID project manager, said the barrier would be a vertical concrete wall on the canal's north bank.

A Jan. 5 breach of the canal flooded about 600 Fernley homes. The 31-mile canal, operated and maintained by the irrigation district, sends water from the Truckee River to Fallon-area farmers.

Currently, developers building homes north and downhill of the Truckee Canal are required to widen the canal bank.

Fernley City Councilman Cal Eilrich, former president of the Fernley Builders Association, said he agrees the canal needs to be reinforced, but sees it as more of a public works project than an irrigation district project. He noted that some of worst damage from the January flood occurred a half-mile downstream from the canal breech, and that a concrete wall upstream wouldn't have helped unless it extended the entire length of the canal through Fernley.

"This is an issue that affects all citizens who live in Fernley," said Eilrich, who stressed he was speaking only as a former developer.

To read entire article, please visit website.

Douglas County reports human West Nile case

lynellg — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:24:36 -0700

By Jill Lufrano, Reno Gazette-Journal
September 5, 2008

Restricted by federal privacy laws, Douglas County mosquito hunters know only the area of residence of the person recently infected with the West Nile Virus. They are still missing vital clues that could help them prevent others from the potentially deadly virus.

"We don't even know if it's a male or female," said assistant manager of the Douglas County Mosquito Control department Ron Lynch. "We don't know if this person was someplace else. Did he get bit here? It's definitely frustrating. We don't know where to go in and control the population." Information released Thursday described a person over 50 years old who lives in the eastern sector of the county. The patient is dealing with a less-severe form of the virus, known as West Nile fever, said Nevada Health Division spokeswoman Martha Framstead, and is the eighth infected in the state this year.

Federal privacy laws preclude health officials from releasing detailed information to the public about those infected with the West Nile Virus. Before last year, Framstead said the state was not allowed to provide any specific information about an infected person at all. Now, they can reveal where the person resides, but only to the county vector control officer, she said.

Douglas County tests adult mosquito populations regularly, submitting samples to the state labratory in Reno, Lynch said. So far, state results show no infected mosquitos in Douglas County, he said.

For entire article, please visit website.

End of water wars

lynellg — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:15:39 -0700

North Lake Tahoe Bonanza, Editorial.
September 5, 2008

Tomorrow is a historic day in the annuals of Western states water rights.The Truckee River Operating Agreement — in progress for more than 20 years and the result of 100 years of water rights controversy — will be officially signed in a ceremony Saturday morning at Reno’s Wingfield Park.

The Truckee River flows out of Lake Tahoe in California, crosses the Nevada border near Farad, and ends in Pyramid Lake. The river, claimed by California and Nevada, has been used for recreation, water supply, hydroelectric power, irrigation, fish habitat and wetlands,among other uses.

Its water was literally fought over in the 1920s when a drought caused Lake Tahoe to fall below its natural rim. Downstream water users cut a canal into the rim to drain more water, causing angry threats and beginning the legal battles over its water. Through the years, the fight has resulted in several legal decrees establishing usage of the river’s water. The Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe became involved when the cui-ui fish, its historical food source, became an endangered species.

The 1990 Truckee-Carson-Pyramid Lake Water Rights Settlement Act began the process to come up with a new agreement. Years and years of negotiations, research and meetings resulted in the TROA. Lake Tahoe stakeholders spent endless hours making sure the lake’s particular interests are covered, even to such items as how much water is recovered from snowmaking.

Once enacted, the TROA will replace the 1935 Truckee River Agreement, which has managed the bistate river and established rates of flow, water storage and the conditions under which Lake Tahoe could be pumped.

Now, the decades of controversy and work are culminating in this historic signing. Signing for the mandatory parties are Dirk Kempthorne, U.S. Secretary of the Interior; Ronald Tempas, of the U.S. Justice Department; Mike Chrisman, California Secretary of Resources; for Nevada, Alan Biaggi, Director of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; Mervin Wright Jr. of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe; and Mike Carrigan, chair of the Truckee Meadows Water Authority.

Saturday won’t be the actual end of the process — federal courts in California and Nevada must now approve it. But there is an end in sight for the embattled Truckee River.

The TROA will 1) allocate the waters of the Truckee River, Carson River, and Lake Tahoe basins between California and Nevada; 2) enhance conditions for threatened and endangered fish species; 3) increase drought protection for the Reno-Sparks area; 4) improve river water quality downstream from Sparks; 5) enhance instream flows and recreational opportunities; 6) settle long standing litigation over water rights to the Truckee River; and 7) lift a 1972 moratorium on water rights applications in the affected region.

And, hopefully, cease the battle over water.

TCID to ask developers to improve the Truckee Canal

lynellg — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 13:11:07 -0700

Christy Lattin, Lahontan Valley News
September 5, 2008

Developers planning to build homes or commercial property in the shadow of the Truckee Canal in Fernley may soon face added requirements from the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District. The TCID policy committee and board of directors meet Monday morning to develop a written policy for development along the Fernley Reach of the Truckee Canal.

Dave Overvold, TCID project manager, said the board wants to require developers to install an impermeable barrier in the section of the Truckee Canal above their development. The barrier will be a vertical concrete wall on the north bank of the canal.

Currently, developers building homes north and downhill of the Truckee Canal are required to widen the canal bank. However, after the Jan. 5 canal breach which flooded 590 homes in Fernley, the Bureau of Reclamation instituted stringent requirements for TCID before more water could be sent down the canal. The BOR owns the Newlands Project, including the Truckee Canal, but TCID operates and maintains the project.

After the flood, BOR stepped in to shut down the canal, which diverts water from the Truckee River and channels it through the Truckee Canal to Lahontan Reservoir. The federal agency limited the amount of water flowing in the Truckee Canal and established several benchmarks for TCID to meet before the flows were increased.

Now, the canal flows at a rate no more than 350 cubic feet per second, about half the maximum capacity of the canal. BOR stated it will not allow flows to increase to 750 cfs or full capacity until permanent structural modifications are made. BOR has stated it expects the permanent fixes to take several years to complete.

"If a future developer comes in and builds next to the canal, he should be made to pay some amount of money to offset the costs (of building the concrete wall)," said Cal Eilrich, former president of the Fernley Builders Association and former board member of the Builders Association of Northern Nevada. He questioned the method of building segments of the wall which may not be continuous.

"How can you piecemeal this?" he asked. Eilrich also pointed out that residential development has essentially stalled in Fernley due to the real estate downturn and it could be another five years before a big development breaks ground.

Hundreds of vacant homes remain in inventory now, Eilrich said, with 900 finished lots that have yet to be developed. Tentative maps for some developments have already been approved without the new requirements, but Eilrich wondered if TCID would seek to institute those before building begins.

Eilrich is a current Fernley councilman but he has made it clear he was speaking strictly as a former developer. He agrees the canal needs to be reinforced, but he sees it more of a public works project than an irrigation district project. He pointed out that some of worst damage from the January flood occurred a half-mile downstream from the canal breech, and that a concrete wall upstream wouldn't have helped unless it extended the entire length of the Fernley Reach.

"This is an issue that affects all citizens who live in Fernley," he said.

The TCID Policy Committee will meet Monday at 8 a.m. at the TCID board room, 2666 Harrigan Road. The TCID Board of Directors will meet at 9 a.m. to review and/or approve the policy. For the complete agendas, visit www.tcid.org.

Builders have stricter requirements under Truckee Canal plan

lynellg — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:10:45 -0700

ASSOCIATED PRESS • September 6, 2008
Developers would face new requirements if they build homes or commercial buildings near the aging Truckee Canal in Fernley under a proposal being considered by the Truckee-Carson Irrigation District.

The district board wants to require developers to install an impermeable barrier in any section of the Truckee Canal above new development. Dave Overvold, TCID project manager, said the barrier would be a vertical concrete wall on the canal's north bank.

A Jan. 5 breach of the canal flooded about 600 Fernley homes. The 31-mile canal, operated and maintained by the irrigation district, sends water from the Truckee River to Fallon-area farmers. Currently, developers building homes north and downhill of the Truckee Canal are required to widen the canal bank.

"This is an issue that affects all citizens who live in Fernley," said Eilrich, who stressed he was speaking only as a former developer.

"If a future developer comes in and builds next to the canal, he should be made to pay some amount of money to offset the costs (of building the concrete wall)," Eilrich told the Lahontan Valley News and Fallon Eagle Standard newspaper. Eilrich also noted residential development has essentially stalled in Fernley due to the real estate downturn and it could be another five years before a big development breaks ground.

For entire article, visit website below.

Using Q-PCR/Bacteroides-Specific Molecular Markers to Quant. Sources of Fecal Contamination in a Reclaimed Water Irrigation pond

lynellg — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:09:25 -0700

Presented at 2008 CSREES Conference in Sparks, NV

Study Impact Statement:
The use of reclaimed wastewater for municipal irrigation is increasing throughout the world. Yet, public confidence in the safety of its use is not increasing at a similar rate, as reclaimed water is seen as "recycled toilet water." By using the most modern methods in identifying the sources of fecal bacteria in this parkland, we are working to identify any public health impacts inherent in the use of reclaimed water for irrigation.

for abstract, please refer to website or attachment below.

Truckee River Clean Up Day

lynellg — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:47:58 -0700

Saturday, September 27th from 9-12 noon from Verdi through Sparks is the 2008 Truckee River Clean-up Day!! Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful and Nevada EcoNet are seeking 500 volunteers to clean-up the Truckee River. Volunteers may register at the website below.

If you would like to schedule an interview with KTMB or Nevada EcoNet please contact Lauren Siegel at the below information and we will be happy to join your show to promote this huge community event. Please feel free to pass this poster and press release (attached) to your contacts and media.

Thank you,
Lauren

Lauren Siegel
Executive Director
Nevada EcoNet
(775)323-3433
lauren@nevadaeconet.org

Mussel found on boat hull at South Lake Tahoe

lynellg — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 09:03:34 -0700

By Jeff DeLong • jdelong@rgj.com • August 28, 2008

A boat encrusted with invasive mussels and about to be launched into Lake Tahoe was stopped in what officials describe as a first-of-its-kind close call. The harbor master at South Lake Tahoe's Tahoe Keys Marina first saw mussels on the stern of a 32-foot cabin cruiser as it was about to be hoisted into the water Friday.

Experts later confirmed the mollusks were quagga mussels, which apparently attached to the vessel while in Lake Mead in late July, said Ted Thayer, natural resource and science team leader for the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency. The boat remains under quarantine as ordered by wardens with the California Department of Fish and Game.

"This is the first one we've actually found that actually had mussels on it," said Jenny Francis of the Tahoe Resource Conservation District, which is leading inspection efforts at the lake.

The incident, Thayer said, makes clear the danger posed by mussel-infested boats and the importance of mounting a program to detect any before they are put into the lake.

"This tells us boats do come from Mead and there may be live mussels on board," Thayer said. "It is both scary and encouraging at the same time."

The vessel owner said it was decontaminated when it left Lake Mead. The area where the mussels were found were near the boat's out-drive sprayed with hot water, Thayer said. That, combined with the time the vessel was out of the water, could mean the mussels were dead when discovered at the Tahoe Keys.

"They could have already been dead, but we decided: better safe than sorry," Thayer said of the decision to put the boat under quarantine. Biologists plan to recheck the vessel Sept. 3 to ensure it is clean and can be released to its owner, he said.

Quagga mussels, previously found only in the Midwest and Northeast, were first discovered in Lake Mead in early 2007 and have since spread to other parts of Nevada, Arizona and Southern California. In January, zebra mussels -- a close cousin of the quagga -- turned up in a California reservoir 250 miles from Lake Tahoe. Both types of mussels could cause widespread problems if they were to become established in Lake Tahoe. The rapidly reproducing mollusks could quickly disrupt the lake's ecosystem, clog drinking water intakes, encrust boats, foul docks and litter beaches with sharp and stinking shells.

In June, the TRPA board approved regulations requiring mandatory inspections of boats being launched into the lake in effort to prevent introduction of mussels.

For entire article, please visit website below.

Reno council to buy downtown post office

lynellg — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:59:32 -0700

Reno council to buy downtown post office
By Susan Voyles • svoyles@rgj.com • August 28, 2008

After decades of talk, the U.S. Post Office is being purchased by the city for $5.1 million for a redevelopment project in the downtown Reno river district. The Reno City Council on Wednesday approved a purchase agreement expected to be finalized before Oct. 1.

"This has been something the city has wanted for many years," Mayor Bob Cashell said.

The building designed by famed Reno architect Frederic DeLongchamps in a post Art Deco, ZigZag Moderne style was completed in 1934. The city has agreed to restore the building in compliance with federal standards for historic properties. A series of public workshops would help define how the building should be restored for a museum, restaurants, entertainment or other uses. The 32,851 square feet includes an interior atrium hidden from public view. A plaza along the river is under design.

"It gives the people another access point to the river. That will draw a lot more people into that part of downtown," said Mark Lewis, Reno Redevelopment Agency administrator.

The Postal Service would retain a small retail office in the building at 50 S. Virginia St. The Postal Service has up to four years to move to a new building on Morrill Avenue, just north of the city's old fire house, near East Fourth Street. Lewis said the move could happen in about two years. The city holds an option to buy the land from the Destiny Center for $1.85 million and is to turn that option over to the post office.

Postal authorities would use the $5.1 million to purchase the Destiny property and build a new facility for postal carriers and administrative offices. The city would sell bonds backed by federal community block grants to but the building. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has given preliminary approval for that use of the grants.

The city would reorient the front of the building to the Truckee River and build a plaza leading to the water. A final design will be presented to the council before the end of the year. Lewis expects construction to start next summer.

For entire article, please visit website.