Wholly H2o - California's Integrated Water Reuse Management Center

WOW! I just came back from touring the San Jose/Santa Clara
Wastewater treatment plant. Fascinating. If you get a chance, go down and take the free
tour. Very comprehensive info on how our waste is treated, energy and
water issues, water contaminants that don't get cleaned out, etc. And
see some very cool WWII machinery and generators still at work. Great
huge metal cam shafts!!

If you can't get down there, you can still take a virtual tour from
this site.
http://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/1823/258436

They are also looking for input into their plans to revamp the plant:
http://www.rebuildtheplant.org

It's time to start getting your rainwater catchment system into place before the California rains begin in the Fall. Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) is a great way to go local with water use.  In addition to using the 100 mile rule for buying produce, why not do the same with water?  What if you only used locally available water?  Thanks to Keith Jackson of Lawrence Berkeley Labs for passing this great video on about RWH in Malta.

DIY: Replacing the Water Grid With Rainwater

OK, I know everyone isn't go to jump out of their seats when thy see this opportunity, but I sure just did!  Take advantage of this great opportunity to learn about the inner workings of what hapens to your water when it goes down the drain. It will help you remember to conserve water before it you ever use it!

2010 Wonders of Our Water Works Plant Tours

I'm always harping on people to know where their water comes from. Just as important, since most of us don't actually use local water supplies, is to know what watershed you live in and how that watershed is being managed.  Get local wioth your understanding of water by checking out your local water shed maps. Here are a few map Sources.

Many water delivery systems in California are aged and falling further and further into dismal condition.  This can lead to wasted water and underground sewage leakages.  Here's a northern California system that draws on Hetch Hetchy supplies that is undergoing repairs.

New Irvington Tunnel One of Many Water System Improvements

Written by Gail Schickele

The New Irvington Tunnel project in Alameda County will break ground in September as part of the $4.6 billion Water System Improvement Program (WSIP) launched in 2002 to repair, replace, and seismically upgrade the aging San Francisco Regional Water System, often referred to as the Hetch Hetchy system. Owned and operated by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), the system delivers drinking water to 2.5 million people in the five counties of San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Contra Costa, and Alameda.

“Our regional water system is considered by many to be an engineering marvel — it is a gravity-fed system that spans 167 miles from the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite National Park to San Francisco,” explained WSIP Director Julie Labonte in a recent interview with Brown and Caldwell Water News. “WSIP is a huge capital improvement program that consists of 86 projects that enhance our ability to provide reliable, affordable, high-quality water to all our customers in the Bay Area.”

Built between 1928 and 1930, the existing Irvington Tunnel is an important part of that water delivery system because it connects the water supplies from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Alameda Watershed to Bay Area water distribution systems serving SFPUC customers. Expected to be completed by early 2014, the new 3.5-mile tunnel will lie parallel to the existing tunnel between the Sunol Valley south of Highway I-680 in unincorporated Alameda County and the Mission San Jose district in Fremont. The Town of Sunol receives the majority of its water from the SFPUC and the City of Fremont receives approximately 30 percent of its drinking water from the system.

Conventional mining methods — primarily road header tunneling and limited, controlled detonation — are planned for the tunnel’s internal diameter of 8.5 to 10.5 feet. Disposal of excavated materials from the Irvington Portal in Fremont will go to a spoils site in the Sunol Valley. Spoils disposal is planned to create a visual barrier to new quarry operation just north of the San Antonio Pump Station near the intersection of Calaveras Road and I-680. Potentially contaminated spoils will be screened, separated, and if found to contain contaminants, hauled to a permitted landfill.

The existing bridge across Alameda Creek will be permanently replaced, initially to accommodate temporary construction traffic as well as ongoing SFPUC Alameda West Portal operations.

A groundwater management plan has been developed that includes two years of monitoring wells, springs, creeks, wetlands, and environmental habitat to minimize the impact to the local groundwater.

According to the Environmental Impact Report, the project could contribute to unavoidable impacts on stream flow in Alameda Creek between the diversion dam and the confluence with Calaveras Creek, while other impacts — aesthetics; air quality; biological resources; cultural resources; geology, soils and seismicity; hazards and hazardous materials; hydrology and water quality; land use; noise and vibration; recreation; transportation and circulation; mineral and energy resources; agricultural resources; and utilities and service systems — are expected to be mitigated to a ‘less than significant’ level.

 

The Bigger Picture: WSIP and Seismic Issues

The U.S. Geological Survey predicts a 63 percent chance of a major earthquake in the Bay Area within the next 30 years. Earthquake damage to the Irvington Tunnel would severely disrupt the supply of emergency water for health and fire protection for an extended period of time. As a whole, the San Francisco Regional Water System remains at risk.

“Although the Hetch Hetchy water system is truly an engineering marvel, some critical elements are seismically vulnerable,” Labonte said. “It’s not a matter of if, but when a major earthquake strikes — we are truly in a race against time.” With the system crossing three of the nation’s most active earthquake faults, this is first and foremost a seismic reliability program, she said.

Crucial portions of the regional water system, which was built in the early to mid-1900s, cross over or near the Hayward, San Andreas, and Calaveras faults. Because it’s been estimated that a major earthquake on any of these faults would likely cut off most customers from their water service for at least 30 days, one of the primary goals of the WSIP is to deliver water to 70 percent of customers within 24 hours of a major earthquake.

Since the Loma Prieta earthquake, Bay Area counties have worked to develop “intertie” systems so they might share water supplies in an emergency. SFPUC has completed such programs with both Santa Clara and East Bay water districts.

The Hetch Hetchy water supply is supplemented with surface water from rainfall and runoff captured in two local watersheds: the 23,000-acre Peninsula Watershed in San Mateo County with reservoirs in Crystal Springs, San Andreas, and Pilarcitos, and the 35,000-acre Alameda Watershed in Alameda and Santa Clara counties, collected in the Calaveras and San Antonio reservoirs.

WSIP projects span seven counties from San Francisco (“Local Projects”) to areas across the Central Valley, southern Alameda and Santa Clara counties, and up the peninsula (“Regional Projects”). Regional projects are organized into five regions: San Joaquin, Sunol Valley, Bay Division, Peninsula, and San Francisco. Projects vary in size and complexity involving both the development of new facilities and improvements to existing facilities, such as dams, reservoirs, pipelines, tunnels, treatment facilities, pump stations, and water storage tanks.

Nearly 56 of 86 projects are either in construction or completed, and some of the program’s largest and most complex projects are entering the construction phase. At present, more than $1.5 billion worth of projects are in construction and WSIP has final approval for all funds required to complete the program in late 2015. WSIP projects are projected to create nearly 28,000 jobs and nearly 11,000,000 craft hours.

“We’re building three new tunnels — including the first under San Francisco Bay — a new dam and the largest UV treatment facility in California,” Labonte explained. “We’re also retrofitting our two existing treatment plants and installing miles of pipelines throughout the system. Our biggest technical challenge is coming up with a pipeline design at the Hayward Fault crossing that can withstand a 7-foot displacement.”

Overall, capital improvements are expected to enhance SFPUC’s water delivery to 1.7 million people in Alameda, Santa Clara, and San Mateo counties, and to 800,000 retail customers in San Francisco. The proposed WSIP is structured to cost-effectively meet water quality requirements, improve seismic and delivery reliability goals through the year 2030, and meet water supply objectives until the year 2018.

“We’ll revisit the water supply project and how we operate the system in 2018,” said SFPUC spokesperson Betsy Rhodes.

Wholesale and retail customers who benefit from the Hetch Hetchy water system will pay for the capital improvement program in proportion to the amount of water delivered. One-third will be paid by San Francisco retail customers and two-thirds through the 26 cities, water districts, and utilities that buy water from SFPUC for resale to their local service areas. SFPUC estimates that Bay Area water rates to residents and wholesale customers will remain at the middle to low end of California’s water rate spectrum.

For more information, visit www.sfwater.org or contact Betsy Rhodes at (415) 554-3240.

We are swinging into the hottest part of the year in California (I hope!) and I'd like to remind you to abide by California's Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance.  Here's a review of the ordinance and some good tips from a Northern California landscaper.   Thanks to catherine Elvert of the City of Palo Alto for sending this along.

Time to Use Less Water: Water-efficient landscape ordinance vs. your garden

It's here and it's here to stay. Since Jan. 1, 2010, a new Water-Efficient Landscape Ordinance (WELO) is in effect for the state of California.

Depending on the community you live in, the ordinance's wording, regulations and enforcement will be slightly different, but all versions have a common set of goals, which are much applauded by landscape professionals and environmentally conscious homeowners alike:

-- Water-efficient landscapes will stretch our limited water supplies:

Fifty to 70 percent of our drinking water is used to irrigate our gardens and much of it goes to the thirsty lawns. Reducing the water needs of your garden is the best thing you can do to save water in our year-long drought situation.

-- Reduced irrigation runoff:

Avoiding irrigation runoff from overspray and misting will reduce the pollution of waterways and lead to less property damage.

-- Less green waste:

Reducing watering means less green waste. A lot of plants that are very generously watered react with growth spurts that in turn lead to more pruning. Limiting the watering to a reasonable amount saves green waste and -- even better -- your manual labor. Get your Saturday afternoon back and save money at the same time.

-- Increased drought resistance:

Water-wise gardens will survive even if we run into serious drought conditions. The lawn will not. A water-wise garden can look as beautiful and lush as any other garden.

-- Smaller carbon footprint:

A low-maintenance, drought-tolerant, sustainable garden has a much smaller carbon footprint than a garden that needs to bring a lot in (fertilizer, mulch, annuals) or get a lot out (green waste). Stick with perennial native or Mediterranean plants, compost your green waste, and use your compost as a mulch to feed and protect your plants.

Most water districts offer additional incentives to convert to a more water-wise landscape. Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) for example offers landscape-rebate programs (rebate) to replace irrigation and even entire landscapes: Santa Clara County single- and multi-family homes with gardens of any size and business properties with 5,000 square feet or more of irrigated landscape can receive rebates for replacing high water-using plants -- such as irrigated turf grass -- with low water-using plants from their approved plant list and/or permeable hardscape.

With the City of Palo Alto matching SCVWD rebates, single-family homes can receive up to $3,000 and business properties can be given up to $30,000. See SCVWD's website for details and eligibility. And always have your landscape pre-approved and pre-inspected before you start construction.

The Water-Efficient Landscape Ordinance helps to achieve the goals laid out above by giving cities, counties and other agencies tools to understand and predict the water-usage of a property. One of these tools is calculating a water budget.

There are two interesting numbers: The Maximum Applied Water Allowance (how much a landscape of a certain size and in a certain area should be using), and the Estimated Total Water Use (how much you estimate your new landscape will use).

Other tools are landscape, irrigation, grading and drainage plans as well as a soil test performed by a soil-testing lab to help the homeowner plan and understand the needs of the landscape better.

These requirements for calculations and plans sound scary at first, but many municipalities are considering moving to easier models such as one or two plans and/or a simple checklist that asks the homeowner questions such as:

How much lawn do you have on your property (in percent)?

How much of your planting area is planted with drought-tolerant plants such as California natives or Mediterranean plants?

Talking to Catherine Elvert from the City of Palo Alto, I learned that Palo Alto is currently enforcing the state's model ordinance. However, since the new mandatory CALGreen standards and landscape ordinance share some requirements for outdoor water efficiency and face similar timelines for adoption, Palo Alto will be incorporating the WELO requirements into their update to the Green Building Code, which will go into effect in January 2011. A new and easier checklist-type of documentation may also be in the near future.

According to the state's model ordinance, new non-residential landscapes with an irrigated area larger than 2,500 square feet, new homeowner provided residential landscapes with an irrigated area larger than 5,000 square feet, as well as existing landscapes more than 1 acre are subject to the ordinance. The new integrated ordinance in the future may lower these thresholds.

And even though it may not ever be required for your garden, why not build a water-wise, sustainable garden anyway? They are beautiful and you'll save the environment and your time and money (for watering, pruning and mowing) at the same time.

Astrid Gaiser, APLD, is a landscape designer, horticulturist and Certified Green Building Professional. Information: 650-224-2895, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Astrid Gaiser

Californians must continue to take under serious consideration how we manage our water supplies, our public trust resource, and the extent to which we can alter our behaviors to conserve water and use it.  The current overdraught of the Delta is coming increasingly to our attention.  The State Water Board has just produced a report suggesting that major cuts could be made to exports from the Bay Delta.  Thanks to Catherine Elvert of the City of Palo Alto for passing on this information.

 

Sometimes those working in stormwater forget that it's management best starts closest to it's source - managing rainwater.  Right on traget, the SFPUC has developed a stormwater management tool, The Watershed Stewardship Curriculum, to assist schools in their adoption of Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) practices. 

I am just spoiled.  I spend all day learning, thinking, talking and strategizing about water and water use reduction.  Today it led me to this great NPR series on the struggles over water in the southwestern United States.  One thing I can promise: it's not over yet. Take a listen!

Struggling over Water: A Series Overview (NPR Podcasts)