Water Category

Environmentalists hope to turn the tide against use of sea walls

Published on January 1, 2012 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.


For years, San Francisco’s Ocean Beach has been under assault by such powerful surf that a fierce winter storm can scour away 25 feet of bluff in just days.

The startling pace of the erosion near the San Francisco Zoo has compelled the city to spend $5 million to shore up the crumbling bluffs. The strategy has been simple: drop huge rocks and mounds of sand to protect the nearby Great Highway and the sewer pipes underneath from being destroyed by the crashing waves.

But as the enormous rocks have piled up, adding to a jumble of concrete — chunks of curb and bits and pieces of gutters — from parking lots that have tumbled onto the shore, so too have the demands that the city get rid of it all and let the coastline retreat naturally.

Now, San Francisco finds itself under fire from environmentalists, who call the rock and rubble unsightly and harmful to the beach, and the California Coastal Commission, which regulates development along the state’s 1,100-mile coastline but has refused to sign off on the fortifications, some of which have sat on the shore for 15 years without its permission. Continue reading ‘Environmentalists hope to turn the tide against use of sea walls’

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Wet weather bears fruit for some

Published on December 23, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.


THIS summer’s weather may be a let-down, but Sydneysiders can enjoy some of the lowest fruit and vegetable prices in years.

”You better believe it … I’m selling four mangoes for $5. Last year it was two for $5,” said Frank Vecchio, owner of the Wynyard Park fruit stand in Sydney’s CBD. In his 20 years of business, Mr Vecchio said he has not seen such quantities of produce at fruit and vegetable wholesale markets.

The chief executive officer of NSW Chamber of Fruit and Vegetable Industries, Colin Gray, said the oversupply was caused by a decline in consumer demand due to the recent unseasonal wet weather. Consequently, wholesale and retail prices have fallen.
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”The problem with the weather is that people are not buying as much, not enjoying barbecues with the fruit and salad bowls,” Mr Gray said.

In particular, the cooler weather has not enthused customers to buy traditional summer fruits such as mangoes, stone fruits and watermelons, according to Bill Chalk, wholesaler and partner of Southern Cross Produce.

He said wholesale prices for mangoes were $1-$2 per kilo compared with $5 per kilo last year and white peaches were $1-$1.50 per kilo, the lowest in years.

”The lower prices are a great thing for the public but it’s heartbreaking for the farmers,” said Mr Chalk, Continue reading ‘Wet weather bears fruit for some’

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Elwha Dam removal illustrates growing movement

Published on September 18, 2011 in Alternative Energy, General Ag News and Notes and Water.


The largest dam demolition in the nation’s history will begin Saturday when an excavator claws away at the concrete supports for Washington’s 108-foot Elwha River Dam, a ceremonial act of destruction that will signal not only the structure’s demise but the latest step in a broad shift in the way Americans are managing rivers.

Faced with aging infrastructure and declining fish stocks, communities are tearing down dams across the country in key waterways that can generate more economic benefits when they’re unfettered than when they’re controlled.

“What once seemed radical is now mainstream,” said American Rivers President Bob Irvin, whose group has advocated dam removal for environmental reasons. “All of these are experiments in how nature can restore itself, and the Elwha is the biggest example of that.”

The pace of removal has quickened, with 241 dams demolished between 2006 and 2010, more than a 40 percent increase over the previous five years. Many of them are in the East and Midwest, having powered everything, including textile mills and paper operations at the turn of the 20th century.

A drumbeat of litigation by tribes and environmental groups has pushed federal officials to dismantle some dams that otherwise would have remained in place. Although this has led to political fights in regions where dams matter the most, such as the Pacific Northwest, it has also forged historic compromises.

“The Elwha River restoration marks a new era of river restoration in which broad community support provides the bedrock for work to sustain our rivers and the communities that rely on them,” Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement. Continue reading ‘Elwha Dam removal illustrates growing movement’

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Dry again: drought back to stalk farmers

Published on September 4, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.


FOR bull breeder Tim Vincent it is a bitter irony that his beloved country can change from drought to flooding rains, and back again, in just a few short months.

His family’s 850ha property outside Gunnedah in northern NSW was like a “little bit of paradise” after last season’s early rains. Today its ragged hills and plains are thick with parched grass, the nutritional value of cardboard, he said.

Mr Vincent, who shares the property with his wife Margaret, their two children and his now-retired parents, has been hand-feeding most of the family’s 450 prime cattle for months.

“I didn’t expect, after we had fences washed out and cattle all over the road in December, that it would change back so quickly,” he said. “Spring is our growing season, but I can tell you there’s not much growing happening here now.”

Mrs Vincent agreed: “Everyone thought we would have at least one or two good years.” Rainfall gauges in nearby Gunnedah recorded barely 250mm in the year to date, compared with an annual average of more than 600mm.

The Bureau of Meteorology puts the chance of making up the difference between now and summer at perhaps 25 per cent.

Even though most dams in the area are almost full, an ugly ochre patch on the NSW Department of Primary Industries agricultural conditions map for last month marks drought in central-northern NSW. Parts of three districts were drought-declared last month, and five more downgraded from satisfactory to marginal.

A spokesman for NSW Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson said she was aware small pockets of the state had slipped into drought. “The minister has noted that there are small portions of NSW that have not received the rain that everywhere else has. But in a state as big as NSW you won’t get a good season (for) everyone.” Continue reading ‘Dry again: drought back to stalk farmers’

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Severe drought in Texas could result in record losses in nation’s No. 2 agriculture state

Published on July 26, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.


LUBBOCK, Texas — Randy McGee spent $28,000 in one month pumping water onto about 500 acres in West Texas before he decided to give up irrigating 75 acres of corn and focus on other crops that stood a better chance in the drought.

He thought rain might come and save those 75 acres, but it didn’t and days of triple-digit heat sucked the remaining moisture from the soil. McGee walked recently through rows of sunbaked and stunted stalks, one of thousands of farmers counting his losses amid record heat and drought this year.

The drought has spread over much of the southern U.S., leaving Oklahoma the driest it has been since the 1930s and setting records from Louisiana to New Mexico. But the situation is especially severe in Texas, which trails only California in agricultural productivity.

McGee is still watering another variety of corn, cotton and sorghum but the loss of nearly one-sixth of his acres after spending so much on irrigation weighs on him.

“Kind of depressing,” the 34-year-old farmer said. “You use that much of a resource and nothing to show for it. This year, no matter what you do, it’s not quite enough.” Continue reading ‘Severe drought in Texas could result in record losses in nation’s No. 2 agriculture state’

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How El Paso is beating the worst drought in a generation

Published on June 27, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.


When Ed Archuleta first arrived in El Paso to manage the local water authority, the cotton barons and cattle men who run this desert city had a blunt message for him. This is Texas, they told him. We don’t do conservation.

It’s a good thing Archuleta didn’t listen. As a record drought scorched America’s south-west this spring, El Paso went 119 days without rain. The Rio Grande, which forms the border with Mexico, shrunk into its banks. An hour’s drive out of town, ranchers sold off their cattle so they wouldn’t have to watch them die.

Archuleta, in his office overlooking a long seam of strip malls, saw no reason for panic – even though, in his words, the amount of precipitation in the first rain this year was about as much as someone spitting on a water gauge.

“We’re going to be fine this summer,” he said. “We’re basically drought-proof.”

The city will be fine next year too, even if it doesn’t rain, and even if the Rio Grande stays low. “We can handle drought next year. Theoretically, even if we have no water in the river, even if there wasn’t a single drop of water coming from the river, we could make it through the summer,” Continue reading ‘How El Paso is beating the worst drought in a generation’

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China issues alert as Yangtze River braces for more rain

Published on June 12, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.


China issued a “level three” alert as the medium-to-lower reaches of the Yangtze River braced for more heavy rain, the China Meteorological Administration said on its website today.

Heavy downpours, including storms and torrential rain in some areas, will affect parts of Jiangsu, Hunan, Zhejiang, Anhui and Hubei provinces as early as tomorrow, the forecaster said. Landslides, floods and mudslides may occur as the soil becomes loose after a recent drought, it said.

Flooding has killed 94 people along the medium-to-lower reaches of the Yangtze River this month, with another 78 people missing, according to a China National Radio report yesterday. The region had previously suffered from a drought. Continue reading ‘China issues alert as Yangtze River braces for more rain’

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Irrigation Training Class

Published on June 9, 2011 in Water.
Instructor: Mike Vierra Ph: 280-7283

Kahana Maui — June 18th, 2011

Our 19th annual irrigation class will be held on 6-18-11 on the west side at 105 Ala Hoku Pl. (Friendly Isle Landscape base yard – CLICK for MAP) the class will focus on irrigation troubleshooting, repair and basic hydraulics. The class is open to all entry level and intermediate level irrigation technicians. The following will be covered:

  • Controller diagnostics
  • Electric Valve repair
  • Backflow Repair
  • Field wiring diagnostics

Each student should brig a small socket set, screwdriver; slotted and Phillips, and a voltmeter. All students will do hands on troubleshooting and repair so come dressed accordingly.

Class size is limited to the first 20 students to register. Refreshments and lunch will be provided. Please register early.

CLICK HERE for Registration Form.

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China drought fuels food price increases

Published on June 4, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.


SHANGHAI – THE impacts of China’s worst drought in 50 years have been served up on the nation’s dining tables as the price of rice and vegetables from drought-hit provinces have skyrocketed.

The average price of staple foods in 50 cities has increased significantly, and the price of some leaf vegetables has jumped 16 per cent in one month, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Decreased production because of the drought has been cited as the major reason for price increases, and the prices of rice and vegetables may not drop soon, according to a report by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Statistics from the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters show that an area of nearly 7 million hectares of arable land has been affected by the drought, with Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces most seriously affected.

‘I didn’t buy many leaf vegetables in the last week because the price is getting crazy,’ said Zhang Weirong, a 67-year-old Shanghai resident. ‘Cabbage used to be as cheap as paper, and for 5 yuan (95 cents) you would get too many cabbages to carry home,’ she said.

She has had to switch to melons and pumpkins, which are getting cheaper this year. She also changed from eating porridge for breakfast to noodles. ‘My grandson said he doesn’t like the dishes I cook these days, but what else can I do?’ she said. — CHINA DAILY/ANN

China drought fuels food price increases

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Yangtze shipping halted

Published on May 14, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.


Drought on China’s Yangtze river has led to historically low levels that have forced authorities to halt shipping on the nation’s longest waterway.It was barely three meters near Wuhan, the Chang Jiang Waterway Bureau said yesterday.

A day earlier, the bureau closed a 228-kilometer stretch above Wuhan to sea-going vessels, fearing ships would become stuck on the bottom.

Further up the river, the massive Three Gorges Dam, the world’s biggest hydroelectric project, has discharged more water to alleviate the drought conditions down river.

It was not immediately clear if the measures would be effective as the drought in areas around the middle reaches has levels at the lowest point in five decades, the China Daily said.

At least two ships have just been stranded, with that part of the river cut to an average width of about 150 meters.

According to Wang Jingquan of the Yangtze River Water Resources Committee, slowing the Yangtze with the controversial Three Gorges Dam has aggravated the drought by diverting flow to the lower reaches.

The 6,300-kilometer Yangtze is indispensable to the economies of many cities along its route.

Yangtze shipping halted – The Standard

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Taylor aims to take care of existing water issues

Published on May 8, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.


WAILUKU – If you ask Department of Water Supply Director Dave Taylor what keeps him awake at night, he might think of something lurking in the depths of a 647-foot-long tunnel.

A single, aging pump, accessible only by descending to the very bottom of “Shaft 33,” a 65-year-old well above Wailuku, is responsible for delivering more than 5 million gallons of water per day to Central and South Maui. If the pump were to fail, thousands of residents could be without water until it was repaired – and that would be a long wait, he said.

“This kind of thing would be very, very hard to fix,” he said. “It’s difficult even to get to.”

While voters clamor for the county to provide more water to a growing population – and politicians promise to deliver it – Taylor said one of his biggest jobs will be to remind people that the county first needs to take care of the water customers it already serves. And that can take a lot of time and money in a system that includes more than 750 miles of pipelines; infrastructure located deep in mountainous jungles; and century-old water intakes and ditches that must integrate with state-of-the-art treatment plants.

“All the discussion is about expanding service,” he said. “There’s very little discussion about what it takes to keep reliable service to existing customers.”

Calling Shaft 33 one of the system’s weakest links, Taylor said it’s imperative that the county continue a project that is already under way to replace the aging well with three smaller, modern ones tapping into the same aquifer. Continue reading ‘Taylor aims to take care of existing water issues’

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Big Island groundwater tested for radiation

Published on April 22, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.


Hawaii state health officials have sent samples of Big Island groundwater for testing after the release of radiation from Japanese nuclear power plants last month.

West Hawaii today reported Friday health officials took samples from Waimea’s groundwater supplies to be sent to the mainland for testing.

Results are expected next week or early next month.

County officials are to ask the Board of Water Supply to approve a contract change that would allow for in-house lab tests for radiation or to request tests from the lab contractor.

Big Island groundwater tested for radiation – Hawaii News – Staradvertiser.com

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Pennsylvania: the ‘ground zero’ of the US shale gas drilling boom

Published on April 21, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.

The Guardian

Last June, Tony Zaffuto arrived at his fieldstone cabin in the forested hills of Pennsylvania’s SB Elliott state park to find a notice pinned on the front door: “Danger. Do not occupy dwelling”.

A blowout at a gas well in another popular camping spot, in the woods of the Punxsutawney hunt club, also in Clearfield County, had shot a 23-metre (75ft) combustible gusher of gas and toxic waste water into the air. It took the gas company, EOG Resources, 16 hours to control the well and the authorities had to carry out an evacuation.

It was not Zaffuto’s first encounter with the dangers of natural gas drilling. In 2009 the spring that was the cabin’s only source of water was contaminated by toxic waste from a pond serving the gas wells. Five other nearby water wells were also contaminated.

And yet Zaffuto is right behind Pennsylvania’s natural gas boom. He supports the idea of US energy security and he wants his country to reduce oil imports.

“Throughout all this, I am pro-drilling, but I want to see it done correctly,” Zaffuto, a businessman whose family have owned the cabin since 1921, said. “Having it done correctly will not cripple the industry. If there is money to be made they will comply. If there is enough natural resource of gas in the ground, they will drill and they will abide by the regulations. It’s simple.” Continue reading ‘Pennsylvania: the ‘ground zero’ of the US shale gas drilling boom’

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Water wars? Thirsty, energy-short China stirs fear

Published on April 17, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.


AHIR JONAI, India >> The wall of water raced through narrow Himalayan gorges in northeast India, gathering speed as it raked the banks of towering trees and boulders. When the torrent struck their island in the Brahmaputra river, the villagers remember, it took only moments to obliterate their houses, possessions and livestock.

No one knows exactly how the disaster happened, but everyone knows whom to blame: neighboring China.

“We don’t trust the Chinese,” says fisherman Akshay Sarkar at the resettlement site where he has lived since the 2000 flood. “They gave us no warning. They may do it again.”

About 500 miles east, in northern Thailand, Chamlong Saengphet stands in the Mekong river, in water that comes only up to her shins. She is collecting edible river weeds from dwindling beds. A neighbor has hung up his fishing nets, his catches now too meager.

Using words bordering on curses, they point upstream, toward China.

The blame game, voiced in vulnerable river towns and Asian capitals from Pakistan to Vietnam, is rooted in fear that China’s accelerating program of damming every major river flowing from the Tibetan plateau will trigger natural disasters, degrade fragile ecologies, divert vital water supplies. Continue reading ‘Water wars? Thirsty, energy-short China stirs fear’

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Lanai water group will continue meeting

Published on April 10, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.


WAILUKU – Members of the Lanai Water Advisory Committee said they will continue to meet and comment on local water issues, even after officials said the county would no longer recognize the group.

In a letter to committee members last month, newly appointed county Water Director Dave Taylor said the group’s input had been valuable but that there was no longer a need for them to meet, because the Lanai Water Use and Development Plan, which they had been tasked with reviewing, had been sent to the Maui County Council for approval.

“LWAC members are free to meet and talk about water issues as community members, but not in the official capacity of members of the LWAC holding an officially recognized meeting,” he wrote.

But committee members said their mandate from the county was to monitor the implementation of Lanai water policies – and that they intended to finish the job.

“We do not agree that you have the authority to unilaterally alter the scope of our responsibilities – duties which we have faithfully carried out for well over a decade,” wrote committee Chairman Reynold “Butch” Gima in a reply to Taylor. “Protecting Lanai’s ‘most precious resource – water’ (as you noted in your letter) does not end with the production of a draft plan, it is a continuous effort.” Continue reading ‘Lanai water group will continue meeting’

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$44M for water plan proposed

Published on April 1, 2011 in General Ag News and Notes and Water.


Arakawa budget targets infrastructure projects
By ILIMA LOOMIS – Staff Writer (iloomis@mauinews.com)
WAILUKU – The county would budget nearly $44 million on water infrastructure projects, an increase of more than $20 million from current spending, under Mayor Alan Arakawa’s proposal for 2012.

Department of Water Supply Director Dave Taylor told council Budget and Finance Committee members Thursday that he knew the plan was ambitious, but the projects being proposed were considered his department’s highest priorities. He pledged to bring to the water department the same system for planning and managing capital improvement projects that he used as wastewater chief to get that division’s infrastructure work on track.

He said his department could be turned into a “machine” to churn out capital improvement projects.

“I don’t know if I’m going to catch up this year, but I have no doubt if we have this conversation two years from now, you’re going to say, ‘Wow. You’re a CIP machine.’ “

Council members expressed some confidence in Taylor based on his record of handling sewer projects for the county. But they remained daunted by the sheer amount of money being requested for water infrastructure and doubted the department’s ability to complete all the projects. Continue reading ‘$44M for water plan proposed’

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