About Cambria

Two articles of note you might want to check out – the first an op-ed from LA Times, the other an article from Scientific American magazine.

Something tells me many of you have already read the LA Times piece, but for those of your who haven’t:

It’s easy to understand why so many of us, hearing of threats from climate change and shrinking water supplies, turn our gaze west to the mighty Pacific. The Colorado River, a water source strained to its limits, once seemed endless. The ocean practically is endless. As Saudi Arabia and now Australia have shown, it is possible to remove the salt from ocean water and get perfectly decent — indeed, quite high-quality — drinking water.

…
Because of strict development regulations on the coast, acquiring permits for desalination plants is a complicated and expensive process. Poseidon Resources Corp., a water infrastructure development company based in Stamford, Conn., has spent tens of millions of dollars and 10 years on a plant in Carlsbad that will produce 50 million gallons a day — and it hasn’t even broken ground. If the company gets final approval from the Coastal Commission on Aug. 6, it will spend at least $300 million more on capital costs before it produces its first drop of desalinated water, which won’t be before 2011.
…
In the short term, desalinated water is unaffordable for Los Angeles — though it may make better economic sense as imported water becomes scarcer and pricier. In a place like San Diego County, which has few local water resources and depends almost entirely on imported water from the MWD and even more expensive supplies, desal makes a lot more sense. Hoping to lessen cities’ dependence on water from the delta and the Colorado, the MWD offers a $250-per-acre-foot subsidy for water districts for the purchase of desalinated water, which could make Poseidon’s Carlsbad water, for example, almost competitive with imported water (with the added bonus of being drought-proof and therefore dependable).
…
But desalination is just one in a broad portfolio of technologies and strategies that California will have to employ to meet its water needs in the decades to come. Throughout the state — and especially in Los Angeles, where water is relatively cheap — conservation, wastewater recycling, storm water capture and other approaches must come first. Desalination isn’t some kind of magic that will allow us to continue sprinkling our sidewalks, hosing down our driveways and taking hourlong showers. Its modest promise cannot become an excuse to waste water. It must be a complement to conservation — not an alternative to it.

Read the entire piece here.

Keeping perspective

One of the things that caught my eye in the op/ed just points out how skewed the basis is for evaluating “shortage”. “an acre foot, or 326,000 gallons, is enough water to supply two families for one year.” Just so we can keep this in perspective, to use an acre foot in a year, each family would have to use 36 units every two months or 440 gallons per family per day. In reviewing the issue, most Americans outside California use somewhere around 100 gallons a day. Even Californian average somewhere closer to 150 gallons per person per day. I don’t know where the write got his information, but I dispute its validity in the real world. According to the CCSD, “most Cambrians” use 12 units bi-monthly. One acre-foot of water here is enough for six families. Drop the usage to 9 units per billing cycle and one acre-foot is enough for eight families.

Scientific American’s most recent issue has water as its cover story. “Facing the Freshwater Crisis” puts our water woes into a global perspective. The main thrust of this article is that the technologies already exist to solve the water shortages, we just have to have the political will to do what needs to be done. Read the article here.

Note: Articles about water often refer to water using all kinds of different units. It’s always bothered me and it makes it difficult to compare to my own use. Like in the Op-ed piece – I wanted to see if I use half an acre-foot of water a year….so I opened my handy-dandy water calculator/converter. You can download this excel calculator to convert and calculate acre-feet, gallons to liters, cubic meters to gallons, CCSD units to Acre-feet and much more. Get it in the AboutCambria.com Library.

I supervised a staff of 75 to 100 IRS employees, including 7 managers, responsible for auditing tax returns and collecting delinquent taxes. I balanced the IRS’ goals with the public’s rights, ensuring that the interests of all were protected. I used interest-based negotiations and mediation on a daily basis to resolve internal and external conflicts. I was also an IRS community outreach official, working regularly with professional organizations, such as the California Bar and the California Society of CPAs. For two years I was IRS’ National Hiring Coordinator, responsible for the hiring of thousands of professional employees per year.

I am committed to ensuring that CCSD operates in a transparent, fiscally responsible manner through controlling expenses, eliminating waste, and spending ratepayers’ dollars on essential services that serve the community. I will be accessible to the community and responsive to inquiries by citizens. As CCSD Director, I will serve Cambrians in a manner that instills in the citizens confidence in my ability to properly represent them by ensuring that I am attentive to the community’s needs.

Tomorrow at 9:00am in the San Luis Obispo Board of Supervisors Chamber LAFCO staff will present their review of the CCSD to the Commission. The Draft MSR was recently presented to the CCSD. The version that will be presented tomorrow has a few changes and the comments from a few interested parties. You can read the draft version with the comments I submitted by downloading it here.
The LAFCO staff’s responses to my comments will be included in the document presented tomorrow. If you are a government agency groupie and Cambrian, this will be the only place to be tomorrow from 9-10am.

Then look to AboutCambria.com for a report about the meeting!

In writing about the first part of the CCSD meeting from last Thursday, I stopped before the really interesting part: Public Comment. Most of the Cambrians who asked to speak addressed the concerns about the lack of a final count on the Prop 218 protest. But I thought I might let those folks speak for themselves. Watch Rich Davega, Edgar Kanarik, Jerry McKinnon and others have their say.

First, a central question almost doesn’t get answered – until Director Sanders suggests staff should answer it.

Watch more of the comments from Cambria residents at Google video.

Watch Rich Davega’s Public Comment

Watch Edgar Kanarik’s Public Comment

Watch Jerry McKinnon, Mary Webb, John MacKinnon and Lynne Harkins’ Public Comment and Director Sanders’ question about discussing Edgar’s comments during closed session.

You can listen to the entire meeting at SLO-Span.org.

The average Cambria household (as if any of us are average) has about two people. (Actually, somewhere between 1.61 and 2.2). The CCSD says that most households use 12 units bi-monthly. Using my handy-dandy excel water calculator (available in the aboutcambria.com library), That is 8,976 gallons for 2 months. A two person household using 12 units every two months is using about 74 gallons per person per day (gppd). ¹ I’m always on the lookout for hints to what other communities use, for comparison, because many in town, including some on the CCSD Board, complain about how little water we have available. In fact, the water master plan calls for allowing a 50% “quality of life” increase in the amount of water allocated per household or 110 gppd.

I’ve read a lot of articles and websites and professional publications about water use over the last 10 months. I’m always on the lookout for references to “average” water use – wanting to compare Cambria water use to use in other communities. This nearly always means using my handy-dandy water calculator because almost no one puts the quantities in like terms. I’ve seen numbers as high as 300 gpd and the LAO’s 1 acre foot per 5-8 people in a year (178-112 gppd) and as low as 50 gppd. Of course, these are all non-drought, U.S. or California numbers. Most of the non-U.S. water use numbers hover at 50 gpd or less.

Of course, as Americans, we are not really known for our judicious use of resources. But the resources aren’t unlimited and as our population grows that reality becomes more obvious. It speaks to a certain selfishness that we want to use as much water as we want while maintaining a building moratorium. No new homes means we can continue to use water how we want. Five new homes with full-time residents would increase the water we’d need to draw from the aquifers by 1 acre foot per year – if every household was using 6 units per month.

Allow me to put this into perspective another way: The total annual residential demand for 3977 households using 6 units per month is 657 acre feet per year. The total annual residential demand for 4650 households (the maximum number of connections the CCSD plans to serve) using 5 units per month is 640 acre feet per year.

There are, of course, factors that complicate these numbers. Here are some of them:

• the Coastal Commission requirement that 20% of our water use be reserved for visitor-serving purposes
• limits on the amount of water we can pull from the aquifers in the dry season, when water use is usually higher
• our high percentage of “second” homes that aren’t always occupied (25%)
• the MTBE threat to one of our aquifers that limits how much we can use
• the possibility that we won’t have enough water to extinguish a fire or keep one from burning the entire town to the ground
• the policy of the CCSD Board that every household should be free to use 9 units per month
• the permits allowing 1230 acre feet to be pumped from aquifers that are only producing 800 acre feet or less per year

Frankly, if I were on the CCSD’s wait list, I’d be more than a little irritated and consider Cambrians rather selfish that they wouldn’t be more sharing with the water…only 748 gallons less per month (25 gphd), per household and the water shortage is far less severe and I could build my home. Of course, I’d have to use native landscaping to keep my water use low and employ other water-saving technologies, but I really want to live in Cambria, so it’s worth it to me. Cambrians, on the other hand, don’t seem to want to share unless they can use MORE than they currently use. It actually makes me a bit nauseated to think of it this way. They era of conspicuous consumption is over. A new era of global awareness and respect for people and resources has taken its place. Some are still not on board, or misunderstand the messages, or maybe just haven’t heard. We’d need another 6 or 8 planets if everyone on Earth used resources the way most Americans do. We have only one and we have to start acting like it.

New technologies are coming to the marketplace each day that use less water, less energy, fewer resources. Case in point: the dual flush toilet. The first time I saw this new toilet (on the new satellite channel Plant Green), I thought “Man, why didn’t anyone think this up sooner?” There are 2 flushes – one for “light” use and another for a more substantial flush. One company that offers these toilets for sale even has a water savings calculator, so you can figure your return on investment and your water savings. Visit EcoTransitions to find out more.

In the coming months, look for more information on water conservation without pain here on AboutCambria.com. It’s time we got hip to the new paradigm and let go of our selfish old ways.

¹ The water use and household numbers and other information presented in this post come from the CCSD’s urban water management plan and the CCSD’s water master plan draft EIR.

First a note to anyone at Thursday’s Meeting:

Please add your impressions and what you remember of the meeting. The audio isn’t yet posted at slo-span.org, and I wasn’t there for the whole meeting. So readers can easily follow the added information, use the comment feature (Click comments or click the post title to easily enter comments.) Readers who were not at the meeting are encouraged to use the comment feature to post a specific question about the meeting or related CCSD business.

Sheriff’s Report

The Sheriff reminded everyone that they should get locking gas caps – a rash of gas lines being cut in Cayucos. Also reminded everyone that the Hands-Free cell law in now in effect.

Emergency Preparedness Report

Chief Putney provided a presentation on Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) CERT is made up of local residents trained to help professional emergency services personnel in the event of an emergency.

He gave the history of CERT, from its birth in the 1980s to the birth of Cambria CERT was formed in 2002-2003. If you are interested in CERT history, visit slo-span.org to listen to the audio.

Norm Smith – Coordinator for Cambria CERT described a little about how they are organized and how they respond in the event of and emergency, including providing basic medical aid, building searches, traffic control. If your wouldl like to get involved and join CERT, there’s 20 hours of training in the spring. Contact the Fire Department for more information.

The Chief described the relationships between CCSD Fire and other emergency-related agencies and organizations and how they interact in the event of an emergency. Again, for all the details, check out the audio at slo-span.org. The Cambria Fire Safe Focus Group is more about preparedness – things like chipping, lot-clearing, and education about how to be prepared for a major fire.

Important to note: The Cambria Fire Safe Focus Group has a new website CambriaFireSafe.org

Desalination: Progress Report

Bob Gresans started off by saying he’d be brief, but was encouraged by President Cobin, who said,” You have the stage, don’t be brief, give us all the facts. We’re really excited about the progress.” Mr. Gresans then summarized the staff report (available in the Board Packet). There wasn’t much he said in his presentation that’s not in the written report. In a nutshell, in response to comments made in December at the Coastal Commission meeting, the CCSD undertook some geophysical investigation of the Santa Rosa Creek beach area, as an alternative site for the intake wells for the desalination (desalinization?) plant. They were somewhat surprised to discover that this area could be a better spot than the San Simeon location. No Snowy Plover, consistent with coastal plan, and other advantages. They still need to do soil boring to confirm the findings from these studies – potentially an intake in the northernmost channel and the outflow at the southern end.

In the Q & A with Mr. Gresans – Director Sanders asked whether the channel is deep enough for an intake for desal. The answer was a qualified yes. The studies he presented are preliminary and not highly detailed. The follow-up studies would provide the information to confirm the findings of this study.

Rough estimate of timetable: on site investigations, permitting process, working with the Corps: “Update the prior environmental assessments and the mitigated Negative Declarations from the earlier project so we have the clearance process (3 months) coastal consistency finding from Coastal Commission and getting on their agenda for November or December. Mr. Gresans indicated optimistic prediction:late this fall for further studies. Director Sanders said he thought staff was moving on the project in the way the Board wants, so they should endorse the report and let them get on with it.

Director Chaldecott then let everyone know that he and Director Sanders had met with the Colonel from the Army Corp of Engineers and they were ‘raring to go on the project. The Board will be signing the contract with the Corps, who will then take over the project (including paying for it). Interesting side note: The Federal government had allocated the money a few years back, but then “took it back” to help cover the costs for Hurricane Katrina. The money is now apparently available again and is earmarked for Cambria’s Desal.

There were 7 Cambrians that commented and asked questions some for the project and some against and some just curious. Rich Davega asked a few questions it would be very nice to get answers to, namely, How much will the Desal plant cost when it’s all said and done and how much will that water cost? Will Cambrians really be able to afford the full cost of the water being desalted? There was no answer from the Board or staff at the meeting. Perhaps the answer will be provided at the next meeting. That should be plenty of time to gather the information. And the information is certainly of relevance to the people of Cambria. We may have a $10 million appropriation, but the water isn’t likely to be subsidized when it starts flowing to our taps.

Cambria Healthcare District and the CCSD

During the Board committee reports, the Co-Location Committee announced that the Joint Powers agreement between the CCSD and the CHCD had fallen through. The Healthcare District and the CCSD had been negotiating for a number of years and the Board of the Heathcare District voted unanimously to give up on the co-location plan. Next month’s meeting will provide a final wrap up of the effort, including the reasons the CHCD made the decision they did.

Public Hearing to Consider Fire Suppression Assessment (CPI) Adjustment

Last month, the Board voted to continue the hearing to this meeting to allow the General Manager to bring back evidence showing the 2.9% increase is really needed. Once again, Ms. Rudock provided only general evidence and vague examples of how the additional $11,000 would be used. After asking some specific questions, Directors Clift, Funke-Bilu, and Sanders voted against the increase, so no increase on the fire suppression benefit assessment this year. I applaud these Directors for asking for the evidence and consequences if the increase did not go through and then acting in the interest of the community they serve. The point to be made here wasn’t that the fire department doesn’t deserve to have all the money they need. It was that they already have all the money they need for the fiscal year. The three directors showed support for a policy that asks staff to justify their financial demands with hard evidence and sound logic. The failure to approve the increase will not negatively affect the Fire Department – their budget shows a surplus…even without that $11,000. Just because they CAN get more money out of us doesn’t mean they should automatically do it. I think these Directors have heard the half of the community that has been protesting the rate increases and are representing them.

Other News

The Vets’ Hall finally has a new roof – and for less than was originally budgeted! Funny story that. The initial roofing company they chose to do the job gave a bid, but was disqualified because of a lack of liability insurance. The second company (Cencal Roofing) provided a bid for the same job that was about $2,000 less than the first contractor – and even with contingencies, came in even further under budget than they planned. The first company bid $25,783 and Cencal’s was $22,985. Good thing for Cambrians that first company didn’t have insurance! [Note: The CCSD Purchasing Policy (Section VIII  A, B and C) requires any job over $25,000 to be put to out to bid...must be a coincidence those numbers.]

What about the vote????

Sorry, Cambria. The League of Women Voters representatives are not yet ready to certify the count. There is more validating to be done and Ms. Rudock indicated she isn’t sure when they might finish. Ten to sixteen hours left of work to do in checking. She did say they would still be able to meet the September 1st implementation date, should the CCSD prevail.

Stay tuned…This was a four hour meeting and we’re just about 2 hours in. More tomorrow. Or you can add your impressions now!

The League of Women Voters and several staff members have spent dozens of hours counting, sorting and validating the protest letters. The number one question people ask me is this: Why is it taking so long to count the protest letters? While the process seemed unclear and time consuming, it is consistency that is most important. I commend Kathy, Pam and Monique for the tedious yet essential jobs they did between July 15 and the 21st (and presumably will continue to do). Watching the process last week and listening to the discussions, I was curious about what other communities have done. Included here are links to documents and/or websites of communities who have recently dealt with the Prop 218 rules. If you know of a resource or link that should be included here, please login to add it, add it as a comment to this post or send me an email.

The California Secretary of State’s website says the following:

Proposition 218 related assessments. The passage of Proposition 218, the Right to Vote on Taxes Act in 1996 established new balloting procedures that allowed all property owners who would have to pay a proposed assessment to decide if it should be imposed. Examples are benefit or special assessments that fund street lights, sewers, sidewalks, levees and other improvements that benefit an assessed property. Ballots are weighted according to the amount each property owner will pay. Only those owning property in the district to be assessed are eligible to receive and cast ballots (instead of registered voters, many of whom do not own property and would not have to pay the assessment). Unlike ballots in registered voter elections, assessment ballots are public record and are subject to disclosure. For more information on the rules governing assessments, see Article XIIID of the California constitution and Government Code section 53753. Complaints about assessment proceedings can be made to the entity conducting ballot processing or to the superior court.

• Rio Vista Citizen’s Committee on Water and Wastewater website.

The Citizens’ Committee on Water & Wastewater is a group of volunteers working to: develop a full, complete and balanced statement of the City of Rio Vista’s funding needs; analyze the City’s Operating and Financial documents; prepare rational explanations of funding needs and of the consequences of a defeat of the proposed fee increases; and, to inform the Citizens of Rio Vista about the appropriateness of the proposed fee increases and of “voting” procedures under Proposition 218. A quick glance and I saw many parallels. Anyone feel like making a phone call?

• The Bellflower Municipal Water System rate increase notice.
• City of San Juan Bautista Resolution on 218 Procedures

In an act of foresight rarely seen in government, the city council of San Juan Bautista passed a resolution in Februarydetailing the procedures to be used in the event of a 218 protest.

• Water Works District #1

Prop 218 Rates Increase Notice with detailed descriptions

• City of Paso Robles Rate Increase Notice

As we await the results of the second prop 218 ballot validations, it seems like a good time to reflect on why this site was first created and how it has grown and changed. (Those of you wanting a report from the July 24th meeting…one will be up soon!)

So where does AboutCambria.com stand on Cambria issues? The short answer: Behind each and every Cambrian who wants their voice heard and right next to every person who loves this town and wants to contribute to it’s success. Of course, that’s not really an answer, and the longer answer is, of course, longer.

Just to the right of these words is a section in the right column that says

PLEASE NOTE: About Cambria.com was built as a forum for all Cambrians and the community. The ideas and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of AboutCambria.com or any organization or the community as a whole. Express yourself. Comment to show support or opposition. Contribute to state your case.

This statement (plus the one at the very bottom of the page) hint at what I’d like to see this site become. The driving force behind building this resource was to provide a place for “regular” Cambrians (and CFRC members) to exchange ideas, share documents, have conversations, share a calendar and links to useful sites. It’s no substitute for face to face conversations, but I hope an interactive website would help extinguish one of the main things stopping some from participating: time.

The CFRC formed to oppose the fall 2007 rate increase, not to oppose the CCSD. It is difficult not to take things personally in such a small community and there has been tension and some animosity. But our group is still serious about working with the CCSD find a way forward and propose a rates plan that the community would get behind. AboutCambria.com was built to help address the steep learning curve. The volunteers worked hard to ensure their rates proposal would be informed and realistic.

Since AboutCambria.com launched last November, many of the contributing writers focus on improving the oversight and accountability of the CCSD. Not too many cheerleaders for CCSD. I get reactions from some who see this site as a CCSD-bashing, inflammatory and/or insulting site and are not likely to join the conversation. That view is very far from my ideal vision: a democratic, self-monitoring, safe place for dialogs and debates in the interest of our community.

What AboutCambria.com will never be is free from bias. When it comes to discussion of the future of Cambria, I would be a fool to think any site would be unbiased. What this site CAN be is balanced. (And quit thinking I’ve gone all Fox News on you!) Where does AboutCambria.com Stand on Cambria Issues? It stands in support of them. All of them. Because one of the core values of this site is one central to the success of democracy: access to information and education. The founding fathers believed that successful democracy requires well-informed, involved citizens. If AboutCambria.com is providing accurate information about the community and the opportunity for everyone to add to the conversation so everyone is more well-informed and more involved, I consider it a success. If AboutCambria.com becomes a nursery for solutions for Cambria, it will be a resounding success.

AboutCambria.com is not a success yet….And it needs YOUR help. Have you commented or written a post? I have invited the participation of many in the community, including the General Manager and her staff and Board President Joan Cobin. CCSD Director Muril Clift has responded constituents’ concerns that had been posted and contributing a human interest story about Zac Sunderland, perhaps to remind everyone it isn’t ALL About Cambria. Other members of the community who have posted here: Charlotte Darehshori, Clive Finchamp, Doug Buckmaster, Elizabeth Bettenhausen, Rich Davega, Frank DeMicco, Anne Winburn, Lauren Younger, Richard Brownhill and yours truly – Amanda Rice.

Now its your turn. Go on over and read the Fine Print (click tab above) and then get to typing what you think about all of this. Its simple – you can click the “Submit a Post” tab at the top or register to be a member with additional editing tools and permissions. There is no charge to contribute. That’s right – FREE! Contact Amanda if you have any questions or problems with the site.

So where does AboutCambria.com stand on the issues? On the community’s side.

Four Little Thought Packets:

• A popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both. ^ James Madison
• Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights. ^ Thomas Jefferson
• Don’t be afraid of opposition. Remember, a kite rises against; not with; the wind. ^ hamilton mabie
• Any story sounds true until someone tells the other side and sets the record straight. ^Proverbs 18:17

At the 7/24/08 CCSD Board meeting a detailed presentation was made on the latest studies for desal. During the meeting CCSD informed the audience that the geotechnical studies during the fiscal year will be paid for by the Army Corps of Engineers. I then asked the Board about the $1.3 million budgeted for geotechnical studies, which would now not be needed. The response from Mr. Greshens was that “they would like to keep that money for eventual desal costs”, but I was correct that it would not be needed for 2008-2009 studies.

Well, I guess that they can use some of this money for the defeated fire suppression benefit assessment expenses, some $11,000.

Do we need the rate increases at all in the face of this “surplus”?

The Rates Committee of Cambrians for a Fiscally Responsible CCSD will meet tomorrow at Moonstone Beach Bar and Grill at 9:30-10:45am. With tourist season in high gear we need to finish the meeting and be on our way before the restaurant opens and starts seating people. (Or you can, of course, stay and have lunch if you can get a table.) As always, the Rates Committee meeting welcomes anyone interested in attending – no special password needed.

Thank you, once again to John and Kernn for providing their restaurant for our meetings – so comfortable, and  such a view!  You should check out their stylish new website. Looking good!

Don’t forget:

The north end of Moonstone Beach Drive is now closed to through traffic because construction has begun on the replacement of the Leffingwell Bridge.