Repair Work Planned for Storm, Drought Damage to Park and Trail.
Several sections of the Arroyo Mocho Trail washed out due to major storms in February; some trail segments are maintained by LARPD, while others are the responsibility of the City.
The City is also actively working to repair trails damaged by the 2017 flooding.
Any other repairs must be completed under separate permits from state or federal agencies.
LARPD operates under the same emergency funding processes and federal and state permitting requirements as the City, making it from simple or quick to complete repairs.
Interim repairs of damaged portions of the trail in Robertson Park are included in this summer’s project.
This work will allow the trails to be used.
This secluded trail segment is more prone to littering, graffiti and homeless issues than many other trail areas.
The public may report graffiti on public property to the Public Works Department at 925-960-8060 or join the City’s Graffiti Fighter group.
Efforts to repair recent damage will continue at the fastest possible pace, using dollars from other entities to keep local revenues focused on public safety and parks.

Army Corps of Engineers developing drought contingency plan for Savannah River Basin.
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Homeowners have been complaining about low lake levels on Clarks Hill for year.
But many homeowners along the lake are focused on recreation and their property value.
To them, lake levels is a secondary concern.” The proposed drought contingency plan would raise lake levels during droughts by restricting the water released from Thurmond Dam.
“When you have a drought, it has a big impact on a lot of different things…all our authorized project purposes,” Simpson said.
“The lake level is definitely going to be higher with what they’re proposing, and we’d like to see it still higher than that,” Clontz said.
The tentative plan would not noticeably change the water level on the river between Augusta and North Augusta, according to Simpson.
The Corps is taking public comments on their proposal until 12 p.m. Thursday.
You can review their study here.

With less than a day left in a 30-day comment period on a new drought-contingency plan, the US Army Corps of Engineers came to North Augusta on Wednesday to see if area residents had any.
They did, and not many of them were congratulatory.
“I’m tired of my dock sitting on dirt,” said Joann Skinner.
“Now there’s grass growing up around it and my husband has to go down there and cut the grass.” Corps personnel told her the new plan, which would release water from the lake sooner in times of drought – “triggering” when the lake drops to 324 feet above sea level instead of 316 feet – would help stabilize lake levels.
But when others began chiming in with similar complaints, and questioned whether officials considered recreational users of the lake in their plans, Nathan Dayan, of the Corps’ Planning Division, told them: “One of (the Corps’) authorized purposes is recreation.
It includes the new “trigger” and will, according to information presented at Wednesday’s workshop: • Maintain pools — like the one Augusta and North Augusta rely on — at slightly higher levels during droughts • Increase the number of days lake beaches would be closed • Increase number of days boat ramps would be available • Improve fish-spawning habitats It would also cut the typical amount of water released during a drought from 4,000 cubic feet per second to 3,800 .
The Corps is required to keep the flow in the river at a minimum of 3,600 cubic feet per second to maintain oxygen levels for fish.
The lake level was 324.6 feet above sea level, about 5.5 feet below its full pool of 330.
Alternative 2 is now considered the Tentative Selected Plan.
The Corps is supposed to respond to comments by Aug. 9, and complete a final Savannah District report by Sept. 4.

THIS JUST IN … HR 23 passes House 230 – 190: Early reactions from Costa, Garamendi, McNerney, and Nunes.
This afternoon, the House of Representatives passed HR 23, the Gaining Responsibility on Water Act, by a vote of 230 to 190, largely along party lines.
From Congressman Jim Costa: Today the U.S. House of Representatives passed H. R. 23, the Gaining Responsibility on Water Act of 2017, by a vote of 230 to 190.
“However, improvements to this bill need to be made if it is going to provide the long-term solutions we so badly need in the San Joaquin Valley and other parts of California.
The first amendment authorizes a study for increasing the amount of mountain runoff water captured by Central Valley Project reservoirs, and the second authorizes a study to evaluate the natural groundwater system in California to identify areas with the greatest recharge potential.
I stand ready to work with my fellow members of Congress in the House and Senate to improve this bill so we can get a bipartisan solution signed into law.” Congressman Costa has been working on California water issues since his time in the California State Legislature, where he was first elected in 1978.
Why recycle a partisan bill that overrides California water law and allows for nearly unrestricted pumping that risks permanent damage to Delta communities and wildlife?” “Instead of bringing back zombie legislation over and over again, it’s time to focus on implementing the WIIN Act, which will create new water, build infrastructure, and improve California’s drought resilience.” From Congressman Devin Nunes: The House of Representatives today passed a comprehensive water bill, the GROW Act (H.R.
23), that would resolve the perpetual water crisis in the San Joaquin Valley.
Once again, I urge the Senate, and California’s senators in particular, to quickly pass this bill or propose their own solution that would end this government-inflicted disaster and eliminate the Valley’s 2.5 million acre-foot water shortfall.
“There are forward-thinking solutions to this problem that would benefit California as whole, and I invite my colleagues to work with me on this issue so that we can proactively invest in California’s long-term water stability.” Additionally, Congressman McNerney spoke on the House floor in opposition to the bill.

ND Farmers Union head calls for disaster bill amid extreme drought.
BISMARCK — Facing historically dry conditions affecting the state’s farmers and ranchers, the president of the North Dakota Farmers Union called on Congress to provide emergency financial assistance Tuesday, July 11.
"It’s time for agriculture to once again get the federal support that it should have, because we provide the highest-quality, best food system in the world," Mark Watne said.
"We’re going to need help with a disaster bill."
Doug Burgum declared a statewide fire and drought emergency in late June, citing extremely dry conditions, lack of precipitation and high winds.
Following a historically wet six months, North Dakota experienced its ninth-driest spring since 1890 this year, according to a presentation from North Dakota State Climatologist Adnan Akyuz.
State and federal agencies have taken some steps to provide relief, including Monday’s announcement that the U.S. Department of Agriculture would open Conservation Reserve Program acres for haying within 150 miles of severe drought areas.
"In some cases, ranch families that have had challenges with drought might be able to look a couple counties (away) and find some available feedstuff or find some grazing," she said.
Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., said she would be "on board" with a disaster bill, but she said those bills tend to be temporary.
He noted the worst drought conditions are largely concentrated in North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana.

House passes California drought bill.
The House passed a bill on Wednesday that California Republicans say will help the state fight future droughts.
Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) said the bill “addresses the policy, regulatory and administrative failures that have mismanaged our water supplies across the West.” The House passed the bill on a 230-190 vote.
Democrats accused the GOP of overriding California law and its power over water supplies, while significantly harming commercial fishing in the state by reapportioning water.
“Make no mistake.
If enacted, this bill will hurt a lot of people,” said Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) “It takes water away from fishermen, from tribes, the environment, Delta farmers and others in order to redistribute it, primarily to a small group of some of the nation’s biggest and most politically connected agribusiness interests.” Huffman said the bill preempts California state law in numerous ways, like blocking state protections for fisheries and its ability to manage water for the public good.
He cited a letter Gov.
Jerry Brown (D) wrote to the congressional delegation opposing it.
Valadao’s bill is the second drought-related measure passed by the House this session.
Last month, lawmakers approved a measure to speed up permitting decisions for water storage projects such as dams and reservoirs in the state.

Deadline to apply for drought recovery money July 28.
Funding is available to help landowners affected by last year’s extreme drought through the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).
Alabama landowners in high priority counties will receive preference for financial assistance because they were impacted the most by drought, State Conservationist for Alabama Ben Malone said.
Eligible landowners should apply by July 28.
Funding is through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and will address fencing, water troughs, pasture, hay land re-establishment, wells and prescribed grazing.
Measures like planting drought-tolerant cool season grasses and installing water tanks and fencing will make lands more sustainable.
“Landowners across the state have weathered the drought for months, and these funds will assist them in replenishing losses and doing what they can to help their grazing lands recover,” Malone said.
During the worst of the drought, USDA reported more than $30 million in disaster funds were distributed nationally for livestock feed programs and noninsured disaster support.
Additionally, livestock feed was in short supply, so cattle sales were 19 percent ahead of 2015.
Landowners interested in applying for drought funding should contact their local USDA service center to learn more.

Northern Plains Drought Shows (Again) that Failing to Plan for Disasters = Planning to Fail.
Experts believe the problem started last fall when first freeze dates were several weeks later than usual, creating a “bonus” growing period for crops like winter wheat and pasture grasses, which drew more water from the soil.
Bad news for wheat farmers (and bread eaters) The timing of the drought is particularly damaging to this region’s farm landscape, which centers around grasslands for grazing livestock, along with a mix of crops including wheat, corn, soy, and alfalfa.
Given the forecast of high temperatures upcoming, and the creeping dry conditions into parts of the Corn Belt (at a time of year when corn is particularly sensitive to hot and dry conditions), it is shaping up to be a difficult situation for farmers and ranchers all around the region.
Short-term emergencies can hurt our ability to plan for the long-term The Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), created by the 1985 Farm Bill, pays landowners a rental fee to keep environmentally sensitive lands out of agricultural production, generally for 10-15 years.
It also serves to protect well-managed grazing lands as well as to provide additional acres for grazing during emergencies such as drought.
While this might sound like a lot, CRP numbers across the country are down, and in fact North Dakota has lost half of its CRP acreage since 2007.
Some feel that CRP rental rates are too high, tying up the limited suitable land that young farmers need to get started, while others believe there are not enough new contracts accepted (for things like wildlife habitat) because of caps.
And what will happen if floods hit the region next year, and the grasslands that could help protect against that emergency aren’t there?
Support from UCS members make work like this possible.

ANNOUNCEMENT: Amended Staff Report for MUN Evaluation in Ag Dominated Surface Water Bodies (Central Valley).
From the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Board: Regarding a Proposed Basin Plan Amendment to Establish a Region-wide MUN Beneficial Use Evaluation Process in Ag Dominated Water Bodies, an amended Staff Report has been posted on the project website at: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/centralvalley/water_issues/salinity/mun_beneficial_use/index.shtml The changes to the draft Staff Report are shown in Red.
Oral comments on this proposed Basin Plan Amendment were heard at the Central Valley Water Board meeting in Rancho Cordova, CA on 23 February 2017.
The public written comment period closed on 24 March 2017.
Staff response to comments received during the comment period will be posted on the project website noted above no later than 21 July 2017.
The Central Valley Water Board will consider adoption of this proposed Basin Plan Amendment on 10/11 August 2017 in Rancho Cordova.
Information on the Board meeting including the final agenda will be posted at: http://waterboards.ca.gov/centralvalley/board_info/meetings/ If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Anne Littlejohn at Anne.Littlejohn@waterboards.ca.gov or (916) 464-4840.
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Sam Querrey beats hobbled Andy Murray at Wimbledon to end U.S. men’s tennis drought.
It will be a male American in a Grand Slam semifinal, and that will be a first in these 2010s that are closer to their end than their beginning.
It will have come, of course, under suboptimal circumstances.
Like Roddick, whose masterful semifinal then against Andy Murray featured four tight sets, Querrey on Wednesday sent the Centre Court locals to murmuring and then to resignation, shooing Murray, the top seed and defending champion, in a Wimbledon quarterfinal by 3-6, 6-4, 6-7 (7-4), 6-1, 6-1.
Unlike Roddick, whose quarterfinal then was a hard, five-set slog with Lleyton Hewitt, Querrey had to perfect two other hard arts: that of forgetting, and that of taking advantage of the glaringly infirm.
Murray’s injured hip had been a subject of chatter through the fortnight but less so as he combed through four opponents with one lost set.
1 ranking if Novak Djokovic wins this Wimbledon.
1-ranked player and defending champion from the last two Wimbledons, having dismissed Djokovic last year in the third round when the latter ruled the game utterly.
“Sam served great today,” Murray said, and that included 27 aces that made it 125 for the tournament.
Against a player he has beaten seven of nine times as of now, Murray looked back to his own service break for 4-3 in the second set and said, “You know, maybe I could have got the match done in three sets there, had I closed out the second after getting the break.” By the time Murray’s pain grew obvious to the patrons, Querrey looked every bit of a seasoned 29 years old by ignoring the truth, a tennis knack that has eluded many through the years.