Das co-hosted "The Nick and Paul Show" AM 1490, Progressive Talk, on New Year's Day. Subjects he talked with Paul Berenson about include:

• Easy Public Policy Wins that could be achieved on the State level
• Public Education
• Water
• Taxes
• The Assembly Race
• Mitigating the Negative Effects of the Economic Downturn

The show is archived and can be listened to by clicking:

http://www.nickandpaulshow.com/show/01-01-10.mp3

Happy New Year!

Labels: 35th-Assembly-District, california-assembly, public-education, taxes, water projects

The Carpinteria Valley Water District voted 4-1 not to fund the "second barrel," an 8,000-foot long pipeline redundancy project that the Cachuma Operation and Maintenance Board (COMB) maintains is crucial to the future reliability of the South Coast’s water supply.

According to COMB, "The Cachuma Project provides approximately 80% of the potable water delivered by Goleta Water District, City of Santa Barbara, Montecito, and Carpinteria Valley Water District. No redundant supply or pipeline exists to convey Cachuma Project water or State Project water to the the Goleta Reach if the South Coast Conduit is out of service, due to scheduled and/or unexpected repairs."



( Image courtesy of COMB )


[ From "Running Out of Time - Water Agencies Wrangle Over Reliability Project Financing," by Ben Preston, SB Independent, November 12, 2009 ]

... [Because] the Carpinteria Valley Water District voted 4-1 not to fund the so-called second barrel... That leaves [COMB's] other three member agencies —- the City of Santa Barbara and the Goleta and Montecito water districts -— to pick up the tab for the proposed $9 million project to be built in Goleta’s foothills or risk losing $3.2 million in grant money from the state. “I think it’s really shortsighted. They’re putting at risk millions of dollars of grant money,” said Santa Barbara City Councilmember and COMB president Das Williams. Carpinteria General Manager Charles Hamilton defended his board’s decision, saying that while the second barrel would restore the original 70 million-gallon-per-day flow capacity that the Tecolote Tunnel and South Coast Conduit were designed to support, there are other repairs that can be made in Goleta’s section of the pipeline. “The system has been altered by Goleta [in their area] over the past 20 years, and it has reduced flow,” Hamilton said.

... the Carpinteria Water District -— saddled with a huge debt from purchasing in the early 1990s what has turned out to be a surplus of State Water, as well as from a series of capital improvement projects to meet increasingly stringent federal drinking water quality standards —- balked at the amount it would have to pay for the upgrades, and decided to opt only for the projects it could fund from its own reserves...

What remains to be seen is whether or not the other three South Coast districts will elect to pay Carpinteria’s portion of the second barrel project, which has seen the bidding on construction already end. COMB general manager Kate Rees said that because COMB entered into an agreement with the state through the County Water Agency to receive a total of $15 million of state funding for South Coast projects, it could potentially be sued for a breach of contract...

[Additionally, Rees said,] the delay of repairs and upgrades to COMB’s aging system could cause water supply shortfalls in coming years. “We don’t know how long we will be able to meet peak demand in the summertime. We come very close (to not meeting demand) every year, so it’s just a matter of time.”

Labels: COMB, water projects

[ From "Looking Down Both Barrels - Water Authorities Say South Coast Needs Another Pipe" by Ben Preston, SB Independent, September 3, 2009 ]


... Traveling nearly seven miles through the Santa Ynez Mountains in the Tecolote Tunnel and exiting near the top of Glen Annie Canyon north of Goleta, flow from Lake Cachuma provides Santa Barbara County’s South Coast with 80 percent of its water. Unfortunately, say water officials, the questionable reliability of having only one pipe running nearly 8,000 feet from the south portal of the Tecolote Tunnel — where Cachuma water exits the mountains — to Goleta’s Corona del Mar treatment plant creates a bottleneck that is difficult to overcome during high-demand summer months and leaves South Coast water customers vulnerable if the line is damaged by an earthquake, mudslide, or some other natural disaster.

The plan devised by the Cachuma Operations and Maintenance Board (COMB) — responsible for delivering water to South Coast water districts, including the City of Santa Barbara and the Goleta, Montecito, and Carpinteria Valley Water Districts — includes creating a second, 48-inch pipe in addition to the existing one. “That’s a reliability project and very needed,” said Das Williams, Santa Barbara city councilmember and COMB president. “In case of a disaster, we could be in real trouble without the second barrel.” But COMB has already hit a major roadblock in getting the project off the ground. The Carpinteria Water District Board of Directors, expressing concern about the financing of the proposed work, voted 4-1 last week to tentatively withhold supporting the project, and needs unanimous approval from all member agencies in order to pass the $16-million bond issue required to fund the so-called second barrel and a host of other necessary maintenance projects...

[ Please see original article with photos and comments. ]

Labels: Lake Cachuma, Tecolote Tunnel, water projects

[ from: "Councilman lobbies for federal funds," By Eric Lindberg, DAILY SOUND, Feb. 27, 2009 ]


Following in the footsteps of several other local officials, Santa Barbara Councilmember Das Williams is in the nation’s capital on a three-day stint to advocate for federal funds to support local infrastructure projects.

“Tis the lobby season,” the councilman said, speaking by cell phone from Washington, DC. “The place is totally abuzz on Capitol Hill between the alternative energy push, healthcare reform and, of course, the stimulus package and the budget. We’re trying to make sure that there are some local projects included.”



(image courtesy of www.smwia.org )


Williams said he is following up on federal funding for improvements along Mission Creek, as well as stream restoration money for the Santa Ynez tributaries.

In addition to his position on the City Council dais, he also serves as the president of the Cachuma Operation and Maintenance Board, which oversees water agencies from Santa Ynez to Carpinteria.

Another project he is lobbying for involves building a second pipeline from Lake Cachuma to the South Coast to essentially serve as a backup to the 6.4-mile Tecolote Tunnel.

Williams said he has met with Congresswoman Lois Capps and another congresswoman from Northern California, in addition to two Senate staff members and committee staff.

“It’s cold here, but it’s so important that when there are project monies coming to different areas to help upstart the economy that Santa Barbara gets its fair share,” he said.

He also noted that he’s crashing on a friend’s couch to avoid spending travel funds. The Cachuma Operation and Maintenance Board picked up the airline bill.

Labels: federal funding, Mission Creek, water projects