The drought facing Southern California may be a “perfect storm,” say representatives of the San Diego County Water Authority, who visited the VC water board on Monday.
“Perfect storm,” is a term overused by journalists to describe an event where several unlikely factors converge to produce something that is both rare and awesomely devastating.
Overused though it may be, it might actually be almost literally true this time.
Fay Steiner, chairman of the county agency board, and Maureen Stapleton, general manager, gave the board of their biggest ag customer (in fact the largest ag customer in all of Southern California) an update on the potentially catastrophic drought created by a combination of man-made and natural factors:
1) We are in the second year of a drought in California.
2) The Colorado River is in the midst of an eight year drought that may be as bad as one that destroyed the Anasazi Indian civilization a thousand years ago.
3) The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta pumps, which bring much of the State Water Project’s water to Southern California, face being shut off or curtailed by judicial fiat to protect the endangered delta smelt.
Stapleton and Steiner emphasized that water rationing of some sort will happen this fall unless “rains of Biblical proportions” fall in October and November.
The last time something like this happened in San Diego County was in 1987–92. Water cutbacks of 50% for farmers were averted at the last minute in 1992 by the Miracle March rains.
“We heard from the public loud and clear, never again,” said Steiner.
In that year San Diego got 95% of its water from the Metropolitan Water District, the big supplier to Southern California.
Since then SDCWA has worked to diversify its sources of water through conservation, recycling, buying water from Imperial County and other sources.
It has reduced its dependence on the Met to where it now supplies 76% of local needs.
SDCWA has put its support to desalination efforts and hopes to get 56,000 acre feet from a proposed desalination plant in Carlsbad.
It is also in the midst of a $3.4 billion in capital improvements to increase local storage.
None of these will help next year.
According to Stapleton, “The Colorado river is in trouble,” with its eight year drought. Surplus water from that source is no longer available because there is no surplus. Las Vegas and Phoenix are now using their full allocations.
The only thing that has kept the river as a source is that it has had five years of storage in Lake Powell and Lake Merced. They are at 50% of capacity and dropping.
The State Water Project, by comparison, was never completed as planned. It has 18 months of storage, which means that it can’t fully take advantage of very wet years, such as the one that happened three years ago.
“The State Water Project faces unprecedented judicial and environmental challenges and we are experiencing an extremely dry year in Southern California,” noted Stapleton.
Its biggest source is the Sierra snowpacks, which are their lowest point in a hundred years.
“This makes us very nervous considering we have so few supplies,” said Stapleton.
Usually drought years don’t happen twice in a row, but if we get a second dry year we are in BIG trouble.
In anticipation of demands for conservation, the Met and SDCWA are jumping ahead of the curve by asking residents to conserve now.
They are asking us to begin by saving 20 gallons each day.
While some people can save by taking shorter showers and not running the water when they brush their teeth, most will have to cut outdoor watering to make significant savings.
According to Steiner outside irrigation in a typical suburban development is over 60% of water use.
Most people over water, and many people’s lawns are too large, she said.
If the drought continues it may change lifestyles in Southern California permanently, and could hasten the decline of agriculture.
After several years of being in “Program Improvement,” the academic equivalent of probation, Pauma Elementary School has increased test scores enough to earn its way out of this negative distinction.
In literal fact, Pauma School’s scores had been rising steadily for several years , but since it has a large percentage of Hispanics and English learners, its scores didn’t achieve the benchmarks the state set for it.
Once a school is in “Program Improvement,” it takes two years of achieving the state benchmark to move out of that status.
Just-released test scores show that Pauma School has now met state goals for two years in a row.
Assistant Supt. Ken Clark announced at the August school board meeting that based on preliminary results of the 2007 STAR (Standardized Testing and Reporting system) that Pauma had continued to improve student performance. “It is estimated that their API (Academic Performance Index) will rise to 730 and they will meet the AYP (Adequate Yearly Progress).”
The federal No Child Left Behind Act requires school districts to make determinations of AYP for all schools in the district. Each year the bar is set a little bit higher.
It doesn’t matter if most of the school achieves these goals, if a subgroup of the school, such as English learners, does not achieve the goal, the entire school is held to account.
“This is huge news!” Supt. Lou Obermeyer told The Roadrunner this week.
Pauma School was required to have 24% of students in all of its subgroups achieve proficiency in English language arts.
Pauma’s Hispanic subgroup scored 35% and English learners scored 30.5%. According to Clark, that exceeds the target.
“This is the second year that they exceeded the benchmark so they are out of Program Improvements,” he said.
Just as a local tribe is beginning to shed the light on its upcoming casino expansion, it is throwing lights into the night sky that make neighbors and a world-famous observatory see red.
Just a few weeks ago the Pauma tribe’s Casino Pauma began shining search lights into the night sky to call attention to the facility.
At the same time it has begun the public environmental review process for its casino expansion that is being done in partnership with the Pequot tribe of Connecticut.
This $300 million expansion will have a 23-story, 400-room hotel; a 2,500 seat outdoor amphitheater; a 1,500 space parking garage plus an additional 2,400 parking spaces; three new wells, and a one million gallon water storage tank.
Pauma Valley has long been one of the few locations in North County where you can see the Milky Way on moonless nights. This is changing.
“The searchlights shining from Casino Pauma are of great concern to the Palomar Observatory. The lights are easily seen from the observatory and they have a measurable negative affect on our research,” Scott Kardel, public affairs officer at the observatory told The Roadrunner this week.
Joe Chisholm, chairman of the Pala/Pauma Sponsor Group, commented: “I don’t think I have ever gotten more complaints about anything. I have gotten more calls about those damn searchlights!”
It’s also the subject of talk everywhere that Chisholm goes, he says.
In addition to those who find the searchlights inappropriate just a few miles from to the world-famous Palomar Observ-atory are some neighbors who complain that the lights are going into their bedroom windows.
The searchlights can be seen as far away as I-15, according to some.
Chisholm considers this all poor public relations since the tribe is scheduled to hold a public meeting on the expansion. “They couldn’t have picked a worse point in time to do this,” he said. “For a group that is trying to present a sophisticated resort image they are making it look like a circus or a carnival.”
The community workshop will be held Aug. 28, 6-9 p.m. at the Pauma Valley Community Assn. meeting hall behind the Indian Health Clinic on Hwy 76. The tribe is required by their state compact to offer this independent community workshop.
The Pala-Pauma Sponsor Group will hold its own review of the project Sept. 5, 7 p.m. also at the Pauma Community Assn. building.
The Tribal Liaison Sub-committee of the VC Community Planning Group will review the project on Thursday, Aug. 30, 6:30 p.m. at the VC Library.
Kardel says that he and Pauma Casino CEO Javier Saenz have met several times on the issue.
“We had a face-to-face meeting about them on Friday, Aug. 10th. It was a very positive meeting. Javier has to respond to the wishes of the tribe, but he agreed to scale back the use of the searchlights to just three hours per night,” said Kardel.
“According to San Diego County's Light Pollution the “operation of searchlights for advertising purposes is prohibited between 11 p.m. and sunrise.” said Kardel.
He added, “However, it is my understanding that without any prior agreements, the tribe’s status as a sovereign nation makes them immune to this law. We are hopeful that an agreement with the Tribe and San Diego County will be reached that will allow for continued protection of the night sky, while allowing the tribe to pursue its interests with its casino expansion. Naturally, the observatory is available to work with the tribe, or other members of the community, to offer suggestions on how outdoor lighting can be installed that will serve their needs while protecting the vanishing resource that is the night sky.”
San Diego County’s tribal liaison Chantal Saipe said that the searchlights are possibly inconsistent with the Off-Reservation Environmental Impact Analysis Pauma submitted in 2000 when they built the casino and in 2004 when they did a small expansion.
The October 13, 2000 Environmental Evaluation contained the following statements:
“Would the project have a substantial adverse effect on a scenic vista?
“…Outdoor lighting at the casino and parking area will be minimal, and all outdoor lighting will be designed to cast light downward. Therefore, there would not be an impact to “dark skies” or the Mount Palomar Observatory.
“Would the project create a new source of substantial light or glare, which would adversely affect day or nighttime views of historic buildings or views in the area?
“Operation of the Proposed Project at night would require night lighting for the parking lot, traffic circulation, security and pedestrian safety. These potential effects would be reduced to below a level of significance through the use of downcast lighting. The intensity and number of lights shall be minimized to that which is adequate for public safety and security.”
Saipe said she will be sending a letter to tribal chairman Chris Devers reminding him of what was stated in the document.
Currently the County has no agreement with the Pauma Band addressing light pollution.
However, the most recent compact that the tribe signed with Governor Schwarzenegger for its expansion requires that an enforceable agreement be reached between the County and the tribe. This agreement will include a section on light pollution, according to Saipe.
The County currently has such an agreement with the Santa Ysabel Casino, which is also a few miles from Palomar and Mount Laguna Observatory.
Saipe noted the following: “All our comprehensive agreements with tribes have contained provisions similar to the one contained in the recently approved Pala Agreement ‘New exterior lighting will be designed and constructed so as to meet or exceed standards consistent with the County’s Dark Skies Ordinance.’ ”
In response to a request for a response from the newspaper, tribal chairman Chris Devers gave The Roadrunner this comment: “The tribe is currently reviewing concerns raised over exterior promotional lighting. The tribe takes complaints from local residents seriously and we will work with casino management to evaluate them in the best interest of the tribe and community.”
The 4th Annual Valley Center High School Foundation Charity / Alumni Golf Tournament will be held Oct. 11 at Woods Valley Golf Club.
Check in is at noon with a 1 p.m. shotgun start.
The Foundation has a day of fun, golf and prizes planned, all to benefit the Valley Center High School Foundation.
The Valley Center High School Foundation is a non-profit community organization whose purpose is to support, promote and help maintain quality educational and extracurricular welfare of all students within Valley Center High School.
According to organizer Sean Murphy, “This is a fun filled day for golfers of all skill levels. We have added ‘Alumni’ to this year’s tournament title as many former VCHS students attended last year which really made for a fun filled event. We hope to get more former Jags this year to add to the fun.”
Along with the golf tournament, they will also have a small prize drawing for various golf related items like clubs, rounds of golf, etc.
First and second place teams will receive trophies and bragging rights for the whole year.
Lunch and dinner are included in your fees. Costs will be $95 per golfer, or hole sponsorships for $550 which includes golf for four plus many other sponsorship opportunities.
To reserve your place and for additional information call Sean Murphy at (760) 801-2378 or email him at murphyclan@vcweb.org/
About 5,000 homes will get surveys in the mail in mid-September asking their opinions about the VC fire district.
The announcement was made at Thursday night’s Valley Center Fire Protection District board meeting.
The survey is in anticipation of a funding election that the board hopes to have in a few months.
Its purpose, among other things, is to discover what levels of Mello-Roos (Community Facilities District) funding the public would support for VCFPD, which is running out of money to operate under the current benefit fee structure.
The survey is being prepared, mailed and will be analyzed by SCI, an engineering firm that specializes in helping districts with funding elections.
The data should be collated by October, according to director Dan Thornton, who is the district’s finance committee chairman.
IN OTHER BUSINESS, on the second and final reading the board passed business safety inspection fees.
The fees for safety inspections performed by the fire marshal have been published in the paper and have been up on both the newspaper and fire district’s Web site for several weeks.
“We made every effort to allow the community to know what the proposed fee schedule would be so that they could appear before the board or make any phone calls to make their concerns known,” said board Pres. Mel Schuler.
Apparently no one objected to the new fee since they re no protests.
Directors also heard a report from Mercy Ambulance about a car accident involving a district ambulance that occurred Aug. 12.
According to the report the ambulance was on its way to Lake Cuyamaca when a vehicle pulled out in front of it.
The two paramedics in the ambulance were unhurt. They immediately started treating the people in the car that hit them.
The vehicle won’t be used in the system anymore, although it might be reparable.
Open House
Fire Marshal George Lucia reported that as part of his duties he is inspecting area bridges to ensure that they are safe for the district to drive engines across. He is also supervising the removal of old propane tanks that were in operation before the 2003 fire but which were damaged then.
He is planning to put on open houses at the three stations in the district the week of Oct. 14, Fire Safety Week.
“We want to start doing a safety fair again too,” said Lucia. “We are looking at doing it at the July 4 fireworks celebration when we have a captive audience.”
$20,000 Grant
District administrator John Byrne reported that although the district didn’t get a $100,000 grant for a new engine it applied for, it did get a $20,000 grant from the County Office of Emergency Services for items of “turnout gear,” such as respirators, slash protectors and medical gloves. This is half of the amount that the district spent on such gear last year.
Online applications
The district is entering the digital age with services that are now or soon will be available on its Web site. You can now download reserve firefighter applications. Eventually, says Byrne, residents will be able to process burn permits online.
“The sticking point is online signatures, something that we should be able to solve,” said Byrne.
“We value our team members. We want the people who work for us to look forward to going to work,” says Judy Wright, vice president of human resources at Valley View Casino.
She is in charge of keeping her casino’s team members happy. Because a happy team means happy customers.
Those who are interested in joining that team have a rare opportunity. The casino is in the midst of hiring for an expansion that will be open to the public beginning in October.
Last last week Valley View Casino opened over 300 new slot machines and eight new table games as the latest phase of its $114 million expansion.
The casino has had one job fair and will be holding two more to complete the job of hiring over 200 more employees.
The first will be Saturday, Sept. 8, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. at the middle school auditorium.
The second will be held Sept. 22, 9 a.m.–3 p.m. at the middle school auditorium.
Managers of departments seeking employees will be there to take your application and interview you on the spot. If a license is needed for the position you are interested in they can do the paperwork right there.
Positions are available in food and beverage, servers and many other departments. There are even positions available in human resources to help deal with the much larger work force.
They have processed 1,000 applications since July 4.
They just finished a program that allowed people who were in other jobs learn how to be dealers. Twenty-one employees transferred from other departments to this glamorous job.
If you think that you don’t stand a chance of being hired, think again.
Nearly a quarter of the employees reside in the Valley Center, Pauma Valley, Palomar Man and Santa Ysabel areas. Most of the rest come from Temecula and Escondido.
Born and raised in Escondido Mrs. Wright has been a VC resident since 1983 and is a member of the San Pasqual tribe, owners of the casino. She is a member of the San Pasqual Casino Development Group, which oversees the casino.
She and her husband, Mike, an I-Team manager at the casino, have four kids and five grandchildren.
She has worked in human resources most of her career. That includes 15 years at Hewlett-Packard in Rancho Bernardo, where she learned just how important it is for productivity to keep employees happy.
Little touches, like sending baby blankets to mothers who have just delivered. Big touches, like offering a variety of benefits that are tailored to the individual employee’s needs.
She used those lessons at Valley View.
One of the classes that the casino holds for incoming employees teaches life skills.
“Being able to separate emotions from your work, to be able to give good service is a necessary skill,” she says.
“When we hire we look for eighty percent people skills and twenty percent technical skills. We seek people who are personable, friendly, outgoing. Those are the ones we want and our guests like.”
Just about every position in the casino involve interacting with the public, she notes.
A key element for employees is managing change. “That is so critical for us,” she says. “I think a lot of that comes from the top. That encourages us to not only roll with the changes, but to communicate them to our guests.”
As a result of how they are treated, many employees have come to feel an “ownership” and extreme pride in the casino where they work, and are a part of.
One important facet of this is in recognizing employees for good work.
“The practice of recognizing the talent contained in our most valuable asset, our people, has proven profitable for Valley View Casino as our revenue continues to grow with our guest satisfaction. We are extremely pleased with the business and the culture that has evolved since our casino’s opening in April of 2001. This culture is important and comes from the commitment of our executive team, management, and tribal owners,” says Mrs. Wright.
She adds, “Our team members understand the key roles they play in the success of our business and are responsible for a great part of our recent winning of 18 major awards this year.
“As the expansion has continued we have seen team members take the view that ‘We built it.’ ‘We’ is something we hear around here a lot. That has been very eye-opening for me.”
You don’t have to wait for the job fairs to apply for a position at Valley View.
Simply go online to www.valleyviewcasino.com. Everything you need is there.
The Valley Roadrunner
P.O.B. 1529, Valley Center, CA 92082
Tel. 760.749.1112 Fax 760.749.1688
Website: www.valleycenter.com
Email: editor@valleycenter.com
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