During the hot summer months, Clunie pool, located in McKinley Park in Midtown Sacramento, is the place to be. But this past Saturday, swimmers could be seen jumping off the diving board and swimming in water during cold winter temperatures. Swimming during the winter months may seem crazy, but Sacramentans came out for a special cause. The city Department of Parks and Recreation has been making cuts in the aquatics department for several years now, increasing shutdowns of city pools. Sierra Voss, 27, who has been lifeguarding for 10 years, has seen firsthand the changes that have been happening recently. "Last year we had black out days, where once a week each pool had to be closed do

The Crocker Art Museum will present a multi-media exploration of water on Thursday, Dec 8, from 5 to 9 p.m. Inspired by the community exhibition “Liquid Assets,” Art Mix: Flow in Flux will feature a mini-film festival curated by the Sundance Film Festival's associate programmer Mike Plante, special water-based tours led by artists Enid Baxter Blader, Jenny Stark, and Nicole Antebi, a performance by the Spillit Quikkers, a local old-time string band, and interactive water-themed art with iPads. “Liquid Assets” is a unique installation exploring one of California’s most vital resources. Inspired by art from the Crocker's permanent collection, this exhibit features 21 works laid out as a spa

Residents are invited to see firsthand the challenges of aging water, sewer pipes, pumps and treatment plants As part of Your Utilities. Your Voice., The City of Sacramento Department of Utilities is throwing open the doors of two of its oldest pieces of infrastructure- the Sacramento River Water Treatment Plant (built in 1923) and Sump 2 (built in 1927) to help the citizens of Sacramento better understand the challenges of its aging water and sewer infrastructure. At each facility, tours will be offered that highlight the historic nature of these facilities and how modern technology is keeping them operating today, while protecting the environment and the health and safety of Sacramento

By David H. Lukenbill, senior policy director, American River Parkway Preservation Society   Recently there has been some attention from local media about public safety in the American River Parkway. In the October 16, 2011 Sacramento Bee story “Ranger cutbacks prompt concerns about bike trail safety”, we read:   "Most of the stuff we deal with is quality of life stuff," said Chief Ranger Stan Lumsden, who took over the job last month just as an arsonist was setting 15 fires in two separate sprees near River Bend Park. “Car break-ins, vandalism or dogs running off leash are the norm, he said, "unless you get down to the last six miles of the parkway." “There, in the area starting near Di

City Utilities is looking for customer input as it faces challenges with aging pipes, increasing regulations The City of Sacramento Department of Utilities, the City’s water, sewer, drainage and solid waste service provider, is seeking residential and commercial customer input on a set of guiding principles that will guide the department’s future services, programs and priorities. Through the initiative called Your Utilities. Your Voice., the department is educating customers about the challenges it faces as well as gathering their opinions about how the department moves forward. “Choices have to be made as we look to the future of the department,” said Dave Brent, Interim Director of t

The utilities department will be able to save more than $40 million over the next four years, according to an audit presented to the City Council Thursday, but some debate the accuracy of those numbers. According tho the audit, which can be read here, six main areas of the utilities department can be run more efficiently. The savings in the 2012 fiscal year would amount to approximately $8.6 million. The audit was requested by Mayor Kevin Johnson and Councilman Kevin McCarty last October, partially in response to a ballot measure that dealt with utilities rates, with McCarty saying it should be on the audit schedule ahead of other audits. City Auditor Jorge Oseguera said that when talki

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency hosted a press availability June 2nd to highlight a national effort to assess the health of the nation’s wetlands, and an opportunity to provide input on proposed changes to how the government protects wetlands. The event was held at the Stone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in Elk Grove, California where scientists were simultaneously sampling nearby wetlands in support of the National Wetlands Condition Assessment (NWCA). The NWCA is a collaboration between EPA and its state, tribal, and federal partners representing the first-ever national field survey on the health of the nation’s wetlands. More than 1,000 sites across the country—including 43 i

Picking Up After Pets Makes Your Neighbors and Mother Nature Happier!   It may seem like a little thing, but leaving pet waste behind when walking your pet adds up to a big issue. Pet waste is responsible for up to 90% of all bacterial watershed pollution in urban areas of the U.S. When left behind, bacteria on pet waste can be washed away with rain, water from irrigation and other urban run-off and introduced to local waterways, degrading water quality and putting people and the environment at risk. E. coli is a bacterium found in dog waste, it has been linked to causing ear, eye, and stomach infections. Other pet waste bacteria are the sources of “staph” infections, salmonella, and para

Despite the intermittent rain and chilly winds of the past weeks, summer is ahead, and cold beverages and fresh foods are at their best.  The Sacramento Press asked locals what favorite drink or food they turn to to cool off in the summer heat. Zuleyma Hercules is a law student who recently moved from Modesto to Rancho Cordova. Hercules said she loves ice-cold Pepsi with three cubes of ice. “I’m very specific,” she said. Hercules also enjoys cherry Icees from Chevron and Haagen Dazs chocolate ice cream. Wincie Pierce, a construction worker from the Fair Oaks area, said, “I always drink water.” Pierce added that he enjoys eating fresh melons and barbecues in the summer.   “We barbecu

Floods in 1986 and 1997, as well as a levee break in 2004, costing lives and billions in damage, contributed to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declaring a state of emergency due to the threat of major flooding in northern California and San Joaquin Valley in 2006, and current work on Folsom Dam is helping alleviate that threat. The construction of an auxiliary spillway at the Folsom Dam will provide the Sacramento region a greater level of flood protection than it has now. More specifically, it will provide a 200-year level of protection, meaning a one-in-200 chance for flooding in any given year. Friday morning, 25 state and federal workers and even a few spectators gathered at the Folsom D

River conditions this Memorial Day weekend are more dangerous than usual, and Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District officials are urging people to be aware of those dangers and where to borrow free life jackets. “Based on the heavy winter and the high volume of snow, the runoff is a little bit colder than usual,” said Assistant Chief Scott Cockrum, adding that the water is about 53 degrees in the American River – 6 to 8 degrees colder than normal. Also, the river is flowing about twice as fast as previous years. Cockrum added that everyone in a boat or raft should have a life jacket available, and he recommended wearing it at all times. “Kids under 13, by county ordinance, are required

There has been a lot of criticism in the media lately, in response to the supporters of building the Auburn Dam to store the vast amounts of water that are now, instead, flowing out to sea.   The critics say, as today’s Sacramento Bee editorial did,   “It never fails that, during wet years or dry ones, the water buffaloes resume their stampede for more taxpayer-subsidized water projects. During a single year of drought, they purchase billboards warning of "dust bowls" if someone else doesn't help them build a new reservoir. And now that California has been blessed with a prodigious snowpack and plentiful rainfall, the same crowd is bemoaning all the water in the Sacramento River that "is

Paul Connett PhD will be in Sacramento Febuary 23~24th to discuss his new book The Case Against Fluoride: How Hazardous Waste Ended Up in Our Drinking Water and the Bad Science and Powerful Politics That Keep It There. Learn how this relates to Sacramento, as new found dangers of water fluoridation continue coming to light. There will be two events in Sacramento: ARCADE LIBRARY  - Wednesday Feb 23rd 7:00-9:00pm  2443 Marconi Ave Sacramento. It is a free event. For more info go to  FluorideFreeSsacramento.org WHOLE FOODS - Thurs. Feb. 24th 7:00-9:00pm  4315 Arden Way (Eastern and Arden Way) Seating is limited at this event. For reservations at Whole Food call (916) 483-1155 For more info

We keep hearing about our greenness. Here in Sacramento we have a tree program, various recycling programs, and other earth friendly initiatives. But can one policy trump all this? Can a city be truly green when it knowingly adds toxic chemicals imported from China to its drinking water? And to top it all, 99.99% of it is wasted. Lets look at the facts as the Sacramento Department of Utilities has presented them. Questions came up at a June 22, 2010 Sacramento City Council budget hearing. This resulted in a request for additional information regarding the city's water fluoridation program. On July 1st Marty Hanneman, Director of Utilities sent the Mayor & City Council members a memorandum

Sacramento residents won't see monthly utility rates drop next summer after voters overwhelmingly rejected Measure B at the polls Tuesday. The initiative to roll back the city's rates for water, garbage and sewer services was failing by more than two to one late Tuesday night. With 287 out of 355 precincts counted, 41,328 – or 68 percent – of voters chose to stick with higher fees as of 10:55 p.m. More than 19,000 voters, or nearly 32 percent, had voted for the Utilities Rate Hike Roll Back Act of 2010 sponsored by the Sacramento County Taxpayers League, according to Sacramento County's elections department. The measure's opponents believe a rate decrease would have been a "risky approa

Sacramento’s drinking water meets or surpasses all state and federal health requirements, according to the city’s report on water quality relative to public health goals. It does not, however, meet every public health goal as set by the state. “We may not meet all those goals,” said Jessica Hess, spokeswoman for the Department of Utilities. “We probably never have met all those goals, since they’re set at a level so high to encourage jurisdictions to do better.” Hess said the city’s water facilities don’t all have the technology to even measure the levels set forth in the state public health goals. “The goals are set for levels that are very difficult for folks to attain, and there are

Sacramento officials should consider requiring special use permits for large water users, including water and beverage bottling companies such as Nestlé, a City Council committee decided Thursday. The council's Law & Legislation Committee passed a recommendation that the City Council approve a working group to explore whether the city's biggest water users should be subject to conditional use permits that would help give the city more ability to monitor and regulate their water use. The recommendation was approved unanimously Thursday afternoon by the committee's three present members, Chair Sandy Sheedy and councilmen Steve Cohn and Robbie Waters. "We have a scarce resource that we don

The City of Sacramento Department of Utilities is seeking volunteers to assist in the City’s water conservation efforts. Water Conservation Ambassadors will be trained to assist residents in finding leaks on their property, present conservation information at community events and how to spot and report water waste. The first training session for Water Conservation Ambassadors will take place on June 29, 2010 at 6 p.m. at the Department of Utilities Water Conservation Office, 2260 Glen Ellen Circle. “Over the past year, we have seen a huge increase in the numbers of calls for service and a desire by the community to have water conservation information shared with their organizations or nei

The city supplied drinking water in the areas of southern Rancho Cordova to Elk Grove is about to become unsafe for babies if it has not already. The plan by City of Sacramento "First 5" is to add an unnamed "Fluoridating" agent to your drinking water by 2010. As the parents of babies and anyone else interested health should know; Fluoride is a highly toxic poison. As we are not told all the facts, we only assume the city is using the standard common Fluoridating chemicals to treat the water. No test results for the actual substances used to fluoridate most drinking water have ever been provided or are even claimed to exist. On top of this are numerous reports that the supposed dental cla

The Sacramento Police Department and the City of Sacramento Department of Utilities are warning residents and businesses about a man, claiming to be a City employee approaching homes in a recent water meter retrofit area and trying gain access. Residents and businesses are warned that the City does not need to get into a home to test the water or conduct further plumbing work inside the home after a meter retrofit. Typically, City utilities employees do not need to enter into homes and if they do, they will schedule an appointment in advance. City employees wear City of Sacramento uniforms, ID badges and drive City vehicles. Residents or businesses with questions regarding whether someon