[env-trinity] Interior IG faults cleanup project in San Joaquin Valley

[Tom Stokely]

The Trinity River was dammed to send water to the San Luis Unit of the CVP, which includes the Panoche Water District.TS

https://www.eenews.net/greenwi re/2017/11/30/stories/10600676 93


WATER POLLUTION


Interior IG faults cleanup project in San Joaquin Valley
Michael Doyle, E&E News reporterPublished: Thursday, November 30, 2017The Interior Department inspector general is examining the handling of the multimillion-dollar San Luis Demonstration Treatment Plant. Slayden Constructors Inc.Interior Department auditors are raising "significant" concerns about the management of a high-profile groundwater cleanup project in California's San Joaquin Valley, a new advisory reveals.Interior's Office of Inspector General, which is examining the handling of the multimillion-dollar San Luis Demonstration Treatment Plant, found the potential problems serious enough to merit an early heads-up to federal Bureau of Reclamation officials this week."We also identified invalid single audits, conflicts of interest with key personnel, a general absence of project oversight, and questionable use of a cooperative agreement," Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall wrote.Operated under a cooperative agreement between Reclamation and the Panoche Drainage District, the San Luis Demonstration Treatment Plant was designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of treating groundwater to remove heavy metals and contaminants.It's a high-stakes effort for the San Joaquin Valley, where farmers are bedeviled by the accumulation of tainted irrigation drainage.But in her sharply worded, two-page advisory, Kendall said investigators "question how and why the project grew from a pilot-scale $15 million demonstration and research and development plant to a full-size $37 million plant."Investigators are also raising doubts about the facility's cost-effectiveness."We have been told that the costs to operate and maintain the plant could outweigh the benefits of the treated water produced," Kendall warned.Unlike a final IG report, the management advisory dated Monday does not include a response from either Panoche or Reclamation. Bureau officials, though, say they are taking the issues seriously."We received the OIG management advisory earlier this week, and we are currently reviewing it to develop potential actions to address the concerns outlined," Reclamation spokeswoman Erin Curtis said in a statement yesterday, adding that "we also look forward to receiving the final report from the OIG so that we can address items of concern specifically."A spokesperson for the Panoche Drainage District could not be reached.More criticism appears to be coming, as Kendall stated that the IG team plans to "fully address the cost deficiencies, along with several other concerns in two subsequent reports."The alleged problems have arisen at a politically sensitive time for some Central Valley farmers and their congressional allies who have been wrestling with drainage issues.Leaders of the 600,000-acre Westlands Water District, located south of Panoche, are trying to secure passage of legislation that would implement an irrigation drainage settlement negotiated with the Obama administration.The proposed deal would forgive a roughly $375 million debt owed by Westlands for its share of Central Valley Project construction. The deal would set terms on future water contracts and oblige Westlands to retire 100,000 acres. In return, it would relieve the federal government of the obligation to construct irrigation drainage facilities.Earlier this month, senators rejected a House GOP proposal to add the Westlands drainage legislation authored by Rep. David Valadao (R-Calif.) to the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (Greenwire, Nov. 9).Three smaller districts located north of Westlands — the Panoche, Pacheco and San Luis water districts — seek to wrap up a similar irrigation drainage deal, but officials say it has been stalled pending the outcome of IG and other investigations.The Panoche Drainage District provides drainage services to the Panoche Water District and 6,000 adjacent acres, and the management of the two districts overlaps.Earlier this year, California Controller Betty Yee released a scathing report on the 38,000-acre Panoche Water District. The report found that between 2013 and 2015, the district gave employees $86,000 in interest-free loans and allowed them to use district credit cards for more than $37,000 in personal spending (E&E News PM, Jan. 31)."It should be noted that the district has taken substantial corrective actions and continues to make efforts to enhance its administrative and internal accounting controls," the state audit added.Curtis, the Reclamation spokeswoman, said the bureau requested the IG audit following release of the state audit."At that time, Reclamation placed PDD under an agency review as well," Curtis said.The new IG advisory focusing on the treatment plant project cautioned that "we audited $772,974 in claimed costs under this cooperative agreement, and currently estimate questioning or disallowing nearly 30 percent of these costs."

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