- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Albion Nation - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Read Supervisor’s Proclamation or First Permit evaluation or

what action to take or Media Response or reference & links or some of the early communications or the history and schedule

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***** Anti-Commodification Water bill in CA state legislature

Bill to provide local control over water; Albion-Gualala inspired legislation is AB 2924. Bill is in print and can be viewed from the Assembly bill tracking system on the internet. Below is a link.

Just enter the bill number.

http://www.assembly.ca.gov/acs/acsframeset2text.htm

------------------------------------------

Sean MacNeil, Legislative Aide 916/319-2007

Assembly Member Patricia Wiggins

State Capitol, Room 4016 Sacramento, CA 95814

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Water Company Wants to Barge Albion Water to San Diego

The California State Water Resources Board has received two applications from the Alaskan Water Export Company proposing to extract water from the Gualala River (Permit # 31194) and the Albion River (Permit # 31195) and barge it to San Diego. (This is not a joke.)

The staff engineer at the Board (Division of Water Rights) for the Albion permit is Katherine Gaffney at 916-341-5360. The application is now undergoing review and will soon be noticed to the public for "comment" or, as they call it at the Water Board, "protest"- a word that has a certain resonance in Albion. If you want to receive a notice you can call Gaffney and she will put you on her list.

For further information, call Albion River Watershed Protection Assn., Linda Perkins at 937-0903.

Or check out the website for the Alaska company, http://www.worldwatersa.com.

I've pasted in a page from the website below.

Www.worldwatersa.com

Officers

Ric Davidge, President

Mr. Davidge is the former Director of Water and Chief of

the State of Alaska's Hydrologic Survey. Mr. Davidge

pioneered the development and feasibility of bulk water

sales from Alaska. After his departure from the state

agency Davidge started Alaska Water Exports, a

Division of Arctic Ice and Water Exports Inc. His

visionary report on trans-Pacific water exports from

Alaska was the first major report written on the subject

from a business perspective and has become well known

throughout the water development community around the

world.

Mr. Davidge has an extensive background in federal,

state, and local government affairs and natural resource

development as well as the private sector. He served

former U.S. President Ronald Reagan as a sub-cabinet

official in the U.S. Department of Interior. Mr. Davidge

has also served as an advisor to a number of Alaska

governors, Mayors, and international commissions.

Zaher S. AlMunajjed

-Advisor to the President in ALJ Group

-Master of Business Administration from Harvard

-Located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Mr. Mikitoshi Kai

-Born in 1951 in Tokyo, Japan

-Graduated from Tokyo University, Law Faculty in 1976

-Joined NYK in 1976

-Working for "Team New Frontier" for NYK since

November of 1999

-Previously worked in Car Carrier, Planning, and

Container Divisions Assigned to the Embassy of Japan

in Denmark from 1983 to 1986

-Stationed as Owner's Representative in Seoul, Korea

from 1995 to 1998

World Water, SA • 3705 Arctic Blvd., #415, Anchorage, Ak. 99503

(907) 222-6927 phone • (907) 222-6933 fax • ricdav@gci.net

Water Background Information……………………………...top

JV Aquarius wins a further 2 year contract to the island of Aigina,

to deliver the quantity of one million cubic meter of water per year.

http://www.aquariuswater.com/

Water Incorporated - The commodification of the world's water

Earth Island Journal….. by Maude Barlow

http://www.earthisland.org/eijournal/new_articles.cfm?articleID=451&journalID=63

Beyond a Drought, Water Worries Grow - from 2/24/2002 NY Times

By ANDREW C. REVKIN: The current dry spell will end, but water

managers are trying to stay ahead of long-term climate shifts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/24/nyregion/24DROU.html?ex=1015605835&ei=1&en=78ca22b3d8d30d69

What Alaska news thinks of Davidge

Anchorage Daily News 2/17/02 | Alaska Ear | The Divine Appendage

Hot Waterbags at http://www.adn.com/alaska/story/765953p-818612c.html

Initial Conversations………………………………………….top

Back and forth between Deirdre & Davidge

From: Ric Davidge

To: Deirdre Lamb Walsh

Sent: Sunday, January 20, 2002 12:41 PM

Subject: RE: Albion water

Deirdre, Thank you for your comments. I would like to point out a few facts you may not be aware of. 1. All waters in the State of California belong to the state unless appropriated or reserved by federal withdrawals. 2. Communities that have water are fast becoming the target of domestic immigration from communities that do not have water. More and more towns are beginning to understand that their relative isolation over past decades will soon come to an end due to the demand for water and the ability of more people to work from their homes. 3. The proposal we have made to the State of California is in response to a request of the City of San Diego for 20K AFY starting in 2004. 4. Southern California (San Francisco to San Diego) is the fifth largest economy in the world. It faces serious choices even though it has done a magnificent job in water conservation, get new water or start to die. When people loose their jobs they move someplace where they can work and support their families. The northern migration of Californians is well established. 5. Although the water demand problem in Southern California is in part due to population growth, it is more due to the ongoing reallocation of water to upstream states and ESA listings. So, you have growth projected by the state at 30% in less than 10 years due mainly to immigration (legal and illegal) and the water supply is not only not growing it isn't even static as water previously used for communities and industry is now being reallocated to upstream states and fish and wildlife.

6. Our proposal is the most ecologically sound ever devised for such a water transfer. Our water harvest system will have NO ecological impact on the river system or its associated environs. The water will not leave the river until it enters the Pacific Ocean. We look forward to meeting and discussing our proposal in your community. We believe that we can defend the proposal on economic, ecological, and cultural grounds very well.

Thank you for your comments.

Ric Davidge President

……………………………………………………………..……………………….

From: Deirdre Lamb

To: Ric Davidge

Sent: Monday, January 21, 2002 4:52 AM

Subject: Our water

Dear Mr. Davidge, I appreciate your response regarding the Albion and Garcia river waters. To respond, I am sorry San Diego does not have enough water. Too bad they didn't think about that when they were putting up all those condos, townhouses and homes with big lawns. We have thought a lot about it here, what with L-P, G-P and the Mendocino Redwood Companies clearcutting right up to the riverbeds. This has affected the fish, birds and wildlife in a drastic way. Most of the residents here have put up many a court battle against them in order to preserve the nature and quality of life we feel is owed to our future generations as well as the fragile ecosystem around us. True, many have migrated here to work from their homes, but not just because of the water. Say what you will, I do not see a huge increase in migration in this area because the price of homes is so high and the acreage has mostly already been divided into the smallest increments allowed for our area. Most parcels in Albion are a five acre minimum, many are ten such as ours, so the chances of a huge increase in popularity is remote. The migration has become a much more financially lucrative crowd that has moved here to enjoy a better lifestyle, and especially in the past five years there have been at least six multi-millionaires that have moved into the Albion watershed area. I look forward to seeing what you propose and if in fact it is true that the water will only be extracted after it hits the ocean. Again, I look forward to seeing the exact plan of your companies' proposal for our area, as I am sure a lot of other residents are here as well. I will pass the information you sent along, and look forward to keeping in communication regarding this in the future.

Sincerely, Deirdre Lamb Walsh

……………………………………………………………………………………….

From: Ric Davidge

To: 'Deirdre Lamb Walsh'

Sent: Monday, January 21, 2002 12:51 PM

Subject: RE: Our water

Deirdre, Thank you so much for your continuing contribution. I spent a few days in Albion and have to say it is a delightful community. As a former deputy assistant secretary of the department of Interior for fish, wildlife, and parks I have a keen understanding of the values of these resources and the cultures of communities such as Albion and others I visited in 2000. The State of California has yet to send me a copy of what they published regarding our applications. I am therefore at some disadvantage. Once I receive the notice and know the schedule I will try and make some time to meet with you and friends that would like some time for face-to-face discussion. Public meetings are fine and of course required, but I find it much more productive to sit down in someone's living room and talk with groups of 10 or less. I look forward to our meeting.

May you find peace and fulfillment?

Ric Davidge President

………………………………………………………………………………………

Proposed selling of Albion River 1/22/02 Turtle Time Farm

After reading the letter sent by Alaskan Water Export Co.'s president, Rick Davidge to Deirdre Lamb, I went back to the spring 2002 issue of Earth Island Journal (can be read at their website www.earthisland.org) and read Water Incorporated by Maude Barlow.

Here are three pertinent paragraphs:

Fortune magazine notes that "water will be to the 21st century what oil was to the 20th."

Who owns water and how much they are able to charge for it will become the question of the century. The privatization of water is already a $400 billion a year business. Multinational corporations hope to increase profits from water commodification even further by using international trade and investment agreements to control its flow and supply. One Canadian water company, Global Water Corp., puts it best: "Water has moved from being an endless commodity that may be taken for granted to a rationed necessity that may be taken by force."

.........

With the support of international trade agreements, these companies are setting their sights on the mass transport of water by pipeline and supertanker. Several companies are developing technology to pump fresh water into huge sealed bags to be towed across the oceans for sale.

The U.S. Global Water Corp., a Canadian company, has signed an agreement with Sitka, Alaska, to export 18 billion gallons of glacier water per year to China. It would then be bottled for export in one of China's "free trade" zones to take advantage of cheap labor. The company brochure entices investors "to harvest the accelerating opportunity... as traditional sources of water around the world become progressively depleted and degraded."

...........

Corporations already have begun suing governments to gain access to domestic water sources. The first such NAFTA Chapter 11 case (Sun Belt Water Inc. vs. Canada) was filed in the fall of 1998. Sun Belt Water Inc. Santa Barbara, Calif., filed suit after losing a contract to deliver Canadian water to California when British Columbia banned the export of bulk water in 1991. Sun Belt is seeking $220 million in damages. However, SunBelt appears more interested in access to BC's water than the $220 million. As SunBelt's CEO Jack Lindsay explained, " Because of NAFTA, we are now stakeholders in the national water policy of Canada.

.........

Read the article, there is a lot more about this latest corporate takeover of our basic human needs. If there is to be a "dialogue" with Alaskan Water Export Co., we need to be informed about this new industry. What are the legal rights of a small community protecting their water sources? Also I'm puzzled by Davidge's statement that the" water will not leave the river until it enters the Pacific Ocean." Since the Albion is a tidal river how can they get fresh water anywhere near the mouth of the river?

There is a lot to be discussed here. San Diego needs water. Albion has water but will it destroy our ecology to "mine" it? And certainly corporations should not be the one's to orchestrate the exchange of water at tremendous profit to themselves.

Let's talk about this.

Carmen Goodyear

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Barged water out of the Albion? While there may be some surplus water during some high flow periods of the year, my focus goes to the marine transport, i.e. the size of the barge, how it would be loaded, its draft, the size of the tug, etc. I honestly doubt that the tug and barge could enter the river, and that any loading would have to be done while moored in the Bay. Please keep me in the information loop. I keep up on my reading from my tug-shipping-maritime and stevedore days and have a pretty good hand on what they can and cannot do. Norman De Vall

Time Line……………………………………………..…..……top

Public Notices of Note:

1/29 Publication in ……

1/29 5 folks on KZYX community call in show

1/30 Sacramento Bee publication by Stuart Leavenworth

1/31 David Colfax, supervisor, on KZYX evening community news – going to see attorney + Winona Stockdale from state water board

2/5 Radio interview with KQED

2/12 Radio interview with R. Davidge on KZYX Environment show with Hawk

2/13 Public discussion on KZYX community comment show at 9:00AM

2/13 Public interview with Los Angeles Times staff in Gualala and Albion

2/14 Public meeting with 30 people at Albion School

2/15 Public meeting at Stanford Inn with supervisors Colfax and Campbell plus 2 coastal commissioners and 2 planning commissioners.

2/19 Gualala Watershed Council meeting

2/19 Katherine Gaffneyof CSWRB informed Linda Perkins that applications required further documentation and would not be complete for review until late March when 60 day comment cycle would begin.

2/20 Albion Salmon Creek Watershed Council meeting in Comptche school at 6:00 to 8:00

2/21 Informal meeting at Gualala Arts Center @ 7:00PM

2/28 Public meeting at Albion School @ 7:00PM

3/9 NCWAP Gualala Public Workshop 9:30 am - 4:00 pm

3/14 SORE - Save Our Rivers and Estuaries presents

The Ecology and Politics of Water Export at the Gualala Art Center, Thursday, March 14, 7 pm - 9 pm; invited speakers are:

Nancy Price, Alliance for Democracy :

Water and Basic Water Rights in the World Trade Agreements

Frank Arundel, activist :

Expert Witnesses, EIRs and the Mojave Water Grab

Peter Baye, Ph.D., coastal plant eologist :

Estuary Ecology and the Permit Process

The community is invited. There will be time for questions after

each section. This meeting is a preparation for the Sea Ranch Forum with Ric Davidge.

For further information please contact Ursula Jones 785-3431

3/16 Public meeting at Sea Ranch with R. Davidge 3:00-5:00 PM

Saturday March 16, 2002 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Event Location: Del Mar Center, Highway 1, Mile 56.88

Notes: Ric Davidge will present and take questions re the water bag proposal.

Media…………………………………………………………top

Mendocino Beacon 1/31/02

Press Democrat 1/29/02 1/30/02

Sacramento Bee 1/30/02 2/18/02

L.A. Times 3/02/02

From the Sacramento Bee ………………………………Media

Firm's water wish: Ship it south

by Stuart Leavenworth -- Bee Staff Writer

Published Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2002

In a further sign that water may one day be more valuable than oil, an Alaska company is seeking permission to draw water from two Northern California rivers, pump it onto massive transport bags, and tow it to San Diego with tugboats.

Alaska Water Exports, an Anchorage company headed by the former chief of Alaska's water department, has filed two applications with the State Water Resources Control Board to draw water from the Albion and Gualala rivers and ship it south.

State officials say it is the first time anyone has seriously pursued such a project.

"It is a creative proposal," said Myrlys Stockdale, a spokeswoman for the water control board. "I've talked to folks who have been around here for years, and they can't remember an application like this."

Some North Coast residents are already gearing up to fight the proposal, which they call a "water grab" that could hurt salmon runs and tourism.

"The question everyone here wants to know is: Why Albion?" said Linda Perkins, a longtime resident of the tiny Mendocino County town. "The Albion River is a little podunk river. Why did they pick this one?"

Ric Davidge, president of Alaska Water Exports, said his company studied rivers from Los Angeles to Oregon, before determining that the Albion and Gualala had the best combination of adequate flows, clean water and distance from a wildlife refuge or sensitive natural site.

"Of all the rivers we surveyed, those were the only two we thought we could work in without affecting the environment," said Davidge, a Californian who worked as a deputy assistant secretary of interior in the Reagan administration.

Part of an international consortium called World Water SA, Alaska Water Exports wants to draw water from the mouths of Gualala and Albion during winter months, when their flows are the heaviest. Altogether, the firm is seeking permission to draw up to 10,000 acre-feet of water from the Albion and twice that from the Gualala each year, although Davidge said annual withdrawals from both rivers would never exceed 20,000 acre-feet.

The water would be pumped through a pipeline into massive polyfiber bags, which would be hauled by tugboats down to San Diego. There, the annual withdrawals would be enough to serve about 40,000 households.

Davidge said his associates have successfully marketed water from Turkey to Cyprus the last four years, using the tug-boat-and-bag technology. Water tugging, he said, will grow increasingly economical as Southern California grows and its water supplies dwindle because of environmental regulations and reduced exports from the Colorado River.

"We would not have expended the funds and the effort if we didn't think this would work," said Davidge. "California is the fifth-largest economy in the world, and corporations are already moving away because of water."

In San Diego, water officials said they have talked with Davidge and are intrigued.

"We are always on the lookout for any kind of alternate water supply," said Kurt Kidman, a spokesman for the San Diego Water Department. "Last year in San Diego, it hardly rained at all. We didn't use any local water, so you can imagine how dependent on water we are."

At the same time, entrepreneurs for years have deluged Southern California with water-import proposals -- using oil tankers, pipeline, even icebergs tugged down from Alaska.

"Anything you can imagine comes through our office," said Kidman. "So our attitude is: We don't discourage, we don't encourage. We say, 'Go get your permits, do your studies, and come back with a solid proposal.' "

For his project to pencil out, Davidge would need to sell his water for more than the cost of shipping it.

San Diego currently pays $444 an acre-foot for water, meaning that Davidge must extract and ship his 20,000 acre-feet for less than $8.8 million, or command a higher price from San Diego.

A bigger hurdle, however, is obtaining the right to market public water from the two rivers. The state water control board plans to issue a public notice about the project sometime next month, after which interested parties will have 60 days to comment or file protests, said Stockdale. Then the board's staff will have 60 days to review any protests.

Likely issues will involve effects on beaches, scenery, tourism and Coho salmon, a threatened species on the North Coast.

According to its permit application, the company's proposed 24-inch pipeline "will be buried within the active river channel to eliminate visual and physical impacts to habitat and local river recreational use."

Davidge said the pipeline intake will be screened to minimize any impact on fisheries. In turn, the bags dragged by the tugs will float below the ocean surface.

"You won't even notice it from the beach," he said.

Perkins, however, said Alaska Water Exports is likely to get a chilly reception in her town. She recently sent an e-mail about the project to a river stakeholder group of environmentalists and loggers.

"To a person, they were outraged," said Perkins. "It is definitely something that is going to unite a broad spectrum of people."

From the Press Democrat……………………Media

A SINKING FEELING

Imagine: Giant yellow bladder bags filled with North Coast water,

floating down the Pacific Coast to San Diego.

No, this isn't a new installation by the artist Christo.

It's the proposal of an Alaska-based company that wants to pump

part of the winter run-off from the Albion and Gualala rivers into offshore

bags capable of holding 35,000 tons of water. Tug boats would then tow the

bags to San Diego where the water would be used to quench the thirsts of

residents.

The proposal raises many practical questions, including: Will it work?

What will happen during storms? Will the pipes be visible from the shore?

And then there's a whole slew of environmental concerns that must

be addressed: What impact will the project have on winter steelhead runs?

How would it affect the marine life in the surrounding areas? What happens

in drought years?

But of broader concern is the symbolism of this proposal. Even if

the project is environmentally sound, it still represents a water grab by

unquenchable Southern California.

It isn't the first time an attempt has been made to send north

Coast water south. Round Valley would be a reservoir now if it wasn't for

the efforts of Mendocino County ranchers.

And, even if this latest idea is shot down by the state Water

Rights Division, more will come.

As California's population expands by 5 million people every

decade, water districts will become more aggressive in their efforts to

secure resources from northern streams and rivers. It's likely that

somewhere in the bowels of the Department of Water Resources, reports

already exist outlining how Russian and Eel river water can be shipped

south.

This newest proposal should be a wake-up call to Mendocino and

Sonoma counties. It's past time for each county to prepare a comprehensive

analysis of the amount of water available (including ground water); the

amount that is being used by residential, commercial and agricultural

users; and predicted future needs.

The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors took an important first step

by agreeing on Tuesday to include a separate water resource element in the

updated county planning document.

The next step will be for the counties to identify where future

water will come from and how it will be stored. This is sure to create

political battles among local citizens. But avoiding these decisions

creates a vacuum -- one that Southern California water districts would love

to fill with their own pipes, pumps and dams.

From the Press Democrat …………………………………Media

FIRM WANTS NORTH COAST WATER FOR SAN DIEGO,

by CAROL BENFELL

An Alaska company has asked the state of California for permission to capture winter water from the Gualala and Albion rivers and transport it by sea to arid San Diego.

The company, Alaska Water Exports, wants to remove 20,000 acre-feet

of water a year from the Gualala River and 10,000 acre-feet a year from the

Albion River. That's enough to supply 30,000 families of four for a year.

It's believed to be the first such proposal in California, said Merlys Stockdale, public affairs director of the Division of Water Rights in the state Department of Water Resources.

``It seems to be a creative proposal,'' Stockdale said.

The water would be pumped from the rivers' mouths through a 24-inch pipeline into a giant 35,000-ton capacity water bag. Tugboats would tow the water bags to their destination.

None of the pumping apparatus would be visible from shore, said company president Ric Davidge in a phone interview Monday from Anchorage. ``We feel we can do this in a manner that's environmentally responsible,'' Davidge said.

The company successfully used a similar system in the mid-east, at the request of the Turkish government, so that water could be shipped from Turkey to Cypress, Davidge said.

The project would create some local jobs maintaining the pipeline system and on the tugboats, he said.``We want to get started as soon as we can secure the permits from the state and other agencies,'' Davidge said.

The state Water Rights Division, which has the power to grant rights to unallocated water such as the rivers' winter flows, will be issuing a notice of the application next month, with an invitation for public comment. An environmental review will be required.

Should a permit be granted, the state would charge Alaska Water Exports a water-use fee, which is still to be determined, Stockdale said.

The company hopes to sell the water to San Diego for about $550 an acre-foot, Davidge said. But there is no deal or contract in place.

Some members of the Gualala River Watershed Council, which is seeking to restore and rehabilitate the Gualala River and its adjoining land, are skeptical about the plan.

``I just think it's a bad idea,'' said Doug Simmonds, speaking for himself, and not the council. ``We've just learned about it and we're trying to figure out what to do.''

Supervisor Mike Reilly, whose district includes the Gualala River, said he will be bringing the issue to the attention of the state Coastal Commission, which may have some jurisdiction over the proposal.

``I think we need to take this seriously, even though the tendency is to just laugh,'' Reilly said. ``There is some fascinating case law about unallocated water'' that might allow the company to proceed, he said.

A San Diego city spokesman confirmed that the city was looking at Alaska Water Exports' proposal, along with dozens of others.

San Diego is extremely dependent on outside water, and is always looking for new sources, said Kurt Kidman, a spokesman for the San Diego Water Department.

``If someone pulled in today with a load of water, we don't even have the infrastructure to handle it. It's not imminent, that's for sure,'' Kidman said.

Davidge said the company has to have the Gualala and Albion River permits if San Diego is to take them seriously. If San Diego didn't want the water, there are other places to sell it, Davidge said.

``If San Diego says it's not going to do this, we have other markets in Southern California and Mexico,'' he said.

Alaska Water Exports is one of four partners in an international consortium, World Water SA. The other partners are companies in Japan, Saudi Arabia and Norway.

Davidge is president of both Alaska Water and World Water.

You can reach author Carol Benfell at 521-5259 or cbenfell@pressdemocrat.com.

From the Mendocino Beacon………………..……..Media

Alaskan company wants to Albion,

Gualala Rivers’ water to San Diego

By Beacon Staff Published January 31, 2002

The California State Water Resources Board has received two applications from the Alaskan Water Exports Co. to draw water from the Albion and Gualala rivers and send it to parched San Diego areas.

The applications are now under review, with a public comment time soon to be noticed.

In a Jan. 18 article in The Independent Coast Observer, Julie Verran reported that Ric Davidge of Arctic Water Exports said San Diego needs 20,000 acre-feet of water by 2004. He said a team of scientists checked all water outflows in the western U.S. and found only two, the Gualala and Albion that could reasonably withstand a take of water that would not interfere with the ecosystem.

Verran said about 20 years ago when a pipeline was proposed to carry Alaska water to southern California, Davidge was then Alaska state water chief and he turned thumbs down on the project.

The proposal would use enormous floating plastic waterbags instead of a pipeline. They would be filled when the rivers could handle the withdrawal, mainly between October and May, then towed to

Southern California.

Carol Benfell of the Press Democrat wrote on Jan. 29 that the state Water Rights Division has the power to grant rights to unallocated water such as the rivers' winter flows. An environmental review will be required.

She said, should the permits be granted, the state would charge Alaska Water Exports a water-use fee, still to be determined.

Alaska Water is one of four partners in an international consortium, World Water SA. The other partners are companies in Japan, Saudi Arabia and Norway. Benfell said Davidge is the president of both Alaska Water and World Water.

From Sacramento Bee 2/18/02…………….…..…….Media

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/1647103p-1722768c.html

From L.A. Times 3/02/02……………………………Media

Plan to Bag Rivers May Not Float

An entrepreneur's bid to tug giant sacks of fresh North Coast water to San Diego stirs up anger amid the skepticism.

By ERIC BAILEY, TIMES STAFF WRITER

ALBION, Calif. -- It boasts an audacious history, this business of water in the West. From dams the size of mountains to aqueducts across the desert, the landscape has been re-plumbed in ways Mother Nature never pondered. Water percolates through some of the best fiction and most of the best fights.

Even dreamy schemes to capture icebergs or run transcontinental pipelines bubble up from time to time, which is why folks here on the scenic North Coast are keeping a close eye on a plan they brand a classic Southern California water grab--"Chinatown" in a giant Baggie.

The man with the bag is Ric Davidge. A water entrepreneur from Alaska, Davidge is an industrious fellow whose Reagan administration resume seems to eco-warriors clear proof of villainy.

His company wants to suck fresh water from two North Coast rivers, stow it in massive poly-fiber bags the length of a World War II battleship, and tow the floating sacks hundreds of miles south--dodging oil tankers and migrating whales--to slake San Diego's thirst.

But first, Davidge will have to convert regulators, politicians and often-feisty residents--in this case, the denizens of Mendocino County, where locals consider coastal protection a birthright.

Rachel Binah, a coastal innkeeper and ardent environmentalist, said the idea initially seemed "harebrained, goofy, ridiculous, ludicrous, absurd."

But with Davidge plowing forward with a formal proposal to a state water agency, the snickers are subsiding and concern is growing, Binah says. "It could potentially be very, very dangerous."

Davidge wants to use his oceangoing bags to tote 20,000 acre-feet of water each year from the Albion and Gualala (pronounced wa-LA-la) rivers--enough for 40,000 households.

He brings to the brawl some well-heeled backers, among them a large Japanese shipping line and a Saudi Arabian company that boasts a variety of multibillion-dollar international ventures, including the largest independent Toyota distributorship on the globe. As a deputy to former Interior Secretary James Watt, a man environmentalists loved to hate, Davidge knows how to work a room full of angry people.

His scheme has whipped up distrust reminiscent of past north-south water wars. Mendocino County supervisors are on record opposing the project. The California Coastal Commission has begun to grumble. Sen. Wes Chesbro (D-Arcata) is lobbying state water officials in opposition.

The most vocal opponents are the region's axis of latter-day hippies, environmentally minded urban refugees and nature-loving merchants of tourism.

They are a battle-tested bunch. In the 1960s, North Coast activists beat back a nuclear power plant. They defeated offshore oil in the 1980s and fought to save the redwoods in the 1990s.

On the banks of the Albion, a vortex of the back-to-the-land movement, they've coined a whimsical sovereign status: The "Albion Nation," they call themselves.

And they're itching for a tussle.

"We've had a lot of practice," mused Bill Heil, who came to Albion three decades ago to join a commune and has been here ever since. "I don't think the project will fly, but we'll have a good time fighting it."

Big bags are not a new notion in the West Coast water wars. Manhattan Beach inventor Terry Spragg has been trying without success for a decade to pitch his "Spragg Bags" for runs along the coast.

But the bag technology floated by Davidge's Anchorage-based Alaska Water Exports is already at work in the real world, on a run between Turkey and Cyprus operated by Nordic Water Supply, a partner in the Mendocino proposal.

So far, that operation has been a money loser. Nature has caused unexpected complications. In December 2000, Nordic lost a bag in stormy seas off Cyprus before recovering it unscathed. Another bag had torn open and spilled during an earlier trip.

Davidge says tougher fabrics and seamless technology used in the bags, which are stitched by mammoth looms, will prevent such mishaps. Coastal regulators remain skeptical.

"There's the potential for these bags breaking loose, entangling in habitat. How do you get them out?" wondered Peter Douglas, executive director of the Coastal Commission. "There's just a whole range of issues raised by this proposal that are very serious."

Approval of 2 Panels Required

The plan requires approval of the Coastal Commission as well as the State Water Resources Control Board. As long a shot as the scheme seems, Chesbro recently wrote the board's chairman that it threatens to reignite the state's epic water wars and set "a troubling precedent" for rivers on the coast.

Out here, amid the sweeping surf and stately redwoods, every bend in the road offers another breathtaking view, another chance to embrace one of nature's masterpieces. With grassy bluffs and foam-washed coves, the Mendocino coast has a ready-made constituency of stewards and protectors.

"They've come to the wrong place," grumbled Bernie Macdonald, Mendocino's Green Party secretary and a veteran of environmental fights. "We're prepared to go as far as we have to go."

Some inveterate activists are already talking up "monkey wrenching," puncturing water bags as a form of pro-environment sabotage.

Linda Perkins, Albion's Sierra Club liaison, hears people around Albion's tiny center--a grocery store, a post office--pose the telling question, "with a wink, wink" at the end. "Everyone asks: 'So, how thick are those bags anyway?' It may be bravado, but people are thinking about it."

Davidge, 54, who grew up in Mission Hills, seems unfazed. He weathered political battles alongside Watt, whose federal tenure remains a bitter memory for western environmentalists. A self-styled environmentalist, the bearded Davidge says he was considered "the greenie" in Reagan's Interior Department. He later was Alaska's top water official before setting out as a water entrepreneur.

He also has served as an aide to U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska). In the private sector, Davidge has worked on projects ranging from port development to the cleanup of the Exxon Valdez spill. He is also a man of culture, operating an Anchorage professional theater company that produces the work of Alaskan playwrights.

Davidge makes a practice of writing endlessly about water issues. One paper, about the potential for exporting water from Alaska, prompted investors to recruit him to run World Water, the Luxembourg-registered firm that is pushing the bag proposal. Davidge's partners in World Water are the Japanese shipping firm NYK Line; Mizutech, an investment subsidiary of the Saudi-based AJL Group; and Nordic Water Supply, a Norwegian venture company.

The group is working to cobble together deals in other water-starved locales, from the Middle East to North Africa.

"You're talking about a guy who has been doggedly, tenaciously pursuing the bulk water business for years," said Gil Serrano, who himself gave up on it to start a bottled water firm, Alaska Glacier Refreshments. "Ric won't give up easy. You'll have to use a silver bullet to kill him."

Davidge considers San Diego the key to winning acceptance of the big bags.

For several years, the arid border metropolis has been requesting proposals for new ways to ease its heavy reliance on imported water for its 1.25 million residents.

While eyeing Davidge's proposal, "we're strictly on the sidelines right now," said Kurt Kidman, a San Diego Water Department spokesman. Davidge and company will not only have to beat the $444 per acre-foot that San Diego now pays, but also do it without ruffling feathers in Mendocino or elsewhere, Kidman said. "We're not out to steal anyone's water."

Value of Idea Escapes Many

Other water officials won't give Davidge the time of day. At the Metropolitan Water District, the giant umbrella agency that provides Southern California's water, Davidge's proposal prompts groans. Tim Quinn, the district's vice president for state water projects, said "silly ideas like this" only serve to inflame "north-south passions needlessly."

Davidge rues being pulled into old fights. But he suggests that the Southern California economy could falter without new water sources. In the world according to Davidge, North Coast residents need to embrace their symbiotic ties with the Southland.

After surveying 15 coastal tributaries, Davidge said his team narrowed its search to the Albion and Gualala because their water is unpolluted and neither hosts an ecological reserve.

Davidge wants to bury a 24-inch pipeline from an offshore buoy up the spine of each river, hundreds of yards inland to where tidal saltwater isn't a factor. Water would be pumped to the offshore station and into the oceangoing bags. A tugboat would slowly make the trip down the coast with the hulking cargo, more than 850 feet long and 100 feet wide, with a draft of about 24 feet.

With sunny promotional zeal, Davidge has answers for most every perceived pitfall.

Worried about construction messing up the rivers?

It would be performed during low water months without harming the environment, he says.

Frosty over robbed water messing up river hydrology?

Davidge vows to take water only during the huge flows of winter months, when, he says, there is plenty to spare.

Irked over the prospect of views made icky by bags lolling like whales belly-up?

The giant sacks ride out of view, beneath the waves, the promoter insists.

Peppered with hundreds of negative e-mails, Davidge says he answers them all. Naysayers, he insists, will be swayed once they learn about the project's technological promise. He even plans a public meeting on the North Coast in the coming weeks.

Expect the Albion Nation to turn out in force.

Perkins of the Sierra Club says the water project would harm the endangered coho salmon and steelhead trout of the coastal rivers, and trample the eelgrass beds that harbor the juvenile smolts.

"We see this as the foot in the door," said Perkins, who believes her "little Podunk river" was selected because communities of the Mendocino coast are small and lack clout.

Down the coast in Gualala, population 585, the sentiments are just as sharp. Around a big table at a local coffeehouse, foes gathered one recent morning over steaming mugs to share fears.

Business People Raise Concerns

The Gualala was once the fishing playground of Jack London, actor Fred MacMurray and former California Gov. and U.S. Chief Justice Earl Warren. Craig Bell, a fishing guide, knows every deep-water spot: Switchfail, Snag, Miner's Hole. A water pipe, he said, would wreak havoc.

Karen Scott, manager of a real estate office, worries that tourists will be turned off by views of tugboats and jumbo-sized bags. "He's saying his project will bring jobs," Scott said. "But how many will we lose?"

Davidge may contend that the sacks absorb the energy of waves while parked offshore, but "that bag isn't just going to sit there when 20-foot swells start hitting," insists Jim Koogle, a carpenter. "It'll be on the beach."

Others grumble that Davidge is fueling Southern California's "unsustainable addiction" to imported water. They talk of their rivers becoming a poker chip in international trade. They fret that the sacks might impede gray whales rollicking in the river mouth.

Wayne Harris, who runs a kayak rental business, considers this fight part of the California continuum, the state's tangled saga on water. "Bigger areas than ours," he grumbled, "have been wiped out."

With the battle joined, listen to the wisdom of Alan Graham, known in Albion by his nom-de-guerre, Captain Fathom.

"This whole thing is a preposterous joke," Graham said. "They want to get us laughing so hard we'll be too out of breath to fight when they try something serious."

Times staff writer Tony Perry contributed to this report from San Diego.

An Associated Press article submitted to ENN.com.....

about our little village and the Alaska company that wants to suck water

out of the river to transport to thirsty San Diego, and how we ain't

gonna let 'em. (from Rita Crane)

http://www.ENN.com/news/wire-stories/2002/03/03012002/ap_46558.asp

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