… More than 50 years after the Safe Drinking Water Act was
passed to ensure that Americans’ water is free from harmful
bacteria, lead and other dangerous substances, millions of
people living in mobile home parks can’t always count on those
basic protections. A review by The Associated Press found
that nearly 70% of mobile home parks running their own water
systems violated safe drinking water rules in the past five
years, a higher rate than utilities that supply water for
cities and towns, according to Environmental Protection Agency
data. … One July day in 2021, officials with the EPA
were out investigating sky-high arsenic levels in the tap water
at Oasis Mobile Home Park in the Southern
California desert when they realized the problem went
way beyond just one place. … At some [other parks], testing
found high levels of cancer-causing arsenic in the water that
had been provided to residents for years.
The Trump administration will propose the repeal of a landmark
2009 determination that climate change poses a danger to the
public, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee
Zeldin said Wednesday. “EPA has sent to the Office of
Management and Budget a proposed rule to repeal the 2009
endangerment finding from the Obama EPA,” Zeldin told Newsmax.
… The finding provided a legal basis for EPA regulations
on these planet-heating gases, including for its rules
requiring automakers’ to cut emissions from their vehicle
fleets.
Across the world, access to clean running water has long been
considered a key marker of economic advancement. Yet in several
of the most prosperous cities in the richest nation on Earth,
the share of households living without that critical service is
climbing—a trend that researchers say demands attention,
particularly as President Donald Trump moves to sharply pare
back federal funding for water infrastructure. Katie
Meehan, a professor of environmental justice at King’s College
London, has for years been studying what she and other
researchers call “plumbing poverty” in the US. Utility
shut-offs because of nonpayment or substandard housing where
landlords fail to properly maintain properties are the main
factors behind the problem. … Overall the number of US
households that lack running water has declined since the
1970s. But those improvements primarily happened for White
families. Today, in 12 of the 15 largest US cities, people of
color are disproportionately represented among those lacking
running water.
Drinking water treatment that pursues a multi-contaminant
approach, tackling several pollutants at once, could prevent
more than 50,000 lifetime cancer cases in the U.S., finds a new
study by the Environmental Working Group. The finding
challenges the merits of regulating one tap water contaminant
at a time, the long‑standing practice of states and the federal
government. In the paper, published in the journal
Environmental Research, EWG scientists analyzed more than a
decade of data from over 17,000 community water systems. They
found that two cancer‑causing chemicals—arsenic and hexavalent
chromium, or chromium‑6—often appear together in systems and
can be treated using the same technologies. If water
systems with chromium‑6 contamination also reduce arsenic
levels to a range from 27% to 42%, this action could avoid up
to quadrupling the number of cancer cases compared to just
lowering chromium‑6 levels alone, the study finds.
… In December, the Biden administration awarded a $20 million
Community Change grant designed to help disadvantaged
communities address environmental and climate justice
challenges to the nonprofit Community Water Center, founded 20
years ago to help underserved rural communities without access
to clean drinking water. … But the project barely had a
chance to get off the ground. On May 1, the same day
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin
claimed the Trump administration was “ensuring America has the
cleanest air, land and water on the planet,” the EPA canceled
the Community Water Center’s grant. Now, community
organizations are scrambling to find ways to fill the
gap. The State Water Resources Control Board really came
through for the first phase of the project. …. State funding
will allow about 400 residents to get safe drinking water by
upgrading the Springfield Water System, which has struggled
with unsafe levels of nitrates and the cancer-causing chemical
1,2,3-trichloropropane, or 1,2,3-TCP, a contaminant in
pesticides.
The city’s drinking water met federal and state safety
standards last year, but Vacaville is dealing with a new,
tougher regulation on a known carcinogen. However, the
California State Water Resources Control Board, effective Oct.
1, adopted a new regulation setting the maximum contaminant
level for hexavalent chromium, which was detected in city water
at levels that exceeded that new standard,
the 2024 Annual Water Quality Report released Tuesday
states. “Hexavalent chromium is a heavy metal that has been
used in industrial applications and found naturally occurring
throughout the environment. While chromium can exist in a
nontoxic, trivalent form, the hexavalent form has been shown to
be carcinogenic and toxic to the liver,” the state Water
Resource Control Board reported. “We are working to address
this exceedance and comply with the (maximum contaminant
level),” the city stated in the report. … In the meantime,
the city reported the water system is safe.
A new Fresno County Civil Grand Jury report found that the City
of Fowler has been working to address its drinking water not
meeting state standards. The grand jury report, which was
released on Monday, detailed that while the city’s water does
not currently meet state standards, the city has been working
for the past seven years to rectify the
situation. Microplastic 1,2,3-trichloropropane (TCP) was
found in Fowler’s drinking water after it was detected above
the legal limit in one of the city’s wells. … The grand
jury found that Fowler has planned to install a new filtration
system for several years but could not afford it without some
extra funding. … The grand jury is recommending that
Fowler should improve its training process for all Public
Works, Water Department operators and should improve its
website to make it easier to find all water information in
order to improve transparency, among other
recommendations.
When it rains in Pescadero, Irma Rodriguez gets to work —
lining up containers on her patio to catch as much water as she
can. … The small rural town has one public water system, and
it serves less than half of the population. Now, San
Mateo County is preparing to raise rates for that system —
potentially tripling costs — deepening concerns among residents
already struggling to get by and not addressing those who
have no clean running water at all. … Of the seven
public water systems within 2 miles of Pescadero assessed by
the California State Water Resources Control Board in 2024, six
were either failing or at risk of failing. Only one — County
Service Area No. 11, or CSA-11 — was deemed to have “no
risk.” The “no risk” rating doesn’t reflect how many
people in the area actually get their water from creeks or
private wells that may never be tested, leaving their water
safety uncertain.
It’s not uncommon nowadays to fill a glass of water from your
tap and wonder what chemicals and contaminants may be lurking
in there. That’s because research has increasingly revealed
that heavy metals, radioactive substances, and harmful PFAS
(“forever chemicals”) are present in our water
systems. … The Environmental Working Group (EWG) found
that roughly 60% of the U.S. population—about 200 million
people—are served by water systems that have the chemicals PFOA
or PFOS in their drinking water at a concentration of 1 part
per trillion or higher, which is the maximum limit for PFAS in
drinking water endorsed by the EWG. Knowing there are
chemicals in your water is one thing—but should you be worried?
And is there anything you can do to reduce your exposure?
Here’s everything you need to know, according to experts who
spoke with Fortune.
It’s been a little over a year since the Environmental
Protection Agency rolled out the first legally-enforceable
limits on some PFAS chemicals in drinking water. The
regulation came after years of research tying the human-made
chemicals to a range of health issues. … Under the EPA’s
first formal limits last year, drinking water can have no more
than four parts per trillion of the PFAS listed. … Tucson is
already in compliance. But (Tucson Water Director John) Kmiec
estimates the city has spent some $70 million of its own money
to get there. Additional federal funding came down for
communities nationwide last year — including a roughly $33
million for Tucson. That’ll be used to build a new treatment
plant Kmiec says will bring a handful of wells back online and
some 3.3 million gallons of drinking water back into the
system. … But some things are changing now, under the Trump
administration. A directive released by the EPA in May drops
four out of the six compounds listed in 2024. Only PFOA and
PFOS will remain regulated for now.
Cities across California and the Southwest are significantly
increasing and diversifying their use of recycled wastewater as
traditional water supplies grow tighter.
The 5th edition of our Layperson’s Guide to Water Recycling
covers the latest trends and statistics on water reuse as a
strategic defense against prolonged drought and climate change.
Water bubbles up in streets, pooling in neighborhoods for weeks
or months. Homes burn to the ground if firefighters can’t draw
enough water from hydrants. Utility crews struggle to fix
broken pipes while water flows through shut-off valves that
don’t work. … Across the U.S., trillions of gallons of
drinking water are lost every year, especially from decrepit
systems in communities struggling with significant population
loss and industrial decline that leave behind poorer residents,
vacant neighborhoods and too-large water systems that are
difficult to maintain.
Water regulation in Arizona has devolved into a game of
chicken. The governor and farmers are rivals revving their
engines, hoping their opponent will flinch first. Caught
in the middle is Gila Bend, a groundwater basin south of
Buckeye, where the state could decide to impose its most
stringent form of regulation, whether folks like it or not.
Both sides are using Gila Bend as a bargaining chip to win
support for competing legislative proposals. But to what
end? - Written by Joanna Allhands, Arizona Republic digital
opinions editor
The U.S. Senate Indian Affairs Committee is holding an
important hearing Thursday on S. 2385, a bill to
refine the tools needed to help Tribal communities gain access
to something that most non-Indian communities in the western
United States have long taken for granted: federally subsidized
systems to deliver safe, clean drinking water to our homes.
… This is the sort of bill (there’s a companion on the
House side) that makes a huge amount of sense, but could easily
get sidetracked in the chaos of Congress. The ideal path is for
the crucial vetting to happen in a process such as Thursday’s
hearing, and then to attach it to one of those omnibus things
that Congress uses these days to get non-controversial stuff
done. Clean water for Native communities should pretty clearly
be non-controversial.
State health officials know that extreme heat can cost lives
and send people to the hospital, just like wildfire smoke. Now,
new research finds that when people are exposed to both hazards
simultaneously — as is increasingly the case in California —
heart and respiratory crises outpace the expected sum of
hospitalizations compared to when the conditions occur
separately. … The study joins a growing body of research
about the intersection of different climate risks. Last month,
California-based think-tank the Pacific
Institute published a report about how converging
hazards — including wildfires, drought, flooding, sea level
rise and intensifying storms — are harming access to drinking
water and sanitation in California and other parts of the
world. The deadly 2018 Camp fire in Butte
County impacted an estimated 2,438 private wells, the
report said.
After more than two decades of
drought, water utilities serving the largest urban regions in the
arid Southwest are embracing a drought-proof source of drinking
water long considered a supply of last resort: purified sewage.
Water supplies have tightened to the point that Phoenix and the
water supplier for 19 million Southern California residents are
racing to adopt an expensive technology called “direct potable
reuse” or “advanced purification” to reduce their reliance on
imported water from the dwindling Colorado River.
… A state audit from the California Water Resources Control
Board released last year found that over 920,000 residents
faced an increased risk of illness–including cancer, liver and
kidney problems–due to consuming unsafe drinking water. A
majority of these unsafe water systems are in the Central
Valley. The matter has prompted community leaders to mobilize
residents around water quality as politicians confront
imperfect solutions for the region’s supply. Advocates point
out that impacted areas, including those in Tulare County, tend
to be majority Latino with low median incomes. … This
year’s extreme weather has only worsened the valley’s problems.
The storms that hit California at the start of this year caused
stormwater tainted with farm industry fertilizer, manure and
nitrates to flow into valley aquifers.
Tiny pieces of plastic waste shed
from food wrappers, grocery bags, clothing, cigarette butts,
tires and paint are invading the environment and every facet of
daily life. Researchers know the plastic particles have even made
it into municipal water supplies, but very little data exists
about the scope of microplastic contamination in drinking
water.
After years of planning, California this year is embarking on a
first-of-its-kind data-gathering mission to illuminate how
prevalent microplastics are in the state’s largest drinking water
sources and help regulators determine whether they are a public
health threat.
A pilot program in the Salinas Valley run remotely out of Los Angeles is offering a test case for how California could provide clean drinking water for isolated rural communities plagued by contaminated groundwater that lack the financial means or expertise to connect to a larger water system.
Martha Guzman recalls those awful
days working on water and other issues as a deputy legislative
secretary for then-Gov. Jerry Brown. California was mired in a
recession and the state’s finances were deep in the red. Parks
were cut, schools were cut, programs were cut to try to balance a
troubled state budget in what she remembers as “that terrible
time.”
She now finds herself in a strikingly different position: As
administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s
Region 9, she has a mandate to address water challenges across
California, Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii and $1 billion to help pay
for it. It is the kind of funding, she said, that is usually
spread out over a decade. Guzman called it the “absolutely
greatest opportunity.”
Across a sprawling corner of southern Tulare County snug against the Sierra Nevada, a bounty of navel oranges, grapes, pistachios, hay and other crops sprout from the loam and clay of the San Joaquin Valley. Groundwater helps keep these orchards, vineyards and fields vibrant and supports a multibillion-dollar agricultural economy across the valley. But that bounty has come at a price. Overpumping of groundwater has depleted aquifers, dried up household wells and degraded ecosystems.
Shortly after taking office in 2019,
Gov. Gavin Newsom called on state agencies to deliver a Water
Resilience Portfolio to meet California’s urgent challenges —
unsafe drinking water, flood and drought risks from a changing
climate, severely depleted groundwater aquifers and native fish
populations threatened with extinction.
Within days, he appointed Nancy Vogel, a former journalist and
veteran water communicator, as director of the Governor’s Water
Portfolio Program to help shepherd the monumental task of
compiling all the information necessary for the portfolio. The
three state agencies tasked with preparing the document delivered
the draft Water Resilience Portfolio Jan. 3. The document, which
Vogel said will help guide policy and investment decisions
related to water resilience, is nearing the end of its comment
period, which goes through Friday, Feb. 7.
Innovative efforts to accelerate
restoration of headwater forests and to improve a river for the
benefit of both farmers and fish. Hard-earned lessons for water
agencies from a string of devastating California wildfires.
Efforts to drought-proof a chronically water-short region of
California. And a broad debate surrounding how best to address
persistent challenges facing the Colorado River.
These were among the issues Western Water explored in
2019, and are still worth taking a look at in case you missed
them.
It’s been a year since two devastating wildfires on opposite ends
of California underscored the harsh new realities facing water
districts and cities serving communities in or adjacent to the
state’s fire-prone wildlands. Fire doesn’t just level homes, it
can contaminate water, scorch watersheds, damage delivery systems
and upend an agency’s finances.
Summer is a good time to take a
break, relax and enjoy some of the great beaches, waterways and
watersheds around California and the West. We hope you’re getting
a chance to do plenty of that this July.
But in the weekly sprint through work, it’s easy to miss
some interesting nuggets you might want to read. So while we’re
taking a publishing break to work on other water articles planned
for later this year, we want to help you catch up on
Western Water stories from the first half of this year
that you might have missed.
Each day, people living on the streets and camping along waterways across California face the same struggle – finding clean drinking water and a place to wash and go to the bathroom.
Some find friendly businesses willing to help, or public restrooms and drinking water fountains. Yet for many homeless people, accessing the water and sanitation that most people take for granted remains a daily struggle.
Californians have been doing an
exceptional job
reducing their indoor water use, helping the state survive
the most recent drought when water districts were required to
meet conservation targets. With more droughts inevitable,
Californians are likely to face even greater calls to save water
in the future.
One of California Gov. Gavin
Newsom’s first actions after taking office was to appoint Wade
Crowfoot as Natural Resources Agency secretary. Then, within
weeks, the governor laid out an ambitious water agenda that
Crowfoot, 45, is now charged with executing.
That agenda includes the governor’s desire for a “fresh approach”
on water, scaling back the conveyance plan in the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta and calling for more water recycling, expanded
floodplains in the Central Valley and more groundwater recharge.
Although Santa Monica may be the most aggressive Southern California water provider to wean itself from imported supplies, it is hardly the only one looking to remake its water portfolio.
In Los Angeles, a city of about 4 million people, efforts are underway to dramatically slash purchases of imported water while boosting the amount from recycling, stormwater capture, groundwater cleanup and conservation. Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2014 announced a plan to reduce the city’s purchase of imported water from Metropolitan Water District by one-half by 2025 and to provide one-half of the city’s supply from local sources by 2035. (The city considers its Eastern Sierra supplies as imported water.)
Low-income Californians can get help with their phone bills, their natural gas bills and their electric bills. But there’s only limited help available when it comes to water bills.
That could change if the recommendations of a new report are implemented into law. Drafted by the State Water Resources Control Board, the report outlines the possible components of a program to assist low-income households facing rising water bills.
More than a decade in the making, an
ambitious plan to deal with the vexing problem of salt and
nitrates in the soils that seep into key groundwater basins of
the Central Valley is moving toward implementation. But its
authors are not who you might expect.
An unusual collaboration of agricultural interests, cities, water
agencies and environmental justice advocates collaborated for
years to find common ground to address a set of problems that
have rendered family wells undrinkable and some soil virtually
unusable for farming.
Joaquin Esquivel learned that life is
what happens when you make plans. Esquivel, who holds the public
member slot at the State Water Resources Control Board in
Sacramento, had just closed purchase on a house in Washington
D.C. with his partner when he was tapped by Gov. Jerry Brown a
year ago to fill the Board vacancy.
Esquivel, 35, had spent a decade in Washington, first in several
capacities with then Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and then as
assistant secretary for federal water policy at the California
Natural Resources Agency. As a member of the State Water Board,
he shares with four other members the difficult task of
ensuring balance to all the uses of California’s water.
A new study could help water
agencies find solutions to the vexing challenges the homeless
face in gaining access to clean water for drinking and
sanitation.
The Santa Ana Watershed Project
Authority (SAWPA) in Southern California has embarked on a
comprehensive and collaborative effort aimed at assessing
strengths and needs as it relates to water services for people
(including the homeless) within its 2,840 square-mile area that
extends from the San Bernardino Mountains to the Orange County
coast.
A statewide program that began under a 2015 law to help
low-income people with their water bills would cost about $600
million annually, a public policy expert told the California
State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) at a
meeting last week.
Potable water, also known as
drinking water, comes from surface and ground sources and is
treated to levels that that meet state and federal standards for
consumption.
Water from natural sources is treated for microorganisms,
bacteria, toxic chemicals, viruses and fecal matter. Drinking
raw, untreated water can cause gastrointestinal problems such as
diarrhea, vomiting or fever.
Directly detecting harmful pathogens in water can be expensive,
unreliable and incredibly complicated. Fortunately, certain
organisms are known to consistently coexist with these harmful
microbes which are substantially easier to detect and culture:
coliform bacteria. These generally non-toxic organisms are
frequently used as “indicator
species,” or organisms whose presence demonstrates a
particular feature of its surrounding environment.
This card includes information about the Colorado River, who uses
the river, how the river’s water is divided and other pertinent
facts about this vital resource for the Southwest. Beautifully
illustrated with color photographs.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
20-minute DVD that explains the problem with polluted stormwater,
and steps that can be taken to help prevent such pollution and
turn what is often viewed as a “nuisance” into a water resource
through various activities.
Many Californians don’t realize that when they turn on the
faucet, the water that flows out could come from a source close
to home or one hundreds of miles away. Most people take their
water for granted; not thinking about the elaborate systems and
testing that go into delivering clean, plentiful water to
households throughout the state. Where drinking water comes from,
how it’s treated, and what people can do to protect its quality
are highlighted in this 2007 PBS documentary narrated by actress
Wendie Malick.
A 30-minute version of the 2007 PBS documentary Drinking Water:
Quenching the Public Thirst. This DVD is ideal for showing at
community forums and speaking engagements to help the public
understand the complex issues surrounding the elaborate systems
and testing that go into delivering clean, plentiful water to
households throughout the state.
This 30-minute DVD explains the importance of developing a source
water assessment program (SWAP) for tribal lands and by profiling
three tribes that have created SWAPs. Funded by a grant from the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the video complements the
Foundation’s 109-page workbook, Protecting Drinking Water: A
Workbook for Tribes, which includes a step-by-step work plan for
Tribes interested in developing a protection plan for their
drinking water.
A companion to the Truckee River Basin Map poster, this
24×36-inch poster, suitable for framing, explores the Carson
River, and its link to the Truckee River. The map includes the
Lahontan Dam and reservoir, the Carson Sink, and the farming
areas in the basin. Map text discusses the region’s hydrology and
geography, the Newlands Project, land and water use within the
basin and wetlands. Development of the map was funded by a grant
from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Region, Lahontan
Basin Area Office.
This beautiful 24×36-inch poster, suitable for framing, displays
the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas
and Indian reservations within the Truckee River Basin, including
the Newlands Project, Pyramid Lake and Lake Tahoe. Map text
explains the issues surrounding the use of the Truckee-Carson
rivers, Lake Tahoe water quality improvement efforts, fishery
restoration and the effort to reach compromise solutions to many
of these issues.
This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, illustrates the
water resources available for Nevada cities, agriculture and the
environment. It features natural and manmade water resources
throughout the state, including the Truckee and Carson rivers,
Lake Tahoe, Pyramid Lake and the course of the Colorado River
that forms the state’s eastern boundary.
Water as a renewable resource is depicted in this 18×24 inch
poster. Water is renewed again and again by the natural
hydrologic cycle where water evaporates, transpires from plants,
rises to form clouds, and returns to the earth as precipitation.
Excellent for elementary school classroom use.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to Integrated Regional Water
Management (IRWM) is an in-depth, easy-to-understand publication
that provides background information on the principles of IRWM,
its funding history and how it differs from the traditional water
management approach.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Groundwater is an in-depth,
easy-to-understand publication that provides background and
perspective on groundwater. The guide explains what groundwater
is – not an underground network of rivers and lakes! – and the
history of its use in California.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to California Water provides an
excellent overview of the history of water development and use in
California. It includes sections on flood management; the state,
federal and Colorado River delivery systems; Delta issues; water
rights; environmental issues; water quality; and options for
stretching the water supply such as water marketing and
conjunctive use. New in this 10th edition of the guide is a
section on the human need for water.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Delta explores the competing
uses and demands on California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Included in the guide are sections on the history of the Delta,
its role in the state’s water system, and its many complex issues
with sections on water quality, levees, salinity and agricultural
drainage, fish and wildlife, and water distribution.
Finding and maintaining a clean
water supply for drinking and other uses has been a constant
challenge throughout human history.
Today, significant technological developments in water treatment,
including monitoring and assessment, help ensure a drinking water
supply of high quality in California and the West.
The source of water and its initial condition prior to being
treated usually determines the water treatment process. [See also
Water Recycling.]
A tremendous amount of time and technology is expended to make
surface water safe to drink. Surface water undergoes many
processes before it reaches a consumer’s tap.
The federal Safe Drinking Water Act sets standards for drinking
water quality in the United States.
Launched in 1974 and administered by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, the Safe Drinking Water Act oversees states,
communities, and water suppliers who implement the drinking water
standards at the local level.
The act’s regulations apply to every public water system in the
United States but do not include private wells serving less than
25 people.
According to the EPA, there are more than 160,000 public water
systems in the United States.
This printed issue of Western Water examines
groundwater management and the extent to which stakeholders
believe more efforts are needed to preserve and restore the
resource.
This printed issue of Western Water, based on presentations
at the November 3-4, 2010 Water Quality Conference in Ontario,
Calif., looks at constituents of emerging concerns (CECs) – what
is known, what is yet to be determined and the potential
regulatory impacts on drinking water quality.
This printed issue of Western Water examines
desalination – an issue that is marked by great optimism and
controversy – and the expected role it might play as an
alternative water supply strategy.
This printed copy of Western Water examines the challenges facing
small water systems, including drought preparedness, limited
operating expenses and the hurdles of complying with costlier
regulations. Much of the article is based on presentations at the
November 2007 Small Systems Conference sponsored by the Water
Education Foundation and the California Department of Water
Resources.
This issue of Western Water looks at some of the issues
facing drinking water providers, such as compliance with
increasingly stringent treatment requirements, the need to
improve source water quality and the mission of continually
informing consumers about the quality of water they receive.
This issue of Western Water examines PPCPs – what they are, where
they come from and whether the potential exists for them to
become a water quality problem. With the continued emphasis on
water quality and the fact that many water systems in the West
are characterized by flows dominated by effluent contributions,
PPCPs seem likely to capture interest for the foreseeable future.
This issue of Western Water examines the problem of perchlorate
contamination and its ramifications on all facets of water
delivery, from the extensive cleanup costs to the search for
alternative water supplies. In addition to discussing the threat
posed by high levels of perchlorate in drinking water, the
article presents examples of areas hard hit by contamination and
analyzes the potential impacts of forthcoming drinking water
standards for perchlorate.
Drawn from a special stakeholder symposium held in September 1999
in Keystone, Colorado, this issue explores how we got to where we
are today on the Colorado River; an era in which the traditional
water development of the past has given way to a more
collaborative approach that tries to protect the environment
while stretching available water supplies.