Water quality in California is regulated by several state
agencies, including the State Water Resources Control Board
(State Water Board) and its nine regional boards, which
enforce clean water laws and the Department of Public Health.
Water quality concerns are also often involved in disputes
over water rights, particularly in situations involving
endangered species or habitat.
The State Water Board administers the Clean Water Grant Program
that funds construction of wastewater treatment facilities. The
State Water Board also issues general permits for municipalities
and construction sites that try to prevent contaminants from
those sources from entering municipal storm sewers.
Drinking water standards and regulations are developed by federal
and state agencies to protect public health. In California, the
Department of Public Health administers the federal Safe
Drinking Water Act, which regulates drinking water quality in the
United States.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is examining the
carcasses of several Canada geese and one duck found dead
around Truxtun Lakes to determine what killed them and about a
dozen other geese earlier this month. But it will take several
weeks to get the necropsy results back from the state’s
Wildlife Health Laboratory, according to Abby Gwinn, a
biologist with CDFW who bagged several dead birds from Truxtun
Lakes on Nov. 7. She wrote in an email that another live, but
sick, goose was found last week and taken to a wildlife
rehabilitation facility. It also died. “This one will be
particularly valuable as we know it was sick prior to passing
and we have a report of the symptoms,” Gwinn wrote in an email.
“It is not uncommon to have an increase in bird diseases
observed during migration when birds flock together, especially
when habitat is limited like it is locally this year with the
dry Kern River through town.”
A California state judge tentatively upheld most of the local
requirements for stormwater testing that drew a legal challenge
from Boeing Co. in a write-up issued before a Wednesday
hearing. The Regional Water Quality Control Board in Los
Angeles largely has authority to implement the new tests for
toxic chemicals, Judge Stephen Goorvitch of California Superior
Court, Los Angeles County said in a tentative ruling. But he
may narrowly grant part of Boeing’s request by asking the board
to reconsider a couple portions of the test.
A new federal rule will require water utilities across the
country to pull millions of lead drinking water pipes out of
the ground and replace them, at a cost of billions of dollars.
States, cities and water utilities agree that the lead pipes
need to go to ensure safe water for residents. But they say
they may struggle to do so in the 10-year window required under
the rule, and they fear some ratepayers will be hit with
massive cost increases to pay for the work. State officials are
urging Congress to provide ongoing funding for the lead
replacement effort. Local leaders say they’ll need lots of help
to meet the deadline. And environmental advocates are calling
on states to issue bonds or provide other financial support to
water utilities.
These chemicals are in the tap water of the majority of
Americans, and the Trump administration could decide their
fate. No, not fluoride, the cavity-fighter that Robert F.
Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald J. Trump’s health secretary
pick, wants out of public drinking water. Rather, they’re
harmful “forever chemicals,” also known as per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS. For all of Mr. Kennedy’s
talk, and his contentious views on fluoride, larger
battles loom over chemicals in the water we drink. Public
health advocates worry that federal efforts to protect the
public against PFAS and replace lead pipes could unravel under
a Trump presidency.
San Diego’s congressional delegation Tuesday praised President
Joe Biden for including $310 million for the South Bay
International Wastewater Treatment Plant in proposed disaster
relief funding. If passed, the money would add to a previously
awarded $400 million in federal funding to get the plant
running at full capacity and even double its capabilities.
… In May, the local Congressional delegation, including
Vargas and Reps. Scott Peters and Sara Jacobs, both D-San
Diego, and Rep. Mike Levin, D-Dana Point, called on the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to begin an
investigation into pollutants from the ongoing sewage crisis at
the border.
The city of Oceanside has agreed to pay $1.5 million for
illegally discharging almost 2 million gallons of sewage during
what water regulators called a record-breaking storm in 2020
that overwhelmed a sewage lift station and a water reclamation
facility. The city released the sewage into several
creeks, one of which flows into the Buena Vista Lagoon, a
wildlife refuge home to a number of endangered species,
eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean. The spill affected
waters also used for recreational and fishing purposes. The
fine is part of a settlement with the San Diego Regional Water
Quality Control Board. The spill is one of several sewage
system failures brought on by the increasing intensity of
weather events affecting the region more broadly.
EPA is not sufficiently regulating wastewater from plastic
production plants, a new report says. The Environmental
Integrity Project, a nonprofit founded by two former EPA
attorneys, found that many petrochemical plants do not have any
limits in their permits for discharging nitrogen and
phosphorous into waterways. Of the 70 plants
studied, none had limits on total nitrogen in their pollution
control permits. One had a limit on phosphorous pollution.
The public has until Dec. 16 to comment on a proposed
settlement that requires Arkansas-based Denali Water Solutions
LLC of Russellville to pay a $610,000 civil penalty due to
alleged violations of the Clean Water Act. According to a press
release from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the
organic residuals recycling company has agreed to pay the sum
to settle with the federal government over violations that
allegedly occurred in Arizona and California. Among its work,
Denali provides land application services of sewage sludge,
also known as biosolids, derived from wastewater treatment
facilities, according to the EPA.
On Thursday, California’s main coastal protection agency
approved a $175 million climate-related project that will
transform the southern portion of San Francisco’s Ocean Beach
despite fierce opposition from some members of the public. A
sticking point is a massive seawall that some surfers fear
could make the beach disappear. The California Coastal
Commission unanimously approved the city’s Ocean Beach Climate
Change Adaptation Project, which will be funded by the city.
Created by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and
other agencies, the plan includes a 3,200-foot-long buried
seawall designed to protect a sewage tunnel located along the
coast south of Sloat Boulevard. A wastewater treatment plant is
right nearby.
PFAS may be contaminating drinking water for up to 70% of about
140 million people in the US who draw water from the nation’s
aquifers via private or public wells, a new federal government
study estimates. The findings show a potential impact on about
95 million people, or 27% of the nation’s population. The US
Geological Survey sampling and modeling of groundwater
contamination found readings up to 37,000 times higher than the
EPA’s new drinking water limits. In some regions virtually all
of those using public systems that draw from groundwater may be
drinking contaminated water. This is especially a problem for
those who draw from private wells, or small public wells,
because neither is covered by strong new PFAS limits
implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency – those
people represent about 13% of the US population.
Tuolumne Utilities Districts (TUD) receives one of the largest
state grant awards for water system consolidation and will
bring cost savings to the district and customers. A $45.6
million State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) grant/loan
has been awarded to the district to construct a
state-of-the-art 3 million gallons per day (mgd) regional water
treatment facility at Sierra Pines in Twain Harte. The Sierra
Pines Regional Water Treatment Facility (WTF) Consolidation
Project aims to consolidate up to six aging surface water
treatment plants, replacing them with advanced technology to
ensure enhanced reliability and superior water quality for TUD
customers.
Leaders of San Diego County’s second-largest city unanimously
voted Tuesday to declare a local state of emergency due to the
impacts of the Tijuana River sewage crisis reaching Chula
Vista. The resolution is largely symbolic, calling on the White
House, especially with a forthcoming change in administration,
and other top government officials to fast-track more spending
for solutions. Chula Vista officials are directed to “explore
any and all options to improve conditions in the Tijuana
River,” the proclamation reads. The council’s vote marked the
first, official acknowledgment that the rampant pollution was
no longer just affecting the communities closest to the river.
Its effects, such as noxious sewer gas odors, are impacting
people several miles away in Chula Vista.
… Nearly 63% of the US population has fluoridated water
flowing through their taps, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). US health experts
describe fluoridated water — a voluntary practice for local
water districts — as one of modern medicine’s greatest public
health achievements, up there with the recognition that smoking
is bad for you. … An important debate over fluoride is
gaining fresh steam among scientists and legal experts. Some
recent studies suggest more research is still needed on safe
fluoride levels for kids. Plus, a federal ruling in California
this year questioned the US government’s recommended dose.
While many medical professionals — chiefly dentists — support
some level of fluoridation, there is growing agreement
that we still aren’t sure how much fluoride is too much.
Extreme weather spurred by climate change, including droughts
and heavy rains, may increase the risk of nitrates from
fertilizers ending up in groundwater, according to a recent
study from researchers at the University of California, Davis.
The study found heavy rains after a drought caused nitrates to
seep 33 feet under farm fields in as little as 10 days. The
study was published in Water Resources Research.
Related groundwater contamination and water pollution articles:
Chula Vista now joins a growing list of cities in the South Bay
and San Diego County to declare a state of emergency over the
Tijuana River sewage crisis. A resolution brought forward
by Mayor John McCann was unanimously approved by city council.
It comes after McCann joined other mayors from the region to
lobby for more funds in Washington D.C. While millions of
dollars have been secured for improvements and upgrades to a
wastewater treatment plant north of the border, McCann
acknowledged more funding is still needed. “We know the
estimate is probably a billion dollars,” McCann said.
A California food by-product recycler was accused in a new
Clean Water Act lawsuit of discharging polluted stormwater into
the San Joaquin River in violation of its stormwater permit.
Pacific Environmental Advocates LLC’s lawsuit, filed Monday in
the US District Court for the Eastern District of California,
alleges that ReConserve of California – Stockton Inc. has been
dumping the polluted water since March 10, 2019, from the
company’s facility in Stockton, Calif.
The city’s drinking water now meets the trihalomethane levels
set forth by regulatory agencies. The levels for the past four
quarters were below the maximum concentration level of 80 parts
per billion. “This progress follows a series of significant
updates and process improvements at the water treatment
facilities aimed at reducing THM levels and ensuring water
quality for Suisun City residents,” wrote City Manager Bret
Prebula. Trihalomethanes, a byproduct of chlorine disinfection,
can be produced during the pre-chlorination step of the water
treatment process. It’s critical for removing organic materials
and heavy metals.
… Passed as a ballot initiative, the Safe Drinking Water and
Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 has resulted in warnings being
affixed to everything from vinyl-covered Bibles to
gas station pumps, advising that exposure to some 900 chemicals
can cause cancer, birth defects or reproductive harm. Ever
since the passage of Proposition 65, policymakers and
business groups have argued over whether the law is
effective in preventing people from ingesting and inhaling
toxic chemicals, or just providing a payday to plaintiffs
attorneys. Now, a new study published in
Environmental Health Perspectives has concluded that
Proposition 65 has curbed exposure to toxic substances in
California — and nationally. … The researchers analyzed
concentrations of 11 chemicals placed on the Proposition 65
warning list and monitored by the CDC between 1999 and 2016.
They included several types of phthalates, chemicals used to
make plastics flexible; chloroform, a toxic byproduct from
disinfecting water with chlorine; and toluene, a hazardous
substance found in vehicle exhaust.
New groundbreaking research involving the University of Hawaiʻi
at Mānoa is aimed at evaluating potential human health risks
from bacteria in surface water systems in four states. Courtesy
of the University of Hawaiʻi The 3-year study, which recently
received a $2.4 million grant from the Environmental Protection
Agency, will assess the environmental spread of
antimicrobial-resistant pathogens — disease-causing
microorganisms that evolved to withstand the effects of
antibiotics and other medicines designed to kill them — through
wastewater discharge and agricultural runoff. UH-Mānoa
researchers will focus on Kauaʻi’s Hanalei River, where they
will examine how cesspools and animal agriculture contribute to
the spread of antimicrobial resistance. … Waterways in
Nebraska, New Jersey and California join the Hawaiʻi river
system were selected for the study to represent diverse
environmental conditions and pollution sources.
… The estuary at the southern edge of California, which
borders Mexico, has been too polluted with untreated wastewater
and sedimentation spilling over from Tijuana. … But
then, something unexpected happened. They found an opaleye
inside one of the traps. That was an exciting moment for
researchers at the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research
Reserve who have been monitoring the estuary’s health for years
and are part of multi-agency efforts to restore the coastal
wetland. “Opaleyes are more marine fish,” said [Researcher Jeff
Crooks]. “So, this is showing that the species is coming in and
using it as a nursery. ”There’s a connection, he added, between
the small fish’s presence and the Reserve’s new preliminary
findings about alarming dissolved oxygen levels in the water.
Dissolved oxygen is the amount of oxygen present in water. The
higher it is, the better the water quality and the more oxygen
available for fish and other aquatic organisms.
[Scott] Park, his wife, Ulla, their son, Brian, and his wife,
Jamie, operate one of the first farms in California to be
certified as regenerative organic, rotating a variety of crops
on 1,700 acres in the Sacramento Valley with minimal tillage
and no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. Brise Tencer,
executive director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation
… noted that while the term regenerative agriculture means
different things to different people, it typically is used to
describe practices that are climate-friendly, healthy for soils
and protective of biodiversity. Organic agriculture, which has
a clear, legal definition that is verifiable and enforceable,
shares many of the same principles and goals of regenerative
farming, she said. “Organic agriculture is grounded in
principles that collaborate with nature, foster healthy soils
and contribute to clean water, biodiversity
and thriving farm communities,” Tencer said. Also, like
regenerative standards, organic standards require growers to
maintain and improve soil health.
… Denver Water has found nearly 65,000 lead lines in the
city, primarily in homes built before the 1950s. That’s roughly
220 miles of pipe, according to Denver Water officials. The
condition of about 17,000 lines is still unknown. Since
starting the Lead Reduction Program in 2020, the utility has
replaced around half of the lines. They also sent Brita
pitchers and filter replacements to homes that are still
waiting to get their lines replaced. … These replacements
come in the wake of the Flint Water Crisis in Michigan in 2014
when the city changed its water source from Lake Huron to the
Flint River. Pipes corroded and there were no treatment methods
in place. Lead levels were nearly double the lead action level
set by the EPA in most of the homes, while others were in the
hundreds or thousands for parts per billion. It put the dangers
of lead in drinking water in the national spotlight. So why
weren’t Denver’s lines, and others, replaced sooner?
Over in the South Bay, the sewage crisis has been impacting the
community for years on end. We’ve heard complaints about the
smell and the pollution and all the heartache it has caused. To
help alleviate the pain, one local group, Wildcoast, is working
hard to at least stop thousands of pounds of trash from flowing
in. Watch the video in the player at the top of this page to
see how ABC 10News reporter Madison Weil follows through with
those volunteers.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural
Research Service (ARS) recently outlined steps toward
addressing Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
contamination in agricultural soils and waters. In
collaboration with the University of Maine and the Center of
Excellence for Environmental Monitoring and Mitigation, ARS
hosted a three-day workshop with over 150 experts to develop a
research roadmap for handling PFAS, a persistent environmental
contaminant affecting agricultural operations.
Mayor Andrew Lara joined other city leaders in dedicating a new
water treatment facility in Pico Rivera on Monday, calling the
$15 million Groundwater Treatment Project a milestone decades
in the making. “This sends a message to our residents that we
will put their health and well-being first and foremost,” Lara
said. “This underscores Pico Rivera’s obligation to safeguard
water quality for future generations and prioritize our
community’s well-being through strategic investment and
inter-agency collaboration.” The new treatment plant is
part of the city’s 2020 Water Master Plan, launched in response
to state mandates on drinking water. City staff and the City
Council spent years working to safeguard the health of the
community after industrial pollution contaminated many of the
region’s groundwater aquifers, Lara said.
A California landfill has been illegally dumping toxic waste
into the Napa River for years, polluting waters that feed a
valley known around the world for the quality of its vineyards,
according to a federal lawsuit filed by landfill employees.
Fifteen workers from Clover Flat Landfill and Upper Valley
Disposal Service (UVDS) in Napa County, California, allege that
operators of the landfill intentionally diverted what is called
“leachate” – untreated liquid wastewater often containing heavy
metals, nitrates, bacteria and pathogens – into the Napa River
and other area waterways for decades. The actions were done to
“avoid the costs of properly trucking out the toxic leachate”
to facilities designated for safe disposal, the lawsuit
alleges.
A showdown over the reach of environmental reviews under the
National Environmental Policy Act is set for December before
the U.S. Supreme Court. At the center of the showdown is
the 88-mile Uinta Basin Railway, which intends to connect oil
fields in northeastern Utah to the national rail network so
far-flung refineries can access the Uinta Basin’s waxy crude.
The Surface Transportation Board in 2021 approved the railroad
after conducting a two-year, 1,700-page Environmental Impact
Statement review under the National Environmental Policy Act,
or NEPA. The railroad would direct an additional 5
billion gallons of Uinta Basin crude in 2-mile long trains
along tracks along the Colorado River from Grand Junction to
Winter Park and then through metro Denver en route to
refineries on the Gulf Coast. The project has stirred vehement
opposition among environmental groups, politicians and
communities along the railroad, with concerns focused on spills
and wildfires.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom visited the U.S.-Mexico border on
Monday — but not for the reason you’d expect. The border crisis
that drew the Democrat wasn’t immigration, but sewage. For
nearly a century, billions of gallons of sewage have been
pouring into Southern California from Mexico, making coastal
communities near San Diego the victim of a crisis few people
know about. The problems have disrupted daily life around
America’s eighth-largest city, affected military operations and
exposed how generations of politicians in Mexico and the U.S.
have failed to provide sanitation on both sides of the world’s
busiest border.
… As part of a study funded by the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, Bradley Moore, a professor of
marine biology, marine chemistry and geochemistry at Scripps
Oceanography, worked to determine how domoic acid is produced
with the hope of creating a predictive model. Now, a team of
researchers from SIO, La Jolla’s J. Craig Venter
Institute and other organizations appear to have done it.
In September, the group published a study on predicting harmful
algae blooms that contain high levels of domoic acid by
tracking a single gene that serves like a canary in a coal mine
— an early detector of danger. The study provides new insights
into the mechanisms that drive harmful blooms and offers
potential ways to forecast and mitigate their effects.
The U.S. Supreme Court won’t take up an Arizona tribe’s
petition that looks to overturn a ruling that sides with a
state environmental agency’s decision to let a copper mining
company discharge untreated wastewater into a creek that’s
considered sacred to the Indigenous community.
Conservationists and an advocacy group for Native Americans are
suing the U.S. to try to block a Nevada lithium mine they say
will drive an endangered desert wildflower to extinction,
disrupt groundwater flows and threaten cultural resources. The
Center for Biological Diversity promised the court battle a
week ago when the U.S. Interior Department approved Ioneer
Ltd.’s Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron mine at the only place
Tiehm’s buckwheat is known to exist in the world, near the
California line halfway between Reno and Las Vegas. It is the
latest in a series of legal fights over projects President Joe
Biden’s administration is pushing under his clean energy agenda
intended to cut reliance on fossil fuels, in part by increasing
the production of lithium to make electric vehicle batteries
and solar panels.
The Martinez Refining Company has agreed to pay $4.482 million
to settle allegations of federal Clean Water Act violations at
its refinery, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality
Control Board said Thursday. The refinery allegedly discharged
millions of gallons of wastewater from oil refinery processes,
which harmed water quality and threatened aquatic life in
marshes linked to the Carquinez Strait. … The water
board found three cases of unauthorized discharges into nearby
marshes.
After assuring residents here for months that their tap water
is safe to drink despite earlier tests showing high lead
levels, city officials announced Thursday that some of their
earlier assessments were done improperly. The news in Syracuse
— the latest U.S. city grappling with a crisis over
contaminated drinking water — comes after officials first
disclosed in August that samples collected in the spring found
that dozens of homes had dangerous levels of lead exposure. The
city said 10 percent of the homes it surveyed had levels more
than four times the Environmental Protection Agency threshold
that triggers government enforcement, or more than twice what
officials found during the Flint, Michigan, water crisis a
decade ago.
The widespread use of certain chemical or synthetic fire
suppressants may be leading to heavy metal contamination in
wildfire-prone areas, a new study has found. … In an
investigation of a range of these products, published Wednesday
in Environmental Science & Technology Letters, the
researchers found that several contained high levels of at
least one metal, including chromium and cadmium. “Wildfires are
associated with the release of toxic heavy metals to the
environment, but until now, it was assumed that these metals
came from natural sources like soil,” senior author Daniel
McCurry, an assistant professor of civil and environmental
engineering at the University of Southern California, said in a
statement. “We now know that fire retardants may contribute to
these metal releases.”
Through a new type of water treatment technology, officials in
Lake Elsinore have been injecting oxygen into the city’s
historic lake to treat the water and improve the local
ecosystem. In February, Lake Elsinore installed its first
Nanobubble Barge, built and operated by Moleaer Inc. The barge
injects “nanobubbles” into the lake, which helps remove
contaminants like algae toxins, pathogens and other harmful
material. After seeing improvements to the water quality, the
City Council approved the purchase of two more barges,
officials announced.
Tucked in a $10 billion climate bond on the November ballot is
an earmark to improve drinking water quality for communities
such as East Orosi. Proposition 4 would allocate $610 million
for clean, safe, and reliable drinking water and require at
least 40% be spent on projects that benefit vulnerable
populations or disadvantaged communities. But it’s a fraction
of what the state says is needed. While most Californians have
access to safe water, roughly 750,000 people as of late October
are served by 383 failing water systems, many clustered in
remote and sparsely populated areas. A June assessment by the
California State Water Resources Control Board pegged the cost
of repairing failing and at-risk public water systems at about
$11.5 billion.
The Environmental Protection Agency has largely recovered from
many of the staff exits and budget cuts that occurred during
the Trump administration and, in some ways, has swiftly
rebounded. It has banned toxic pesticides, strengthened
chemical safety protections and imposed strong climate
regulations. Enforcement of pollution laws, which had plummeted
under the Trump years, is starting to climb back up. But with
next week’s election looming, the agency charged with
protecting the environment faces more uncertainty than at any
other time since its creation more than 50 years ago.
… The agency … issued the first-ever limits in
drinking water of PFAS, the “forever”
chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems that are
present in the tap water of hundreds of millions of Americans.
Chemical and manufacturing groups have sued, arguing
the E.P.A. exceeded its authority.
Pyramid Lake in northwest Nevada, just over the California
border, took on the appearance of a spooky witch’s brew several
weeks before Halloween, with striking swirls of green that were
visible from space. The colorful bands in the popular
125,000-acre lake, about 35 miles northeast of Reno within the
Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Reservation, came courtesy of
cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae. … Also on
the rise in California in recent years, cyanobacteria can
produce toxins that pose serious health risks to
people and animals — including the thousands of
recreation-goers and their pets who visit Pyramid Lake each
year.
As a Canadian company is working to restart one of Utah’s old
uranium mills, federal officials are considering new steps
toward cleaning up radioactive waste at another — showing the
continuing toll of the last surge of uranium development in the
state. … The BLM announced last week that Rio Algom
Mining has developed a proposal to increase
groundwater monitoring at the former Lisbon
Valley Uranium Mill, and the agency is inviting the public to
comment on the draft environmental impact assessment of the
plan. … As millions of tourists drive through Moab every year
to enjoy its singular redrock landscapes, they can see what
looks like a construction site on the banks of the
Colorado River. A sign identifies it as the
“Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project,” commonly
referred to as “UMTRA.” The site is another remnant of the
historical uranium milling and mining that has poisoned people
and places across the American Southwest.
A series of USGS interactive maps have recently been published.
The maps identify locations and levels of mercury contamination
resulting from historical gold mining California’s Sierra
Nevada. … Many may not know that mercury was used by miners
during the California Gold Rush to extract gold. Using a
process called amalgamation miners would combine mercury with
gold ore to form a gold-mercury amalgam. The mercury was then
removed by heating. After the mercury had evaporated, pure gold
was left behind. However, this method had severe environmental
consequences.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday toured wastewater treatment
facilities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, marking his
first in-person visit to the sites undergoing critical upgrades
to reduce rampant sewage polluting Tijuana and south San Diego
County communities. The California leader started his tour at
the San Ysidro-based South Bay International Wastewater
Treatment Plant, which on Tuesday will begin a yearslong effort
to repair and expand its capacity, which has long been
insufficient for treating Mexico’s sewage. He then traveled to
the San Antonio de los Buenos plant in Baja California, which
also is being overhauled after at least a decade of dumping
millions of gallons of untreated wastewater into the Pacific
Ocean. Years of negligence and underinvestment in wastewater
treatment plants in both countries have resulted in sewage and
toxic chemicals pouring over the border, leaving people ill
with headaches, nausea, respiratory issues and other symptoms.
Nearly 775,000 illegally cultivated cannabis plants across the
state were eradicated in a joint effort by California Attorney
General Rob Bonta’s office and local and federal law
enforcement partners. The enforcement was part of the
Eradication and Prevention of Illicit Cannabis program (EPIC),
Bonta announced this month. … The teams recovered 201
weapons, and removed infrastructure, including dams, water
lines, and containers of toxic chemicals, such as carbofuran,
methyl parathion, aluminum phosphate, zinc phosphide, and
illegal fertilizers, state officials reported. Carbofuran,
in particular, poses untold risks to public health, state
officials said. A lethal insecticide that is banned in the
United States, carbofuran remains on plants after application
and seeps into soil and nearby water sources.
… Kettleman City’s location at the junction of Highway 41 and
Interstate 5 — the country’s busiest interstate — brings high
pollution levels. Contaminated water is still a problem for the
community despite some improvements in recent years. At the
same time, hundreds of thousands of acres of agricultural
fields have created extreme levels of pesticide pollution.
There’s even a human waste compost facility and multiple
shipping facilities, like FedEx and UPS. … There have
also been vital victories for residents. Since 2017, community
advocates have secured improved air and water monitoring
supported by state grants. In 2018, the town’s campaign against
diesel emissions saw the state help with educational efforts
and “No Diesel Idling.” The biggest victory coming out of the
civil rights agreement was convincing the state to replace the
town’s aging and unreliable water treatment system and water
source.
Demolishing the Phillips 66 Santa Maria Refinery will have only
one “significant and unavoidable” environmental impact,
according to the final environmental impact report for the
project. … The draft environmental impact report
analyzed how demolishing the oil refinery and remediating the
soil would effect the environment surrounding it. On Thursday,
the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission voted
unanimously to certify the report and approve a coastal
development permit for the demolition and remediation project.
… The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board
will set standards for and oversee the remediation efforts. The
soil will be cleaned up to an industrial land use standard,
while the water must be cleaned to “background level,” which is
the state of the water before contamination occurred, county
project manager Susan Strachan said.
Keyes Community Services District general manager Ernie Garza
wants the people of Keyes to know that they don’t have to be
“afraid of the faucet.” Earlier this month, construction began
on a long-awaited water filtration project in Keyes that will
eliminate the chemical called 1,2,3-trichloropropane from being
a threat to the town’s drinking water system. In 1992, 123
TCP was added to the list of chemicals known to the state
to cause cancer, pursuant to California’s Safe
Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act. It has been used as
a cleaning and degreasing solvent and also is associated
with pesticide products, according to the State Water Resources
Control Board.
Flooding has become a common occurrence in the East Houston
neighborhood where ecologist Jessica Díaz Vázquez grew up. When
the water rises, she and other residents of this predominantly
Latinx community wonder whether pollutants from nearby
petrochemical plants are coming with it. “You don’t want to go
near [the water] because you really just don’t know what could
be in it,” said Vázquez, who is now a fellow at NOAA. Hers
isn’t the only community wondering what’s in its water.
According to a new study published in Frontiers in Ecology and
the Environment, lakes in communities where more than a quarter
of residents are Hispanic or people of color are 3 times less
likely to have been monitored for water quality than lakes in
predominantly white, non-Hispanic areas of the United States.
… ABC10 meteorologist Rob Carlmark took a trip to Southern
California’s largest natural lake, Lake Elsinore. This lake is
facing the same scenario, but the leaders of the community
surrounding the lake are taking the next step. They put forth
real action and are getting results. … It’s the largest
natural freshwater lake in Southern California. It is fairly
shallow but six miles long and the surface area is nearly 3,000
acres. … When the lake turned green with toxic
cyanobacteria algae in 2022, the town was heavily impacted.
They’ve had numerous periods of the water turning green, but
the outbreak prompted a six-month closure. Residents demanded
Lake Elsinore’s mayor and city council address the issue.
San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer is teaming up
with several local officials in an attempt to get the
Environmental Protection Agency to take action against the
sewage crisis in the South Bay. On Thursday morning in
Coronado, Lawson-Remer is slated to speak alongside those
officials and some South Bay residents, submitting a petition
to the EPA to designate parts of the Tijuana River Valley as a
“superfund site.” A superfund site is part of a 1980 law
that the EPA can use to free up federal funding to clean up
hazardous waste sites around the country. Those sites are meant
to target toxic waste, not raw sewage — which normally falls
under the Clean Water Act. But Lawson-Remer wants the EPA to
designate a six-mile stretch of the Lower Tijuana River Valley
as a superfund site after decades of exposure to toxic
chemicals, heavy metals, and pesticides.
… For the first paper, published in June in the journal
Energy & Environmental Science, William Tarpeh and his
co-authors – including first author Dean Miller, a Stanford PhD
candidate in chemical engineering – used wastewater from a Palo
Alto treatment plant to test a process for converting nitrate
into ammonia. For the second paper, published in October in the
same journal, Tarpeh’s team tested another process that
produces high-purity ammonia from agricultural runoff.
… Tarpeh and his colleagues created an
“electrocatalyst-in-a-box” – an electrically driven process
that both extracts nitrate from wastewater and converts that
nitrate into ammonia. For the second paper, Tarpeh’s team used
a two-step process of electrodialysis and nitrate reduction to
take nitrate and ammonia from wastewater and convert them
together into high-purity ammonia. They successfully
concentrated ammonia about 12 times compared to the nitrate and
ammonia in the original wastewater, Tarpeh said.
Approximately 71 to 95 million people in the Lower 48 states –
more than 20% of the country’s population – may rely on
groundwater that contains detectable concentrations of per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, for their
drinking water supplies. These findings are according to
a U.S Geological Survey study published Oct. 24. The
predictive model results can help members of the public, water
suppliers and regulators understand the potential for PFAS
contamination, guide future studies and inform strategic
planning for water resources. USGS scientists are the
first to report national estimates of PFAS occurrence in
untreated groundwater that supplies water to public and private
wells. This research also provides the first estimate of the
number of people across the country who are potentially
affected by PFAS-contaminated groundwater.
Imperial County’s much-lauded Lithium Valley in California’s
southeast corner has been bypassed for a second time by federal
officials for critically needed funding, a key state official
said on Wednesday. Noemi Gallardo, a member of the California
Energy Commission who oversees reviews of proposed geothermal
projects tied to lithium production, told The Desert Sun/USA
Today Network that she was concerned that the U.S. Department
of Energy had for a second time not selected any company
seeking to produce lithium in California to receive a portion
of $3 billion allocated by the Biden administration. Instead,
25 projects in 14 other states were chosen, for a total $600
million per year through 2026. … Jared Naimark, California
mining organizer with the environmental group Earthworks, said
he thought her remarks might have been directed at his group
and Comite Civico over their lawsuit challenging
county approvals of Controlled Thermal Resources’ Hells Kitchen
geothermal and lithium project. The litigation
questions water supply, air pollution and earthquake risk
assessments.
… The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will vote
next month on whether to lock in the subsidies, which the
Golden State has for years been offering to industrial dairies
for installing technology that deploys bacteria to break down
animal waste and then repurposes it as “renewable natural
gas.” California officials argue these anaerobic digesters
are environmentally beneficial because they capture methane, a
gas produced by dairy cows that is about 28 times more potent
than carbon dioxide. But environmental groups and some
residents of California’s Central Valley contend the
technology also generates dangerous byproducts and encourages
the propagation of polluting factory farms in vulnerable
communities. … Water and air pollution
linked to CAFOs, the authors warned, is
disproportionately impacting low-income populations and
communities of color. In Tulare County, they added, about 67
percent of residents are Hispanic/Latinx and 18.2 percent are
living in poverty.
Oakland Unified School District began this school year with
some unsettling news: the drinking water in the district’s
schools had tested positive for dangerously high levels of
lead. The district had found high levels of lead in the water
during tests conducted over spring and summer, but it didn’t
share those results with parents and staff until this August.
Lead testing hasn’t been required in California schools for the
last five years. That means Oakland Unified is unusual among
California school districts in that it knows that there’s a
lead problem at all.
Lake Tahoe — the largest freshwater alpine lake in
North America — is world-famous for its clear blue water, but
the lake faces a multitude of threats requiring constant care
and vigilance to keep it that way. “We’re more than a bumper
sticker,” said Laura Patten, the Natural Resource Director at
the League to Save Lake Tahoe, better known as Keep Tahoe Blue.
“We really rely on the science to figure out what is happening
in the lake.” Patten and other scientists studying Lake Tahoe
say climate change and recreation pose the biggest threats to
the lake in the 21st century. Longer and hotter periods of
heat, more extreme fire seasons, and erratic precipitation
patterns in the winter all play a part in Tahoe’s water
quality. … It’s important to understand Tahoe’s crystal
“blue” water is actually clear. The clear water reflects the
blue sky and absorbs red light, making the water appear
brilliant hues of blue. The clearer the water — or the better
the water’s quality — the bluer the lake.
Long term exposure to arsenic in water may increase
cardiovascular disease and especially heart disease risk even
at exposure levels below the federal regulatory limit (10µg/L)
according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School
of Public Health. This is the first study to describe
exposure-response relationships at concentrations below the
current regulatory limit and substantiates that prolonged
exposure to arsenic in water contributes to the development of
ischemic heart disease. The researchers compared various time
windows of exposure, finding that the previous decade of water
arsenic exposure up to the time of a cardiovascular disease
event contributed the greatest risk. The findings are published
in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
San Diego County leaders are weighing whether to take legal
action aimed at holding the company managing a federal
wastewater plant along the U.S. border accountable for
pollution. The County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously
Tuesday to “explore litigation options” against Veolia, the
French transnational company managing the federal wastewater
plant on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico. The
options on the table are to start their own case against Veolia
for failing to curb Tijuana River pollution, or join one of the
other lawsuits already filed this year against the company on
behalf of Imperial Beach residents. Supervisor Terra
Lawson-Remer also said they may consider taking action against
other responsible parties, including Mexico.
Legislative momentum against PFAS has surged this year, as at
least 11 states enacted laws to restrict the use of “forever
chemicals” in everyday consumer products or professional
firefighting foam. … Earlier this year, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency released new standards limiting
PFAS in drinking water. Water systems have five years to comply
with the rules. Even before the EPA action, 11
states had set their own limits on PFAS in drinking water,
starting with New Jersey in 2018.
… California’s latest PFAS measure, which
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed last month, specifically
bans the use of PFAS in menstrual products. Democratic
Assemblymember Diane Papan, the author of the bill, said it was
particularly strong because it covers both intentional and
unintentional uses of PFAS, so “manufacturers will have to
really be careful about what comes in their supply chain.”
A plan to close Napa Valley’s controversial Clover Flat
Landfill and move waste to the Potrero Hills Landfill in
Suisun City is moving forward. A Waste Connections
representative confirmed Monday at a special Upper Valley Waste
Management Agency meeting that the company will submit a
closure plan to Napa County’s Local Enforcement Agency and
state officials in early 2025. It marked the first time the
closure had been discussed publicly. … Waste
Connections, one of the nation’s largest waste companies, took
over the site from the local Pestoni family, which had owned
and operated the landfill for decades, in 2023, along with
another Napa Valley facility, Upper Valley Disposal Service on
Whitehall Lane. But problems have persisted. That includes
water sampling by regulators in early 2023, which found the
same contaminants in a downstream creek as
those identified at the landfill.
California’s waterways are about to get a helping hand from an
unexpected ally: the North American beaver. With the recent
passing of Assembly Bill (AB) 2196, authored by Assemblymember
Damon Connolly and supported by CalTrout, a comprehensive
program for beaver restoration throughout California’s
watersheds is set to begin. This innovative approach leverages
nature-based solutions to promote fish and freshwater
resilience, offering a beacon of hope for our aquatic
ecosystems. … While beavers are admired for their sweet
and adorable charm, they are powerful ecosystem engineers whose
work is vital for maintaining healthy watersheds. Their
dam-building activities create complex aquatic habitats,
improve water quality, and increase biodiversity. By
reintroducing beavers to their native historical range, we’re
not just bringing back a lovable species – we’re deploying
nature’s own environmental restoration experts.
Two cancer-causing components have been found in Sebastopol’s
aging water wells, raising red flags among city council
leadership, especially as the city lacks funding to fix its
infrastructure. Specifically, traces of arsenic were detected
in three of the city’s wells, according to a recently released
city report. Tetrachloroethylene, commonly known as PCE, has
been detected in one of those three wells, too. But the levels
of both arsenic and PCE in the city’s drinking water remain
under thresholds deemed dangerous by state and federal
regulators, city officials say. That’s because filtering or
treatment systems have been installed to remove the bulk of the
contaminants, and water from the wells is blended to reduce
them even more.
Dissatisfaction is rising about development restrictions along
San Geronimo Creek that were approved by county supervisors in
2022. The county Planning Commission is set to hear an appeal
on Monday from a San Geronimo Valley property owner who has
been ordered to move or demolish several accessory structures
that were built without permits within a restricted area close
to the creek. “This is the first test case that highlights some
of the challenges with the ordinance and how we may need to
work with it and make some allowances for existing developments
to remain,” said Breeze Kinsey, who operates CivicNet, a
planning consultancy, together with his father, former Marin
County supervisor Steve Kinsey. The regulations also might have
played a role in a failed effort by the Two Valleys Community
Land Trust to create five affordable dwellings at 6956 Sir
Francis Drake Ave. in Forest Knolls.
The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board said
Friday that “significant amounts of contamination” exist on the
650 acres that make up Phillips 66 refinery sites in Wilmington
and Carson, and that it will probably take “years to clean up”
the soil and groundwater. Phillips 66 announced Wednesday, Oct.
16 that it would close the refineries connected by 5 miles of
pipeline by the end of 2025. The Houston-based energy giant
also hired a pair of real estate firms to develop potential
uses for the land. “There is a large amount of pollution in
soil and groundwater at the Carson and Wilmington facilities,”
a spokeswoman for the LA Water Board said via email. “However,
there is ongoing soil vapor and groundwater clean-up and
significant amounts of contamination are presently being
removed at both facilities.” The agency, in a roundabout
manner, said the site cleanup would be monitored carefully.
Days after the administrator of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency visited a Los Angeles public housing project
with lead-contaminated water, the agency ordered drinking water
systems nationwide to replace every lead pipe within 10 years.
… But in Los Angeles — where the discovery of contaminated
water in public housing in Watts has shocked officials — the
EPA mandate is unlikely to result in immediate change.
When [EPA Director Michael Regan] joined Mayor Karen Bass
on a visit to the 700-unit Jordan Downs complex this
month, he suggested the brain-damaging element could be from
household plumbing — a critical risk in older homes. It’s a
possibility that highlights the difficulty of eliminating the
threat of lead in California drinking water. Although the
new EPA rule targets lead service lines connecting homes to
water mains, it doesn’t address plumbing inside the building
that can still pose a risk, such as lead soldering, brass
fixtures and interior mains.
A deeply polarized Supreme Court heard arguments October 16
involving San Francisco’s challenge to the EPA’s water
pollution standards. Under the Clean Water Act, San Francisco
must have a permit to ensure that its discharge of untreated
sewage into local waterways does not hurt water quality or
people’s health. The city claims, however, that the EPA’s
generic prohibitions impose unclear requirements that fail to
tell permit holders how to control sewage discharges. … Among
the trade groups backing San Francisco are those
representing companies in extraction industries, like mining
and oil drilling, and others that can produce waste that needs
to be discharged, like farming. Representing the Biden
administration, Assistant Solicitor General Frederick Liu
pushed back on that argument. “To be honest, these standards
are much more specific than a general tort regime,” Liu said.
He added that San Francisco’s problems were of its own making
in asserting that the city had not provided information about
its own sewer system to the EPA for the last 10 years despite
requests from the agency.
Families in the South Bay are being asked to share their
concerns regarding sewage pollution along the Tijuana River
Valley for a health assessment being conducted by the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC arrived to the
region Thursday to begin the assessment intended to gather
information about the needs arising due to concerns about toxic
air pollution in the South Bay stemming from sewage overflow in
the Tijuana River Valley. Over the last few weeks, more than
6,000 homes were expected to receive flyers informing them of
the Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response,
or CASPER, Volunteers wearing reflective vests will begin
distributing the flyers door-to-door on Oct. 3.
At the state and local level, ballot measures give voters an
opportunity to influence policy and spending decisions. Several
of those measures relate to water. There are fewer big-dollar
measures in 2024 compared to past years. But many smaller
considerations dot ballots from New Mexico and Minnesota to
Colorado and California. Water infrastructure
spending is a typical ballot question, and one that voters
generally endorse. Three states and a handful of towns and
counties will ask voters to approve funding measures for land
conservation, water quality protection, and climate resilience.
The biggest outlay would be in California, which has a $10
billion water and climate bond on the ballot.
Residents of Imperial Beach in southern San Diego County filed
a lawsuit Tuesday against the operators of an international
wastewater treatment plant — alleging that the site has failed
to contain a cross-border crisis that has long contaminated
their community. The plaintiffs said they are seeking to hold
the plant’s managers accountable for severe environmental and
public health effects that have resulted from an influx of
untreated sewage, heavy metals and other toxic chemicals.
Imperial Beach, which sits just a few miles north of the
U.S.-Mexico border, has long been the recipient of untreated
wastewater that comes from the Tijuana metropolitan region and
ends up on the beaches of San Diego County.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared to side with the City
of San Francisco in its unusual challenge of federal water
regulations that it said were too vague and could be
interpreted too strictly. The outcome could have sweeping
implications for curtailing water pollution offshore and would
deal another blow to the Environmental Protection Agency, which
has faced a string of losses at the court over its efforts to
protect the environment. The case has given rise to unusual
alliances, with the city joining oil companies and business
groups in siding against the E.P.A. In arguments on Wednesday,
it was the conservative justices who seemed the most aligned
with a city best known as a liberal bastion. At its core, the
case is about human waste and how San Francisco disposes of it
— specifically, whether the Clean Water Act of 1972 allowed the
E.P.A. to impose generic prohibitions on wastewater released
into the Pacific Ocean and to penalize the city.
Decades of neglect by a French company operating a federally
funded wastewater treatment plant on the U.S.-Mexico border has
led to billions of gallons of sewage and toxic chemicals in the
Tijuana River, according to nearby residents who in a lawsuit
decried the serious ecological and human health devastation.
The plant is supposed to treat wastewater from Tijuana and then
dump it into the Pacific Ocean at Imperial Beach, California.
But according to the residents, [Veolia Water West Operating
Services has by virtue of ] misconduct, reckless behavior and
negligence — including not investing in or maintaining the
sewage plant’s infrastructure — discharged fecal bacteria,
heavy metals and chemicals banned in the U.S. like DDT,
benzidine, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the
Tijuana River.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case on Oct. 16 that
environmentalists say could weaken the Clean Water Act.
Surprisingly, it originates from what many consider one of the
greenest cities in the nation: San Francisco. In City and
County of San Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency, San
Francisco is suing the EPA over what it calls unclear
restrictions on the quantity of untreated sewage that can be
released into local waterways. San Francisco has argued that it
cannot control the water quality in the ocean or the Bay and
that being held accountable for it leaves the city vulnerable
to unpredictable fines. The city and county are requesting the
Supreme Court uphold the Clean Water Act, the 1972 law that
governs water pollution, and ensure the EPA issues permits with
clear instructions to prevent water pollution.
… As school districts look to resurface their athletic fields
and cities consider how to update public parks, local leaders
must decide what kind of play surface to install. And, the two
options — natural grass or artificial turf — are sharply
dividing Bay Area residents. Turf, which is made from thousands
of synthetic fibers and crumb plastic infills, is quickly
becoming America’s go-to field material for its ability to
provide a smoother, year-round surface at a lower maintenance
cost than grass. … However, there is strong resistance to the
material too, from those who point out that turf infills
contain PFAS or “forever chemicals,” which
break down slowly and can cause serious environmental harm and
adverse health effects, including cancer.
Following last week’s vote by the San Diego County Board of
Supervisors to delay any formal decision on pursuing a
Superfund designation for the Tijuana River Valley, Supervisor
Terra Lawson-Remer Monday decided to get public support.
Lawson-Remer put out a call on Monday for San Diego County
residents impacted by the Tijuana River sewage crisis to sign
her petition to the Environmental Protection Agency. “The
Tijuana River sewage crisis affects all of our coastal
neighborhoods,” she said. … The board voted 3-2 on Oct.
9 to wait on pursuing the Superfund distinction under the 1980
law which lets the EPA clean up contaminated areas, such as the
infamous Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York.
Work is moving forward on a project to restore native habitat
and implement a series of water quality treatment projects to
redesign the path of stormwater to Middle Struve
Slough. … Much of the run-off from the roadways,
neighborhoods, commercial and industrial areas in Watsonville
flows untreated to the Watsonville wetlands and out to the
Monterey Bay … As a result, the City’s sloughs, once drained
for farming, and now surrounded by development has impaired
water quality, affecting birds, wildlife, and trail and beach
users. … When completed, the Middle Struve Slough Habitat and
Water Quality Improvement Project … will include treatment
wetlands and sediment catchment basins that intercept
stormwater before it flows to the wetlands, a series of ponds
designed to improve habitat for birds, western pond turtles,
and other wetland wildlife, and restored native plants
throughout the area.
Two federal buildings in downtown San Diego that house
courthouses and a daycare recently tested positive for the
Legionella bacteria. The bacteria, which lives in water
droplets and commonly grows in cooling towers, can cause
Legionnaires’ disease, a serious type of pneumonia the CDC says
will kill about one in 10. Team 10 has learned Legionella
was found in 13 out of 15 samples taken at the James M. Carter
and Judith N. Keep U.S. Courthouse. Next door in the Edward J.
Schwartz Federal Building and United States Courthouse, 24 out
of 46 samples were positive for Legionella, Christi Chidester
Votisek, a spokesperson for the U.S. General Services
Administration, said.
Long Beach utility officials have lifted a warning residents in
California Heights, Bixby Knolls, Los Cerritos and most of
north Long Beach to avoid drinking or cooking with tap water
after a water main burst late Wednesday. Residents were updated
in an alert that went out about 3:30 a.m. Friday. Long
Beach Mayor Rex Richardson said the city put specialized
water monitoring in place out of an abundance of caution.
As they waited for testing to come back, city officials said
they distributed bottled water to affected residents. The alert
that went out early Friday said city officials had tested
117 water samples from the area and “concluded the water
is safe to drink.”
The U.S. Supreme Court will test how flexible the EPA and
states can be in regulating water pollution under the Clean
Water Act when it hears oral argument in City and County of San
Francisco v. Environmental Protection Agency on Oct. 16, 2024.
This case asks the court to decide whether federal regulators
can issue permits that are effectively broad orders not to
violate water quality standards, or instead may only specify
the concentrations of individual pollutants that permit holders
can release into water bodies. My research focuses on water
issues, including the Clean Water Act. This case involves both
federal and state authority to issuing permits, and it will be
interesting to see where the court focuses. While justices have
been willing to limit the EPA’s authority under the act, they
traditionally have allowed states broad authority to protect
water quality. Thus, while some fear that this case is yet
another occasion for the court to limit the EPA’s authority,
California’s involvement may have exactly the opposite effect.
Explore the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs is the focus of this tour.
Hilton Garden Inn Las Vegas Strip South
7830 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89123
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.
Learn the history and challenges facing the West’s most dramatic
and developed river.
The Layperson’s Guide to the Colorado River Basin introduces the
1,450-mile river that sustains 40 million people and millions of
acres of farmland spanning seven states and parts of northern
Mexico.
The 28-page primer explains how the river’s water is shared and
managed as the Southwest transitions to a hotter and drier
climate.
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.
This tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
Hilton Garden Inn Las Vegas Strip South
7830 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89123
This special Foundation water tour journeyed along the Eastern Sierra from the Truckee River to Mono Lake, through the Owens Valley and into the Mojave Desert to explore a major source of water for Southern California, this year’s snowpack and challenges for towns, farms and the environment.
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.”
This tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
Hyatt Place Las Vegas At Silverton Village
8380 Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89139
The lower Colorado River has virtually every drop allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
Hyatt Place Las Vegas At Silverton Village
8380 Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89139
On average, more than 60 percent of
California’s developed water supply originates in the Sierra
Nevada and the southern spur of the Cascade Range. Our water
supply is largely dependent on the health of our Sierra forests,
which are suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought,
wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
This tour ventured into the Sierra to examine water issues
that happen upstream but have dramatic impacts downstream and
throughout the state.
Radically transformed from its ancient origin as a vast tidal-influenced freshwater marsh, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem is in constant flux, influenced by factors within the estuary itself and the massive watersheds that drain though it into the Pacific Ocean.
Lately, however, scientists say the rate of change has kicked into overdrive, fueled in part by climate change, and is limiting the ability of science and Delta water managers to keep up. The rapid pace of upheaval demands a new way of conducting science and managing water in the troubled estuary.
Out of sight and out of mind to most
people, the Salton Sea in California’s far southeast corner has
challenged policymakers and local agencies alike to save the
desert lake from becoming a fetid, hyper-saline water body
inhospitable to wildlife and surrounded by clouds of choking
dust.
The sea’s problems stretch beyond its boundaries in Imperial and
Riverside counties and threaten to undermine multistate
management of the Colorado River. A 2019 Drought Contingency Plan for the
Lower Colorado River Basin was briefly stalled when the Imperial
Irrigation District, holding the river’s largest water
allocation, balked at participating in the plan because, the
district said, it ignored the problems of the Salton Sea.
Voluntary agreements in California
have been touted as an innovative and flexible way to improve
environmental conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
and the rivers that feed it. The goal is to provide river flows
and habitat for fish while still allowing enough water to be
diverted for farms and cities in a way that satisfies state
regulators.
This event explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
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.
The majestic beauty of the Sierra
Nevada forest is awe-inspiring, but beneath the dazzling blue
sky, there is a problem: A century of fire suppression and
logging practices have left trees too close together. Millions of
trees have died, stricken by drought and beetle infestation.
Combined with a forest floor cluttered with dry brush and debris,
it’s a wildfire waiting to happen.
Fires devastate the Sierra watersheds upon which millions of
Californians depend — scorching the ground, unleashing a
battering ram of debris and turning hillsides into gelatinous,
stream-choking mudflows.
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.
This tour explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs is the focus of this tour.
Silverton Hotel
3333 Blue Diamond Road
Las Vegas, NV 89139
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.
The growing leadership of women in water. The Colorado River’s persistent drought and efforts to sign off on a plan to avert worse shortfalls of water from the river. And in California’s Central Valley, promising solutions to vexing water resource challenges.
These were among the topics that Western Water news explored in 2018.
We’re already planning a full slate of stories for 2019. You can sign up here to be alerted when new stories are published. In the meantime, take a look at what we dove into in 2018:
Disadvantaged communities are those carrying the greatest
economic, health and environmental burdens. They include
poverty, high unemployment, higher risk of asthma and heart
disease, and often limited access to clean, affordable drinking
water.
Sixty percent of California’s developed water supply
originates high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our water
supply is largely dependent on the health of our Sierra forests,
which are suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought,
wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
We headed into the foothills and the mountains to examine
water issues that happen upstream but have dramatic impacts
downstream and throughout the state.
GEI (Tour Starting Point)
2868 Prospect Park Dr.
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670.
For decades, cannabis has been grown
in California – hidden away in forested groves or surreptitiously
harvested under the glare of high-intensity indoor lamps in
suburban tract homes.
In the past 20 years, however, cannabis — known more widely as
marijuana – has been moving from being a criminal activity to
gaining legitimacy as one of the hundreds of cash crops in the
state’s $46 billion-dollar agriculture industry, first legalized
for medicinal purposes and this year for recreational use.
As we continue forging ahead in 2018
with our online version of Western Water after 40 years
as a print magazine, we turned our attention to a topic that also
got its start this year: recreational marijuana as a legal use.
State regulators, in the last few years, already had been beefing
up their workforce to tackle the glut in marijuana crops and
combat their impacts to water quality and supply for people, fish
and farming downstream. Thus, even if these impacts were perhaps
unbeknownst to the majority of Californians who approved
Proposition 64 in 2016, we thought it important to see if
anything new had evolved from a water perspective now that
marijuana was legal.
We explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop
of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad
sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and
climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in
the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin
states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this
water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial
needs was the focus of this tour.
Hampton Inn Tropicana
4975 Dean Martin Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89118
California voters may experience a sense of déjà vu this year when they are asked twice in the same year to consider water bonds — one in June, the other headed to the November ballot.
Both tackle a variety of water issues, from helping disadvantaged communities get clean drinking water to making flood management improvements. But they avoid more controversial proposals, such as new surface storage, and they propose to do some very different things to appeal to different constituencies.
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.
Sixty percent of California’s developed water supply
originates high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our water
supply is largely dependent on the health of our Sierra forests,
which are suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought,
wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
This three-day, two-night tour explored the lower Colorado River
where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand
is growing from myriad sources — increasing population,
declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in
the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin
states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this
water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial
needs is the focus of this tour.
Best Western McCarran Inn
4970 Paradise Road
Las Vegas, NV 89119
Algal blooms are sudden overgrowths
of algae. Their occurrence is increasing in California’s
rivers, creeks and lakes and along the coast, threatening the
lives of people, pets and fisheries.
Only a few types of algae can produce poisons, but even nontoxic
blooms hurt the environment and local economies. When masses
of algae die, the decaying can deplete oxygen in the water to the
point of causing devastating fish kills.
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.
Point sources release pollutants from discrete conveyances, such
as a discharge pipe, and are regulated by federal and state
agencies. The main point source dischargers are factories and
sewage treatment plants, which release treated
wastewater.
This 28-page report describes the watersheds of the Sierra Nevada
region and details their importance to California’s overall water
picture. It describes the region’s issues and challenges,
including healthy forests, catastrophic fire, recreational
impacts, climate change, development and land use.
The report also discusses the importance of protecting and
restoring watersheds in order to retain water quality and enhance
quantity. Examples and case studies are included.
Problems with polluted stormwater and steps that can be taken to
prevent such pollution and turn what is often viewed as
“nuisance” runoff into a water resource is the focus of this
publication, Stormwater Management: Turning Runoff into a
Resource. The 16-page booklet, funded by a grant from the State
Water Resources Control Board, includes color photos and
graphics, text explaining common stormwater pollutants and
efforts to prevent stormwater runoff through land use/
planning/development – as well as tips for homeowners to reduce
their impacts on stormwater pollution.
A 20-minute version of the 2008 public television documentary
Salt of the Earth: Salinity in California’s Central Valley. This
DVD is ideal for showing at community forums and speaking
engagements to help the public understand the complex issues
surrounding the problem of salt build up in the Central Valley
potential – but costly – solutions. Narrated by comedian Paul
Rodriquez.
California’s little-known New River has been called one of North
America’s most polluted. A closer look reveals the New River is
full of ironic twists: its pollution has long defied cleanup, yet
even in its degraded condition, the river is important to the
border economies of Mexicali and the Imperial Valley and a
lifeline that helps sustain the fragile Salton Sea ecosystem.
Now, after decades of inertia on its pollution problems, the New
River has emerged as an important test of binational cooperation
on border water issues. These issues were profiled in the 2004
PBS documentary Two Sides of a River.
A watershed is the land area that drains snowmelt and rain into a
network of lakes, streams, rivers and other waterways. It
typically is identified by the largest draining watercourse
within the system. In California, for example, the Sacramento River Basin is the
state’s largest watershed.
As part of the historic Colorado
River Delta, the Salton Sea regularly filled and dried for
thousands of years due to its elevation of 237 feet below
sea level.
The most recent version of the Salton Sea was formed in 1905 when
the Colorado River broke
through a series of dikes and flooded the seabed for two years,
creating California’s largest inland body of water. The
Salton Sea, which is saltier than the Pacific Ocean, includes 130
miles of shoreline and is larger than Lake Tahoe.
Lake Tahoe is one of the world’s most beautiful yet vulnerable
lakes. Renowned for its remarkable clarity, Tahoe straddles the
Nevada-California border, stretching 22 miles long and 12 miles
wide in a granitic bowl high in the Sierra Nevada.
Tahoe sits 6,225 feet above sea level. Its deepest point is 1,645
feet, making it the second-deepest lake in the nation, after
Oregon’s Crater Lake, and the tenth deepest in the world.
The continued effort to improve water quality and reduce nonpoint
source pollution will hinge largely on a little-known pollution
control strategy known as total maximum daily loads (TMDLs),
which describe the amount of a particular pollutant that a water
body can absorb on a daily basis while remaining safe for
wildlife and people. While by no means a comprehensive
explanation of all the factors surrounding this complex subject,
this issue of Western Water provides a snapshot of TMDLs and what
they mean for water quality, supply and reliability.
2002 marks the 30th anniversary of one of the most significant
environmental laws in American history, the Clean Water Act
(CWA). The CWA has had remarkable success, reversing years of
neglect and outright abuse of the nation’s waters. But challenges
remain as attention turns to the thorny issue of cleaning up
nonpoint sources of pollution.
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.
This issue of Western Water examines the presence of mercury in
the environment and the challenge of limiting the threat posed to
human health and wildlife. In addition to outlining the extent of
the problem and its resistance to conventional pollution
remedies, the article presents a glimpse of some possible courses
of action for what promises to be a long-term problem.
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 challenges facing state,
federal and tribal officials and other stakeholders as they work
to manage terminal lakes. It includes background information on
the formation of these lakes, and overviews of the water quality,
habitat and political issues surrounding these distinctive bodies
of water. Much of the information in this article originated at
the September 2004 StateManagement Issues at Terminal Water
Bodies/Closed Basins conference.
This issue of Western Water examines that process. Much
of the information is drawn from discussions that occurred at the
November 2005 Selenium Summit sponsored by the Foundation and the
California Department of Water Resources. At that summit, a
variety of experts presented findings and the latest activities
from areas where selenium is of primary interest.
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 Western Water looks at proposed new measures to deal with
the century-old problem of salinity with a special focus on San
Joaquin Valley farms and cities.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the Russian and
Santa Ana rivers – areas with ongoing issues not dissimilar to
the rest of the state – managing supplies within a lingering
drought, improving water quality and revitalizing and restoring
the vestiges of the native past.
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 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
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 discusses low
impact development and stormwater capture – two areas of emerging
interest that are viewed as important components of California’s
future water supply and management scenario.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the issues
associated with the State Water Board’s proposed revision of the
water quality Bay-Delta Plan, most notably the question of
whether additional flows are needed for the system, and how they
might be provided.
This printed issue of Western Water looks at hydraulic
fracturing, or “fracking,” in California. Much of the information
in the article was presented at a conference hosted by the
Groundwater Resources Association of California.
This printed issue of Western Water features a
roundtable discussion with Anthony Saracino, a water resources
consultant; Martha Davis, executive manager of policy development
with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and senior policy advisor
to the Delta Stewardship Council; Stuart Leavenworth, editorial
page editor of The Sacramento Bee and Ellen Hanak, co-director of
research and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of
California.
This issue of Western Water looks at the BDCP and the
Coalition to Support Delta Projects, issues that are aimed at
improving the health and safety of the Delta while solidifying
California’s long-term water supply reliability.
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.
This 30-minute documentary, produced in 2011, explores the past,
present and future of flood management in California’s Central
Valley. It features stories from residents who have experienced
the devastating effects of a California flood firsthand.
Interviews with long-time Central Valley water experts from
California Department of Water Resources (FloodSAFE), U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, Central Valley Flood
Management Program and environmental groups are featured as they
discuss current efforts to improve the state’s 150-year old flood
protection system and develop a sustainable, integrated, holistic
flood management plan for the Central Valley.
20-minute version of the 2012 documentary The Klamath Basin: A
Restoration for the Ages. This DVD is ideal for showing at
community forums and speaking engagements to help the public
understand the complex issues related to complex water management
disputes in the Klamath River Basin. Narrated by actress Frances
Fisher.
For over a century, the Klamath River Basin along the Oregon and
California border has faced complex water management disputes. As
relayed in this 2012, 60-minute public television documentary
narrated by actress Frances Fisher, the water interests range
from the Tribes near the river, to energy producer PacifiCorp,
farmers, municipalities, commercial fishermen, environmentalists
– all bearing legitimate arguments for how to manage the water.
After years of fighting, a groundbreaking compromise may soon
settle the battles with two epic agreements that hold the promise
of peace and fish for the watershed. View an excerpt from the
documentary here.
This 30-minute documentary-style DVD on the history and current
state of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program includes an
overview of the geography and history of the river, historical
and current water delivery and uses, the genesis and timeline of
the 1988 lawsuit, how the settlement was reached and what was
agreed to.
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.
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.
Water truly has shaped California into the great state it is
today. And if it is water that made California great, it’s the
fight over – and with – water that also makes it so critically
important. In efforts to remap California’s circulatory system,
there have been some critical events that had a profound impact
on California’s water history. These turning points not only
forced a re-evaluation of water, but continue to impact the lives
of every Californian. This 2005 PBS documentary offers a
historical and current look at the major water issues that shaped
the state we know today. Includes a 12-page viewer’s guide with
background information, historic timeline and a teacher’s lesson.
This 7-minute DVD is designed to teach children in grades 5-12
about where storm water goes – and why it is so important to
clean up trash, use pesticides and fertilizers wisely, and
prevent other chemicals from going down the storm drain. The
video’s teenage actors explain the water cycle and the difference
between sewer drains and storm drains, how storm drain water is
not treated prior to running into a river or other waterway. The
teens also offer a list of BMPs – best management practices that
homeowners can do to prevent storm water pollution.
This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, features
a map of the San Joaquin River. The map text focuses on the San
Joaquin River Restoration Program, which aims to restore flows
and populations of Chinook salmon to the river below Friant Dam
to its confluence with the Merced River. The text discusses the
history of the program, its goals and ongoing challenges with
implementation.
This beautiful 24×36-inch poster, suitable for framing, displays
the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas
and Indian reservations within the Klamath River Watershed. The
map text explains the many issues facing this vast,
15,000-square-mile watershed, including fish restoration;
agricultural water use; and wetlands. Also included are
descriptions of the separate, but linked, Klamath Basin
Restoration Agreement and the Klamath Hydroelectric Agreement,
and the next steps associated with those agreements. Development
of the map was funded by a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
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.
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.
This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, explains how
non-native invasive animals can alter the natural ecosystem,
leading to the demise of native animals. “Unwelcome Visitors”
features photos and information on four such species – including
the zerbra mussel – and explains the environmental and economic
threats posed by these species.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Water Rights Law, recognized as
the most thorough explanation of California water rights law
available to non-lawyers, traces the authority for water flowing
in a stream or reservoir, from a faucet or into an irrigation
ditch through the complex web of California water rights.
As the state’s population continues to grow and traditional water
supplies grow tighter, there is increased interest in reusing
treated wastewater for a variety of activities, including
irrigation of crops, parks and golf courses, groundwater recharge
and industrial uses.
The Water Education Foundation’s second edition of
the Layperson’s Guide to The Klamath River Basin is
hot off the press and available for purchase.
Updated and redesigned, the easy-to-read overview covers the
history of the region’s tribal, agricultural and environmental
relationships with one of the West’s largest rivers — and a
vast watershed that hosts one of the nation’s oldest and
largest reclamation projects.
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 28-page Layperson’s Guide to California
Wastewater is an in-depth, easy-to-understand publication
that provides background information on the history of wastewater
treatment and how wastewater is collected, conveyed, treated and
disposed of today. The guide also offers case studies of
different treatment plants and their treatment processes.
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.]
California’s nearly 40 million residents all depend on clean
water to thrive, as do the fish and wildlife and industries such
as agriculture, food processing and electronics that help power
the world’s fifth-largest economy.
Rivers and other surface
waters, however, can carry a host of pollutants, both natural
and manufactured, that can contaminate drinking water, harm
wildlife and livestock and damage crops.
Wastewater management in California centers on the collection,
conveyance,
treatment, reuse and disposal of wastewater. This process is
conducted largely by public agencies, though there are also
private systems in places where a publicly owned treatment plant
is not feasible.
In California, wastewater treatment takes place through 100,000
miles of sanitary sewer lines and at more than 900 wastewater
treatment plants that manage the roughly 4 billion gallons of
wastewater generated in the state each day.
There are nine regional water quality control boards statewide.
The nine Regional Boards are semi-autonomous and are comprised of
seven part-time Board members appointed by the Governor and
confirmed by the Senate. Regional boundaries are based on
watersheds and water quality requirements are based on the unique
differences in climate, topography, geology and hydrology for
each watershed. Each Regional Board makes critical water quality
decisions for its region, including setting standards, issuing
waste discharge requirements, determining compliance with those
requirements, and taking appropriate enforcement actions.
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.
California boasts some of the finest quality drinking water on
the planet. Every day, people turn on their tap and receive
clean, safe water with nary a thought. But the water people take
for granted isn’t so reliable for residents of small water
systems and many disadvantaged communities (DACs) in rural
agricultural areas.
It may surprise some people to know that California is the fourth
largest producer of crude oil in the United States and has a long
history of oil exploration. Since the 1860s, wells in Kern County
and Southern California have been tapped for more than 500,000
barrels of oil each day.
For something so largely hidden from view, groundwater is an
important and controversial part of California’s water supply
picture. How it should be managed and whether it becomes part of
overarching state regulation is a topic of strong debate.
Is the water consumed by people everyday safe to drink or should
there be concern about unregulated contaminants, many of which
are the remnants of commonly used pharmaceutical and personal
care products?
For most people in the United States, clean, safe drinking water
is a given – a part of daily life that is assumed to be a
constant, readily accessible commodity. Underpinning that fact
are the vast, mostly unheralded efforts of the many people
throughout the country who work everyday to take the raw source
water from the environment and turn it into the safe drinking
water that makes life possible.
There may be no other substance in nature as vexing as selenium.
The naturally occurring trace element gained notoriety more than
20 years ago as it wreaked havoc among birds at the Kesterson
Reservoir in California’s Central Valley. The discovery of dead
and deformed birds sparked a widespread investigation that
revealed the pervasiveness of selenium throughout much of the
West; woven into the soil and rock of the landscape.
Most people take for granted the quality of their drinking water
and for good reason. Coinciding with America’s rapid urbanization
last century was the development of an extensive infrastructure
for the storage, treatment and delivery of water for generations
to come. The improvement in the quality of water provided by
water agencies has been so phenomenal that some of the best
tasting water in the world comes not from a plastic bottle, but
from the tap.
There’s danger lurking underground. The threat cannot be seen,
heard or felt immediately, but there it resides – in shallow
pockets of groundwater and deep, cold subterranean aquifers
situated hundreds of feet below the surface. The danger manifests
itself through the most vital human activity next to breathing,
the consumption of water. Experts know there is no such thing as
pure water. Microscopic bits of a host of elements that surround
us are present in the water we drink. They exist at levels that
are harmless, and in fact some of the constituents found in tap
water are beneficial to human health.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of one of the most
significant environmental laws in American history, the Clean
Water Act (CWA). The law that emerged from the consensus and
compromise that characterizes the legislative process has had
remarkable success, reversing years of neglect and outright abuse
of the nation’s waters.
The arrival of each storm brings more than rain and snow to
thirsty California. From the coastal redwoods to the streets of
Los Angeles, water flowing from hillsides and paved surfaces
carries with it a host of pollutants that befoul tributaries,
streams and rivers. The toll on the environment is measured in
closed beaches, reduced fish populations and, in some cases, a
lower quality of available water for human use. The sources of
pollution are sometimes easy to control with existing technology.
But in other cases, the ubiquitous nature of contaminants has
left regulators in a quandary over how to solve the problem.
Drinking water is the ultimate recycled resource. It is recycled
over years, centuries and millenniums. The water we use today is
the same supply with which civilization began. The water that
once coursed down the Ganges River or splashed into Julius
Caesar’s bathing pool may end up running from the tap in your
home.
Clean air vs. clean water sums up the controversy surrounding the
gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), an
oxygenate designed to help fuel burn cleaner, reducing tailpipe
emissions. Since 1996, the year it was first used statewide on a
year-round basis, MTBE has reduced smog from motor vehicles by 15
percent, according to air quality officials. It’s as if 3.5
million cars have disappeared from the roads – no small feat in
the automobile – dependent Golden State.
