The Water Education Foundation’s “flagship” is its quarterly
Western Water magazine. Each issue examines a different
aspect of the water picture. Western Water is the only
magazine in California and the West to focus exclusively on
in-depth coverage of water resources issues.
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. Specific topics
addressed include the role of the Interior secretary in the
basin, California’s 4.4 plan, water marketing and future
challenges identified by participants.
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.
Urban Water Purveyors Seek Solution to Mounting Problem. In a
semi-arid climate such as California’s, monitoring and
maintaining water supplies is essential and as a result, how to
handle salt is an especially important – and complex – issue.
This issue of Western Water examines the problem of salt in urban
water supplies and what can be done to lessen the continual
buildup of such salts. Issues examined include salinity of
Colorado River and State Water Project water supplies,
groundwater and water recycling and legislation regarding “self
regenerative” water softeners.
What happens when science and public policy meet? What is good
science? How do we prioritize research? What does peer review
mean? These questions and more were the focus of a 1999
roundtable discussion between Foundation Chief Writer Sue McClurg
and Education Director Judy Wheatley with four fishery
biologists: Bruce Herbold, U.S. EPA; Elise Holland, formerly with
The Bay Institute; Peter Moyle, fisheries professor at UC Davis;
and Peter Rhoads, Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California.
With the election of Gray Davis as governor, new leaders are
assuming top positions in California’s agencies, boards and
commissions. In January, Mary Nichols joined Davis’ cabinet as
Secretary for Resources. As head of the Resources Agency, she
directs the activities of 19 department’s, conservancies, boards
and commissions. Among these agencies are the Department of Water
Resources and Department of Fish and Game. On Feb. 23, Foundation
Executive Director Rita Schmidt Sudman interviewed Ms.
The CALFED Bay-Delta Revised Phase II Plan, released in December
1998, is summarized in this issue of Western Water. It provides
background on the Bay-Delta Estuary and the CALFED Bay-Delta
Program, an overview of the program elements in CALFED’s plan and
details about CALFED’s proposed Environmental Water Account. The
article also explores some of the more contentious issues in this
ongoing consensus process – conveyance, additional water storage,
and costs and financing of the ultimate preferred Delta “fix”.
This issue updates progress on crafting and implementing
California’s 4.4 plan to reduce its use of Colorado River water
by 800,000 acre-feet. The state has used as much as 5.2 million
acre-feet of Colorado River water annually, but under pressure
from Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and the other six states
that share this resource, California’s Colorado River parties
have been trying to close the gap between demand and supply.
A combination of individual entrepreneurship and federal policies
encouraging settlement of the West transformed California’s great
Central Valley into what it is today: the most productive
agricultural region in the world. In addition to being the
state’s top-producing agricultural region, the valley is one of
California’s fastest-growing areas. This increased urbanization –
along with reductions in water supplies in parts of the valley –
has generated concern for the future of farming throughout the
valley.
The potential for global warming and what effect it may have on
weather and water resources in California and the West are
explored in this issue of Western Water. Although no absolutes
exist, most scientists have predicted a future of warmer
temperatures and – globally – higher amounts of precipitation.
Regional changes, however, may be quite different and in the
West, there are some predictions that even as snowfall declines,
rain will increase.
An expanded issue of Western Water published shortly after the
release of the long-awaited draft environmental document by
CALFED, a joint state-federal government planning effort aimed at
restoring the environmental health of the Bay-Delta and
increasing water supply reliability. The Delta itself, located
where the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers meet, serves as the
transfer point for two-thirds of the state’s water supply. It is
also the state’s most important fishery habitat. It is here where
conflicts arise between agricultural, urban and environmental
water interests.
The salmon’s natural river-to-ocean, ocean-to-river life cycle
has become a source of conflict in recent years as efforts to
restore and enhance their populations have brought reductions in
fresh water supply and restrictions in the commercial ocean
salmon fishery. A combination of legal mandates and stakeholder
consensus have generated an extensive effort to restore salmon
populations, but not all runs are showing signs of improvement.
Established in 1970, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has
broad oversight of some of the nation’s most significant
environmental programs: the Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water
Act, wetlands permit processes, air quality regulations and
pesticide regulations. Carol Browner, 41, was appointed chief
administrator of the EPA in 1993 by President Clinton.
An expanded issue of Western Water offered comprehensive coverage
of the 1922 Colorado River Compact, the document negotiated and
signed by representatives of the seven states that share the
Colorado River and then-Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover. The
article discussed the controversial issues of today and their
relationship to the past, including how the law of the river
relates to today’s issues.
Published in anticipation of President Clinton’s special issues
forum on Lake Tahoe, this issue of Western Water explored the
historic development of the Lake Tahoe Basin; issues of current
concern such as nonpoint source pollution; the goals of the
president’s multi-day forum; ecosystem management issues; the
debate over land use restrictions vs. private property; and the
ongoing effort to develop a cooperative plan to better manage the
region’s land use to reduce detrimental impacts on Lake Tahoe’s
water quality.
The landmark Central Valley Project Improvement Act brought
fundamental change to California’s largest surface water system
and created ongoing controversy among competing water interests.
This issue of Western Water updated progress made in implementing
the 1992 federal law. It included information on the question of
providing project water to the environment; the proposed plan to
double natural populations of certain fish; and issues
surrounding renewal of water-supply contracts.
Within weeks of the state’s second-most devastating floods, an
examination of the event appeared in Western Water. The issue
included crucial background on the state’s historic flood
picture; an overview of the flooding in 1997 on key California
rivers; issues of levee breaks and repairs; liability issues from
the floods; and the changing philosophy in flood management –
from the historical emphasis on flood control to the new movement
dedicated toward better land-use planning in floodplains to
prevent damage.
In honor of the Water Education Foundation’s 20th anniversary,
this issue traced the history of the Foundation and the changing
face of water resource issues. The article e examined topics
covered in previous covered in Western Water and the writers who
wrote about those issues.
