People in the News

Eighty percent of Colorado is experiencing some form of drought or dryness. … It’s also prompting a closer look by historians into how communities have survived and triumphed over water scarcity — instead of the old Western yarn that “water is for fighting.” … Historians at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center of the American West want to know why some communities rally around water resources, and others fail.

The chief of staff at the Environmental Protection Agency says the agency assigns certain “politically charged” records requests for special review. A transcript of Ryan Jackson’s interview with House Oversight Committee staffers was released Friday.

A Modesto councilman called on the city to contribute toward efforts to resist a state water grab that’s become an emotionally charged issue in the region. Councilman Mani Grewal said at Tuesday’s council meeting the state plan to take large amounts of Tuolumne River water to rejuvenate the Sacramento-San Joaquin River delta would create a “regulatory drought” in Stanislaus County.

Long before President Trump nominated him for the Supreme Court on Monday, Judge Brett M. Kavanaugh had already made a name for himself as an influential conservative critic of sweeping environmental regulations.

From the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA):

The recent mandatory water restrictions put in place by the state were the topic of an interview on July 16 by Judy Woodruff during the PBS News Hour of Timothy Quinn, ACWA Executive Director, and Craig Miller of KQED. Much of the focus of the interview was on just how serious the drought is and why the regulations are necessary right now.

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From the Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA):

Cindy Forbes, a veteran of the California Department of Public Health’s former Drinking Water Program, was named July 1 as the new Deputy Director of the State Water Resource Control Board’s (State Water Board), Division of Drinking Water.

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From the Los Angeles Times:

“[Gov. Jerry] Brown’s handling of state prisons, efforts to address poverty and his response to California’s drought and water issues all received low overall grades from voters in a USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll conducted shortly before the primary.”

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