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Topic: Growth

Overview April 24, 2014

Growth

Despite droughts, the recession and natural disasters, California’s urban population continues to grow.

This population growth means increasing demand for water by urban areas—home to most of California’s population [see also Agricultural Conservation].  As of 2012, seven of the most populated urbanized areas in the United States are in California.

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Aquafornia news June 5, 2023 Santa Maria Times

Opinion: Newsom’s CEQA changes scorn people most affected

It looks at times as if Gov. Gavin Newsom is trying to imitate Jerry Brown as he tries to gut California’s main environmental protection law, at least for large infrastructure projects like reservoirs, road and bridges. Brown certainly did reduce the clout of the 1970 California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA, usually pronounced “see-qua”) during his fourth and final term as governor, mainly clearing the way for large spectator sports facilities … Essentially, CEQA would have few teeth if Newsom gets his way. One pet plan is a long-stymied version of the old Peripheral Canal project, rejected overwhelmingly 43 years ago by state voters. That has now morphed into a plan to bring Sacramento River water south to customers of the state Water Project via a tunnel under the Delta of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers.
-Written by Email Thomas Elias, author of ”The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It.” ​

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Aquafornia news June 2, 2023 Associated Press

Friday Top of the Scroll: Drought, water overuse prompt Arizona to limit construction in some fast-growing parts of Phoenix

Arizona will not approve new housing construction on the fast-growing edges of metro Phoenix that rely on groundwater thanks to years of overuse and a multi-decade drought that is sapping its water supply. In a news conference Thursday, Gov. Katie Hobbs announced the restrictions that could affect some of the fastest-growing suburbs of the nation’s fifth-largest city. Officials said developers could still build in the affected areas but would need to find alternative water sources to do so — such as surface or recycled water.

Related articles:

  • New York Times: Arizona limits construction around Phoenix as its water supply dwindles
  • Washington Post: Phoenix area can’t meet groundwater demands over next century
  • NPR: Phoenix subdivisions could be halted with new water limits 
  • CNN: Arizona announces limits on construction in Phoenix area as groundwater disappears
  • Arizona Water Blueprint: New Phoenix AMA Model Shows Limits of Groundwater as an Assured Water Supply
  • Forbes: Arizona Restricting Phoenix Construction As Groundwater Dries Up—Gov. Assures ‘Water Future Is Secure’
  • Inside Climate News: Arizona Announces Phoenix Area Can’t Grow Further on Groundwater
  • 13 News – Tucson: Groundwater conservation receives state funding
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Aquafornia news June 1, 2023 Salt Lake Tribune

Two Utah sites will get over $19 million in federal funds to restore public lands. Here’s where it’s going.

The federal government is putting $160 million in public lands — including over $19 million to two sites in Utah — to restore the landscapes, restore wildlife habitats and improve water on public lands. The effort is part of President Joe Biden’s Investing in America agenda. In a news conference Wednesday, Bureau of Land Management leaders announced a total of 21 sites would receive funding for restoration. Among those sites were two in the Beehive State — the Upper Bear River in northeastern Utah and for Color Country in southwestern Utah. The Upper Bear will receive $9.6 million in funding, while Color Country will receive $9.73 million. … Southwest Utah’s booming population is in large part why the BLM chose to focus part of the funding on that region of the country, said BLM Senior Policy Advisor Tomer Hasson during the news conference. 

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Aquafornia news May 31, 2023 Arizona Republic

Climate change adds questions to Supreme Court case on Navajo water

News of water shortages, exacerbated by climate change, population growth, mining and other development, is everywhere these days in the American Southwest. But on the Navajo Reservation, a sovereign tribal nation that sits on about 16 million acres in northeast Arizona, southern Utah and western New Mexico, nearly 10,000 homes have never had running water. How that can and should be resolved is one aspect of a case brought before the U.S. Supreme Court on March 20, with the justices’ decision due any day now.

Related article: 

  • Navajo-Hopi Observer: Tribes to receive $48 mil to repair and revitalize water systems 
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Aquafornia news May 31, 2023 Cronkite News

Ranchers hail, environmentalists fear Supreme Court clean water ruling

Ranchers and Republican lawmakers are welcoming a Supreme Court ruling that narrows the range of waters subject to federal regulation, calling it a win for private property rights that reins in overeager regulators. … But environmental groups said the ruling in Sackett v. EPA will be “disastrous for Arizona, where water is rare and protecting it is critically important to both people and endangered species.” “It leaves almost all of Arizona’s creeks, springs and washes without any federal protections against water pollution.” said Taylor McKinnon, Southwest director for the Center for Biological Diversity. … The ruling earlier this month ends a long-running dispute between Michael and Clara Sackett, who wanted to build a house on land they bought near Priest Lake, Idaho, and the Environmental Protection Agency, which said the property contained wetlands. 

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Aquafornia news May 24, 2023 Salt Lake Tribune

Meet the czar coordinating Great Salt Lake’s rescue plan

The state’s new czar overseeing all things Great Salt Lake has a lot of work ahead while an environmental time bomb continues to tick. Last week, Gov. Spencer Cox tapped Brian Steed to fill a new slot as lake commissioner. If confirmed by the Senate, Steed will coordinate the many state agencies overseeing the Great Salt Lake’s water supply, water quality, wildlife and industries, all while preparing a strategic plan on how to keep the lake from shriveling up, and delivering it to lawmakers by November. That’s no small feat for any state employee, and Steed’s also going to juggle it with his current job as executive director of the Institute for Land, Water and Air at Utah State University. Record-breaking snowpack may have bought Steed a little breathing room — it has already raised the lake’s elevation more than four feet from its record low in November. 

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Aquafornia news May 23, 2023 The Washington Post

How recycling centers could be making our plastics problem worse

Instead of helping to tackle the world’s staggering plastic waste problem, recycling may be exacerbating a concerning environmental problem: microplastic pollution. A recent peer-reviewed study that focused on a recycling facility in the United Kingdom suggests that anywhere between 6 to 13 percent of the plastic processed could end up being released into water or the air as microplastics — ubiquitous tiny particles smaller than five millimeters that have been found everywhere from Antarctic snow to inside human bodies.

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Aquafornia news May 23, 2023 SJV Sun

Opinion: Enviros fume as Newsom looks to sidestep regulations for water projects

Gov. Gavin Newsom is slowly becoming more emboldened to go toe-to-toe with some of his closest allies in pursuit of advancing critical infrastructure forward. The battle centers on circumventing environmental rules frequently relied upon by activists to sue and block massive projects. Driving the News: Governor Gavin Newsom has pledged to fast-track hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of construction projects throughout the state, including a pair of large water endeavors that have been delayed for years. California officials have pursued the water projects in the drought-prone state. One would construct a giant tunnel to carry large amounts of water beneath the natural channels of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to drier and more populous Southern California. 

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Aquafornia news May 22, 2023 The Nevada Independent

Inside Las Vegas’ legislative push for tools to reduce water use before any big cuts come

In 2021, at a Colorado River conference in Las Vegas, the Southern Nevada Water Authority laid out an ambitious and detailed plan to lower per capita water use through conservation. The presentation quantified why deep municipal conservation — limits on decorative grass, pool sizes, golf courses, septic tanks and landscaping — was necessary to adapt to a far drier future.  It was a signal that Las Vegas planned to go all-in on conservation. Part of this was necessity. Of the seven states that rely on the Colorado River, Nevada has by far the smallest allocation. It is also one of the urban centers most reliant on the river, the source of 90 percent of its water supply. Part of the plan was to shore up water for more growth. 

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Aquafornia news May 17, 2023 Plumas News

Opinion: Asphalt plant threatens Feather River, communities

According to a public notice published May 10th, 2023, Hat Creek Construction Company, contractor for Caltrans, is planning to construct a “temporary” asphalt plant directly adjacent to the Feather River in Delleker, 2000 feet south (and upwind) of the Delleker residential area, and only 500 feet from homes in the Iron Horse community across the river. The operation would run from April to November, from 6am to 6pm, up to 24 hours/ day for 3 years (but probably longer) mainly to supply Caltrans with asphalt for its Highway 70 repaving project. The project would generate at least 150 round trip truck trips per day, all crossing the railroad at an uncontrolled crossing, risking accidents and derailments, including possible oil spills directly into to the river. 
-Written by Feather River Action.

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Aquafornia news May 15, 2023 Chico Enterprise-Record

Nut crop outlook raises concerns locally, statewide

With almond trees bearing fruit and walnut trees blossoming, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released two reports this week on nut crops. But an action last week by the Butte County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office may be a stronger indicator. For the second straight year, Ag Commissioner Louie Mendoza filed an emergency declaration with the California Office of Emergency Services and California Department of Food and Agriculture due to weather impacts on almonds, covering 40,000 acres in the county. Separate weather conditions affected walnuts last year, too; that crop’s outlook remains uncertain.

Related articles: 

  • SJV Sun: Report – Valley almond crop to dip for third-straight year
  • The New York Times: Opinion - When one almond gulps 3.2 gallons of water
  • Yale Climate Connections: How one strawberry farmer is coping with erratic weather in California
  • KCRA – Sacramento: Almond grower in Ceres tests the benefits of cover crops
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Aquafornia news May 10, 2023 Noema Magazine

A tale of two droughts: Climate change in the U.S. & China

The Hohokam civilization, once the region’s predominant power, had begun meticulously forging this sinuous system of miles and miles of waterways across the arid desert as early as the 1st century C.E. With water sourced from the distant Salt River, the Hohokam perhaps cultivated more than 10,000 acres of arid land. … A century and a half later, the American Southwest is sweltering under another harsh drought. Last year, 1,000-foot wells dug deep underground by residents of Rio Verde, a community on the outskirts of Phoenix, started coming up dry. … In the meantime, Phoenix has become one of America’s fastest-growing cities, a trend bolstered by preferential tax schemes and the growth of the (very water-hungry) semiconductor industry. 

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Aquafornia news May 9, 2023 Outside Online

The plan to save Utah’s Great Salt Lake involves a big pipe

Out in Utah’s barren West Desert, past the hazardous-waste landfill and the military bombing range, on the far side of the Great Salt Lake, sits a silent, mysterious structure that will make a great ruin someday. Scratch that: it already is one. The three-story industrial building was hastily erected in the late 1980s, at a cost of $60 million, to house a pumping station with an urgent task: to suck water out of the Great Salt Lake and spew it into the desert flats farther west. The lake was then at record-high levels, threatening to flood railway lines, ­interstate highways, and farmland. The pumps were in operation for about two years before nature took over and the lake receded on its own. More than three decades later, the Great Salt Lake has the opposite problem—too little water. 

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Aquafornia news May 8, 2023 Wired

Yet another problem with recycling: it spews microplastics

The plastics industry has long hyped recycling, even though it is well aware that it’s been a failure. Worldwide, only 9 percent of plastic waste actually gets recycled. In the United States, the rate is now 5 percent. Most used plastic is landfilled, incinerated, or winds up drifting around the environment.  Now, an alarming new study has found that even when plastic makes it to a recycling center, it can still end up splintering into smaller bits that contaminate the air and water. This pilot study focused on a single new facility where plastics are sorted, shredded, and melted down into pellets. Along the way, the plastic is washed several times, sloughing off microplastic particles—fragments smaller than 5 millimeters—into the plant’s wastewater. 

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Aquafornia news May 8, 2023 Wall Street Journal

Opinion: Why California insists on wasting its scarce water supply

With the nation’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, drawn down to historic lows, the seven states that use water from the Colorado River have failed to agree on how to adapt to its dwindling flow. The impasse pits California against everyone else. If California’s political leaders had the political will, they could solve the problem for every member of the Colorado River Compact by developing infrastructure to use untapped sources of water. But to do that, the state Legislature would have to stand up to a powerful environmentalist lobby that views humans as parasites and demands rationing as the only acceptable policy.
-Written by Edward Ring, founder and president of the California Policy Center. 

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Aquafornia news May 4, 2023 American Bar Association

Blog: California tackles plastic pollution at the source

In 2022, California took a bold step to address plastic pollution by enacting the Plastic Pollution Prevention and Packaging Producer Responsibility Act (Senate Bill (SB) 54), which dramatically overhauls how single-use packaging and single-use plastic foodware will be offered for sale, sold, distributed, and imported in the state, and tackles plastic pollution at the source.  The problem with plastic An estimated 33 billion pounds of plastic enter the marine environment each year with devastating consequences for the ocean ecosystem. Everywhere we look, we find plastic; it is in our land, water, air, food, and even in our bodies. And the problem is expected to get worse as the production and use of single-use plastic has skyrocketed over the last decade. 

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Aquafornia news May 3, 2023 Popular Science

Blog: An elite few are fueling the sustainable water crisis

Over the last four decades, global water use has increased by about 1 percent per year. This rise is driven by many factors, including population growth, changing consumption patterns, and socioeconomic development. By 2050, the United Nations Water estimates urban water demand to increase by 80 percent. As freshwater needs continue to rise in cities, the sustainable management of urban water supply becomes even more critical. … In general, Zuniga-Teran says the reasons for urban water crises are, to an extent, caused by “a consequence of uncontrolled urban growth and the unsustainable use of water resources.”

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Aquafornia news May 3, 2023 Grist

A new breed of water speculator is transforming the American West

Vidler Water Company, a tiny outfit…in Carson City…is an unusual company. It doesn’t actually deliver water to people, nor does it own any facilities for water treatment or desalination. Instead, the company functions as a broker for water rights, finding untapped water in rural communities and marketing it to developers and corporations in fast-growing cities and suburbs. For 20 years, the company has bought up remote farmland and drilled wells in bone-dry valleys to amass an enormous private water portfolio, then made tens of millions of dollars by selling that portfolio one piece at a time…The company was the first in the West to make a business model out of finding and flipping water.

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Aquafornia news December 7, 2021 San Francisco Chronicle

Photos: How Hetch Hetchy Valley went from natural paradise to concrete basin

Rare photos show the transformation of Hetch Hetchy Valley from untouched paradise to home of the O’Shaughnessy Dam, which supplies some of the country’s cleanest water to 2 million people in San Francisco and beyond.

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Western Water November 7, 2019 Layperson's Guide to Climate Change and Water Resources Gary PitzerDouglas E. Beeman

As Wildfires Grow More Intense, California Water Managers Are Learning To Rewrite Their Emergency Playbook
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Agencies share lessons learned as they recover from fires that destroyed facilities, contaminated supplies and devastated their customers

Debris from the Camp Fire that swept through the Sierra foothills town of Paradise  in November 2018.

By Gary Pitzer and Douglas E. Beeman

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.

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Western Water May 23, 2019 Colorado River Bundle Gary Pitzer

150 Years After John Wesley Powell Ventured Down the Colorado River, How Should We Assess His Legacy in the West?
WESTERN WATER Q&A: University of Colorado’s Charles Wilkinson on Powell, Water and the American West

We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls ride over the river, we know not. Ah, well! We may conjecture many things.

~John Wesley Powell

Explorer John Wesley Powell and Paiute Chief Tau-Gu looking over the Virgin River in 1873.Powell scrawled those words in his journal as he and his expedition paddled their way into the deep walls of the Grand Canyon on a stretch of the Colorado River in August 1869. Three months earlier, the 10-man group had set out on their exploration of the iconic Southwest river by hauling their wooden boats into a major tributary of the Colorado, the Green River in Wyoming, for their trip into the “great unknown,” as Powell described it.

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Western Water November 16, 2018 California Water Map Layperson's Guide to the State Water Project Gary Pitzer

As He Steps Aside, Tim Quinn Talks About ‘Adversarialists,’ Collaboration and Hope For Solving the State’s Tough Water Issues
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Tim Quinn, retiring executive director of Association of California Water Agencies

ACWA Executive Director Tim Quinn  with a report produced by Association of California Water Agencies on  sustainable groundwater management.  (Source:  Association of California Water Agencies)In the universe of California water, Tim Quinn is a professor emeritus. Quinn has seen — and been a key player in — a lot of major California water issues since he began his water career 40 years ago as a young economist with the Rand Corporation, then later as deputy general manager with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, and finally as executive director of the Association of California Water Agencies. In December, the 66-year-old will retire from ACWA.

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Aquapedia background September 12, 2016

Runoff

Snowmelt and runoff near the California Department of Water Resources snow survey site in the Sierra Nevada east of Sacramento.Runoff is the water that is pulled by gravity across land’s surface, replenishing groundwater and surface water as it percolates into an aquifer or moves into a river, stream or watershed.

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Aquapedia background August 30, 2016

Owens Lake

Owens Lake is a dry lake at the terminus of the Owens River just west of Death Valley and on the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada. For at least 800,000 years, the lake had a continuous flow of water, until 1913 when the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) completed the 233-mile Los Angeles Aqueduct to supplement the budding metropolis’ increasing water demands.

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Publication August 18, 2014

Water & the Shaping of California
Published 2000 - Paperback

The story of water is the story of California. And no book tells that story better than Water & the Shaping of California.

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Publication August 18, 2014

Water & the Shaping of California
Published 2000 - hardbound

The story of California is the story of water. And no book tells that story better than Water & the Shaping of California.

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Video May 27, 2014

A Climate of Change: Water Adaptation Strategies

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.

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Video May 27, 2014

Drinking Water: Quenching the Public Thirst (60-minute DVD)

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. 

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Video May 27, 2014

Drinking Water: Quenching the Public Thirst (30-minute DVD)

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.

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Maps & Posters May 20, 2014

Carson River Basin Map
Published 2006

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 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.

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Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to Water Recycling
Updated 2013

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.

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Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to Water Marketing
Updated 2005

The 20-page Layperson’s Guide to Water Marketing provides background information on water rights, types of transfers and critical policy issues surrounding this topic. First published in 1996, the 2005 version offers expanded information on groundwater banking and conjunctive use, Colorado River transfers and the role of private companies in California’s developing water market. 

Order in bulk (25 or more copies of the same guide) for a reduced fee. Contact the Foundation, 916-444-6240, for details.

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Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to the State Water Project
Updated 2013

The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the State Water Project provides an overview of the California-funded and constructed State Water Project.

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Publication May 20, 2014

Layperson’s Guide to Integrated Regional Water Management
Published 2013

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.

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Aquapedia background February 11, 2014

Urban Conservation

Despite droughts, recession and natural disasters, California’s urban population continues to grow.

This population growth means increasing demand for water by urban areas—home to most of California’s population [see also Agricultural Conservation]. As of 2021, three of the nation’s 10 most populated cities are in California.

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Western Water Magazine January 1, 2013

Viewing Water with a Wide Angle Lens: A Roundtable Discussion
January/February 2013

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.

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Western Water Magazine September 1, 2011

Mimicking the Natural Landscape: Low Impact Development and Stormwater Capture
September/October 2011

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.

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Western Water Magazine May 1, 2010

A ‘New Direction’ for Water Decisions? The California Water Plan
May/June 2010

This printed issue of Western Water examines the changed nature of the California Water Plan, some aspects of the 2009 update (including the recommendation for a water finance plan) and the reaction by certain stakeholders.

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Western Water Magazine November 1, 2009

The Colorado River: Building a Sustainable Future
November/December 2009

This printed issue of Western Water explores some of the major challenges facing Colorado River stakeholders: preparing for climate change, forging U.S.-Mexico water supply solutions and dealing with continued growth in the basins states. Much of the content for this issue of Western Water came from the in-depth panel discussions at the September 2009 Colorado River Symposium.

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Western Water Magazine May 1, 2007

The Struggle to Secure Water in the Southwest
May/June 2007

This issue of Western Water asks whether a groundwater compact is needed to manage this shared resource today. In the water-stressed West, there will need to be a recognition of sharing water resources or a line will need to be drawn in the sand against future growth.

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Western Water Magazine May 1, 2005

Smart Water Use: Stretching the Urban Supply
May/June 2005

This issue of Western Water examines the continuing practice of smart water use in the urban sector and its many facets, from improved consumer appliances to improved agency planning to the improvements in water recycling and desalination. Many in the water community say conserving water is not merely a response to drought conditions, but a permanent ethic in an era in which every drop of water is a valuable commodity not to be wasted.

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Western Water Excerpt March 1, 2000 Sue McClurgRita Schmidt Sudman

Water and Growth: A Roundtable Discussion
Mar/Apr 2000

When water and growth was featured in the May/June 1995 Western Water, the debate in the California Legislature was about whether a local water district should have any say when it came to providing water to new developments. Of the four bills before state lawmakers, it was Sen. Jim Costa’s SB 901 that cleared the Legislature and was signed into law. The bill established a voluntary link between water and land-use planning by requiring planning departments to consult with local water purveyors about the availability of new supplies.

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