California has pioneered some of the toughest state environmental legislation to address environmental issues. For example, laws focused attention on “instream uses” of water to benefit fish and wildlife, recreation, water quality and aesthetics. Among water-related issues, in general, are climate change, toxic waste disposal, pollution and loss of wildlife and habitat.
Also, the California Legislature was the first in the country to protect rare plants and animals through passage of the California Endangered Species Act in 1970.
For some, like almond grower Jose Robles of Modesto, climate change was an afterthought, if that. That’s something they talk about in Sacramento, he says, not where he lives and works. But in December, the ground under Robles’ almond trees was a carpet of green, full of mustard plant and clover. … His neighbors really don’t understand it.
The obvious question is “Why did Prop 3 fail?” Multiple commentators have suggested answers. But exploring “Where did Prop 3 fail?” provides additional insights. The results are sometimes counter-intuitive…and deepen our understanding of how voters think about water in California.
When you turn on a faucet on the Monterey Peninsula, you’re consuming water that’s been illegally pumped from Carmel River. Now, after more than two decades of this, scores of public officials, utility executives and citizen advocates are working – and sometimes fighting – to replace the region’s water supply before state-mandated sanctions kick in. California American Water is forging ahead with its plan: a desalination plant near Marina.
Join us May 2 for an open house and reception at our Midtown Sacramento offices to meet our staff and learn more about what we do to educate and foster understanding of California’s most precious natural resource — water. At the open house, you can enjoy refreshments and chat with our staff about our tours, conferences, maps, publications and training programs… You’ll also be able to learn more about how you can support our work.
Paradise Irrigation District general manager Kevin Philips reiterated to the board of directors on Wednesday night that the water is clean as is the water coming from the water treatment plant. … “What we are doing is pulling meters because we feel meters could have been one of the leading criteria to the contamination. Plastic meters that got heated up.”
Timothy Quinn, a California water policy expert, joined Stanford’s Program on Water in the West as a Landreth Visiting Fellow this past winter. Quinn, who has been deeply involved in California water policy for the last thirty years … took time out for a Q&A with Water in the West on his current and past work.
Former Interior Secretary and Arizona governor Bruce Babbitt will be the distinguished speaker at the 2019 Anne J. Schneider Memorial Lecture on April 3 at the Crocker Art Museum in downtown Sacramento. Babbitt’s talk is titled “Parting the Waters — Will It Take a Miracle?”
Bill Smallman, an elected director of the San Lorenzo Valley Water District board, apologized Monday for calling users of an herbicide “probably gay.” Responding to a post about glyphosate herbicides on online platform Nextdoor, Smallman wrote Saturday that a recent water district ban on that class of product is “leading by example, showing that anyone who uses this crap is both really stupid and lazy, and probably gay.”
The new House of Representatives is rolling out its game plan and strategies for the next two years, and it’s clear which state holds the most clout: California. … California now has more Democrats in the lower chamber than the entire congressional delegations of Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Wisconsin and Washington combined. The state’s power to shape the agenda goes beyond leadership. In the environment and energy fields, 12 Californians are subcommittee chairs and vice chairs.
A leader in a grassroots group pushing for interagency transfers to solve regional water supply shortfalls has filed an environmental lawsuit against Soquel Creek Water District. The civil lawsuit … takes aim at the water district’s Pure Water Soquel project, which its board of directors approved in December. The suit points to alleged shortcomings in Pure Water Soquel’s state-mandated environmental impact report.
A diver in California has stumbled on an unexpected source of plastic waste in the ocean: golf balls. As the balls degrade, they can emit toxic chemicals. And there appear to be lots of them in certain places underwater — right next to coastal golf courses. … Thus began a Sisyphean task that went on for months: She and her father would haul hundreds of pounds of them up, and then of course more golfers would hit more into the ocean.
Organisms that photosynthesize but lack the formal water circulation structure of land plants are placed in the broad category of “algae.” These can grow in either freshwater or saltwater environments, existing as single cells (often congregating in colonies) or multicellular organisms such as giant kelp.
Excess salinity poses a growing threat to food production, drinking water quality and public health. Salts increase the cost of urban drinking water and wastewater treatment, which are paid for by residents and businesses. Increasing salinity is likely the largest long-term chronic water quality impairment to surface and groundwater in the Central Valley.
This year was supposed to be different. With Northern California’s reservoirs finally brimming and cities liberated from stringent conservation rules, farmers were expecting more water for their crops. The worst of the drought seemed over. Or maybe not.
“The tribe did not sue a government office in this case; the tribe sued an individual — Edmund G. Brown Jr.,” Justice Ronald Robie said in the 3-0 ruling.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Nevada Water provides an overview of the history of water development and use in Nevada. It includes sections on Nevada’s water rights laws, the history of the Truckee and Carson rivers, water supplies for the Las Vegas area, groundwater, water quality, environmental issues and today’s water supply challenges.
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.
