Energy companies that manage coal ash dumps have asked the
Trump administration for relief from a new regulation requiring
them to inspect and monitor those retention ponds for signs of
pollution. If EPA grants their request, it could delay cleanup
of one the nation’s most significant sources of industrial
waste. In a sweeping rule issued last year, EPA directed
companies to begin cleaning up over 100 coal ash dumps and
landfills, some of which are known to leak toxic,
cancer-causing metals like mercury, lead and arsenic into
groundwater. Now, companies say they are
struggling to evaluate those sites for signs of leaks and
structural problems, as required under the rule. Describing the
rule’s deadlines as “unreasonable and unworkable,” the Utility
Solid Waste Activities Group has asked EPA to delay additional
requirements until the agency creates a permit program to
“review, approve, and verify the existence” of coal ash sites
across the country, according to a letter viewed by POLITICO’s
E&E News.
Six months after EPA warned about “forever chemicals” tainting
sewage sludge, states are resorting to a patchwork of policies
as the agency’s path forward on the widely used farmland
fertilizer remains unclear. In the final days of the Biden
administration, EPA inched toward regulating the toxic
chemicals in sewage sludge, releasing a draft report outlining
risks to people living near farms that use the foul-smelling,
nutrient-rich material to grow crops. Now, as the Trump
administration weighs options for addressing contamination
concerns, states and localities are struggling with how to
respond to growing evidence that sludge fertilizer can spread
forever chemicals. … Also known as biosolids, sewage sludge
is the partially dry byproduct of treated sewage from municipal
and industrial sources. EPA has long touted selling the
material to farmers, a practice that frees up landfill space
and reduces reliance on chemical fertilizer.
An analysis of US surface water monitoring records has found
that less than 1% of chemicals of potential environmental
concern have suitable monitoring data available. The
researchers said the findings highlighted both the shortcomings
of, and prospects for, macroscale chemical risk evaluations in
the US and globally. The ever-increasing speed with which
new chemicals are entering the environment has created a
significant challenge for the assessment of environmental
risks. To find out how the availability of surface water
monitoring data affects the interpretation of chemical risk,
the researchers compiled 112 million chemical monitoring
records for almost 2000 chemicals, along with 78 million
environmental records collated between 1958 and 2019 from
across the US. They then linked this monitoring data with
established toxicity thresholds collated from regulatory
sources for over 170,000 chemicals.
… The odor comes from a toxic gas that’s colorless and smells
like rotten eggs. It’s hydrogen sulfide, or H2S, a byproduct of
the millions of gallons of untreated sewage from Mexico that
regularly chokes one of America’s most endangered rivers, the
Tijuana River. UC San Diego researchers,
led by Kim Prather, recently found that sewage-linked bacteria
and toxic chemicals in the river are airborne. In the past
couple of years, the volume of sewage flows, laced with
contaminated stormwater, noxious chemicals and trash, has been
the highest in the last quarter-century, worsening conditions
for those living and working nearby. … But the data remains
woefully insufficient to conclude what long-term exposure means
for individuals, especially for vulnerable groups such as
children or those with respiratory problems. And there are only
three monitors generating information for a border region that
is home to tens of thousands of residents who have raised
concerns for years.
Harmful “forever chemicals” flow from wastewater treatment
plants into surface water across the U.S., according to a new
report by a clean-water advocacy group. Weekslong sampling by
the Waterkeeper Alliance both upstream and downstream of 22
wastewater treatment facilities in 19 states saw total per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) concentrations increase in 95
percent of tested waterways after receiving discharge from the
facilities. … While advanced treatment technology to remove
PFAS from wastewater exists, most facilities do not have it.
None of the 22 facilities included in the study employed PFAS
removal technology, the Waterkeeper Alliance said.
PFAS are everywhere. Manufacturers have been using “forever
chemicals” for their durability and resistance to heat and
water, adding them in countless everyday products for decades,
such as cell phones, laptops, medical devices, textiles and
food packaging. … California, Maine and Minnesota have
taken the strictest actions to restrict the use of
fluorochemicals, but other states are following suit. Minnesota
and others are also enacting legislation mandating
manufacturers publicly report their use of
PFAS. Manufacturing Dive is tracking the status of bills
related to PFAS oversight and use during states’ legislative
sessions in 2025 and beyond, with updates to be added over
time. Read on for the status and details of each bill.
Lifelong San José resident Apollo-Genesis Braddock-Layton has
fished the Pacific Coast’s shore for as long as he can
remember—catching horseshoe crabs, smelt, and stingrays while
listening to his grandfather’s stories of fishing in the
Philippines. “That’s how he had to feed his family,”
Braddock-Layton says. “If they didn’t catch fish that day, they
didn’t eat.” … But it’s likely that these fish contain
PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which
have been manufactured by chemical companies since the 1940s.
… PFAS ranks among the most concerning chemicals the San
Francisco Estuary Institute (SFEI) studies, says environmental
scientist Miguel Mendez, and they’ve slipped their way into the
Bay through runoff. … But this news won’t stop some Bay Area
residents like Braddock-Layton from fishing. While learning
about PFAS in fish “makes me not want to fish in the Bay
anymore,” he says, “I would most definitely go back.”
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has initiated an
administrative order on consent with Radius Recycling Inc. in
response to alleged Clean Water Act violations at the
company’s metal recycling facility in West Oakland, California.
The order targets the site’s discharge of pollutants into the
Oakland Inner Harbor and San Francisco Bay in violation of the
facility’s permit under the Clean Water Act. In January,
EPA signed a memorandum of understanding with Radius Recycling,
the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA), other
state regulators and a community organization to address the
impacts of the company’s metal shredding operation on the West
Oakland community. … Radius will install a granular activated
carbon treatment unit capable of reducing metals below effluent
limitations. Radius also will develop and implement a Water
Pollution Prevention Plan that increases inspections of the
site and strengthens cleaning and maintenance measures.
A June quarterly monitoring report from a Department of Toxic
Substance Control order for the Saugus Industrial Center,
former home of the Keysor-Century Corp., revealed groundwater
contamination levels many times above the state’s limits as
cleanup continues and plans for nearby properties are filed at
City Hall. A Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency spokesman
said Thursday the reports are from monitoring wells and not
from any sources in circulation for
customers. Water-contamination concerns in that area are
expected to cost tens of millions of dollars for the agency for
years to come, according to officials in court records and past
statements. … The process, which began a decade ago,
involves the injection of emulsified vegetable oil into the
wells as part of a complicated process to “promote anaerobic
biodegradation of volatile organic compounds in saturated soils
and groundwater,” according to (the) report.
… While stakeholders wait to see how the EPA’s
announcements will develop into specific actions, one
particular area of continued uncertainty relates to PFAS in
drinking water. … Following its request to stay legal
challenges to these two Biden-era actions to allow the new EPA
leadership to review these rules, the EPA on May 14 announced
that it would maintain the current national primary drinking
water regulation for PFOA and PFOS and introduce a proposal to
extend the compliance date to 2031. At the same time, the EPA
said it would rescind regulations and reconsider regulatory
determinations for PFHxS, PFNA, HFPO-DA (commonly known as
GenX), and the hazard index mixture of these three, plus PFBS,
citing compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act as its
rationale.
The Environmental Protection Agency isn’t required to revise
every outdated wastewater pollution standard
for various industries, but its decision in 2023 to not revise
standards using new pollution control technologies is both
arbitrary and capricious, a Ninth Circuit panel ruled
Wednesday. In 2023 several environmental groups, including
Waterkeeper Alliance and the Center for Biological Diversity,
filed a complaint directly to the Ninth Circuit, challenging
the EPA’s decision to not revise “effluent limitations,
effluent limitation guidelines, standards of performance for
new sources, and pretreatment standards” that haven’t been
updated in decades. Passed in 1972, the Clean Water
Act requires the agency to regulate industrial
pollutants that make their way into the water, based on the
best available wastewater treatment technology. But according
to the plaintiffs, the EPA has never set limits on plants that
mold and form plastic, and has gone nearly 40 years without
updating wastewater limits on inorganic chemical plants and
petroleum refineries.
Since January, the Trump administration has made sweeping cuts
to science and research at federal agencies, slashing funding,
laying off workers and terminating grants. A minority staff
report from the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
Committee released in May called the administration’s actions a
“war on science.” But amid these cuts, the administration plans
to prioritize an environmental program that cleans up toxic
waste dumps, also known as Superfund sites. … Some U.S.
lawmakers, however, have expressed concerns that mass layoffs
within the EPA and a dramatically reduced budget will hinder
the agency’s ability to accelerate Superfund cleanups. …
The Trump administration has justified Superfund budget cuts by
highlighting taxes on the chemical industry that help finance
the program. The Superfund program also received $3.5 billion
in funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law under the
Biden administration.
A sensor on the International Space Station that helps map
minerals was able to help track water contaminants off the San
Diego coast. According to NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
researchers involved in a study of the instrument’s
capabilities found that it could potentially help track some
water contaminants faster than traditional means. The
instrument is called the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source
Investigation (EMIT) and it observes sunlight reflecting off
the Earth. Recently, EMIT was used to examine the
wastewater from the Tijuana
River as it emptied into the Pacific Ocean off the
coast of Imperial Beach. … Researchers examined EMIT’s images
pixel by pixel and were able to identify signs that indicated
certain molecules present in specific areas of the image. When
they cross-referenced their findings with water testing done on
those same areas of the Pacific Ocean, the findings lined up,
helping detect phycocyanin, a pigment in cyanobacteria, which
can make humans and animals sick.
The Port of Los Angeles will need to clean up widespread water
contamination in the city’s harbor by shoring up sewage
treatment operations, according to a settlement approved by a
federal judge. The settlement was the result of
a lawsuit filed by the organization Environment
California last summer accusing the port of violating the
Clean Water Act by unleashing toxic pollutants
into the San Pedro Bay. The group maintained that the port
had conducted more than 2,000 illegal wastewater discharges in
the previous five years alone — releases that
routinely surpassed limits on fecal bacteria, copper and
other contaminants. The settlement approved on Tuesday
tasks the port with improving its management and treatment of
stormwater and groundwater,
through provisions requiring the elimination of fecal bacteria
from the groundwater.
A cross-border sewage crisis affecting Southern California
could play a role in a prominent congressional race, where a
Republican challenger has become a national figure on the
issue. Jim Desmond, a San Diego County supervisor, has been
sounding the alarm recently on Fox News and other conservative
outlets about the untreated sewage that’s been flowing from the
Tijuana River in Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, contaminating the
water and sickening residents. At the same time, he’s seeking
to unseat Rep. Mike Levin, accusing the Democratic incumbent of
not doing enough to protect residents. … Desmond says
Levin’s focus — including $635 million that Levin has gotten
approved for projects like improving a major sewage plant on
the Mexican side through the bipartisan infrastructure law,
among other actions — lets Mexican officials off the hook.
Facing its largest seasonal algal bloom in 20 years, the
Sweetwater Authority may need to buy water to address the
problem. At its May 28 board meeting, the South Bay agency
agreed to increase its budget for the year in case it must
purchase more water to dilute the water supply. The agency says
doing so would help mitigate changes to the water’s taste and
odor caused by the algae. … For the past six months
Sweetwater has been grappling with a number of pollutants in
its main reservoir and has been using its water surplus to
dilute the problem. Earlier this year, the authority
transferred water to the Sweetwater Reservoir from Loveland
Reservoir to lower levels of chemicals, known as PFAS, detected
in the water. Now, in what they say is a separate issue,
the agency would either use purchased water to dilute the algal
bloom, or may also sell the purchased water to customers rather
than diluting its own.
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors approved a resolution
Wednesday that urges the federal government to pressure Mexico
to end the Tijuana River sewage crisis. The resolution, brought
forth by Republican Supervisor Jim Desmond, passed by a vote of
3-1. But it was Desmond who ultimately cast the lone “no” vote
because the amended version officials approved doesn’t go far
enough, he said. … Specifically, the resolution calls on
Congress to pass legislation that would hold Mexico accountable
for failing to prevent sewage from polluting communities in the
county’s southwest region. Some measures suggested include
federal authorization to divert or restrict the Tijuana River
temporarily in south San Diego. It also urges curtailing the
export of potable water to Tijuana or limiting cross-border
activity at U.S. ports of entry during sewage-linked
emergencies that the county declares.
After nearly eight months of delays, malfunctions and
redesigns, the San Antonio de los Buenos Wastewater Treatment
Plant partially came online recently and has begun treating raw
sewage that comes from the city of Tijuana. The facility, built
near the coast about 6 miles south of the border, is still not
operating at full capacity. Mexican officials say they are
still conducting tests and going through the certification
process before the plant can be geared up to treat 18 million
gallons of raw sewage per day — its maximum
capacity. Despite going into partial service, communities
north of the border, where much of that sewage ends up, have
seen little to no relief. Beach closures in Imperial Beach and
the city of Coronado to the north, remain in effect. In
Imperial Beach, beaches have been off limits for more than
three years.
Cities across California and the Southwest are significantly
increasing and diversifying their use of recycled wastewater as
traditional water supplies grow tighter.
The 5th edition of our Layperson’s Guide to Water Recycling
covers the latest trends and statistics on water reuse as a
strategic defense against prolonged drought and climate change.
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.
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.”
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.
Blasted by sun and beaten by waves,
plastic bottles and bags shed fibers and tiny flecks of
microplastic debris that litter the San Francisco Bay where they
can choke the marine life that inadvertently consumes it.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Joaquin Esquivel learned that life is
what happens when you make plans. Esquivel, who holds the public
member slot at the State Water Resources Control Board in
Sacramento, had just closed purchase on a house in Washington
D.C. with his partner when he was tapped by Gov. Jerry Brown a
year ago to fill the Board vacancy.
Esquivel, 35, had spent a decade in Washington, first in several
capacities with then Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and then as
assistant secretary for federal water policy at the California
Natural Resources Agency. As a member of the State Water Board,
he shares with four other members the difficult task of
ensuring balance to all the uses of California’s water.
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.
Microplastics – plastic debris
measuring less than 5 millimeters – are an
increasing water quality concern. They enter waterways and
oceans as industrial microbeads from various consumer
products or larger plastic litter that degrades into small bits.
Microbeads have been used in exfoliating agents, cosmetic washes
and large-scale cleaning processes. Microplastics are used
pharmaceutically for efficient drug delivery to affected sites in
patients’ bodies and by textile companies to create artificial
fibers.
Microplastics disperse easily and widely throughout surface waters and sediments. UV
light, microbes and erosion degrade the tiny fragments, making
them even smaller and more difficult for wastewater treatment
plants to remove.
The particles, usually made of polyethylene or polypropylene
plastic, take thousands of years to biodegrade
naturally. It takes prohibitively high temperatures to
break microplastics down fully. Consequently, most water treatment plants cannot remove
them.
The health effects of consumption are currently under
investigation.
Responses
Many advocacy groups have published lists of products containing
microbeads to curb their purchase and pollution.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates microbeads in
industrial, but not domestic, wastewater.
Federal
law required microbeads to be phased out of rinse-off
cosmetics beginning in July 2017. Dozens of states also
regulate microbeads in products. California has the strictest
limitation, prohibiting even the use of biodegradable microbeads.
Microplastics in California Water
In 2019, the San Francisco Estuary Institute published a
study estimating that 7 trillion pieces of microplastic
enter San Francisco
Bay annually from stormwater runoff, about 300
times the amount in all wastewater treatment effluent entering
the bay.
California lawmakers in 2018 passed a package of bills to raise
awareness of the risks of microplastics and microfibers in the
marine environment and drinking water. As
directed by the legislation, the State Water Resources Control
Board in 2020 adopted an official
definition of microplastics in drinking water and in 2022
developed the world’s standardized methods for testing drinking
water for microplastics.
The water board was expected by late 2023 to begin testing
for microplastics in untreated drinking water sources tapped by
30 of the state’s largest water utilities. After two years, the
testing was expected to extend to treated tap water served
to consumers. A progress report and recommendations for
policy changes or additional research are required by the end of
2025.
Contaminants exist in water supplies from both natural and
manmade sources. Even those chemicals present without human
intervention can be mobilized from introduction of certain
pollutants from both
point and nonpoint sources.
Directly detecting harmful pathogens in water can be expensive,
unreliable and incredibly complicated. Fortunately, certain
organisms are known to consistently coexist with these harmful
microbes which are substantially easier to detect and culture:
coliform bacteria. These generally non-toxic organisms are
frequently used as “indicator
species,” or organisms whose presence demonstrates a
particular feature of its surrounding environment.
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.
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.
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 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.
Salt. In a small amount, it’s a gift from nature. But any doctor
will tell you, if you take in too much salt, you’ll start to have
health problems. The same negative effect is happening to land in
the Central Valley. The problem scientists call “salinity” poses
a growing threat to our food supply, our drinking water quality
and our way of life. The problem of salt buildup and potential –
but costly – solutions are highlighted in this 2008 public
television documentary narrated by comedian Paul Rodriguez.
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.
20-minute DVD that explains the problem with polluted stormwater,
and steps that can be taken to help prevent such pollution and
turn what is often viewed as a “nuisance” into a water resource
through various activities.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 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 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 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 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.
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.
