Topic: Wastewater

Overview

Wastewater

Water containing wastes – aka wastewater – from residential, commercial and industrial processes requires treatment to remove pollutants prior to discharge. After treatment, the water is suitable for nonconsumption (nonpotable) and even potable use.

In California, water recycling is a critical component of the state’s efforts to use water supplies more efficiently. The state presently recycling about 669,000 acre-feet of water per year and has the potential to reuse an additional two million acre-feet per year. 

Non-potable uses include:

  • landscape and crop irrigation
  • stream and wetlands enhancement
  • industrial processes
  • recreational lakes, fountains and decorative ponds
  •  toilet flushing and gray water applications
  •  as a barrier to protect groundwater supplies from seawater intrusion
  • wetland habitat creation, restoration, and maintenance
  • groundwater recharge
Aquafornia news 10News KGTV (San Diego)

Watch: Volunteer group committed to clearing trash from Tijuana River

Over in the South Bay, the sewage crisis has been impacting the community for years on end. We’ve heard complaints about the smell and the pollution and all the heartache it has caused. To help alleviate the pain, one local group, Wildcoast, is working hard to at least stop thousands of pounds of trash from flowing in. Watch the video in the player at the top of this page to see how ABC 10News reporter Madison Weil follows through with those volunteers.

Aquafornia news The New Lede

Napa Valley landfill dumped toxic waste into waterways for decades, workers allege in federal lawsuit

A California landfill has been illegally dumping toxic waste into the Napa River for years, polluting waters that feed a valley known around the world for the quality of its vineyards, according to a federal lawsuit filed by landfill employees. Fifteen workers from Clover Flat Landfill and Upper Valley Disposal Service (UVDS) in Napa County, California, allege that operators of the landfill intentionally diverted what is called “leachate” – untreated liquid wastewater often containing heavy metals, nitrates, bacteria and pathogens – into the Napa River and other area waterways for decades. The actions were done to “avoid the costs of properly trucking out the toxic leachate” to facilities designated for safe disposal, the lawsuit alleges.

Aquafornia news POLITICO

Both parties have let fester a worsening water pollution situation at the Mexico-California border

California Gov. Gavin Newsom visited the U.S.-Mexico border on Monday — but not for the reason you’d expect. The border crisis that drew the Democrat wasn’t immigration, but sewage. For nearly a century, billions of gallons of sewage have been pouring into Southern California from Mexico, making coastal communities near San Diego the victim of a crisis few people know about. The problems have disrupted daily life around America’s eighth-largest city, affected military operations and exposed how generations of politicians in Mexico and the U.S. have failed to provide sanitation on both sides of the world’s busiest border.  

Aquafornia news Law360

Supreme Court won’t hear Apache’s mining regs dispute

The U.S. Supreme Court won’t take up an Arizona tribe’s petition that looks to overturn a ruling that sides with a state environmental agency’s decision to let a copper mining company discharge untreated wastewater into a creek that’s considered sacred to the Indigenous community.

Other tribal water issues:

Aquafornia news Danville San Ramon/Bay City News

Refinery fined more than $4.4M for alleged Clean Water Act violations

The Martinez Refining Company has agreed to pay $4.482 million to settle allegations of federal Clean Water Act violations at its refinery, the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board said Thursday. The refinery allegedly discharged millions of gallons of wastewater from oil refinery processes, which harmed water quality and threatened aquatic life in marshes linked to the Carquinez Strait. … The water board found three cases of unauthorized discharges into nearby marshes.

Aquafornia news San Diego Union-Tribune

Feds say sewage treatment plant fixes are in play. But it will be years before benefits are felt.

… Commissioner Maria-Elena Giner, head of the IBWC, told [Matt] Henry and others gathered at the meeting that a long-awaited project to repair and expand the dilapidated [South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant] broke ground earlier Tuesday. … But it will be several years before the benefits of construction projects on both sides of the border are felt and data yet to be collected reveals other possible solutions. …Together with the overhaul of a wastewater plant in Baja California, [the] expansion should eliminate about 90 percent of untreated wastewater reaching South County shorelines.

Related article:

Aquafornia news Voice of San Diego

How a new US president could shake up Tijuana sewage crisis

San Diegans across the political spectrum worry a changing of the guard at the White House could bring major upheaval to the federal agency on the frontlines of the Tijuana River sewage crisis: The International Boundary and Water Commission or IBWC. The president of the United States appoints the IBWC leader and a post-election shake up could add uncertainty to the already precarious state of one of San Diego’s largest pollution problems. Treating millions of gallons of sewage spilling from Tijuana into San Diego is just one among myriad IBWC water management responsibilities along 1,255-miles of the U.S.-Mexico border. … With little recourse to hold Mexico responsible for the contamination, San Diegans historically pinned blame on the IBWC. But since President Joe Biden appointed Maria-Elena Giner to the top post in August of 2021, most agree she’s done a good job – despite a very low bar – and don’t want to see her go. 

Related articles:

Aquafornia news The San Diego Union-Tribune

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Newsom makes first visit to ailing sewage treatment plants along U.S.-Mexico border

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday toured wastewater treatment facilities on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, marking his first in-person visit to the sites undergoing critical upgrades to reduce rampant sewage polluting Tijuana and south San Diego County communities. The California leader started his tour at the San Ysidro-based South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant, which on Tuesday will begin a yearslong effort to repair and expand its capacity, which has long been insufficient for treating Mexico’s sewage. He then traveled to the San Antonio de los Buenos plant in Baja California, which also is being overhauled after at least a decade of dumping millions of gallons of untreated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. Years of negligence and underinvestment in wastewater treatment plants in both countries have resulted in sewage and toxic chemicals pouring over the border, leaving people ill with headaches, nausea, respiratory issues and other symptoms.

Related articles:

Aquafornia news Tahoe Daily Tribune

Recycled water plan from STPUD is open to public comment

The South Tahoe Public Utilities Department (STPUD) held a stakeholders advisory group and public information meeting regarding how they deal with recycled water. The plan is open for comment from October 24 to November 11. STPUD was established in 1950 to provide drinking water and provide sewage collection, treatment, and export for the South Tahoe community. Since California has limited water supplies, the entire state has recycled wastewater for decades through chemical and microbiological treatment. STPUD is no different and currently recycles 100% of its wastewater. Because of the Porter Cologne Act, which protects water quality and water use in the state, the STPUD began exporting its wastewater to facilities in Alpine County in 1967, a response to environmentally protect the watershed of Lake Tahoe. Since then, STPUD has worked with Alpine County and Harvey Place Reservoir to store and distribute wastewater—a costly endeavor, as the water must be pumped over 26 miles over major elevation changes.

Aquafornia news Northern California Public Media

Monte Rio and Villa Grande homeowners weighing wastewater system options

Seats at the Monte Rio Community Center were full Thursday night for what residents thought was the final step before county supervisors forced them into an unpopular and expensive plan to replace their septic systems.  Clarity only came late in the meeting, when Deputy County Administrator Barbara Lee attempted to calm frustrated residents. Until then, the prevailing assumption was the Sonoma County board of supervisors would decide in January whether every household in Monte Rio and Villa Grande had to connect to a new sewer line or create community leach fields, all at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars per home.

Aquafornia news The Sacramento Bee

Commentary: San Francisco seeks Supreme Court help with sewer discharges

San Francisco has long used the Pacific Ocean as its toilet. In heavy rains, the city on the hill cannot store all the storm runoff and sewage that flows toward an oceanside treatment plant in a single old pipe, so some heads out to sea. Now, in a case with national implications, San Francisco is hoping that the U.S. Supreme Court will allow it to pollute the ocean on occasion without violating the federal Clean Water Act. Although San Francisco has lived under this regulatory construct for decades, it has now decided to test the limits of federal regulations with a right-leaning high court known for restricting environmental laws.
 —Written by Tom Philp, columnist with The Sacramento Bee

Aquafornia news ABC 10News San Diego

San Diego County leaders call on EPA to fight South Bay sewage

San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer is teaming up with several local officials in an attempt to get the Environmental Protection Agency to take action against the sewage crisis in the South Bay. On Thursday morning in Coronado, Lawson-Remer is slated to speak alongside those officials and some South Bay residents, submitting a petition to the EPA to designate parts of the Tijuana River Valley as a “superfund site.” A superfund site is part of a 1980 law that the EPA can use to free up federal funding to clean up hazardous waste sites around the country. Those sites are meant to target toxic waste, not raw sewage — which normally falls under the Clean Water Act. But Lawson-Remer wants the EPA to designate a six-mile stretch of the Lower Tijuana River Valley as a superfund site after decades of exposure to toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and pesticides.

Related article:

Aquafornia news inewssource (San Diego)

San Diego County to weigh Tijuana sewage crisis litigation

San Diego County leaders are weighing whether to take legal action aimed at holding the company managing a federal wastewater plant along the U.S. border accountable for pollution. The County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to “explore litigation options” against Veolia, the French transnational company managing the federal wastewater plant on the U.S. side of the border with Mexico. The options on the table are to start their own case against Veolia for failing to curb Tijuana River pollution, or join one of the other lawsuits already filed this year against the company on behalf of Imperial Beach residents. Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer also said they may consider taking action against other responsible parties, including Mexico.

Related articles:

Aquafornia news University of Hawaiʻi System

News release: Drug-resistant pathogen spread studied in U.S. waterways

New groundbreaking research aims to evaluate potential human health risks from bacteria in surface water systems across four U.S. states. The project involving the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa will assess the environmental spread of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens—disease-causing microorganisms that have evolved to withstand the effects of antibiotics and other medicines designed to kill them—through wastewater discharge and agricultural runoff. The three-year study recently received a $2.4 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency. … UH Mānoa researchers will focus on Kauaʻi’s Hanalei River, where they will examine how cesspools and animal agriculture contribute to the spread of antimicrobial resistance. The river system in Hawaiʻi, along with waterways in Nebraska, New Jersey and California, were selected to represent diverse environmental conditions and pollution sources. 

Related research article:

Aquafornia news Pacific Institute

Study: Gaps in laws and policies leave water and sanitation systems vulnerable to harmful climate impacts in frontline communities across the US, new report finds

New research released today by the Pacific Institute and the Center for Water Security and Cooperation (CWSC) reveals existing laws and policies fail to protect water and sanitation systems from climate change impacts in frontline communities across the United States. The report, “Law and Policies that Address Equitable, Climate-Resilient Water and Sanitation,” examines federal, Tribal, state, and local laws and policies governing centralized drinking water and wastewater systems, as well as decentralized onsite drinking water and sanitation systems. The research demonstrates that most existing US water laws and policies were developed assuming historical climate trends that determine water availability would be constant and that communities’ vulnerability to climate events would be the same over time. The research specifically outlines how laws and policies often do not anticipate or help to proactively manage the impacts of climate change on water and wastewater systems in frontline communities.

Aquafornia news NBC 7 San Diego

CDC starts South Bay health assessment for Tijuana river sewage

Families in the South Bay are being asked to share their concerns regarding sewage pollution along the Tijuana River Valley for a health assessment being conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC arrived to the region Thursday to begin the assessment intended to gather information about the needs arising due to concerns about toxic air pollution in the South Bay stemming from sewage overflow in the Tijuana River Valley. Over the last few weeks, more than 6,000 homes were expected to receive flyers informing them of the Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response, or CASPER, Volunteers wearing reflective vests will begin distributing the flyers door-to-door on Oct. 3.

Related article:

Aquafornia news The Hill

Imperial Beach residents sue wastewater treatment plant operators over sewage crisis

Residents of Imperial Beach in southern San Diego County filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the operators of an international wastewater treatment plant — alleging that the site has failed to contain a cross-border crisis that has long contaminated their community. The plaintiffs said they are seeking to hold the plant’s managers accountable for severe environmental and public health effects that have resulted from an influx of untreated sewage, heavy metals and other toxic chemicals. Imperial Beach, which sits just a few miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, has long been the recipient of untreated wastewater that comes from the Tijuana metropolitan region and ends up on the beaches of San Diego County.

Related articles:

Aquafornia news Imperial Valley Press

New wastewater treatment plant opens in Niland

County, state, and federal officials held Wednesday morning a groundbreaking ceremony near this unincorporated town for the $11.7 million Niland Sanitation District Wastewater Treatment Plant and Collection System Improvements Project. “The county today conducted a groundbreaking ceremony on the much expected Niland wastewater treatment plant,” Imperial County Executive Officer Miguel Figueroa said in an interview. “This plant will not only help us serve better the community of Niland, but also grow and expand future capacity needs as Niland and its region grows, obviously considering renewable energy development coming down.” According to the county official, the wastewater treatment plant will help better serve local residents and the future growth of the Lithium Valley and the additional expansion of the geothermal energy plants.

Aquafornia news The New York Times

Thursday Top of the Scroll: Water dispute before Supreme Court gives rise to unusual alliances

The Supreme Court on Wednesday appeared to side with the City of San Francisco in its unusual challenge of federal water regulations that it said were too vague and could be interpreted too strictly. The outcome could have sweeping implications for curtailing water pollution offshore and would deal another blow to the Environmental Protection Agency, which has faced a string of losses at the court over its efforts to protect the environment. The case has given rise to unusual alliances, with the city joining oil companies and business groups in siding against the E.P.A. In arguments on Wednesday, it was the conservative justices who seemed the most aligned with a city best known as a liberal bastion. At its core, the case is about human waste and how San Francisco disposes of it — specifically, whether the Clean Water Act of 1972 allowed the E.P.A. to impose generic prohibitions on wastewater released into the Pacific Ocean and to penalize the city.

Related articles:

Aquafornia news Courthouse News Service

French wastewater treatment plant operator blasted over filth in Tijuana River

Decades of neglect by a French company operating a federally funded wastewater treatment plant on the U.S.-Mexico border has led to billions of gallons of sewage and toxic chemicals in the Tijuana River, according to nearby residents who in a lawsuit decried the serious ecological and human health devastation. The plant is supposed to treat wastewater from Tijuana and then dump it into the Pacific Ocean at Imperial Beach, California. But according to the residents, [Veolia Water West Operating Services has by virtue of ] misconduct, reckless behavior and negligence — including not investing in or maintaining the sewage plant’s infrastructure — discharged fecal bacteria, heavy metals and chemicals banned in the U.S. like DDT, benzidine, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) into the Tijuana River. 

Related articles:

Aquafornia news Times of San Diego

Lawson-Remer collecting signatures, stories to petition EPA for Tijuana River Superfund

Following last week’s vote by the San Diego County Board of Supervisors to delay any formal decision on pursuing a Superfund designation for the Tijuana River Valley, Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer Monday decided to get public support. Lawson-Remer put out a call on Monday for San Diego County residents impacted by the Tijuana River sewage crisis to sign her petition to the Environmental Protection Agency. “The Tijuana River sewage crisis affects all of our coastal neighborhoods,” she said. … The board voted 3-2 on Oct. 9 to wait on pursuing the Superfund distinction under the 1980 law which lets the EPA clean up contaminated areas, such as the infamous Love Canal in Niagara Falls, New York.

Other Tijuana River Valley article:

Aquafornia news BorderReport

San Diego County rejects shot at millions of dollars to clean polluted Tijuana River Valley

On Tuesday, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors rejected a notion that could’ve resulted in millions of dollars and other resources to clean up the badly-polluted Tijuana River Valley, a decision that baffled and disappointed Paloma Aguirre and other political and community leaders in the area. “It’s frustrating,” said Aguirre, mayor of Imperial Beach. She wanted the County of San Diego to declare the valley as a “Superfund Site,” meaning the federal government and Environmental Protection Agency would have to start an investigation into the pollution and sewage problems in the Tijuana River Valley.

Other Tijuana River and sewage articles:

Aquafornia news Sonoma State Star (Sonoma State University)

Tensions rise in Measure J debate at Central Santa Rosa library

Measure J, put forth by the Coalition to End Factory Farming, is on the ballot in Sonoma County this November. It would require farms in Sonoma County classified by EPA as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) to either downsize or shut down in a three-year period. According to the EPA, CAFOs are classified as such when surpassing an exceeded limit of animals held, with varying limits depending on the animal. Farms can also be classified as CAFOs if they release manure or wastewater to surface water. … The debate grew contentious over a disagreement to how medium CAFOs are classified and targeted by Measure J. Measure J text would ban all CAFOs from running in Sonoma County and downsize 21 large CAFOs to a size and water waste management that meets EPA standards to no longer be a CAFO. 

Aquafornia news Associated Press

American Water, the largest water utility in US, is targeted by a cyberattack

The largest regulated water and wastewater utility company in the United States announced Monday that it was the victim of a cyberattack, prompting the firm to pause billing to customers. New Jersey-based American Water — which provides services to more than 14 million people in 14 states and on 18 military installations — said it became aware of the unauthorized activity on Thursday and immediately took protective steps, including shutting down certain systems. The company does not believe its facilities or operations were impacted by the attack and said staffers were working “around the clock” to investigate the nature and scope of the attack. The company said it has notified law enforcement and is cooperating with them. … According to its website, American Water manages more than 500 water and wastewater systems in about 1,700 communities in California, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Related article:

Aquafornia news The Latin Times

Doctor who exposed Flint Michigan water crisis calls Tijuana sewage ‘very similar story’

The doctor who exposed elevated levels of lead in the bloodstream of children in Flint, Michigan, leading to a nationwide crisis that has lasted years, has compared it with the situation going on in southern California.  “It’s a very similar story of environmental contamination, an environmental injustice,” said Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha in a public health forum in Imperial Beach during the weekend. “My biggest message is to tell the residents that they are not alone,” she added. The statement comes shortly after local researchers said they detected a poisonous substance in the Tijuana River Valley as a result of the high volume of raw sewage flowing from Mexico into the region.

Related article:

Aquafornia news LAist

Monday Top of the Scroll: California’s new water recycling rules for turning wastewater into tap water. What this means for you

Water recycling — once dubbed “toilet-to-tap” by naysayers — has officially entered a new era in California. This month, statewide regulations for what’s technically called “direct potable reuse” went into effect. The rules allow wastewater — yes, the water that goes down the drain or is flushed down the toilet — to be treated to drinkable standards then distributed directly to homes and businesses. … Previously, California law only allowed “indirect potable reuse,” which is what the Fountain Valley facility does — highly treated wastewater is injected underground into an aquifer, where further, natural filtration occurs. Then that water is put into the pipelines to our homes and businesses.  Direct potable reuse, which is what these newly effective regulations are about, skips that step where the water is injected into groundwater basins. Instead, the highly treated sewage water goes directly to drinking water treatment plants and then is distributed.

Related article:

Aquafornia news Los Angeles Times

CDC to conduct a health survey in San Diego County

San Diego County residents will have an opportunity to share their pollution concerns about the Tijuana River when officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention arrive later this month to conduct a health survey. This is the first time that a federal agency is investigating the potential harm caused by millions of gallons of raw sewage pouring through the Tijuana River that have caused beach closures of more than 1,000 days. Residents living near the river say they have been suffering unexplained illnesses, including gastrointestinal issues and chronic breathing problems, because of the stench of hydrogen sulfide.

Aquafornia news Newsweek

Poo crisis in US waterways: Plankton can’t clean up the mess

Zooplankton—tiny aquatic animals known to graze on bacteria—are ineffective at removing fecal microorganisms from sewage-contaminated water, according to a new study. The findings challenged the assumptions of the researchers that these tiny animals could act as natural cleaners by inactivating harmful pathogens in freshwater and saltwater environments. The hypothesis was that zooplankton would consume or neutralize fecal microorganisms, potentially reducing the risk to human health after water contamination. But the results told a different story.

Related articles:

Aquafornia news San Diego Union-Tribune

First phase of CDC survey on health impacts of sewage crisis launching

People who live and work near the U.S.-Mexico border have complained for years about the ill effects from the cross-border pollution: noxious odors, headaches, breathing difficulties, nausea, stomach ailments. They now will have a face-to-face opportunity to tell the nation’s public health agency how the toxic mix of sewage and other contaminants that spill into the Tijuana River Valley affects them. The effort kicks off Thursday with a large team from San Diego County and San Diego State University notifying more than 6,000 homes of an upcoming visit by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the possibility that their household may be selected for an interview, county public health officials said Wednesday.

Related articles:

Aquafornia news Desert Sun (Palm Springs, California)

California threatens steep fines over polluting septic systems

Yucca Valley property owners who aren’t complying with a ban on septic tanks are beginning to feel the hammer from state enforcers, who want an aquifer that supplies drinking water for the rural town off Highway 62 to stop being polluted with toilet waste runoff. After years of warnings, state water regulators have now issued cease-and-desist notices against three Yucca Valley homeowners for failing to hook up to public sewage lines, and for discharging septic waste into the town’s primary drinking water source. If they do not comply by December, they could face penalties of $5,000 a day and referral to the state attorney general for possible further sanctions. None of the owners responded to requests for comment from The Desert Sun.

Other sewage articles:

Aquafornia news Action News Now (Chico, California)

A new effort that aims to expand access to drinking water across California

There is a new effort that aims to expand access to drinking water across California. The state is working to adapt to hotter, drier conditions by creating new regulations for converting wastewater to high-quality drinking water. Officials say it clears the way for water systems to recycle and reuse millions of gallons of water per day. The State Water Resources Control Board unanimously approved the regulations in December 2023. California invested 24 million dollars in research problems to ensure the water would be safe to drink.

Aquafornia news City News Service/KPBS

San Diego City Council asks federal government to declare national crisis in Tijuana River

Following 31 years of consecutive extensions of a local state of emergency regarding sewage outflow in the Tijuana River Valley, the San Diego City Council on Tuesday approved a resolution asking for a national emergency. The largely symbolic item passed 7-0, and officially implores the federal government to make the local crisis a recognized national one, as well as asking for total funding of the Environmental Protection Agency’s infrastructure solution to the pollution. Councilwoman Vivian Moreno, who put forward the resolution and represents San Diego’s southernmost communities such as Nestor, Egger Highlands, San Ysidro and Otay Mesa, said she feared for the health of her young child during an especially egregious incident amid a recent heat wave.

Aquafornia news Courthouse News Service

San Diego officials lock in on first step for fixing Tijuana River sewage pollution

Elected officials across San Diego said Monday they hope that $5.7 million for the renovation of a key piece of infrastructure at a wastewater treatment plant that straddles the U.S.-Mexico border in San Diego will be the first step in solving a decades long sewage-pollution problem that fouls the air and makes people sick.  … The South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant — under a joint U.S.-Mexican body called the International Boundary and Water Commission — treats sewage from Tijuana, but hasn’t been doing that since 2021 following the failure of a piece of the plant’s infrastructure. When Junction Box-1 is operable, it’s supposed to control the amount of wastewater coming into the plant from Tijuana before it’s treated and sent to the Pacific Ocean. Since 2021 though, the box — which sits mere feet away from the border wall — has been inoperable, meaning mounds of sewage passed through the plant without being treated. 

Related articles:

Aquafornia news KESQ (Palm Springs, California)

Ribbon cutting held for new water reclamation facility in Desert Hot Springs

Local water officials and city leaders invited the public to Desert Hot Springs Friday morning for a ribbon cutting marking the completion of a new water reclamation facility. The Mission Springs Water District’s “Nancy Wright Regional Water Reclamation Facility” is located on Little Morongo Road, north of 20th Avenue.  Officials with MSWD said the new facility will help protect groundwater and reduce dependence on the Colorado River by enabling wastewater treatment and eventually recycling.  “This is almost 100% financed by grants from the state’s clean water fund, it’s a benefit to everybody,” said Robert Griffith, MSWD Vice President. Work is also continuing on a project to bring wastewater flows from other areas of the district to the new plant as well as a project connecting about 700 homes currently relying on septic tanks to the sewage system.

Aquafornia news E&E News by POLITICO

Thursday Top of the Scroll: San Francisco weighs bid to drop Supreme Court water case

Lawmakers in San Francisco are launching a last-ditch effort to kill the city’s lawsuit challenging federal water pollution requirements, weeks before Supreme Court oral arguments are set to begin. The city has accused EPA of including unreasonably vague requirements in a wastewater permit for one of its sewage treatment plants. The language in the permit is designed to protect water quality and is widely used in permits for municipalities nationwide. San Francisco says it’s virtually impossible to follow. But on Tuesday, San Francisco Supervisor Myrna Melgar introduced a resolution urging the city attorney’s office to drop the case. … Despite the case’s local origins, the outcome could have broad ramifications for wastewater permits and limit EPA’s ability to control the release of sewage and other contaminants, legal experts said.

Related articles:

As Drought Shrinks the Colorado River, A SoCal Giant Seeks Help from River Partners to Fortify its Local Supply
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Metropolitan Water District's wastewater recycling project draws support from Arizona and Nevada, which hope to gain a share of Metropolitan's river supply

Metropolitan Water District's advanced water treatment demonstration plant in Carson. Momentum is building for a unique interstate deal that aims to transform wastewater from Southern California homes and business into relief for the stressed Colorado River. The collaborative effort to add resiliency to a river suffering from overuse, drought and climate change is being shaped across state lines by some of the West’s largest water agencies.  

New EPA Regional Administrator Tackles Water Needs with a Wealth of Experience and $1 Billion in Federal Funding
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Martha Guzman says surge of federal dollars offers 'greatest opportunity' to address longstanding water needs, including for tribes & disadvantaged communities in EPA Region 9

EPA Region 9 Administrator Martha Guzman.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.”

Western Water Layperson's Guide to Groundwater Douglas E. Beeman

Water Resource Innovation, Hard-Earned Lessons and Colorado River Challenges — Western Water Year in Review
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK-Our 2019 articles spanned the gamut from groundwater sustainability and drought resiliency to collaboration and innovation

Smoke from the 2018 Camp Fire as viewed from Lake Oroville in Northern California. 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.

Western Water California Water Map Gary Pitzer

Often Short of Water, California’s Southern Central Coast Builds Toward A Drought-Proof Supply
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Water agencies in Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo counties look to seawater, recycled water to protect against water shortages

The spillway at Lake Cachuma in central Santa Barbara County. Drought in 2016 plunged its storage to about 8 percent of capacity.The southern part of California’s Central Coast from San Luis Obispo County to Ventura County, home to about 1.5 million people, is blessed with a pleasing Mediterranean climate and a picturesque terrain. Yet while its unique geography abounds in beauty, the area perpetually struggles with drought.

Indeed, while the rest of California breathed a sigh of relief with the return of wet weather after the severe drought of 2012–2016, places such as Santa Barbara still grappled with dry conditions.

Western Water California Water Map Gary Pitzer

A Study of Microplastics in San Francisco Bay Could Help Cleanup Strategies Elsewhere
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Debris from plastics and tires is showing up in Bay waters; state drafting microplastics plan for drinking water

Plastic trash and microplastics can get washed into stormwater systems that eventually empty into waterways. 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.

A collaborative effort of the San Francisco Estuary Institute, The 5 Gyre InstituteSan Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board and the regulated discharger community that aims to better understand the problem and assess how to manage it in the San Francisco Bay is nearing the end of a three-year study.

Western Water California Water Map

Your Don’t-Miss Roundup of Summer Reading From Western Water

Dear Western Water reader, 

Clockwise, from top: Lake Powell, on a drought-stressed Colorado River; Subsidence-affected bridge over the Friant-Kern Canal in the San Joaquin Valley;  A homeless camp along the Sacramento River near Old Town Sacramento; Water from a desalination plant in Southern California.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. 

Western Water California Water Map Gary Pitzer

Can Providing Bathrooms to Homeless Protect California’s Water Quality?
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: The connection between homelessness and water is gaining attention under California human right to water law and water quality concerns

A homeless camp set up along the Sacramento River near downtown Sacramento. 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.

Western Water Layperson's Guide to California Wastewater Gary Pitzer

As Californians Save More Water, Their Sewers Get Less and That’s a Problem
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Lower flows damage equipment, concentrate waste and stink up neighborhoods; should water conservation focus shift outdoors?

Corrosion is evident in this wastewater pipe from Los Angeles County.Californians have been doing an exceptional job reducing their indoor water use, helping the state survive the most recent drought when water districts were required to meet conservation targets. With more droughts inevitable, Californians are likely to face even greater calls to save water in the future.

Western Water Colorado River Basin Map Gary Pitzer

‘Mission-Oriented’ Colorado River Veteran Takes the Helm as the US Commissioner of IBWC
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Jayne Harkins’ duties include collaboration with Mexico on Colorado River supply, water quality issues

Jayne Harkins, the U.S. Commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission.For the bulk of her career, Jayne Harkins has devoted her energy to issues associated with the management of the Colorado River, both with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and with the Colorado River Commission of Nevada.

Now her career is taking a different direction. Harkins, 58, was appointed by President Trump last August to take the helm of the United States section of the U.S.-Mexico agency that oversees myriad water matters between the two countries as they seek to sustainably manage the supply and water quality of the Colorado River, including its once-thriving Delta in Mexico, and other rivers the two countries share. She is the first woman to be named the U.S. Commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission for either the United States or Mexico in the commission’s 129-year history.

Western Water California Groundwater Map Layperson's Guide to Flood Management Gary Pitzer

Southern California Water Providers Think Local in Seeking to Expand Supplies
WESTERN WATER SIDEBAR: Los Angeles and San Diego among agencies pursuing more diverse water portfolio beyond imports

The Claude “Bud” Lewis Desalination Plant in Carlsbad last December marked 40 billion gallons of drinking water delivered to San Diego County during its first three years of operation. The desalination plant provides the county with more than 50 million gallons of water each day.Although Santa Monica may be the most aggressive Southern California water provider to wean itself from imported supplies, it is hardly the only one looking to remake its water portfolio.

In Los Angeles, a city of about 4 million people, efforts are underway to dramatically slash purchases of imported water while boosting the amount from recycling, stormwater capture, groundwater cleanup and conservation. Mayor Eric Garcetti in 2014 announced a plan to reduce the city’s purchase of imported water from Metropolitan Water District by one-half by 2025 and to provide one-half of the city’s supply from local sources by 2035. (The city considers its Eastern Sierra supplies as imported water.)

Western Water Groundwater Education Bundle Gary Pitzer

Imported Water Built Southern California; Now Santa Monica Aims To Wean Itself Off That Supply
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: Santa Monica is tapping groundwater, rainwater and tighter consumption rules to bring local supply and demand into balance

The Santa Monica Urban Runoff Recycling Facility (SMURRF) treats dry weather urban runoff to remove pollutants such as sediment, oil, grease, and pathogens for nonpotable use.Imported water from the Sierra Nevada and the Colorado River built Southern California. Yet as drought, climate change and environmental concerns render those supplies increasingly at risk, the Southland’s cities have ramped up their efforts to rely more on local sources and less on imported water.

Far and away the most ambitious goal has been set by the city of Santa Monica, which in 2014 embarked on a course to be virtually water independent through local sources by 2023. In the 1990s, Santa Monica was completely dependent on imported water. Now, it derives more than 70 percent of its water locally.

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Septic Systems

In rural areas with widely dispersed houses, reliance upon a centralized sewer system is not practical compared to individual wastewater treatment methods. These on-site management facilities – or septic systems – are more commonplace given their simpler structure, efficiency and easy maintenance.

Aquapedia background Layperson's Guide to California Water California Water Map

Microplastics

Microplastics

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. 

Part of their appeal to hygienic and medical interests is their tendency to absorb surrounding chemicals and later release them. This quality makes microplastics ideal as small commercial sponges, but poses a hazard as water contaminants, potentially carrying harmful chemicals through the food chain as they are ingested.

Challenges of Removing Microplastics 

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.

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Coliform Bacteria

Coliform Bacteria as Indices

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.

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Biochemical Oxygen Demand

The biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of water determines the impact of decaying matter on species in a specific ecosystem. Sampling for BOD tests how much oxygen is needed by bacteria to break down the organic matter.

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Point Source vs. Nonpoint Source Pollution

Point Source Pollution

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.

Video

Restoring a River: Voices of the San Joaquin

This 30-minute documentary-style DVD on the history and current state of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program includes an overview of the geography and history of the river, historical and current water delivery and uses, the genesis and timeline of the 1988 lawsuit, how the settlement was reached and what was agreed to.

Video

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.

Video

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. 

Video

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.

Publication

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.

Publication

Layperson’s Guide to California Wastewater
Published 2013

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.

Publication Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Map

Layperson’s Guide to the Delta
Updated 2020

The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Delta explores the competing uses and demands on California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Included in the guide are sections on the history of the Delta, its role in the state’s water system, and its many complex issues with sections on water quality, levees, salinity and agricultural drainage, fish and wildlife, and water distribution.

Aquapedia background Layperson's Guide to California Wastewater

Wastewater Treatment Process in California

Wastewater management in California centers on the collection, conveyance, treatment, reuse and disposal of wastewater. This process is conducted largely by public agencies, though there are also private systems in places where a publicly owned treatment plant is not feasible.

In California, wastewater treatment takes place through 100,000 miles of sanitary sewer lines and at more than 900 wastewater treatment plants that manage the roughly 4 billion gallons of wastewater generated in the state each day.

Western Water Magazine

A Drought-Proof Supply: The Promise of Recycled Water
July/August 2008

This printed copy of Western Water examines recycled water – its use, the ongoing issues and the prospects it holds for extending water supplies.