Water quality in California is regulated by several state
agencies, including the State Water Resources Control Board
(State Water Board) and its nine regional boards, which
enforce clean water laws and the Department of Public Health.
Water quality concerns are also often involved in disputes
over water rights, particularly in situations involving
endangered species or habitat.
The State Water Board administers the Clean Water Grant Program
that funds construction of wastewater treatment facilities. The
State Water Board also issues general permits for municipalities
and construction sites that try to prevent contaminants from
those sources from entering municipal storm sewers.
Drinking water standards and regulations are developed by federal
and state agencies to protect public health. In California, the
Department of Public Health administers the federal Safe
Drinking Water Act, which regulates drinking water quality in the
United States.
Antioch is investing in its water supply future. A new $110
million desalination plant is being built in Antioch. With
construction underway at an existing water treatment facility,
the new desalination plant will service the needs of Antioch’s
population of more than 115,000 people, as well as help to
improve its water supply reliability, city officials say.
… The primary reason for the need for the desalination
plant is due to increased salinity in the water supply. The
city of Antioch derives much of its water source from the San
Joaquin River …
The presence of harmful algal blooms in the Tahoe Keys Lagoon
has been detected and officials are asking people to stay out
of the water within a specific area. The Lahontan Regional
Water Quality Control Board on Friday announced that tests
confirmed the presence of harmful algae and have posted signs
in certain areas to coincide with potential health risks
present. Lahontan said it regularly monitors the lagoon at
multiple locations and these multiple advisories exist due to
the varying levels of toxin detections. The latest results from
the HAB sampling indicate the highest levels have been detected
at the corner of Venice and Alpine Drive, resulting in a danger
advisory.
The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band is calling on Santa Clara
County to stop a project they say will destroy hundreds of
acres of sacred land. A private company wants to build a sand
and gravel mining plant there and will need the county’s
approval to do it. It’s not just the tribe that’s against
this project. The tribe has the support of San Jose Mayor
Sam Liccardo, the ACLU and environmental groups like Green
Foothills. They all say the risks far outweigh the benefits and
once the damage is done, there’s no turning back. …
[E]nvironmentalists also say digging pits hundreds of feet into
the soil will have devastating effects on the groundwater table
and interrupt the migration patterns of animals that live
there.
On Friday, October 7th, the California Environmental Law &
Policy Center at U.C. Davis School of Law will convene a major,
day-long conference to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the
federal Clean Water Act. The event will assess the
progress the U.S. has made over the past half-century in
abating water pollution; focus on some of the law’s most
contentious, current features; and predict how the Act will
likely–and should–evolve in the decades to come.
Firefighters have made substantial progress this week in
containing the Mosquito Fire, as a storm system brought several
inches of rain to the Northern California foothills and allowed
the last remaining mandatory evacuation orders in Placer and El
Dorado counties to be lifted. … The National Weather
Service earlier this week, on Monday and Tuesday, issued a
flash flood watch for the Mosquito Fire zone, advising that
thunderstorms could cause dangerous debris flows. Fortunately,
the advisory expired with no significant flooding reported. The
Mosquito Fire, California’s largest wildfire of 2022, destroyed
78 structures and damaged 13 others, mostly homes in the
Michigan Bluff and Volcanoville communities. Cal Fire says its
damage assessment is complete.
According to a September 15 Environment California press
release, California Department of Pesticide Regulation (CDPR)
data confirm more bad news on neonicotinoid (neonic)
contamination: nearly all urban waterways in three counties
show the presence of the neonic imidacloprid at levels
above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s)
chronic benchmark for harm to aquatic ecosystems; in five other
counties, well over half showed its presence at similar levels.
Neonic use is strongly correlated with die-offs and other harms
to a variety of bees and pollinators, and to other beneficial
organisms.
The Six Rivers National Forest Fisheries Program has partnered
with the Klamath Basin Fish Health Assessment Team to monitor
water quality and fish health conditions in the Klamath River.
This is in response to increased mortality and disease rates
among the chinook and steelhead salmon populations in the
river. According to officials, this die-off is a result of poor
fish health conditions in the Klamath River due to changes in
flows, water temperature and fish density. These conditions
began to change in early August due to the nearby McKinney
Fire’s effect on the water.
The devastating drought is continuing to ravage the Central
Valley and is creating more of a water crisis for farmers.
Right along the edge of West Fresno County sits miles and miles
of uprooted almond trees. Farmer Joe Del Bosque says he’s never
seen it like this. … Del Bosque says they’ve done
everything to be efficient with their water. He says every
orchard and field has water-saving technology. But that’s
not enough. Now, he’s calling on lawmakers to increase their
water storage to be able to save more water in the future.
Tribal scientists had hoped that the incoming fall run of adult
chinook salmon would escape the devastating effects of August’s
debris slide on the Klamath River, which killed tens of
thousands of fish. But they were disappointed. The salmon,
which were gathering at the estuary at the time of the debris
slide, migrated upstream early to spawn and found themselves
trapped in toxic waters. … What the river really needs,
according to Karuk Tribal Fisheries Field Supervisor Kenneth
Brink, is a good springtime flow to flush out the debris. But
spring, of course, isn’t coming anytime soon. There is water
behind Iron Gate, the Klamath’s lowermost dam, but toxic algal
blooms have made it hazardous to salmon, too.
The Environmental Defense Center (“EDC”) reached a final
settlement with the City of Lompoc over ongoing violations of
the federal Clean Water Act caused by the City’s operation of
its municipal wastewater treatment facility. Evidenced by the
City’s own reports, EDC discovered that the City has been
discharging water contaminated with toxic pollutants for over
twenty years into the San Miguelito Creek and the Santa Ynez
River. These discharges threaten public recreation
opportunities and impact downstream water quality and the
health of the Santa Ynez River ecosystem, which is important to
snowy plovers and other shorebirds, along with endangered
steelhead that travel through the River estuary to the ocean
and back upstream to spawning grounds as part of their
lifecycle.
At times this summer, the shores of San Francisco Bay looked
like a piscine battlefront — strewn with dead white and
green sturgeon, leopard sharks, striped bass, bat rays, smelt,
anchovies, and other fish. It started in late July in Alameda
and expanded throughout the entire Bay. By late August, some
10,000 fish had reportedly died at Oakland’s Lake Merritt
alone. … The murk came from the sheer density of the culprit,
which was multiplying in the millions: a miniscule organism
called Heterosigma akashiwo — akashiwo means “red tide” in
Japanese.
This week’s rain has been a welcome sight for those dealing
with the impacts of the Mosquito Fire. The early season
moisture has helped to significantly dampen fire activity over
the last several days. Estimates and measurements show
that anywhere from 1 to 2.5 inches of rain has fallen over the
burn region since Sunday morning. But as that rain runs
down the steep canyons and into Placer County’s many waterways,
ash and debris from the fire’s burn area can easily end up in
the water supply system. Andy Fecko, general manager of
the Placer County Water Agency, said plans to keep that water
supply safe began the night the fire was first reported near
Oxbow Reservoir.
Incarcerated Californians — and those who live in neighboring
rural communities — may be exposed to dangerous levels of
arsenic in their drinking water, a new study has found. Arsenic
concentrations in the water supply of the Kern Valley State
Prison and three nearby Central Valley communities exceeded
regulatory limits for months or even years at a time, according
to the study, published on Wednesday in Environmental
Health Perspectives. To draw their conclusions, the
authors combed through 20 years of water quality data from the
prison and the adjacent communities of Allensworth, McFarland
and Delano, where groundwater aquifers contain unhealthy levels
of naturally occurring arsenic.
Marine scientist Dr. William Cochlan is old friends with the
tiny algae blamed for the recent devastating bloom in San
Francisco Bay. He and his colleagues at the Estuary and Ocean
Science Center in Tiburon first identified it during an event
here nearly two decades ago. … For more than a century
since the Gold Rush, the Bay has been historically murkier, in
part because of the heavy runoff from hydraulic mining. But for
several reasons, many of them good, the Bay water is now
generally clearer, allowing sunlight to reach the algae. Add to
that, the increased volume of wastewater released from our
treatment plants introduce more nutrients like nitrogen into
the mix.
Funding from Arizona Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly’s
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs law will be used to provide
more safe drinking water across the state. … Over
$32,000,000 will be provided towards Arizona projects through
the Environmental Protection Agency.
Microplastics, or the small fragments of plastics and polymers
from clothing, packaging and cosmetics, are now found virtually
everywhere on Earth — from the highest peaks to the depths
of the ocean. At five millimeters long or less, these tiny
specks are also cropping up in the air we breathe, the food we
eat and the water we drink. Microplastics have been detected in
commercially farmed shellfish and, recently, in beef and pork,
with little known about how much plastic we’re ingesting — or
the impacts of this material on our health or the health of the
planet. That’s why this month, California took the first
step in regulating microplastics in its municipal water
supplies, making it the first government agency in the world to
do so.
According to the Rev. Dennis Hutson, people used to love the
taste of Allensworth’s water. … Now, many residents of
this historically Black community know that it is not safe to
drink water from the wells in their town. Like many areas
throughout California, the groundwater beneath Allensworth is
tainted with dangerous levels of arsenic, a highly carcinogenic
element that can seep into the water table from
deposits in the soil and bedrock.
Thousands of dead fish have washed up on shores across the Bay
Area in recent weeks. A red tide is killing everything from
anchovies to sharks. Preventing a similar disaster may cost the
region billions of dollars. In late July, Mary Spicer noticed
that the water lapping around her kayak started to turn red. A
few weeks later it was dark brown. … Jon Rosenfield,
senior scientist with environmental group SF
Baykeeper, says Heterosigma may be killing fish in two
ways: It can produce a toxin that is deadly to fish, but it can
also result in low dissolved oxygen levels in the water, which
can be deadly.
A new study from the National Aeronautics and Space
Administration (NASA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
Western States Water Council (WSWC) and Airborne Snow
Observatories, Inc. points the way to accelerating how
knowledge and technology are transferred to and from public
agencies and environmental organizations. … In this
latest paper, the team outlines a path for how to protect
environmental resources by not only offering technical
solutions, but by developing strategic relationships and
fostering a culture of organizational support. Two water case
studies – the Airborne Snow Observatory (ASO) and the
Cyanobacteria Assessment Network (CyAN) – are used to highlight
how effective knowledge and technology transfer can be
done.
Contaminated water has been found in urban areas in California,
including the affects to the Central Coast, according to data
released by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation.
Imidacloprid is a neonicotinoid (or neonics), a pesticide that
is also linked to bee die-offs. These pesticides are shown to
disrupt the nervous system of bees, other insects and songbirds
causing paralysis and death. … According to the CDPR,
this insecticide can remain in the soil for long periods of
time and be transported by rain or irrigation systems, which
leads to contamination in California’s water.
Already battered by drought, dwindling supplies and climate
change, California’s water treatment systems also suffer from
problems that raise the specter of long-term health issues,
according to a state report. Those findings – and others – were
contained in an audit by Michael Tilden, California’s
acting state auditor. The audit, released in July, focused on
the State Water Resources Control Board (better known as the
Water Board), which regulates the condition of water across
California. Despite the State Water Board’s celebration of
the 50th anniversary of the Clean Water Act, the
legislation that protects clean state water, Tilden’s audit
found that the state of clean water across California needs
improvement.
Starting in late August of this year, the San Francisco
Baykeeper and state and regional authorities
began receiving increasingly frequent reports of
unprecedented numbers of dead fish in the path of a
massive “red tide” algae bloom on San Francisco Bay. The
fish included large sturgeon, sharks, bat rays, and
striped bass, as well as big quantities of smaller fish
such as gobies and anchovies, in the water and along the
shoreline of the bay. As a investigative reporter who has
focused on fish, water, environmental justice and
regulatory capture issues for 40 years, the images of the dead
fish and other marine organisms were particularly devastating,
since I’ve spent thousands of hours fishing on and reporting on
the San Francisco Bay-Delta Estuary.
Lake Merritt, in the center of Oakland, California, is a tidal
estuary connected to the Pacific Ocean. It usually teems with
life, both human and marine. In early September, its 3-mile
shoreline was bustling with joggers. But in the
sunset-blackened waters, the gleaming white corpses of
thousands of decaying fish bobbed along in the gentle tide and
piled up in mounds along the lagoon’s edges. In late July, an
algae bloom began spreading in San Francisco Bay, which
stretches 60 miles north to south.
One of the most hotly debated issues in California wine these
days involves a chemical that can be found in every Home Depot
in America: Roundup. Monsanto’s high-profile herbicide is the
go-to method of weed control for many California vineyards. …
But Roundup’s active ingredient, glyphosate, is probably a
carcinogen, according to the World Health Organization.
… That revelation has spurred a new outcry in the
California wine industry. Some winegrowers who farm according
to organic, biodynamic or regenerative protocols — which
prohibit the use of glyphosate and other synthetic chemicals —
are speaking out against Roundup with renewed fervor, calling
for an end to its use in vineyards.
State and local governments across the country are suing
manufacturers of toxic chemicals that are contaminating much of
the nation’s drinking water, aiming to shield water customers
and taxpayers from the massive cost of cleaning them up. These
pervasive “forever chemicals,” known as PFAS, are linked to a
variety of health hazards, including cancer. Now, as state
lawmakers and federal regulators get serious about removing
them, scores of governments and water suppliers are in pitched
court battles over who is on the hook for hundreds of billions
of dollars in damage — the companies that created the chemicals
or the customers who are drinking them. … In Orange
County, Calif., water managers found PFAS in dozens of wells
that draw from a vast groundwater basin that supplies 2.5
million people.
For a third time, the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation
District (Regional San) has been recognized as a Utility of the
Future Today by a partnership of water sector organizations.
The Utility of the Future Today Recognition Program was
launched in 2016 by a partnership of water sector
organizations, including the National Association of Clean
Water Agencies, the Water Environment Federation, the Water
Research Foundation, and the WateReuse Association. Input was
also provided from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The goal of the program is to guide utilities of all sizes
toward smarter, more efficient operations and resource
recovery.
The water scarcity California has been experiencing over the
last two decades is the result of the worst drought to hit the
American Southwest in the past 1,200 years. … [I]ssues
regarding water quality arise due to the state’s high use of
pesticides in agriculture, with several Environmental
Protection Agency-reapproved toxic herbicides not being
regulated by state legislation. From 2004 to 2015, over 2
billion pounds of pesticides have been used in California, with
the most recent numbers indicating an annual use of 209
million pounds. Though it represents only 2-3% of total U.S.
cropland, the Golden State uses up to 20% of all pesticides
employed in the U.S. -Written by Stan Gottfredson, CEO of Atraxia
Law, a San Diego-based firm that helps agricultural workers and
their families affected by paraquat exposure compile the
necessary information to support their Parkinson’s disease
injury claims against liable manufacturers.
Utah’s Great Salt Lake is smaller and saltier than at any time
in recorded history. In July, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
reported that the world’s third-largest saline lake had dropped
to the lowest level ever documented. And last week researchers
measured the highest salt concentrations ever seen in the
lake’s southern arm, a key bird habitat. Salinity has climbed
to 18%, exceeding a threshold at which essential microorganisms
begin to die. The trends, driven by drought and water
diversion, have scientists warning that a critical feeding
ground for millions of migrating birds is at risk of collapse.
With water contamination at Point Reyes National Seashore at
dangerous levels, the California Coastal Commission gave the
green light Thursday to a strategy to regulate private ranchers
and require them to stop practices that increase fecal
pollution from cattle. The commission spent hours Thursday
debating a second version of a water-quality strategy from the
National Park Service, to address chronic water pollution
caused by private ranching in the only national seashore on the
West Coast.
A secluded stretch of beach near Torrance and Rancho Palos
Verdes was closed Wednesday morning after 5,000 gallons of
sewage spilled into nearby Malaga Creek, officials said.
Lifeguards with the Los Angeles County Fire Department walked
along RAT Beach, just south of Torrance Beach, warning people
to stay out of the water, said Kealiinohopono Barnes, a
spokesperson for the department. … The spill
occurred sometime Tuesday evening when a main sewer line in
Rancho Palos Verdes became backed up, possibly because of tree
roots, said Liz Odenhal, spokesperson for L.A. County
Supervisor Janice Hahn’s office.
California water regulators [Wednesday] approved the world’s
first requirements for testing microplastics in drinking water
sources — a key step towards regulating tiny fragments that are
ubiquitous in the environment. After years of research
involving more than two-dozen laboratories, the State Water
Resources Control Board unanimously approved a policy handbook
for testing water supplies for microplastics over four years.
Under the plan approved [Wednesday], up to 30 of the state’s
largest water providers will be ordered to start quarterly
testing for two years, beginning in the fall of 2023.
After an unprecedented harmful algae bloom first turned San
Francisco Bay a murky brown color and then littered its shores
with dead fish, many people assumed it was yet another climate
disaster to add to the list, along with extreme drought,
wildfires and heat waves. While scientists suspect climate
change played a role in triggering the bloom, what fueled it is
not a mystery. Algae blooms need food to grow, and this one had
plenty: nutrients originating in wastewater that the region’s
37 sewage plants pump into the bay. In other words — we
wouldn’t have this problem without the poop and pee of the Bay
Area’s 8 million residents.
Microplastic is everywhere. The tiny particles that shed from
clothing, food packaging and tires are in the air, the soil,
the ocean and, almost certainly, your drinking water. This
week, California is poised to become the first place in the
nation, and perhaps the world, to begin requiring water
agencies to test for the contaminant. State water regulators,
after years of working with more than 20 labs in seven nations
to pioneer a means of monitoring microplastics, are scheduled
to adopt a testing and reporting requirement Wednesday.
As the price of the metal — a critical battery component —
soars, tribal members, ranchers and activists in Nevada
want to block a mine some see as an “environmental
nightmare.”
New water quality tests conducted at several waterways in the
Point Reyes National Seashore found unsafe levels of fecal
bacteria, including up to 170 times the state health standard
for E. coli at one site. The tests were performed by Douglas
Lovell of the Streamborn environmental engineering firm in
Berkeley. Environmental organizations that raised funds to hire
Lovell said the test results are the latest proof that the
National Park Service is not efficiently addressing water
pollution caused by private cattle and dairy ranches that lease
land from the park.
Toxic algae that can make people sick have been found in
popular swimming and fishing spots all around California.
Indian Creek Reservoir, 30 miles southwest of Lake Tahoe, is
one such location where harmful algal blooms (HABs) have been
confirmed. The California Water Quality Monitoring Council has
also detected a red tide HAB in San Francisco Bay, as well as
“dangerous” levels of algal toxins in Clear Lake, Lake Crowley,
and Bridgeport reservoir.
A toxic algae bloom known as “red tide” is likely the cause of
fish and other sea animals dying and washing up on shores
around the Bay Area – including the shores of San Pablo Bay on
the west side of Mare Island. Dozens, if not hundreds of
sturgeon have washed up in recent days, as well as a handful of
bass. The losses among the sturgeon population have been great
enough from this red tide event that state Fish and Wildlife
Service officials are reportedly considering shutting down the
sturgeon fishery to fishing.
Late last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.
EPA) moved forward to list perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and
perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) (including their salts and
structural isomers) as “hazardous substances” under the
Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and
Liability Act (CERCLA) (otherwise known as “Superfund”).
EPA released a pre-publication version of a proposed rulemaking
that officially begins U.S. EPA’s efforts to regulate and
address per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)
contamination.
Oceanside is preparing to launch a $7 million upgrade of its
downtown storm drain system to prevent seasonal flooding, but
the California Coastal Commission has raised concerns about the
plan. City officials met with the Coastal Commission staff Aug.
24 to discuss a possible 90-day extension of the city’s
application for a coastal development permit needed for the
project. The three-month delay should give the city enough time
to resolve issues the commission has raised about what’s called
the storm drain system’s “outfall,” where the water empties
onto the beach at Surfrider Way, said Jonathan Smith, the
project manager for the city, on Monday.
A harmful algal bloom known as a red tide is killing off
“uncountable” numbers of fish in the San Francisco Bay Area,
with residents reporting rust-colored waters, and piles of
stinking fish corpses washing ashore. The fish, first reported
dead along the San Mateo County shoreline last Tuesday, are
most likely being asphyxiated as a result of the algae, said
Jon Rosenfield, a senior scientist with San Francisco
Baykeeper, an environmental group that is tracking the fish
kill. … While such algal blooms are not uncommon, the
scope and deadliness of the one in the Bay Area is concerning,
Dr. Rosenfield said. Even the hardiest of fish, like the
sturgeon, an ancient creature, are dying, he said. Bat rays,
striped bass, yellowfin gobies and even sharks are washing
ashore dead.
The three-year-long Control Methods Test (CMT) began this
summer in the Tahoe Keys. The projected mid-July reopening date
of closed waterways has come and gone and it may be several
more weeks until boaters, paddlers, swimmers, and pets can
access those closed areas. The reason for the delay is the need
for the double turbidity curtains to stay in place for
waterways treated with herbicides. Per their permit with
Lahontan Water Board, the Tahoe Keys Property Owners
Association (TKPOA) and those hired to do the tests cannot
remove the curtains until all herbicide residues from Triclopyr
get below 1 part per billion. It is currently hovering around 3
parts per billion according to the TKPOA interim General
Manager Mark Madison.
One of the Bay Area’s largest algae blooms in recent memory
could intensify with the arrival later this week of the
longest, most intense heat wave of the year — creating
pitch-perfect conditions for the toxic algae to potentially
kill even more fish across the San Francisco Bay, experts and
water regulators said Monday. The bloom — which is a chief
suspect in the killing of thousands of fish across the San
Francisco Bay over the last several days — appears to be
affecting everything from tiny yellowfin goby to sharks, bat
rays and possibly even green sturgeon, an already threatened
species.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released the
pre-publication of the long-awaited Proposed Rule designating
perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic
acid (PFOS) as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive
Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act
(CERCLA), also known as “Superfund.” The White House
Office of Management and Budget found the proposed rule to be
economically significant. This designation means the rule is
expected to annually cost $100 million or more, and requires
the EPA to conduct a Regulatory Impact Analysis.
When it comes to climate change, cows have taken a reputational
hit. These belching bovines have been villainized for releasing
methane, a greenhouse gas with more than 25 times the
heat-trapping power of carbon dioxide. But now, a growing
number of Bay Area farmers are working to repolish the image of
the humble dairy cow, recasting their role from gaseous
emitters to carbon-capturing machines and powering farmers’
ability to fight the impacts of climate change. Chief among
them is Albert Straus, founder and owner of Straus Family
Creamery and Dairy in Marshall, an unincorporated town on the
northeast shore of Tomales Bay.
PFAS, a group of manufactured chemicals commonly used since the
1940s, are called “forever chemicals” for a reason. Bacteria
can’t eat them; fire can’t incinerate them; and water can’t
dilute them. And, if these toxic chemicals are buried, they
leach into surrounding soil, becoming a persistent problem for
generations to come. Now, Northwestern University chemists
have done the seemingly impossible. Using low temperatures and
inexpensive, common reagents, the research team developed a
process that causes two major classes of PFAS compounds to fall
apart, leaving behind only benign end products.
Seven years ago, after the fish died, Sarah Ryan decided she
couldn’t wait any longer for help. California at the time was
in the depths of its worst drought in the last millennium and
its ecosystems were gasping. For Ryan, the fish kill in Clear
Lake, the state’s second largest and the centerpiece of Lake
County, was the last straw. Ryan is the environmental director
for Big Valley Rancheria, a territory of the Big
Valley Band of Pomo Indians that sits on the ancient
lake’s western shore. She and others raised alarms for several
years about increasingly dire blooms of toxic cyanobacteria.
Golf courses are highly managed landscapes, requiring constant
human intervention to maintain them in the form desired by
their users. But what would it take to convert a golf course
into a more natural state, one that is resilient to climate
change, benefits protected aquatic species, and meets the needs
of the human community of which it is a part? A former golf
course in Northern California’s Marin County is undergoing just
such a conversion, and the process is expected to result in the
restoration of critical habitat for imperiled fish species
while also providing a key link between multiple existing
preservation areas. Intensive hydrologic work will underpin
these efforts.
Looking out across the San Francisco Bay, you might notice it’s
looking a little murky. Experts say the reason is a potentially
harmful algae bloom that’s spreading in waters throughout the
Bay Area. It’s called Heterosigma akashiwo and it’s what’s
currently causing the water in the bay to look so dirty and
brown. … Scientists at San Francisco Baykeeper, including
[Ian] Wren and field investigator Aundi Mevoli, are studying
the algae closely. They’ve been taking water samples from
different parts of the bay and sending them to a lab in
Richmond to be analyzed. He said they have seen the algae
around San Francisco, Oakland, Emeryville, Berkeley and
Richmond. It’s also been reported in other areas, including
Lake Merritt.
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla, D-California, and U.S. Rep. Tom
McClintock, R-Roseville, made an appearance in Nevada on
Tuesday to join this year’s Lake Tahoe Summit — an annual
discussion among state, federal and environmental leaders on
how to better the Lake Tahoe Basin. Hosted by U.S. Sen. Jacky
Rosen, D-Nevada, this year’s conference revolved around the
prompt “Protecting Lake Tahoe’s Future” — noting both the
accomplishments made over the years, and how to move forward as
climate change continues to bring about new or intensified
challenges to the community. Many leaders mentioned water
quality, forest management and wildfires as talking points.
Summers in the Bay Area are an invitation to water. Kayaks
floating along the shoreline at Big Break, vacationers lounging
at Niles Beach, adventurers tubing the Russian River, and
fishers hanging lines off the pier at Lake Temescal. As the
1970 Mungo Jerry hit put it “In the summertime, when the
weather is fine, We go fishing or go swimming in the sea.” But
all of these recreational spots have had advisories for harmful
algal blooms (HABs) or toxic algal mats in July this year. HABs
are increasing in incidence, duration, and toxicity statewide
and so are their health impacts on humans, domestic animals,
and wildlife. Many reservoirs that store drinking water have
also been impacted.
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.”
The lower Colorado River has virtually every drop allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states, 30 tribal nations and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
Hyatt Place Las Vegas At Silverton Village
8380 Dean Martin Drive
Las Vegas, NV 89139
Radically transformed from its ancient origin as a vast tidal-influenced freshwater marsh, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem is in constant flux, influenced by factors within the estuary itself and the massive watersheds that drain though it into the Pacific Ocean.
Lately, however, scientists say the rate of change has kicked into overdrive, fueled in part by climate change, and is limiting the ability of science and Delta water managers to keep up. The rapid pace of upheaval demands a new way of conducting science and managing water in the troubled estuary.
Out of sight and out of mind to most
people, the Salton Sea in California’s far southeast corner has
challenged policymakers and local agencies alike to save the
desert lake from becoming a fetid, hyper-saline water body
inhospitable to wildlife and surrounded by clouds of choking
dust.
The sea’s problems stretch beyond its boundaries in Imperial and
Riverside counties and threaten to undermine multistate
management of the Colorado River. A 2019 Drought Contingency Plan for the
Lower Colorado River Basin was briefly stalled when the Imperial
Irrigation District, holding the river’s largest water
allocation, balked at participating in the plan because, the
district said, it ignored the problems of the Salton Sea.
Voluntary agreements in California
have been touted as an innovative and flexible way to improve
environmental conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
and the rivers that feed it. The goal is to provide river flows
and habitat for fish while still allowing enough water to be
diverted for farms and cities in a way that satisfies state
regulators.
This event explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs was the focus of this tour.
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.
The majestic beauty of the Sierra
Nevada forest is awe-inspiring, but beneath the dazzling blue
sky, there is a problem: A century of fire suppression and
logging practices have left trees too close together. Millions of
trees have died, stricken by drought and beetle infestation.
Combined with a forest floor cluttered with dry brush and debris,
it’s a wildfire waiting to happen.
Fires devastate the Sierra watersheds upon which millions of
Californians depend — scorching the ground, unleashing a
battering ram of debris and turning hillsides into gelatinous,
stream-choking mudflows.
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.
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.
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.
This tour explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial needs is the focus of this tour.
Silverton Hotel
3333 Blue Diamond Road
Las Vegas, NV 89139
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:
Sixty percent of California’s developed water supply
originates high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our water
supply is largely dependent on the health of our Sierra forests,
which are suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought,
wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
We headed into the foothills and the mountains to examine
water issues that happen upstream but have dramatic impacts
downstream and throughout the state.
GEI (Tour Starting Point)
2868 Prospect Park Dr.
Rancho Cordova, CA 95670.
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.
We explored the lower Colorado River where virtually every drop
of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad
sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and
climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in
the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin
states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this
water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial
needs was the focus of this tour.
Hampton Inn Tropicana
4975 Dean Martin Drive, Las Vegas, NV 89118
California voters may experience a sense of déjà vu this year when they are asked twice in the same year to consider water bonds — one in June, the other headed to the November ballot.
Both tackle a variety of water issues, from helping disadvantaged communities get clean drinking water to making flood management improvements. But they avoid more controversial proposals, such as new surface storage, and they propose to do some very different things to appeal to different constituencies.
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.
Sixty percent of California’s developed water supply
originates high in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Our water
supply is largely dependent on the health of our Sierra forests,
which are suffering from ecosystem degradation, drought,
wildfires and widespread tree mortality.
This three-day, two-night tour explored the lower Colorado River
where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand
is growing from myriad sources — increasing population,
declining habitat, drought and climate change.
The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to 40 million people in
the Southwest across seven states and Mexico. How the Lower Basin
states – Arizona, California and Nevada – use and manage this
water to meet agricultural, urban, environmental and industrial
needs is the focus of this tour.
Best Western McCarran Inn
4970 Paradise Road
Las Vegas, NV 89119
Algal blooms in rivers, creeks and
lakes are an increasing
occurrence in California, threatening human health and safety as
well as pets. Blue-green algal blooms (cyanobacteria) occur in
California during the summer months because hot temperatures
combined with low water levels stimulate growth. If there are
excess nutrients present in their environment, especially
nitrogen and phosphorus, algae populations grow at accelerated
rates, creating algal blooms.
Potable water, also known as
drinking water, comes from surface and ground sources and is
treated to levels that that meet state and federal standards for
consumption.
Water from natural sources is treated for microorganisms,
bacteria, toxic chemicals, viruses and fecal matter. Drinking
raw, untreated water can cause gastrointestinal problems such as
diarrhea, vomiting or fever.
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.
This 28-page report describes the watersheds of the Sierra Nevada
region and details their importance to California’s overall water
picture. It describes the region’s issues and challenges,
including healthy forests, catastrophic fire, recreational
impacts, climate change, development and land use.
The report also discusses the importance of protecting and
restoring watersheds in order to retain water quality and enhance
quantity. Examples and case studies are included.
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.
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.
California’s little-known New River has been called one of North
America’s most polluted. A closer look reveals the New River is
full of ironic twists: its pollution has long defied cleanup, yet
even in its degraded condition, the river is important to the
border economies of Mexicali and the Imperial Valley and a
lifeline that helps sustain the fragile Salton Sea ecosystem.
Now, after decades of inertia on its pollution problems, the New
River has emerged as an important test of binational cooperation
on border water issues. These issues were profiled in the 2004
PBS documentary Two Sides of a River.
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.
World-renowned for its crystal clear, azure water, Lake Tahoe
straddles the Nevada-California border, stretching 22 miles long
and 12 miles wide and hemmed in by Sierra Nevada peaks.
At 1,645 feet deep, Tahoe is the second-deepest lake in the
United States and the 10th deepest in the world. The iconic lake
sits 6,225 feet above sea level.
The continued effort to improve water quality and reduce nonpoint
source pollution will hinge largely on a little-known pollution
control strategy known as total maximum daily loads (TMDLs),
which describe the amount of a particular pollutant that a water
body can absorb on a daily basis while remaining safe for
wildlife and people. While by no means a comprehensive
explanation of all the factors surrounding this complex subject,
this issue of Western Water provides a snapshot of TMDLs and what
they mean for water quality, supply and reliability.
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.
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.
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 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 challenges facing state,
federal and tribal officials and other stakeholders as they work
to manage terminal lakes. It includes background information on
the formation of these lakes, and overviews of the water quality,
habitat and political issues surrounding these distinctive bodies
of water. Much of the information in this article originated at
the September 2004 StateManagement Issues at Terminal Water
Bodies/Closed Basins conference.
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.
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 Western Water looks at proposed new measures to deal with
the century-old problem of salinity with a special focus on San
Joaquin Valley farms and cities.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the Russian and
Santa Ana rivers – areas with ongoing issues not dissimilar to
the rest of the state – managing supplies within a lingering
drought, improving water quality and revitalizing and restoring
the vestiges of the native past.
This printed issue of Western Water examines
desalination – an issue that is marked by great optimism and
controversy – and the expected role it might play as an
alternative water supply strategy.
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 printed issue of Western Water examines
groundwater management and the extent to which stakeholders
believe more efforts are needed to preserve and restore the
resource.
This printed issue of Western Water discusses low
impact development and stormwater capture – two areas of emerging
interest that are viewed as important components of California’s
future water supply and management scenario.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the issues
associated with the State Water Board’s proposed revision of the
water quality Bay-Delta Plan, most notably the question of
whether additional flows are needed for the system, and how they
might be provided.
This printed issue of Western Water looks at hydraulic
fracturing, or “fracking,” in California. Much of the information
in the article was presented at a conference hosted by the
Groundwater Resources Association of California.
This printed issue of Western Water features a
roundtable discussion with Anthony Saracino, a water resources
consultant; Martha Davis, executive manager of policy development
with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and senior policy advisor
to the Delta Stewardship Council; Stuart Leavenworth, editorial
page editor of The Sacramento Bee and Ellen Hanak, co-director of
research and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of
California.
This issue of Western Water looks at the BDCP and the
Coalition to Support Delta Projects, issues that are aimed at
improving the health and safety of the Delta while solidifying
California’s long-term water supply reliability.
Drawn from a special stakeholder symposium held in September 1999
in Keystone, Colorado, this issue explores how we got to where we
are today on the Colorado River; an era in which the traditional
water development of the past has given way to a more
collaborative approach that tries to protect the environment
while stretching available water supplies.
This 30-minute documentary, produced in 2011, explores the past,
present and future of flood management in California’s Central
Valley. It features stories from residents who have experienced
the devastating effects of a California flood firsthand.
Interviews with long-time Central Valley water experts from
California Department of Water Resources (FloodSAFE), U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, Central Valley Flood
Management Program and environmental groups are featured as they
discuss current efforts to improve the state’s 150-year old flood
protection system and develop a sustainable, integrated, holistic
flood management plan for the Central Valley.
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 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.
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.
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.
Water truly has shaped California into the great state it is
today. And if it is water that made California great, it’s the
fight over – and with – water that also makes it so critically
important. In efforts to remap California’s circulatory system,
there have been some critical events that had a profound impact
on California’s water history. These turning points not only
forced a re-evaluation of water, but continue to impact the lives
of every Californian. This 2005 PBS documentary offers a
historical and current look at the major water issues that shaped
the state we know today. Includes a 12-page viewer’s guide with
background information, historic timeline and a teacher’s lesson.
This 7-minute DVD is designed to teach children in grades 5-12
about where storm water goes – and why it is so important to
clean up trash, use pesticides and fertilizers wisely, and
prevent other chemicals from going down the storm drain. The
video’s teenage actors explain the water cycle and the difference
between sewer drains and storm drains, how storm drain water is
not treated prior to running into a river or other waterway. The
teens also offer a list of BMPs – best management practices that
homeowners can do to prevent storm water pollution.
This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, features
a map of the San Joaquin River. The map text focuses on the San
Joaquin River Restoration Program, which aims to restore flows
and populations of Chinook salmon to the river below Friant Dam
to its confluence with the Merced River. The text discusses the
history of the program, its goals and ongoing challenges with
implementation.
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.
A companion to the Truckee River Basin Map poster, this 24×36
inch poster, suitable for framing, explores the Carson River, and
its link to the Truckee River. The map includes Lahontan Dam and
Reservoir, the Carson Sink, and the farming areas in the basin.
Map text discusses the region’s hydrology and geography, the
Newlands Project, land and water use within the basin and
wetlands. Development of the map was funded by a grant from the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Mid-Pacific Region, Lahontan Basin
Area Office.
This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, displays
the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas
and Indian reservations within the Truckee River Basin, including
the Newlands Project, Pyramid Lake and Lake Tahoe. Map text
explains the issues surrounding the use of the Truckee-Carson
rivers, Lake Tahoe water quality improvement efforts, fishery
restoration and the effort to reach compromise solutions to many
of these issues.
Water as a renewable resource is depicted in this 18×24 inch
poster. Water is renewed again and again by the natural
hydrologic cycle where water evaporates, transpires from plants,
rises to form clouds, and returns to the earth as precipitation.
Excellent for elementary school classroom use.
This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, explains how
non-native invasive animals can alter the natural ecosystem,
leading to the demise of native animals. “Unwelcome Visitors”
features photos and information on four such species – including
the zerbra mussel – and explains the environmental and economic
threats posed by these species.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to
Water Rights Law, recognized as the most thorough explanation of
California water rights law available to non-lawyers, traces the
authority for water flowing in a stream or reservoir, from a
faucet or into an irrigation ditch through the complex web of
California water rights.
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.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to Integrated Regional Water
Management (IRWM) is an in-depth, easy-to-understand publication
that provides background information on the principles of IRWM,
its funding history and how it differs from the traditional water
management approach.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Groundwater is an in-depth,
easy-to-understand publication that provides background and
perspective on groundwater. The guide explains what groundwater
is – not an underground network of rivers and lakes! – and the
history of its use in California.
The Colorado River provides water to 40 million people and 4
million acres of farmland in a region encompassing some 246,000
square miles in the southwestern United States. The 32-page
Layperson’s Guide to the Colorado River covers the history of the
river’s development; negotiations over division of its water; the
items that comprise the Law of the River; and a chronology of
significant Colorado River events.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to California Water provides an
excellent overview of the history of water development and use in
California. It includes sections on flood management; the state,
federal and Colorado River delivery systems; Delta issues; water
rights; environmental issues; water quality; and options for
stretching the water supply such as water marketing and
conjunctive use. New in this 10th edition of the guide is a
section on the human need for water.
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.
Finding and maintaining a clean
water supply for drinking and other uses has been a constant
challenge throughout human history.
Today, significant technological developments in water treatment,
including monitoring and assessment, help ensure a drinking water
supply of high quality in California and the West.
The source of water and its initial condition prior to being
treated usually determines the water treatment process. [See also
Water Recycling.]
California’s 40 million residents, the farmers who produce $50
billion a year in agricultural commodities, the industry that
helps power the fifth-largest economy in the world and the
plants, fish and wildlife that are a vital part of the state’s
environment all depend on clean water to survive.
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.
There are nine regional water quality control boards statewide.
The nine Regional Boards are semi-autonomous and are comprised of
seven part-time Board members appointed by the Governor and
confirmed by the Senate. Regional boundaries are based on
watersheds and water quality requirements are based on the unique
differences in climate, topography, geology and hydrology for
each watershed. Each Regional Board makes critical water quality
decisions for its region, including setting standards, issuing
waste discharge requirements, determining compliance with those
requirements, and taking appropriate enforcement actions.
The federal Safe Drinking Water Act sets standards for drinking
water quality in the United States.
Launched in 1974 and administered by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, the Safe Drinking Water Act oversees states,
communities, and water suppliers who implement the drinking water
standards at the local level.
The act’s regulations apply to every public water system in the
United States but do not include private wells serving less than
25 people.
According to the EPA, there are more than 160,000 public water
systems in the United States.
California boasts some of the finest quality drinking water on
the planet. Every day, people turn on their tap and receive
clean, safe water with nary a thought. But the water people take
for granted isn’t so reliable for residents of small water
systems and many disadvantaged communities (DACs) in rural
agricultural areas.
It may surprise some people to know that California is the fourth
largest producer of crude oil in the United States and has a long
history of oil exploration. Since the 1860s, wells in Kern County
and Southern California have been tapped for more than 500,000
barrels of oil each day.
For something so largely hidden from view, groundwater is an
important and controversial part of California’s water supply
picture. How it should be managed and whether it becomes part of
overarching state regulation is a topic of strong debate.
Is the water consumed by people everyday safe to drink or should
there be concern about unregulated contaminants, many of which
are the remnants of commonly used pharmaceutical and personal
care products?
For most people in the United States, clean, safe drinking water
is a given – a part of daily life that is assumed to be a
constant, readily accessible commodity. Underpinning that fact
are the vast, mostly unheralded efforts of the many people
throughout the country who work everyday to take the raw source
water from the environment and turn it into the safe drinking
water that makes life possible.
There may be no other substance in nature as vexing as selenium.
The naturally occurring trace element gained notoriety more than
20 years ago as it wreaked havoc among birds at the Kesterson
Reservoir in California’s Central Valley. The discovery of dead
and deformed birds sparked a widespread investigation that
revealed the pervasiveness of selenium throughout much of the
West; woven into the soil and rock of the landscape.
Most people take for granted the quality of their drinking water
and for good reason. Coinciding with America’s rapid urbanization
last century was the development of an extensive infrastructure
for the storage, treatment and delivery of water for generations
to come. The improvement in the quality of water provided by
water agencies has been so phenomenal that some of the best
tasting water in the world comes not from a plastic bottle, but
from the tap.
There’s danger lurking underground. The threat cannot be seen,
heard or felt immediately, but there it resides – in shallow
pockets of groundwater and deep, cold subterranean aquifers
situated hundreds of feet below the surface. The danger manifests
itself through the most vital human activity next to breathing,
the consumption of water. Experts know there is no such thing as
pure water. Microscopic bits of a host of elements that surround
us are present in the water we drink. They exist at levels that
are harmless, and in fact some of the constituents found in tap
water are beneficial to human health.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of one of the most
significant environmental laws in American history, the Clean
Water Act (CWA). The law that emerged from the consensus and
compromise that characterizes the legislative process has had
remarkable success, reversing years of neglect and outright abuse
of the nation’s waters.
The arrival of each storm brings more than rain and snow to
thirsty California. From the coastal redwoods to the streets of
Los Angeles, water flowing from hillsides and paved surfaces
carries with it a host of pollutants that befoul tributaries,
streams and rivers. The toll on the environment is measured in
closed beaches, reduced fish populations and, in some cases, a
lower quality of available water for human use. The sources of
pollution are sometimes easy to control with existing technology.
But in other cases, the ubiquitous nature of contaminants has
left regulators in a quandary over how to solve the problem.
Drinking water is the ultimate recycled resource. It is recycled
over years, centuries and millenniums. The water we use today is
the same supply with which civilization began. The water that
once coursed down the Ganges River or splashed into Julius
Caesar’s bathing pool may end up running from the tap in your
home.
Clean air vs. clean water sums up the controversy surrounding the
gasoline additive methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), an
oxygenate designed to help fuel burn cleaner, reducing tailpipe
emissions. Since 1996, the year it was first used statewide on a
year-round basis, MTBE has reduced smog from motor vehicles by 15
percent, according to air quality officials. It’s as if 3.5
million cars have disappeared from the roads – no small feat in
the automobile – dependent Golden State.
