Topic: Water Quality

Overview

Water Quality

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.

Aquafornia news The Guardian

Environmental groups demand EPA to start monitoring microplastics in water

A new legal petition filed by more than 170 top environmental groups demands that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) begin monitoring for microplastics in drinking water, an essential first step to reining in pollution viewed as one of the nation’s most pressing public health threats. The scale of microplastic water pollution, the extent to which the substance is lodged throughout human bodies, and the many health implications have come into sharp focus in recent years, but the EPA still has not taken meaningful action, public health advocates say. The petition pushes the agency to begin monitoring microplastics as an emerging contaminant under the Safe Drinking Water Act in 2026.

Aquafornia news The Guardian

Study links higher PFAS levels to ‘superfund’ sites and limited fresh-food access

New research aimed at identifying which US neighborhoods face increased exposure to toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” found those living near “superfund” sites and other major industrial polluters, or in areas with limited access to fresh food, generally have higher levels of the dangerous compounds in their blood. The study looked at hundreds of people living in southern California and found those who do not live within a half mile of a grocery store have 14% higher levels of PFOA and PFOS – two common PFAS compounds – in their blood than those who do. … The study also found people who live in neighborhoods with water contaminated with PFAS have 70% higher blood levels of PFOS and PFOA, though there was no correlation among some other compounds.

Aquafornia news Stateline

Blue states prepare for battle over Trump’s environmental rollbacks

President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to slash federal climate, clean air and clean water regulations during his second term — an agenda that could target rules governing everything from auto emissions to power plant pollution to drinking water standards. … Business groups and many Republican leaders are cheering Trump’s plan to weaken environmental protections, arguing they are too strict and harm the economy. But in states that have focused on tackling climate change and pollution, attorneys general and lawmakers are preparing to fight back by filing lawsuits, enacting their own regulations or staffing up state environmental agencies.

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Aquafornia news The Mercury News

Water district passes new rules to remove homeless encampments from creeks in San Jose, Santa Clara County

Trying to limit widespread pollution and violent threats to their employees, board members of Silicon Valley’s largest water agency [on Nov. 26] approved a new ordinance to ban camping along 295 miles of creeks in San Jose and other parts of Santa Clara County. … The water district, based in San Jose, is a government agency that provides flood control and drinking water to 2 million county residents. Under the new ordinance, the district will set up “water protection zones” along all 295 miles of waterways where it owns property or easements or has maintenance obligations. Those areas include the Guadalupe River, Coyote Creek, Los Gatos Creek and others. In those areas, it will be illegal to build encampments, shoot fireworks, possess firearms or ammunition, or create other disturbances, like cutting trees or playing loud music. 

Aquafornia news The San Diego Union-Tribune

Air district issues odor advisory weeks after developing air quality system

Just weeks after unveiling a new odor alert system, the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District on Monday issued an advisory warning that levels of sewer gases above state thresholds were detected near the Tijuana River Valley. The district’s air monitoring equipment in Nestor recorded concentrations of hydrogen sulfide, a toxic gas that smells like rotten eggs, above the state standard of 30 parts per billion (ppb). The limit, which is intended to protect against headaches and nausea, is also designed to protect sensitive groups, such as children, older adults and people with certain health conditions. Communities including Nestor, Imperial Beach, San Ysidro and surrounding areas have reported feeling ill after smelling sewer gas odors due to untreated wastewater that spills over the border from Tijuana.

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Aquafornia news Sacramento Bee

Can Robert F. Kennedy ban fluoride in California’s water?

… Yet despite Kennedy’s looming advisement, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says the decision to fluoridate a water supply is made by state or local municipalities, and is not mandated by the Environmental Protection Agency or any other federal body. Fluoridation is common in California and throughout the country, while studies have shown it can help populations improve oral health, particularly in lower income areas. A CDC study suggested fluoridation saved an estimated $6.5 billion a year in dental treatment costs.

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Aquafornia news The New York Times

Landslides are a growing climate threat. What do we know about the risks?

A storm of heavy rain, snow, and strong winds brought dangerous conditions to the Pacific Northwest this week. By Friday, up to 16 inches of rain could inundate Northern California. The storm is what’s known as an atmospheric river, a long narrow strip heavy with moisture that slam into the mountains of the West Coast and dumps out prodigious amounts of rain. While scientists haven’t concluded whether atmospheric rivers are increasing because of climate change, a warmer atmosphere, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, can hold more moisture, which can lead to increased extreme rain events. That increase in extreme rain events has likely caused more landslides, according to experts. … Fast-moving landslides called debris flows, which are mud and rock-laden torrents, are more common on land that has recently, and severely, burned, like wildfire-scarred regions. … After Hurricane Helene, more than 2,000 landslides were triggered by the storm and at least half of those landslides caused damage to rivers, roads and structures like homes and businesses.

Aquafornia news Southern California News Group

Friday Top of the Scroll: Phillips 66 indicted on charges it dumped tainted water from California refinery into sewer system

Phillips 66, which last month announced plans to close its Los Angeles-area refineries by the end of 2025, was indicted Wednesday for allegedly discharging hundreds of thousands of gallons of industrial waste from its Carson oil refinery into the Los Angeles County sewer system during the pandemic, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said Thursday. The oil refiner, which federal attorneys claim failed to report violations to authorities, is charged with two counts of negligently violating the Clean Water Act and four counts of knowingly violating the 52-year-old federal law designed to regulate pollution in US waterways, according to documents filed in federal court in Los Angeles.

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Aquafornia news SJV Water

Determining cause of goose die-off at Truxtun Lakes will take several weeks

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is examining the carcasses of several Canada geese and one duck found dead around Truxtun Lakes to determine what killed them and about a dozen other geese earlier this month. But it will take several weeks to get the necropsy results back from the state’s Wildlife Health Laboratory, according to Abby Gwinn, a biologist with CDFW who bagged several dead birds from Truxtun Lakes on Nov. 7. She wrote in an email that another live, but sick, goose was found last week and taken to a wildlife rehabilitation facility. It also died. “This one will be particularly valuable as we know it was sick prior to passing and we have a report of the symptoms,” Gwinn wrote in an email. “It is not uncommon to have an increase in bird diseases observed during migration when birds flock together, especially when habitat is limited like it is locally this year with the dry Kern River through town.”

Aquafornia news Bloomberg Law

Boeing-scorned California water test receives tentative nod

A California state judge tentatively upheld most of the local requirements for stormwater testing that drew a legal challenge from Boeing Co. in a write-up issued before a Wednesday hearing. The Regional Water Quality Control Board in Los Angeles largely has authority to implement the new tests for toxic chemicals, Judge Stephen Goorvitch of California Superior Court, Los Angeles County said in a tentative ruling. But he may narrowly grant part of Boeing’s request by asking the board to reconsider a couple portions of the test.

​Other water qu​ality articles:

Aquafornia news Stateline

Cities, states say they’ll need more help to replace millions of lead pipes

A new federal rule will require water utilities across the country to pull millions of lead drinking water pipes out of the ground and replace them, at a cost of billions of dollars. States, cities and water utilities agree that the lead pipes need to go to ensure safe water for residents. But they say they may struggle to do so in the 10-year window required under the rule, and they fear some ratepayers will be hit with massive cost increases to pay for the work. State officials are urging Congress to provide ongoing funding for the lead replacement effort. Local leaders say they’ll need lots of help to meet the deadline. And environmental advocates are calling on states to issue bonds or provide other financial support to water utilities.

Aquafornia news The New York Times

Trump promises clean water. Will he clean up ‘forever chemicals’?

These chemicals are in the tap water of the majority of Americans, and the Trump administration could decide their fate. No, not fluoride, the cavity-fighter that Robert F. Kennedy Jr., President-elect Donald J. Trump’s health secretary pick, wants out of public drinking water. Rather, they’re harmful “forever chemicals,” also known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS. For all of Mr. Kennedy’s talk, and his contentious views on fluoride, larger battles loom over chemicals in the water we drink. Public health advocates worry that federal efforts to protect the public against PFAS and replace lead pipes could unravel under a Trump presidency.

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Aquafornia news CBS 8 San Diego

$310M in disaster funds for San Diego wastewater plant

San Diego’s congressional delegation Tuesday praised President Joe Biden for including $310 million for the South Bay International Wastewater Treatment Plant in proposed disaster relief funding. If passed, the money would add to a previously awarded $400 million in federal funding to get the plant running at full capacity and even double its capabilities. … In May, the local Congressional delegation, including Vargas and Reps. Scott Peters and Sara Jacobs, both D-San Diego, and Rep. Mike Levin, D-Dana Point, called on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to begin an investigation into pollutants from the ongoing sewage crisis at the border. 

Other water quality articles:

Aquafornia news inewssource (San Diego)

Oceanside to pay $1.5 million for sewage spill

The city of Oceanside has agreed to pay $1.5 million for illegally discharging almost 2 million gallons of sewage during what water regulators called a record-breaking storm in 2020 that overwhelmed a sewage lift station and a water reclamation facility.  The city released the sewage into several creeks, one of which flows into the Buena Vista Lagoon, a wildlife refuge home to a number of endangered species, eventually reaching the Pacific Ocean. The spill affected waters also used for recreational and fishing purposes. The fine is part of a settlement with the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board. The spill is one of several sewage system failures brought on by the increasing intensity of weather events affecting the region more broadly.

Aquafornia news E&E News by POLITICO

Friday Top of the Scroll: EPA does not regulate wastewater from plastic plants

EPA is not sufficiently regulating wastewater from plastic production plants, a new report says. The Environmental Integrity Project, a nonprofit founded by two former EPA attorneys, found that many petrochemical plants do not have any limits in their permits for discharging nitrogen and phosphorous into waterways. Of the 70 plants studied, none had limits on total nitrogen in their pollution control permits. One had a limit on phosphorous pollution.

Other water quality articles:

Aquafornia news The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Denali Water Solutions agrees to $610,000 fine for violations in Arizona, California

The public has until Dec. 16 to comment on a proposed settlement that requires Arkansas-based Denali Water Solutions LLC of Russellville to pay a $610,000 civil penalty due to alleged violations of the Clean Water Act. According to a press release from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the organic residuals recycling company has agreed to pay the sum to settle with the federal government over violations that allegedly occurred in Arizona and California. Among its work, Denali provides land application services of sewage sludge, also known as biosolids, derived from wastewater treatment facilities, according to the EPA.

Aquafornia news San Francisco Chronicle

SF’s Ocean Beach will be transformed with massive seawall

On Thursday, California’s main coastal protection agency approved a $175 million climate-related project that will transform the southern portion of San Francisco’s Ocean Beach despite fierce opposition from some members of the public. A sticking point is a massive seawall that some surfers fear could make the beach disappear.  The California Coastal Commission unanimously approved the city’s Ocean Beach Climate Change Adaptation Project, which will be funded by the city. Created by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and other agencies, the plan includes a 3,200-foot-long buried seawall designed to protect a sewage tunnel located along the coast south of Sloat Boulevard. A wastewater treatment plant is right nearby. 

Related articles:

Aquafornia news The Guardian

PFAS may be contaminating drinking water for up to 27% of Americans – study

PFAS may be contaminating drinking water for up to 70% of about 140 million people in the US who draw water from the nation’s aquifers via private or public wells, a new federal government study estimates. The findings show a potential impact on about 95 million people, or 27% of the nation’s population. The US Geological Survey sampling and modeling of groundwater contamination found readings up to 37,000 times higher than the EPA’s new drinking water limits. In some regions virtually all of those using public systems that draw from groundwater may be drinking contaminated water. This is especially a problem for those who draw from private wells, or small public wells, because neither is covered by strong new PFAS limits implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency – those people represent about 13% of the US population.

Other water quality articles:

Aquafornia news Mymotherlode.com (Sonora, Calif.)

Tuolomne Utilities Districts awarded nearly $46M for water treatment plant

Tuolumne Utilities Districts (TUD) receives one of the largest state grant awards for water system consolidation and will bring cost savings to the district and customers. A $45.6 million State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) grant/loan has been awarded to the district to construct a state-of-the-art 3 million gallons per day (mgd) regional water treatment facility at Sierra Pines in Twain Harte. The Sierra Pines Regional Water Treatment Facility (WTF) Consolidation Project aims to consolidate up to six aging surface water treatment plants, replacing them with advanced technology to ensure enhanced reliability and superior water quality for TUD customers.

Aquafornia news San Diego Union-Tribune

Sewage pollution affecting Chula Vista, not just border communities. So, city leaders declare local emergency.

Leaders of San Diego County’s second-largest city unanimously voted Tuesday to declare a local state of emergency due to the impacts of the Tijuana River sewage crisis reaching Chula Vista. The resolution is largely symbolic, calling on the White House, especially with a forthcoming change in administration, and other top government officials to fast-track more spending for solutions. Chula Vista officials are directed to “explore any and all options to improve conditions in the Tijuana River,” the proclamation reads. The council’s vote marked the first, official acknowledgment that the rampant pollution was no longer just affecting the communities closest to the river. Its effects, such as noxious sewer gas odors, are impacting people several miles away in Chula Vista.

Aquafornia news Business Insider

Fluoride in water: Why it is controversial, what are the risks, benefits

… Nearly 63% of the US population has fluoridated water flowing through their taps, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). US health experts describe fluoridated water — a voluntary practice for local water districts — as one of modern medicine’s greatest public health achievements, up there with the recognition that smoking is bad for you. … An important debate over fluoride is gaining fresh steam among scientists and legal experts. Some recent studies suggest more research is still needed on safe fluoride levels for kids. Plus, a federal ruling in California this year questioned the US government’s recommended dose. While many medical professionals — chiefly dentists — support some level of fluoridation, there is growing agreement that we still aren’t sure how much fluoride is too much.

Aquafornia news UC Davis

Study: Extreme weather from climate change speeds up groundwater pollution

Extreme weather spurred by climate change, including droughts and heavy rains, may increase the risk of nitrates from fertilizers ending up in groundwater, according to a recent study from researchers at the University of California, Davis. The study found heavy rains after a drought caused nitrates to seep 33 feet under farm fields in as little as 10 days. The study was published in Water Resources Research.

Related groundwater contamination and water pollution articles:

Aquafornia news Fox 5 KUSI (San Diego)

Chula Vista City Council issues state of emergency over Tijuana River sewage crisis

Chula Vista now joins a growing list of cities in the South Bay and San Diego County to declare a state of emergency over the Tijuana River sewage crisis.  A resolution brought forward by Mayor John McCann was unanimously approved by city council. It comes after McCann joined other mayors from the region to lobby for more funds in Washington D.C. While millions of dollars have been secured for improvements and upgrades to a wastewater treatment plant north of the border, McCann acknowledged more funding is still needed. “We know the estimate is probably a billion dollars,” McCann said.

Aquafornia news Bloomberg Law

California recycling firm accused of dumping polluted stormwater

A California food by-product recycler was accused in a new Clean Water Act lawsuit of discharging polluted stormwater into the San Joaquin River in violation of its stormwater permit. Pacific Environmental Advocates LLC’s lawsuit, filed Monday in the US District Court for the Eastern District of California, alleges that ReConserve of California – Stockton Inc. has been dumping the polluted water since March 10, 2019, from the company’s facility in Stockton, Calif.  

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Aquafornia news Daily Republic (Fairfield, Calif.)

THM levels meet strict drinking water standards in Suisun City

The city’s drinking water now meets the trihalomethane levels set forth by regulatory agencies. The levels for the past four quarters were below the maximum concentration level of 80 parts per billion. “This progress follows a series of significant updates and process improvements at the water treatment facilities aimed at reducing THM levels and ensuring water quality for Suisun City residents,” wrote City Manager Bret Prebula. Trihalomethanes, a byproduct of chlorine disinfection, can be produced during the pre-chlorination step of the water treatment process. It’s critical for removing organic materials and heavy metals.

Aquafornia news Los Angeles Times

Controversial Prop. 65 warning labels about toxic chemicals are effective, study says

… Passed as a ballot initiative, the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 has resulted in warnings being affixed to everything from vinyl-covered Bibles to gas station pumps, advising that exposure to some 900 chemicals can cause cancer, birth defects or reproductive harm. Ever since the passage of Proposition 65, policymakers and business groups have argued over whether the law is effective in preventing people from ingesting and inhaling toxic chemicals, or just providing a payday to plaintiffs attorneys. Now, a new study published in Environmental Health Perspectives has concluded that Proposition 65 has curbed exposure to toxic substances in California — and nationally. … The researchers analyzed concentrations of 11 chemicals placed on the Proposition 65 warning list and monitored by the CDC between 1999 and 2016. They included several types of phthalates, chemicals used to make plastics flexible; chloroform, a toxic byproduct from disinfecting water with chlorine; and toluene, a hazardous substance found in vehicle exhaust.

Aquafornia news Kauai Now News

UH assists with study focused on spread of drug-resistant pathogens in US waterways

New groundbreaking research involving the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa is aimed at evaluating potential human health risks from bacteria in surface water systems in four states. Courtesy of the University of Hawaiʻi The 3-year study, which recently received a $2.4 million grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, will assess the environmental spread of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens — disease-causing microorganisms that evolved to withstand the effects of antibiotics and other medicines designed to kill them — through wastewater discharge and agricultural runoff. 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. … Waterways in Nebraska, New Jersey and California join the Hawaiʻi river system were selected for the study to represent diverse environmental conditions and pollution sources.

Aquafornia news San Diego Union-Tribune

What oxygen levels in the Tijuana River estuary tell us about the impacts of the sewage crisis

… The estuary at the southern edge of California, which borders Mexico, has been too polluted with untreated wastewater and sedimentation spilling over from Tijuana. … But then, something unexpected happened. They found an opaleye inside one of the traps. That was an exciting moment for researchers at the Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve who have been monitoring the estuary’s health for years and are part of multi-agency efforts to restore the coastal wetland. “Opaleyes are more marine fish,” said [Researcher Jeff Crooks]. “So, this is showing that the species is coming in and using it as a nursery. ”There’s a connection, he added, between the small fish’s presence and the Reserve’s new preliminary findings about alarming dissolved oxygen levels in the water. Dissolved oxygen is the amount of oxygen present in water. The higher it is, the better the water quality and the more oxygen available for fish and other aquatic organisms. 

Other water-related border U.S.-Mexico articles:

Aquafornia news Farm Progress

Blog: Regenerating soil health through organic agriculture

[Scott] Park, his wife, Ulla, their son, Brian, and his wife, Jamie, operate one of the first farms in California to be certified as regenerative organic, rotating a variety of crops on 1,700 acres in the Sacramento Valley with minimal tillage and no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. Brise Tencer, executive director of the Organic Farming Research Foundation … noted that while the term regenerative agriculture means different things to different people, it typically is used to describe practices that are climate-friendly, healthy for soils and protective of biodiversity. Organic agriculture, which has a clear, legal definition that is verifiable and enforceable, shares many of the same principles and goals of regenerative farming, she said. “Organic agriculture is grounded in principles that collaborate with nature, foster healthy soils and contribute to clean water, biodiversity and thriving farm communities,” Tencer said. Also, like regenerative standards, organic standards require growers to maintain and improve soil health.

Aquafornia news KUNC (Greeley, Colo.)

Denver Water is halfway through replacing lead pipes. Why didn’t this happen sooner?

… Denver Water has found nearly 65,000 lead lines in the city, primarily in homes built before the 1950s. That’s roughly 220 miles of pipe, according to Denver Water officials. The condition of about 17,000 lines is still unknown. Since starting the Lead Reduction Program in 2020, the utility has replaced around half of the lines. They also sent Brita pitchers and filter replacements to homes that are still waiting to get their lines replaced. … These replacements come in the wake of the Flint Water Crisis in Michigan in 2014 when the city changed its water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River. Pipes corroded and there were no treatment methods in place. Lead levels were nearly double the lead action level set by the EPA in most of the homes, while others were in the hundreds or thousands for parts per billion. It put the dangers of lead in drinking water in the national spotlight. So why weren’t Denver’s lines, and others, replaced sooner?

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 AgNet West Radio Network

USDA workshop sets research roadmap for tackling PFAS challenges in agriculture

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) recently outlined steps toward addressing Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in agricultural soils and waters. In collaboration with the University of Maine and the Center of Excellence for Environmental Monitoring and Mitigation, ARS hosted a three-day workshop with over 150 experts to develop a research roadmap for handling PFAS, a persistent environmental contaminant affecting agricultural operations.

Aquafornia news San Gabriel Valley Tribune

Pico Rivera dedicates $15 million water treatment plant, to put ‘well-being first and foremost’

Mayor Andrew Lara joined other city leaders in dedicating a new water treatment facility in Pico Rivera on Monday, calling the $15 million Groundwater Treatment Project a milestone decades in the making. “This sends a message to our residents that we will put their health and well-being first and foremost,” Lara said. “This underscores Pico Rivera’s obligation to safeguard water quality for future generations and prioritize our community’s well-being through strategic investment and inter-agency collaboration.” The new treatment plant is part of the city’s 2020 Water Master Plan, launched in response to state mandates on drinking water. City staff and the City Council spent years working to safeguard the health of the community after industrial pollution contaminated many of the region’s groundwater aquifers, Lara said.

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 The Colorado Sun

Supreme Court fight over Uinta Basin Railway centers on NEPA

A showdown over the reach of environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act is set for December before the U.S. Supreme Court.  At the center of the showdown is the 88-mile Uinta Basin Railway, which intends to connect oil fields in northeastern Utah to the national rail network so far-flung refineries can access the Uinta Basin’s waxy crude. The Surface Transportation Board in 2021 approved the railroad after conducting a two-year, 1,700-page Environmental Impact Statement review under the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA.  The railroad would direct an additional 5 billion gallons of Uinta Basin crude in 2-mile long trains along tracks along the Colorado River from Grand Junction to Winter Park and then through metro Denver en route to refineries on the Gulf Coast. The project has stirred vehement opposition among environmental groups, politicians and communities along the railroad, with concerns focused on spills and wildfires. 

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 The San Diego Union-Tribune

Can toxic algae blooms be predicted? La Jolla scientists think so

… As part of a study funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Bradley Moore, a professor of marine biology, marine chemistry and geochemistry at Scripps Oceanography, worked to determine how domoic acid is produced with the hope of creating a predictive model. Now, a team of researchers from SIO, La Jolla’s J. Craig Venter Institute and other organizations appear to have done it. In September, the group published a study on predicting harmful algae blooms that contain high levels of domoic acid by tracking a single gene that serves like a canary in a coal mine — an early detector of danger. The study provides new insights into the mechanisms that drive harmful blooms and offers potential ways to forecast and mitigate their effects.

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 The Associated Press

Nevada lithium mine will crush rare plant habitat critical to its survival, lawsuit says

Conservationists and an advocacy group for Native Americans are suing the U.S. to try to block a Nevada lithium mine they say will drive an endangered desert wildflower to extinction, disrupt groundwater flows and threaten cultural resources. The Center for Biological Diversity promised the court battle a week ago when the U.S. Interior Department approved Ioneer Ltd.’s Rhyolite Ridge lithium-boron mine at the only place Tiehm’s buckwheat is known to exist in the world, near the California line halfway between Reno and Las Vegas. It is the latest in a series of legal fights over projects President Joe Biden’s administration is pushing under his clean energy agenda intended to cut reliance on fossil fuels, in part by increasing the production of lithium to make electric vehicle batteries and solar panels.

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 The Washington Post

This city told residents their water was safe from lead. Now, officials say testing was flawed.

After assuring residents here for months that their tap water is safe to drink despite earlier tests showing high lead levels, city officials announced Thursday that some of their earlier assessments were done improperly. The news in Syracuse — the latest U.S. city grappling with a crisis over contaminated drinking water — comes after officials first disclosed in August that samples collected in the spring found that dozens of homes had dangerous levels of lead exposure. The city said 10 percent of the homes it surveyed had levels more than four times the Environmental Protection Agency threshold that triggers government enforcement, or more than twice what officials found during the Flint, Michigan, water crisis a decade ago.

Other water quality and contamination articles:

Aquafornia news The Hill

New Study: Chemical fire suppressants linked to heavy metal contamination

The widespread use of certain chemical or synthetic fire suppressants may be leading to heavy metal contamination in wildfire-prone areas, a new study has found. … In an investigation of a range of these products, published Wednesday in Environmental Science & Technology Letters, the researchers found that several contained high levels of at least one metal, including chromium and cadmium. “Wildfires are associated with the release of toxic heavy metals to the environment, but until now, it was assumed that these metals came from natural sources like soil,” senior author Daniel McCurry, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Southern California, said in a statement. “We now know that fire retardants may contribute to these metal releases.”

Related article:

Aquafornia news Patch (Lake Elsinore, Calif.)

2 new barges to treat algae, toxins at Lake Elsinore’s historic lake

Through a new type of water treatment technology, officials in Lake Elsinore have been injecting oxygen into the city’s historic lake to treat the water and improve the local ecosystem. In February, Lake Elsinore installed its first Nanobubble Barge, built and operated by Moleaer Inc. The barge injects “nanobubbles” into the lake, which helps remove contaminants like algae toxins, pathogens and other harmful material. After seeing improvements to the water quality, the City Council approved the purchase of two more barges, officials announced.

Aquafornia news KFF Health News

Can a $10 billion climate bond address California’s water contamination problem?

Tucked in a $10 billion climate bond on the November ballot is an earmark to improve drinking water quality for communities such as East Orosi. Proposition 4 would allocate $610 million for clean, safe, and reliable drinking water and require at least 40% be spent on projects that benefit vulnerable populations or disadvantaged communities. But it’s a fraction of what the state says is needed. While most Californians have access to safe water, roughly 750,000 people as of late October are served by 383 failing water systems, many clustered in remote and sparsely populated areas. A June assessment by the California State Water Resources Control Board pegged the cost of repairing failing and at-risk public water systems at about $11.5 billion.

Related article:

Aquafornia news The New York Times

E.P.A. is rebounding from Trump years but faces uncertain future

The Environmental Protection Agency has largely recovered from many of the staff exits and budget cuts that occurred during the Trump administration and, in some ways, has swiftly rebounded. It has banned toxic pesticides, strengthened chemical safety protections and imposed strong climate regulations. Enforcement of pollution laws, which had plummeted under the Trump years, is starting to climb back up. But with next week’s election looming, the agency charged with protecting the environment faces more uncertainty than at any other time since its creation more than 50 years ago. … The agency … issued the first-ever limits in drinking water of PFAS, the “forever” chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems that are present in the tap water of hundreds of millions of Americans. Chemical and manufacturing groups have sued, arguing the E.P.A. exceeded its authority. 

Other election and water articles:

Aquafornia news San Francisco Chronicle

Why Nevada’s Pyramid Lake developed green swirls visible from space

Pyramid Lake in northwest Nevada, just over the California border, took on the appearance of a spooky witch’s brew several weeks before Halloween, with striking swirls of green that were visible from space. The colorful bands in the popular 125,000-acre lake, about 35 miles northeast of Reno within the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe Reservation, came courtesy of cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae. … Also on the rise in California in recent years, cyanobacteria can produce toxins that pose serious health risks to people and animals — including the thousands of recreation-goers and their pets who visit Pyramid Lake each year.

Aquafornia news The Salt Lake Tribune

As a closed Utah uranium mill seeks state approval to reopen, taxpayers are still paying to clean up others

As a Canadian company is working to restart one of Utah’s old uranium mills, federal officials are considering new steps toward cleaning up radioactive waste at another — showing the continuing toll of the last surge of uranium development in the state. … The BLM announced last week that Rio Algom Mining has developed a proposal to increase groundwater monitoring at the former Lisbon Valley Uranium Mill, and the agency is inviting the public to comment on the draft environmental impact assessment of the plan. … As millions of tourists drive through Moab every year to enjoy its singular redrock landscapes, they can see what looks like a construction site on the banks of the Colorado River. A sign identifies it as the “Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action Project,” commonly referred to as “UMTRA.” The site is another remnant of the historical uranium milling and mining that has poisoned people and places across the American Southwest.

Other Colorado River articles:

Aquafornia news U.S. Geological Survey

New maps identify legacy mercury contamination in California’s Sierra Nevada

A series of USGS interactive maps have recently been published. The maps identify locations and levels of mercury contamination resulting from historical gold mining California’s Sierra Nevada. … Many may not know that mercury was used by miners during the California Gold Rush to extract gold. Using a process called amalgamation miners would combine mercury with gold ore to form a gold-mercury amalgam. The mercury was then removed by heating. After the mercury had evaporated, pure gold was left behind. However, this method had severe environmental consequences.

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 Victorville Daily Press (Victorville, Calif.)

California authorities eradicate millions in illegally grown cannabis plants

Nearly 775,000 illegally cultivated cannabis plants across the state were eradicated in a joint effort by California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office and local and federal law enforcement partners. The enforcement was part of the Eradication and Prevention of Illicit Cannabis program (EPIC), Bonta announced this month. … The teams recovered 201 weapons, and removed infrastructure, including dams, water lines, and containers of toxic chemicals, such as carbofuran, methyl parathion, aluminum phosphate, zinc phosphide, and illegal fertilizers, state officials reported. Carbofuran, in particular, poses untold risks to public health, state officials said. A lethal insecticide that is banned in the United States, carbofuran remains on plants after application and seeps into soil and nearby water sources. 

Aquafornia news Reckon

An entire Latino generation has grown up fighting this California toxic waste dump

… Kettleman City’s location at the junction of Highway 41 and Interstate 5 — the country’s busiest interstate — brings high pollution levels. Contaminated water is still a problem for the community despite some improvements in recent years. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of acres of agricultural fields have created extreme levels of pesticide pollution. There’s even a human waste compost facility and multiple shipping facilities, like FedEx and UPS. … There have also been vital victories for residents. Since 2017, community advocates have secured improved air and water monitoring supported by state grants. In 2018, the town’s campaign against diesel emissions saw the state help with educational efforts and “No Diesel Idling.” The biggest victory coming out of the civil rights agreement was convincing the state to replace the town’s aging and unreliable water treatment system and water source.

Aquafornia news San Luis Obispo Tribune

How Phillips 66 oil refinery in SLO County will be demolished

Demolishing the Phillips 66 Santa Maria Refinery will have only one “significant and unavoidable” environmental impact, according to the final environmental impact report for the project. … The draft environmental impact report analyzed how demolishing the oil refinery and remediating the soil would effect the environment surrounding it. On Thursday, the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission voted unanimously to certify the report and approve a coastal development permit for the demolition and remediation project. … The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board will set standards for and oversee the remediation efforts. The soil will be cleaned up to an industrial land use standard, while the water must be cleaned to “background level,” which is the state of the water before contamination occurred, county project manager Susan Strachan said.

Aquafornia news Turlock Journal

Keyes soon to have the ‘best and safest water ever’

Keyes Community Services District general manager Ernie Garza wants the people of Keyes to know that they don’t have to be “afraid of the faucet.” Earlier this month, construction began on a long-awaited water filtration project in Keyes that will eliminate the chemical called 1,2,3-trichloropropane from being a threat to the town’s drinking water system. In 1992, 123 TCP was added to the list of chemicals known to the state to cause cancer, pursuant to California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act. It has been used as a cleaning and degreasing solvent and also is associated with pesticide products, according to the State Water Resources Control Board.

Aquafornia news Eos

Lack of water quality data is a form of environmental injustice

Flooding has become a common occurrence in the East Houston neighborhood where ecologist Jessica Díaz Vázquez grew up. When the water rises, she and other residents of this predominantly Latinx community wonder whether pollutants from nearby petrochemical plants are coming with it. “You don’t want to go near [the water] because you really just don’t know what could be in it,” said Vázquez, who is now a fellow at NOAA. Hers isn’t the only community wondering what’s in its water. According to a new study published in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, lakes in communities where more than a quarter of residents are Hispanic or people of color are 3 times less likely to have been monitored for water quality than lakes in predominantly white, non-Hispanic areas of the United States.

Aquafornia news ABC 10 Sacramento

California’s Dying Lakes: Lake Elsinore

… ABC10 meteorologist Rob Carlmark took a trip to Southern California’s largest natural lake, Lake Elsinore. This lake is facing the same scenario, but the leaders of the community surrounding the lake are taking the next step. They put forth real action and are getting results. … It’s the largest natural freshwater lake in Southern California. It is fairly shallow but six miles long and the surface area is nearly 3,000 acres. … When the lake turned green with toxic cyanobacteria algae in 2022, the town was heavily impacted. They’ve had numerous periods of the water turning green, but the outbreak prompted a six-month closure. Residents demanded Lake Elsinore’s mayor and city council address the issue.

Related articles:

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 Stanford Report/Stanford University

Blog: For William Tarpeh, polluted water is full of potential

… For the first paper, published in June in the journal Energy & Environmental Science, William Tarpeh and his co-authors – including first author Dean Miller, a Stanford PhD candidate in chemical engineering – used wastewater from a Palo Alto treatment plant to test a process for converting nitrate into ammonia. For the second paper, published in October in the same journal, Tarpeh’s team tested another process that produces high-purity ammonia from agricultural runoff. … Tarpeh and his colleagues created an “electrocatalyst-in-a-box” – an electrically driven process that both extracts nitrate from wastewater and converts that nitrate into ammonia. For the second paper, Tarpeh’s team used a two-step process of electrodialysis and nitrate reduction to take nitrate and ammonia from wastewater and convert them together into high-purity ammonia. They successfully concentrated ammonia about 12 times compared to the nitrate and ammonia in the original wastewater, Tarpeh said.

Aquafornia news U.S. Geological Survey

Study: Millions in the U.S. may rely on groundwater contaminated with PFAS for drinking water supplies

Approximately 71 to 95 million people in the Lower 48 states – more than 20% of the country’s population – may rely on groundwater that contains detectable concentrations of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS, for their drinking water supplies. These findings are according to a U.S Geological Survey study published Oct. 24. The predictive model results can help members of the public, water suppliers and regulators understand the potential for PFAS contamination, guide future studies and inform strategic planning for water resources. USGS scientists are the first to report national estimates of PFAS occurrence in untreated groundwater that supplies water to public and private wells. This research also provides the first estimate of the number of people across the country who are potentially affected by PFAS-contaminated groundwater.

Aquafornia news Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Calif.)

California’s Lithium Valley rejected again in bid for federal funding

Imperial County’s much-lauded Lithium Valley in California’s southeast corner has been bypassed for a second time by federal officials for critically needed funding, a key state official said on Wednesday. Noemi Gallardo, a member of the California Energy Commission who oversees reviews of proposed geothermal projects tied to lithium production, told The Desert Sun/USA Today Network that she was concerned that the U.S. Department of Energy had for a second time not selected any company seeking to produce lithium in California to receive a portion of $3 billion allocated by the Biden administration. Instead, 25 projects in 14 other states were chosen, for a total $600 million per year through 2026. … Jared Naimark, California mining organizer with the environmental group Earthworks, said he thought her remarks might have been directed at his group and Comite Civico over their lawsuit challenging county approvals of Controlled Thermal Resources’ Hells Kitchen geothermal and lithium project. The litigation questions water supply, air pollution and earthquake risk assessments

Aquafornia news The Hill

California’s manure-based biogas subsidies spark controversy

… The California Air Resources Board (CARB) will vote next month on whether to lock in the subsidies, which the Golden State has for years been offering to industrial dairies for installing technology that deploys bacteria to break down animal waste and then repurposes it as “renewable natural gas.” California officials argue these anaerobic digesters are environmentally beneficial because they capture methane, a gas produced by dairy cows that is about 28 times more potent than carbon dioxide. But environmental groups and some residents of California’s Central Valley contend the technology also generates dangerous byproducts and encourages the propagation of polluting factory farms in vulnerable communities. … Water and air pollution linked to CAFOs, the authors warned, is disproportionately impacting low-income populations and communities of color. In Tulare County, they added, about 67 percent of residents are Hispanic/Latinx and 18.2 percent are living in poverty.

Aquafornia news EdSource

Listen: What is California doing — or not doing — about lead in school drinking water?

Oakland Unified School District began this school year with some unsettling news: the drinking water in the district’s schools had tested positive for dangerously high levels of lead. The district had found high levels of lead in the water during tests conducted over spring and summer, but it didn’t share those results with parents and staff until this August. Lead testing hasn’t been required in California schools for the last five years. That means Oakland Unified is unusual among California school districts in that it knows that there’s a lead problem at all.

Other lead and water quality article:

Aquafornia news ABC 10 (Sacramento)

California’s dying lakes: Keeping Lake Tahoe blue

 Lake Tahoe — the largest freshwater alpine lake in North America — is world-famous for its clear blue water, but the lake faces a multitude of threats requiring constant care and vigilance to keep it that way. “We’re more than a bumper sticker,” said Laura Patten, the Natural Resource Director at the League to Save Lake Tahoe, better known as Keep Tahoe Blue. “We really rely on the science to figure out what is happening in the lake.” Patten and other scientists studying Lake Tahoe say climate change and recreation pose the biggest threats to the lake in the 21st century. Longer and hotter periods of heat, more extreme fire seasons, and erratic precipitation patterns in the winter all play a part in Tahoe’s water quality. … It’s important to understand Tahoe’s crystal “blue” water is actually clear. The clear water reflects the blue sky and absorbs red light, making the water appear brilliant hues of blue. The clearer the water — or the better the water’s quality — the bluer the lake.

Aquafornia news Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Study: Risk of cardiovascular disease linked to long-term exposure to arsenic in community water supplies

Long term exposure to arsenic in water may increase cardiovascular disease and especially heart disease risk even at exposure levels below the federal regulatory limit (10µg/L) according to a new study at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. This is the first study to describe exposure-response relationships at concentrations below the current regulatory limit and substantiates that prolonged exposure to arsenic in water contributes to the development of ischemic heart disease. The researchers compared various time windows of exposure, finding that the previous decade of water arsenic exposure up to the time of a cardiovascular disease event contributed the greatest risk. The findings are published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Related article:

Tour Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2025
Field Trip - March 12-14

REGISTRATION OPENS DECEMBER 12!

Tour participants gathered for a group photo in front of Hoover DamExplore the lower Colorado River firsthand where virtually every drop of the river is allocated, yet demand is growing from myriad sources — increasing population, declining habitat, drought and climate change.

Check out this highlight video of one of our recent tours!

The 1,450-mile river is a lifeline to some 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 is the focus of this tour.

Hilton Garden Inn Las Vegas Strip South
7830 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89123
Aquafornia news The Associated Press

Trillions of gallons leak from aging drinking water systems, further stressing shrinking US cities

Water bubbles up in streets, pooling in neighborhoods for weeks or months. Homes burn to the ground if firefighters can’t draw enough water from hydrants. Utility crews struggle to fix broken pipes while water flows through shut-off valves that don’t work. … Across the U.S., trillions of gallons of drinking water are lost every year, especially from decrepit systems in communities struggling with significant population loss and industrial decline that leave behind poorer residents, vacant neighborhoods and too-large water systems that are difficult to maintain.

Related article: 

Testing at the Source: California Readies a Groundbreaking Hunt to Check for Microplastics in Drinking Water
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Regulators and water systems are finalizing a first-of-its-kind pilot that will determine whether microplastics are contaminating water destined for the tap

Image shows a test jar filled with microplastic debrisTiny pieces of plastic waste shed from food wrappers, grocery bags, clothing, cigarette butts, tires and paint are invading the environment and every facet of daily life. Researchers know the plastic particles have even made it into municipal water supplies, but very little data exists about the scope of microplastic contamination in drinking water. 

After years of planning, California this year is embarking on a first-of-its-kind data-gathering mission to illuminate how prevalent microplastics are in the state’s largest drinking water sources and help regulators determine whether they are a public health threat.

Tour Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2024
Field Trip - March 13-15

Tour participants gathered for a group photo in front of Hoover DamThis tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand 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 some 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.

Hilton Garden Inn Las Vegas Strip South
7830 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89123
Tour Nick Gray

Eastern Sierra Tour 2023
Field Trip - September 12-15

This special Foundation water tour journeyed along the Eastern Sierra from the Truckee River to Mono Lake, through the Owens Valley and into the Mojave Desert to explore a major source of water for Southern California, this year’s snowpack and challenges for towns, farms and the environment.

Grand Sierra Resort
2500 E 2nd St
Reno, NV 89595

Could Virtual Networks Solve Drinking Water Woes for California’s Isolated, Disadvantaged Communities?
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: UCLA pilot project uses high-tech gear in LA to remotely run clean-water systems for small communities in Central California's Salinas Valley

UCLA’s remote water treatment systems are providing safe tap water to three disadvantaged communities in the Salinas Valley. 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.

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.”

Tour Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2023
Field Trip - March 8-10

This tour explored the lower Colorado River firsthand 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 some 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
Tour Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2022
Field Trip - March 16-18

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
Tour Nick Gray

Headwaters Tour 2023
Field Trip - June 21-22 (optional whitewater rafting June 20)

On average, more than 60 percent of California’s developed water supply originates in the Sierra Nevada and the southern spur of the Cascade Range. 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 tour ventured into the Sierra to examine water issues that happen upstream but have dramatic impacts downstream and throughout the state.

Western Water Layperson's Guide to the Delta By Gary Pitzer

Is Ecosystem Change in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Outpacing the Ability of Science to Keep Up?
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Science panel argues for a new approach to make research nimbler and more forward-looking to improve management in the ailing Delta

Floating vegetation such as water hyacinth has expanded in the Delta in recent years, choking waterways like the one in the bottom of this photo.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.

Long Criticized For Inaction At Salton Sea, California Says It’s All-In On Effort To Preserve State’s Largest Lake
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Dust suppression, habitat are key elements in long-term plan to aid sea, whose ills have been a sore point in Colorado River management

The Salton Sea is a major nesting, wintering and stopover site for about 400 bird species. 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.  

Western Water Gary Pitzer

Framework for Agreements to Aid Health of Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is a Starting Point With An Uncertain End
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: Voluntary agreement discussions continue despite court fights, state-federal conflicts and skepticism among some water users and environmental groups

Aerial image of the Sacramento-San Joaquin DeltaVoluntary 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.

Lower Colorado River Tour 2021
A Virtual Journey - May 20

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. 

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 Layperson's Guide to Climate Change and Water Resources Gary PitzerDouglas E. Beeman

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

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

By Gary Pitzer and Douglas E. Beeman

It’s been a year since two devastating wildfires on opposite ends of California underscored the harsh new realities facing water districts and cities serving communities in or adjacent to the state’s fire-prone wildlands. Fire doesn’t just level homes, it can contaminate water, scorch watersheds, damage delivery systems and upend an agency’s finances.

Western Water Gary Pitzer

Lessons From the Flames: Advice From Water Managers Who Have Lived Through Disaster

California water managers who have lived through a devastating wildfire and its aftermath have shared key lessons from their experiences.

Western Water California Water Map Gary Pitzer

How Private Capital is Speeding up Sierra Nevada Forest Restoration in a Way that Benefits Water
WESTERN WATER SPOTLIGHT: A bond fund that fronts the money is expediting a headwaters restoration project to improve forest health, water quality and supply

District Ranger Lon Henderson with Tahoe National Forest points toward an overgrown section of forest within the Blue Forest project area. 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. 

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 California Water Map Gary Pitzer

California’s New Natural Resources Secretary Takes on Challenge of Implementing Gov. Newsom’s Ambitious Water Agenda
WESTERN WATER Q&A: Wade Crowfoot addresses Delta tunnel shift, Salton Sea plan and managing water amid a legacy of conflict

Wade Crowfoot, California Natural Resources Secretary.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.

Lower Colorado River Tour 2020
Field Trip - March 11-13

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
Western Water Gary Pitzer

California Officials Draft a $600M Plan To Help Low-Income Households Absorb Rising Water Bills
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: State Water Board report proposes new taxes on personal and business income or fees on bottled water and booze to fund rate relief program

Filling a glass with clean water from the kitchen tap.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.

Western Water Douglas E. Beeman

Women Leading in Water, Colorado River Drought and Promising Solutions — Western Water Year in Review

Dear Western Water readers:

Women named in the last year to water leadership roles (clockwise, from top left): Karla Nemeth, director, California Department of Water Resources; Gloria Gray,  chair, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California; Brenda Burman, Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner; Jayne Harkins,  commissioner, International Boundary and Water Commission, U.S. and Mexico; Amy Haas, executive director, Upper Colorado River Commission.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:

Aquapedia background Solving Water Challenges in Disadvantaged Communities

Disadvantaged Communities

Installing a water line in East Porterville, Calif.

Disadvantaged communities are those carrying the greatest economic, health and environmental burdens. They include poverty, high unemployment, higher risk of asthma and heart disease, and often limited access to clean, affordable drinking water.

Headwaters Tour 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.

Headwaters tour participants on a hike in the Sierra Nevada.

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.
Western Water Layperson's Guide to Water Rights Law Gary Pitzer

Amid ‘Green Rush’ of Legal Cannabis, California Strives to Control Adverse Effects on Water
WESTERN WATER IN-DEPTH: State crafts water right and new rules unique to marijuana farms, but will growers accustomed to the shadows comply?

A marijuana plant from a growing operationFor 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.

Western Water Jenn Bowles Jennifer Bowles

EDITOR’S NOTE: Assessing California’s Response to Marijuana’s Impacts on Water

Jennifer BowlesAs 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.

Tour

Lower Colorado River Tour 2018

Lower Colorado River Tour participants at Hoover Dam.

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
Western Water California Water Bundle Gary Pitzer

Statewide Water Bond Measures Could Have Californians Doing a Double-Take in 2018
WESTERN WATER NOTEBOOK: Two bond measures, worth $13B, would aid flood preparation, subsidence, Salton Sea and other water needs

San Joaquin Valley bridge rippled by subsidence  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.

Western Water Layperson's Guide to Integrated Regional Water Management Gary Pitzer

Researchers Aim to Give Homeless a Voice in Southern California Watershed
NOTEBOOK: Assessment of homeless water challenges part of UC Irvine study of community water needs

Homeless encampment near Angel StadiumA 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.

Headwaters Tour 2019
Field Trip - June 27-28

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. 

Tour Nick Gray

Lower Colorado River Tour 2019

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
Aquapedia background

Runoff

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

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

Algal Blooms

Aerial photo of algal blooms in O'Neill Forebay in Merced County.y

Algal blooms are sudden overgrowths of algae. Their occurrence is increasing in California’s rivers, creeks and lakes and along the coast, threatening the lives of people, pets and fisheries.

Only a few types of algae can produce poisons, but even nontoxic blooms hurt the environment and local economies. When masses of algae die, the decaying can deplete oxygen in the water to the point of causing devastating fish kills.

Aquapedia background

Potable Water

Photo of drinking water filling a glass over the kitchen sink. 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.

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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.

Publication

Looking to the Source: Watersheds of the Sierra Nevada
Published 2011

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.

Publication

Water & the Shaping of California
Published 2000 - Paperback

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

Publication

Water & the Shaping of California
Published 2000 - hardbound

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

Publication

Stormwater Management: Turning Runoff into a Resource
Published 2007

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.

Video

Salt of the Earth: Salinity in California’s Central Valley (20-minute DVD)

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.

Video

Two Sides of a River (60-minute DVD)

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.

Video

Two Sides of a River (60-minute DVD Spanish)

$25.00

Spanish version of the 60-minute 2004 PBS documentary Two Sides of a River. DVD

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

Watershed

Sacramento River Basin

A watershed is the land area that drains snowmelt and rain into a network of lakes, streams, rivers and other waterways. It typically is identified by the largest draining watercourse within the system. In California, for example, the Sacramento River Basin is the state’s largest watershed.

Aquapedia background Colorado River Basin Map

Salton Sea

As part of the historic Colorado River Delta, the Salton Sea regularly filled and dried for thousands of years due to its elevation of 237 feet below sea level.

The most recent version of the Salton Sea was formed in 1905 when the Colorado River broke through a series of dikes and flooded the seabed for two years, creating California’s largest inland body of water. The Salton Sea, which is saltier than the Pacific Ocean, includes 130 miles of shoreline and is larger than Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe

Lake Tahoe is one of the world’s most beautiful yet vulnerable lakes. Renowned for its remarkable clarity, Tahoe straddles the Nevada-California border, stretching 22 miles long and 12 miles wide in a granitic bowl high in the Sierra Nevada.

Tahoe sits 6,225 feet above sea level. Its deepest point is 1,645 feet, making it the second-deepest lake in the nation, after Oregon’s Crater Lake, and the tenth deepest in the world.

Western Water Magazine

TMDLs: A Tool for Better Water Quality?
May/June 2001

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.

Western Water Magazine

Thirty Years of the Clean Water Act:
November/December 2002

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.

Western Water Magazine

Confronting a Legacy of Contamination: Perchlorate
May/June 2003

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.

Western Water Magazine

Mercury Rising Tackling the Legacy of the Gold Rush
May/June 2004

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.

Western Water Magazine

Pharmaceuticals & Personal Care Products: An Rx for Water Quality Problems?
July/August 2004

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.

Western Water Magazine

Remnants of the Past: Management Challenges of Terminal Lakes
January/February 2005

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.

Western Water Magazine

Unlocking the Mysteries of Selenium
March/April 2006

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.

Western Water Magazine

From Source to Tap: Protecting California’s Drinking Water
November/December 2006

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.

Western Water Magazine

Salt of the Earth: Can the Central Valley Solve its Salinity Problem?
July/August 2007

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.

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.

Western Water Magazine

A Tale of Two Rivers: The Russian and the Santa Ana
May/June 2009

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.

Western Water Magazine

Desalination: A Drought Proof Supply?
July/August 2009

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.

Western Water Magazine

Pervasive and Persistent: Constituents of Growing Concern
January/February 2011

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.

Western Water Magazine

Preserving Quantity and Quality: Groundwater Management in California
May/June 2011

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.

Western Water Magazine

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

This printed issue of Western Water discusses low impact development and stormwater capture – two areas of emerging interest that are viewed as important components of California’s future water supply and management scenario.

Western Water Magazine

How Much Water Does the Delta Need?
July/August 2012

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.

Western Water Magazine

Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Quality: A Cause for Concern?
September/October 2012

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.

Western Water Magazine

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

This printed issue of Western Water features a roundtable discussion with Anthony Saracino, a water resources consultant; Martha Davis, executive manager of policy development with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and senior policy advisor to the Delta Stewardship Council; Stuart Leavenworth, editorial page editor of The Sacramento Bee and Ellen Hanak, co-director of research and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California.

Western Water Magazine

Nitrate and the Struggle for Clean Drinking Water
March/April 2013

This printed issue of Western Water discusses the problems of nitrate-contaminated water in small disadvantaged communities and possible solutions.

Western Water Magazine

Meeting the Co-equal Goals? The Bay Delta Conservation Plan
May/June 2013

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.

Western Water Magazine

Two States, One Lake: Keeping Lake Tahoe Blue
September/October 2013

This printed issue of Western Water discusses some of the issues associated with the effort to preserve and restore the clarity of Lake Tahoe.

Western Water Magazine

Managing the Colorado River
November/December 1999

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.

Video

Overcoming the Deluge: California’s Plan for Managing Floods (DVD)

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.

Video

The Klamath Basin: A Restoration for the Ages (20 min. DVD)

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.

Video

The Klamath Basin: A Restoration for the Ages (60 min. DVD)

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.

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.

Video

Water on the Edge (60-minute DVD)

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.

Product

Go With the Flow: A Storm Water Pollution Prevention Message

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.

Maps & Posters

San Joaquin River Restoration Map
Published 2012

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. 

Maps & Posters

Klamath River Watershed Map
Published 2011

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.

Maps & Posters

Carson River Basin Map
Published 2006

A companion to the Truckee River Basin Map poster, this 24×36-inch poster, suitable for framing, explores the Carson River, and its link to the Truckee River. The map includes the 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.

Maps & Posters

Truckee River Basin Map
Published 2005

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. 

Maps & Posters

Water Cycle Poster

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.

Maps & Posters

Unwelcome Visitors

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.

Publication

Layperson’s Guide to Water Rights Law
Updated 2020

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.

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 the Klamath River Basin
Published 2023

The Water Education Foundation’s second edition of the Layperson’s Guide to The Klamath River Basin is hot off the press and available for purchase.

Updated and redesigned, the easy-to-read overview covers the history of the region’s tribal, agricultural and environmental relationships with one of the West’s largest rivers — and a vast watershed that hosts one of the nation’s oldest and largest reclamation projects.

Publication

Layperson’s Guide to Integrated Regional Water Management
Published 2013

The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) is an in-depth, easy-to-understand publication that provides background information on the principles of IRWM, its funding history and how it differs from the traditional water management approach.

Publication California Groundwater Map

Layperson’s Guide to Groundwater
Updated 2017

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.

Publication California Water Map

Layperson’s Guide to California Water
Updated 2021

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. 

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.

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Water Treatment

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.]

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

Water Quality

California’s nearly 40 million residents all depend on clean water to thrive, as do the fish and wildlife and industries such as agriculture, food processing and electronics that help power the world’s fifth-largest economy.

Rivers and other surface waters, however, can carry a host of pollutants, both natural and manufactured, that can contaminate drinking water, harm wildlife and livestock and damage crops.

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.

Aquapedia background

Regional Water Quality Control Boards in California

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.

Aquapedia background

Safe Drinking Water Act

Safe Drinking Water Act

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.

Aquapedia background

California Gold Rush and Today’s Water

More than 100 years ago, California’s Gold Rush left a toxic legacy that continues to cause problems in Northern California watersheds.

The discovery of gold in John Sutter’s millrace at Coloma in the 1840s drew people from around the globe.

Over the course of decades, intense efforts were focused on washing and prying gold from the hills of the Sierra Nevada.

Western Water Excerpt Gary PitzerRita Schmidt Sudman

Nitrate and the Struggle for Clean Drinking Water
March/April 2013

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.

Western Water Excerpt Gary PitzerRita Schmidt Sudman

Hydraulic Fracturing and Water Quality: A Cause for Concern?
September/October 2012

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.

Western Water Excerpt Gary PitzerRita Schmidt Sudman

Preserving Quantity and Quality: Groundwater Management in California
May/June 2011

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.

Western Water Excerpt Gary PitzerRita Schmidt Sudman

Pervasive and Persistent: Constituents of Growing Concern
January/February 2011

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?

Western Water Excerpt Gary PitzerRita Schmidt SudmanSue McClurg

From Source to Tap: Protecting California’s Drinking Water
Nov/Dec 2006

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.

Western Water Excerpt Gary PitzerRita Schmidt Sudman

Unlocking the Mysteries of Selenium
Mar/Apr 2006

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.

Western Water Excerpt Gary PitzerRita Schmidt Sudman

Pharmaceuticals & Personal Care Products
Jul/Aug 2004

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.

Western Water Excerpt Gary PitzerRita Schmidt Sudman

Confronting a Legacy of Contamination: Perchlorate
May/Jun 2003

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.

Western Water Excerpt Gary PitzerRita Schmidt Sudman

Thirty Years of the Clean Water Act
Nov/Dec 2002

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.

Western Water Excerpt Gary PitzerRita Schmidt Sudman

TMDLs: A Tool for Better Water Quality?
May/Jun 2001

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.

Western Water Excerpt Gary PitzerRita Schmidt Sudman

Drinking Water Challenges: A Roundtable Discussion
Jan/Feb 2001

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.

Western Water Excerpt

The Challenge of MTBE: Clean Air vs. Clean Water?
Jul/Aug 1998

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.