By Danna Smith, Opinion Contributor — 03/21/19The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill The introduction of The Green New Deal resolution and the appointment of a House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, has propelled climate change back into the national policy debate. That’s why today, on […]
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The Impacts of Climate Change and Delta Water
Sierra Club One of the ironies of living in an era of climate change is that it underscores how much we humans have to change. We cannot stop, reduce or adapt to climate change unless we change. Yet, because change is hard, policy influencers who can make a big difference—even the best intentioned—are having a […]
Read MoreHuffman Introduces Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation, and Working Forests Act
Apr 10, 2019Press Release Washington, D.C.-– After incorporating community input and ideas from across northwest California, Rep. Huffman (D-San Rafael) introduced his legislation today to guard communities against wildfires, provide local jobs, restore lands impaired by illegal marijuana growing operations, and permanently protect many of northwest California’s spectacular wild places and pristine streams. Senator Kamala […]
Read MoreCalifornia’s Public Trust Doctrine Draws Attention in the Courts
February 1, 2019 Legal Notes by Christian Mars The common law public trust doctrine in California has long played an important role in protecting navigable waters and waterfronts for the purposes of public use and enjoyment, such as commerce, navigation, fisheries, recreation and preservation. Cities periodically encounter the doctrine when: Administering tideland grants; Maintaining or operating […]
Read MoreNewsom declares wildfire emergency, waives environmental rules to expedite projects
By Taryn LunaMar 22, 2019Sacramento The governor’s action marks the latest effort by the state to offset the possibility of catastrophe after back-to-back years of savage wildfires that killed more than 100 people and burned nearly 2 million acres in total. The projects will cost a total of $35 million, which will be paid with […]
Read MoreWhy Gov Newsom and Cal Fire have Violated the Public Trust
March 24, 2019 by CA Chaparral Institute Governor Newsom’s Executive Order to waive environmental protection laws for a large number of Cal Fire’s habitat clearance and logging operations ignores science, dismisses the lessons of the 2017 and 2018 wildfires, and is following the pattern President Trump has established – if facts get in the way […]
Read MoreA massive aquifer lies beneath the Mojave Desert. Could it help solve California’s water problem?
“Cadiz hopes to pump 16.3 billion gallons of water from the desert each year, equivalent to 50,000 acre-feet. A required environmental assessment, paid for by the company, found that 32,000 acre-feet of water would naturally recharge the aquifer each year, an 18,000-acre-foot annual deficit that Cadiz acknowledges would last for the project’s 50-year life. The assessment […]
Read MoreThe future of the Clean Water Rule is in our hands
The EPA wants to reduce protections for headwater streams. Stand up for clean water today! Whether you fish or just simply understand the value of clean water, there is no law more important than the Clean Water Act. In 2015, the EPA developed a rule that affirmed Clean Water Act protections for “intermittent and ephemeral […]
Read MorePacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations Leads Suit Against State Water Board to Protect Salmon in the Water Quality Control Plan
January 28, 2019 Maven Breaking News From the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA): On Friday, Jan. 25, 2019, a coalition of environmental, fishing, and Native American groups led by the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA) filed suit against the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board). Plaintiffs demand that the […]
Read MoreNew Platform Offers Resources and Engagement Tools for California Water Agencies and Communities
Website provides a one-stop shop for information on the state’s landmark Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Sept. 18, 2018) Maven’s Notebook, in partnership with Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and Stanford’s Program on Water in the West (WitW), launched a new website today at www.groundwaterexchange.org to provide a central hub of science-based information related to […]
Read MoreOwners give up developmental rights to protect critical watershed land in Mark West
GUY KOVNERTHE PRESS DEMOCRAT | December 24, 2018 Ambling through a forest on his rural Mark West area property, Ray Krauss bent over to pinch a fir tree sprout and pull it from the rain-damp ground. If the tiny green seedling grew much larger, Krauss would have to nip it with pruning shears, and were […]
Read MoreCLEAN WATER ACT
EPA to scale back WOTUS definition — document Ariel Wittenberg, E&E News reporterGreenwire: December 6, 2018 The Trump administration will propose to severely restrict the number of wetlands and waterways covered by the Clean Water Act in an announcement expected next week. The proposed new definition of “waters of the U.S.,” or WOTUS, will erase federal […]
Read MoreTrump administration poised to strip protections from up to two-thirds of California streams and millions of acres nationwide
By Evan HalperDec 10, 2018 | 3:55 PM | Washington The Trump administration is poised to roll back Clean Water Act protections on millions of acres of waterways and wetlands, including up to two-thirds of California’s inland streams, following through on a promise to agriculture interests and real estate developers to rewrite an Obama-era rule limiting pollution. The administration’s […]
Read MoreTrump Administration Proposes Free Pass for Water Polluters
WASHINGTON (December 11, 2018) – The Trump administration took action today to weaken key parts of the Clean Water Act. The Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers agencies jointly proposed exempting polluters from important programs that prevent and clean up water pollution, by removing protections from certain streams,wetlands, and other water bodies. This Dirty Water Rule […]
Read MoreThe Insect Apocalypse is Here
What does it mean for the rest of life on Earth? (Excerpt from New York Times Magazine)Brooke Jarvis, November 27, 2018 In 2013, Krefeld entomologists confirmed that the total number of insects caught in one nature reserve was nearly 80 percent lower than the same spot in 1989. They had sampled other sites, analyzed old […]
Read MoreClear-Cutting Forests
There is a clear-cut connection between healthy forests and that of water quantity, water quality, and climate that our society and wildlife depend. This has been true even before the realization that Global Warming/Climate Change Impacts should have stopped this practice in its tracks. The value of forests to all of the above supercede the value […]
Read MoreDrug pollution concentrates in stream bugs, passes to predators in water and on land
November 6, 2018, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies Sixty-nine pharmaceutical compounds have been detected in stream insects, some at concentrations that may threaten animals that feed on them, such as trout and platypus. When these insects emerge as flying adults, they can pass drugs to spiders, birds, bats, and other streamside foragers. These findings by an […]
Read MoreForest Conservation Is Part of the Climate Conversation Too
By Jason Daley | Sep 25 2018 When it comes to discussions about climate change, things like clean energy, carbon credits, and even climate engineering get a lot of attention. But one important solution has gotten lost in the mix: conserving forests. That’s why the North Carolina–based Dogwood Alliance, a group that advocates for southern forests, just […]
Read MoreCalifornia Court Finds Public Trust Doctrine Applies to State Groundwater Resources
Court Rejects Claim That SGMA “Displaces” Public Trust’s Application to California Groundwater The California Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District has issued an important decision declaring that California’s powerful public trust doctrine applies to at least some of the state’s overtaxed groundwater resources. The court’s opinion also rejects the argument that California’s Sustainable […]
Read MoreWine Woes and Water Stress: How Non-Essential Industries Cope with a Changing Climate
Michael Larrick · September 21, 2018 Image: A concrete lined irrigation ditch runs between grape vines in South Africa’s Western Cape. Flickr user Jason Jones, Creative Commons. In discussions about water shortage, the topic of the human right to water seems to be a key topic of debate. Different countries approach the question of whether individuals should […]
Read MoreLegal Battle Staves Off Trump’s Assault on Clean Water Protections
By Michelle Chen, TruthoutPublished September 12, 2018 Since taking office, Donald Trump has waged a relentless attack on the nation’s waterways, but his efforts to strip away protections for rivers and wetlands have run into a tide of legal resistance. One of Trump’s first environmental policy directives was to choke off the foundational law protecting water bodies […]
Read MoreCalifornia Court Finds Public Trust Doctrine Applies to State Groundwater Resources
Court Rejects Claim That SGMA “Displaces” Public Trust’s Application to California Groundwater RICHARD FRANK, August 29, 2018 The California Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District has issued an important decision declaring that California’s powerful public trust doctrine applies to at least some of the state’s overtaxed groundwater resources. The court’s opinion also rejects […]
Read MoreMark West Creek Study (Sonoma County)
Mark West Creek is one of five priority stream systems selected as part of the 2014 California Water Action Plan effort. The 59 square mile Mark West Creek HUC12 subwatershed, located within Sonoma County, is the second largest subwatershed in the Russian River basin. The creek supports several listed anadromous salmonid species including California Coastal […]
Read MoreLast Wild Coho Salmon Creek in Russian River Watershed
Felta Creek Threatened By Aggressive Logging Plan [Note: A court hearing on this logging case will be heard Friday, August 17th at 3 pm in Rm 18, Empire Collge Annex, 3035 Cleveland Ave, Santa Rosa, CA. The public is invited to view the Hearing but seating is limited.] As wild Coho salmon have disappeared in […]
Read MoreWhy California’s New Wild and Scenic River Is a Big Deal
After years of work, the state’s Mokelumne River has been awarded Wild and Scenic status. It’s a significant win for conservationists and local residents, as well as an important example of consensus building. Written by Steve Evans Published on July 26, 2018 The Mokelumne River became California’s newest Wild and Scenic River when Governor Jerry Brown signed the natural resources budget […]
Read MoreTop Climate Scientist Joins Coalition in Calling for an End to Clearcuts and Timber Plantations
July 10, 2018 by John Talberth One of the world’s leading climate scientists joined a coalition of 18 conservation, scientific, and community organizations calling on Oregon’s new Carbon Policy Office (CPO) and the Department of Forestry (ODF) to do an about-face on the state’s evolving forest carbon policy and to immediately implement measures to curb the harmful […]
Read MoreAn End to the Land and Water Conservation Fund?
What has been described as “America’s most-important conservation program” is set to expire Sept. 30. Established in 1964, the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) has provided—at no cost to U.S. taxpayers—millions of dollars for conservation, land acquisition, park access, infrastructure improvements, and much more. But in December 2015 Congress struck a deal to reauthorize the LWCF […]
Read MoreAll of state’s salt marshes are at risk of vanishing.
By Rosanna Xia Natural protectors are threatened along coast. Blame rising seas and humans, study says. Hundreds of species would be threatened; floods would worsen. On one side, there’s the rising ocean. On the other, rising buildings. Squeezed between the two are California’s salt marshes, a unique ecosystem filled with pickleweed and cordgrass, shorebirds and […]
Read MoreLand use strategies to mitigate climate change in carbon dense temperate forests
Beverly E. Law, Tara W. Hudiburg, Logan T. Berner, Jeffrey J. Kent, Polly C. Buotte and Mark E. Harmon PNAS March 19, 2018. 201720064; published ahead of print March 19, 2018. Edited by William H. Schlesinger, Duke University, Durham, NC, and approved January 22, 2018 (received for review November 16, 2017) Significance Regional quantification of […]
Read MoreForest ‘Restoration’ Rule is Ruse to Increase Logging
By Chad T. Hanson January 31, 2018 The U.S. Forest Service recently proposed a sweeping effort to identify aspects of environmental analysis and public participation to be “reduced” or “eliminated” regarding commercial logging projects in our national forests. The Trump administration is attempting to spin this as an effort to promote “increased efficiency” for the […]
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