By GLENDA ANDERSON, PRESS DEMOCRAT March 1, 2010 An environmental group is asking state officials to halt the century-old practice of shunting water from the Eel River to the Russian River in Mendocino County, a practice that has allowed agriculture to thrive south of the diversion. The group, Friends of the Eel River, for years […]

Read More

Clean Water Friends: This is a wonderful first step and one that has been requested for at least 15 years now.  Unfortunately, they don’t include study of estrogens and other hormones, which may be the most critically important substances to study.  That will happen down the road, but at least we are now on the […]

Read More

Jason Dearen, Associated Press 1/29/2010 In this cool, fertile wine growing county in Northern California, grape growers are stomping mad at a new plan to limit the amount of water vineyards can pump from local rivers and streams to protect their crops from frost – a draft regulation meant to safeguard coho salmon, a species […]

Read More

Garance Burke, Christian Science Monitor, January 4, 2010 New data from satellites show the vast underground pools feeding faucets and irrigation hoses across California are running low, a worrisome trend federal scientists largely attribute to aggressive agricultural pumping. The photograph above illustrates subsidence in the San Joaquin Valley, California. In the photo, USGS scientist, Joe […]

Read More

Garance Burke, Christian Science Monitor January 11, 2010 The government is spending $40 million in federal stimulus funds to pull water from underground aquifers in drought-stricken California, even as evidence is growing that the well-drilling boom could degrade the quality of water delivered to millions of residents. Farmers, conservationists and engineers are criticizing the Interior […]

Read More

SAN FRANCISCO— The California State Water Resources Control Board indicated yesterday that it will move forward over the next year to draft regulations on water diversions for frost protection of vineyards in the Russian River watershed, to protect imperiled coho salmon and steelhead trout. Water Board staff recommended that any diversion of water from the […]

Read More

Thanks to whoever sent out the article on the myth being created by agribusiness, media, and politicians to the effect that supplying water to Westlands Water District is important for feeding the nation.  (Was it Brock?) Sen. Feinstein needs to receive a lot of letters protesting her position on Westlands, and western water subsidies in […]

Read More

Hi Janus– I very much disagree with aspects of the PPIC report. Everything it says is correct as far as that goes, then comes a big BUT – The Webinar that I reported on last meeting emphasized that states which do not recognize the interconnectedness of ground and surface waters tend to overappropriate water supplies.  […]

Read More

I have a copy of the 1-1/2 inch thick Final EIR/EIS that was sent to SCWC. I read it yesterday and concluded that responses to comments are skimpy. If anyone would like to read it next (to save downloading), you may pick it up from me at 3746 Spring Creek Drive in Santa Rosa. Call […]

Read More

This came in over the transom from GPCA and seems pretty useful. ~Bernie California Water Rights Primerhttp://www.c-win.org/water-rights-primer.html To mobilize water for human use, our society grants property rights to use water. No one is allowed to hoard or possess it because of its intrinsic properties and its necessity to all life and economic activity. The rights […]

Read More

nderstood and agreed. The price tag and other opportunity costs should be looked out. From your disingenuous and aged (assuming disingenuous means fast for an old guy – that is what he meant didn’t he?) friend. It is safe to say that there are no sure things in most human endeavors, and when one throws […]

Read More

Say for instance we had a practical realistic state water budget, would it be prudent to plug in a reasonable metric or estimate of what illegal water users are using in order to get a handle on water usage and projected uses? For instance if a well capitalized business drills 2 separate but close 24 […]

Read More

Peter Gleick, Pacific Institute, November 4, 2009 We must stop pretending that water is free and unlimited, available to anyone who can put a siphon in a river or drill another groundwater well. What do I mean by stealing water? I mean people extract water from our rivers and streams without a right to do […]

Read More

This is a very contentious issue in the Mark West Creek watershed, an important fisheries being negatively impacted by piece-mealing construction for a winery. The applicant, Dumol Winery, is trying to get approval in the sensitive upper Mark West Creek watershed with its significant steelhead habitat. The creek already has significant impacts from the winery […]

Read More

Hi all, This is just a friendly reminder that comments to SWRCB for the frost protection workshop are due NEXT Tuesday, 11/10 at NOON. See below. You have probably all seen this Ukiah Daily Journal article about a recent Farm Bureau and FFF meeting and the 11/18 SWRCB workshop. As the FB noted in the […]

Read More

Klamath Dam Deal Announced, But What’s on Deck? Dam removal still linked to settlement scheme harmful to fish and wildlife Steve Pedery, Oregonwild, September 30, 2009 Negotiators from Oregon, California, the U.S. Department of Interior, and the utility company PacifiCorp released a final draft today of a plan to remove four aging dams on the […]

Read More

To All, Looking through the permit applications at PRMD since last June, here are new winery/vineyard permits. Will these all sail through the PRMD process (BZA, Planning Commission, BOS) without real consideration of water (drought, future water needs, conservation, etc.), wine glut, economical diversity, wildlife areas and wildlife corridors, intrusions upon the impacts and character […]

Read More

I hope to see you there!!Thank you.Veronica Save $5 per ticket by purchasing in advance. Also many groups are planning local action for October 24th, the International Day of Climate Action. Stay tuned for details! Purchase tickets online at http://www.scdsevents.org and stop by and say hello at the Transition and other tables!Bill McKibben to Speak in Sonoma County,Oct […]

Read More

Hi everyone! On October 1st, sometime after 8:30 (probably 9 AM) the North Coast Regional Board will consider final approval of the MS4 Storm Water and Non-Storm Water Discharge Permit for SCWA and Santa Rosa at their office at 5550 Skylane Blvd. In general, this is a good permit in terms of addressing storm water […]

Read More

To All, On 11 September 2009, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it will be placing additional limitations on three types of organophosphate pesticides in order to protect Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed salmon and steelhead in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington.  The pesticides chlorpyrifos, diazinon, and malathion are know to impair the olfactory senses […]

Read More

FYI…SCOTT AND SHASTA RIVERS DE-WATERED IN CRITICAL SPAWNING SEASON: Inadequate late-summer flows on the Klamath River are, unfortunately, nothing unusual, but the series of low flows currently assailing the Scott and Shasta Rivers, two critical tributaries to the mainstem Klamath, is simply unprecedented.  The Klamath is a river which flows from southern Oregon through northern […]

Read More

August 21, 2009Matt St. John                                                                        North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board                                  5550 Skyline Blvd, Suite ASanta Rosa, CA  95403Email to: MStJohn@waterboards.ca.gov Subject: Comments on the Klamath Mainstem TMDL Water Quality Restoration PlanGeneral Comments We are  pleased with and fully supportive of Staff’s efforts in these Draft Water Quality Restoration Plan (“Implementation Plan”) provisions as well as in […]

Read More

FYI…SCOTT AND SHASTA RIVERS DE-WATERED IN CRITICAL SPAWNING SEASON: Inadequate late-summer flows on the Klamath River are, unfortunately, nothing unusual, but the series of low flows currently assailing the Scott and Shasta Rivers, two critical tributaries to the mainstem Klamath, is simply unprecedented.  The Klamath is a river which flows from southern Oregon through northern […]

Read More

Here’s the abstract of the paper Ms. Pace refers to (and supplied the link to). Jeavons probably does apply, but the study suggests that it’s also related to how natural processes work in arid lands. Jane Climate change, water supply limits, and continued population growth have intensified the search for measures to conserve water in […]

Read More

I have watched the changes in agriculture from apples  and timber to grapes over the years. I have also watched the increase in local flash flooding events in Atascadero Creek and other areas in the county. Vineyards are the obvious culprit responsible for the flash flooding, hot dry creek beds, and the loss of endangered […]

Read More

I have watched the changes in agriculture from apples and timber to grapes over the years. I have also watched the increase in local flash flooding events in Atascadero Creek and other areas in the county. Vineyards are the obvious culprit responsible for the flash flooding, hot dry creek beds, and the loss of endangered […]

Read More

All,Just sending a reminder regarding the frost task force meeting scheduled for Thursday, August 13th at 9:30 in Room 215 at the Santa Rosa Federal Building located at 777 Sonoma Ave, Santa Rosa.  The agenda for the meeting is as follows;-NMFS criteria for effective solutions relating to frost protection- David Hines/Sarah Spilseth-Upper Russian River Working group update […]

Read More