Drinking Water issues – California River Watch

BY HAYLEY SMITH STAFF WRITER SEPT. 19, 2023 UPDATED 6:57 AM PT A water district best known for supplying the celebrity-studded enclaves of Calabasas and Hidden Hills could soon become famous for a very different reason. The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District recently partnered with California-based OceanWell to study the feasibility of harvesting drinking water from desalination pods placed on […]

Dec. 15, 2022 The Las Virgenes district, which supplies about 75,000 people, is almost entirely reliant on imported water from the State Water Project, a vast network of reservoirs, canals and pipelines that feeds dozens of agencies across the state. But the district faces routine challenges during times of drought, especially when state officials are […]

June 7, 2022 But getting the desalination project past regulators will be a significant hurdle. The California Coastal Commission, the State Lands Commission, the State Water Resources Control Board, the Division of Drinking Water, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers are just some of the agencies that could be involved […]

A storage tank at the Las Virgenes water district’s reservoir is shown. The district is almost entirely reliant on imported water supplies. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Oct. 13, 2022 However, Evelyn commended the company for reaching out to the Sierra Club and other environmental groups over the last year, and for taking their feedback and concerns into account while developing the technology. “I am happy to see that there is new technology and there is less harm to marine life, and […]

Hello Larry, We need your help to reform California’s outdated and inequitable water rights system. Three important bills are coming up for a vote next week and we need you to contact your legislator to tell them that you need them to vote YES on all three!AB 460 (Bauer Kahan) – gives the State Water Board greater […]

At Thursday’s status hearing for our federal lawsuit against the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the neurotoxicity of fluoridation chemicals, the Judge acknowledged that “justice delayed is justice denied,” ultimately ruling against the EPA’s request for additional delay of the trial. The Court also set a timeline for the final phase leading up to a verdict. […]

By Lela Nargi, November 20, 2022 Deepak Palakshappa became a pediatrician to give poor kids access to good medical care. Still, back in his residency days, the now-associate professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem was shocked to discoverthat a patient caring for two young grandchildren was food insecure. “Our clinic had set up […]

BIG NEWS! The Court ruled in favor of our motion, and the lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in federal court is moving forward, bringing us another step closer to a final ruling. The court recorded the proceedings and will release it to the public. I was waiting to include a link to the recording in this bulletin, but it hasn’t been released yet. When it is, the Fluoride Action Network […]

The International Society for Children’s Health and the Environment (ISCHE) has awarded Philippe Grandjean, MD, DMSc, the Herbert Needleman Award in Children’s Environmental Health “for his […]

Researchers looked in the wrong place. Couldn’t find IQ loss that other studies found. In a classic Mutt & Jeff comic a drunk is crawling around on the ground under a streetlight, looking for his dropped coin. A cop asks, “Did you drop it here?” and the drunk replies “No, but the light is better here!” […]

By Janny Choy and Geoff McGhee Groundwater is back in the spotlight. Largely invisible, lightly regulated and used by 85% of California’s population and much of the state’s $45 billion agriculture industry, groundwater is a crucial reserve that helps stave off catastrophe during drought periods like we’ve experienced over the past three years. Unheralded, Underregulated and Overused, […]

A lawsuit accusing Vacaville of endangering its residents with tap water polluted with hexavalent chromium — the cancer-causing chemical made infamous in the film “Erin Brockovich” — was dismissed Friday by a federal appeals court, which said the city merely carried the water in its pipes and isn’t responsible for contamination caused by others. The city was […]

Panoramic view of Lagoon Valley Park in Vacaville, California.

River Watch chose to apply RCRA in the Vacaville case simply because the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) provided little protection for drinking water. The SDWA includes limits for only 94 water contaminants. The EPA has not added any chemicals to the list since 2006, and only added 4 chemicals between 1998 and 2006. In […]

Mar 23, 2022 Have you ever wondered where exactly your drinking water comes from? To help land managers and the public understand where their water comes from and what affects it, the USDA Forest Service launched an interactive map called Forests to Faucets 2.0. The map shows that forests are a critical link in providing […]

Image online meeting coffee computer notes

Notice of public workshops and opportunity for public comment on administrative draft of the proposedIn light of CRW’s legal action for high levels of hexavalent chromium in some municipal water, supporters for clean water may want to join the workshops either by Zoom using links below or in watch only mode using the link above Language Access. Tuesday, […]

Hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6, is the cancer-causing chemical that poisoned the community of Hinkley, Calif., made notorious by the 2000 film “Erin Brockovich.” Chromium-6 is a form of the element chromium that is usually produced by industrial processes but can occur naturally. It is commonly used for anti-corrosion metal coating, wood preservation and textile dyeing. It […]

Water racing down stream. Free to use under the Unsplash License.

Dec. 16, 2021 Harder and other lawyers in the group said they expect to face resistance but hope the unrelenting drought may help build support for changing California’s water laws. The group said in a 43-page report detailing their recommendations that they’re suggesting a “focused approach to updating existing laws, regulations, and funding.” They recently presented their recommendations during a webinar organized by the Planning […]

By Sharon Udasin – 01/10/22 The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must take immediate action to address a class of endocrine-disrupting compounds, called phthalates, that continue to plague American food packaging, the House Oversight and Reform Committee demanded in a letter on Monday. “FDA is tasked with ensuring the safety of our nation’s food supply, but over multiple administrations the […]

This study reveals key disinfection byproduct (DBP) toxicity drivers in drinking water across the United States. DBPs, which are ubiquitous in drinking water, form by the reaction of disinfectants, organic matter, bromide, and iodide and are generally present at 100–1000× higher concentrations than other contaminants. DBPs are linked to bladder cancer, miscarriage, and birth defects […]

“…toxicologists worry that dental-health gains have come at a cost.” One of the world’s most important scientific journals has published a special news feature on water fluoridation, focusing on the Fluoride Action Network’s federal court case against the U.S. EPA and quoting our legal counsel along with several accomplished neurotoxicity researchers. It’s a well-balanced piece that we […]

Sep 3, 2021 California’s re-emerging drought is placing unprecedented strain on the state’s intricate water system, threatening mass agricultural production and basic drinking water in a way experts say is more severe than in years past. Federal officials on Aug. 16 declared a first-ever water shortage from the Colorado River — which supplies drinking and irrigation water […]

Dry stream in San Bernadino National Forest

Emily DennyApr. 28, 2021 California water officials have accused Nestlé of draining more water out of southern California’s Strawberry Creek in the San Bernardino National Forest than permitted. The drafted cease-and-desist order, which was sent to the company on Friday, asked Nestlé to stop draining millions of gallons of water out of the forest every […]

George Plaven, Capital PressFeb 19, 2021 When it comes to critical water infrastructure in the West, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet says it is about more than dams, pipes and canals. Water security begins in the forest, along streams and rivers that flow through farms and communities, Bennet, D-Colo., said during the Family Farm Alliance annual […]

When the COVID-19 outbreak swept across the U.S., toilet paper, hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes flew off store shelves. But shopping carts have also been full of something that most Americans get supplied straight to their home: water. Shoppers emptied store shelves of bottled water while stockpiling during the initial months of the pandemic. Even Amazon ran […]

By Kim Chipman – December 6, 2020. Water joined gold, oil and other commodities traded on Wall Street, highlighting worries that the life-sustaining natural resource may become scarce across more of the world. Farmers, hedge funds and municipalities alike are now able to hedge against — or bet on — future water availability in California, the biggest U.S. agriculture market and world’s fifth-largest economy. […]

Caitrin Chappelle | October 20, 2020 Over-pumping of groundwater has caused domestic wells to go dry in the San Joaquin Valley. Yet many of the first round of plans prepared to comply with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) do not yet propose ways to address this problem. We explored groundwater planning with three members of […]

After Wildfires Stop Burning, a Danger in the Drinking Water

Experts are warning that existing water safety rules are not suitable to a world where wildfires destroy more residential areas than in the past. By Max HorberryPublished Oct. 2, 2020Two months after a wildfire burned through Paradise, Calif., in 2018, Kevin Phillips, then a manager for town’s irrigation district, walked from one destroyed home to another.Burned […]

By Dan Ross on June 8, 2020 A federal court trial underway in San Francisco could spell the beginning of the end of water fluoridation in America, potentially affecting drinking water for hundreds of millions of people across the U.S.Although fluoride can occur naturally in water, many water utilities add the chemical with the goal of improving dental health. But an alliance of groups led […]

Years of pumping, drought and a thirsty agriculture industry have taken a heavy toll on the water supply – and new plans are leaving vulnerable residents behind by Susie CagleFri 28 Feb 2020 When Carolina Garcia’s well began pumping sand and air instead of water in 2016, she didn’t know where to turn. The Garcias had […]

Readers: This is a situation where there is an attempt to continue polluting groundwater and therefore the beaches and ocean where fresh water ends up. You can help by boycotting traveling there and opting to go somewhere else where environmental laws are respected and followed. Or you can send a letter out of outrage using […]

Category: Drinking Water issues

A celebrity-studded L.A. water district has a very big drought idea: Seafloor desalination

Low on water, but high on celebrity, Las Virgenes seeks wastewater purification facility

Think you can cheat water restrictions? This tiny disk will tame the thirstiest water hogs

California Coastal Commission OKs desalination plant in Orange County

Tell Your Legislator to Vote YES for Clean Water!

Court Rejects EPA’s Attempt To Delay Fluoride in Drinking Water Case

Why America’s food-security crisis is a water-security crisis, too

The TSCA Fluoride Lawsuit Update

Scientist Who Defied Intimidation From Harvard Colleagues Wins Award For Work and Integrity

Australian study of fluoridation neurotoxicity: Streetlight Effect Fallacy

Groundwater: Ignore, and It Might Go Away

Vacaville can’t be held responsible for polluted water, court rules

California River Watch’s Response

Forest Service tool spotlights connection between forests and water

Hexavalent Chromium Maximum Contaminant Level

What is chromium-6? Here’s what you need to know

Despite California groundwater law, aquifers keep dropping in a ‘race to the bottom’

FDA must address endocrine-disrupting phthalates: House Oversight

Drivers of Disinfection Byproduct Cytotoxicity in U.S. Drinking Water: Should Other DBPs Be Considered for Regulation?

Nature Publishes Fluoridation Article

As California restricts water use for farmers, low supply levels add to drought’s harsh reality

California Officials Move to Stop Nestlé From Taking Millions of Gallons of Water From Public Streams

Water infrastructure more than dams and pipes, senator says

COVID Underscores Need for Safe Drinking Water

California Water Futures Begin Trading Amid Fear of Scarcity

How Water Justice Groups View Groundwater Sustainability Planning

After Wildfires Stop Burning, a Danger in the Drinking Water

Courtroom Battle Could Lead to Limits on Fluoridation of Drinking Water

‘Lost communities’: thousands of wells in rural California may run dry

Maui is urged to withdraw its high-court wastewater appeal

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