PRESENTED BY MELANIE GOGOL-PROKURAT: The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Areas of Conservation Emphasis (ACE) project is a non-regulatory tool that brings together the best available map-based data in California to depict biodiversity, significant habitats, connectivity, climate change resilience, and other datasets for use in conservation planning. ACE compiles and analyzes information from […]
Read MoreCategory: Groundwater Impacts
Project to Study Climate Effects on California Water Systems from Headwaters to Groundwater
Posted: January 11, 2018 To address future climate change effects on water resources, scientists at five UC campuses, and Lawrence Livermore and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories will study California’s water systems, from the headwaters in the Sierra Nevada, through rivers, reservoirs and groundwater in the Central Valley. The goal is to provide information to optimize water […]
Read MoreBig Unknowns: What Legal Marijuana Means for Water in Western States
Six western states now allow recreational use of marijuana, creating a huge new legal market for cannabis farmers. But the implications for water supplies remain a big unknown. “It looks like a mess right now,” one expert says. Written by Matt Weiser Published on Jan. 3, 2018 Read time Approx. 10 minutes States throughout the West have rushed to legalize […]
Read MoreNew Policy Sets Rules for Marijuana Growers to Protect California Water
California’s State Water Board recently passed new policies that will regulate water impacts from marijuana growing operations. Erin Ragazzi and Scott Couch of the Water Board discuss the challenges. Written by Ian Evans Published on Nov. 7, 2017 On October 17, the California State Water Resources Control Board adopted new environmental policies to regulate how marijuana growing […]
Read MoreDeciphering dueling analyses of clean water regulations
To All, This is a short policy forum piece from Science worth reading to see the arguments fabricated by the Trump administration to overturn the 2015 Waters of the United States rule. This is the rule that addresses the reach of the Clean Water Act. How far does it extend into wetlands, if at all. […]
Read MoreLink to see “Water & Power: A California Heist”
To All, An important film that gives the little known state of California’s water is Water & Power: A California Heist. Here is a link to see it: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6290202/ Larry
Read MoreThe Chore of Understanding Water Rights Just Got a Little Easier
It is notoriously difficult to access and interpret information on water rights. Water Sage, a new web-based service now offered in California, aims to take the sting out of this task for individuals and institutions alike. Written by Matt Weiser Published on Apr. 11, 2017 Who owns the water? And how much do they use? These are simple questions. […]
Read MoreDrought Emergency Ends in California; Here’s What’s Next
Celebrating the end of the drought will be short-lived, as state officials stressed that California continue along its course to improve conservation and efficiency to prepare for future droughts. Written by Tara Lohan Published on Apr. 9, 2017 As Northern California inched closer on Friday to breaking the record for the wettest water year in California’s recorded history, Gov. […]
Read MoreDefend the Clean Water Rule–take action here.
On June 27, 2017, the Trump administration officially proposed to dismantle the Clean Water Rule. This would remove protections of the Clean Water Act for half our nation’s streams, which help provide drinking water to 1 in 3 Americans. The proposal is now officially published in the federal register. Comments must be received on or […]
Read MoreYour Caffeine Habit May Be Harming Waterways, Wildlife
Recent testing has found low levels of caffeine, even in relatively remote waterways around the West. Studies show it may be harmful to some wildlife species, but more research is needed. Written by Matt Weiser Published on Jun. 5, 2017 Read time Approx. 5 minutes What would we do without caffeine? Millions of Americans rely […]
Read MoreThe Challenge of Measuring Groundwater in California’s Central Valley
A new study estimates that around 9.5 cubic miles of groundwater was pumped from the region during the state’s five-year drought to make up the shortage from surface water supplies. Written by Ian Evans Published on Jun. 2, 2017 Read time Approx. 4 minutes During droughts, groundwater pumping is increased to make up for losses […]
Read MoreClean Water Rule Repeal
BACKGROUND ON CLEAN WATER RULE The 2015 Clean Water Rule outlined which bodies of water would be automatically protected by the Clean Water Act. Large bodies like lakes and rivers were listed, but the rule also included streams, ponds and other, smaller features that have important effects on these bigger, “navigable” waterways. Thanks to this rule, […]
Read MoreClean Water Rule Repeal Sample Action Letters
Sample Editorial Board Memo To: [INSERT NAME OF PUBLICATION] Date: June 1, 2017 From: [YOUR NAME] [TITLE] [ORGANIZATION] Re: Request for editorial – Repealing the Clean Water Rule puts the drinking water sources for more than 117 million Americans and [NUMBER] of [STATE-IANS] at greater risk of pollution and destruction. The Trump Administration recently began […]
Read MoreNew Oversight of Groundwater taking shape in Sonoma County
GUY KOVNER THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | June 10, 2017 Groundwater: What you need to know For information on the Sonoma County’s Sustainable Groundwater Management program, click here. For a Department of Water Resources tool that will show if your property is in a groundwater basin, click here. Groundwater basins are California’s largest reservoirs, more than 10 times […]
Read MoreResponse to Sapping the Well
To All, Paso Robles has been dealing with heavy water issues also as many of you know. National Geographic is filming a great story of their area right now. Financiers/vulture capitalists have been buying up vineyards for the water rights, wine grapes are just the window dressing, and selling it back to the residents. The […]
Read MoreSapping the Well
By Alastair Bland Tyler Heck remembers the summer days that often sent him down the hill from his family’s home off Erland Road and into the cool waters of Van Buren Creek for relief. He remembers diving into the water and swimming, even in July and August. It was the 1980s. Heck, now 32, says […]
Read MoreJoin “Enhancing Groundwater Recharge with Stormwater” May 30th
To All, Join the California Water Boards for an engaging conversation on “Enhancing Groundwater Recharge with Stormwater” with Andrew T. Fisher, Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, UC Santa Cruz. This event will be held on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 from 130pm to 230pm at 1001 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 (Klamath Room) and via […]
Read MoreLA Times Op-Ed: Our wild, wet winter doesn’t change this reality — California will be short of water forever
March 7th, 5am Over the last 18 months, California has experienced one of the driest, wettest and wildest rides in its recorded water history. As the 2015-16 water year opened in October 2015, drought had driven the state’s reservoir and groundwater levels to all-time lows. Entire towns were left without water. Reports of lakes turned […]
Read MoreTHIS JUST IN … NASA Report: San Joaquin Valley Land Continues to Sink
From the Department of Water Resources: New NASA radar satellite maps prepared for the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) show that land continues to sink rapidly in certain areas of the San Joaquin Valley, putting state and federal aqueducts and flood control structures at risk of damage. “The rates of San Joaquin Valley subsidence […]
Read MoreNew Era on Tap
by Stett Holbrook December 07, 2016 Sonoma and Napa counties respond differently to new groundwater law Call it a tale of two counties. A new state law requires that local governments regulate groundwater for the first time. Sonoma County has begun a lengthy process to create long-term sustainable groundwater management plans for its at-risk water […]
Read MoreCalifornia Case Could Set National Precedent on Indian Water Rights
The Agua Caliente tribe in Palm Springs argues it has a right to groundwater. Stanford law professor Barton H. “Buzz” Thompson explains how a federal court could soon resolve century-old uncertainties around the issue. WRITTEN BY Matt Weiser PUBLISHED ON Nov. 29, 2016 In this April 3, 2015, aerial photo, lush green golf courses border the edge […]
Read MoreFinal Report on Injection Wells
Howard Wilshire, October 2016 Programs for disposing of fluid wastes by injection into the ground in wells are regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. Rules for permitting such wells are specified in EPA’s Underground Injection Control (UIC) program; the basic purpose is to prevent contamination of […]
Read MoreInjection Wells: The Poison Beneath Us
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica, June 21, 2012, 8:20 a.m. Over the past several decades, U.S. industries have injected more than 30 trillion gallons of toxic liquid deep into the earth, using broad expanses of the nation’s geology as an invisible dumping ground. No company would be allowed to pour such dangerous chemicals into the rivers or […]
Read MoreCalifornia and EPA Poised to Expand Pollution of Potential Drinking Water Reserves
Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica, 4 September 2016 California is one of at least 23 states where so-called aquifer exemptions — exceptions to federal environmental law that allow mining or oil and gas companies to dump waste directly into drinking water reserves — have been issued [Photo caption] As the western United States struggles with chronic water […]
Read MoreOf Water and Wine
New vineyards and resorts rising above the Napa Valley threaten the region’s water BY STETT HOLBROOK This story was produced in collaboration with the Food and Environment Reporting Network, a non-profit investigative news organization. In the winter of 2015, a Hong Kong real estate conglomerate purchased the Calistoga Hills Resort, at the northern end of […]
Read MoreDWR Regulations to Guide Local Sustainable Groundwater Management Plans Approved by California Water Commission
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) regulations that will guide local groundwater sustainability agency management and regulation of California’s groundwater basins as outlined in the historic Sustainable Groundwater Management Act(SGMA) enacted by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. in 2014 were approved by the California Water Commission today. The approved emergency regulations now will be filed […]
Read MoreGroundwater Sustainability Moves Forward: Will Communities Be Left Behind?
WATER CALIFORNIA, MAY 20, 2016, By Jennifer Clary On Wednesday, the California Water Commission approved emergency regulations for the implementation of the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). These regulations are a significant milepost in what will be a very long journey towards groundwater sustainability in California. The regulations are intended to provide requirements for […]
Read More2016 National Monitoring Conference, May 2-6, Tampa FL
Please visit the 2016 National Monitoring Conference Website to view the draft conference agenda. The Conference-at-a-Glance and Concurrent Session Details, including speaker names and presentation titles, are available on the Agenda page for planning and registration purposes. This national forum is designed for all water stakeholders, including federal, state, tribal and local water professionals, non-profits, […]
Read More10th National Monitoring Conference
Please visit the 2016 National Monitoring Conference Website to view the draft conference agenda. The Conference-at-a-Glance and Concurrent Session Details, including speaker names and presentation titles, are available on the Agenda page for planning and registration purposes. This national forum is designed for all water stakeholders, including federal, state, tribal and local water professionals, non-profits, […]
Read MoreState Water Board and Human Rights to Water
At its February 16, 2016 board meeting, the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) will consider adopting the attached draft resolution pertaining to the human right to water, as established by Water Code section106.3, subdivision (a). On September 25, 2012, the California Legislature adopted Assembly Bill 685, which added section 106.3 to the […]
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