Hi folks: These letters are important insofar as they are from the National Marine Fisheries Service and speak to the rules the County relies upon to govern development and the impacts of those rules in their land use decisions with respect to riparian vegetation and waterways. The letters reinforce what is needed in the County […]
Read MoreCategory: Groundwater Impacts
Modernizing drought water allocations
UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, October 16, 2014 The State Water Resources Control Board recently solicited public comments on how to improve its drought curtailment of water rights. Here is a summary of insights and recommendations from a group of seven California water experts. By Ellen Hanak, Jeffrey Mount, Jay Lund, Greg Gartrell, Brian Gray, Richard […]
Read MoreNMFS Comment Letters on Sonoma County Land Use Practice
To All, These attached letters are important insofar as they are from the National Marine Fisheries Service and speak to the rules Sonoma County relies upon to govern development and the impacts of those rules in their land use decisions with respect to riparian vegetation and waterways. The letters reinforce what is needed in the […]
Read MoreCalifornia’s New Groundwater Law: An Interactive Timeline
Hi Folks — This information comes from the Legal Planet website. They put up an interactive timeline, which I have translated into a table. CA Groundwater Law Timeline Jane legal-planet.org California’s New Groundwater Law: An Interactive Timeline What are the major deadlines for local groundwater management agencies, and when can-or must-state agencies act? Posted on […]
Read MoreDocuments Reveal Billions of Gallons of Oil Industry Wastewater Illegally Injected Into Central California Aquifers
Tests Find Elevated Arsenic, Thallium Levels in Nearby Water Wells SAN FRANCISCO— Almost 3 billion gallons of oil industry wastewater have been illegally dumped into central California aquifers that supply drinking water and farming irrigation, according to state documents obtained by the Center for Biological Diversity. The wastewater entered the aquifers through at least nine injection disposal […]
Read MoreTHE RUSSIAN RIVER: ALL RIVERS Screenings
To All, Don McEnhill, Executive Director of Russian Riverkeeper is a featured interview in: THE RUSSIAN RIVER: ALL RIVERS – THE VALUE OF AN AMERICAN WATERSHED “The time of using greed to justify degrading our environment is over.” “We need to get very honest with the amount of water we have in the worst year. […]
Read MoreComment on Dam Questions on CA’s Drought
This reporter doesn’t seem to understand that reservoirs lose water through evaporation, particularly when they get low (and thus warmer). Other problems include methane production, due to decaying vegetation that is always being supplied by the streams flowing into them and by contributions from the reservoir margins. They trap nutrients that otherwise would support coastal […]
Read MoreWestern Drought Causes Earth’s Surface to Rise as Groundwater Drops
By Rong-Gong Lin II, LA Times Drought has altered landscape as it’s depleted 63 trillion gallons of water across Western U.S., study says The West has risen an average of 1/6 inch since 2013 due to lower groundwater, according to scientists Report questions whether loss of groundwater could be triggering more earthquakes on San Andreas […]
Read MoreOpinion: Letter to Editor of Press Democrat on California’s Water Crisis
Re: Editorial, Taking stock of California’s water supplies, 8/29/14 Dear Editor: “Water flows uphill towards money” – Marc Reisner, Cadillac Desert. California is the only state – not just Western state – which has no regulatory framework or clear authority to regulate groundwater. Those with the biggest pumps and the most money take the lion’s share, […]
Read MoreDWR’s updated Groundwater Information Center
I thought this might be of interest. have a great week, Rue Hello, If you haven’t had a chance to view DWR’s updated Groundwater Information Center, please click on the following link: http://www.water.ca.gov/groundwater/index.cfm On the site are links to all of the available Groundwater Management Plans (grouped by Hydrologic Region), as well as groundwater level […]
Read MorePublic Trust Doctrine Applies to Groundwater
Colleagues, The attached order pertaining to the Scott River recognizes that entities/counties permitting wells which are hydrologically connected to surface flows must consider the Public Trust, including impacts to surface flows in navigable rivers or impacting navigable rivers. Incidentally, it affirms that the state (SWRCB) can regulate groundwater when that groundwater is interconnected with surface […]
Read MoreSacramento Judge Makes Precedent-Setting Ruling On Groundwater Regulation
Ed Joyce July 16, 2014 A Sacramento Superior Court judge issued a ruling Tuesday requiring regulation of groundwater pumping to protect a river in Siskiyou County. Attorneys on both sides say it’s the first time a California court has ruled the “public trust doctrine” applies to groundwater. The doctrine says the State of California holds all waterways […]
Read MoreGroundwater in California
California is the only western state that does not regulate its groundwater. It’s also the only state that keeps most of its data on groundwater pumping secret. As Sacramento Bee reporter Tom Knudson pointed out in a Sunday story (“State keeps water well logs secret,” Page A1), California insists on adhering to a wrongheaded, outdated, counterproductive 1951 law […]
Read MoreCalifornia Water Rights Primer
Colleagues, I have come to believe that Ag and other interests project California water rights as “too complex” for ordinary folks to understand in order to intentionally discourage citizens from understand them and therefore being empowered to weigh in. I’ll bet, for example, that most citizens of the state believe what the Farm Bureau repeats […]
Read MoreEpic California Drought and Groundwater: Where Do We Go From Here?
Posted by Jay Famiglietti of University of California, Irvine in Water Currents on February 4, 2014 We’ve been working since the mid-1990’s, well before the mission was launched in 2002, to develop and test methods to help monitor groundwater depletion from space. We’ve applied them around the world — in California, across the U.S., in the Middle East, East […]
Read MoreStanislaus Farmers Sued over Environmental Concerns about Groundwater Wells
The Modesto Bee, February 7, 2014 By J.N. Sbranti Environmental advocates filed a lawsuit Thursday against more than a dozen Stanislaus County farmers seeking to shut off the water to about 60 recently approved wells for agricultural irrigation. The legal action seeks an environmental review of the impact those groundwater wells will have on Stanislaus’ […]
Read MoreDrought Plans
Top Story: Drought Operations Plan for Coming Dry Months Presented by Federal, State Water Managers Framework for Water Delivery Potential, Environmental Protections, and Conserving Water Through 2015 April 9, 2014 SACRAMENTO – Managing California’s scarce water resources in order to protect the state’s economy and environment during one of the worst droughts on record, the […]
Read MoreCalifornia Drought: San Joaquin Valley sinking as farmers race to tap aquifer
By Lisa M. Krieger lkrieger@mercurynews.com March 29, 2014 PIXLEY – So wet was the San Joaquin Valley of Steve Arthur’s childhood that a single 240-foot-deep well could quench the thirst of an arid farm. Now his massive rig, bucking and belching, must drill 1,200 feet deep in search of ever-more-elusive water to sustain this wheat […]
Read MoreNew Online Resources for Ag Water Stewardship
Good information for everyone…..Janus Subject: New Online Resources for Ag Water Stewardship The California Agricultural Water Stewardship Initiative (CAWSI) is pleased to announce the expansion of the online Agricultural Water Stewardship Resource Center, which now features 11 on-farm practices, 66 case studies, and a library of technical resources to assist farmers and ranchers, water suppliers, […]
Read MoreDrought, Resilience, & the North Coast Symposium, March 7, Fortuna
Drought, Resilience, & the North Coast River Lodge Conference Center 1800 Riverwalk Drive Fortuna, CA 95540 March 7, 2014, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm The 2014 Eel River Symposium; Drought, Resilience & the North Coast is focused on our current drought and how people can live with increasing climate extremes in ways that leave room […]
Read MoreNunes/Valadao bill in House next week–Outrageous Water Bill
Oppose Rep. Valadao’s Radical Legislation to Preempt California Law and Eliminate Environmental Protections for the Bay-Delta Estuary Perhaps not unexpectedly, the San Joaquin Valley Republican delegation outrage against Mother Nature (the drought), the Endangered Species Act, the San Joaquin River Settlement, the National Environmental Policy Act, California law, and responsibilities to other legal users of […]
Read MoreDrought and CEQA
To All: As I’m sure most if not all of you are aware, Governor Brown recently made his drought emergency declaration. While there are many positive aspects of the declaration – raising awareness of the drought, added pressure for reduced water usage, release of funds to address the drought, etc. – there are also some […]
Read MoreGroundwater Concept Paper Hearing, Jan. 22, Sacramento
NOTICE OF PUBLIC WORKSHOP: GROUNDWATER CONCEPT PAPER Wednesday, January 22, 2014 – 9:00 a.m.Joe Serna Jr. – Cal/EPA Headquarters Building Coastal Hearing Room 1001 I Street, Second Floor Sacramento, CA 95814 NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) will hold a public workshop to consider public input on […]
Read MoreKing Tides a Preview of Coming Sea Rise
John Laird December 24, 2013 Sea levels off the California coast will rise up to 2 feet by 2050 and up to 5.5 feet by 2100, scientific research suggests. Already, sea levels have risen in San Francisco by 8 inches over the past century. The highest tides of the year – dubbed King Tides – […]
Read MoreDates and Locations for Public Input on Fracking
The California Department of Conservation invites public input on the scope and content of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for statewide well stimulation activities at five scoping meetings in December and January. The EIR is mandated by SB 4. Once in draft form, the EIR will be circulated for specific comments on its analysis and […]
Read MoreAction on Brown’s Draft Rules for Fracking in California
To All, Recently Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown’s oil and gas officials released draft rules for fracking in the state. Tragically, though, the rules cater to industry — instead of protecting Californians from fracking, they protect fracking from Californians. Hydraulic fracking involves pumping water laced with toxic chemicals at high pressure directly underground in an attempt […]
Read MoreOminous Department of Water Resources Report
Good morning, As the first significant rain of the season fell on Northern California the other day, the state Department of Water Resources issued an ominous water supply estimate that makes it clear that much more precipitation is needed this winter. The DWR projects that it will be able to fill only 5 percent of […]
Read MoreAction for to Protect and Enhance the Clean Water Act
To All, Here is the latest. Also, there is a new grassroots listserv you or anyone in your network interested in this issue can join. Info below – but simply email me if you want to join. Feel free to share this info widely. Dalal Aboulhosn <dalal.aboulhosn@sierraclub.org> WE NEED YOUR HELP TO TAKE ACTION! We […]
Read MoreAction for to Protect and Enhance the Clean Water Act
To All, Here is the latest. Also, there is a new grassroots listserv you or anyone in your network interested in this issue can join. Info below – but simply email me if you want to join. Feel free to share this info widely. Dalal Aboulhosn <dalal.aboulhosn@sierraclub.org> WE NEED YOUR HELP TO TAKE ACTION! We […]
Read MoreAction to Strengthen not Weaken the Clean Water Act
To All, Right now, 117 million Americans are at risk of drinking contaminated water. It sounds outrageous, I know. But a Bush administration loophole for polluters means that huge amounts of our nation’s streams, rivers, and wetlands are not currently covered by the Clean Water Act. Oil companies can dump crude into a stream, factory […]
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