An archive of articles that where displayed on the River Watch main home page.
Questions swirl as carcasses rot at Lake Merritt and beyond. We talked to experts and explored 100 years of local fish-kills. by Natalie Orenstein and Darwin BondGrahamSeptember 2, 2022 Scientists are hard at work trying to home in on the cause—or likely causes—of the algae bloom that’s led to mass death for marine life. Credit: Amir Aziz “Mystery epidemic kills […]
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What do GMO mosquitoes, GMO apples and GMO salmon have in common? One guy. Who happens to be a billionaire. Catch “GMO Mosquitoes: The Deception Drinking Game” on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/qHq3PjM-Cx4 This episode of Fork the System is part 1 of 2 in a series on the issue of GMO mosquitoes. How did a […]
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SmartWaterMagazine.com reports that as climate change increases extreme weather events, such as megadroughts, groundwater management is key for sustaining water supply. But current monitoring tools are either costly or insufficient for deeper aquifers, limiting our ability to monitor and practice sustainable management. Now, a new paper bridges seismology and hydrology with an application that uses seismometers […]
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What is the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)?The IRA bill is a massive $740 billion piece of legislation, funded primarily through increased corporate income taxes, to address issues like the national deficit, tackling the rising costs of prescription drugs, and shoring up the Internal Revenue Service’s enforcement capacity. It also provides Medicare with the ability to […]
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“Climate change ecology studies the interactions between climate change and natural ecosystems.” New research links the amount of carbon dioxide taken in by land ecosystems, such as forests, to the availability of water, which is in short supply during droughts. Our climate is rapidly warming with rising temperatures affecting the physical environments that support entire […]
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Exciting news! Rangers Josh Crosbie and Keith Gray recently observed a beaver dam at Maxwell Farms Regional Park. Beavers are important “ecosystem engineers” that help create habitat for other species. Beavers are also a “keystone species,” which means they have a disproportionately positive influence on the species and environment around them. Beavers help sequester carbon […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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After three years of drought, the massive state and federal water projects that serve California’s cities and farms have less water to distribute, forcing water managers to increasingly ration supplies. This year, squeezed extra tight by the prolonged drought conditions, both the state and federal […]
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New research links the amount of carbon dioxide taken in by land ecosystems, such as forests, to the availability of water, which is in short supply during droughts. Our climate is rapidly warming with rising temperatures affecting the physical environments that support entire ecosystems. Humans and animal species both face daunting challenges for survival because of climate change. During […]
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The timber industry and the U.S. Forest Service aggressively market the idea that reducing fuels through logging/thinning programs will result in a significant decrease in acreage burned, firefighting costs and the number of high-severity fires. However, it is climate/weather, not fuels, that drive all large wildfires. The factors responsible for all large wildfires are drought, low humidity, high temperatures and, most importantly, wind. If you have those ingredients […]
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WATER Institute Co-Directors Kate Lundquist and Brock Dolman are excited to announce the initiation of the California Process-Based Restoration (Cal PBR) Network. The goals of the Cal PBR Network are to promote process-based (aka, beaver-based, ecological, low-tech, nature-based) restoration approaches to increase the capacity of degraded river and stream ecosystems to retain water, support biodiversity, […]
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The day after an unseasonal June rain swelled the streams of the northern Sierra Nevada, Marily Woodhouse steered her 2003 Dodge Dakota through 65 miles of winding mountain roads near Mount Lassen. Woodhouse first traversed the area on horseback shortly after moving here 25 years ago. Back then, the land was lush with life, and its towering conifer forests furnished refreshingly cool air on days that were blistering hot beyond the canopy’s shade. Now, acre after acre of land of the Battle Creek Watershed is parched as far as the eye can see. Nonnative plants like […]
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There are nearly 33 million acres of forested land in the State of California. Since the early days of European- American settlement, the wholesale destruction of our native, “old-growth” forests, and the overall depletion of the productive capacity of our forests, both public and private, have been the subject of debate and concern. Many may […]
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By JET PROPULSION LABORATORY APRIL 9, 2022 Researchers have untangled puzzling patterns of sinking and rising land to pin down the underground locations where water is being pumped for irrigation. Scientists have produced a new method that holds the promise of improving groundwater management – critical to both life and agriculture in dry regions. The method sorts […]
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Petaluma River Brims With ‘Fecal Bacteria’
The river winding through downtown Petaluma might be the city’s single most defining feature. The city’s annual rivertown revival festival features views of the river and, farther south, recreationists use the water for entertainment and exercise every day.
Yet, since 1975, the state has designated the water a contaminated water body due to excessive levels of bacteria tied to fecal […]
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They think returning beavers to our floodplains should be a part of our climate action plans. When beavers are allowed to do what beavers do, it’s good for us and the climate. That’s the conclusion of northwest researchers who are looking to improve water quality and curb our carbon output. Chris Jordan, biologist with NOAA’s northwest fisheries science center, co-authored a paper on how beavers should be a part of our climate action plan. He says […]
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“He should have never been detained for even one day,” said an Amnesty International official, “as it has been clear the whole process against him has been in retaliation for his human rights work that exposed corporate wrongdoings.” Jake Johnson,April 25, 2022 Human rights lawyer Steven Donziger walked free Monday after 993 days of detention […]
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On April 6th, the Supreme Court reversed a 9th Circuit decision that limited the ability of states to protect rivers from the harmful effects of hydropower dams under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. The rules adopted by the prior administration limited information available to the states, the time for review, and the scope of conditions that states can require in the licensing of […]
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The fate of one critically endangered natural resource – our precious wetlands – could spell either failure or success for all that we do to protect clean water.
Without healthy wetlands, our clean water goals would be nearly impossible to achieve.
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 […]
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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, […]
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On Tuesday afternoon, the Federal Court in San Francisco held a status hearing for our lawsuit against the EPA. The hearing was brief, as the Judge reiterated his longstanding desire to wait until the National Toxicology Program (NTP) has published the final version of their review on fluoride’s neurotoxicity before continuing with the trial. The NTP communicated to the […]
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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 […]
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February 25, 2022 Panama City, Panama: On February 24, 2022, Laurentino Cortizo, President of Panama, signed http://files.harmonywithnatureun.org/uploads/upload1168.pdf. Panama now joins a number of countries who recognize the Rights of Nature at the national level. The list also includes Bolivia, which passed the Law of the Rights of Mother Earth (071) in 2010 and Law of […]
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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 […]
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The U.S. Centers For Disease Control (CDC) has partnered with the chemical industry to target 19 million residents in 32,000 small and medium sized communities across the United States that do not add fluoridation chemicals to the public drinking water. Using your tax dollars, the CDC provided funds to private business to develop a fluoridation delivery product […]
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By Ian James, Staff Writer Feb. 13, 2022 California’s mountain snowpack is shrinking, and climate change is intensifying the severe drought. Streams have dwindled and reservoirs have declined as vast quantities of water are diverted for farms and cities. Endangered fish are struggling to survive. And in farming areas in the Central Valley, hundreds of families are […]
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With farms, ranches and rural communities facing unprecedented threats, a worrying trend leads to a critical question: Who owns the water? Eli Francovich, Columbia InsightDec. 15, 2021 Ghost cattle — 200,000 made-up heifers. A massive fraud rocking eastern Washington’s arid ranching communities, leading to criminal charges and bankruptcy. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and […]
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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 […]
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