An archive of articles that where displayed on the River Watch main home page.
In order to roll back catastrophic carbon emissions, humans must “start developing the technologies for large-scale removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere,” … Humanity may have passed the “point of no return” in the climate crisis—even if everyone on the planet stopped emitting all greenhouse gases at this very moment, according to a study published Thursday.
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Scientists at an Antarctic research station recently recorded a one-day air temperature of just under 70 degrees, a balmy afternoon in a region of the world unaccustomed to them. In fact, as far as researchers can tell, it has never been that warm in Antarctica before. The record was set against an increasingly scary global backdrop of rising temperatures and seas; more powerful storms, droughts and floods; a reduced Arctic ice cap, and accelerated melting and movement of glaciers around the globe — including Antarctica. The culprit behind this crisis is the nearly 200 years that humans have spent burning fossil fuels […]
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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 […]
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Water is core to California’s way of life. But as climate change causes more volatile precipitation, less snowpack, more flooding, higher temperatures, and shorter wet seasons, the water system will increasingly fail to meet the needs of California’s communities, industry, and agriculture. New analysis by the Union of Concerned Scientists shows that the data and […]
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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 […]
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A graduate of the M.S. in conservation medicine program shares what she learned during the Tufts program about the methods used to fight wildfires in California By Genevieve Rajewski, September 11, 2020 Wildfires started burning in California early again this dry season—more than two million acres have burned so far. Larger and larger wildfires are […]
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In a major victory, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has sided with EPIC in a case impacting fragile post-fire forest in the Mendocino National Forest. The court found that the Forest Service’s use of a “categorical exclusion” to avoid an environmental impact assessment for a timber sale following the 2018 Ranch Fire was likely a violation of the law and that EPIC should have been awarded an injunction by the lower court to stop logging.
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MARY CALLAHANTHE PRESS DEMOCRATSeptember 12, 2018 Narrow, steep road to residences slated to be used for logging trucks Planned logging near a Healdsburg stream that provides some of the last refuge in the region for wild coho salmon has been put on hold after a court decision overturned a timber harvest plan for the 160-acre […]
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Felta Creek The logging plan known as Fox Meadows includes critical sections of Felta Creek, known as the last refugia for Coho Salmon. This property was purchased by a land developer for investment purposes and had many previous violations with local jurisdictions. A group formed, Friends of Felta Creek, that elicited help from Forest Unlimited, […]
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THE PRESS DEMOCRAT July 14, 2020 Guy Kovner A five-year battle over plans to log in the remote Gualala River flood plain has taken a big step up with a powerhouse environmental group’s declaration to take the case to federal court, alleging the commercial tree harvest would harm protected fish, frogs and birds. Friends of […]
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June 23, 2020 | Written by Michelle E. Chester On June 18, 2020, the Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the lower court’s determination that the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board) lawfully adopted emergency regulations and curtailment orders during the State’s most recent drought emergency. The regulations and orders at the center […]
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Tav was incredibly generous of himself, his time, anything he had to give. He’d want the best of whatever was available to go to others. He would stay with a breather for countless hours. He loved to prepare food for people; to share the movies and music he loved; to see the best in each person he encountered; and to keep telling and showing them what he saw until they saw it too.
He was a brilliant teacher with an incredible mind. He wove magic into his work with self-deprecating humor, extravagantly elegant mannerisms, quirky southern expressions, and a knowledge of […]
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Enforceable transparency and analysis to replace years of failure to comply with existing water quality and flow standards. SACRAMENTO, California — Three California environmental nonprofits secured a landmark settlement agreement with the California State Water Resources Control Board to uphold the common law Public Trust Doctrine and other legal protections for imperiled fish species in […]
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I am a ghost of coho salmons past, once born and raised in Dutch Bill Creek, below Occidental. My last reported sighting there was in the 1960’s. I speak for all salmon and wildlife species not able to attend your meetings. Do you realize that as public servants and supposed stewards of the Russian River […]
Read MoreConsistent with River Watch’s mission, we are providing the researched article by Ellen Rose because it draws the connection of past and current political corruption with current environmental and social responsibility. Concha Y Toro is a large company that owns Fetzer, Bonterra and other wine brands. When consumers try to select products that have high […]
Read MoreCalifornia Appellate Court Upholds Water Board’s Broad Drought Response Authority California’s Court of Appeal for the Third Appellate District recently upheld the State Water Resources Control Board’s temporary emergency drought response regulations–enacted in 2014-15–as well as related curtailment orders the Board issued to specific water users to implement those regulations. In doing so, the Water […]
Read MoreBy 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 […]
Read MoreA new U.S. Supreme Court ruling puts groundwater science at the center of decisions about how to regulate water pollution. Today, in a closely watched case with extensive implications, the court ruled six to three that the federal Clean Water Act applies to pollution of underground water that flows into nearby lakes, streams, and bays, as long as […]
Read MoreRyan Burns / Wednesday, May 13 @ 11:10 a.m. / News In a major development for both water rights and the environment on the North Coast, an unlikely coalition of five regional entities today filed a plan with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to take over the Potter Valley Project, a hydroelectric facility that […]
Read MoreOfficial release from the Two-Basin Partnership Santa Rosa, Calif. – Today, five diverse entities jointly proposed an ambitious plan to advance restoration of Eel River fisheries while maintaining water security for Russian River basin water users. The Feasibility Study Report (Report) Project Plan was filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) as the next […]
Read MoreApr 22, 2020 The Trump administration today finalized its controversial definition of what marshes, wetlands and streams quality for protections under the Clean Water Act. But don’t expect regulatory certainty anytime soon. EPA published its Navigable Waters Protection Rule in the Federal Register this morning, nearly four months after the administration unveiled the rule. Publication starts a […]
Read MoreMarch 27, 2020By Jennifer Clary – Program Manager With all that’s happening right now, it can be difficult to pay attention to anything other than the news of the day. I’m focused on groundwater; how we use it – and use too much; how we protect it from pollution – or don’t; and how we […]
Read MoreBy Shaye Wolf, opinion contributor — 03/03/20 There’s a new climate buzzword taking hold of Congress: “net zero.” Net zero climate targets purport to remove as much carbon from the atmosphere as is put in typically by 2050. From the CLEAN Future Act to the American Public Lands and Waters Climate Solution Act, it is becoming the defining […]
Read MoreThe US Supreme Court is expected to issue an opinion on this case, and the “Toxic Water Loophole”, this month. The case “centers on a wastewater facility in Maui that violated the law by discharging millions of gallons of treated sewage each day into the Pacific Ocean via the groundwater beneath the facility, devastating a formerly […]
Read MoreWe always knew that climate change was going to be painful… Brad ZarnettMar 11 The air over China before and after the country went into lockdown in an attempt to contain the Covid-19 Coronavirus.Something changed recently when I saw a map comparing the air over China before and after the country went into lockdown in […]
Read MoreYears 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 […]
Read Moreby Liz Kimbrough on 10 March 2020 The new data reveals record-breaking global tree cover loss for 2016 through 2018. In 2018 alone, the area of tree cover loss was larger than the UK. Agriculture continues to drive tree cover loss globally and in the tropics while forestry and wildfires drive forest loss in North America. Across […]
Read MoreIn January of 2020, Forest Unlimited planted 1400 redwood seedlings on two different properties, one near Occidental and the other near Sebastopol. The plantings that took place over two days and involved the efforts of about 100 volunteers. Forest Unlimited has been doing these large plantings for at least 20 years. We estimate that the […]
Read MoreBy Coral DavenportJan. 22, 2020 WASHINGTON — The Trump administration on Thursday finalized a rule to strip away environmental protections for streams, wetlands and groundwater, handing a victory to farmers, fossil fuel producers and real estate developers who said Obama-era rules had shackled them with onerous and unnecessary burdens. From Day 1 of his administration, President […]
Read More22 Jan 2020Robin Pomeroy Journalist, World Economic Forum Global Risks Report 2020 Deforestation causes almost as much greenhouse gas emissions as global road travel. Here`s how we can help halt it. Davos initiative aims to unite and promote reforestation efforts worldwide. Forum hopes to mobilize funds and political support. Even climate sceptic Trump has pledged to […]
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