California’s leading environmental justice, land use, and conservation organizations—109 in number and representing hundreds of thousands of constituents throughout the state—are writing you at this critical moment. We live in a time of unparalleled threats to our environment and communities. With climate change, every Californian faces increasing risks from wildfires, persistent drought, rising seas, and […]
Read MoreCategory: Watershed Related Concerns
Sacramento/Delta Draft Staff Report: Comment Deadline Extended & Revised Public Hearing Information
The State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board or Board) has posted a revised notice of availability and opportunity for public comment, hearing, and staff workshops on the draft Staff Report in support of possible Sacramento River and Delta updates to the Water Quality Control Plan for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary (Bay-Delta Plan) to its […]
Read MoreCorporations are consolidating water and land rights in the West
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 […]
Read MoreRestoring Water Systems: Top Priority for Biden Administration
The Biden-Harris transition team identified COVID-19, economic recovery, racial equity and climate change as its top priorities. Rivers are the through-line linking all of them. The fact is, healthy rivers can no longer be separated into the “nice-to-have” column of environmental progress. Rivers and streams provide more than 60 percent of our drinking water—and a clear path toward public health, a strong economy, a more just society and greater […]
Read MoreTale of Two Sagas–citizens protecting rivers, critical salmon, and forest watersheds
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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Read MoreAppellate Court Upholds State Water Board’s Drought Emergency Regulations and Curtailment Orders Issued for Deer Creek
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 […]
Read MoreLandmark Lawsuit Settlement Between Environmentalists and State Water Boards Strengthens Delta Protections
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 […]
Read MoreEnviroAtlas Training Webinar
Thank you for registering and/or participating in the April 28 EPA EnviroAtlas Training webinar. The webinar recording is now posted for viewing for those of you that missed the training or want to view it again. Since we didn’t have time to get through all of the questions during the webinar, attached is a Q&A […]
Read MoreAction: Request from NCRWQCB to give input on Temperature Policy
An invitation to review this project … dive in. Do take care, stay well.Rue I’m writing to offer a chance to collaborate on some interesting science with direct policy relevance. My full-time job is at the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board where we implement state and federal clean water laws. A project I’m […]
Read MoreClean Water Act Action
If you have a minute … add your voice. Below is an easy link … or find your own way to be heard. stay safe, be well.Rue Addup campaign on Clean Water For All Act. You can use this site to contact your person in Congress.https://addup.sierraclub.org/campaigns/stop-the-trump-admin-from-stripping-protections-for-our-waters This AddUp supports Representative Peter DeFazio and Representative Grace […]
Read MoreDerailing CEQA?
AB 3279 was amended in the Assembly Appropriations committee, but those amendments do not address concerns and we remain opposed along with other enviro and EJ organizations. The bill will be up on the floor this week. It contains a bad cost-shifting provision that only allows plaintiffs to prepare the CEQA administrative record if the […]
Read MoreResponsible Water Conservation
Hi, As we’ve seen from devastating events all over the world (notably in the United States and Australia), responsible water conservation is more critical than ever to protect the planet from catastrophic droughts and wildfires. With that in mind, may I ask you to add the following list to your site, Activist Corner, which already […]
Read MoreEnvironAtlas Training-Sustainable Future
As follow-up to the January EPA Tools & Resources Webinar on EnviroAtlas, EPA’s Office of Research and Development will provide a more in-depth training webinar on EnviroAtlas. Register and join the webinar. How do environmental managers and public health officials identify the benefits that local forests, parks, wetlands and other natural areas provide to their […]
Read MoreClean Water Act: Trump’s rewrite is finalized. What happens now?
Apr 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 MoreClimate Resilience Bond Must Include Funds to Protect and Restore California’s Redwood Forests
Robin Carr, Landis Communications, Save the Redwoods League Redwoods play a key role in the state’s fight against climate change by storing more carbon per acre than any other forest type in the world SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. (February 26, 2020) — As California lawmakers negotiate the details of a climate resilience bond to bring before […]
Read MoreSalmon Website with Current Status
The Nature Conservancy is relaunching the California Salmon Snapshots website as the State of Salmon in California website. The website still provides the most complete, updated numbers of salmon and steelhead returning to our California rivers – but the information is now presented in a more modern and easy-to-navigate interface. With data compiled from the […]
Read MoreMaori Democratic Party Resolution on Lahaina Wastewater Pollution
WHEREAS, the County of Maui’s Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility has for decades used injection wells to dispose of its treated wastewater, sending millions of gallons a day of polluted water into the ocean just offshore of Kahekili Beach; and WHEREAS, peer-reviewed government and university scientific studies, as well as decades of direct kama‘āina experience, have […]
Read MoreToxic Rule Sign-on Letter to Protect Air/Climate Impacts
California River Watch joined dozens of other statewide environmental organizations providing comments to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) to not gut or reduce the standards of protection for pollutants that are released into the atmosphere from coal and other steam generating sources. These releases create unhealthy levels of air pollutants and, in addition, […]
Read MoreToxic Water Rule sign-on letter
Our organization, California River Watch, signed on to a letter distributed by Clean Water Action (Jennifer Clary) to the EPA to not gut protections prohibiting dumping coal ash wastewater into US waters and instead strengthening limits for scrubber sludge discharges to control bromide and other pollutants. You can review the letter below. Larry January 21, […]
Read MoreMap showing Fully Appropriated Streams
The State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights (Division) has released an interactive GIS web map for representing Fully Appropriated Stream Systems (FASS) in California. The web map provides access to FASS and related information, including seasonal limitations, court references, and Board decisions all in one place and within a geospatial context. The […]
Read MoreWeb Map Showing California’s Fully Appropriated Streams
The State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights (Division) has released an interactive GIS web map for representing Fully Appropriated Stream Systems (FASS) in California. The web map provides access to FASS and related information, including seasonal limitations, court references, and Board decisions all in one place and within a geospatial context. The […]
Read MoreCritical Species Lookbook Groundwater Resource Hub
The Nature Conservancy is pleased to announce the release of the Critical Species LookBook (the LookBook) which may be found on the Groundwater Resource Hub. The LookBook is a compendium of 84 state and federally listed species likely to be affected by groundwater management and merit consideration by Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act […]
Read MoreNew Fully Appropriated Stream Systems (FASS) Web Map Tool
The State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Rights (Division) has released an interactive GIS web map for representing Fully Appropriated Stream Systems (FASS) in California. The web map provides access to FASS and related information, including seasonal limitations, court references, and Board decisions all in one place and within a geospatial context. The […]
Read MoreAction: Send Letter to Maui County for polluting Groundwater and Ocean Beaches
Below is a sample letter to send to the Environmental Program of Maui County expressing outrage for continuing to pollute or simply a statement of not visiting until pollution of groundwater and ocean is stopped and the Clean Water Act is followed. Dear Environmental Coordinator: I am outraged by the continued pollution from treated wastewater […]
Read MoreProtecting Species under Groundwater Management
Dear Groundwater Colleagues, The Nature Conservancy is pleased to announce the release of the Critical Species LookBook (the LookBook) which may be found on the Groundwater Resource Hub. The LookBook is a compendium of 84 state and federally listed species likely to be affected by groundwater management and merit consideration by Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) […]
Read MoreCLIMATE CHANGE
The crisis is upon us. What do we do now? Shonagh Rae For The LA Times The world is drifting steadily toward a climate catastrophe. For many of us, that’s been clear for a few years or maybe a decade or even a few decades. But others have known that a reckoning was coming for […]
Read MoreClimate System is “Getting Unhinged”!
To All, The Climate System is “Getting Unhinged” as Massive Heat Wave Causes Record Melting of Greenland Ice Sheet on Democracy Now!. Click on this link to see the video or read the transcript. Larry
Read MoreEPA Proposes to Narrow Water Quality Certification Authority Under the Clean Water Act
Carbon dioxide emissions may trigger a reflex in the carbon cycle, with devastating consequences, study finds. August 2019 The Environmental Protection Agency issued a lengthy proposed rule on August 9, 2019 to clarify the substantive and procedural requirements for water quality certifications under Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. According to EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, the changes […]
Read MoreLetter to the Editor Published in the Press Democrat, Santa Rosa CA
State forest management policy is a major factor in the loss of salmon populations and the potential recovery of salmon populations. And – as it turn out forest management is a large part of the long term problem or long term solution of the climate change issue. I think the voting population is ready for change. […]
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