This symposium on Nov. 8 will address some of the issues about pharmaceutical contaminants in wastewater, drinking water and our rivers and lakes. How did we get into this soup, what other chemicals are in it with us, and what can we do to clean it up? Join us on November 8, 2007 at the […]
Read MoreCategory: Waste Discharge Pollution
Letter Supporting Clean Water Restoration Act
FYI, Northern California River Watch letter supporting the Clean Water Restoration Act in legislation. –Larry The Honorable Nancy Pelosi Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives H-232, U.S. Capitol Washington, DC 20515 The Honorable James Oberstar, Chairman House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee 2365 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515-2308 The Honorable Barbara Boxer, Chairwoman […]
Read MoreRussian River Plume from the Laguna
Dear Rue, Thanks for getting this information out. I have recently been involved with a construction grading project moving earth in Graton. Moving soil requires permits and it isn’t cheap to accomplish. Quarry’s and other operations creating sediment are also aware of this. When a construction firm has a grading project and creates a small […]
Read MoreStormwater Management Archived Videos
To All, This could be a valuable resource… –Larry Stormwater Management Archived Videos Accessed at http://eces.wsu.edu/video/StormwaterMgmt.html Available videos: Stormwater Management from a Watershed Perspective: Extreme Western Climates Stormwater Management from a Watershed Perspective Improving Community Involvement in Watershed Restoration Funding Watershed Restoration in the Pacific Northwest Living on the Edge: Grassroots Watershed Planning in the […]
Read MoreNew STATEWIDE WATERSHED PROGRAM!
FYI, SECRETARY MIKE CHRISMAN ANNOUNCES THE BEGINNING OF A STATEWIDE WATERSHED PROGRAM! California Watershed Forum in Sacramento, California Resources Secretary Mike Chrisman announced a plan to create a statewide watershed program. Speaking to nearly 200 Watershed Forum attendees from all corners of California, Secretary Chrisman outlined his goals for the statewide program to develop partnerships […]
Read MoreNorth Bay Water Reuse Program Act
Dear all – H.R.236 (North Bay Water Reuse Program Act of 2007) was heard today in the House Subcommittee on Water and Power, and was approved by unanimous consent with only one grammatical change, and sent on to the full House Committee on Natural Resources. No hearing date is set yet there. The Subcommittee received […]
Read MoreResponse to NY Time’s Antibiotic Runoff
David, et. al. Edo McGowan, M.D. responded to this editorial below. These are important points and should be considered in future comments on the IRWP, NSCARP, upcoming Laguna Foundation meeting, and all TMDL letters and communications. This is a time-bomb waiting to go off, but as he says, just keep your eyes on OJ and […]
Read MoreNY Times Editorial on Antibiotic Runoff
NYTimes September Editorial Antibiotic Runoff One of the persistent problems of industrial agriculture is the inappropriate use of antibiotics. It’s one thing to give antibiotics to individual animals, case by case, the way we treat humans. But it’s a common practice in the confinement hog industry to give antibiotics to the whole herd, to enhance […]
Read MorePetaluma’s Water Conservation Program
I watched the Sept. 10 [Petaluma] City Council meeting on the water conservation proposal. It was interesting. An out-of-the-box citizen suggestion was that cities and the county construction industry consider supporting a modest pipeline project paralleling Dry Creek to access the tremendous supply of water in Lake Sonoma behind Warm Springs Dam. Actually a good […]
Read MoreNorth Coast IRWMP Conference
I thought this might be of interest. The program looks good and many of the speakers are quite good. If you cannot receive the attachment on this version – let me know and I’ll forward it to you. Have a great week, Rue To: North Coast Groups and Agencies Fr: Karen Gaffney, North Coast Integrated […]
Read MorePublic Work Shops on Water Management
I thought this might be of interest. Feel free to pass it along. Thanks to Jim for this lead. Have a great week, Rue Public Work Shops on Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) Program Concepts and IRWM Grant Program Guidelines and IRWM Plan Standards. The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has posted the agenda for […]
Read MoreDisappointment Expressed for Petaluma Water Conservation
Dave – You are completely correct. This is a real disappointment. It would be great if you and others would send letters to the editor about this (both PD and Argus). The real estate sales lobby effectively flexed its muscles at the City Council, and the council folded. Surely, this is the ‘anti-regulatory’ crew in […]
Read MoreDischarging from Lake Sonoma
My understanding of discharges from L. Sonoma is that it is “surface water”, and cannot directly enter the SCWA pipeline system without treatment. So far, to get their additional 26,000af, this means (1) release down Dry Creek in a new pipeline, to diffusers within the gravel-bed aquifer of the Russian, for collection at the Raney […]
Read MoreWater Board’s Action on Wastewater Runoff “Incidental”?
Clean Water Friends: Thursday, Sept. 13th, at about 9 AM at their SR office (5550 Skylane Blvd.) the Regional Board will take up a Resolution in support of the concept of “incidental runoff” and “low threat” discharges. This is preliminary to a Basin Plan Amendment and is meant to support the City of Santa Rosa’s […]
Read MoreFight Industrial Ag’s Pollution
As many of you may recall, last summer the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board approved the wavier for irrigated lands discharge, which many of you have been fighting for years to stop. Several organizations appealed this decision to the State Board, and as a result there will be a very important workshop on […]
Read MoreWastewater Drug Sampling
This was an interesting article that I received from a friend on the EPA Decentralized list serve. There’s a lot more than endocrine disruptors to sample. Did you notice that the SCWA published a sewer lateral inspection ordinance? Bob Rawson Teaspoon of sewage is whole city’s drug test By SETH BORENSTEIN, The Associated Press WASHINGTON […]
Read MoreTalking Points on Water for General Plan Update Hearings
Draft Talking Points for Supervisors’ Hearings on Water Aspects of the General Plan Update: Open Space and Resource Conservation Element (including riparian corridors): Wednesday, August 29, at 6:00 pm in the Glaser Center, and Thursday, August 30, at 1:30 pm in the Board of Supervisors’ Chambers. Introduction Sonoma County residents support a General Plan that […]
Read MoreNinth Circuit Upholds Criminal Penalties for Modification of Intermittent Stream
August 22, 2007 By Leslie Z. Walker and Janell M. Bogue Admonishing appellant for 20 years of blatant disregard for the Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) and the Clean Water Act (“CWA”), the Ninth Circuit upheld the Idaho district court’s verdict finding appellant criminally liable for violations of the Clean Water Act in U.S. v. […]
Read More303(d) Listings Posted for Laguna and Other Water Bodies
This is a message from the State Water Resources Control Board. ____________________________________________________________ FYI, The SWRCB just posted the 303(d) listings for Laguna and other water bodies in our northcoast region. Click on the link to see the data. –Larry The USEPA-approved section 303(d) list of water quality limited segments has been posted at: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/tmdl/303d_lists2006approved.html If […]
Read MoreLetter by LCV to Cities Regarding Water Conservation
To: City Manager (Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Sonoma, Coati, Rohnert Park, Windsor, Healdsburg, Sebastopol), or, To: District Manager (Valley of the Moon, North Marin Water District, Marin Municipal Water District) The League of Women Voters would like to be provided with the following information about water consumption in your city or district this year, compared to […]
Read MoreRegionalizing Sewer in West Sonoma County?
Hi everyone! I want to call to your attention an article in today’s Press Democrat about a “Strategic Plan” being led by Mike Reilly and Tim Smith. Hearings will be held around the County in September (see below for partial schedule). The basic idea is to examine County priorities in light of limited funding. Things […]
Read MoreWater Conservation, the Water Agency, and the General Plan
David – and Bleys, Pete, Ann, Paul, Chris – With the failure of the County to adequately address reductions of GHG over the lifespan of the new General Plan and FEIR (with PRMD staff stating, ‘we don’t have a good baseline’, ‘we don’t know how to do that’, ‘we’ll wait for Federal and State mandates […]
Read MoreCanadian Study Reveals New Class of Potential POPs
Jocelyn Kaiser Dioxin, PCBs, the pesticide DDT–these pollutants are considered among the most dangerous on the planet because they don’t break down easily, are highly toxic, and build up in the food chain. Because these chemicals stay put in our body fat, even tiny amounts in food can add up over time and contribute to […]
Read MoreStorm Runoff and the Petaluma Floodplain
To: The City of Petaluma, General Plan and DEIR management, Supervisor Kerns, and Members, Zone 2A: Please add the following summary as comments on the Petaluma General Plan DEIR, and as a further definition of more effective and comprehensive objectives, policies and programs, which are currently absent from the DEIR and Draft General Plan. The […]
Read MoreAll Washed Up: Grand Jury Wastewater Report is Fatally Flawed
Excellent critique of the Grand Jury report on wastewater by Brenda Adelman. David ———– Press Democrat Jul 7, 2007 CLOSE TO HOME *All washed up: Grand jury wastewater report is fatally flawed* By BRENDA ADELMAN Having studied Sonoma County water and wastewater issues for the last 28 years, I can appreciate how challenging it is […]
Read MoreSonoma County Planning Draft GP2020–Public Meeting Wed, Aug 1
To All, Click on the link below to see what Sonoma County’s Planning has prepared for its General Plan through 2020. From there, you can check out the Table of Contents and pick an area of concern. There is a meeting Wednesday, August 1, from 6 to 9 pm, at the Santa Rosa library where […]
Read MoreSCWC Letter on SCWA’s Reuse Plan
The letter attached in rtf format and pasted below was sent today. SCWC letterhead was used for the signed original sent by snail mail. The letterhead footer included all current SCWC organizations except CNPS and LWV. Their abstentions from last week were not converted to votes in favor by our deadline of yesterday at noon. […]
Read MoreScreening For Endocrine Disrupting Pesticides
By Dan Shapley News Editor The Daily Green, June 2007 More than 10 years after being directed to do so by Congress, the Environmental Protection Agency will test 73 pesticides for their potential to damage the endocrine system and disrupt the normal functioning of hormones in the body, the agency announced this afternoon in a […]
Read MoreSanta Rosa Loses Appeal on Waste Water Discharge Permit
Hi everyone! Some of you were wondering if the environmental challenge to Santa Rosa’s NPDES permit, lead by Alan and others, was also dismissed. I thought it was, but here is Alan’s verification. Forgive duplications. I can generally support Alan’s comments, but the devil is in the details. This business of incidental runoff in the […]
Read MoreOn Water Board’s Enforcement Workshop
The SWRCB meeting [Enforcement Workshop] seemed to go OK. The regulated community took the line that we are trying to conform, but we need consistent direction from the Board – please to not enforce with Draconian measures on those applying for permits. (this is, in part, true. Sorting the good ones from the bad ones […]
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