The 2018 Report of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) projected that “curtailing warming to 1.5°C, a safe level to stabilize the climate, will require an unprecedented transformation of every sector of the global economy over the next 12 years.” We are now in the last decade we have to make this transformation. It […]
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Appellate 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 MoreIn memory and honor of Tav Sparks
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 […]
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 MoreSorax, The Ghost of Coho Salmon Past, Addresses The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors By Brock Dolman
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 MoreFetzer Vineyards, Concha y Toro, and General Augusto Pinochet
Consistent 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 MoreCourt of Appeal Rejects Water Users’ Legal Challenge to Board’s Emergency Regulations, Temporary Curtailment Orders
California 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 MoreCourtroom Battle Could Lead to Limits on Fluoridation of Drinking Water
By 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 More‘Hydrologists should be happy.’ Big Supreme Court ruling bolsters groundwater science
A 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 MoreLocal Coalition Advances Plan to Remove Scott Dam on the Eel River, Acquire Potter Valley Project From PG&E
Ryan 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 MorePress Releases for Scott Dam Removal and Potter Valley Project Acquisition
Official 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 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 MoreGroundwater Rules!: We All Live Downstream
March 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 MoreNet zero isn’t enough: Congress must fight harder for climate
By 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 MoreHawai‘i Wildlife Fund v. County of Maui
The 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 MoreIs Covid-19 the Silver Bullet For a Stable Climate?
We 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 More‘Lost communities’: thousands of wells in rural California may run dry
Years 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 MoreRecord-high global tree cover loss driven by agriculture
by 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 MoreForest Unlimited’s 2020 Plants 1400 Redwoods
In 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 MoreTrump Removes Pollution Controls on Streams and Wetlands
By 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 MoreOne trillion trees – World Economic Forum launches plan to help nature and the climate
22 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 […]
Read MoreStudy Finds Not Logging Some Northwest Forests Could Offset Climate Change
by Cassandra Profita Dec. 23, 2019 A new study finds some Northwest forests have a lot of potential to capture carbon and offset climate change. That is, if they’re preserved and not logged. Researchers at Oregon State University and the University of California-Berkeley looked at which forests in the Western United States should be prioritized for preservation under climate […]
Read MoreOne thing you can do: Help to preserve forests
By Jillian Mock When we make a mess in the kitchen, many of us reach for paper towels without sparing a thought for where those crisp white sheets originated. If you’re in North America, some of the fiber in your paper towels (and other tissue products like toilet paper) probably started off as a tree […]
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 MoreCALIFORNIA WATER | GROUNDWATER
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 MoreMaui is urged to withdraw its high-court wastewater appeal
Readers: This is a situation where there is an attempt to continue polluting groundwater and therefore the beaches and ocean where fresh water ends up. You can help by boycotting traveling there and opting to go somewhere else where environmental laws are respected and followed. Or you can send a letter out of outrage using […]
Read MoreTop 10 Solutions to Reverse Climate Change
Adapted with permission from Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming (Penguin Books, 2017), edited by Paul Hawken Paul Hawken and the Project Drawdown experts thought they knew what to expect when they modeled and ranked 80 solutions that could reverse global warming. But the data had some surprises in store. […]
Read MoreThe Fifteen-Year-Old Climate Activist Who Is Demanding a New Kind of Politics
By Masha Gessen October 2, 2019 Sometimes the world makes so little sense that the only thing to do is engage in civil disobedience—even in a country as attached to its rules and regulations as Sweden is. Fifteen-year-old Greta Thunberg has been protesting for more than a month. Before the country’s parliamentary election on September 9th, […]
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 MoreThe Russian River: Managing at the Watershed Level
Gokce SencanSeptember 10, 2019 This is part of a series on issues facing California’s rivers. Water managers across the state face new and more extreme challenges as the climate warms—from balancing the sometimes conflicting needs of urban, agricultural, and environmental water users to reducing risks from fires, floods, and droughts. We talked to Grant Davis, general […]
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