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 […]
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‘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 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 MoreWhat Does Climate Change Really Mean to California’s Water Resources?
August 6, 2019 Robert Shibatani Guest blogger By Robert Shibatani Whether you are a water utility manager, elected official, or homeowner, future water availability is a concern. There are several factors fostering that concern and one of them is climate change. In fact, these days, climate change is a rapidly growing global hot topic (no […]
Read MorePolluted Gravel Pit Breached in Flood
From Russianriver Keeper (www.russianriverkeeper.org) Our worst fears were realized in the Feb 28th flood event. The largest gravel pit mine, Syar’s Basalt Pit, had a complete levee failure on a section that had failed in previous floods. The image at left shows the breach in center of picture, with river on the left and Syar […]
Read MoreA massive aquifer lies beneath the Mojave Desert. Could it help solve California’s water problem?
“Cadiz hopes to pump 16.3 billion gallons of water from the desert each year, equivalent to 50,000 acre-feet. A required environmental assessment, paid for by the company, found that 32,000 acre-feet of water would naturally recharge the aquifer each year, an 18,000-acre-foot annual deficit that Cadiz acknowledges would last for the project’s 50-year life. The assessment […]
Read MoreThe future of the Clean Water Rule is in our hands
The EPA wants to reduce protections for headwater streams. Stand up for clean water today! Whether you fish or just simply understand the value of clean water, there is no law more important than the Clean Water Act. In 2015, the EPA developed a rule that affirmed Clean Water Act protections for “intermittent and ephemeral […]
Read MoreA Billion-Dollar Investment in New York’s Water
New York City’s water system moves over a billion gallons a day, nearly all of it unfiltered. A major investment aims to keep it that way. By WINNIE HU New Yorkers like to brag about their tap water. Not only is it safe to swill, but it has even been called the “champagne of drinking water.” […]
Read MoreKey scientific issues in developing drinking water guidelines for perfluoroalkyl acids: Contaminants of emerging concern
Gloria B. Post, Jessie A. Gleason, Keith R. Cooper Published: December 20, 2017 Read the article at journals.plos.org Abstract Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), a group of synthetic organic chemicals with industrial and commercial uses, are of current concern because of increasing awareness of their presence in drinking water and their potential to cause adverse health effects. […]
Read MoreWhat is in Your Tap Water?
To All, Here is Environmental Working Group’s (EWG’s) data on tap water in your area. Once you click on the link, you can put your zip code in and will be brought to a page where you can choose your particular water system. If you have contaminants listed above health guidelines, these will be listed. […]
Read MoreDeciphering dueling analyses of clean water regulations
To All, This is a short policy forum piece from Science worth reading to see the arguments fabricated by the Trump administration to overturn the 2015 Waters of the United States rule. This is the rule that addresses the reach of the Clean Water Act. How far does it extend into wetlands, if at all. […]
Read MoreLink to see “Water & Power: A California Heist”
To All, An important film that gives the little known state of California’s water is Water & Power: A California Heist. Here is a link to see it: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt6290202/ Larry
Read MoreDrought Emergency Ends in California; Here’s What’s Next
Celebrating the end of the drought will be short-lived, as state officials stressed that California continue along its course to improve conservation and efficiency to prepare for future droughts. Written by Tara Lohan Published on Apr. 9, 2017 As Northern California inched closer on Friday to breaking the record for the wettest water year in California’s recorded history, Gov. […]
Read MoreDefend the Clean Water Rule–take action here.
On June 27, 2017, the Trump administration officially proposed to dismantle the Clean Water Rule. This would remove protections of the Clean Water Act for half our nation’s streams, which help provide drinking water to 1 in 3 Americans. The proposal is now officially published in the federal register. Comments must be received on or […]
Read MoreClean Water Rule Repeal
BACKGROUND ON CLEAN WATER RULE The 2015 Clean Water Rule outlined which bodies of water would be automatically protected by the Clean Water Act. Large bodies like lakes and rivers were listed, but the rule also included streams, ponds and other, smaller features that have important effects on these bigger, “navigable” waterways. Thanks to this rule, […]
Read MoreClean Water Rule Repeal Sample Action Letters
Sample Editorial Board Memo To: [INSERT NAME OF PUBLICATION] Date: June 1, 2017 From: [YOUR NAME] [TITLE] [ORGANIZATION] Re: Request for editorial – Repealing the Clean Water Rule puts the drinking water sources for more than 117 million Americans and [NUMBER] of [STATE-IANS] at greater risk of pollution and destruction. The Trump Administration recently began […]
Read MoreNew Oversight of Groundwater taking shape in Sonoma County
GUY KOVNER THE PRESS DEMOCRAT | June 10, 2017 Groundwater: What you need to know For information on the Sonoma County’s Sustainable Groundwater Management program, click here. For a Department of Water Resources tool that will show if your property is in a groundwater basin, click here. Groundwater basins are California’s largest reservoirs, more than 10 times […]
Read MoreRedwood City settles sewer suit: Overflows prompt conversation on city’s wastewater plan
June 05, 2017, 05:00 AM By Anna Schuessler Daily Journal Strategies for decreasing the number of Redwood City’s sanitary sewer overflows, developing an accurate reporting process and creating a plan for notifying residents when overflows occur are among the objectives clarified in a settlement agreement reached last month by city officials and the nonprofit California River Watch. Focused […]
Read MoreSave the date: Citizen lawsuit webinar on 6/27!
WHO: Speakers will include Heather Govern from the National Environmental Law Center and Whitey Markle from the Suwannee/St. Johns Sierra Club Group. WHAT: An educational webinar on how to use the Clean Water Act to file and win a citizen lawsuit! WHEN: Tentative date is Tuesday, 6/27. Time will be confirmed at a later date. […]
Read MorePesticides on the Smith River Plain: Is Drinking Water Safe?
March 28, 2017 By Felice Pace, North Group Water Chair Recently I received a notice announcing that the State Water Resources Control Board has proposed establishing a Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) of 5 parts per trillion (ppt) for the chemical 1,2,3-Trichloropropane (1,2,3-TCP) in drinking water. 1,2,3-TCP is a man-made chemical used as a solvent and […]
Read MoreLA Times Op-Ed: Our wild, wet winter doesn’t change this reality — California will be short of water forever
March 7th, 5am Over the last 18 months, California has experienced one of the driest, wettest and wildest rides in its recorded water history. As the 2015-16 water year opened in October 2015, drought had driven the state’s reservoir and groundwater levels to all-time lows. Entire towns were left without water. Reports of lakes turned […]
Read MoreCourt Affirms Need To Protect Water Quality Even In Drought
February 07, 2017 | Kate Poole During the last three years of California’s drought, the state and federal agencies charged with protecting fishable, swimmable, and drinkable water quality for all Californians have utterly failed to do their job. The results have been disastrous: more toxic algae blooms are infecting California’s waterways than ever before; at […]
Read MoreCalifornia Puts Oil Profits Ahead of Safe Drinking Water
January 25, 2017 Briana Mordick California state agencies last week said they’ll put the interests of Big Oil and Gas before the interests of public health. The California Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources’ (DOGGR) and State Water Resources Control Board’s (SWRCB) plan will allow oil and gas companies to violate state regulations, miss agreed-upon deadlines, […]
Read MoreDelta Doozy: Delta Water Won’t Meet CWA Standards Post-Waterfix
25 January 2017 Discussions about California water supplies have too often become fact-free discourses that fail to advance an informed discussion. The State Water Contractors’ “Delta Doozy” series was launched in order to distinguish the facts from the fiction and promote constructive dialogue. Today’s Doozy comes in response to Restore the Delta’s statement regarding Governor […]
Read MoreFertilizer May Be Good for Plants, but Not for Drinking Water
A new study highlights the health risks of consuming water contaminated with nitrates. (Photo: Chesapeake Bay Program/Flickr) Oct 4, 2016 Jason Best is a regular contributor to TakePart who has worked for Gourmet and the Natural Resources Defense Council. When it comes to the chemical free-for-all that generally characterizes industrial agriculture’s approach to modern farming, […]
Read MoreIndigenous Group Sues State Over Recycled Water Management
PRESS RELEASE | FRIDAY, JUL 22, 2016 Wishtoyo Foundation filed a lawsuit Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court against the State Water Resources Control Board over the use and management of recycled water throughout California. Wishtoyo alleges that new regulations issued by the State Board on June 7, 2016, fail to adhere to the requirements […]
Read MoreFinal Report on Injection Wells
Howard Wilshire, October 2016 Programs for disposing of fluid wastes by injection into the ground in wells are regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974. Rules for permitting such wells are specified in EPA’s Underground Injection Control (UIC) program; the basic purpose is to prevent contamination of […]
Read MoreTimber Company Tells California Town, Go Find Your Own Water
By THOMAS FULLER OCT. 1, 2016 WEED, Calif. — The water that gurgles from a spring on the edge of this Northern California logging town is so pristine that for more than a century it has been piped directly to the wooden homes spread across hills and gullies. To the residents of Weed, which sits in […]
Read MoreThis Lawsuit Has Put Big Ag On The Defensive In A Major Way
A pending Iowa case could set a new national precedent for water pollution stemming from farms. Aug 02, 2016 Joseph Erbentraut Senior Reporter, The Huffington Post Earlier this month, the Iowa Soybean Association had a big announcement to make. The group, which represents some 11,000 growers of the state’s second-most-lucrative crop, pledged $150,000 in support […]
Read MoreInjection Wells: The Poison Beneath Us
by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica, June 21, 2012, 8:20 a.m. Over the past several decades, U.S. industries have injected more than 30 trillion gallons of toxic liquid deep into the earth, using broad expanses of the nation’s geology as an invisible dumping ground. No company would be allowed to pour such dangerous chemicals into the rivers or […]
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