The Trump administration said Wednesday it intends to roll back first-ever limits set by the Biden administration on four toxic “forever chemicals” contaminating water supplies across the country. Even low levels of the chemicals known as PFAS are linked with cancer, immune system problems, developmental effects and other health ailments. EPA-mandated testing has found them in nearly half of Americans’ drinking water.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to accelerate his administration’s plan to build a $20-billion water tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta by short-cutting permitting for the project and limiting avenues for legal challenges. Newsom urged the Legislature on Wednesday to adopt his plan to “fast-track” the tunnel, called the Delta Conveyance Project, as part of his revised May budget proposal.
U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Arizona, is part of a bipartisan bill to unlock federal funding for water infrastructure in the West. Working alongside U.S. Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, Kelly has introduced the Restoring WIFIA Eligibility Act. It’s part of efforts by their states, Washington state and California to get federal dollars.
Mexico recently paid a small portion of the water it owes the United States under a 1944 international treaty. A total of 56,750 acre-feet of water was paid via “a transfer of ownership in Amistad Dam” on April 30, Frank Fisher, spokesman for U.S. Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission told Border Report on Wednesday.
The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it plans to weaken limits on some so-called forever chemicals in drinking water that were finalized last year, while maintaining standards for two common ones. The Biden administration set the first federal drinking water limits for PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, finding they increased the risk of cardiovascular disease, certain cancers and babies being born with low birth weight.
Late last year, the Sweetwater Authority water agency made a startling announcement: There were elevated levels of toxic industrial chemicals in the reservoir supplying much of southern San Diego County’s drinking water. Agency officials said they discovered the chemicals in October during a federally mandated round of testing at the Sweetwater Reservoir in Bonita.
After months of reporting by ABC 10News, the City of San Diego’s Public Utilities Department has implemented significant changes to address customer service issues and billing problems.”We’ve been able to make major strides in improving the customer experience for San Diegans,” said Lisa Celaya, City of San Diego’s Executive Assistant Director.
New Jersey’s attorney general said Tuesday chemical manufacturer 3M agreed to pay up $450 million to resolve lawsuits over natural resource contamination stemming from PFAS — commonly referred to as “forever chemicals.” The settlement is subject to court approval and a public comment period, Attorney General Matt Platkin’s office said. St. Paul, Minnesota-based 3M is expected to pay $285 million this year, with additional amounts payable over the next 25 years.
Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to fast-track a project to reroute more water around the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to farmers and cities as part of his revised budget blueprint set to be unveiled on Wednesday. “We’re done with barriers — our state needs to complete this project as soon as possible, so that we can better store and manage water to prepare for a hotter, drier future,” Newsom said in a statement provided to POLITICO. “Let’s get this built.”
Most of the water that courses through the Rio Grande to reach parched farmlands along the border gets its start here, where the Rio Grande is replenished through Mexico’s Rio Conchos. This pocket of the border is known as La Junta de los Rios, where the two rivers meet and irrigate what’s believed to be the oldest continually cultivated farmland in Texas.
