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A California Town Could Finally Get Clean Water If Its Neighbor Is Willing To Help

/in , /by /The Sacramento Beeby Cresencio Rodriguez -Delgado

The 80 homes that make up Tooleville nestle against the mighty Friant-Kern Canal, thousands of gallons of fresh water flowing each day past the two-street town. But none of that water can help Tooleville’s decades-old problem of contaminated water, chronicled at the start of this decade in a three-part series by The Bee on the San Joaquin Valley water crisis. Nearby Exeter might, though, giving a rise of newfound hope. The last year has proven to be the most productive in the town’s battle.

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EPA Won’t Regulate Pollution That Moves Through Groundwater

/in , /by /E & E News (Washington, D.C.)by Ariel Wittenberg and Ellen M. Gilmer

EPA won’t regulate any pollution to surface waters that passes through groundwater. The Clean Water Act regulates pollution to surface water and requires permits for so-called point-source discharges to them. But questions have remained about whether the law regulates any pollution that ends up in surface waters, or only direct discharges.EPA now says it’s the latter. “The agency concludes that the best, if not the only, reading of the Clean Water Act is that Congress intentionally chose to exclude all releases of pollutants to groundwater from the [point source] program, even where pollutants are conveyed to jurisdictional surface waters via groundwater,” the agency wrote in an interpretive statement posted online last night.

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As Trump Tries To Roll Back Clean Water Rules, California Seeks Stronger Protections

/in , , /by /San Francisco Chronicleby Kurtis Alexander

When grower Brad Goehring looks across his rows of grapes, he can’t help but see a pool of murky water that breaks the rhythm of his vines, which otherwise stretch steadily into the Sierra foothills. The pool is relatively small, maybe half an acre, but vital, according to environmental regulators. They say it helps to clean the runoff from Goehring’s fields and provides a home for critters such as marsh birds. And by law, it can’t be disrupted, which is what makes this mini wetland a headache for Goehring.

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California Governor Pushes For Fee To Clean Up Tainted Water

/in , , /by /The Associated Press by Kathleen Ronayne

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to charge California water customers up to $10 per month to help clean up contaminated water in low-income and rural areas, but he will face resistance from some legislative Democrats hesitant to impose new taxes. The Democratic governor says up to 1 million California residents have some type of contaminated or unclean water coming through their taps that can cause health issues. He has called it “a moral disgrace and a medical emergency.”

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Trump Asks Supreme Court To Resolve Groundwater Fight

/in , , /by /E&E News (Washington, D.C.)by Ellen M. Gilmer

The Trump administration is pushing the Supreme Court to review what could be the most consequential environmental case of the term: a broiling Clean Water Act debate. The Justice Department yesterday recommended the high court decide whether the landmark environmental law applies to pollution that travels through groundwater before reaching federally regulated water. Two recent circuit court decisions say yes, but critics think that approach vastly expands the statute.

 

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Small Water Systems In LA County Struggle To Provide Clean Water, Report Say

/in , /by /NBC4 (Los Angeles)

Small water systems in Los Angeles County often struggle to provide their customers with clean drinking water at an affordable rate due to groundwater contamination, financial management problems and other issues, according to a report from UCLA Law released Monday. The report’s authors look at the challenges facing L.A.’s small water systems, which have fewer than 10,000 customers but are numerous in the county and service more than 250,000 customers.

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California Water Board Sues Federal Agency For Pollutants Entering The U.S. Via The Tijuana River

/in , /by /The National Law Review

The San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board (Water Board) filed a complaint on September 4, 2018 against the United States Section of the International Boundary Water Commission (IBWC), alleging violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA) related to contamination in the Tijuana River. Relying on a 1944 U.S./Mexico treaty, the complaint alleges that the IBWC is responsible for addressing waste entering the U.S. from Mexico along the Tijuana River watershed.

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Supporters Rally For Bill That Pays For Clean Water In Rural, Low-Income Areas

/in , /by /KGET (Bakersfield)

Supporters of a bill that would raise monthly water bills for many residents rallied in Sacramento Wednesday.  The money raised from the bill would pay for systems to clean water in areas, supporters say, suffer from unsafe drinking water. Central Coast Sen. Bill Monning introduced the bill last year. It would increase residential water bills by 95 cents a month and is projected to raise $100 million. Low income earners would be exempt.

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