Water Policy Archives

Opinion: Beyond COVID and Social Unrest, Valley’s Big Problem Remains Declining Groundwater

June 12, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Fresno Beeby Ellen Hanak and Jelena Jezdimirovic

In these extraordinary times, managing groundwater for long-term sustainability may not seem like a top priority. But in the San Joaquin Valley — where groundwater supplies have been declining for decades — excess pumping is a critical problem, with major implications for public health, jobs, the environment and local economies.

The state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) requires groundwater planning and actions to sustain this vital resource. Agencies from California’s 21 “critically overdrafted” basins — including 11 large basins that span most of the San Joaquin Valley floor — submitted their first groundwater plans in January.

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Central Valley Water Districts Take Aim at Each Other’s Groundwater Plans

June 9, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /SJV Waterby Lois Henry

There is no tougher playground than California’s water world.

Just take a look at the zingers flying back and forth between water districts on one another’s groundwater sustainability plans posted on the Department of Water Resources’ website.

“It’s like a giant game of dodgeball,” said Dana Munn, General Manager of Shafter-Wasco Irrigation District.

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Water Portfolio to be Finalized ‘in Coming Weeks’

June 4, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /AgriPulseby Brad Hooker

During a meeting of the State Board of Food and Agriculture on Tuesday, Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said the administration is continuing to advance the Water Resilience Portfolio and plans to complete the policy document soon. … The plan has stalled since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold of California.

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Utilities Ramp Up Lobbying for Relief, Broader Reforms

June 1, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /E&E Newsby Hannah Northey

The nation’s water utilities, facing more than $27 billion in lost revenue from the pandemic, are ramping up their outreach to Congress as lawmakers prepare to act on infrastructure legislation and additional relief in the face of a historic pandemic.

In addition to a flurry of letters and meetings, advocacy groups and lobbyists with congressional expertise are pushing for provisions in both Water Resources Development Act bills moving through the House and Senate, and the next round of COVID-19 stimulus funds.

In the near term, the bills could be a lifeline for both residents and utilities reeling from the economic fallout of the pandemic.

Over the longer term, some hope the bills could provide a pathway for revamping a highly fractured, aging water system — old lead pipes, vulnerable dams and 1,500 drinking water systems in violation of the Safe Drinking Water Act, said Robert Powelson, CEO of the National Association of Water Companies.

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Trump EPA’s Targeting of San Francisco Pollution May Bring Investigation

May 19, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /San Francisco Chronicleby Tal Kopan

The nation’s environmental watchdog may investigate federal enforcement of water policy in California after Democratic lawmakers accused the Trump administration of “irregular” interference targeting San Francisco, according to a letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

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Trump’s Water Jurisdiction Rule: What’s All the Fighting About?

May 19, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Bloomberg Lawby Ellen M. Gilmer and Amena H. Saiyid

The Trump administration’s long-anticipated water jurisdiction rule has already drawn a half-dozen legal challenges since its April release, with more on the way.

The Navigable Waters Protection Rule narrows which types of wetlands and waterways trigger federal Clean Water Act oversight, replacing interpretations by Obama-era officials and earlier administrations.

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New Federal Clean Water Rule Puts Expensive Onus on Colorado

May 12, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Gazette (Colorado Springs, Colo.)by Jerd Smith

Colorado and other Western states will be hard-pressed to shield their rivers and streams under a new federal Clean Water Act rule finalized last month, largely because hundreds of shallow Western rivers are no longer protected, and writing new state laws and finding the cash to fill the regulatory gap will likely take years, officials said.

Though many agricultural interests and water utilities support the new Waters of the U.S. rule, as it is known, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and Patrick Pfaltzgraff, director of the state’s Water Quality Control Division, said they will take legal action to protect streams that are no longer subject to federal oversight.

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States Sue Trump Administration over Rollback of Obama-era Water Protection

May 4, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Hillby Rebecca Beitsch

A coalition of 17 Democratic-leaning states sued the Trump administration on Friday for rolling back Obama-era protections for waterways, arguing the move ignores science on the interconnectivity of water.

President Trump’s Navigable Waters Protection Rule limits federal protections for a number of smaller waterways, which many scientists say risks pesticides and pollution reaching larger ones.

“This rule opens the door to new, and worse industry pollution that endangers our wildlife, it dirties our drinking water and increases the risk of harmful contamination of our nation’s waterways. In short, it risks the health and safety of Americans around the nation,” California Attorney General Xavier Becerra (D) said in a call with reporters announcing the suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and asks to vacate the rule entirely.

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California, 15 Other States Sue Over New Rule Diluting Protections for Nation’s Waterways

May 3, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /San Francisco Chronicleby Peter Fimrite

A coalition of 16 states led by California and New York sued the Trump administration Friday over a law that eliminated Obama-era protections for wetlands and streams across the United States.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, accuses President Trump and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency of illegally exposing waterways to pollution and development by rolling back a key provision of the Clean Water Act.

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Opinion: California and Federal Government Need to Resolve Differences on Water Supply Issues

April 30, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /CalMattersby Mike Wade

Re “California water war re-ignited”; Dan Walters, April 20, 2020, CalMatters

Dan Walters’ column does a good job describing a potential water battle that all Californians should want to avoid.

The COVID-19 pandemic has rendered uncertain many things we used to take for granted. When can we next go to a restaurant, plan a vacation or go to a baseball game? We can’t afford to add to that list, “will there be food at the grocery store?” Our food supply has been one of the few things we’ve been able to count on in recent months and we need that to continue.

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