Water Policy Archives

Framework for Agreements to Aid Health of Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is a Starting Point With An Uncertain End

April 17, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Western Water (Water Education Foundation, Sacramento)by Gary Pitzer

Voluntary agreements in California have been touted as an innovative and flexible way to improve environmental conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the rivers that feed it. The goal is to provide river flows and habitat for fish while still allowing enough water to be diverted for farms and cities in a way that satisfies state regulators. But no one said this would be easy.

Full Story

Opinion: California Water Policies Inhibit Food Production by Valley Farmers

April 16, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /CalMattersby William Bourdeau

Over the past several weeks, the COVID-19 pandemic has created images Americans never expected to see in this country: Empty supermarket shelves and people lined up outside of markets waiting to enter to purchase food.

Full Story

Opinion: For California’s Water, a Tale of Two Letters

April 16, 2020/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Kimberlyn Velasquez /The Sunby Wayne Western

Two weeks after the State of California rolled out its plan that spells the end of coordinated distribution of the state’s water resources from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California Democrats in Congress have finally spoken out, sort of.

Full Story

California Sues Trump Administration to Block Water Rules

February 21, 2020/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Associated Pressby Adam Beam

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California sued the Trump administration on Thursday to block new rules that would let farmers take more water from the state’s largest river systems, arguing it would push endangered populations of delta smelt, chinook salmon and steelhead trout to extinction.

The federal rules govern how much water can be pumped out of the watersheds of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, which flow from the Sierra Nevada mountains to the San Francisco Bay and provide the state with much of its water for a bustling agriculture industry that supplies two-thirds of the country’s fruits and nuts and more than a third of its vegetables.

Full Story

Water Policy Priorities For A Changing California

September 24, 2019/in California and the U.S., Home Headline, Media Coverage /by Gayle Falkenthal /Public Policy Institute of Californiaby Ellen Hanak

How will climate change affect California water management, and what steps should the state take to prepare for these changes? The PPIC Water Policy Center was asked by the Newsom administration to submit formal comments outlining key water policy priorities for the state—and ways to integrate actions across state agencies to implement these priorities. Our recommendations will inform the administration’s preparation of a water resilience portfolio. We address two key areas where the state can play a leading role—modernizing the water grid and protecting freshwater ecosystems.

Full Story

New Environment Bill Outlines Measures To Enhance Water Resilience

July 23, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /Water & Wastewater Treatmentby Robin Hackett

In an update on progress towards the introduction of the Environment Bill – the first for 20 years – the Government has published firm positions, following a range of consultations, on issues ranging from trees to water to recycling, to boost the natural environment. Gove set out the Government’s ambitions for the full Environment Bill in an updated summer policy statement, including commitments to legislate on environmental governance, air, biodiversity, water, and waste and resource efficiency.

Full Story

Utah Joins Water officials From 7 States To Urge California To Preserve Colorado River

June 18, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /KUTV (Salt Lake City)

Utah is now working with representatives from seven states to urge California to sign off on a plan to preserve the Colorado River. According to the Associated Press, most of the seven states that get water from the Colorado River have signed off on plans to keep the waterway from crashing since it serves 40 million people. However, California missed the deadline from the federal government to get on board with the other states. California has two powerful water agencies fighting over how to get the drought contingency plan approved before U.S. officials possibly impose their own rules for water going to California, Arizona and Nevada, the AP reported.

Full Story

OPINION: Beware: Stealth Water Tax Hike Still Alive In Legislature

May 28, 2019/in Media Coverage, San Diego County, Uncategorized /by Mike Lee /San Diego Union-Tribune

It’s disgraceful that 1 million residents statewide do not have regular access to safe water supplies — a problem that is concentrated in rural agricultural communities in the Central Valley and Southeast California with little or no water infrastructure. But Gov. Gavin Newsom’s push to impose a first-ever tax on water to respond to the problem was never the right answer. The state is running a surplus of more than $20 billion and sitting on billions of dollars in water bonds that state voters approved in 2014 and 2018. Fortunately, the proposal now appears dead. Unfortunately, Assembly Bill 217, by Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia, D-Coachella, is very much alive, having passed two committee votes.

Full Story

Federal Bill Includes $14 Million To Boost Water Storage For Central Valley, Nor Cal

May 28, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Modesto Beeby Ken Carlson

A congressional bill includes almost $14 million in funding for water projects in the Central Valley and Northern California. Rep. Josh Harder, D-Turlock, said he was successful in working the funding into an Energy and Water Development appropriations bill that includes spending for infrastructure across the nation. According to a Harder press release, the bill has $4.1 million for the North Valley Regional Recycled Water Program, which supplies highly treated wastewater from Modesto and Turlock to farmland in western Stanislaus County. The Del Puerto Water District near Patterson stands to receive $1.5 million for development of a Del Puerto Canyon reservoir capable of storing 85,000 acre-feet of water.

Full Story

Lawmakers, Trump Agencies Set For Clash Over Chemicals In Water

May 27, 2019/in California and the U.S., Media Coverage /by Mike Lee /The Hill (Washington, D.C.)by Rebecca Beitsch

An aggressive push by Congress to pass bipartisan legislation addressing cancer-causing chemicals that are leaching into the water supply is setting the stage for a fight with the Trump administration. The chemicals, commonly abbreviated as PFAS, are used in items ranging from food wrappers and Teflon pans to raincoats and firefighting foam. But studies have found that as they break down and find their way into drinking water, they can cause a variety of negative health effects. PFAS has been linked with kidney and thyroid cancer along with high cholesterol and other illnesses. Contamination has spread to 43 states, and a 2015 study found 98 percent of Americans tested now have the chemical in their blood.

Full Story

Posts