California Water Issue 2022

What is World Water Day? World Water Day has been celebrated by the United Nations annually since 1993 to shine the spotlight on water use, water conservation, water innovation and the lack of access to water in many countries. Wars have been waged over water. Believe...

In 2012, California took the bold step of enacting AB 685, which declared that every person in the state has a right to clean, safe, and affordable drinking water. Seven years later, in 2019, Gov. Newsom signed SB 200 to provide funding to “provide safe drinking water...

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) is considering letting California’s largest water users build a 1.5 million acre foot, or 20 sq mi, reservoir that would divert much more water from the Sacramento River. At 13,200 acres, Sites Reservoir (formally called the...

The Carlsbad ocean desalination (desal) plant, the largest in the western hemisphere, was conceived as a futile scheme to beat the 1987-92' drought. The San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA) was clashing with their supplier, the Metropolitan Water District of...

About a year ago, I reported on a new water futures market on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The market is based on an index, which is based on the sales  transactions of actual water in CA, including statewide and in 5 sub-basins in the  Southern CA area. The index...

As a newbie to Sierra Club, you hear all kinds of Sierra Club entities being thrown around. National, Sierra Club California, Sierra Club Angeles Chapter, Sierra Club Bay Chapter and the list goes on. We’re here to shed a little light today on Sierra Club California....

As you may know, it’s becoming more important for everyone to try hard to conserve water due to the increased frequency of dangerous droughts brought on by climate change. Here are some important water conservation tips individuals, including cities can implement on a...

In April of last year, the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board voted to grant Poseidon a permit to move ahead with the construction of their ocean desalination plant. The next step of course is that Poseidon would have to come before the California Coastal...

In Southern California, we have a storm drain system and a sewage system that are completely separate. The storm drain system is called the municipal separate storm sewer system (MS4). Two main types of water flow through the MS4: (1) Stormwater, which is rainwater...

Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink. — Samuel Taylor Coleridge While the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner tells of the misfortunes of a seaman and suggests that despite being surrounded by something, you cannot benefit from it, the tale of ocean desalination...

The theme for World Water Day 2022 is, Groundwater: Making the Invisible – Visible. Have you ever taken the time to think about the groundwater beneath your feet? Or where your water comes from? Of course, depending on where you live in Southern California, your water...