On Water

People use lots of water for drinking, cooking and washing, but even more for producing things such as food, paper, cotton clothes, etc. The water footprint of an individual, business or nation is defined as the total volume of freshwater that is used to produce the goods and services consumed by the individual, business or nation.  You can figure out your water footprint using the calculator at waterfootprint.org. Additionally, they have a gallery of commonly consumed products and how much water it takes to produce them and case studies of water footprints of specific countries like China and Israel.

Los Angeles Eyes Sewage as a Source of Water
New York Times / by Randal C. Archibold

Mayor Villaraigosa, LADWP unveil far-reaching 20-year water strategy for LA
LADWP News

East County water supply adequate for summer months
East County Times / by Paul Burgarino

Feds: No food did in salmon; Fishermen argue Delta pumps deserve blame
Stockton Record / by Alex Breitler

Groups ask Congress for funds to rid waterways of mussels
Desert Sun / by Deborah Barfield Berry

Old ranch to be transformed into trout hatchery: Mono County hopes the park-like facility will lure anglers from Southern California
Los Angeles Times / by Pete Thomas

High-tech irrigation control study funded
Business Press / by Jahmal Peters

Engineers OK Riverside County-O.C. tunnel: Recent findings show tunnel could be built under mountains in Cleveland National Forest to haul water. Later, cars might also use tunnel.
Orange County Register / by Ellyn Pak

Feds: Will upgrade in San Ysidro rather than build Tijuana facility
San Diego Union Tribune / by Mike Lee

Santa Margarita water facility named Plant of the Year: Chiquita Water Reclamation Plant receives top honor from California Water Environment Association.
Orange County Register / by Scott Cobett

Glitch delays West Sac water fluoridation
Sacramento Bee

Cove sewer project nears the end
Cathedral City Sun / by RaNeeka J. Claxton

Tracy banking water rather than rationing
Tri-Valley Herald / by Mike Martinez

Solar Cup Students’ Water-Conservation Videos, Radio Spots, Brochures Kick off Three-Day Competition at Lake Skinner
Business Wire

L.A. prepares massive water-conservation plan
Los Angeles Times / by Rich Connell

EBMUD adopts water-rationing rules
San Francisco Chronicle / by Carolyn Jones

Ration water properly
Contra Costa Times Editorial

Supervisors oppose Delta task force recommendations
Lodi News-Sentinel / by Ross Farrow

State to restock poisoned Lake Davis with trout
Sacramento Bee / by Jane Braxton Little

Some wine grape growers turning to dry farming methods
Associated Press / by Michelle Locke

West Sac has new date for water fluoridation
Sacramento Bee / by Niesha Lofing

Mount Shasta water wins rural taste test
Mount Shasta Herald / by Will Duggan

Soledad to lease sewage plant from state
Salinas Californian / by Jake Henshaw

Talking About Water: Vocabulary and Images that Support Informed Decisions about Water Recycling and Desalination

The ultimate goal of this project is to provide stakeholders an appropriate common vocabulary to create a greater degree of understanding about water reuse and desalination. This project will identify words and images and develop a lexicon that enhances effective communication and open consideration of water reuse and desalination. Proposals are due June 20, 2008.

Development of an Information Clearinghouse on Concentrate and Salt Management Practices – Phase I

The overall objective of this project is to develop a comprehensive information clearinghouse on concentrate and salt management practices which will lead to guidelines for concentrate management and disposal in water reuse and desalting projects. Proposals are due June 23, 2008.

Examination of Microbiological Methods for Use with Reclaimed Waters

The objectives of this study are to: (1) Identify microbiological agents and methods applicable to reclaimed waters; and (2) Develop a framework that can ultimately be turned into full scale protocols for conducting round-robin validation studies of the methods for priority microbial agents. Proposals are due June 23, 2008.

Full descriptions (in PDF format) of these Requests for Proposals, along with proposal guidelines, can be found at the WateReuse Foundation web site.

East Bay begins water rationing
San Francisco Chronicle / by Kelly Zito

Ration water properly
Inside Bay Area Editorial

Environmental results of the Gold Rush
KGO TV ABC 7 / by Laura Anthony

Solar plan cuts Windsor 'footprint'
Santa Rosa Press Democrat / by Clark Mason

Homebuilder to pay $300,000 for wastewater discharge into San Jacinto River
Riverside Press Enterprise / by Jennifer Bowles

City takes over arsenic treatment
San Bernardino Sun / by Stephen Wall

San Joaquin County board finds another fault in Delta canal plans
Stockton Record / by Zachary K. Johnson

Ban on boating OK'd: Officials act to protect waters from invasive mussel species
San Jose Mercury News / by Julie Sevrens Lyons

Farmers face low water year: Reservoir levels drop as California braces for dry conditions
Capital Press / by Elizabeth Larson

Salt lakes around world in danger: The Dead Sea, for example, will likely drop 100 meters, geologist says
Salt Lake Tribune / by Brian Maffly

Farm Bill includes $170M in aid for salmon fisheries
Portland Business Journal

IID revisits governance issue
Imperial Valley Press / by Brianna Lusk

Nestle scales back massive Mount Shasta bottling plant
Associated Press

East Bay water users may have to slash usage
San Francisco Chronicle / by Kelly Zito

East Bay to face water rationing
Contra Costa Times / by Mike Taugher

Researchers: Lake Tahoe's worsening clarity leveling
Sacramento Bee / by Chris Bowman

Hopes rise for keeping Tahoe blue as clouding trend slows
Sacramento Bee / by Chris Bowman

Rainfall, water supply still below normal
Sonoma Index-Tribune / by Sandi Hansen

San Diego County Water Authority receives two awards for Coachella Canal Lining Project

Nestle plans scaled back: Bottling company to reduce McCloud plant by 60 percent
Redding Record Searchlight / by Kimberly Ross

Failed pipe fitting causes wastewater spill on North Coast
Associated Press

Redwood City mandates recycled water use
San Jose Mercury News / by Shaun Bishop

West Sacramento begins adding fluoride to water
Sacramento Bee / by Niesha Lofing

Drops to fill Lake Red Bluff: Diversion Dam gates will be lowered, flows increased
Redding Record Searchlight / by Dylan Darling

The Water Library, the American Water Works Association's new online research and download center, is a searchable archive of all AWWA's digital resources, including abstracts, citations and full text files from Journal AWWA dating back to 1971.  There is a fee to download full text articles, but searching abstracts is free of charge.  Also available are AWWA Standards for the same price you pay for print, but available immediately. 

Sacramento officials prepare for the worst -- massive flooding
Los Angeles Times / by Eric Bailey

State’s water needs require bold approach
Sacramento Bee / by John Garamendi

Feds pull plug on Trinity water shift
Eureka Times Standard / by John Driscoll

Civilization's last chance: The planet is nearing a tipping point on climate change, and it gets much worse, fast.
Los Angeles Times / by Bill McKibben

Decline seen in coastal contamination
Associated Press

Water district should scuttle boat ban plan
San Jose Mercury News Editorial

Lake Powell on the rise, expecting big boating summer
USA Today / by Jayne Clark

Army Corps says Condition of many levees a mystery
Associated Press / by Jim Salter

Nanoparticles scrutinized for health effects
San Francisco Chronicle / by Ann Fernholm

Hueneme dredging plan gets state OK: $13 million project to bury contaminants
Ventura County Star / by Scott Hadly

City commits $1 billion to sewers: Oahu residents' fees expected to increase to $79.10 a month by 2010
Honolulu Advertiser / by Peter Boylan

State Senate votes to eliminate entity overseeing delta repair: Questions about almost $5 billion spent on program
Associated Press / by Don Thompson

Canal could increase water supply
Contra Costa Times / by Mike Taugher

Garamendi warns of how climate change may affect Delta
Stockton Record / by Scott Smith

A new water strategy: Without one, the entire California economy is at risk.
Los Angeles Times / by George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson and Gray Davis

The emerging water crisis in the U.S.
Deming Headlight / by Shiney Varghese, Senior Policy Analyst, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Long Beach Year Ahead Of Others In Water Conservation
Grunion Gazette / by Harry Saltzgaver

Auburn dam may be dealt death blow
Sacramento Bee / by Matt Weiser

Coastal Commission approves Bolsa Chica footbridge: Bridge will connect Outer Bolsa Bay with upper wetlands and could be built as soon as October.
Orange County Register / by Annie Burris

Water bill battle blazes in Palm Springs
Palm Springs Sun / by Willian Avila

Water Shortage Concerns: City Contemplates Going From Toilet to Tap
AlterNet / by Barbara L. Minton

Long Beach cuts the ribbon on a wetlands wonder
Long Beach Press-Telegram / by Pamela Hale-Burns

Lincoln gathers more awards: City wastewater treatment and reclamation facility tops in state
Lincoln News Messenger

Water recycling bill signed into law
Contra Costa Times / by Simon Read and Paul Burgarino

Check out our recently updated Free Publications List: http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/WRCA/freepubs.html

Please e-mail wrcaill@library.berkeley.edu with your requests. Be sure to include your name, mailing address and full details of the items requested.

MTBE contamination settlement could cost oil companies $423 million: More than 500 lawsuits in California and 19 other states over groundwater fouled by the gasoline additive are resolved.
Los Angeles Times / by Janet Wilson

New dam proposals restart 1970s-era fights
Earth News / by Colin Sullivan

Silver Lake Reservoir: Dry for months, DWP is refilling 'er up
Los Angeles Times / by Francisco Vara-Orta

Bill reviving the San Joaquin River gets an OK
San Francisco Chronicle / by Peter Fimrite

Disinfection process change spurs call for untreated water
Antelope Valley Press / by Alisha Semchuck

Tejon Ranch pact would allow 26,000 homes on the range
Los Angeles Times / by Louis Sahagun

Overflows cost sewer systems $35 million in fines
USA Today / by Larry Wheeler

Not your typical garage sale: Sewage treatment space available
Inside Bay Area / by Karen Holzmeister

Going green with greywater: Petaluma home is first in the county with a permitted system that uses old wash water for irrigation
Petaluma Argus-Courier / by Corey Young

Orange County Water District beats out over 400 international nominees to win the 2008 Global Water Award (PDF)

Longfin smelt under consideration for endangered status
Sacramento Bee / by Matt Weiser

EPA may decide not to limit the amount of a toxin in water supplies: An agency official tells a Senate committee that it's possible there will be no standard set for the amount of perchlorate allowed in drinking water.
Los Angeles Times / by Marla Cone

Feds weigh Trinity water shift
Eureka Times-Standard / by John Driscoll

Richmond spill killed up to 300 fish - delay probed
San Francisco Chronicle / by Carl Nolte

Poseidon’s Delay: Coastal Commission waits 2 years for desal answers
Orange Coast Voice / by John Earl

Farm bill, water lead agenda for Washington trip
Ag Alert / by Ching Lee

Silver Lake Reservoir To Get Refill
CBS 2 Los Angeles

County hopes for help (with wastewater treatment plant)
Marysville Appeal-Democrat / by Andrea Koskey

5/7/2008
Climate Change and Drinking Water Resources
Speaker: Richard Haberman, Supervising Sanitary Engineer, California Department of Public Health
UC Davis, 3001 Plant and Environmental Sciences Building, 4-5:30p.m.

Berkeley Students Working in China on the Future of a Water Village in the Pearl River Delta and on the Grand Canal in Hangzhou
Speaker: Peter Bosselmann, Professor of Urban Design, Departments of City and Regional Planning, Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning
UC Berkeley, 315A Wurster Hall, 1-2p.m.

5/8/2008
Climate Footprints: How do we know human activites have influenced global climate change?
Speaker: Dr. Benjamin Santer, contributor to Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
UC Santa Cruz, Media Theater, 7:30p.m.

5/9/2008
Safe Affordable Drinking Water for Poor Communities in the Developing Countries
Speaker: Dr. Ashok Gadgil, Senior Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
UC Berkeley, 542 Davis Hall, 11a.m.-12p.m.

2008 Jim Arnold Lecture--Global Climate Change: A Paleoclimate Perspective from the World's Highest Mountains
Speaker: Professor Lonnie Thompson, Distinguished University Professor, School of Earth Sciences, Ohio State University
UC San Diego, Robinson Building Complex, 5-7p.m.

Protection sought for Delta longfin smelt
Sacramento Bee / by Matt Weiser

Bill may establish Salton Sea aid
Imperial Valley Press / by Brianna Lusk

Solar Water Disinfecting Tarpaulin wins 2008 Metropolis Magazine next generation design competition

Stanford researcher stumbled on potential chemical threat
San Jose Mercury News / by Patrick May

Superfund gets support: State backs cleanup of site
San Bernardino Sun / by Jason Pesick

Bay-delta plan goes to public hearing
San Jose Mercury News / by Paul Rogers

USGS reorganization brings watershed of offices to Sacramento State
Sacramento State News

World’s Largest Submerged Membrane Water Treatment Plant Operating at Twin Oaks Valley Near San Marcos

We need to concentrate on reducing water usage
Desert Sun Editorial

Silver Lake's golden opportunity: The draining of the reservoir has revealed its potential as a new kind of urban park.
Los Angeles Times / by Sara Catania

Live Oak officials say sewer deal stinks
Marysville Appeal-Democrat / by Robert LaHue

'Catch share' process can help fisheries
Sacramento Bee / by Johanna Thomas

Chemical spill forces Richmond neighborhood indoors
Contra Costa Times / by Karl Fischer

Uranium claims spring up along Grand Canyon rim
Los Angeles Times / by Judy Pasternak
Read the related report in the Environmental Working Groups US Mining Database

After five decades, steelhead trout babies spotted in Niles Canyon watershed
San Jose Mercury News / by Matthew Artz

Delta canal idea revisited
San Gabriel Valley Tribune / by Jennifer McLain

Growers' frost fight squeezes water supplies: Efforts to prevent grape damage reduce Russian River flows
Santa Rosa Press Democrat / by Bob Norberg

Dry spell raises tensions over state's future
Sacramento Bee / by Daniel Weintraub

Farmers struggle with water price, cuts: 'A tree is a wonderful thing to take care of'
North County Times / by Bradley J. Fikes

Water conservation blitz hits street: But water officials stressing conservation 'more than ever'
North County Times / by Dave Downey

Californians urged to conserve water amid drought worries
Associated Predd / by Samantha Young

Tribes rebuffed again on Klamath dams: They plead with billionaire to step in to save the salmon
Associated Press

Readers have their say about Coachella Valley water issues
Desert Sun / by Erica Solvig

Government funding could lift Bay Area water investment sector
Venture Beat / by Jeremy Jacquot

A look at the desalination process
ABC 7 News / by Ken Miguel

Water projects top Hemet's wish list for federal aid
Riverside Press Enterprise / by Herbert Atienza

Reclamation Awards Construction Contract for Continuing Dam Safety Work at Folsom Dam

Taking place Saturday, May 10th from 8:45am to 2:00pm in Wurster Auditorium (UC Berkeley), the 4th Annual California Water Symposium presents results from graduate student research in hydrology applied to environmental restoration and conservation in California.  It includes a panel discussion by experienced professionals who comment on the student research papers and the broader themes raised. The symposium begins with a talk by a well-known authority on water issues, this year BJ Miller presenting "Science and Activism: Fish Protection in the Bay-Delta of California."

Symposium Schedule

845a  Welcome and Keynote:
Science and Activism: Fish Protection in the Bay-Delta of California
BJ Miller, Consulting Engineer

930a  Graduate Student Research Presentations:
Impacts of Urbanization on Peak Flow Using Remote Sensing
John Dingman

A Watershed Approach to Urban River Restoration: A Conceptual Restoration Plan for Sausal Creek
Teresa Ippolito, Kristen Podolak, Katie Jagt, Tiago Teixeira, Eike Flebbe

Unpaving the Way to Creek Restoration: EU Water Framework Directive in a US Urban Watershed
Hong Li and Jane Wardani

A Decade of Changes in the Wildcat Creek Flood Control Channel, North Richmond
Ben Ginsberg

Comparing Perspectives on Dam Removal: York Creek Dam and the Water Framework Directive
Justin Lawrence, Josh Pollak and Sarah Richmond

11a  Coffee Break

River Restoration for a Socially and Ecologically Devastated Border City
Noah Friedman

Land Cover and Channel Form Change Detection in the Okavango River Watershed
Yu-Ting Huang

Mercury and methylmercury in the San Francisco Bay area: land-use impacts and indicators 
Hyojin Kim
Accountability in Emerging Forms of Governance: A Comparison of the California Bay-Delta Process and the Water Framework Directive
Noelle Cole, Tamar Cooper, Sarah Bickel Di Vittorio, Nuno Oliveira

When the levees break: Relief cuts and flood management in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
Lindsey Fransen, Jessica Ludy, and Mary Matella

1245p  Panel Discussion:  Lauren Hammack (Prunuske Chatahm), BJ Miller (Consulting Engineer), Shannah Anderson (Jones & Stokes) 

The symposium is free and open to the public but to insure there will be a program and coffee for you, please RSVP to kpodolak@berkeley.edu.  Program and abstracts will be posted at http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/WRCA/222_08.html
 

Sierra snow comes up short
Sacramento Bee / by Matt Weiser

Water rationing possible this summer
Los Angeles Times / by Deborah Schoch

Need to deal with water needs crucial
San Francisco Chronicle / by Kelly Zito

Riverside County predicts crisis in water supply unless new sources are found: But conservation, desert landscaping can help avert shortage, say experts
Desert Sun / by Erica Solvig

Tuolumne salmon at high risk of extinction
Modesto Bee

All salmon fishing banned on West Coast
San Francisco Chronicle / by Peter Fimrite

Salmon ban aid clears hurdle
San Francisco Chronicle / by David Whitney

Lake Elsinore: Water district releases reports critical of power plant economics
North County Times / by Aaron Claverie

Oxygen-poor ocean zones are growing: Linked to global warming, these areas of the Pacific and Atlantic cannot sustain most marine life, a new study warns.
Los Angeles Times / by Kenneth R. Weiss

Big Bear Lake escapes first quagga mussels
Big Bear Grizzly / by Brian Charles

Roseville raises drought alert: More districts to follow as spring comes up dry
Sacramento Bee / by Chris Bowman

2-month dry run: March, April most arid on record, but winter soaking provided reserve
Stockton Record / by Alex Breitler

Outlook dim for final snow survey of season
Sacramento Bee / by Bill Lindelof

Tiny fly is why salmon thrive in Yolo Bypass, scientists say
Sacramento Bee / by Matt Weiser

What to make of Props. 98 and 99
Los Angeles Times / by George Skelton

Lake Oroville to get longer ramp
Sacramento Bee

Who's steering?
San Francisco Chronicle Editorial (on Cosco Busan oil spill)

$147M Lake Hodges Project Snagged Over Water Quality
KGTV San Diego

Lincoln wastewater plant tops in California
Rocklin and Roseville Today

Salmon or not, fishermen take to the water in name of tradition
Santa Cruz Sentinel / by Tom Ragan

New and improved Stenner Creek Water Treatment Plant revealed
KSBY 6 San Luis Obispo / by Stacy Daniel

Navy Develops Storm Runoff Treatment System to Protect Coastal Waters

Presentations from the April 10th conference, "Innovative Water Frameworks for California? Insights from Comparative Study with the EU," are now available to view in PDF format.  This conference addressed comparative water management in California and Europe through presentations by leading scholars, practitioners, and agency officials from California and Portugal, and presentations of research projects conducted in a workshop involving interdisciplinary teams of graduate students from Berkeley and from the University of Lisbon. The conference highlighted water management in Europe under the WFD and water management in California under existing laws and recent watershed-level initiatives.  To view all the presentations, follow the link above.