The Cost of Water (or lack thereof)

via TriplePundit

Researchers at the University of California Davis Center for Watershed Sciences have attached a dollar estimate to the economic impact of the drought in California’s Central Valley. Their preliminary report, released earlier this week, estimates a total economic loss of $1.7 billion, along with “substantial long-term costs” of groundwater overdraft that will go unaccounted for.

Last year marked the driest year in California since records began in 1895, and in January Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought state of emergency. Seven of the state’s 12 main reservoirs are at or below 60 percent of the historical average, and a dry winter has left snowpack levels–an important source for replenishing water supplies–at just a fifth of historical levels, as of late April.

Read the complete article here:  http://www.triplepundit.com/2014/05/california-drought-leaves-groundwater-reserves-vulnerable-cost-nears-2-billion/

Cal/EPA Issues Environmental Hazard Scores for 8,000 Census Tracts

New map could refocus state's pollution battles 
Tony Barboza, Los Angeles Times, April 22, 2014

The California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA) has released a statewide assessment of census tracts most burdened by pollution, providing a powerful tool to pressure regulators to clean up neighborhoods with long-standing health risks.

The environmental health assessment, published in draft form this week, was a major update to an initiative that includes an interactive online map and is being refined over time by Cal/EPA. The state's first such report last year assessed the state by ZIP Code and yielded broadly similar results, showing that Latinos and African Americans make up a disproportionately high percentage of the population in areas most affected by pollution. But the previous list was criticized by environmental justice groups and researchers who complained that ZIP Codes were too large and arbitrary to reveal much.

The screening and ranking tool, called CalEnviroScreen, was developed to pinpoint the communities with the highest exposure and vulnerability to multiple environmental hazards, including polluted air and water, waste facilities and contaminated soil. The rankings are not based only on measures of environmental exposure: they also take into account socioeconomic characteristics and health data on residents to assess the overall vulnerability of communities. Those factors include poverty, education, unemployment, rates of asthma and low-birth-weight infants. In total, 19 criteria are considered.

State Sen. Kevin de León (D-Los Angeles) wrote a 2012 law that requires the state to spend 25% of the auction proceeds from California's GHG-cutting cap-and-trade program to benefit disadvantaged communities that face disproportionate effects from pollution and climate change. Governor Jerry Brown's proposed budget for 2014-15 would set aside $225 million of $850 million in proceeds. Budget documents say projects could include energy-efficiency upgrades for homes in low-income areas, improvements to bus and rail systems, urban forestry projects and programs to fund cleaner trucks and equipment near ports, rail yards and distribution centers.

Read the complete article here.

EPA Acknowledges Link Between Hydraulic Frac­tur­ing And Ground­wa­ter Contamination

EPA Blames Fracking for Wyoming Groundwater Contamination
Susan Phillips, StateImpact/NPR, December 8, 2011

For the first time, the US EPA has directly implicated the con­tro­ver­sial drilling prac­tice known as hydraulic frac­tur­ing (commonly known as fracking) as the source of groundwater contamination in Pavillion, a small community in central Wyoming. The EPA began investigating water quality concerns in private drinking water wells three years ago at the request of Pavillion residents.

The investigation results (read the draft report here) link­ing frack­ing and ground­wa­ter pol­lu­tion could have wide­spread reper­cus­sions. Sev­eral states, includ­ing New York and Penn­syl­va­nia, are in the midst of cre­at­ing new gas-drilling reg­u­la­tions. But indus­try rep­re­sen­ta­tives insist, along with the head of Pennsylvania’s Depart­ment of Envi­ron­men­tal Pro­tec­tion (DEP), that no per­sua­sive or direct evi­dence exists to link frack­ing to water qual­ity impacts. DEP Sec­re­tary Michael Krancer recently tes­ti­fied in Con­gress that the idea that frack­ing pol­lutes ground­wa­ter is “bogus.”

However, the EPA reports that it found high con­cen­tra­tions of ben­zene, xylene, gaso­line and diesel fuel in shal­low ground­wa­ter aquifers that they linked to waste­water pits. The report also documents a num­ber of frack­ing chem­i­cals in much deeper monitoring wells, where several synthetic chemicals consistent with gas production and hydraulic fracturing fluids, such as glycols and alcohols, were detected, along with high methane levels and benzene concentrations well above Safe Drinking Water Act standards. Given the area’s complex geology and the proximity of drinking water wells to the groundwater contamination, the EPA is concerned about the movement of contaminants within the aquifer and the safety of drinking water wells over time.

Alberta-based Encana, which owns the Pavil­lion gas field, told the Associated Press that it has con­cerns about the study. Encana spokesman Doug Hock said that the com­pounds EPA said could be asso­ci­ated with frack­ing could have had other ori­gins not related to gas development. “Those could just have likely been brought about by con­t­a­m­i­na­tion in their sam­pling process or con­struc­tion of their well,” Hock said.

As a follow-up question, the reporter asked the EPA about the health risks of drink­ing the water.  Click here for the EPA's response.

Federal Agencies Partner to Revitalize Urban Waterways

A new federal partnership aims to stimulate regional and local economies, create local jobs, improve quality of life, and protect Americans’ health by revitalizing urban waterways in under-served communities across the country.

Urban waters impact large populations in the adjacent, upstream, and downstream communities. Reconnecting people with urban waterways results in economic, environmental and social benefits to communities. Healthy and accessible urban waters have the potential to be treasured centerpieces of urban revival, help grow local businesses and enhance educational, recreational, and social opportunities in the communities through which they pass. Many urban waters provide drinking water to cities and towns, but because they may receive pollution from sources like parking lot and roadway runoff, they become vital to protecting the public and environmental health of those communities.

The Urban Waters Federal Partnership (UWFP), an innovative federal union comprised of 11 agencies, will focus its initial efforts on seven pilot locations.  UWFP is committed to working with local communities to restore waterways and reconnect people in underserved communities with their rivers, lakes, wetlands, aquifers, estuaries, bays, and oceans.  Specifically, UWFP aims to:

• Break down federal program silos to promote more efficient and effective use of federal resources through better coordination and targeting of federal investments.
• Recognize and build on local efforts and leadership, by engaging and serving community partners.
• Work with local officials and effective community-based organizations to leverage area resources and stimulate local economies to create local jobs.
• Learn from early and visible victories to fuel long-term action.
• This partnership aligns with President Obama’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative, which calls on agencies to support innovative community efforts to provide safe, healthy and accessible outdoor spaces.

Read the fact sheet here and the press release here.

The Human Costs of Contaminated Drinking Water

Cost to clean contaminated water in San Joaquin Valley would be over $150M
Mark Grossi, Fresno Bee, March 16, 2011

A new study, The Human Costs of Nitrate-Contaminated Drinking Water in the San Joaquin Valley, a collaboration of the Pacific Institute, Community Water Center, Clean Water Fund, and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, focuses on the household costs of avoiding nitrate-contaminated drinking water connected to community water systems and the costs to these systems of removing or avoiding nitrates.

The study reports that families in the San Joaquin Valley of California are paying more than $100 a month for both water service and bottled drinking water because local drinking water is often contaminated with nitrates and other harmful chemicals.

Tulare County, one of the most productive farming counties in the country, is the epicenter of the problem, the study says. The state tested 181 drinking water wells in 2006, finding more than 70 tainted with nitrates.

The study also suggests key policies and further research needed to better understand and resolve the situation.

Read the complete Fresno Bee article here.

California Call for Hexavalent Chromium Drinking Water Standard

Bill calls for limiting carcinogen in California tap water
Lien Hoang, Associated Press, February 22, 2011

Assemblywoman Nora Campos, D-San Jose, introduced legislation that would require the state Department of Public Health to place limits on hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium 6, by January 1, 2013.

If the agency does not act in time, California would adopt a limit of 0.02 parts per billion, compared with the federal standard of 100 parts per billion.

In December, the Environmental Working Group found that drinking water in 31 of 35 cities nationwide had more than 0.02 parts per billion of hexavalent chromium. Riverside and San Jose were among the cities with the highest levels.

Read the complete story here.

EPA Moves to Revise Drinking Water Standards

The United Nations General Assembly designated March 22nd of each year as the World Day for Water, an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.

Perhaps it was coincidental that yesterday the Environmental Protection Agency announced that it is taking steps to overhaul US drinking water regulations.

EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson announced to the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) that the agency is developing a broad new set of strategies to strengthen public health protection from contaminants in drinking water. Specifically, this shift in drinking water strategy is organized around four key principles:

• Address contaminants as a group rather than one at a time so that enhancement of drinking water protection can be achieved cost-effectively.
• Foster development of new drinking water treatment technologies to address health risks posed by a broad array of contaminants.
• Use the authority of multiple statutes to help protect drinking water.
• Partner with states to share more complete data from monitoring at public water systems.

The EPA also aims to revise the drinking water standards for four carcinogenic chemicals: tetrachloroethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TCE), acrylamide, and epichlorohydrin.

There are ongoing efforts on 14 other drinking water standards, including potential revisions to the lead and copper rule, health risk assessments or information gathering for chromium, fluoride, arsenic, and atrazine, and ongoing consideration regarding the regulation of perchlorate.

Bottled versus Tap

Created by Online Education

Looking for New Solutions in Water Efficiency

Imagine H2O, a national non-profit, hopes to inspire and empower people to solve water problems. Imagine H2O offers prize competitions and mentoring support to help innovators and entrepreneurs turn ideas into real-world solutions that ensure clean water and sanitation.

The inaugural Imagine H2O Prize Competition is accepting entries until November 16, 2009. The focus of this year’s competition is water efficiency — a timely topic considering that water scarcity is an urgent problem in the US and the world. Business plan entries may focus on the efficient use and supply of water in agriculture, commercial, industrial, or residential environments.

Participants will not only help solve a global issue, they will also receive assistance to bring their business idea to market. A total of $70,000 in cash prizes and in-kind services will be awarded, including legal, tax, and accounting services.

Imagine H2O’s incubator resources will provide winners with direct and ongoing assistance from leading water, business, and legal experts, including Cooley Godward Kronish LLP, PricewaterhouseCoopers, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, and the National Water Research Institute, who will help entrepreneurs develop their winning ideas into products or services that have commercial potential and social value.

Legislature Passes $11B Water Package

Legislature passes water-system overhaul
Wyatt Buchanan and Marisa Lagos, San Francisco Chronicle, November 4, 2009

The California Legislature has passed a sweeping, multibillion-dollar overhaul of California's water system that will affect how Californians will receive and use water.

Legislative leaders have worked for weeks on the final deal, which includes an $11 billion bond measure that passed by slim margins in both the Senate and Assembly. The bond must go before the voters to win approval.

The water package consists of five major parts:

• A new seven-member board to oversee the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
• A 20% conservation mandate for urban areas, with credits for cities that have made significant conservation efforts. Agricultural entities will have to follow best practices for water use.
• New regulations to monitor groundwater levels throughout the state.
• Increased penalties for illegal water diversions.
• A $11.1 billion bond to pay for the overhaul, $3 billion of which would be set aside for new water storage, and more than $2 billion for restoration of the delta ecosystem.

Read the complete SF Chronicle story here.

Read more in the Sacramento Bee and the Los Angeles Times.

Perhaps the World's Largest Dam Removal Project

Klamath Hydroelectric Settlement Agreement
Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times, September 30, 2009

PacifiCorp, a Portland, Oregon utility, has consented to the removal of four hydroelectric dams that for decades have been the subject of bitter feuding among farmers, fishermen, and tribal interests along the Klamath River.

The dams, which range in height from 33 feet to 173 feet and are spread across 65 miles of the Klamath, have impaired water quality and blocked a 300-mile migratory route for salmon for a century.

Removal won't begin until 2020, but is seen as vital to restoring California's dwindling salmon stocks.

Backers say the decommissioning -- which still must be approved by the federal government -- would be the nation's largest and most complex dam removal project. The tentative agreement was reached after a decade of negotiations among 28 parties.

Read the article here, and in the San Francisco Chronicle here.

2008 Coastal Cleanup Day Tally Released

In September 2008, the Ocean Conservancy's 23rd International Coastal Cleanup Day netted the following waste from waterways and shorelines around the world in a single day:

• 6,800,000 pounds of debris, 11.4 million items overall
• 3,200,000 million cigarette butts (1.3 million in the US alone)
• 1,400,000 million plastic bags
• 942,000 food wrappers and containers
• 937,000 caps and lids
• 26,585 tires
• 19,500 fishing nets in the United Kingdom
• 11,000 diapers in the Philippines

Nearly 400,000 volunteers scoured about 17,000 miles of coastline, river bottoms and ocean floors during the event. In the course of picking up the trash, participants found 268 marine animals that survived being entangled in debris; 175 weren't so lucky and died.

Of the 104 participating countries, the US supplied about half the volunteers.

Read more in the SF Chronicle (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/03/10/national/a090043D65.DTL) or at www.oceanconservancy.org.

Cities and Counties: Clean Up Your Creeks...Or Else

Water board moves to clean up Bay, waterways
Jane Kay, SF Chronicle, February 12, 2009

The San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board voted Wednesday to designate most of San Francisco Bay's shoreline and two dozen tributaries as "impaired" under the federal Clean Water Act.

The vote is the first step in putting counties and cities on notice that the U.S. EPA could impose legal requirements and fines if they don't get rid of the trash, however, the listing could also bring resources to aid in the cleanup.

The list of sites recommended for cleanup - including Strawberry Creek in Berkeley, Guadalupe River in Santa Clara County, and the entire central and lower San Francisco Bay shorelines - will go to the State Water Resources Control Board and the EPA for concurrence. If approved, the EPA would require the region to start regulating trash as an urban pollutant or face heavy fines.

Read the complete story here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/12/BAKG15SAKG.DTL&type=green

Read the RWQCB Staff Report "Evaluation of Water Quality Conditions for the San Francisco Bay Region here: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/sanfranciscobay/board_info/agendas/2009/february/6_Appendix_A.pdf