Water
Chico USA
The Chico Urban Streams Alliance (Chico USA) is a coalition of the City of Chico and local environmental and professional groups concerned with the water quality of Chico’s creeks. The coalition has formed with funding from a grant under the Proposition 13 Watershed Protection Grant Program. Funding support has been provided by the California Bay-Delta Program (CALFED), which has an objective to restore ecological health and improve water management by working with the community at a watershed level. [Read more]
Lynn Barris' Archived Water Matters Columns
From 1997 to 1999, Lynn produced 18 columns that ran in BEC's Environmental News and the now-defunct Chico Examiner. Her columns were widely read throughout California, and showcased her knowledge of water and groundwater issues and politics. [Read more]
Water Articles
The Triumph and Lessons of Mono Lake
Last Thursday, March 8th, more than 150 people gathered at the Masonic Center for Butte Environmental Council’s Environmental Banquet 2001. The evening included a delicious crepe dinner from Guzzetti Catering, recognition of local activists in the environmental community, and a spirited presentation by Frances Spivey-Weber, Executive Director...
Interior Department Decision Imperils California's Coast
Secretary Norton Appeals Court Decision Granting State Review of Offshore Drilling Activitiesby CalPIRG(San Francisco, CA) In January Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton took another significant step toward opening up more of California's coast to environmentally devastating oil and gas drilling. The Department of the...
Water Privatization Demands Greater Scrutiny
New Report Sets Forth Principles to Ensure Fairness, Protect PublicOAKLAND, CA - The Pacific Institute released a new report on water privatization on February 5, 2002 that aims to ensure water privatization deals are fair, protect the public health, and don't harm the environment. "The New Economy of Water: The Risks and Benefits of...
Water Diversions Result in Delta Species Crash
by Jim Brobeck Fed by the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, the Bay-Delta is the largest estuary in the western United States. More than 60 percent of California’s fresh water formerly flowed through the Delta. Massive federal and state pumps divert much of this water for export to the San Joaquin Valley...
Local Water Demons
As you recall, Les Herringer is the Water Commission appointment of Supervisor Jane Dolan. She has defended her selection of Herringer for the last three years after passage of Measure G, the water sellers response to the populist Measure F. Herringer campaigned for Measure G and attacked Measure F as too costly and stated it would require a...
Sacramento River Faces Challenges
by Rex Stromness From its source, a bountiful spring at the base of Mt. Shasta, the Sacramento River meanders south passing through deep canyons before encountering its major obstacle, Lake Shasta. From there, now joined by the Pit and Mcloud Rivers and a host of creeks, the expanding river runs down the heart...
Clean Water Act Anniversary
October 18 marks the 29th anniversary of one of the nation's most significant environmental laws, the Clean Water Act, that was signed into law by republican President Richard M. Nixon. As the Act nears thirty, the public, Congress, and the Bush Administration should recognize the Clean Water Act's successes, but also commit to achieving the...
Trout & Salmon Streams Face Sharp Declines Due to Hotter Temperatures
New Study Predicts Sportfish Species Will Disappear from Many Waterways; Global Warming Means Fewer Fish on Anglers' HooksThe NRDC released this report summary in May 2002, illuminating serious consequences for American fisheries. If you think you can't make a difference, consider walking, riding a bike, bus, or train more often,...
BEC Byline: Cadiz Groundwater Mining Project Stuck in Limbo Ceo Buffeted by Series of Critical Press Articles
by David Czamanske, Angeles Chapter-Sierra Club Water Resources ConsultantThe Cadiz Groundwater Mining Project, a costly scheme to extract and sell virgin groundwater from the Cadiz Basin in the Mojave Desert near Mojave National Preserve to the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, all to the benefit of Santa...
Bell’s Vireo Returns to the Central Valley
Endangered Songbird Reappears After 60 Years at River Restoration Site by River Partners Staff One of the greatest affirmations that the restoration work done at River Partners is having an impact came in the form of a distinctive...
The Beach Bill
The Senate passed the BEACH bill by unanimous consent. The bill requires coastal (including Great Lakes) states to adopt EPA-recommended, health-based standards for recreational beach water, improves monitoring and public notification programs, and authorizes $30 million annually in grants to assist states in their upgrades. Currently, beach...
Interior Department Decision Imperils California's Coast
Secretary Norton Appeals Court Decision Granting State Review of Offshore Drilling Activitiesby CalPIRG(San Francisco, CA) In January Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton took another significant step toward opening up more of California's coast to environmentally devastating oil and gas drilling. The Department of the...
Streaminders
Protect Rock Creek and Manage Floodingby Roger Cole and Tom LeonardiExisting ConditionsRock Creek as it flows through Butte County exists in a variety of conditions. In some agricultural areas there are deep pools and riparian vegetation where both adult and juvenile salmon reside in the springtime, white-tailed...
Battle to Save Comanche Creek Rages On!
Stalwart Neighbors... prepare for June 5 Special Electionby Luisa Garza [This article first appeared in the Spring 2001 issue of the Environmental News. It's included here for...
Norton and Veneman’s appearance signals Klamath water war
by the Klamath Forest Alliance The Klamath Basin water issue has been on the environmental radar for quite some time. The following article is a statement on recent government actions by Felice Pace, Director of Klamath Forest Alliance. "Nowhere in America is there a better opportunity to restore an entire river...
BEC's response to the E-R's Sept. 3, 2005 article "Group behind aquifer study proposal explains idea"
The E-R articleThe article "Group behind aquifer study proposal explains idea" is posted below. BEC's response to this piece follows.An environmental advocacy group that submitted a grant proposal to study the Lower Tuscan groundwater aquifer has some people in the northern Sacramento Valley worried there isn't enough...
To Decimate Delta Farming
by Tim StroshaneCalFED, the joint state-federal water planning program, completed its comprehensive, $9 billion Bay- Delta plan for California’s water future August 28th. The plan affects California water users from Mount Shasta clear to San Diego, promising to restore "ecological health" to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta...
Stealing Ground Water
By Jim BrobeckNOTE: As this issue of the Environmental News was going to press, the Department of Water Resources released their draft funding recommendations for Integrated Water Management Plans across the state, and the Sacramento Valley Implementation...
Save the Klamath Salmon
Media Challenged to Present Factsby Felice Pace, Conservation Director for the Klamath Forest AllianceCivil disobedience is, perhaps, the longest American tradition. Therefore, those acting in civil disobedience by opening the headgates at the A Canal in Klamath Falls are not to be condemned. These people are acting in...
Block Bush Dirty Water Proposal!
The following BEC Byline was originally published as a call to action in July 2002. It is available here for archival purposes.By BEC and the Clean Water NetworkThe Bush administration is poised to roll back another key environmental protection program by attempting to gut an...
Clean Water Act Anniversary
October 18 marks the 29th anniversary of one of the nation's most significant environmental laws, the Clean Water Act, that was signed into law by republican President Richard M. Nixon. As the Act nears thirty, the public, Congress, and the Bush Administration should recognize the Clean Water Act's successes, but also commit to achieving the...
Local Water Demons
This article first appeared in spring 1999. It is posted here for archival purposes. Some material on this page may be dated. As you recall, Les Herringer is the Water Commission appointment of Supervisor Jane Dolan. She has defended her selection of Herringer for the last three years after passage of Measure G, the water...
