Law Commons^™

California Should Lead The Nation In Controlling Agricultural Pollution, Helen H. Kang, Deborah Sivas

Publications

Agricultural runoff is one of the largest sources of pollution in the nation’s waterways. In recent years, scientific journals and the media have been filled with reports of toxic algae blooms and dead zones near and far: The Everglades, Great Lakes, Gulf of Mexico, Chesapeake Bay, and San Francisco Bay-Delta. Agricultural pollution also threatens public health in communities that rely on tainted groundwater. In California alone, more than a quarter million residents in largely agricultural areas are served by water systems with degraded groundwater quality.

California’S Draft Water Resilience Portfolio: Improving Public Health And Achieving Long Term Water Resilience Through Investments In California Water Infrastructure, Ian Harris

Environmental Law Journal blog

With public health at the forefront of everyone’s mind, refocusing on investing in California’s aging water infrastructure presents key opportunities to provide clean, safe drinking water to all and begin to sustainably rebuild state water infrastructure resources. It is no secret that clean safe drinking water is necessary for a healthy life, nor is it a secret that significant portions of California’s water infrastructure, including distribution and transmission pipelines, water storage facilities and water treatment facilities, are well past their expiration dates. In the unfortunate wake of COVID-19, it will be critical for local and state level decision makers to …

Using Citizen Suits To Remedy Environmental Injustice And Achieve Clean Water In California, Paul Kneitz

Poverty Law Conference & Symposium

Nearly fifty years since the passage of the Clean Water Act (“CWA”) in 1972, widespread pollution of California’s surface and groundwater continues across the state. “Over half of California’s lakes, bays, wetlands, and estuaries are too polluted to swim, drink, or fish,” according to the State Water Resources Control Board. Poor and working-class communities suffer disproportionately from the negative externalities and environmental impacts of water pollution, including effects on human health and wellness.

With a focus on the CWA citizen suit provision, this paper examines how the legal and administrative processes for water pollution control have not effectively addressed the …

2020 California Water Law Symposium “Water & Federalism: Shifts In State/Federal Roles & Relations”, Bacilio Mendez Ii

Environmental Law Journal blog

The California Water Law Symposium is a collaborative, student-run event that brings together leading minds in water law to discuss California’s critical water issues. Panels featured professionals from all aspects of water law, focusing on the impacts of, and relationship between, state and federal regulation of drinking water, dam removals, tribal relations surrounding dams, ecosystem-based management, wetlands, and endangered species in California. The Golden Gate University School of Law took the lead in hosting this year’s event. Participant schools included: USF School of Law; UC Hastings College of the Law; UC Berkeley School of Law; UC Davis School of Law; …

Salmon Lessons For The Delta Smelt: Unjustified Reliance On Hatcheries In The Usfws October 2019 Biological Opinion, Paul Stanton Kibel

Publications

Pursuant to the Endangered Species Act, in October 2019 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) of the Trump Administration issued a new Biological Opinion (BiOp) for coordinated operations of the Central Valley Project and the State Water Project (2019 USFWS BiOp).

The Central Valley Project is operated by the United States Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), and the State Water Project is operated by the California Department of Water Resources. The Central Valley Project and the State Water Project both divert freshwater from the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River watersheds, and the reduced freshwater flow resulting from these …

Of Hatcheries And Habitat: Old And New Conservation Assumptions In The Pacific Salmon Treaty, Paul Stanton Kibel

Publications

The 1985 Pacific Salmon Treaty between Canada and the United States was negotiated to deal with evidence that Pacific salmon stocks originating in Canada and the United States were in decline. The Pacific Salmon Treaty sought to establish total annual fishing limits for Canada and the United States that were consistent with the sustainable conservation of Pacific salmon stocks, and to base the total allowable catch for Canadian fishermen on forecasts of the total abundance of salmon. As the Pacific Salmon Treaty has been implemented, however, there has been a re-occuring pattern of annual abundance forecasts overestimating the actual abundance …

Fisheries Reliant On Aquifers: When Groundwater Extraction Depletes Surface Water Flows, Paul Stanton Kibel, Julie Gantenbein

Publications

IN CALIFORNIA, surface waters have historically been regulated as if they were unconnected to groundwater. Yet in reality, surface waters and groundwater are often hydrologically connected. Many of the rivers that support fisheries such as salmon and trout are hydrologically dependent on tributary groundwater to maintain instream flow. This means that when there is intensive pumping of tributary groundwater, the result can be reductions in instream flow and damage to fisheries. For this reason, stakeholders concerned with adequate instream flows for fisheries in California's rivers, streams, and creeks need to be effectively engaged in the implementation of California's Sustainable Groundwater …

Water Resilience Portfolio, January 2020, California Natural Resources Agency, California Environmental Protection Agency, California Department Of Food And Agriculture

California Agencies

In April 2019, Governor Newsom directed state agencies through Executive Order N-10-19 to develop a “water resilience portfolio,” described as a set of actions to meet California’s water needs through the 21st century. The order identified seven principles on which to base this portfolio:

• Prioritize multi-benefit approaches that meet several needs at once » Utilize natural infrastructure such as forests and floodplains
• Embrace innovation and new technologies
• Encourage regional approaches among water users sharing watersheds
• Incorporate successful approaches from other parts of the world
• Integrate investments, policies, and programs across state government
• Strengthen partnerships with local, federal and tribal governments, …