Environmental and Policy Focus
The Hill - Sep 4
A federal judge today declined to extend his order enjoining application of the Obama administration's controversial “Waters of the U.S.” rule to all 50 states, rebuffing the request of 13 states that are battling with the Environmental Protection Agency in the North Dakota federal district court. Judge Ralph Erickson ruled that there are “significant prudential reasons to limit the scope” of the injunction he already granted the 13 states last week. Other courts have denied similar requests for injunctions, he said, and some states actually want to implement the “Waters of the U.S.” rule. “On the one hand, there is a desirability for uniformity regarding a national rule with national application,” the court wrote. “On the other hand, there is the idea of respecting the decisions of other courts and other sovereign states."
Associated Press - Sep 2
Armed with evidence captured by surveillance cameras, California regulators have ordered Sugar Pine Spring Water to stop tapping Sierra Nevada spring water that is later bottled and sold in stores. It would be the first such action taken this year against a commercial water bottling business under tight drought restrictions, said Kathy Mrowka, enforcement manager of the State Water Resources Control Board (State Water Board). Sugar Pine Spring Water, which operates in the foothills of Tuolumne County, also faces fines of nearly $225,000 for collecting and trucking the water to commercial bottling companies for two years despite notices to cease such activities, according to the sanctions proposed by the State Water Board.
KPCC - Aug 27
Poseidon Water says it will apply again within the next month or two for a state permit to build a desalination plant in Huntington Beach. Poseidon had applied for a permit but withdrew it in 2013 after California Coastal Commission staff recommended that a subsurface intake system be used instead of the open ocean intake system proposed by Poseidon. The company decided to re-apply for the permit after an independent scientific panel issued a draft report last week which concluded that a subsurface system to draw in ocean water for desalination—preferred by the Coastal Commission—would not be economically viable. The expected revised permit application will reduce the amount of open ocean intake water originally proposed to be used from 127 to 106 million gallons per day and will include state-of-the-art intake screens designed to eliminate dangers to marine fish and mammals and help protect fish eggs and larvae. The public has until September 10 to comment on the draft report about the economic feasibility of the subsurface intake system. After that, it will be finalized and submitted to the Coastal Commission for consideration.
Sacramento Bee - Aug 31
The U.S Bureau of Reclamation will cut flows out of Folsom Lake in half by the end of the week as water levels at the reservoir near historic lows. Folsom Lake is the primary water source for Sacramento suburbs serving hundreds of thousands of customers. At noon Monday, the lake held about 196,000 acre-feet of water, or about 20 percent of its capacity. Bureau of Reclamation officials have pledged not to let Folsom Lake drop below 120,000 acre-feet due to concerns that water levels could drop below the point at which the pumping infrastructure that funnels water to suburban Sacramento might not work.
KPBS - Aug 28
A judge affirmed his prior ruling that the San Diego County Water Authority is owed $188.3 million, plus interest, by the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) of Southern California because of illegal rates charged by MWD in 2011-14. The ruling by San Francisco Superior Court Judge Curtis Karnow involved a lawsuit brought by the Water Authority in a dispute over rates for transporting water from the Colorado River to San Diego via the MWD's distribution system. The MWD is the primary water wholesaler in California, but San Diego water officials have been trying to diversify their supply by acquiring Colorado River water, expanding the San Vicente Reservoir in the East County, and purchasing water from the Carlsbad desalination plant, which is scheduled to begin operating this fall.
