March 9, 2007
Freshman congressman handed water bill victory
In a choreographed move, the House on Thursday approved the first bill written by Rep. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton. The bill could help local communities boost water supplies. It also could help McNerney position himself for re-election next year in cities like Tracy, Ripon and Manteca.

House bill boosts water project wages
WASHINGTON (AP) Union construction workers would gain a hiring advantage for more projects under legislation the House passed Friday, the latest in a series of pro-labor measures by Democrats that President Bush has promised to veto. The 303-108 vote involves water projects funded by federal lending.

March 5, 2007
Electronic-waste recycling programs grow
ROSEVILLE - Inside the Hewlett-Packard Co.'s cavernous recycling plant in the Sacramento suburbs, truckloads of obsolete PCs, servers and printers collected from consumers and businesses nationwide are cracked open by goggled workers who pull out batteries, circuit boards and other potentially hazardous components.

February 27, 2007
Bill for statewide flood protection may top $18 billion
State legislators and flood control officials met Tuesday morning at the Capitol to begin figuring out how to spend $4.9 billion in bond money for flood safety in California. The unprecedented amount, targeted for flood protection in California, comes from two statewide measures approved by voters last November - Proposition 1E and Proposition 84.

February 9, 2007
State panel targets plastic trash at beaches
Disgusted by pictures of trash-strewn coasts, the California Ocean Protection Council on Thursday called for an aggressive crackdown on plastic fast-food containers, a ban of those containing toxic chemicals and a program to reimburse police for vigorous enforcement of littering laws.

February 8, 2007
Suit possible in arroyo dumping
Ventura Coastkeeper, a program of the Wishtoyo Foundation, on Wednesday sent a notice of intent to file suit against Sutter Farms, Santa Barbara Reverse Exchange Services and others, according to Mati Waiya, Wishtoyo's executive director. The notice is the first step toward filing a federal lawsuit claiming violations of the Clean Water Act, according to attorney Daniel Cooper with Lawyers for Clean Water.

The future of plastics
A state agency that helps oversee coastal policy today will consider endorsing an expansion of California's beverage container fee to encourage the recycling of myriad plastic products.

February 6, 2007
Bush budget keeps out of sewage controversy
President Bush's 2008 budget, released yesterday, provides up to $66 million for upgrading sewage treatment along the San Diego-Tijuana border. But that money isn't earmarked for the Bajagua project, a controversial wastewater facility slated to be built near the confluence of the Tijuana and Alamar rivers in Mexico.

February 5, 2007
Canal-lining project knee deep in limbo
Congress passed a law in December saying the plan should go forward without delay, despite objections from Mexican farmers and California environmental groups who say it could kill Mexicali farming and wetlands. Yet the long-discussed $353.6 million project, which would line parts of Imperial Valley's All-American Canal with concrete, remains in legal limbo, halted by a federal appeals court order.

February 3, 2007
Ventura County oil spill raises concerns for endangered species
Crews are scheduled around the clock this weekend to clean up a spill that released more than 200 gallons of crude from an oil field in the Ventura County backcountry.

February 1, 2007
Del Mar pursues grants to replace its aging sewage pumps
Risk to beaches, water 'too great,' mayor says.

January 27, 2007
Mussel discovery has water officials worried
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ---- An invasive Ukrainian shellfish has created fears among water officials that the rapidly multiplying creature could overrun and foul waterways, clog water-delivery pipelines and create billions of dollars in annual cleanup costs.

January 25, 2007
Board toughens rules for rain runoff
Cities, builders and businesses throughout San Diego County must ramp up efforts aimed at reducing urban runoff pollution, state water quality regulators decided yesterday.

January 24, 2007
UNION-TRIBUNE EDITORIAL
Not clean yet
Californians don't agree on much, but protecting the environment tends to pull most of us together. Although we worry about excessive government interference, we generally are willing to pay reasonably higher prices or accept curbs on some behavior if doing so will give us cleaner air or water or otherwise preserve natural splendor.

January 18, 2007
Experts cast doubt on toxic water plan
The policy, expected to be confirmed in a Feb. 16 announcement, targets the decades-old dilemma of toxic water that drains from some west valley farms -- contamination that has caused the deformities and deaths of thousands of birds since the problem was first discovered at Kesterson National Wildlife Refuge in the 1980s.

January 13, 2007
SAC BEE EDITORIAL
Can he build a dam?
Of the many initiatives in the governor's State of the State speech Tuesday, new reservoirs elicit near-religious fervor from legislators who love or loathe them.

January 12, 2007
Lawsuit alleges Gas Co. pollutes aquifers
A Bay Area environmental group filed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that Southern California Gas Co. operations near Marina del Rey are polluting a local water table.

Gov. puts global spin on state's need for dams
Advocating $4 billion in bonds to build reservoirs in Northern and Central California, the administration emphasized not population growth or the specter of future drought, but global warming.

January 11, 2007
Ailing surfer suing groups over Cardiff beach pollution
A North County surfer who says he is suffering from brain stem encephalitis has sued several agencies and conservation groups alleging that they failed to keep ocean waters clean enough and did not properly alert beachgoers to contamination at Cardiff State Beach.

January 8, 2007
City says water rate hike a must
Failure to make improvements to the water and sewer systems would leave the city vulnerable to fines and other sanctions by regulatory agencies, city officials said. The council is scheduled to debate and possibly vote on the rate hikes Feb. 26.

January 7, 2007
Governor to push for new dams despite long-standing resistance
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to draw on his popular campaign against global warming to promote something not so popular among
environmentalists – building new dams in California.

UNION-TRIBUNE EDITORIAL
Get desalination done
A task for the new Coastal Commission chair.

January 5, 2007
County's urban-runoff rules getting tougher
Analysts say the revised storm-water discharge permit could force the region's 18 cities, county, port district and airport authority to collectively spend more than $250 million in the next five years.

December 29, 2006
Sewage agency to pay millions for spill
The Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County have agreed to pay more than $2.5 million to settle a dispute over a massive spill earlier this year that sent more than 800,000 gallons of sewage into the Pacific Ocean and coastal groundwater supplies.

December 25, 2006
Slowing a tide of pollutants
Runoff from land dwellers -- urban and agricultural -- harms coastal waters, but there are solutions.

December 22, 2006
EPA approves city's plan to bury sludge
Up to 400 tons daily would be injected into a depleted oil field a mile below Terminal Island.

December 12, 2006
Congress OKs bill to speed lining of All-American Canal
A long-planned water conservation project in Imperial County that would boost San Diego County's future supply but decrease that of Mexicali farmers has been ordered completed “without delay” by Congress.

December 9, 2006
Water quality boards a test of governor's 'green' image
Arnold Schwarzenegger's self-styled reputation as a “green” governor is under scrutiny again as he selects leaders for water quality agencies statewide.

December 5, 2006
Water war along Mexico-California border sparked by proposed improvements to canal
San Francisco — Government lawyers are urging a federal appeals court to allow a section of a canal separating California and Mexico to be lined with cement to stop millions of gallons of water from seeping south of the border each year.

December 1, 2006
Residents question Corps' river-clearing plan
OCEANSIDE ---- Timing and the possibility of debris on the city's beaches were the top concerns for a handful of homeowners who attended a downtown Oceanside meeting Thursday night to hear about the Army Corps of Engineers' plans for the San Luis Rey riverbed.

November 26, 2006
Water costs could be rising
SAN DIEGO ---- The costs on $3 billion worth of water projects have shot up beyond expectations. At the same time, San Diego County water officials don't think they'll have as many people as they once expected to pay for those projects ---- because population and water-demand projections have shrunk.

November 18, 2006
Navy sewage flowed to bay since '04
More than 10 million gallons of raw sewage flowed into San Diego Bay over the past two years from an award-winning military barracks because of an improperly connected pipe, Navy officials said yesterday.

October 24, 2006
Wanted: A better water quality test
Regulators are monitoring the water quality of more U.S. beaches than ever before, but nagging questions remain about the accuracy and timeliness of the testing procedures.

October 5, 2006
Sniffing out the source of the 'Malibu smell'
County officials will use DNA tests in hopes of tracking the origin of animal or human waste that is fouling the city's beaches.

September 15, 2006
Santa Monica Bay cities can be fined if water doesn't meet clean standards
Regional water officials voted Thursday to fine cities surrounding Santa Monica Bay up to $10,000 a day if the water at their beaches does not meet clean-water standards.

September 9, 2006
Pollution concerns may lower the boom on offshore fireworks
Sea World San Diego has suspended its shows and plans to seek a discharge permit. Beach cities fear additional costs of more regulations.

September 1, 2006
Flood bill killed in Assembly
The California Legislature's last-gasp attempt to pass a package of flood-control proposals designed to lessen disaster risk and increase public safety died Thursday night in an Assembly committee.

August 31, 2006
Federal agencies, O.C. plan Aliso Creek cleanup
Describing it as a major step toward cleansing one of Orange County's most noxious urban waterways, politicians and government officials announced Wednesday an agreement between two federal agencies to aid cleanup of Aliso Creek.

August 29, 2006
State proposes limit for perchlorate in drinking water
Perchlorate, a toxic ingredient of solid rocket fuel that is contaminating hundreds of wells throughout Southern California, would be limited in drinking water under a new state standard proposed Monday.

August 26, 2006
Water conservation project hits snag
All-American Canal lining halted by court injunction.

August 25, 2006
SeaWorld fireworks pollution uncertain
Does blowing up fireworks over a body of water constitute a discharge of pollution? That's the issue at stake in a battle between the environmental group San Diego Coastkeeper and SeaWorld, the marine-themed park that's been a fixture on Mission Bay since 1964.

August 20, 2006
Officials unsure of effect of San Onofre contamination
SAN DIEGO ---- Officials from the county's main water supplier said last week that it was too soon to tell how the discovery of radioactive groundwater at the San Onofre nuclear power plant would affect their thinking about building a plant there to turn seawater into drinking water.

August 18, 2006
Radioactive leak reaches nuclear plant's groundwater
Radioactive, cancer-causing tritium has leaked into the groundwater beneath the San Onofre nuclear power plant, prompting the closure of one drinking-water well in southern Orange County, authorities said.

July 28, 2006
County drops desalination for Carlsbad
The San Diego County Water Authority yesterday abandoned its four-year effort to build a desalination plant in Carlsbad that would have converted seawater into drinking water.

July 27, 2006
Mission Beach closures continue as bacteria levels raise questions
After three weeks of tests and numerous site inspections, county and San Diego city officials remain dumbfounded about bacterial contamination that has closed more than two-thirds of Mission Bay to boaters and swimmers.

Divisive water proposal advances
A proposal to turn wastewater into drinking water drew both support and questions yesterday from members of a San Diego City Council committee.

UNION-TRIBUNE EDITORIAL
'We need it'
Governor engaged in desalination fight
Keeping water flowing through San Diego faucets requires new and reliable sources. To the west lies the Pacific Ocean, now slated to supply 10 percent of the region's potable water by 2020.

July 23, 2006
Power plans could change desalination
CARLSBAD – As developers forge ahead with plans to build a seawater desalination plant, the stream of water they expected to tap could be drying up.

UNION-TRIBUNE EDITORIAL 
Save desalination
The effort to kill ocean desalination in California, orchestrated by environmental activists inside and outside government at every level, has produced another obstructionist lawsuit.

July 20, 2006
Group sues Carlsbad for desalination plant report
A coalition of environmentalists filed a lawsuit yesterday alleging that the city of Carlsbad failed to fully examine the potential impacts of a proposed oceanfront desalination plant.

Backers undeterred by Hetch Hetchy estimate
Environmentalists vowed Tuesday to press ahead with their campaign to restore the Hetch Hetchy Valley to its natural state, buoyed by a state report that says draining the reservoir is technically feasible and undeterred by significant political opposition and a price tag that could hit $10 billion.

Sanders against sending treated wastewater to tap
San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders said yesterday he opposes a proposal to turn wastewater into drinking water – after the city's staff has spent more than two years and about $1 million researching the option.

July 17, 2006
Beach bacteria sicken over a million annually
Bacteria pollution at many Southern California beaches is responsible for illnesses in up to 1.5 million swimmers and bathers annually as well as tens of millions of dollars in healthcare and other related costs, a new study shows.

July 15, 2006
Stricter water standards to protect Santa Monica Bay swimmers are postponed
State officials will miss a key deadline today to impose tougher enforcement of clean-water standards to protect swimmers and surfers at popular Santa Monica Bay beaches.

July 11, 2006
DANIEL WEINTRAUB
Orange County tries new approach to desalination
LAGUNA BEACH -- The Municipal Water District of Orange County, an umbrella agency that plans and manages the county's water supply, is researching the possibility of building a $140 million desalination plant that would take its water not directly from the ocean but from the groundwater table below.

July 7, 2006
McNears Beach water to be watched
Popular McNears Beach will get a state grant to help local officials continue to watch water quality. The state budget approved last month includes $100,000 for four cities to monitor beaches for bacteria in waters. In addition to San Rafael, beaches in San Francisco, Alameda and San Mateo will get money.

June 23, 2006
What you can catch from the waves
With waste-tainted water closing beaches and making swimmers sick, the EPA
is under mounting pressure.

June 18, 2006
Desal plant in Carlsbad faces lengthy review by state agency
CARLSBAD ---- Now it's on to the state Coastal Commission. 

A proposal to build a roughly $270 million desalination plant at the Encina Power Station on Carlsbad Boulevard won approval from the Carlsbad City Council on Tuesday for the project's planning documents. But the state's Coastal Commission may be far less certain of that when it views the project's application, which is expected to arrive later this summer.

June 16, 2006
State board delays decision on permit
SAN DIEGO – State water-quality regulators Wednesday postponed a decision on a discharge permit for a proposed desalination plant in Carlsbad that would convert seawater into drinking water.

June 11, 2006
UNION-TRIBUNE EDITORIAL
... Get desal done
Carlsbad's expected approval of the proposed desalination project would be a welcome boost to the region. It would not, however, assure its future.

June 10, 2006
Proposed desalination plant up for council decision
CARLSBAD ---- More than five years after it began, the city's review of environmental documents for a proposed seaside desalination facility is expected to end Tuesday.

May 15, 2006
Water-pollution report on bay cleanup is late
More than a year after water-pollution regulators issued the largest bay sediment cleanup order in county history, they have yet to publish the scientific justification for their demands.

April 25, 2006
Pollution rules extend to growers
Ventura County's $1.4 billion agricultural industry will face new regulations meant to staunch the flow of pesticides, fertilizers and other pollutants from area fields into surface water and groundwater.

April 21, 2006
Governor seeks restructuring of water program
The Schwarzenegger administration on Thursday released a plan to reorganize a wide-ranging government program launched six years ago to repair the ailing heart of California's water system.

April 1, 2006
Desalination plant wouldn't harm sea life, draft impact report say
CARLSBAD – An ocean water desalination plant would not harm sea life by
discharging concentrated saltwater offshore, according to a draft environmental
impact report prepared by the San Diego County Water Authority.

March 29, 2006
Golf-Club buy plays into O.C. flood control
As part of flood-control efforts, Orange County supervisors agreed Tuesday to buy the Green River Golf Club, with its two championship golf courses hugging the Santa Ana River.

March 10, 2006
Clean-water initiative flushed in Encinitas
ENCINITAS ---- A majority of Encinitas property owners have voted not to pay a $5 monthly fee to support the city's clean-water program, according to ballot results released Thursday.

March 5, 2006
Prop. C approaches finale in Encinitas
ENCINITAS ---- What started with a flood of incoming ballots is now a trickle, and at 4 p.m. Tuesday, the spigot will close.

March 1, 2006
Huntington Beach OKs desalination plant on PCH
A controversial proposal to build what would be the largest desalination plant in the nation along the Huntington Beach coast was approved early Tuesday after months of consideration.

February 1, 2006
Flood agency general manager quits, takes new post
SACRAMENTO - The general manager of the state Reclamation Board stepped down Tuesday, just four months after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger purged the state's top flood-control agency of its board members.

January 30, 2006
Stay out of the water? No way
Some surfers are so devoted to their sport that they ignore sewage-related beach closures, but the risks of infection are real.

January 29, 2006
Fighting beach pollution in the lab
SANTA BARBARA — With stately multimillion-dollar homes, miles of shade-dappled bridle trails and a private beach below steep bluffs, Hope Ranch is a place of uncommon wealth and serenity. But like other California coastal communities, it has wrestled for years with a mysterious problem that may be rooted in runoff from its own land.

January 28, 2006
Desal plant hearing delayed
CARLSBAD ---- A hearing on a proposal to build a large desalination plant along Carlsbad's coastline has been indefinitely delayed because of ongoing negotiations between the city and the proposed developer, the city announced Friday.

January 24, 2006
Army Corps general examines overgrown San Luis Rey channel
OCEANSIDE ---- Two stars hovered over the San Luis Rey River valley Monday afternoon; they were attached to the beret of Maj. Gen. Don T. Riley, who was inspecting recent flood-prevention efforts in the area as part of a West Coast tour.

Ventura is fined $700,000 by water board
The city of Ventura was fined more than $700,000 this week for continued failure to correct problems at its water reclamation facility, which discharges into the Santa Clara River.

January 21, 2006
Clean-water fee ballots arriving in mailboxes
ENCINITAS ---- Ballots began landing in thousands of mailboxes throughout the city Friday. The ballots, for Proposition C, ask property owners whether the city should assess a $5 monthly fee to support Encinitas' clean-water program.

January 4, 2006
Company hopes to forward seawater plan by spring
ESCONDIDO ---- Leaders of a private company that proposes to build a Carlsbad plant that would turn seawater into drinking water said Tuesday that they hope to forward their plan to the California Coastal Commission by March or April.

January 2, 2006
Oceanside's Buccaneer Beach gets $2.3 million cleanup grant
OCEANSIDE ---- The city of Oceanside hopes a $2.3 million grant to clean up Buccaneer Beach Park will help keep the often-contaminated neighborhood
beach open.

December 31, 2005
Encina power station sale will not affect desal plant plans
CARLSBAD ---- The proposed sale of the Encina Generation Station will have little effect on planning and construction of a seawater desalination plant at the same Carlsbad facility, a company official said Friday.

December 23, 2005
Delay possible for water plant
CARLSBAD – A state Coastal Commission staff member has written a letter to the city threatening to delay approval of a proposed seawater desalination plant, saying the city has failed to address his concerns over the project.

Oceanside to use light to purify seawater
OCEANSIDE – Closing a popular beach during the busy summer because of polluted water should be a thing of the past, city officials say as they prepare to embark on a new program to purify the water using ultraviolet light.

December 13, 2005
Work begins in San Luis Rey channel
OCEANSIDE ---- After much negotiation between the city and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, work began in the flood-prone San Luis Rey riverbed Monday morning.

Coastal Commission finds desalination document lacking
CARLSBAD ---- The California Coastal Commission believes that the environmental report the city of Carlsbad is producing for a proposed desalination plant has "numerous significant shortcomings," according to a letter released with the massive document late last week.

December 3, 2005
Contesting camps forming for clean-water vote
ENCINITAS ---- Should property owners pay $5 a month to subsidize Encinitas' clean-water program? A newly formed committee says yes, but a taxpayer watchdog group says no.

December 1, 2005
Encinitas sets hearing to declare clean-water vote
ENCINITAS ---- The City Council will decide in January whether to declare a mailed-ballot election asking Encinitas property owners if they will subsidize the city's clean-water program.

Encinitas to ask property owners to pay monthly $5 storm water fee
ENCINITAS – Property owners will be asked in January to decide whether they want to pay $5 a month to help clean up the city's storm water. The City Council voted unanimously last night to authorize the mail-in ballot measure.

November 18, 2005
Water-cleanup list grows
The state's list of polluted streams, lakes and beaches continues to grow, prompting water experts to warn that the contamination will cost Californians billions of dollars to clean up and require changes in their routines.

November 17, 2005
Survey indicates residents would support clean-water fee ENCINITAS ---- Nearly 63 percent of residents "definitely" or "probably" would support paying a $5 monthly fee to purify storm water in the city, a consultant told City Council on Wednesday.

November 13, 2005
Smelling money in sewage
Area firm hopes to sign no-bid deal with U.S. agency to treat Tijuana region's polluted water, then recycle it.

Betting on Bajagua
Company's effort to build wastewater treatment plant in Tijuana creeps to conclusion, but questions about project continue to flow.

November 1, 2005
Water Authority to study nuke plant for desal concept
NORTH COUNTY ---- County water officials have decided to take a deeper look at the idea of using the San Onofre nuclear power plant to turn seawater into drinking water.

October 28, 2005
San Onofre desalination plant study
A mothballed nuclear power plant at San Onofre could have a second life as a desalination facility that would supply drinking water to San Diego and Orange counties.

September 18, 2005
Is Santa Ana River more than flood control?
Officials in Riverside, Orange and San Bernardino counties hope to add small parks and trails to the 110-mile stretch of waterway.

September 12, 2005
Planning for a greener L.A. River
Today, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Councilman Ed Reyes plan to announce 18 public meetings that are a prelude to a massive — and thus far largely unfunded — public works project to clean up the river, build parks along it and restore some sections to a more natural state.

City officials take issue with urban runoff letters
City managers across the county are banding together after being warned their cities must show improvement in controlling urban runoff.

S.D. looks north for help marketing recycled water
FOUNTAIN VALLEY – Orange County water officials watched in horror six years ago as politics and public revulsion drowned San Diego's first attempt at turning sewage into drinking water. S.D. looks north for help marketing recycled water.

September 8, 2005
Mixed signals given on desalination project
The Huntington Beach City Council early Wednesday approved an environmental report supporting construction of the nation's largest private desalination plant, yet signaled it would probably kill the controversial seawater-to-drinking-water project.

August 27, 2005
Water Authority, Poseidon say desalination talks OK
SAN DIEGO ---- County water officials this week pushed back the date they hope to have a plant start turning seawater into drinking water from 2010 to 2011.

August 25, 2005
Cleanup fee for storm water will go on ballot
ENCINITAS – Taxpayers will be asked to decide whether they want to pay $5 a month to help the city clean up its storm water.

August 20, 2005
S.D. hearing focuses on coastal pollution
Two members of the state Assembly's Committee on Natural Resources held a hearing yesterday in San Diego to address what the state can do to protect coastal waters from being polluted by sewage from Mexico.

July 28, 2005
Governor vetoes bill aimed at area water quality
SACRAMENTO -- Saying that it left the door open to the possibility of levying a fee on property without a vote of property owners, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed a bill sought by local governments in Ventura County to help them meet stringent new water quality standards designed to combat ocean pollution.

Beach closures set another record
Beach closures in Los Angeles County set a record for the second year in a row as the county and many cities continued to resist efforts to reduce urban runoff, an environmental group said in a report scheduled to be released today. Conditions improved in Orange and San Diego counties, with closures and postings down by roughly 400 days each.

July 23, 2005
GOP proposes fund to clean water
WASHINGTON — In a bid to remove the chief stumbling block to long-debated energy legislation, House Republicans on Friday proposed creating a multibillion-dollar fund to pay for cleaning water supplies fouled by a gasoline additive. The cost would be shared by the oil industry and federal and state governments.

July 15, 2005
'Repurified' wastewater backed for home use
A diverse panel of San Diegans yesterday embraced a plan to recycle highly treated wastewater by piping it to the San Vicente Reservoir and eventually to customers citywide. If adopted by the City Council, the costly and controversial project would be the only one of its kind in California.

June 30, 2005
Bay cleanup plan stalls; report to be released
A hotly contested San Diego Bay sediment cleanup plan entered an indefinite holding pattern yesterday, even though all the major players said they want the process to move forward quickly.

June 26, 2005
County rebuffs beach council
On Friday the Clean Beaches Council distributed a news release with its annual list of beaches certified as "clean, healthy and environmentally well-managed." What the announcement didn't say was that these communities paid hefty fees from $1,250 to at least $15,000 to be listed and for the right to print the group's Blue Wave logo in their tourism advertisements.

June 20, 2005
Bill adds clout to the water in S.D.
SACRAMENTO – Saying marine life and livelihoods are at risk, Assemblywoman
Lori Saldaña has introduced legislation to create a state-sanctioned
conservancy to help coordinate preservation programs and secure more funding
for Mission Bay Park and San Diego Bay.

May 30, 2005
Board allows delay in review of plan to clean up S.D. Bay
Responding to complaints from the West Coast's largest shipbuilder and other parties, the regional water pollution authority has postponed enforcement of a landmark sediment cleanup order for San Diego Bay.


May 27, 2005
Tainted waters
Green stagnant water sits in the concrete Tijuana River channel near the San Ysidro border crossing. Bubbling water thick with sediment passes from Mexico, through Smuggler's Gulch into a U.S. sewage diverter, which sometimes works and at other times is clogged with debris.


May 26, 2005
Beaches recover in time for summer
Water quality at California's beaches took a big hit during this winter's severe rains, but it has returned to safe levels at most sites in time for the Memorial Day weekend summer kickoff, an environmental watchdog group said Wednesday in its 15th annual report card on shoreline health.


May 13, 2005
Report says Carlsbad desal plant won't harm marine life
CARLSBAD - Separating salt from seawater on the Carlsbad coast would not significantly harm the marine environment, an environmental impact report published by Carlsbad concluded Friday.


May 12, 2005
Pair of trout spotted in river's fish ladder
OJAI - Two trout were spotted in a fish ladder on the Ventura River, five months after the $9 million passageway was opened to aid the recovery of the endangered Southern California steelhead trout, officials said Wednesday.


May 6, 2005
Calif. agencies say 'no time to waste' on major projects
The Association of California Water Agencies unveiled a 12-point proposal yesterday to spur new state investments in water infrastructure, clarify state and local responsibilities for flood control, and eliminate bureaucratic barriers to water transfers and desalination projects.


May 3, 2005
Roster of city's sewer projects satisfies environmental lawsuit
Despite a cash shortage, the city of San Diego will complete $187 million worth of sewer projects and maintenance in the next year to shore up its dilapidated system, according to a settlement expected to be filed today in federal court.


May 2, 2005
Here's what ocean germs cost you
Beachgoers who get sick after swimming off two popular Orange County beach areas rack up about $3 million annually in health-related expenses, according to a study announced Monday.


April 29, 2005
Water officials approve Carlsbad desalination deal
SAN DIEGO — Regional water officials approved a deal Thursday to pay the city of Carlsbad roughly $21.1 million for permission to build a plant there that would turn seawater into San Diego County's first "drought-proof" water supply.


April 21, 2005
Carlsbad council approves desal plant agreement; proposal now goes to county water agency
CARLSBAD — With many compliments and no questions, the Carlsbad City Council unanimously approved an agreement Wednesday with the area's main water provider to build a regional desalination plant at the Encina Power Station.


April 20, 2005
Deal worked out on desalination plant
CARLSBAD — The region's main water provider and the city of Carlsbad have reached an agreement on a $230 million desalination plant proposal, officials announced Tuesday.


April 14, 2005
Exemption likely to drilling rules
WASHINGTON — Despite rising complaints that a common oil and gas drilling technique threatens drinking water supplies, the House Energy Committee appeared poised Wednesday to approve legislation exempting the practice from future regulation.


April 13, 2005
Santa Clara River in danger, group says
The Santa Clara River, which snakes 84 miles from the San Gabriel Mountains to the Ventura County coast, is one of two California waterways that rank among the nation's most threatened for 2005, according to an environmental group that annually compiles a list of endangered rivers.

Cruise line industry under fire for pollution as they make sewage cleaner
MIAMI — The cruise industry has gotten so big that all its ships together could hold every one of this city's 360,000 residents with room to spare. And just like cities, cruise lines have to deal with a nasty problem: the millions of gallons of sewage those people produce.


April 10, 2005
Regional water agency, company, ready to restart seawater talks
SAN DIEGO – After more than a year of tense silence, regional water officials and a private company could be headed back to the bargaining table to build a plant in Carlsbad that would turn seawater into drinking water.


April 9, 2005
Agua Hedionda algae infestation issue nearing an end
CARLSBAD – After a biological survey this summer and another this fall, the state could declare that an invasive algae known as Caulerpa taxifolia has finally been eradicated from Agua Hedionda Lagoon, a task force member said Friday.


April 7, 2005
Toxic tailings may be hauled off
Department of Energy officials proposed Wednesday to move an enormous pile of radioactive waste off the banks of the Colorado River in southern Utah — to the great relief of politicians, environmentalists and Southern California water officials.
April 5, 2005
State high court backs clean water standards
Cities must comply with strict state regulations to reduce water pollution regardless of the costs, as long as the rules are necessary to comply with the federal Clean Water Act, the California Supreme Court ruled Monday.


April 2, 2005
Dana Point's Baby Beach is in need of a change
In recent years, the stretch of beach just inside Dana Point Harbor with calm, inviting waters has become synonymous with bacterial pollution and has been on a state "most polluted" beach list.


March 31, 2005
State Supreme Court won't hear stormwater runoff case
NORTH COUNTY – A state permit intended to reduce pollution from water runoff in storm sewers in San Diego County will remain in effect because of a state Supreme Court decision Wednesday.


March 30, 2005
Editorial: The storm water challenge
We'll be the first to admit that the stormwater regulations upheld by the Superior Court last week, aimed at curbing the amount of trash in waterways and oceans, aren't perfect. But at some point they're going to have be good enough.


March 29, 2005
Judge upholds plan to clean up polluted runoff
Rejecting arguments by Los Angeles County, a coalition of cities and the home-building industry, a Superior Court judge has upheld a comprehensive regional plan to clean up polluted storm-water runoff, the primary cause of beach closures.


March 28, 2005
Behind dam, a property battle
Southern California's sizzling real estate market has thrown into court the question of how much money five property owners should receive for land around Chino and Corona that flood control engineers say is critical to complete expansion of Prado Dam.


March 22, 2005
O.C. Supervisor seeks water cleanup funds
Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby wants the county and 23 local cities to use redevelopment funds to help pay the increasing cost of cleaning polluted storm runoff.


March 16, 2005
Marin County tests desalination operation
Work has begun in Marin County on a test operation to turn bay saltwater into drinking water. The Marin Municipal Water District is building the $1.2-million test plant near the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge.


March 15, 2005
More land bought for river parkway
Marking their largest acquisition in Ventura County to date, the Nature Conservancy and the California Coastal Conservancy announced Monday the purchase of more than 1,000 acres in an effort to create a 25-mile conservation zone along the Santa Clara River.


March 10, 2005
Water quality board delays outfall permit for San Onofre
SAN CLEMENTE – Questions from local environmental groups have stalled approval of a water discharge permit for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.


March 1, 2005
Sewage, runoff pollution not bad, given rain totals
NORTH COUNTY – Rain-swollen rivers and streams have carried a lot of dirt and some sewage and trash this winter into North County's coastal waters, authorities said Monday.


February 17, 2005
Desalination plan has a twist
Beach-goers might notice a strange sight this week on the sand in Dana Point: a drilling rig set up right on the beach.


February 12, 2005
Desalting plant siting raises fears
Standing tall on the seashore, the AES power plant, with its naked steel frame, has long been a generator of electricity in Huntington Beach and a killer of marine life.


February 11, 2005
Scientists zero in on true color of the sea
A group of NASA and university scientists on Thursday announced it had figured how to measure the hue and brightness of ocean coloration that, in turn, reflects changes in the tiny plants that provide the base of the ocean food chain and supply half of the world's oxygen.


February 4, 2005
Officials meet to discuss water supply plans
SAN DIEGO – Water officials from across San Diego County gathered with a newfound sense of urgency this week to talk about creating state-required "urban water management plans" that spell out where they'll come up with their water supplies.

February 2, 2005
Seeps near Santa Barbara may be key to oil mystery
Oil has been seeping at a rapid rate over the last three weeks from the ocean floor off Santa Barbara, offering tantalizing clues into the mystery oil patches that have injured or killed 1,500 birds.

January 16, 2005
No bursting at the seams
Mild-mannered most of the year, the Santa Ana River reminded its neighbors last week of the wrath it can unleash with little warning.


January 15, 2005
Source of oil spill remains a mystery
Authorities were no closer Friday to finding the source of the oil that has coated hundreds of seabirds off Southern California.

For returning beachgoers, coast isn't clear
Beachgoers drawn by sunny skies and rising temperatures this weekend will find a changed coastline struggling to recover from the damage caused by record storms.


January 6, 2005
Officials hope to tap recycled water this summer
CARLSBAD - Officials Thursday said they hope to be able to turn the tap this summer, unleashing millions of gallons of recycled water to help keep the city green and flowering.


January 5, 2005
Water cleanup costs debated before court
How clean is clean enough, and how much is too much to spend cleaning up the Los Angeles River? Los Angeles and Burbank attorneys argued these questions Tuesday as the California Supreme Court decides whether water regulators have to consider cost when setting new pollution limits. A ruling is expected this spring.


December 30, 2004
Desalination report now due out in February
CARLSBAD - An environmental impact report on Carlsbad's proposed $270 million desalination project won't be ready until February, a city official said Thursday.


December 29, 2004
Forecast for 2005: More fights over water on horizon
SACRAMENTO - When the California Legislature reconvened in the final month of 2004, a Kern County lawmaker promptly set the stage for one of California's biggest water dramas of the new year.

New city projects screech to a halt
San Diego will be unable to start construction on more than $334 million in water and sewer capital projects scheduled for next year until it resolves the financial crisis that has crippled its borrowing ability, a city memo shows.

State water boards need replenishing
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger started filling empty seats on the state's nine regional water boards this month, but he still has a lot of catching up to do.

Environmentalists oppose proposed changes to State Water Project
Environmental groups are rallying against a proposed restructuring of State Water Project that would allow local water wholesalers to run part of the massive state aqueduct and reservoir system.


December 28, 2004
Cal Am delays pilot desal plant
California American Water Co. is applying the brakes to a plan for a pilot desalination plant that was to have started production in Moss Landing in early 2005.

Calcagno doesn't see conflict in his water roles
Monterey County Supervisor Lou Calcagno said two quasi-legal opinions back up his position that his partnership with Duke Energy and PG&E in a Moss Landing water company does not prevent him from participating in decisions regarding a desalination plant in that city.


December 25, 2004
Desalination plans focus on San Onofre
Water officials in San Diego and Orange counties have determined there are no unsurmountable obstacles that would prevent construction of a desalination facility near the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.


December 24, 2004
Navy flexibility on bay runoff upheld
A San Diego Superior Court judge has upheld last year's decision by state pollution regulators giving the Navy flexibility in curbing contaminated urban runoff into San Diego Bay.


December 23, 2004
Sewage spill fouls La Jolla Cove
An estimated 300 gallons of sewage flowed into a storm drain that empties to the beach at La Jolla Cove between 1 and 2 Thursday afternoon, said San Diego County Environmental Health spokesman Clay Clifton.


December 22, 2004
Federal proposal would designate upper Malibu Creek as Critical Habitat
When Jim Edmondson, a longtime advocate of reintroducing steelhead trout to local waterways, entered "Malibu" in a word search in the revised steelhead federal critical habitat proposals, he was in for a surprise.


December 19, 2004
Lake Hodges at watershed moment
ESCONDIDO – Let's face it, Lake Hodges has an identity crisis. Throughout its 86-year history, the man-made reservoir, fed only by rainfall, has frequently changed its personality.


December 18, 2004
Local water officials say policy holds desalination hostage
San Diego County water officials say their dream of turning seawater into a critical supply of drinking water is being undermined by Southern California's main water supplier, which is threatening to cut off financial help over a long-standing rate dispute.


December 12, 2004
Emerging parks and preserves along San Diego River could be at a crucial juncture
JULIAN – The San Diego River begins its 52-mile journey to the Pacific a few miles northeast of Julian, on a ridge west of Volcan Mountain. Although the ridge rises out of a forest, this is not a majestic sight, even after this fall's rains.


December 9, 2004
Sewage agencies may get break on releases
Washington – The Environmental Protection Agency is close to issuing new guidelines making it easier for sewage authorities to dump partially treated wastewater during heavy rainfalls, according to documents obtained by the Washington Post.

Bond named Water Authority chairman
SAN DIEGO – Encinitas Councilman James Bond was elected chairman of the San Diego County Water Authority board Thursday.

Water officials like San Onofre plant idea
SAN DIEGO – County water officials Thursday praised a study that said it was possible to build a plant at the San Onofre nuclear power facility that would turn ocean water into drinking water. They urged a deeper investigation of the idea.


December 8, 2004
Appellate court upholds curbs on runoff pollution
A state appellate court yesterday upheld the ability of San Diego's water pollution agency to impose some of the nation's most stringent regulations to curb urban runoff contamination.

Report: Desal plant possible at San Onofre
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the appointment yesterday of five county people to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, which is charged with preserving the quality of water resources.

5 are named to water quality board
SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the appointment yesterday of five county people to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, which is charged with preserving the quality of water resources.


December 7, 2004
Lawsuit over sewage treatment resolved
A federal judge in San Diego signed an order yesterday requiring the U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission to bring its border sewage treatment plant up to secondary treatment standards within four years.


December 4, 2004
Groups join to destroy invasive water plants
A perennial contender for the top spot on the state's most-unwanted-plants list, Arundo donax, a bamboo-like grass, has been invading local waterways for years.


December 3, 2004
Advocates want tests for key fish
A retired ecologist who has helped state fish and game experts survey fish in creeks carefully scooped each fish into his net and took tiny clippings from their fins before placing them back in the water. He bagged and labeled the samples, then handed them over to the state Department of Fish and Game, which he said promised to send them to a genetics lab in Santa Cruz.

Delay of S.D.'s water projects raises concerns
San Diego won't immediately face hefty fines or legal action for halting new water and sewer projects, but environmental regulators said yesterday they are watching to make sure the city's drinking water and sewer systems are safe.


December 2, 2004
City water projects in jeopardy
San Diego's dire financial situation is no longer so abstract: The city has run out of money to pay for new water and wastewater projects, and it may have to scrap plans to fix fire and lifeguard stations next year

Aquatic plant environmentally stressed
NOAA researchers yesterday presented findings from a two-year eelgrass study that found the plant, an incubator of life in Marin coastal areas and elsewhere, is doing better than it did 15 years ago but is still not as plentiful as expected.

Point man on western water is stepping down
Bennett Raley, architect of the Bush administration's Western water policies for the last three years, announced Wednesday he was leaving his job as assistant secretary of the Interior for water and science.


November 29, 2004
Cost concerns raised after L.A. voters pass pollution cleanup tax
LOS ANGELES – When voters here overwhelmingly agreed earlier this month to tax themselves $500 million to clean up polluted storm water runoff, eyebrows went up in San Diego and other Southern California cities that struggle with a similar environmental problem.


November 19, 2004
Goleta Sanitary District settles suit
The Goleta Sanitary District has agreed to significantly boost the level of treatment for the wastewater it pumps daily into the Santa Barbara Channel.


November 17, 2004
Watershed looking like its old self again
FALLBROOK – Ostrich Creek meanders through private property on South Mission Road. All around, native sycamore, oak, mulefat, toyon and wild rose thrive on a thick carpet of dead leaves and roots.


November 12, 2004
Removal of Yosemite dam to be studied
SAN FRANCISCO — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's resources secretary has directed his agency to study possible restoration of the Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite National Park, giving an unexpected official boost to the controversial idea of dismantling the dam that has been integral to the Bay Area's water supply for more than 80 years.


November 6, 2004
Heavy overflow that caused big sewage spill still mystery
San Diego sewer officials still don't know how excessive runoff and debris breached their closed system during a record-setting storm Oct. 27, triggering a 2.2-million-gallon sewer spill at the Point Loma treatment plant.


November 4, 2004
River plan rolls along
After years of fitful attempts to revitalize the Los Angeles River, city leaders will announce today a nationwide search for a consultant to design a plan for the oft-disparaged waterway.


November 3, 2004
Council advisor tapped to run water agency
Ron Deaton, the top advisor to the Los Angeles City Council, was appointed Tuesday as general manager of the troubled Department of Water and Power, the nation's largest municipal utility.

Newly created institute to study pollutants, one molecule at a time
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has established a new research institute at Stanford University dedicated to tackling environmental pollution problems at the molecular level. A major focus of the Stanford Environmental Molecular Science Institute will be on how heavy metal contamination in water, soils and sediments interacts with the surfaces of environmental solids and bacteria.


November 2, 2004
Cities address sticky situation that can lead to sewage spills
Three years after sewage spills caused a record number of beach closures in Orange County, cities and sanitation agencies are targeting the primary culprit: grease.


October 30, 2004
Water at county beaches rated 'excellent'
Water quality at San Diego County beaches this summer was rated "excellent" by Heal the Bay, a Santa Monica-based environmental group.


October 29, 2004
Sewage spills foul San Diego waters
City engineers still don't know how a tremendous surge of water breached San Diego's sewer system, causing a series of overflows that fouled miles of coastline.


October 28, 2004
Sewage spill needs airing out
The president of Surf City's tourism bureau is asking the Orange County Sanitation District to help clear up Huntington Beach's image after a Memorial Day sewage spill that closed several city beaches.


October 24, 2004
City's image is riding on murky waves
Now, after back-to-back-to-back distinctions as the state's most polluted beach, Dana Point has a reputation it just can't seem to shake.


October 23, 2004
$500 million water proposal has nothing but friends
A familiar sight returned to Long Beach Harbor this week with the season's first rains: rivers of trash, flushed out of the storm drains and culverts of Los Angeles and its suburbs into the Pacific Ocean.

Carlsbad water agreement could pave way for other cities
VISTA — Neighboring cities such as Vista may be needed to share the output of a proposed Carlsbad desalination plant to make the project cost effective, a plant representative said Friday.

Encinitas sued over clean-water fee
ENCINITAS — A taxpayer group is suing the city over its clean-water fee, and city officials said Friday that they are preparing a response. In its lawsuit, the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association claims that Encinitas has exceeded its authority, irreparably harmed residents and has violated the state Constitution by imposing a clean-water fee without a public vote.


October 20, 2004
Seal Beach treading rainwater
Welcome to soggy Seal Beach — average elevation, 15 feet.

Council lauded on environment
A local environmental group has awarded all eight members of the San Diego City Council passing grades for their votes on environmental issues in the past year.


October 19, 2004
Carlsbad approves desalination contract
CARLSBAD — With little fanfare and a few short words of praise, Carlsbad's City Council unanimously approved a final version of a 30-year contract with Poseidon Resources to supply the city with desalinated seawater.


October 16, 2004
Mission Bay water is found to be safe
Despite a history of high bacteria readings, the 27 miles of beaches along Mission Bay Park are safe for all forms of aquatic recreation, including swimming.


October 4, 2004
Water may be safer than thought
Swimmers and boaters at Mission Bay, where bacteria contamination has been a chronic problem, may be safer than previously thought. Bird droppings – considered less harmful than other contaminants – are responsible for more than two-thirds of the bacteria that has triggered numerous mandatory health warnings, according to a two-year study.


September 28, 2004
Desal contract wins tentative approval
CARLSBAD — In a unanimous vote Tuesday, Carlsbad's City Council agreed "in concept" to a contract with a private developer to turn the Pacific Ocean into the city's newest source of drinking water.


September 23, 2004
Water Authority has testing deal with desal company
SAN DIEGO – San Diego County Water Authority officials said Thursday that they have reached an agreement with a private company that would let the agency conduct environmental tests for a seawater desalination plant at Carlsbad's Encina Power Plant.


September 20, 2004
Editorial: Who will push for clean oceans?
Today a sweeping study on this country's dirty and depleted oceans lands on Washington's doorstep. Neglect and ineptitude are detailed on nearly every page, but who will clean up the seas before more damage is done?


September 19, 2004
Editorial: Desalination plant - County Water Authority acting irresponsibly
What seemed a month ago to be a constructive, cooperative approach to getting San Diego County a much-needed desalination plant – with the least risk to ratepayers at the earliest possible time – has taken a destructive, uncooperative U-turn.


September 9, 2004
Cottonwood Creek Park wins award
ENCINITAS – Cottonwood Creek Park has won the "Project of the Year Award," from the local chapter of the American Public Works Association, Encinitas officials announced Thursday.


September 8, 2004
Muck runs amok
These two contrasting streams illustrate one of California's most pervasive water pollution problems: Nutrients, which cause algae to grow more rapidly than nature ever intended, are spoiling what should — and still could — be some of California's most picturesque and popular waterways. Nitrogen and other nutrients from fertilizers, cow manure and human sewage are overloading virtually every waterway downstream from cities and farms.


September 4, 2004 Progress seen on plans for private Carlsbad desalination plant
CARLSBAD – They came together over rusty pipes and millions of gallons of ocean water. Despite the industrial surroundings, it was an olive-branch moment yesterday when about 20 engineers working for the San Diego County Water Authority visited the site of a proposed desalination plant that a private company intends to build and run.


September 4, 2004 Newport Channel's toxic sediment: survey will get to the bottom of it
Below the scenic surface of Rhine Channel lurks one of the most toxic sites in the region. A local environmental group is hoping to determine the extent of the problem with the most comprehensive pollution survey ever conducted at the popular inlet.


September 3, 2004 Opinion: The crises facing our coastal waters
As millions of Americans pack up their beach towels and folding umbrellas, many assume that the ocean they leave behind will be waiting for them next season, much the same as it has been for generations. We can no longer make such assumptions.


August 26, 2004 Water officials at odds again with desalination company
SAN DIEGO – San Diego County's regional water provider clashed again Thursday with a company studying the idea of building a futuristic plant in Carlsbad that would turn seawater into drinking water.


August 24, 2004 Desal plant has $250 million price tag
A year after they began planning a desalination plant for Moss Landing, California-American Water Co. and Monterey County are laying out serious cost projections for the first time, estimating that a "regional" plant would cost about $250 million to build.


August 24, 2004 Residents would pay to clean runoff, survey finds
Nearly two-thirds of county residents polled say they are willing to pay to clean up urban runoff, according to a survey by the Orange County Business Council and Cal State Fullerton.


August 22, 2004 Recycled water: A good way to increase the region's supply
Even in the best of times, water is an important quality of life issue for San Diego. Since we live in a desert, 90 percent of our water is imported – from the Colorado River and from Northern California. If we had to rely on our own water supply, the region could support about 50,000 people. That means close to 3 million of us would have to find some other place to call home.


August 21, 2004 Bill extends water plan to Bay beaches
Swimmers at 50-plus public beaches dotting San Francisco Bay, including Alameda's Robert W. Crown Memorial State Beach, could soon see the same water-quality monitoring enjoyed by those swimming along the California coast under a new bill headed for the governor's desk.


August 20, 2004 Carlsbad reaches tentative water deal
CARLSBAD – A developer proposing to build a $270 million desalination plant in Carlsbad has reached a tentative deal to sell half the plant's initial water production capacity to the city, company officials and the city said Friday.


August 20, 2004 Moving forward on seawater desalination
Seawater desalination is the wave of the future – an idea the public loves and one that has been talked about for decades. Now, through the combination of improved technology and reduced costs, seawater desalination for the San Diego region is closer than ever to becoming a reality.


August 2004 What lies beneath
August is traditionally a month spent at the beach. But travelers beware: the water you're swimming in may not be so clean. Fortunately, in April, the Environmental Protection Agency began enforcing compliance with the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health (BEACH) Act of 2000 across the United States. Under the BEACH Act, part of the landmark 1972 Clean Water Act, coastal states (including those along the Great Lakes) are required to meet federal standards for monitoring water quality.


August 18, 2004 Probe of DWP contracts intensifies
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's contracting came under increased scrutiny Tuesday as the city attorney turned to private investigators to look into possible overbilling by the public relations firm Fleishman-Hillard and as the department's own auditors found flaws in its supervision of a contract with a community outreach company.


August 18, 2004 Coastal Water Project seeks public input
To seek public input regarding the Coastal Water Project, California American Water and Monterey County Water Resources Agency will hold a public town hall meeting on Aug. 24 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Embassy Suites Monterey Bay, 1441 Canyon Del Rey, Seaside.


August 18, 2004 Group says district delays dam demolition
An environmental group has accused the Casitas Municipal Water District of stalling a longtime plan to tear down Matilija Dam by falsely saying demolition will reduce its water supplies.


August 15, 2004 Critical increase in beach pollution reported
The number of days San Diego County beaches were closed or had warnings posted because of high bacteria readings increased by 38 percent last year, according to a report by the Natural Resources Defense Council.


August 15, 2004 Meeting water needs: Cooperation on desalination is required Sooner rather than later, the San Diego region will need to add desalinated water to its supply. Actions taken last week by the San Diego County Water Authority could mean that the region will get a desalination facility at the Encina power plant in Carlsbad as soon as 2008.


August 14, 2004 Alpert bill would lift barriers to fluoridation
SACRAMENTO – State Sen. Dede Alpert has introduced legislation to clear barriers to plans by the city of San Diego to add fluoride to drinking water, a controversy that dates back a half-century.


August 13, 2004 Desalination plant talks to resume
On-again, off-again talks between the San Diego County Water Authority and Poseidon Resources to build a desalination plant are on again. <


August 13, 2004 4 lawmakers ask for EPA inquiry
Four Democratic members of Congress have requested an investigation into the Environmental Protection Agency's writing of a hazardous-waste rule that would benefit industrial laundries, including a company controlled by the family of one of President Bush's top fundraisers.


August 12, 2004 Port backs containment plan for tainted bay
A permit to allow the containment of tainted sediment in waters near the San Diego Convention Center has won Port Commission approval, but officials are still negotiating the details with environmentalists who are threatening to challenge the plan.


August 11, 2004 Water agency contracts disserved San Diegans
We knew two years ago that the Metropolitan Water District had been spending hundreds of thousands of dollars of ratepayers' money – including San Diego ratepayers' money – on a public relations campaign against San Diego ratepayers' interests.


August 10, 2004 County officials want to renew desalination talks
SAN DIEGO – County water officials want to restart negotiations with a private firm that is proposing to build a plant in Carlsbad that would turn the sea into drinking water ---- but the company is not jumping at the invitation.


August 9, 2004 MWD fails to document deals
California's largest water agency has paid community leaders and former elected officials millions of dollars in public relations contracts with sparse documentation of how the money was spent, a Times review of the contracts shows.


August 9, 2004 State may eliminate water board system
A proposal by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's team of government-efficiency experts to reduce and consolidate the state's environmental agencies is getting a thumbs down from several leading environmentalists.


August 6, 2004 U.S. announces $2 billion sewage spill agreement for City of Los Angeles
In one of the largest sewage cases in U.S. history, the Department of Justice, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, Santa Monica Baykeeper and a coalition of Los Angeles community groups have reached a $2 billion settlement with the city of Los Angeles over years of sewage spills.



August 1, 2004 O.C. considers charging residents to pay for cleanup of urban runoff
In an effort to better cleanse urban runoff that for years has fouled coastal waters, Orange County Sanitation District officials are proposing a countywide user fee to fund a $25-million cleanup effort.



July 31, 2004:  Life's a beach, if you can pay
It's very curious why no California beach is listed among the best beaches in America, at least in the opinion of the folks at the Clean Beaches Council.


July 31, 2004 Simmering water rate dispute added to desalination story
SAN DIEGO – A lingering dispute over water rates has apparently become the latest threat to San Diego County's already-confusing dreams of turning ocean water into drinking water.



July 25, 2004:  A group's annual list of clean coastlines favors the East over the West, maybe because cities in our region won't pay to be ranked
Many California beach cities and environmental groups are furious with a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit organization that has derided the quality of West Coast beaches while touting those on the East Coast that pay to be on the group's own list.


July 25, 2004 Purchase fills gaps at San Dieguito River Park
DEL MAR – The San Dieguito River Park reached a milestone last week. Escrow closed Monday on two pieces of land that now make the park contiguous from the ocean east to Lake Sutherland, near Santa Ysabel.


July 20, 2004 Bill would fund water cleanup Senators and congressmen of two Western states are lining up behind a billion-dollar bill directing scientists to work on novel ways of cleaning up and reusing finite water supplies to sate farms and fast-growing cities.


July 19, 2004 Master plan is drafted for San Diego River Park The last time a kayaker attempted to run the San Diego River, during the El Niño winter of 1993, lifeguards intercepted the daring floodwater paddler and ticketed him for reckless behavior.


July 14, 2004 Water managers OK plan to add desalters Regional water suppliers, looking to keep urban Southern California from feeling the consequences of drought, will turn even more to the ocean to provide tap water.


July 12, 2004 Water district looks at pilot facility MARIN – Marin Municipal Water District officials may try to build a mini-desalination plant before doing the real thing.


July 11, 2004 Water Wars: Desalinization threatens to keep us on escapist path Having virtually exhausted its supplies of fresh water, California is preparing to dip its straw into the Pacific Ocean. At least two dozen proposed desalinization plants have surfaced in the last two years and are under review by local water boards and the California Coastal Commission.


July 11, 2004 Desalination is the future CARLSBAD – Most of the water we drink in San Diego County comes from the Colorado River. Seven other states and parts of Mexico also rely on the Colorado River for water.


July 11, 2004 Coastal farmers join effort to stop runoff MONTEREY (AP) – An estimated 2,500 Central Coast farmers have agreed to launch what appears to be the nation's first regional effort to curb pesticide, fertilizer and soil runoff – prime sources of pollution for streams that run into the Pacific Ocean.


July 10, 2004 East Coast beach report is clearly flawed A bouquet – the Beach Muckraker award – to Steve Aceti, executive director of the Encinitas-based California Coastal Coalition, for debunking – or you might say dunking – the annual list of "Clean and Healthy Beaches" produced by an East Coast environmental organization.


July 10, 2004 House passes Cal-Fed water bill WASHINGTON – The House of Representatives on Friday passed a $389 million California water bill, setting up a final showdown over how future dams will be built.


July 9, 2004 City downplays port pollution, critics say Harbor-area residents have erupted in anger over a new plan from the Port of Los Angeles, claiming port officials are intentionally manipulating numbers to hide the true impact of port pollution in Los Angeles and northern Orange counties.


July 9, 2004 House panel OKs bill to clean up water WASHINGTON – Legislation that would help Inland cities pay to clean up perchlorate-contaminated groundwater passed a key congressional subcommittee Thursday.


July 8, 2004 Bond to clean L.A. waterways advances LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles City Council members took the first step Wednesday toward asking voters to approve a $500-million bond in November to clean up the water in municipal rivers and lakes, and keep pollution from flowing into Santa Monica Bay.


July 7, 2004 Task force proposed for cleaning river of plastic Dismayed at all the plastic trash in the Los Angeles River, Councilman Ed Reyes proposed creating a task force Tuesday to study how to raise money to keep the channel clean of plastic bags and other plastic debris.


July 4, 2004 Polluted waters trigger call for change SACRAMENTO – With more than a third of California's waters officially categorized as polluted — bodies as varied as Lake Tahoe and San Diego Bay — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is under mounting pressure to overhaul the state's system of regulating the waste flushed from factories, farms and towns.


June 28, 2004 Early snowmelt ignites global warming worries YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK — There was no shortage of snow here last winter. But under a withering sun, the snowmelt started in mid-March, in what appears to be one of the earliest onsets in almost 90 years. Some scientists suspect it is another sign that climate change is eroding the Sierra Nevada snowpack, the state's main source of water.


June 25, 2004 New law to allow appointed water officials SACRAMENTO — A bill that would enable local cities to appoint elected officials to the board of the San Diego County Water Authority was signed into law, the governor's office announced Friday.


June 25, 2004 San Diego aims to cut reliance on L.A. water SAN DIEGO — The San Diego County water board voted Thursday to spend nearly $2 billion in the next 15 years in hopes of achieving what has been a civic goal here since World War II: breaking the region's near-total dependence on the Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.


June 25, 2004 Plans to remove dam advance Efforts to demolish Matilija Dam as part of a long-awaited Ventura River restoration project got a major boost Thursday with the announcement that federal funding is close at hand.


June 24, 2004 County water officials approve nearly $2 billion in new projects SAN DIEGO — With little fanfare, San Diego County water officials voted Thursday to build nearly $2 billion worth of new capital improvement projects.


June 23, 2004 Oceanside-based company is sued over desalination plant in Florida OCEANSIDE – The owner of the country's largest desalination plant has sued Oceanside-based Hydranautics for failing to build a working facility in Florida.


June 23, 2004 Storm water system a joint effort SAN DIEGO – The Port District has agreed to work with Imperial Beach to build a storm water diversion system to stop pollution from washing into the ocean.


June 21, 2004 Conservancy chief seeks to restore river SAN DIEGO – Deborah Jayne has emerged from the cocoon of her midmanagement job in state bureaucracy to become executive director of the newly created San Diego River Conservancy, an assignment that's likely to raise her public profile.


June 5, 2004 2 water plans aim to quell feuding SACRAMENTO – With critical decisions looming on reservoirs, user fees and rationing, water providers say this will be a pivotal summer in California's drive to marry environmental restoration with water development along the Colorado River and in the Sacramento Delta.


June 4, 2004 Levee break forces 300 to evacuate A levee break in fields west of Stockton on Thursday morning prompted the evacuation of about 300 people from a farming community, and forced federal and state water agencies to slow the pumping of delta water for irrigation and drinking water.


June 4, 2004 Accord OK'd in Conejo sewage spill Thousand Oaks has agreed to pay $800,000 to settle a lawsuit with state regulators over a 1998 sewer line break that dumped 86 million gallons of wastewater into streams, creeks and the Pacific Ocean.


June 3, 2004 Measure's foes woo governor A coalition of environmental groups is trying to enlist Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's help to head off a ballot measure — aimed at stopping frivolous lawsuits — that the groups argue would make it much harder to sue to uphold environmental laws.


April 29, 2004 Poseidon desalination plant begins EIR process CARLSBAD - Developers of a proposed $270 million desalination plant here began gathering public comments yesterday on what it should include in its environmental impact report.


April 10, 2004 Stop trashing the ocean Runoff is a regional problem, yet dozens of cities - almost all of them far from the ocean, wouldn't you guess - have thrown up blockades to avoid meaningful action.


April 8, 2004 Caltrans pledges to curb pollution After a decade of battling environmentalists, Caltrans agreed in court Wednesday to install pollution controls on state highways to reduce the flow of toxic storm water into streams, rivers and the ocean.


April 6, 2004 Toxics report prompts demand to clean bay Two environmental groups Monday asked state water quality regulators to address toxic contamination in Newport Bay and San Diego Creek.


April 6, 2004 Oxnard may use birds of a tether to combat foul fowl California coastal cities vexed by beach pollution have offered up an unconventional solution to the problem: falcons.


April 6, 2004 UCI study blames familiar suspect: runoff Ocean swimmers near densely populated areas are more likely to get sick than those who swim off rural coastlines, a UC Irvine study has found.


April 5, 2004 Creek project raises environmentalists' ire To Orange County public works officials, the decision to clear San Diego Creek of years of overgrown vegetation and river sediment represents good flood control management. But environmentalists say that when county workers ripped out native vegetation, including dozens of willows, they destroyed critical habitat for two endangered songbirds - the California gnatcatcher and least Bell's vireo.


March 28, 2004 Clean-water activists want answers, fast Environmentalists cite a new UC Irvine study faulting O.C.'s method of testing, which takes a day and means beach warnings could be late.


March 25, 2004 Water board rejects request for desalination help
SAN DIEGO ---- Two months after breaking off talks with a private company to build a "critical" plant that would turn seawater into drinking water, San Diego County Water Authority board members made it clear Thursday they don't intend to help the city of Carlsbad finish the deal.


March 20, 2004 Desalination could divide California officials MONTEREY, Calif. - Setting the stage for a potential showdown with the Schwarzenegger administration over desalination, the executive director of the California Coastal Commission laid out his concerns this week about the prospect of private desalting plants along the state's seashore.


March 18, 2004 Oysters farmers and dairy ranchers clash over pollution in California bay MARSHALL, CA - Heavy rains have forced oyster farms to shut down for weeks at a time this winter, as runoff from neighboring dairy ranches pollutes the waters where the oysters are grown.


March 14, 2004 A wave of desalination proposals CARLSBAD, Calif. - A few hundred yards from the Pacific Ocean, at the end of a labyrinth of blue pipes and filters, Peter MacLaggan fills a plastic cup with water. This, he hopes, is his company's future.


March 12, 2004 State wants firms to get share of water funds 
SACRAMENTO - California health officials are preparing to reverse a long-standing state policy by letting private companies tap voter-approved water bond money that has historically been restricted to public water districts.


March 12, 2004 Governor's office joins fray, backs desalination 
SACRAMENTO - Putting the Coastal Commission on notice, the Schwarzenegger
administration made it clear yesterday that it fully supports building desalination projects along California's shoreline.


March 6, 2004 Pilot desalination plant demonstrated to the public
CARLSBAD ---- Proponents of a plan to take millions of gallons a day of salty ocean water and convert it into a big, fresh drink for this thirsty county put out the welcome mat Saturday for more than 100 local residents and members of the San Diego League of Women Voters.