- Newsom Peddles Disastrous Water Proposals
- Supreme Court Puts the Bay’s Wetlands at Risk
- Reducing Selenium Pollution from Oil Refineries
- Advocating for Tribal Uses of Water
- Join the Day of Action for Water Justice 7/5
Newsom Peddles Disastrous Water Proposals
Governor Newsom recently released a torrent of proposed policy bills that would accelerate the extraction of water from the state’s over-tapped rivers at the expense of the environment and public health; he’s trying to jam these through the legislature as part of the budget process. Not only is this the wrong way to try to make water policy, but the consequences for the Bay, rivers, and people already suffering from an inequitable system would be disastrous.
Baykeeper and our allies are pushing back, urging the legislature to reject proposals that will perpetuate the state’s broken water management system that appeases corporate agriculture and powerful urban water brokers.
And you can help! Sign our action alert to legislators urging them to reject these rollbacks.
Pictured: California’s mighty San Joaquin River has already been tapped dry by excessive withdrawals, and now Newsom’s proposals will exacerbate the problem throughout the state.
Supreme Court Puts the Bay’s Wetlands at Risk
Last month, the Supreme Court dealt a terrible blow to environmental protection and millions of acres of wetlands across the country, ruling to reduce the EPA’s ability to protect our few remaining wetlands.
“The new Supreme Court decision masquerades as law, ignores established science, and will cause regulatory chaos and harm to waters and communities nationwide,” Baykeeper attorney Eric Buescher said in a statement. “It could also remove protections for wetlands connected to seasonal streams around San Francisco Bay.”
Above: Over 90 percent of the Bay’s historic tidal marshes and wetlands (left, in green) have already been destroyed. Now, a new ruling from the Supreme Court threatens the ones that remain (Map courtesy of the San Francisco Estuary Institute & SF Bay Joint Venture)
Reducing Selenium Pollution from Oil Refineries
Selenium is a toxic pollutant that oil refineries have been dumping into the Bay with little oversight. After Baykeeper’s advocacy last fall, the Regional Water Board finally required the Martinez oil refinery to provide details on ways they can reduce their selenium discharges.
Now our lawyers are asking the Board to require the refinery to reduce their high selenium amounts and to require similar information from other Bay Area refineries.
We’re also suing the EPA for allowing oil refineries to release selenium and other pollution into the Bay.
Photo: Hudson Henry
On the Lookout for Harmful Algae in the Bay
In May, Baykeeper’s hotline received reports of discolored water in the Bay. After our field team and partners investigated, we luckily didn’t find any evidence of a harmful algae outbreak. We suspect that the discoloration was due to isolated blooms of Mesodinium rubrum, a common phytoplankton that doesn’t produce toxins harmful to people or fish.
Please remain on the lookout for potentially harmful blooms
If you see discolored water in the Bay, report it to our pollution hotline
Advocating for Tribal Uses of Water
For over a century, California Tribal groups have been excluded from water management planning—even though many Tribal peoples have deep spiritual and cultural relationships with their rivers, as well as the plants, fish, and wildlife that inhabit them.
Last week, Baykeeper attorney Ben Eichenberg spoke before the State Water Board to support formally including Tribal uses in water management planning: “It’s time to include Tribal groups and finally protect these interests that have been ignored and marginalized for so long.”
Illustration by Mike Rodriguez of the La Jolla Band of Mission Indians
Join the Day of Action for Water Justice & Salmon on July 5
On Wednesday, July 5, Tribal groups, environmental organizations, fisherfolk, and many others will gather in Sacramento to demand water justice for Tribes, communities, and the environment. And you’re invited!
Everyone who cares about California rivers, the Bay, the Delta, and all the living creatures and people who depend on healthy waters, should join us!
