On the calendar today …
- MEETING: Delta Independent Science Board from 9am to 2pm. Agenda items include a discussion on its review of the draft Pyrethroid Research Plan by the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board and forming the Delta lead scientist interview panel. The meeting will also include the third webinar in the DMDU series: Development, Application and Uses of Scenario Planning in Decision-making under Deep Uncertainty from 12pm to 1pm. Click here for the meeting notice.
- WEBINAR: DMDU #3: Development and application of scenarios and their uses within DMDU from 12pm to 1pm. In the series’ third seminar, Dr. Andrew Parker, senior behavioral and social scientist and professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School, and Dr. Jody Wong, associate policy researcher, will discuss the development and application of scenarios and their uses within DMDU. Dr. Parker will provide the fundamentals of scenario-based planning and the benefits of using scenarios to understand risk. Dr. Wong will present case studies to show how scenarios can serve as communication tools that help to develop a shared understanding of uncertainties and decision options. Click here to register.
In California water news today …
Central Valley farmers are having a climate reckoning
“Climate change — and changing political winds — are prompting shifts in strategy at California’s largest agricultural water district. Westlands Water District, which occupies some 1,100 square miles of the arid San Joaquin Valley, is in the midst of an internal power struggle that will determine how water fights unfold across the state. After years of aggressively fighting for more water, Westlands is making plans to live with less. In 2016, Donald Trump campaigned in the valley, promising to “open up the water” for farmers in the then-drought stricken state. Its leaders are now sounding a more Biden-esque note: They are planning to cover a sixth of the district with solar panels to start “farming the sun” instead of thirsty crops like almonds and pistachios. … Westlands’ new general manager, Allison Febbo, who began in April, is charting a course that’s more in line with projections of how climate change is expected to affect the valley. Febbo characterized the state’s reckoning with climate change as a journey through the stages of grief. … ” Read more from Politico.
Hurricane remnants may bring ‘high impact’ deluge to California, Southwest
“California and the Desert Southwest could see exceptional amounts of rain in the next week as Tropical Storm Hilary, which developed Wednesday morning off the coast of Mexico and could rapidly intensify, threatens to deluge the region with an unusually strong atmospheric river. Along the coast, high surf and large swells are possible, while potential wind impacts are uncertain. Hilary is expected to become a hurricane Thursday, the National Hurricane Center said, as it gains strength from extremely warm waters in the eastern Pacific Ocean. While Hilary is likely to weaken as it tracks northward over colder waters closer to Baja California this weekend, the remnants could bring several inches of rain — and possibly flooding — to areas in the midst of drought. … ” Read more from the Washington Post.
SEE ALSO:
- CW3E: Tropical Storm Hilary Potentially Impacting Southern California Beginning Sunday 20 August, from the Center for Western Weather & Water Extremes
- Hilary becomes a hurricane and is rapidly strengthening, from the New York Times
- A tropical storm is heading toward California. Here’s a timeline of impacts, from the San Francisco Chronicle
Turning the tide: The digital future of water management
“Every day, billions of gallons of water are wasted. With climate change affecting weather patterns and severity, an exploding population, pollution, and inequitable access to safe water, there is an urgent need for more sustainable water resources management. What will it take? The practical list is long: new policies, investing in infrastructure, and a digital approach to water management that uses data to guide action. But sustainable water management is also a mindset. The industry can set regulations, but there must be buy-in from the public, which needs to understand the urgency of the situation to create a sustainable future. … ‘ Continue reading at Redshift.
DELTA LEAD SCIENTIST: A tool for optimizing groundwater recharge; update on nutria eradication efforts
“At the July meeting of the Delta Stewardship Council, Delta Lead Scientist Dr. Laurel Larsen spotlighted an article that developed a model to optimize groundwater recharge, gave an update on nutria eradication efforts in the Delta, and highlighted the activities of the Delta Science Program. Dr. Laurel Larsen began her report by noting that a local TV station has been running a week-long series on how California stores its water, with the premise that California’s climate is changing rapidly, creating challenges for water management. More precipitation is falling as rain and snow, and variability is also increasing, underscoring the need for storage that balances flood protection with water supply. … ” Read more from Maven’s Notebook.
Federal grants will replace water tunnels beneath roads that are harmful to fish
“The Biden administration on Wednesday announced nearly $200 million in federal infrastructure grants to upgrade tunnels that carry streams beneath roads but can be deadly to fish that get stuck trying to pass through. Many of the narrow passages known as culverts, often made from metal pipes or concrete, were built in the 1950s and contribute to population declines of salmon and other fish that live in the ocean but return to freshwater streams to spawn. “We inherited a lot of structures that were built in a way that just did not properly contemplate the effect they were having on fish,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in an interview with The Associated Press. “You don’t have to be a fish enthusiast or ecologist to care about this. It’s very important for the livelihoods, economies and way of life in many parts of the country.” … ” Read more from the Associated Press.
Biden-Harris Administration announces $106 million in recommended funding for West Coast and Alaska salmon recovery
“Today, the Department of Commerce and NOAA announced more than $106 million in recommended funding for 16 West Coast and Alaska state and tribal salmon recovery programs and projects under the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF). The funds, including $34.4 million under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $7.5 million under the Inflation Reduction Act, will support the recovery, conservation and resilience of Pacific salmon and steelhead in Alaska, California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. This funding is part of President Biden’s historic Investing in America agenda, which includes over $2 billion for fish passage investments across the country. Programs and projects recommended for funding will benefit four Species in the Spotlight: Central California Coast coho salmon, Sacramento River winter-run chinook salmon, Southern Resident killer whales and Cook Inlet beluga whales. … ” Read more from NOAA.
Feinstein-Marshall bill would improve local water districts’ access to USDA grants
“Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Roger Marshall (R-Kan.) today announced the EQIP Water Conservation Act to allow local water agencies to access larger U.S. Department of Agriculture grants for water efficiency and conservation projects that benefit multiple farmers. In the 2018 Farm Bill, Congress authorized the secretary of agriculture to support water projects that conserve water, provide fish and wildlife habitat, and combat drought through the USDA’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). However, a subsequent USDA rule effectively nullified this provision by capping EQIP payments for water agencies at $900,000, only twice the funding limit for individual farmers’ projects. … ” Read more from Senator Feinstein.
Kevin McCarthy has a bill to save the sequoias, but some environmental groups aren’t into it
“In November 2021, during a plane ride from Qatar to Washington, D.C., Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) approached Rep. Scott Peters (D-San Diego) to talk about sequoias. The humongous trees don’t grow in either of their districts but are considered a national treasure. During their 45-minute conversation on a plane somewhere over the Atlantic, the Arkansas lawmaker convinced the Californian of the urgency of the threat. From their interaction emerged a rough blueprint for legislation intended to save the sequoias from extinction. Today, Westerman and Peters have broad support from both parties, with 24 Democrats and 29 Republicans backing their bill, the Save Our Sequoias Act. Nearly half of lawmakers co-sponsoring the legislation are from California. … ” Read the full story at the LA Times.
Californians are worried about wildfires
“The devastating fire that burned Lahaina to the ground last week is now the deadliest US wildfire in modern history—and a worrying reminder of California’s own vulnerabilities. Californians are rightly very concerned about wildfires, placing them just behind water supply and drought in their list of the most important environmental issues facing the state, according to the July PPIC Statewide Survey. This week, as weather reports indicate that fire risk in the state is at its highest level so far this year, we take a closer look at Californians’ views of wildfire threat, their confidence in government’s readiness to respond to that threat, and their support for environmental policies related to climate change. … ” Continue reading from the PPIC.
SEE ALSO: Southern California home to most fire-threatened homes in state, from KTLA
Ocean cleanup group removes record 25,000 pounds of trash from Great Pacific Garbage Patch in one extraction
“Ocean cleanup crews have fished out the most trash ever taken from one of the largest garbage patches in the world. The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit environmental engineering organization, saw its largest extraction earlier this month by removing about 25,000 pounds of trash from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, Alex Tobin, head of public relations and media for the organization, told ABC News. The vessels are currently on the way back to port in Victoria, British Columbia, after having collected about 50 tons of garbage in four weeks, Tobin said. … ” Read more from ABC News.
In commentary today …
Water rights reform is a century overdue
Rob Katherman, an elected director of the Water Replenishment District of Southern California, writes, “The Mountain Counties Water Resources Association Op-Ed (Daily Breeze, July 16, 2023), claims changes in California’s water rights system embodied in three current legislative proposals would have dire consequences and “would upend the water rights system that, while imperfect, has worked in California for more than a century.” Nonsense. Big Ag[riculture] wants to pretend that nothing has changed since 1914 and their “first in time first in right” is sacrosanct and the public has no right to question their water use even if the water supply in seven out of 10 years no longer supplies even average stormwater. By the way, the years before 1914 were part of the wettest 20 years in the past 1,100 years. … ” Read more from Random Lengths News.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
The return of ‘30,000 Salmon’
“In mid-September of 2002, tens of thousands of fish (mostly Chinook salmon) turned up dead on the Klamath River. Attributed in part to low water flow from the Iron Gate Dam, the devastating fish kill left an enormous impact on the local community, artist Becky Evans included. A self-described “land-based artist,” Evans tends to let the environment act as the muse behind her artwork. And this was more than a normal muse. From the tragedy of the event rose an impressive installation combining the work of professional artists, schoolchildren and volunteers. She called it “30,000 Salmon,” and to celebrate the r historic removal of four dams from the Klamath River, it is now on display for all to see at the Morris Graves Museum in Eureka. … ” Read more from the North Coast Journal.
Enviros meeting Thursday, on Ft. Ross hydro proposal
“Local conservationists have scheduled a meeting Thursday to discuss a coordinated response to a recently proposed innovating hydro-electric power plant near Fort Ross. The project won preliminary approval from federal energy regulators in June, clearing the way for further study and enabling developers, HGE Energy Storage 3 LLC, to apply for permits if they wish. It would use low-cost electricity at night to pump ocean water into a reservoir on a bluff, then release the water through electricity generating turbines when demand, and retail prices for electricity are higher. … ” Read more from NorCal Public Media.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Protecting water from fire: How the Wildfire Crisis Strategy protects critical infrastructure
“If they’d only known. Back in the 1850s, miners in the Sierra Nevada gold-rush town of Sonora, California created a connected system of ditches, wooden flumes and pipes to move water. Sierra snowpack melted into the South Fork of the Stanislaus River and flowed into the Lyons Reservoir. From there, the snowmelt trickled down to service the gold mines. As a secondary concern, it was also a source of drinking water for Sonora and the nearby towns of Columbia and Jamestown. More than 150 years later, the 72 miles of open channels, wooden flumes and pipes still exist, 16 miles of which snake through the Stanislaus National Forest and flow into treatment plants operated by the Tuolumne Utilities District. This configuration serves as the primary source of drinking water for the more than 44,000 residents of Tuolumne County. The project Kuiken refers to is one of the Forest Service’s “Wildfire Crisis Strategy” landscapes. … ” Continue reading from the US Forest Service.
Restoration at Ackerson Meadow in the Sierra Nevada breaks ground
“Shovels are in the ground, and the Ackerson Meadow Restoration Project is underway! Ackerson Meadow in Yosemite National Park and Stanislaus National Forest is one of the most significant biodiversity hotspots in the Sierra Nevada mountain range, providing habitat for two California Endangered Species (Great Gray Owl and Little Willow Flycatcher), a federally endangered species (fisher), a California Species of Special Concern and petitioned for Federal listing (Northwestern Pond Turtle), and a number of rare plants. And this is all despite Ackerson’s highly modified and degraded state. What might Ackerson Meadow look like when flows once again nourish the landscape? What native species might decide to make it their home? … ” Continue reading from American Rivers.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
Engaging in a holistic approach for healthy rivers and landscapes in the Sacramento River basin
“Sacramento Valley leaders are seeking input on a document providing a macro-view of the approach underway to benefit Chinook salmon in the region. A Holistic Approach for Healthy Rivers and Landscapes in the Sacramento River Basin is an overview of the amazing efforts underway from ridgetop to river mouth in every part of the Sacramento Valley to “give salmon a chance” by improving freshwater conditions for each life-stage of all four runs of Chinook salmon. … ” Read more from the Northern California Water Association.
PG&E canal breach turns Northern California’s Butte Creek bright orange
“A breach in a PG&E-operated canal turned a Northern California creek bright orange last week. PG&E discovered a breach in the Butte Canal that was sending orange sediment spilling into the waters of Butte Creek on Aug. 10, PG&E spokesperson Paul Moreno told SFGATE. Upon finding the breach, the utility company opened a side spill gate upstream in order to stop water flowing to the canal. State and federal resource agencies were then notified after PG&E identified turbidity in the creek, Moreno said. Turbidity is a measure of particles in the water; high levels of suspended sediment cause water to become more turbid, according to the California Water Board. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
BLM to begin restoration work at the Sacramento River Bend
“The Bureau of Land Management will begin watershed restoration and infrastructure improvements within the Sacramento River Bend Area of Critical Environmental Concern in Tehama County, near the town of Bend. Paynes Creek Crossing parking area access will be limited for public safety from Aug, 21 to early November for the improvements. … ” Read more from the BLM.
Council moves forward with Ellis Lake plan: New location is approved for Cotton Rosser bronze statue in Marysville
“The Marysville City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved a consulting agreement to develop an Ellis Lake Master Plan as leaders continue to make a push toward revitalizing the city for greater economic development opportunities. Along with efforts already underway to find a long-term solution to the water quality of Ellis Lake, a new master plan, officials hope, would allow the city to not only have a vision for the future of the green space surrounding the lake but also create an opportunity for grant funding that would be needed to achieve the goals of the city and council. … ” Read more from the Appeal Democrat.
Reclamation awards $29.9 million to the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District for Harvest Water
“Reclamation recently awarded the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District $29.9 million to help fund Harvest Water. The recycled water program will provide a safe and reliable supply of tertiary-treated water to agriculture and habitat lands in southern Sacramento County, while also reducing the reliance on groundwater pumping and resulting in increased groundwater levels. In August 2022, Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton announced the allocation of $309.8 million in funding from the President’s Investing in America agenda for the planning, design and construction of water reuse projects across the country. Approximately $24.1 million from this contract comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, with the remaining funding from the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act. … ” Read more from the Bureau of Reclamation.
NAPA/SONOMA
Future-proofing vineyards: Expert perspectives on AI, water management and climate resilience
“The recent Growing Forward Vineyard & Grower Virtual Conference (July 19) explored vital topics related to vineyard water management, climate change effects and the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in viticulture. As climate variability intensifies due to global warming, grape growers are faced with the need to adopt innovative approaches for sustainable and adaptable vineyard practices. Growing Forward began by shedding light on the challenges of climate change, including more frequent and prolonged droughts and, conversely, heavy rainfall. To address these issues, experts emphasized the importance of optimizing irrigation practices. Mark Greenspan, president of Advanced Viticulture, highlighted soil moisture sensors and tensiometers as promising technologies to help tackle climate variability. … ” Read more from Wine Industry Advisor.
BAY AREA
Bay Area could see rare thunderstorms this week. Here’s what to expect
“Unsettled weather will continue across Northern California into the end of the week, with mountain thunderstorms likely Thursday and Friday. Thursday is expected to be another warm day for inland areas, with widespread 90s expected, before 5 to 10 degrees of cooling is likely Friday. Isolated showers and a stray lightning strike are also possible around the Bay Area early Thursday morning, as well as a chance of scattered thunderstorms along the Santa Cruz Mountains and San Francisco Peninsula on Friday afternoon. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Multiple dumped cars extracted near East Bay drinking water source
“Cleanup crews for East Bay Municipal Utility District were busy Wednesday extracting four vehicles from near the San Leandro Reservoir, a key water source for Bay Area residents. The extraction comes just a day after the agency cleaned up 10 tons of material from a similar location on Tuesday and a month after extracting eight other abandoned cars in July. There’s been an epidemic of abandoned cars in the Bay Area for years, especially in the East Bay, but EBMUD spokesperson Andrea Pook says the problem was exacerbated by the pandemic. And while dumping a car is a relatively simple task, the extraction process is anything but. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
CENTRAL COAST
State clears Big Basin Water Company to operate sewer plant
“Three years on from the CZU Complex Lightning Fire, the state of California has finally given approval for the Big Basin Water Company to once again begin operating the local sewer system. The approval was received by the company in an email Wednesday. Homeowners say one of the obstacles to rebuilding after the fires has been the county was not approving their building permits because sewer lines were not connected. Now, Big Basin Water Company, which is in charge of the sewer plant in the area, says the state just cleared them to operate again and says that will help streamline the permit process for homeowners. … ” Read more from Channel 8.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Modesto Irrigation District takes pivotal step towards preservation of groundwater
“With continued vision, leadership, and innovation in sustainable groundwater management, the Modesto Irrigation District (MID) Board of Directors took the first steps in moving forward a Long-Term Groundwater Replenishment Program (GRP). The GRP is a voluntary, 20-year program open to all water users in the Modesto Subbasin. In wet years where MID irrigators and the City of Modesto have received full uncapped allocations, MID will make surface water available to applicants. This program is part of a series of groundwater management actions spurred by the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. These actions are aimed at reducing reliance on pumping, promoting groundwater storage programs, improving both the availability and quality of water to disadvantaged communities, providing flood control, and protecting our treasured groundwater for generations. … ” Read more from the Modesto Irrigation District.
Regional Surface Water Supply Project coming online this fall
“The City of Ceres is excited to announce a new water supply source through the Regional Surface Water Supply Project (RSWSP). As a partner in the Stanislaus Regional Water Authority (SRWA), the city will receive water from the Tuolumne River that has undergone state-of-the art treatment at the new Stanislaus Regional Water Treatment Plant under a permit to operate from the state of California. The city will begin integrating this new supply of water into the existing water system starting this fall. … ” Read more from the Ceres Courier.
Rain, potential flooding suddenly appear in the Fresno forecast
“Mother Nature might not be done messing with Valley residents. When this punishing dose of triple-digit temperatures accompanied by higher-than-normal humidity ends, record rain for the month of August could fall. The National Weather Service in Hanford said on its Wednesday morning discussion page that “around one-half of an inch of rain is possible in the San Joaquin Valley south of Madera County (on) Monday.” And, higher totals of rain are possible in the Sierra Nevada and Kern County mountains. … ” Read more from GV Wire.
Friant-Kern Canal project makes progress
“Decades of land subsidence caused by unregulated and continued groundwater overdraft have caused the Friant-Kern Canal, which is a 152-mile gravity fed canal, to sink as much as 14 feet in the area between Porterville and Delano. This damage has resulted in a 60% loss of carrying capacity along the canal. This water supply impact has caused harm, not only to the farms that make the economic engine in the San Joaquin Valley run, but also to cities and communities, whose primary source of drinking water is from the underground aquifer. Now a fix is underway and progress is being made, says Friant Water CEO Jason Phillips. … ” Read more from the Hanford Sentinel.
EASTERN SIERRA
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
CAPP is Carpinteria’s water future
At the time of the writing of this article we are working hard on the final design for the Carpinteria Advanced Purification Project (CAPP), which will be a major water supply advancement for the Carpinteria community. Over the past few decades, the Carpinteria Valley Water District (CVWD) and our customers have seen just how unpredictable our surface water supplies are during times of drought, due to our State Water Project and Lake Cachuma allocations becoming extremely variable and unreliable. When faced with limited surface water, we have become highly dependent on pumping groundwater from the Carpinteria Groundwater Basin to deliver water to your tap. … ” Read more from Coastal View.
OceanWell and LVMWD announce partnership to pilot California’s first Blue Water Farm
“OceanWell and Las Virgenes Municipal Water District (LVMWD) announced today their partnership to pilot California’s first-ever Blue Water farm. LVMWD Board of Directors unanimously approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that paves the way for the public/private partnership to research an environment-first approach that addresses the increasing concern of water scarcity and reliability. Blue Water is fresh water harvested from the deep ocean or other raw water sources. This, first-of-its-kind project, will test OceanWell’s proprietary water purification technology to produce safe, clean drinking water without the environmental impacts of traditional coastal desalination methods. … ” Read more from the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District.
Orange County completes first segment of $250M plan to prep flood channel for 100-year storm
“County officials Tuesday convened in Huntington Beach to celebrate the revitalization of a 1-mile segment of a flood control channel, a vital first step in a $250-million collaboration with federal partners to reduce Orange County’s flood risk. During an on-site news conference near a portion of the East Garden Grove-Wintersburg channel north of Warner Avenue, between Goldenwest and Springdale streets, Orange County Board of Supervisors Vice Chair Andrew Do explained the significance of the project. “We are standing in Orange County’s largest floodplain. [It] covers a very large portion of Orange County west of the Santa Ana River,” said Do, whose district encompasses cities within the 74-square-mile Westminster Watershed, including Huntington Beach, Seal Beach, Anaheim and Fountain Valley. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
IMPERIAL/COACHELLA VALLEYS
Stellantis invests more than $100 million in California lithium project
“Automaker Stellantis said it would invest more than $100 million in California’s Controlled Thermal Resources, its latest bet on the direct lithium extraction (DLE) sector amid the global hunt for new sources of the electric vehicle battery metal. The investment by the Chrysler and Jeep parent announced on Thursday comes as the green energy transition and U.S. Inflation Reduction Act have fueled concerns that supplies of lithium and other materials may fall short of strong demand forecasts. … The company plans to spend more than $1 billion to separate lithium from superhot geothermal brines extracted from beneath California’s Salton Sea after flashing steam off those brines to spin turbines that will produce electricity starting next year. That renewable power is expected to cut the amount of carbon emitted during lithium production. … ” Continue reading at Reuters News.
SAN DIEGO
Along the Colorado River …
Watershed: Agriculture and The Colorado River Crisis
The Colorado River is in crisis. Due to historically low water flow levels and increasing demand from all states in the basin, water stress in the Colorado River has attracted unprecedented attention from policymakers, the media, and the general public. Caitlin Welsh, Director of The CSIS Project on Water Security and Global Food and Water Security Program, unfolds how water stress in the Colorado River is a story about agriculture, both as a consumer of water and a source of solutions.
Nevada Supreme Court weighs groundwater management cases, vulnerable fish’s future
“The Nevada Supreme Court is weighing arguments in five consolidated civil cases in which the ruling could have far-reaching consequences for groundwater management throughout the state and the future of a vulnerable local fish. The Nevada Division of Water Resources’ state engineer’s office has appealed a 2022 decision in Clark County District Court to strike limits it placed on groundwater pumping, to 8,000 acre-feet annually or less, in the Lower White River Flow System, a system of basins in Clark and Lincoln counties. The basin is northeast of Las Vegas and includes Coyote Springs Valley, Muddy River Springs Area, California Wash, Hidden Valley, Garnet Valley and part of the Black Mountains Area, according to the state engineer’s office. Surface water throughout the basin comes from springs, some of which provide the Moapa dace fish with their only home on Earth in the Muddy River, and which flow into Lake Mead. … ” Continue reading from the Las Vegas Sun.
Study shows how Glen Canyon Dam has put Grand Canyon archeological site at risk
“Sitting high above the Colorado River, the Nankoweap Granaries may be the best-known archaeological site within the Grand Canyon, stopped at by nearly every commercial river trip. But a new study by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has found that hundreds of other archaeological sites up and down the Colorado River, some thousands of years old, have been degraded by nearly half a century of operation of the Glen Canyon Dam. In a paper published this spring, researchers found that 68% of archaeological sites along the river have been impacted by increased erosion as a result of dam operations. That’s up from 2000, when surveys showed only 56% of sites had such impacts. The study comes after researchers looked at 50 years of aerial photography over sites and data collected over 30 years during site visits and surveys. … ” Read more from the Arizona Daily Sun.
In national water news today …
Lawsuit says Clorox’s Brita misleads customers with water filter claims
“A California resident on Wednesday sued Clorox Co’s (CLX.N) Brita water filter unit for allegedly misleading consumers by boasting about the effectiveness of its filters, despite their inability to remove some dangerous substances like toxic “forever chemicals” from drinking water. In a proposed class action filed in state court in Los Angeles, Nicholas Brown said Clorox’s Brita Products Co. violated state consumer protection and unfair competition laws by “misleadingly and deceptively marketing” its filters. The lawsuit is seeking monetary compensation, punitive damages and other relief. A Clorox spokesperson said in a statement that the company is committed to transparency and that Brita’s water filters are designed and certified for different purposes, including to address different contaminants. … ” Read more from Reuters News.
Here’s where water is running out in the world — and why
“A growing population and rising temperatures will strain the world’s freshwater supplies over the next 30 years, jeopardizing available water for drinking, bathing and growing food, according to new research. An analysis of newly released data from the World Resources Institute (WRI) shows that by 2050 an additional billion people will be living in arid areas and regions with high water stress, where at least 40 percent of the renewable water supply is consumed each year. Two-fifths of the world’s population — 3.3 billion people in total — currently live in such areas. … ” Continue reading at the Washington Post.
Also on Maven’s Notebook today …
REGISTER NOW: Water Leadership Development Open House on August 24th
NOTICE: Opportunity for public comment on the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Forum’s 2023 Triennial Review
