AquAlliance exists to defend northern California waters and to challenge threats to the hydrologic health of the northern Sacramento River watershed. We are prepared and willing to confront the escalating attempts to divert more and more water from the northern Sacramento River hydrologic region. Click here for our Mission Statement.
Delta Plan’s EIR Terribly Flawed
February 20, 2012AquAlliance provided the state with considerable material regarding the geography, health, and oversight of the Tuscan Aquifer in comments for the Delta Plan’s Draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Report (DPEIR). The Delta Stewardship Council, formed by the California legislature, was attempting to analyze their Delta Plan to secure a “reliable water supply for California and protecting, restoring and enhancing the Delta ecosystem.” Sadly, the planning and ensuing environmental review pursue the same broken paradigm that led to the water supply and ecosystems crises in the first place. The 63 page comment letter was crafted by AquAlliance, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance, the California Water Impact Network, and the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman’s Association. The comments provide legal standing to challenge the very inadequate effort by the Delta Stewardship Council. Significant flaws in the DPEIR include: An inadequate description of the o...
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Vernal Pools Book Now Available
May 5, 2012Based on a series of papers by invited presenters at the conference: Vernal Pool Conservation: Research, Progress and Problems. Is Recovery Possible? presented by AquAlliance on March 26, 2010 in Chico, CA. Available from the California State University, Chico Herbarium: RESEARCH & RECOVERY IN VERNAL POOL LANDSCAPES Studies from the Herbarium Number 16 -- 2011 -- 175 pages Cost: $12 plus $0.87 tax plus $4 shipping = $16.87 total. (Or save shipping costs by purchasing your book in the Herbarium, 129 Holt Hall, 8-5 Fri...
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Voices from the Floor: HR-1837 vs. Salmon
April 30, 2012Please watch this excellent video that was created by our friends at Salmon Water Now. The House of Representatives bill 1837 preempts state water and public trust law, eliminates federal and state protection for salmon and other commercially valuable species, and ends a 20-year federal law that was enacted to improve conditions in the Sacramento River watershed and Delta.
Read moreGround Water Banking Lawsuits
April 29, 2012The New York Times reports on yet another example of what happens when "the market" and government agencies collude to transfer more wealth to corporations and patrons of politicians. You will read about how existing ground water banks south of the Delta are being charged with damaging ground water basins in a recent lawsuit. Another lawsuit challenges how the State of California gave away one of the ground water banks to a private entity. This is what "the market" and some water districts are trying to establish in the Sacramento Valley with the full support of the state and federal government. Without the courts, the public has virtually no voice and is being taken to the cleaners. NY Times article, July 27, 2011
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Ground Water Pumping Collapses Soils
April 30, 2012This photo illustrates what happens when too much ground water is used over many years. San Joaquin Valley soils collapsed from excess ground water pumping. (photo by Richard Ireland, USGS)
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Water Transfer Challenged in Court
May 7, 2012Demanding Kern Water Districts Entice North State Sales... May 8, Chico, CA – AquAlliance filed a lawsuit against Butte Water District (BWD) to challenge the obfuscation of impacts, both short and long term, from water transfers out of the northern Sacramento Valley to Kern County water districts. The lawsuit seeks compliance with environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). BWD proposes to transfer 16,850 acre-feet (“af”) of Feather River Water (about 60% of the City of Chico’s annual demand) to State Water Project Contractors Dudley Ridge Water District, Kern County Water Agency, and Palmdale Water District. BWD will accomplish this by idling rice fields (3,350 acres) and/or by ground water substitution (5,350 af), which allows a grower to sell surface water while still producing rice. This project continues a decades-old pattern that defers the establishment of baseline conditions, fails to conduct comprehensive monitoring, and denies the ...
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So You Think They Don’t Want Our Water … ?
April 24, 2012Look what they're saying right out loud. As you see in the slide below, powerful interests view our Northstate ground water as an ideal way to send more water south of the Delta. The slide was part of a presentation delivered to the newly reconstituted California Water Commission in September 2011 by Mr. Carl Hauge, retired Chief Hydrogeologist for the California Department of Water Resources, a government agency that works on behalf of water contractors, not the public. They would never show this slide in the northern Sacramento Valley! ...
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