Borrego Water District v. All Persons Who Claim a Right to Extract Groundwater in the Borrego Valley Groundwater Subbasin No. 7-024-01

Superior Court of California, County of Orange | April 8th, 2021

Bottled water contaminant exposures and potential human effects

Environment International (Elsevier) | December 19th, 2022

Background: Bottled water (BW) consumption in the United States and globally has increased amidst heightened concern about environmental contaminant exposures and health

Background: Bottled water (BW) consumption in the United States and globally has increased amidst heightened concern about environmental contaminant exposures and health risks in drinking water supplies, despite a paucity of directly comparable, environmentally-relevant contaminant exposure data for BW. This study provides insight into exposures and cumulative risks to human health from inorganic/organic/microbial contaminants in BW. Methods: BW from 30 total domestic US (23) and imported (7) sources, including purified tapwater (7) and spring water (23), were analyzed for 3 field parameters, 53 inorganics, 465 organics, 14 microbial metrics, and in vitro estrogen receptor (ER) bioactivity. Health-benchmark-weighted cumulative hazard indices and ratios of organic- contaminant in vitro exposure-activity cutoffs were assessed for detected regulated and unregulated inorganic and organic contaminants. Results: 48 inorganics and 45 organics were detected in sampled BW. No enforceable chemical quality standards were exceeded, but several inorganic and organic contaminants with maximum contaminant level goal(s) (MCLG) of zero (no known safe level of exposure to vulnerable sub-populations) were detected. Among these, arsenic, lead, and uranium were detected in 67 %, 17 %, and 57 % of BW, respectively, almost exclusively in spring-sourced samples not treated by advanced filtration. Organic MCLG exceedances included frequent detections of disinfection byproducts (DBP) in tapwater-sourced BW and sporadic detections of DBP and volatile organic chemicals in BW sourced from tapwater and springs. Precautionary health-based screening levels were exceeded frequently and attributed primarily to DBP in tapwater-sourced BW and co-occurring inorganic and organic contaminants in spring-sourced BW. Conclusion: The results indicate that simultaneous exposures to multiple drinking-water contaminants of potential human-health concern are common in BW. Improved understandings of human exposures based on more environmentally realistic and directly comparable point-of-use exposure characterizations, like this BW study, are essential to public health because drinking water is a biological necessity and, consequently, a high vulnerability vector for human contaminant exposures.

Bottoms Up: Treated sewage could be the safest, most environmentally sound source of tap water yet - if we can get over the yuck factor

Scientific American | July 1st, 2014

On a sunny day in December, I visit a shiny, sterile water-processing facility nestled in the hills of northern San Diego. Sheltered by an ugly cream-colored roof but l

On a sunny day in December, I visit a shiny, sterile water-processing facility nestled in the hills of northern San Diego. Sheltered by an ugly cream-colored roof but lacking walls, the workings of this oversize chemist’s laboratory glisten in the warm winter sun. Visible from every angle are row on row of silver tubes and canisters of various shapes and sizes and great gray metal vats of concealed liquid. As my tour of the small plant comes to a close, I am presented with a challenge: to identify, by sight, the contents of three large glass bottles, spaced evenly on a table before me and filled with clear fluids. The first bottle seems to have a slight yellow hue. The second is colorless. The third has the brilliance of a well-cut diamond.

Boulder Canyon Project Act

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | December 21st, 1928

Boulder Canyon Project Agreement: Requesting Apportionment of California’s Share of the Waters of the Colorado River among the Applicants in the State

U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) | August 18th, 1931

Brackish Water Desalination Facility Draft Environmental Impact Report

City of Antioch | June 15th, 2018

The City proposes to construct, operate, and maintain the Antioch Brackish Water Desalination Project (proposed project). The City proposes to replace the existing San J

The City proposes to construct, operate, and maintain the Antioch Brackish Water Desalination Project (proposed project). The City proposes to replace the existing San Joaquin River intake pump station, construct a desalination facility with associated equipment and appurtenances; and construction of pipelines for the conveyance of source water and brine concentrate. The desalination plant would have the capacity to produce up to 6 million gallons per day (mgd) of desalinated product water to offset use of purchased water. Due to size, this file has been divided into two parts. Part 1, Part 2

Brackish Water Desalination Facility Project

Delta Stewardship Council (Delta Council) | April 1st, 2020

The City of Antioch (City) is proposing the Brackish Water Desalination Project (Project), which consists of the construction of a desalination facility at the City’s

The City of Antioch (City) is proposing the Brackish Water Desalination Project (Project), which consists of the construction of a desalination facility at the City’s water treatment plant (WTP) with the capacity to produce up to 6 million gallons per day (mgd) of finished water; demolition of the existing San Joaquin River intake pump station; construction of a new intake pump station; approximately 3,000 feet of pipeline from the existing raw water pipeline underneath Lone Tree Way to the City’s WTP to allow a direct connection to maximize use of existing infrastructure; and approximately 4 miles of pipeline from the desalination facility to the Delta Diablo wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) to discharge brine with the WWTP effluent through the existing Delta Diablo outfall to New York Slough. The Project facilities would be located in the cities of Antioch and Pittsburg, California (Figure 1), at the western edge of the San Joaquin- Sacramento Delta (Delta). The main objectives of the Project are to improve water supply reliability and water quality for its customers; develop a reliable and drought-resistance water source to reduce dependency on purchased water supplies; maximize and preserve the use of the City’s pre-1914 water rights; and provide cost effective operational flexibility for the City.

Breathing Hazard: Air Pollution in the Salton Sea Region

Pacific Institute | August 14th, 2025

The Salton Sea, California’s largest lake, has shrunk by more than 70 square miles (19%) in the past 30 years. Colorado River water irrigates more than half a million a

The Salton Sea, California’s largest lake, has shrunk by more than 70 square miles (19%) in the past 30 years. Colorado River water irrigates more than half a million acres of productive farmland in the Imperial and Coachella valleys, in southeastern California (Figure ES-1). Runoff from these fields sustains the lake but has decreased by almost 20% since the 1990s (Figure ES-2) as a result of agreements transferring water out of the region. Continuing efforts to protect Lake Mead and Lake Powell have incentivized farmers to further reduce their use of Colorado River water, accelerating the decline of the Salton Sea and exposing additional lakebed (known as “playa”). More playa means more dust in an area already suffering from bad air quality and some of the highest respiratory hospitalization rates in the state. Expected additional water use reductions will accelerate the Salton Sea’s decline and increase the amount of playa exposed, affecting the health of the 560,000 people in the region.

Brief communication: Meteorological and climatological conditions associated with the 9 January 2018 post-fire debris flows in Montecito and Carpinteria, California, USA

Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences, European Geosciences Union | November 19th, 2018

The Thomas Fire burned 114,078 ha in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, southern California, during December 2017–January 2018. On 9 January 2018, high-intensity rai

The Thomas Fire burned 114,078 ha in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, southern California, during December 2017–January 2018. On 9 January 2018, high-intensity rainfall occurred over the Thomas Fire burn area in the mountains above the communities of Montecito and Carpinteria, initiating multiple devastating debris flows. The highest rainfall intensities occurred with the passage of a narrow rainband along a cold front oriented north to south. Orographic enhancement associated with moist southerly flow immediately ahead of the cold front also played a role. We provide an explanation of the meteorological characteristics of the event and place it in historic context.

Bring Back the Kern et al vs. the City of Bakersfield

Superior Court of California, County of Kern | February 5th, 2024