CP&DR

Takings Decision Aids Farmers, Threatens Species Protection

Mar 1, 2004

Environment Watch, John Krist, Vol. 19 No. 03 Mar 2004

Anyone familiar with the operation of state and federal water projects in California recognizes that the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is the heart of the state's elaborate plumbing system. A recent federal court decision also places the Delta squarely at the heart of an intensifying debate over one of the nation's bedrock environmental laws, potentially throwing into question the protections afforded a host of threatened and endangered species throughout the water-short West.

South Coast Air District Hints At Future Development Restrictions

Jul 1, 2003

Environment Watch, John Krist, Vol. 18 No. 07 Jul 2003

In their effort to address the disproportionate health risk faced by working-class blacks and Hispanics, air-quality regulators in Southern California may soon find themselves playing a greater role in local land-use decisions — a prospect embraced by environmental justice advocates but alarming to many in the business community.

New Reclamation Requirements Threaten To Halt Open-Pit Mining

Jun 1, 2003

Environment Watch, John Krist, Vol. 18 No. 06 Jun 2003

What began as an effort to prevent desecration of Native American sacred sites morphed this spring into a profound change in California's mining regulations, a change potentially so costly to mine operators that industry representatives predicted it would bring an end to one of the state's signature commercial activities: Gold mining.

Salton Sea Pieces Missing From Water Transfer Puzzle

May 1, 2003

Environment Watch, John Krist, Salton Sea , Vol. 18 No. 05 May 2003

Throughout the high-stakes poker game that coastal cities and a giant irrigation district have been playing for the past seven years in the California desert ï¿½ with a rich pot of Colorado River water the prize ï¿½ the Salton Sea has been a peripheral presence, like a high-roller's mistress standing just outside the glare of the lights. But events earlier this year suggest that the ecologically ailing drainage sump at the heart of the Imperial Valley has really been manipulating the game all along.

Developer-Hired CEQA Consultant Could Be An Endangered Species

Mar 1, 2003

Environment Watch, John Krist, Vol. 18 No. 03 Mar 2003

More than a decade ago, a state appellate court ruled that developers could hire their own consultants to prepare environmental impact reports required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Now, prompted by events surrounding the controversial Newhall Ranch development in Los Angeles County, a Southern California legislator has launched an effort to outlaw the practice.

San Diego Provides Example Of Habitat Planning Pitfalls, Promise

Feb 1, 2003

Environment Watch, John Krist, Vol. 18 No. 02 Feb 2003

Political conflict is common wherever urban development pushes into habitat occupied by imperiled wildlife. Every state and region has its own battlegrounds, but nowhere in the United States is the collision between human population pressures and natural ecosystems more pronounced than on California's rapidly growing south coast. The conflict is particularly acute in San Diego County, a biological hotspot with a booming human population.

Water Policy Rises To Top Of State's Agenda — Again

Jan 1, 2003

Environment Watch, John Krist, Vol. 18 No. 01 Jan 2003

As 2002 was drawing to a close, forecasters with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that warming of the western Pacific heralded the arrival of an El Niño weather pattern. The influence of this periodically recurring phenomenon usually means heavier-than-usual winter rains for California. But even if California gets more than its average precipitation this winter, water scarcity — or at least the possibility of it — will dominate the state's environmental agenda during the next

California Tries To Kick Colorado River Addiction

Dec 1, 2002

Environment Watch, John Krist, Vol. 17 No. 12 Dec 2002

At least some blame for one of the most complicated and intractable water-policy conundrums in the West can be laid fairly at the feet of Charles Rockwood and George Chaffey.

White House Task Force Pursuses ‘Modernization'

Nov 1, 2002

Environment Watch, John Krist, Vol. 17 No. 11 Nov 2002

In his first official act of 1970, President Richard Nixon signed the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) into law. The symbolism is obvious: The 1970s marked a watershed in the federal government's approach to the environment, and NEPA did more than any other single piece of legislation enacted during that decade to reshape the relationship between Americans and their air, water and land.

Water District Tries Natural Approach to Treating Urban Runoff

Oct 1, 2002

Environment Watch, John Krist, Vol. 17 No. 10 Oct 2002

In the years following passage of the Clean Water Act of 1972, counties and cities across the country found themselves forced to comply with restrictions on the release of municipal sewage and industrial waste. For the most part, they accomplished this by cracking down on polluting factories and by investing billions of dollars in advanced mechanical filtration and chemical disinfectant technology.

Articles