California, where water and recreation often mix, is struggling to devise a plan to defend its lakes and rivers from invasions by tiny quagga and zebra mussels, which threaten to wreak havoc on the environment and water-delivery systems. An East Bay lawmaker has introduced a bill that would require lake and reservoir operators to develop plans to prevent boaters from inadvertently infecting new water bodies in California with non-native mussels. Inside Bay Area 4/13/08 Contra Costa Times 4/11/08
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As state officials prepare to spray the San Francisco Bay area with pesticides to fight an invasive moth, politicians are starting to worry not only about the aerial endeavor's potential impacts on human health, but on local commerce. Public uncertainty could be enough to slow summer tourism, drive residents to leave town and cause real estate agents to initiate conversations with their clients about whether they want to buy property in the proposed spray zone, local government officials say. Fresno Bee 4/11/08 SJ Mercury 4/11/08
California state environmental health experts have put out a report stating that there is no link between reported illnesses and pesticides which were sprayed to fight moths. DB Techno 4/14/08
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The governors of California, Oregon and Washington pledged to help financially strapped fishermen and fishing communities Friday after federal regulators imposed the most severe restrictions ever on West Coast salmon fishing. After the council's vote, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in California. The proclamation directs state agencies to offer grants and loans to fishermen and affected businesses, and refund up to $2.7 million in fees paid for fishing permits. On Friday, the governor signed legislation to spend $5.3 million to help restore habitat for coastal salmon and steelhead. SF Chronicle 4/11/08
While consumers will be able to find some wild king salmon from the Copper River region in Alaska in the next few weeks, the price of the king salmon from the Sacramento River is likely to rise steeply. NY Times 4/11/08
The ban on all commercial and sport fishing for chinook salmon in California and most of Oregon this year could be the beginning of the end for a whole way of life. SF Chronicle 4/12/08
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Sacramento has been a longtime rarity with its flat-rate charges for water. The city's charter was changed to prohibit metering domestic water way back in 1920. The Legislature passed a law in 2004 requiring Sacramento and a handful of other communities to meter all homes and businesses by 2025. Billing based on meters will begin in 2010. Sacramento residents will be given a year's grace period, during which they will pay the flat rate while receiving a comparative bill, showing what their metered use and charges would be. So far, the arrival of meters is moving at a trickle in the city; just 3,843 out of about 120,000 households will have been retrofitted with working meters by July 1, according to the city's Department of Utilities. Sacramento Bee 4/12/08
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‘Try again.’ This was the message U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein had for the U.S. Forest Service after reviewing its report on firefighter retention. Earlier this month, the Forest Service delivered a report ordered by Congress examining firefighter retention and recruitment in the Southern California national forests. The report downplayed concerns that firefighters are leaving the Forest Service because of low morale and pay disparities with state and local agencies. It also had little in common with an earlier draft put together by California-based Forest Service officials. San Bernardino Sun Times 4/13/08
Feinstein criticizes Forest Service firefighting vacancies report SJ Mercury 4/10/08
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California's obscure inland spill response program limps along with fewer than a dozen watchdogs responsible for 211,000 miles of rivers and streams, 1.3 million acres of bays and estuaries and 1.6 million acres of lakes. That could soon change. Two Democratic lawmakers are pushing legislation before the Assembly Judiciary Committee tomorrow to aid the financially crippled program, including guaranteed revenues to add the program's staff. San Diego Union Tribune 4/14/08
Assemblyman Pedro Nava proposed two pieces of legislation Friday. One would increase Fish and Game's authority to impose harsher penalties on inland spills. The second would create standards that must be met by oil operators, or they will be shut down. KSBY 4/14/08
In response to Greka Oil & Gas Inc.’s recent slew of oil spills, 35th District Assemblyman Pedro Nava is set to propose two legislative measures today, both aimed at protecting the community and the environment from land-based petroleum releases. Daily Nexus 4/4/08
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