On August 22, 2016, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power began construction on the Tujunga Spreading Grounds, a project that is expected to capture about 5 billion gallons of stormwater per year. The Tujunga Spreading Grounds construction will reconfigure the 20 spreading basins into 9 deeper basins through the removal of soil and sediment from the site. After completion, the Tujunga Spreading Grounds enhancement project will recharge the […]

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Governor Jerry Brown’s administration has dropped all mandatory water conservation targets, allowing cities, water districts, and private water companies across the state to set their own targets. The State Water Board’s recently updated emergency water conservation regulations give urban water agencies the ability to set their own conservation standards based on a “stress test” of supply reliability. As a result of this autonomy, the majority of urban water agencies in […]

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In January, a number of commercial beekeepers, growers and environmental activist groups filed a lawsuit – Anderson et al. v. McCarthy et al. – against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to properly regulate certain pesticide-coated seeds affecting bees and other wildlife.  The lawsuit alleged that the EPA incorrectly applied the treated article exemption of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) to the pesticide-coated seeds, enabling the […]

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Two climate change bills were passed by the California legislature recently: SB 32 and AB 197. Senate Bill 32 would require California to cut greenhouse gas levels to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, extending the state’s authority to enact climate policies beyond the 2020 reduction to 1990 levels. Assembly Bill 197 would support those goals by giving legislators more power over the Air Resources Board. AB 197 is […]

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