First-ever Well Water Fees Proposed
The Santa Rosa Plain Groundwater Sustainability Agency is currently looking at a variety of fee structures that would allow them to better achieve the goals of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Considered to be a historic piece of legislation, the Act was enacted to [...]
Clean Water Act 50th Anniversary
Fifty years ago, US waters were severely contaminated by sewage, trash, oil, and toxic industrial pollution. The Russian River was no exception, making fishing and swimming frequently unsafe and drinking water unhealthy. The Clean Water Act was passed in 1972 to provide the public [...]
2022 Drought Emergency Regulations
As rain falls outside our windows and the nights get chilly, it can become easy to forget that we are still in an extreme dry period and facing a continuing water supply shortage. In fact, with so little rain these past few years, California’s [...]
Riverkeeper Don McEnhill Honored
Riverkeeper Don McEnhill awarded Sonoma County Environmentalist of the Year 2021 by the Sonoma County Conservation Council. Public celebration on December 1, 2021 (7-8:30pm) via zoom. Details about the zoom event will be announced soon on the Sonoma County Conservation Council website. Come honor [...]
New Advocacy Internship Available
If you are or know a student currently in law school and are interested in learning more about our work in the Russian River Watershed, this may be the opportunity you’ve been looking for! This new intern program is designed to cover a variety [...]
Time to Act
Good or bad, a lot of historic moments have been happening lately. The current one being the state of water within our watershed which is hitting new, historic daily lows on the regular. While this is probably one we will not be bragging [...]
Can we Protect Nature by Giving it Rights?
Rights of Nature is is a growing international movement that recognizes natural systems not simply as resources for humans to use, but as living entities with rights of their own. It has the potential to transform American law and protect watersheds like the Russian [...]
No Time – or Water – to Waste
The “new normal” is a phrase we have heard a lot since COVID lockdowns started over a year ago. Now it is time to repurpose that phrase for the next crisis we are facing in our watershed—drought. Historically, California has been known for its [...]
Tough News: Drought is Looming
The looming 2021 drought could be the worst yet, and serves as a textbook example of the urgent need for climate adaptation. Doing “business as usual” is what has put the upper Russian River at risk of going dry as water managers are failing [...]