Water Supply

PORTLAND, Ore. - Proponents of fluoridating Portland's water supply had no trouble getting the local Urban League on board. Here in the biggest city in the country that still doesn't treat its water to prevent tooth decay, studies show that low-income children and kids of color have been hit hardest by untreated cavities. "Do we really want our children to be suffering from something we could prevent? Why would we not want to be involved?" said Jerome Brooks, an Urban League advocacy contractor who has helped marshal the civil rights group behind a fluoridation measure on Tuesday's municipal ballot.

PORTLAND, Ore. - Proponents of fluoridating Portland's water supply had no trouble getting the local Urban League on board. Here in the biggest city in the country that still doesn't treat its water to prevent tooth decay, studies show that low-income children and kids of color have been hit hardest by untreated cavities. "Do we really want our children to be suffering from something we could prevent? Why would we not want to be involved?" said Jerome Brooks, an Urban League advocacy contractor who has helped marshal the civil rights group behind a fluoridation measure on Tuesday's municipal ballot.

Question: Is bottled water really safer than tap water? How can one make an intelligent choice between Sparkletts, Arrowhead and the others? As for their "deep wells" claims--what about ground-water contamination? How effective is the monitoring of bottled water, and who does it?--B.S. Answer: Everyone in the bottled-water industry delicately tiptoes around the "safety" aspect of what it replaces--tap water.

WASHINGTON - The Interior Department proposed new rules to regulate hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas on federal land Thursday, drawing criticism from environmentalists that it had weakened an earlier draft to placate industry. Industry officials were not mollified, however, reiterating their objections to federal standards. Last year, they criticized the department's earlier draft rules as inflexible and onerous. "We are proposing some common-sense updates that increase safety while also providing flexibility and facilitating coordination with states and tribes," Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said.

Uninvited visitors have wormed their way into Hawthorne's kitchens and bathrooms. A minor infestation of bloodworms--larvae of the gnat-like midge--is forcing the city to purge its municipal water system, which serves about half of Hawthorne's 12,000 households and businesses. The scarlet creatures, although unnerving to residents who have been finding them in their water glasses and bathtubs since last week, do not pose a health hazard, officials say.

Environmental activist Erin Brockovich is one of the main talking heads of Oscar-winning director Jessica Yu's "Last Call at the Oasis,"a new documentary sounding the alarm about an impending global water shortage from the producers of "An Inconvenient Truth" and "Food, Inc. "The film looks at diminishing water sources in Central California's agricultural belt and in Nevada's Lake Mead, which could affect L.A. if trends continue. Brockovich, an Agoura Hills resident who was portrayed by Julia Roberts in a 2000 eponymous biopic, has continued her work on behalf of communities with water pollution as the president of Brockovich Research & Consulting.

In light of the Point Loma sewage disaster, we should look to San Diego County Water Authority's Capital Improvement Program for inspiration and future water supply. Unlike the San Diego Clean Water program's proposal to build seven more sewage plants to generate reclaimed water, the CIP is expanding and rehabilitating existing infrastructure. The CIP plan will bring an additional 400 million gallons per day into San Diego (on top of 580 MGD now imported). This program involves a sixth pipeline; improving old, undependable pipelines; expansion and constructing more storage for emergency supply.

Lake Okeechobee's declining water level once again threatens to generate water-supply ripple effects throughout south Florida, leaving less water for thirsty crops and lawns as well as an ecosystem trying to rebound from years of abuse. The big lake is south Florida's backup water supply, relied on to replenish drinking water for some communities and tapped for irrigation by sugar cane growers and other farmers. During droughts, the lake also is a barometer for water conditions across the region.

Re "County to Test Water for Chromium 6," Sept. 6. Despite the fact that the county Board of Supervisors moved to begin testing the levels of chromium 6 (a carcinogen) at county facilities and that the Legislature is waiting for Gov. [Gray] Davis to sign Senate Bill 2127, which would require the Department of Health Services to determine chromium 6 levels and assess its risk to public health, Mel Blevins, water master, saw fit to state his opinion that "the level of chromium 6 is not excessive."

SACRAMENTO -- Officials in Gov. Jerry Brown's administration say another dry winter underscores the need for the state to overhaul its water system. “The security of California's water supply is threatened,” said Natural Resources Secretary John Laird in an email statement, citing the “urgent need to continue work on the Bay Delta Conservation Plan.” The snowpack in the Sierra Mountains, the source of the bulk of California's water supply, is about half of what it should be, according to snow surveying crews.

High-altitude dust blown thousands of miles across the Pacific from Asian and African deserts can make it rain and snow in the Sierra Nevada, according to new research that suggests tiny particles from afar play a role in California's water supply. The study, published Thursday in the online edition of the journal Science, grew out of researchers' questions about two similar Sierra storms in winter 2009. Even though the storm systems carried the same amount of water vapor, one produced 40% more precipitation than the other.

CARLSBAD, Calif. - Dreamers have long looked to the Pacific Ocean as the ultimate answer to California's water needs: an inexhaustible, drought-proof reservoir in the state's backyard. In the last decade, proposals for about 20 desalting plants have been discussed up and down the coast. But even with construction about to begin on the nation's largest seawater desalination facility, 35 miles north of San Diego, experts say it is doubtful that dream will ever be fully realized. "While this Poseidon adventure may work out, I don't look for a lot of that," said Henry Vaux Jr., a UC Berkeley professor emeritus of resource economics who contributed to a 2008 National Research Council report on desalination.

Water demand in the Colorado River Basin will greatly outstrip supply in coming decades as a result of drought, climate change and population growth, according to a broad-ranging federal study. It projects that by 2060, river supplies will fall short of demand by about 3.2 million acre-feet - more than five times the amount of water annually consumed by Los Angeles. "This study should serve as a call to action," U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday as he released a report that predicted a drier future for the seven states that depend on the Colorado for irrigation and drinking supplies.

Regarding "It's Ripening on the Vine," by Christopher Reynolds, Oct. 7: As a visitor to the Santa Ynez Valley before the days of Indian gambling, before Neverland Ranch and before vineyards and wineries, I always thought of Solvang as the Danish Tijuana. The original Hitching Post in Casmalia is a true gem. But it takes time and effort to get there. Your readers should be warned that just showing up without prior arrangements [especially on weekends] is a recipe for disappointment.

The City Council of Portland, Ore., on Wednesday approved putting fluoride in the municipal water, ending the city's official resistance to using the additive to fight tooth decay. The ordinance, which passed 5-0, calls for city water to be fluoridated by 2014, a spokeswoman for the city said by telephone. Portland is the largest city in the United States that does not add fluoride to its water. Despite the council's action, opponents of the ordinance have insisted that they will continue to fight fluoridation, and some said they plan to force a referendum.

The Bay Delta Conservation Plan has the potential to untangle some of the expensive and inefficient knots in California's water supply system while repairing some of the damage done over the decades to the landscape and wildlife of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Gov. Jerry Brown's "preferred alternative" of tunnels around the delta may work - or it may not, and Californians still need to know more before committing the state to a new water diversion project. Analysis and environmental review are ongoing.

So much for the Safe, Clean and Reliable Drinking Water Supply Act of 2012. Earlier this month, lawmakers pulled the $11-billion bond measure off the Nov. 6 ballot because the time wasn't right, which is another way of saying there was no way voters were going to approve a multibillion-dollar bond this year, and in the course of defeating it they were more likely to prowl for other tax or spending measures to reject, like the temporary sales and...