Delusional Dubai

While skimming the Sunday Travel section in the Los Angeles Times, an article about a new resort in Dubai called Atlantis, The Palm caught my eye. After all, what could be more of an ocean conservation disaster than the Atlantis Hotel in the Bahamas?  You’d be surprised.

Tainted Legacy

Last night I joined my colleagues from Santa Monica Baykeeper, Surfrider Foundation and the Malibu Surfing Assn. in an appeal to the Malibu City Council on the Legacy Park project EIR.  If I had wanted that kind of abuse, I could have gone to Canter’s and ordered a corned beef on Wonder Bread with extra [...]

The March for Water

On March 22, local environmental groups Anahuak and Urban Semillas will convene the March for Water as part of International World Water Day.  Environmental leaders Raul Macias and Miguel Luna are behind the effort to bring attention to our local, state and international water supply-crisis.
Given Miguel and Raul’s initiative and drive, I expect thousands of [...]

The Governor Who Cried Drought

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared an emergency on Feb. 27 because of “historic” drought conditions in the state of California.  The declaration led to the usual suspects offering the usual knee-jerk responses. Sen. Dianne Feinstein declared that “California is in one of the worst drought emergencies on record.” Water agencies started issuing releases on the potential [...]

Water Crisis in 60 Seconds

Last Friday afternoon, state Sen. Fran Pavley hosted a Natural Resources and Water Committee hearing at Santa Monica College, accompanied by state Sen. John Benoit and Assemblymember Bob Blumenfield.  The theme of the hearing was “improving water conservation and management in Southern California.”  Speakers included Lester Snow, director of the Department of Water Resources, and [...]

Restoring the Bay

 The  Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission unanimously approved a new Bay Restoration Plan on Thursday.  Dr. Shelley Luce, executive director of the Bay Commission, and her dedicated staff put together the new recommendations: the long-awaited sequel to the original 1995 plan.  Since the mid-90s, a lot has happened to help restore the Bay. Hyperion and [...]

Cynical About the ‘Bu

On Thursday, the Regional Water Board unanimously approved a resolution requiring Board staff to negotiate a new memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Malibu for permitting on-site wastewater treatment systems (OWTS, or septic systems).  In addition, staff was ordered to move forward on an OWTS moratorium for the Malibu Civic Center area.  Both of these actions [...]

Bridge Over Troubled Waters

The State Water Board today received a comprehensive water recycling policy for California that the state desperately needs to heed. After five months of intense negotiations, a coalition of water supply agencies, water recyclers, sewage treatment agencies and environmental groups, including Heal the Bay, wrote the policy in response to a draft effort completed by [...]

Living Within Our Means

Governor  Schwarzenegger and U.S. Senator Feinstein wrote an op-ed in Thursday’s Los Angeles Times that pitches a $9 billion water bond as the best way to “solve” California’s water crisis.  If this sounds familiar, that’s only because every day is Groundhog Day for California’s water supply.  We heard similar pitches for propositions 13, 40, 50, [...]