The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is not only worth saving but it also is essential that it be saved was the message delivered loudly and clearly by a wide array of politicians, activists, lawyers and environmentalists Saturday at symposium attended by about 250 people. »

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger yesterday broadened a previous emergency drought declaration, flexing his power to sidestep environmental protections to expedite deliveries to thirsty cities and parched farms.  »

Last week, amid a third year of a statewide drought, the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District adopted a strategy to sell treated sewage as drinking water. The buyer would hypothetically partner with the district to recycle wastewater from the capital-area's 1.4 million people into a new municipal water source.  »

Not only have a series of February storms pushed up mountain snowpack levels, but by historical standards the current three-year drought is far from the worst. »

Thousands of California farms and cities have been warned that their permission to pump water from rivers and creeks could be cut back if the drought worsens. »

California fishermen were told to stay off the water for a second straight year, as the number of salmon returning to the Sacramento River will barely meet the minimum number needed for a healthy population.  »

Since the arrival of miners in the mid 1800's the Karuk Tribe has lost nearly everything. Once the lone occupants of over 1.4 million acres of the Middle Klamath Basin, the Karuk had over 100 villages and associated fishing sites. A peaceful society blessed with an abundance of acorns, fish, and game, early observers described the Karuk as the wealthiest people in North America. Today, nearly 90% of Karuks living in ancestral territory live below the poverty level and Tribal members have access to only one fishery. Yesterday, a recreational gold mining club called The New 49ers challenged the Tribe's right to fish there. »

Sacramento leaders on Tuesday said the city's enormous thirst for water does not mesh with its Earth-friendly aspirations, and vowed to change. In a workshop on water conservation, a majority of the Sacramento City Council said aggressive new policies are needed to save water. This may include stronger enforcement of water waste, new landscaping rules, accelerated water-meter installation – perhaps even requiring a retrofit of homes with low-impact appliances before they're resold. »

Several Mt. Shasta area residents continue to express their concerns over what they say are toxic levels of aluminum showing up in area rain, snow and pond water samples taken in and around the City of Mt. Shasta. »

Levee repairs in Sacramento's Natomas Basin face new legal and financial threats that could delay construction of the massive project. The Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency is just weeks from awarding a $90 million construction contract for a key phase of the project. But that work depends on state matching funds, which have been bottled up by the state budget crisis. »

You know the fish aren't jumpin' when the very people who make their living reeling in chinook salmon are proposing a ban on ocean fishing for a second straight year. »

After years of acting like the Jabba the Hutt of the water world, Sacramento is starting to sound serious about conservation – and a not a drop too soon. At a workshop last week, the City Council heard proposals from staff members on beefing up landscaping rules and enforcing water-waste rules. »

California’s water agency is for the first time including tribal input in the development of its water policy plan, a vital set of guiding principles and course of actions for the thirsty state. »

Farmers and ranchers who hold water right permits and licenses could lose access to the state's rivers and creeks this year if current drought conditions do not improve, the State Water Resources Control Board warned.  »

California has most of the laws and regulations it needs to protect dwindling salmon populations. What it lacks is money and willpower to do it, a panel of legal and fishery experts told legislators Tuesday. »

The bill includes at least $69 million for Sacramento, including money to target methamphetamine sales, raise Folsom Dam, repair erosion sites along the Sacramento River, widen levees, extend the city's light-rail system and pay for programs aimed at reducing the risk of obesity and chronic diseases. »

The grim reality of a devastated salmon fishery hit home Thursday when the Pacific Fishery Management Council agreed to another ban on commercial fishing of chinook in California and Oregon. »

The state is shopping for water for the Drought Water Bank, but a variety of factors has supplies drying up. Despite a hefty price for the sale of water, environmental constraints and good prices for commodities have far less Sacramento Valley water users signing up to sell water to other parts of the state.  »

First it was a one-year ban, and now it's likely to be a second year with virtually no salmon fishing in California's ocean waters. This losing streak may continue if a predicted bare minimum of returning fish don't swim up the Sacramento River this fall. But other than keeping fish hooks out of the water, where are the solutions to this crisis? This week there may be answers when a federal study is released on the decline. »

Parts of Butte County, including much of Chico, are about to be officially designated as flood plain — and residents will pay for it. The sudden inclusion in a flood plain results from a nationwide mapping project by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  »

The Nature Conservancy has bought ranchland near Mount Shasta to repair a cow-ravaged tributary of Shasta River, historically one of the most productive salmon streams in California. »

Residents in three Yolo County hamlets – Clarksburg, Yolo and Knights Landing – say their towns haven't flooded since levees were built in the early 20th century. But now, in the midst of a devastating economic downturn, the Federal Emergency Management Agency has redrawn its flood maps – which are the basis for federal flood insurance premiums – and the unincorporated towns will be reclassified as high-risk flood zones come 2010. »

On Tuesday, the Yuba County Board of Supervisors became the latest local government to join a contract for a consultant to study whether the county and other local governments should cooperate on a future wastewater facility, or examine other options. »

Sacramento River's prized chinook salmon suffered a one-two punch from poor conditions in the ocean and the river, leading to the sudden collapse of the fall run, according to a study released Wednesday. »

University of California, Davis, violated effluent limits at its wastewater treatment plant between April and December 2008 and will pay a penalty of $27,000 to the California Water Quality Control Board. »

Toxic releases into the environment from facilities operating in California increased 23 percent in 2007 when compared to 2006, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. »

Earthquakes and severe storms could destroy hundreds of miles of mostly earthen levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta in coming decades, according to a state report that provides the most detail yet on the vulnerabilities of the hub of California's water system. »

The city of Sacramento has a fat target on its back as California examines options for stretching its water supply.In the eyes of many lawmakers and regulators, Sacramento has become the outlaw for water waste. On a per-capita basis, city residents use 280 gallons daily – more than twice the figure of residents in Los Angeles. »

As Don Bransford prepares for his spring planting season, he is debating which is worth more: the rice he grows on his 700-acre farm north of Sacramento, or the water he uses to cultivate it. »

Modern gold-mining technology may be tapped to undo environmental damage caused by Gold Rush-era mining practices that left many Northern California waters tainted with mercury. »

Citing the third dry year in a row and uncertainties about water deliveries from Folsom Reservoir, as well as Governor Schwarzenegger's proclamation of a statewide drought emergency, the El Dorado Irrigation District (District) Board of Directors today declared a stage 1 drought for the District's service area. »

The House of Representatives today approved by a vote of 285 to 140 a bill that places 105 miles of California rivers to the National Wild & Scenic Rivers System. HR146, the Omnibus Public Lands Protection Act, also protects as Wilderness more than 750,000 acres of public lands in the state. »

No one has reported a northern pike in Lake Davis for 18 months, but this community continues to roil over the effects of the invasive species and a $16.7 million project to poison the species. »

California farmers and ranchers stand a better chance of getting at least some federal water than they did a month ago. »

For the second consecutive year, Antelope Valley-East Kern Water Agency directors approved the purchase of supplemental water through a special agreement between Yuba County Water Agency and the state Department of Water Resources.  »

About 60,000 Sacramento households and businesses are being urged to cut back their water use to help ease the pressure caused by California's ongoing drought. »

Congress now has several opportunities to further our understanding of the nexus between water and energy use and to promote water conservation efforts that can also achieve significant energy savings. A recently introduced energy and water bill combined with financial incentives in the omnibus energy bill due later this year could help the entire country enjoy the savings some states are already seeing from reductions in water use—with a potential for job creation through water-efficient home retrofits. »