Water Audit California welcomes California’s “Salmon Strategy”

“The grand strategy would seem to fit with Water Audit goals….”
— Dr. Peter Moyle, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Center for Watershed Sciences, University of California Davis

On January 30, 2024, Governor Newsom announced California’s Salmon Strategy to restore native fish populations and adapt to climate change. Water Audit California welcomes this policy initiative.

Rewatering the Kern River: Water Audit seeks injunction in Kern River lawsuit

On August 10, 2023 a coalition of community advocacy groups filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to return a living river to the City of Bakersfield. The litigation proposes a community alternative will maintain both river and irrigation flows by relocating diversions to downstream of the City.

Lake Marie Flows to Provide Improved Fish Habitat

A settlement agreement ending litigation between the California Department of State Hospitals and Water Audit California that was announced today will improve conditions for fish in Cayetano Creek while allowing Skyline Park visitors to continue to enjoy Lake Marie as a hiking destination. This resolution is representative of two principles: we can manage what we measure, and we can always do better. This settlement is the next step in Water Audit’s Napa Valley remediation program that has so far included securing dam bypasses from Kimball, Rector, Bell Canyon dams, and the removal of obstructions to spawning in Garnet and York Creeks.

“Rewatering Napa’s Rivers”

The American Bar Association’s Natural Resources & Environment vol 36 no 1 contained “Rewatering Napa’s Rivers” by Karrigan Bork and Amber Manfree. The article describes the history of California’s legislative efforts to protect fisheries, the structural failures which led to non-enforcement, and the role of private entities like Water Audit in effecting the will of …

Re “Fire, Drought and Heat Scorch the Land of Reds and Whites”

“The current scale of wine production, driven in part by global business interests, is impossible to support as the megadrought continues. It is time to accept this new reality, to get our land use and water policies in order, and to focus on learning from people who are pouring their time, money and energy into finding new and more sustainable ways to live with our changing environment.”

City of Napa: County’s EIR draft “especially disconcerting in a time of extreme drought”

The City of Napa has panned the County of Napa’s Draft Environmental Impact Report for the KJS Investment & Sorrento, Inc. Vineyard Conversion, concluding that “The absence of any real water supply impacts analysis renders the DEIR deficient.” Full document attached.

Joint Statement Regarding the Protection of Public Trust Resources

Water Audit California is pleased to announce that we have reached a settlement of our controversy with the City of St. Helena. It represents a substantial evolution for the City that we both hope will result in a sustainable water future. Water Audit commends the City for its decision to adopt the principles of science …

York Creek dam removed!

Water Audit California is pleased to announce that our inspectors have observed water flowing at the site of the recently-removed York Creek dam in Napa. Local authorities had stalled on the court-ordered removal of this dam for a decade until WAC began enforcement action in 2017. Removal activities began earlier this summer and WAC can confirm that the passage is now clear in time for winter rains.

2020 Napa Water Forum update

A coalition of public interest organizations hosted the 2020 Napa Water Forum, with generous support from leading Napa wineries. The Forum introduced an innovative environmental management strategy. A panel of distinguished experts spoke on the history of Napa’s relationship with its watercourse, its unique opportunities in the future, the principles of environmental reconciliation, and the highly topical subject of groundwater management and its relationship to surface flows.

2020 Water Forum Panelists

Dr. Peter Moyle Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology and associate director of the Center for Watershed Sciences, UC Davis. Dr. Moyle is author or co-author of more than 250 publications, including Inland Fishes of California (2002) and “Suisun Marsh: ecological history and possible futures” co-authored with Amber Manfree and Peggy …

Announcing the 2020 Napa Water Forum

“We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.”~ Albert Einstein Growers and Vintners for Responsible Agriculture, Napa Vision 2050 and Water Audit California present WE MANAGE WHAT WE MEASURE:A NAPA WATER FORUM Friday, February 7, 2020 at NOON Concerned residents of Napa County seek to protect the natural environment from further degradation. Multi-layered federal, state and local …

Lawsuit demands monitoring, fish protection at Yountville-area reservoir

“The reservoir serving Yountville and the neighboring Veterans Home of California has become the latest Napa County water source to be targeted in court for allegedly siphoning excessive water and damaging fish habitats. A lawsuit filed by Water Audit California demands a curtailing of water diversions to Rector Reservoir, which is owned by the state …