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The Chico Bicycle Music Festival (CBMF) is a non-profit event to promote human-scale transportation and talented local musicians through innovation, bicycles and community.
Come and see it for yourself! With all the articles and debates about the Governor's Twin Tunnels Project which proposes to reroute the Sacramento River around the Bay Delta for water supply and habitat issues, it is hard to know what to think.
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BEC Protects
The Butte Environmental Council (BEC) is a non-profit environmental organization based in Chico, California. Our mission is to preserve and conserve the Earth’s natural resources, with particular attention to environmental issues in Northern California. BEC was formed in 1975 and throughout its 37 years, BEC has had a significant voice in shaping the environment and policies of Butte County and beyond.
BEC in the News
Highlights and Sticky Notes:CHICO — Water exports and the Sacramento Valley will be the topic of a discussion tonight, 5:30-7 p.m. at the Chico Branch Library, 1103 Sherman Ave.
Guest presenters include:
* Ashley Indrieri, executive director of the Family Water Alliance, in Maxwell, a coalition that focuses on private property rights, agriculture, and "a balance between man and nature."
* Carol Perkins, water policy advocate for Butte Environmental Council, whose mission is "to protect and defend the land, air and water of Butte County and the surrounding region."
The event is part of Code Blue, a series organized by the Butte Environmental Council to generate discussion about water issues developing in Northern California.Tags: BEC, waterby: rdifalco
John Scott was recently appointed to the nine-member Butte County Water Commission. He'll take the seat of Mark Kimmelshue, who served on the commission for the past 16 years, including serving as commission chair.
The decision was made at the most recent meeting of the Board of Supervisors, with supervisors Doug Teeter, Maureen Kirk and Bill Connelly voting for the change.
Scott has been a regular attendee of the meetings of the Water Commission and has championed the cause of groundwater protection for Butte Valley, near Butte College.
He has been a member of the board of directors of the Butte Environmental Council since 2009: www.becnet.org/board-directors.
Of the nine seats on the Water Commission, five are appointed by members of the Board of Supervisors. Four seats are "at large," including two that are filled by people who use groundwater.
Scott will take over a four-year term for an "at large" groundwater position.
34th annual Endangered Species Faire: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. in Cedar Grove, lower Bidwell Park. "Procession of the Species" parade at noon, with handmade puppets (mostly animal puppets) up to 15 feet tall. Live animal shows, music, local food vendors, demonstrations, more. Walking, biking or bus transportation to the event encouraged. Hosted by Butte Environmental Council. 891-6424.
Tags: BEC, chico, endangered species
BEC News Interests
OROVILLE — Butte County wants to make it clear that it opposes transferring groundwater out of the region, but just how aggressively they want to make that point is another issue.
Agencies seeking to transfer water pumped from the ground in Butte County are required to get a permit and no permits have been issued since 1994, according to county records.
Tags: water, transfers, Chico, butte, GCID, litigation, County, Attorney, Bruce, Alpert
Gov. Jerry Brown, who is preparing to submit a revised budget proposal for the coming fiscal year this month, has found a new argument for financial restraint: Climate change.
At a news conference today to kick off Wildfire Awareness Week, the Democratic governor said he will "do everything I can to deal with forest fires," but he said the bigger problem is how people adapt to climate change.
"It doesn't look like the people who are in charge are going to do what it takes to really slow down this climate change, so we're going to have to adapt, and adapting is going to be very, very expensive," Brown said. "That's another reason why we have to maintain some budget discipline."
Tags: climate change, california
Comments:
- Today, Berkeley Law released a new report on hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in California, focusing on wastewater and potential water quality impacts. The report, “Regulation of Hydraulic Fracturing in California: A Wastewater and Water Quality Perspective,” is an independent analysis produced by Berkeley Law’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) through its new initiative, the Wheeler Institute for Water Law & Policy (Wheeler Institute). - rdifalco
Highlights and Sticky Notes:The hydraulic fracturing process also yields byproducts, including wastewater, which must be properly managed in order to reduce any risk to human health and the environment.the report notes that while oil and gas producers have used fracking in California for many years, we are witnessing potentially alarming projections of dramatically increased fracking activity in California due to the availability of new fracturing techniques.Contrary to its traditional role as a leader in environmental protection, California lags behind other states on hydraulic fracturing regulation. Wyoming, Colorado, and other states currently set stronger standards for transparency, safety, and environmental stewardship.
The risks presented by hydraulic fracturing include potential contamination of ground and surface waters from well casing failure, improper fluid handling at the well site, and improper treatment and discharge of fracking “produced water” that contains harmful substances. Additional risks include the potential for induced seismicity from injection wells, as experienced in other states, and potential air quality and climate change impacts, which are especially relevant to the development of oil-rich shale formations in California.
Tags: water, california, frackingby: rdifalco
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