1. Legislative Updates
2. Upcoming Events
3. Recent GRA Events
4. More Items of Interest

Spring Water.  AB791, introduced 2/22/01 by Assembly Member Chavez.

This bill would require a certification report from a California registered geologist be submitted in support of an application for a license for bottled water supporting the purported water type set forth on the label, and be utilized by DHS in support of decisions regarding approval and/or denial of such applications. The bill would also require fees be submitted to support DHS for the review of the application. The GRA Board of Directors provided a letter of support for this bill, and the GRA President testified at the last committee hearing. The current status with the bill is that it has been put over until the next session in 2001. For more information -  http://www.grac.org/Legislative_Updates.html.

 

Groundwater Contamination: Monitoring Program.  AB 599, as amended 7/19/01, by Assembly Member Liu. 
Requires the State Water Resources Control Board to implement a comprehensive groundwater monitoring program to examine and take samples from every groundwater basin in the State; creates an interagency task force to design and implement a system to increase coordination among State and federal agencies that collect data about California groundwater contamination; and conduct appropriate research to determine maximum contaminant levels for additional contaminants. The SWRCB, with task force participants, will prepare a report for the Governor and the Legislature by January 1, 2002. The GRA Board of Directors provided a letter in support of this bill, albeit this is not the end all bill for groundwater monitoring, but we believe that the action of putting together an integrated monitoring approach is the right first step in the very complex and convoluted bureaucratic process.  The current status of the bill is that it has passed to the Senate Agriculture and Water Resources Committee, with the hearing scheduled for 8/21/01, 9:30 a.m. For more information -  http://www.grac.org/Legislative_Updates.html.

SWRCB Holds Public Meetings to Discuss the Legal Classification of Groundwater on August 20 & 23.
The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) held two public meetings to gather information regarding the legal classification of groundwater.  The SWRCB has hired a consultant, Professor Joseph Sax of the University of California, Berkeley to prepare a report regarding the SWRCB's permitting authority over subsurface waters. The purpose of the meetings was to provide information useful to the consultant. Two meetings were held -- one in Sacramento and one in San Diego. For more details go to the full announcement at http://www.swrcb.ca.gov.

 

CCGO President Urges that SB 136 be Withdrawn.

State Senate Bill (SB) 136 (Figueroa)  is an omnibus bill that includes proposed revisions to the Geologists and  Geophysicists Act, which governs the licensure of geologists and geophysicists in California. California Council of Geoscience Organizations (CCGO)  President Jim Jacobs has withdrawn support for highly amended act to revise the State Board for Geologists and Geophysicists (BGG) regulatory powers, stating  that the act would weaken the profession. Read a summary on-line at http://www.grac.org/Legislative_Updates.html or the full  text at: http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/bilinfo.html.  Please address comments to BGG Executive Officer Paul Sweeney (916) 263-2113 or paul_sweeney@dca.ca.gov) or  CCGO President Jim Jacobs at (510) 232-2728 x222 or AugerPro@jps.net. Check out CCGO's  website at www.ccgo.org.

Principles of Groundwater Flow and Transport Modeling (September 18, 19 & 20; CA State University, Sacramento)
This course introduces the conceptual principles and practical aspects of groundwater modeling in an intuitive yet  comprehensive manner. The course objective is to demystify the use of groundwater models by providing solid understanding of the principles, methods, assumptions, and limitations of groundwater models, as well as  hands-on experience with the planning, preparation, execution, presentation, and review of a modeling project.
Course  Instructors are Graham E. Fogg, Ph.D., and Thomas Harter, Ph.D.,  UC Davis, and Peter Schwartzman, M.S., Pacific Groundwater Group.  For More Information Or To Register - http://www.grac.org/GW_FlowTransport.html - or contact Donna Geyen at the GRA office via phone (916) 446-3626 or email dgeyen@nossaman.com.

Arsenic in Groundwater (October 3; Radission Hotel in Sacramento)
While the extensive and prolonged process of reevaluating the arsenic MCL had reached tentative milestone early this year, the delay has caused intense focus on the regulatory process of developing or changing drinking water standards. This Symposium is planned to bring the scientific community, regulators, water purveyors, industry, attorneys, and political representatives up-to-date on the current issues surrounding arsenic in groundwater. The format of the one-day conference will be similar to GRA's recent symposium on Hexavalent Chromium and includes the following sessions:

· Arsenic Geochemical Characteristics and Distribution
· Risk, Toxicology and Regulations
· Treatment and Remediation
· Social, Political, and Legal Issues
For more information or to Register -  http://www.grac.org/Arsenic_Symposium.html - or contact Donna Geyen at the GRA office via phone (916) 446-3626 or email dgeyen@nossaman.com.

 

UC  Biennial Groundwater Conference and GRA 10th Annual Meeting (October 30-31; Sacramento).
Managing California's Groundwater: The Challenges of Quality and Quantity is the theme of the 2001 conference. Two concurrent sessions on policy and technical issues, featuring 46 invited speakers, will be held to cover the following topic areas: groundwater quality; groundwater quantity; groundwater management: new tools; watershed effects on groundwater; development of groundwater in impaired water areas; emerging non-conventional contaminants; GIS and hydrologic applications; and remediation technologies. For more details and updates on this conference, check GRA's web site (http://www.grac.org/Biennial.html) or UC Center for Water Resources (www.waterresources.ucr.edu).

Nashville Site for 2001 NGWA Ground Water Expo and AGWSE Conference
The National Ground Water Association's Ground Water Expo, featuring the Annual Meeting and Conference of the Association of Ground Water Scientists and Engineers (AGWSE), will take place December 7-9, 2001, in Nashville, Tennessee.

The AGWSE Annual Meeting and Conference will be held December 7-8, and additional AGWSE-sponsored workshops are scheduled for December 9. The conference, "Groundwaterdata.net - Ground Water Data: Collection, Reliability, Access, and Manipulation of Basic Data," features several sessions. Expo attendees also may select from several workshop options scheduled for December 7 and December 9. For up-to-date Expo schedules and registration information, including convenient online registration, check NGWA's Web site at http://www.ngwa.org (click on "Events") or call NGWA's customer service line at (800) 551-7379, or (614) 898-7791.

 

Check out the new on-line GRA calendar with all upcoming events at http://www.grac.org/GW_Calendar.html.

Second Symposium in the "Series on Groundwater Contaminants" on the Characterization and Remediation of Recalcitrant and Emerging Contaminants.
Over 250 groundwater and environmental professionals, regulators and members from private industry attended the Symposium on June 14 and 15, 2001 in San Jose, CA. The Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) co-produced the two-day Symposium that focused on solvent stabilizers, MTBE and hydrostratigraphy. The program offered balance between technical presentations by local and national experts with policy discussions and spontaneous floor debates among attendees.  Based on highly positive feedback from the attendees, the Symposium was a success. Click for complete summary - http://www.grac.org/Contaminants_Summary.html.  Symposium materials are available for a minimal cost through GRA's Web site - http://www.grac.org/Contaminants_Binders.html.

New GRA Board Members Approved
The GRA Board has approved the entire slate of candidates that were on the recent ballot for appointment to the GRA Board of Directors and all four (4) candidates have accepted the appointments. They will be up for election on the usual Director election ballot in November/December 2001. The new Directors are:
· Judy Bloom- Environmental Protection Specialist for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9,
· Tom Johnson- Vice President for LFR Levine·Fricke,
· Tom Mohr- Associate Engineering Geologist with the Santa Clara Valley Water District, and,
· Bob Van Valer- President of Roscoe Moss Company
Please welcome them!

We hope that the  news in this issue of HydroFlash is useful to you. To provide feedback or suggestions for future issues of HydroFlash, contact the editor Martin Steinpress.
 
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