In this Issue:

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

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, 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 bill was passed by the Senate Agriculture and Water Resources Committee. For more information - http://www.leginfo.ca.gov.

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 and for information on how to comment, go to the full announcement at http://www.swrcb.ca.gov.

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
Click Here for more information or to register -- 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. Click Here for more details and updates on this conference, or check the UC Center for Water Resources web site at http;//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.

 

Earth Science Week Evolves
Earth Science  Week, October 7-13, is an annual grassroots effort sponsored by the American Geological Institute (AGI) and its member societies. The aim is to increase  public understanding of the earth sciences. As geoscientists develop earth-science outreach programs in their local schools and communities, the collective impact of their efforts continues to grow. During Earth Science Week 2000, scores of celebrations -- including field trips, demonstrations, lecture  series, film series, exhibits, school visits, and open houses -- took place in  all 50 states, Australia, Canada, and at least 20 other countries. You may request a kit on the Earth Science Week web site, http://www.earthsciweek.org; by phone, (703) 379-2480; fax, (703) 379-7563; or by mail.  Send your request to Earth Science Week, American Geological Institute, 4220  King Street, Alexandria, VA 22302.

 

Check out the new on-line GRA calendar with all upcoming events.

Call For HydroVisions Articles

GRA is now requesting technical articles and letters to the editor for future issues of HydroVisions. Submit them to editor@grac.org. Click Here for Author Guildlines.

Call For Nominations - GRA Directors

The Association is now soliciting nominations for candidates to fill multiple openings on the Board of Directors in January 2002. 

 

To declare your desire to be nominated, please submit a statement of interest, a brief biography and your contact information via e-mail to Kathy Snelson at execdir@grac.org by October 12, 2001.  To nominate someone other than yourself, please email the nominee's name, title, organization and contact information by the same date.

 

Should you have any questions about the Director Call for Nominations, please contact Kathy Snelson at execdir@grac.org or (916) 446-3626.

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 (editor@grac.org).