This was a "hot" year for water in California. In the midst of a fiscal and water drought, we fought to protect environmental programs in the state budget and advocated for sound water policy in the package of Delta water bills. We pushed for "upstream" action, like strong chemicals regulations and bans on bad chemicals, and worked on "downstream" solutions, like cleaning up the SF Bay and Delta. With the help of our fabulous California members, we pushed the envelope in so many ways. Our members responded repeatedly to our calls for action with letters and emails that helped us "rock the boat" when we needed to put pressure on a legislator or regulatory body.

Here's a sampling of what we accomplished with the support of our members:

LEGISLATIVE VICTORY! Stimulus funding for drinking water treatment — Sponsored and won a State Revolving Fund reform bill (AB 1438) that will make funds available to disadvantaged communities for drinking water treatment.

LEGISLATIVE VICTORY! Lead wheel weights — Sponsored and won legislation to ban lead wheel weights which are used to balance tires. Lead wheel weights are the No. 1 new source of lead in our waterways, contributing 500,000 pounds of lead into California waters each year. Alternatives, such as stainless steel, are much safer.

Trash and marine debris — Sponsored state legislation to reduce marine debris by banning polystyrene food take-out containers, and supported bills imposing a fee on grocery bags, redesigning beverage bottles to eliminate detachable caps, and supporting producer take-back of packaging. We also helped pass local ordinances to ban polystyrene food-ware in Marin County, the City of Richmond, and the City of Pacific Grove. 40 local jurisdictions have now banned polystyrene food take-out packaging in California.

"Retrofit on resale" — Convinced the City of San Francisco to adopt a policy ensuring that, upon resale and/or remodel, commercial and residential properties will be retrofit with water saving devices on showers and faucets. We're promoting similar ordinances in other cities in the Bay Area.

Commercial water conservation — With our allies, developed an awards program for the best commercial and institutional water conservation efforts in the Silicon Valley. On March 23rd the first annual awards were presented to 11 businesses and institutions that saved millions of gallons of water per day as a result of this challenge! We are making this an annual challenge (www.waterawards.org).

Drinking water standard for Chromium VI — Threatening legal action, we convinced California EPA to release for public comment a draft public health goal for Chromium VI, the drinking water contaminant made famous by the movie Erin Brockovich. Setting the public health goal is the first step in setting a legal drinking water standard. The state is five years late in setting a drinking water standard, risking the health of millions of Californians.

Ground water protection — Helped draft a requirement for irrigated agriculture to minimize pollution of groundwater. The state has never regulated groundwater, never required monitoring of groundwater quality, and never required monitoring of how much groundwater is withdrawn by users. We are poised to change that by advocating for a tough new regulatory program.

Cleanup of PCBs in San Francisco Bay — Over 2,000 of our members signed a letter that convinced the State Water Board to pass a resolution requiring the San Francisco Bay Regional Board to demonstrate in five years that their PCBs cleanup plan for the Bay is actually working.

Fishing communities in the South Bay — Convinced the State Water Board to pass a resolution directing the San Francisco Bay Regional Board to study fishing and fish consumption practices in the South Bay as part of their mercury cleanup plan for the Guadalupe River (the largest source of mercury into SF Bay). The resolution also required the Board to develop exposure reduction strategies as needed to protect subsistence fishers.

Safer chemicals and products — Advocated for a robust regulatory program for chemicals used in products. Thanks to our advocacy (and that of our allies), the state scrapped a weak proposal for regulating chemical use and ensuring the public's right to know about what chemicals are in the products they use. We will continue to fight for a strong program to phase out toxic chemicals and promote a new economy based on green chemistry solutions.

Central Valley / rural drinking water — Hired a community organizer for the Central Valley and opened an office in Modesto. We're working in three communities in the San Joaquin Valley that have contaminated drinking water, engaging residents and community leaders in seeking solutions, and developing new leadership for local water boards to better represent community interests.