Water Resources

How can we ensure the water that runs off our driveways and parking lots is safe for the environment? 2009 Switzer Fellow Brenda Zollitsch works with municipalities to address pollution that impacts waterways.

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Timothy Ramirez, 45, of Albany, has been appointed to the Central Valley Flood Protection Board. Ramirez has served as the natural resources and lands management division manager at the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission since 2005. He served as senior advisor for the California Bay-Delta Authority from 2003 to 2005. Ramirez was assistant secretary for water policy and science at the California Resources Agency from 2002 to 2003 and water policy and science advisor from 1999 until 2002.

The polluted water that flows from taps in many small Central Valley communities captures a troubling irony of California water policy.

After 60 years, the San Joaquin River again flows to the sea and salmon runs are being restored. But many challenges remain in the river's revival. Featuring Switzer Fellows Peter Vorster and Mark Tompkins. Produced by 2003 Switzer Fellow Jim Downing.

Polluted aquifers in the San Joaquin Valley deprive dozens of communities of safe tap water. Switzer Fellow Carolina Balazs is working with local residents to help understand and address the problem. Produced by 2003 Switzer Fellow Jim Downing. (See related post.)

1988 Switzer Fellow Dr. Mark Schlautman is a professor at Clemson University in the Department of Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences. A project in which Mark played a key role over a number of years recently made headlines in California. The Brake Pad Partnership, led by San Francisco-based Sustainable Conservation, led the effort to pass legislation reducing the use of copper in brake pads in California.

In 1997, Oakland, California, began to face the challenge of sustainability on a community level. Today, Oakland enjoys cleaner air, improved recycling, more bike lanes – and a consistent ranking in the Top Ten U.S. Green Cities. Garrett Fitzgerald, Oakland’s Sustainability Coordinator and a Switzer Fellow, shares key steps.

If the questions surrounding the feasibility of utilizing stormwater runoff for groundwater recharge could be resolved, the result may be greater self-sufficiency for the Los Angeles Basin in terms of water supply reliability.