Un-Green Water Policy

Here's a case of does the left hand know what the right hand is doing.

The Governor and legislature pass the AB32 measure to cap carbon emissions in California.

Separately, the state's Water Resources Control Board has proposed more stringent water quality standards for recycled water to manage salinity levels in groundwater.

Recycled water producers say current treatment levels achieve sufficient water quality and that the proposed new standards will require higher treatment levels. Higher treatment levels require significant increases in energy usage and will likely create additional solid residual material that would have to be transported to disposal sites.

The result is a water policy that could increase greenhouse gas emissions from plant operations and conveyance trucks; more solid waste requiring additional landfill capacity and energy-consuming disposal methods, and added traffic on an over-crowded, deteriorating highway system.

The appointed water boards and their staffs don't need to consider the related impacts of any decisions; their only charter is water quality.