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Why Groundwater Matters
It has been an unusually warm winter in the Western United States, allowing meteorologists to coin the delightful and descriptive phrase “snow drought.” California is more fortunate than other western states — after three consecutive years of robust rain and snowfall, our reservoirs began the winter at or above historic averages and continue to be full. But the powerful storms of December and February aren’t reflected in the current mountain snowpack, as record-high temperatures are melting the snow almost as fast as it falls. The March 1 snow survey showed snowpack at 66% of normal levels for
ReThink Disposable Program Partners with the City of Fremont to Remove Nearly Three Tons of Plastics from the Waste Stream
For the last year, ReThink Disposable has been working with the City of Fremont to reduce the use of single-use disposable foodware by local restaurants. ReThink’s Certified Senior Outreach Specialists partnered with 15 restaurants across the city to make the switch to sustainable reusable foodware for their dine-in guests – with significant results.
2025 Year in Review: ReThink Disposable in California
It's been another successful year for the ReThink Disposable program, and we want to thank our Board, our members, and our valued supporters for trusting us to do this work. We wrapped up a four-year contract with StopWaste where we worked together to reduce single-use disposable foodware in Alameda County. We've done multiple conversion case studies with local businesses over the course of this contract — the most recent a five (5) restaurant study in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland, where we found that even a simple straw and sauce cup conversion saves the restaurant $694 annually and
2025 Year in Review: Toxics in California
California is known as a leader in regulating toxic chemicals in products to protect public health and prevent pollution. The end of the year is a great time to review the opportunities and challenges faced by Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund’s Toxics Program in 2025 and how we met them. There were some grave disappointments, but those only provide fuel for future victories.
Water as a Human Right
The Human Right to Water, passed by the legislature in 2012 and signed by Governor Brown, was a great policy idea with almost no teeth. Community members and advocates worked for years to gain recognition for water as a human right, with our first bill, AB 1242 (Ruskin, 2009) vetoed by then-Governor Schwarzenegger and its successor, AB 685 (Eng, 2012) taking the full 2-year session to pass. The legislation was short and to the point: It is hereby declared to be the established policy of the state that every human being has the right to safe, clean, affordable, and accessible water adequate for