As 2024 closes, we celebrate the progress we’ve made toward cleaner waters and healthier oceans this year. The future holds significant challenges, but we remain unwaveringly committed to fighting for the watersheds and coastal oceans upon which all Californians and our wildlife depend. Here are ten of the accomplishments we are most proud of this year:

1. Safeguarded the Russian River and local streams from excessive groundwater pumping. In response to CCKA and Russian Riverkeeper’s lawsuit, the Sonoma Superior Court ruled that the County of Sonoma failed to meet its obligations under the Public Trust Doctrine and violated the California Environmental Quality Act when it adopted a Well Ordinance that was not protective of the Russian River and its tributaries.
2. Protected endangered species in San Luis Obispo County by obtaining an emergency release of water from Lopez Dam to enhance Arroyo Grande Creek. A federal court ruled in our favor to protect the endangered South-Central California Coast Steelhead in Arroyo Grande Creek by granting a preliminary injunction that requires San Luis Obispo County to release adequate flows.
3. Secured long-term water conservation targets to ‘Make Conservation a Way of Life’ in California. CCKA’s advocacy blocked legislation that would have weakened the State Water Board’s newly adopted Making Conservation a Way of Life Regulations, which set vital long-term targets for urban water conservation in California.
4. Enacted legislation to protect local water agencies’ ability to develop equitable water rates. CCKA and Irvine Ranch Water District co-sponsored Assembly Bill 1827, which recognizes that water suppliers can use reasonable and well-accepted methods of assessing the additional costs that high-water users place on the system to justify their rate structures.
5. Informed statewide action to protect salmon from lethal tire-chemicals. The chemical 6PPD, which is used in all tires, is lethal to salmon as it washes from our highways into our waterways when it rains. CCKA’s stormwater advocacy and proposed legislation resulted in pilot studies to monitor and analyze how to prevent 6PPD from entering our waters, the development of a map to understand critical areas where 6PPD is most harmful, and a State Water Board hearing to discuss how to best prevent salmon mortality from 6PPD.
6. Protected salmon in the Scott and Shasta Rivers by obtaining minimum water flow during emergency situations. The Scott and Shasta Rivers were once some of the most productive salmon habitats in the Western United States. Today, the rivers routinely dry to less than belly-scraping levels. The emergency regulations will help ensure the rivers can flow and salmon can survive even during intense drought.
7. Enacted a new law to increase fines for water rights violations. In 2022, a rancher’s association was fined only $50 per rancher after it nearly drained the Shasta River and decimated its salmon population. In response, CCKA and a coalition of NGOs passed Assembly Bill 460 to raise the price of stealing water.
8. Protected sea otter habitat by initiating enforcement against Pebble Beach for water quality violations along the Monterey coast. The pristine waters off the Monterey coast are some of the most protected ocean waters in the nation, yet the Pebble Beach community and golf courses have been allowed to discharge unpermitted pollutants for decades without oversight.
9. Resolved 5 Clean Water Act cases that provided over $200,000 in funding for local community watershed projects. Our enforcement program aims to clean up pollution while ensuring that industrial facilities statewide are made aware of clean water laws to prevent future violations.
10. Protected the Cosumnes River from illegal and unpermitted pollution from the largest equestrian facility in Northern California. CCKA obtained a court victory holding the equestrian center liable for its unpermitted polluted discharges.

Cover photo: Shannon Switzer

Sean Bothwell

Executive Director Sean Bothwell leads CCKA’s initiatives to fight for swimmable, fishable, and drinkable waters for all Californians.