2025 was not a banner year for environmental progress. Although sometimes it feels easier to talk about the challenges, we’d like to end the year with some hope for the future. From legal victories that keep pollution out of our iconic ocean ecosystems to new laws that get us a step closer to salmon recovery – we’re proud of our water wins this year. Here are our top achievements:

1. Enacted a new law to ensure a minimum level of water within the Scott and Shasta Rivers to prevent the extinction of Coho Salmon. The State Water Board is currently working on permanent flow standards to protect Coho Salmon in the North Coast; however, those regulations will not be finalized for the next 8-10 years. To protect salmon in the interim, CCKA worked with Tribal partners to pass Assembly Bill 263 (Rogers), which requires the state’s emergency drought flows to be maintained until the long-term regulations are finalized.
2. Protected Areas of Special Biological Significance from golf course pollution with a first-in-nation Clean Water Act permit. CCKA reached a landmark agreement with Pebble Beach Company to prevent harmful discharges into Carmel Bay Area of Special Biological Significance.
3. Introduced the state’s top environmental legislation to protect California’s waterways from federal rollbacks. The Trump Administration is dramatically limiting which waters across the nation receive Clean Water Act protections. CCKA introduced SB 601 (Allen) to ensure that our waterways receive the same level of protection under state law as if they were still protected under the federal Clean Water Act. We are hopeful that SB 601 will be enacted in 2026 so that Californians can continue to benefit from the same clean water protections that they’ve enjoyed for over 50 years.
4. Stopped the flow of stormwater pollution from the state’s highways into coastal ecosystems. CCKA secured significant improvements to the way in which California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) manages coastal stormwater discharges from an extensive network of highways. 
5. Prevented the diversion of $78 million away from marine life restoration. Coastal power plants pay fees to mitigate for their harms to marine ecosystems. This summer, the Legislature proposed diverting a significant portion of those fees away from marine restoration and instead toward land acquisition. CCKA blocked this diversion to ensure our marine wildlife and habitats receive the restoration funding they desperately need.
6. Secured a state resolution to take action on ocean acidification and hypoxia. CCKA has long raised the alarm that nutrient pollution from wastewater discharges exacerbates climate change impacts on the California coast. We worked with California’s Ocean Protection Council to develop an Ocean Acidification and Hypoxia Resolution that elevates and communicates California’s commitment to addressing this issue.
7. Resolved 4 Clean Water Act cases that provided $175,000 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.
8. Developed a report to the County of Santa Barbara describing the necessary protections that are needed to protect the public trust resources of the Santa Ynez River from unregulated groundwater pumping. Streams and groundwater are connected, yet when local governments do not adequately regulate groundwater pumping it leads to the reduction of water in the river. Californians have a public trust right to healthy waterways, so groundwater pumpers must only take their fair share of water to not harm the nearby stream.

Sean Bothwell

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