California

"As Gov. Jerry Brown seeks support to extend a key environmental policy in California, he’s planning a trip to a gritty corner of the state: the blue-collar neighborhoods southeast of Los Angeles, where thousands of people live alongside rail yards that spew plumes of smoke and freeways rumbling with big rigs."

"Nearly half of the salmon and trout species that live in California will be extinct in 50 years if nothing is done to improve water quality, protect wetlands and stream habitat, and fight climate change, scientists warned Tuesday in a wide-ranging study of native fish."

"America’s tallest dam was built from earth, stone and concrete – and the towering ambition of Gov. Pat Brown."

"California lawmakers blasted state water officials Thursday for their oversight of the half-century-old dam that anchors the state's water system, in a hearing focusing on the design problems and aging that contributed to the evacuation of nearly 200,000 people downstream."

The heavier rains that could accompany climate change are raising serious concerns about whether California's Trinity Dam can safely handle them.

"California generates an average of 1.7 million tons of hazardous waste each year. That ranges from industrial pollution to discarded household products. It includes liquids, solid, or gases that science has determined pose a threat to human or other life."

"ALAMEDA COUNTY, Calif. — If you think the era of big dam building is over in America, check out the Calaveras project."

"Official reports released Monday say the catastrophic damage to Oroville Dam’s main spillway probably stemmed from swift water flows under the concrete chute, which was cracked and of uneven thickness."

"Federal officials have concluded that infrastructure for a proposed hydropower project — which would tap billions of gallons of groundwater in the California desert, just outside Joshua Tree National Park — wouldn't be especially harmful to the environment."