In California this week, state legislators introduced legislation that would require the California Coastal Commission to “disclose the use and payment of professional lobbyists.”^[1]  The intent of the bill is to ensure that the agency’s relationships with interest groups are transparent to the public:  this means that the 44-year old coastal agency would be subject to the same reporting requirements of government agencies.^[2]

Assemblyman Mark Stone, a co-author of the bill, stated that the influence of “certain lobbyists” on the Coastal Commission “far outstrips” that of the general public.  This legislation arrives less than a week after members of the commission fired Charles Lester, the former director of the agency.  As reported in the Los Angeles Times: “Environmental groups accused commissioners of being overly influenced by lobbyists working on behalf of developers, and suggested those kinds of connections ultimately paved the way for the dismissal of the more environmentally aligned Lester.”  In order to pass, the disclosure bill requires a supermajority vote of each house of the Legislature, as well as the signature of Governor Jerry Brown.^[3]

Assemblyman Marc Levine has reported that he will introduce yet another bill to try to ensure that commissioners are held accountable: if passed, it would require “a one-year ban on registered lobbying by any commissioner after leaving the panel.”

Biwater, a water and wastewater company based in England, has been awarded two contracts for desalination expansion projects in California.  Biwater will soon begin work on the Chino Desalter Phase 3 Expansion Plan in Chino, and the Goldworthy Desalter Expansion Project in Torrance.^[4]  The Chino facility will expand its capacity by 7.2Ml/d; and will facilitate hydraulic control of the Chino Basin by reducing or eliminating the migration of brackish groundwater from the southern section of the basin into the Santa Ana River.  For the Torrance project, Biwater will add 9.2 Ml/d of treatment capacity, and it will complement other initiatives in the region that aim to improve supply reliability.^[5]

Ampac USA, a California-based water purification equipment company, is relocating from Los Angeles County to Montclair, in San Bernardino County.  Ampac creates small-scale reverse osmosis water treatment systems to convert brackish water, well water, seawater, and wastewater into drinking water; the company has worked with the Red Cross, developing nations, and the U.S. military, as well as other militaries.^[6] Ampac’s CEO, Sammy Farag, states that the relocation will ensure overhead savings of 20 percent.  Farag has also said that global water-crises induced by climate change have increased demand for Ampac’s desalination products.^[7]