West Marin’s new film festival highlights water

By Victoria Schlesinger

02/24/2011

The theme of West Marin’s first Geography of Hope film festival will be “Reflections on Water” and it will feature 50 independent films, shorts and documentaries this weekend at the Dance Palace in Point Reyes Station. The film festival is a prelude to the town’s literary conference with the same theme in late March. [Marin Independent Journal]

Putting green into grey urban school yards

By Victoria Schlesinger

02/24/2011

Bay Area school districts are working to put gardens, ponds and nature trails into school playgrounds, replacing the asphalt yards and metal play structures that have become synonymous with city schools. Money from San Francisco school bonds has funded 15 such renovations with another 29 under way. The work is being done by environmental planner Sharon Danks and her Berkeley-based firm Bay Tree Design. [The Daily Californian]

Solar powered Superfund clean up in Davis

By Victoria Schlesinger

02/24/2011

Officials unveiled a solar-powered cleaning system yesterday installed at the Frontier Fertilizer Superfund site in Davis, California, championed as a model for other toxic clean up sites. Solar energy will power a water pump and filtration system that is purifying tens of millions of gallons of contaminated groundwater. The water will initially be treated through electrical resistive heating, a process that will shorten the clean up time by 170 years and save millions of dollars, according to officials. [San Francisco Chronicle]

Cockfighting found in seven Bay Area counties

By Victoria Schlesinger

02/24/2011

New data on cockfighting in California has revealed that in 34 of the state’s 58 counties law enforcement was called regarding the illegal practice, and that some 20,000 fighting birds were found, according to the Humane Society of the United States. Seven Bay Area counties were among those listed: Sonoma, Napa, Contra Costa, Alameda, San Mateo, and Santa Clara. [California Watch]

Report says to let some fish die to save Delta ecosystem

By Alison Hawkes

02/24/2011

A leading California think tank proposes letting some fish species die off in order to save the larger Delta ecosystem. The report by the Public Policy Institute of California states that some species — notably the Delta smelt — may be too far gone to save. The plan also suggests a 30 percent cut to urban water use, which would affect Bay Area communities, but no comparable demands for agriculture to conserve. Fish populations have taken a nosedive in the Delta for a variety of reasons, including the exporting of water for farms and consumers. [Bay Area News Group via [...]

Young salmon to be saved by underwater disco-ball

By Alison Hawkes

02/24/2011

How do you save a young Delta salmon from stronger, hungrier predator fish? The California Department of Water Resources has come up with a novel, disco-ball solution. They’re creating an experimental “bubble barrier” that will shoot out a sheet of bubbles, strobe lights, and sound to deter the young fish from detouring down a channel that’s become a death trap of prowling striped bass. That way, they’ll swim safely to the San Francisco Bay where open waters will present the next challenge in their hopes for old age. [Associated Press via San Mateo Daily Journal]

Counties want state to pay for storm water pollution

By Victoria Schlesinger

02/24/2011

San Mateo and Alameda Counties have teamed up to protest the state’s storm water pollution requirements, which it implemented in 2009. The counties argue that because the new requirements – a 40 percent reduction of trash in storm drains by 2014 – exceed those of the Clean Water Act, the state should provide additional funds, particularly during hard economic times. [The San Francisco Examiner]

Peninsula cities saving money with switch to LED street lights

By Alison Hawkes

02/24/2011

Cities in the Peninsula have started replacing traditional street lights with LEDs with funding from the California Energy Commission. Foster City will save an estimated $17,600 a year in energy costs and 74,000 pounds of greenhouse gases as it replaces 260 street lights. But not all towns like the LED look. The bluish florescence can be a bit off-putting, so PG&E is looking for lights with a warmer-tone. [San Francisco Examiner]

San Francisco mayor says speed limits should be lowered

By Alison Hawkes

02/23/2011

SF Streetsblog sat down with new San Francisco mayor Ed Lee to talk peddles and feet. Lee, who describes himself as an occasional MUNI rider, stunned transit activists recently when he said the beleaguered transit system is doing fine. But in the one-on-one he took the side of pedestrians and cyclists in questioning how fast cars should speed down city streets in order to lower pedestrian injuries. Currently the posted limits are 25 to 30 mph, and Lee said the better signpost might be 15 mph. [SF Streetsblog San Francisco]

Enviro review of SF’s America’s Cup race begins tonight

By Alison Hawkes

02/23/2011

San Francisco’s efforts to fast-track environmental review of the 2013 America’s Cup plans is slated for public review Wednesday and Thursday evenings. The city hopes to finalize the environmental study by the fall, with written comments due by March 11. Tonight’s meeting: Board of Supes chamber, City Hall, 6:30pm. Thursday night: Port of San Francisco, Pier One, 6:30. Be there. [San Francisco Business Times]

SFPUC to treat sewage in its new lobby

02/21/2011

By Victoria Schlesinger

The San Francisco Public Utility Commission’s new super green digs, which it hopes to occupy in Spring 2012, will feature a well disguised s sewage treatment plant in its lobby. The “Living Machine” system will use indoor landscaping to purify waste water that can be reused for irrigation and in toilets, saving the PUC some 750,000 gallons of water annually. [Clean Technica]

Tags: clean technica, green building, living machine, san francisco public utilities commission, sfpuc, water water