APRIL 2005 HEADLINES Institute Applauds U.N. Water Decade, But Offers Cautions On World Water Day (March 22), the United Nations inaugurated the "International Decade for Action" as part of their Water for Life campaign. The Pacific Institute applauds the UN's focus on solutions and we hope that this new effort will bring badly needed energy to the global water crisis, which by our estimates may kill 34-76 million people over the next 20 years. Despite this new campaign, we remain concerned that the world community is giving scant aid: assistance for water supply and sanitation from industrialized nations and major international financial institutions is only around $3 billion a year. This should be increased to $20-$30 billion per year for the next ten years. But money alone won't solve the crisis. Along with more aid, we must redouble efforts to create community-scale infrastructure, to include stakeholders in the planning process, and to ensure that centralized projects, if they are needed, are built in the most environmentally and socially responsible manner. More information on the United Nation's Water for Life campaign can be found online. Wolff Appointed to Regional Water Control Board Dr. Gary Wolff, the Pacific Institute's Principal Economist and Engineer, has been appointed to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, representing the San Francisco Bay Region, which is responsible for protecting ground and surface water in the area. "I'm honored and excited to have been appointed to the Board," Dr. Wolff said. "And I'm looking forward to working with other Board members and staff to craft policy solutions that are good for the environment and our local economy." More information about the board can be found online. Media Matters: Dozens of Outlets Quote Institute Staff in First Quarter of 2005 During the first 3 months of 2005, Pacific Institute staff were quoted in over two-dozen different articles published in media outlets from Germany's Stern Magazine to the San Francisco Chronicle and National Public Radio. A piece by the Voice of America looked at water and foreign policy and quoted Dr. Peter Gleick on the benefits to the United States that could flow from more involvement in global water issues. Senior Associate Michael Cohen discussed the problems with the recently crafted plan to "restore" the Colorado River in an Associated Press story that ran in several different outlets. The Contra Costa Times, Monterey County Herald and other outlets covered Dr. Gary Wolff's recent report on pesticide policy in California. And, KRON-TV, an independent Bay Area-based TV station, interviewed Meena Palaniappan on our efforts to reduce diesel pollution in the area.		UPCOMING 4/22, Urban Water Access [Berkeley, Calif.], Meena Palaniappan will give a presentation on "Improving Urban Water Access" at the Technology, Innovation and Learning in Developing Economies Conference at the University of California Berkeley. 9:45 AM. at the Wells Fargo Room in the Haas Building. More info online. 4/27, Diesel Pollution [West Contra Costa County, Calif.] The Pacific Institute and our local partners are co-hosting a town hall meeting to discuss the results of a recently completed indoor air monitoring study, and to get resident input on strategies to reduce diesel pollution in the area. Contact Emily Lee for more info.

3/31, Jason Morrison attended a workshop entitled "Environmental Innovation: A Dialogue on the Role of Government, Law and Regulatory Approaches," held at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. The interactive dialogue was designed to engage the range of stakeholders in answering questions, such as how have existing laws and regulations helped or hindered environmental policy innovation, and what characteristics, considerations, or design criteria would improve existing incentive programs and innovations.

3/31, Pacific Institute staff presented Indicators II to the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Committee. This report is an update to the groundbreaking Indicators Report created in 2000 by the Institute and West Oakland residents. Residents were able to see how things had improved or gotten worse on issues of concern in the community, and strategize on campaigns to address ongoing problems.

3/30-4/1/05, Michael Cohen spoke about the future of the Salton Sea and the range of restoration plans that have been proposed at the Salton Sea Centennial Symposium held in San Diego, Calif.

3/29, Emily Lee presented updated data on West Oakland's voting rates to a local voting organization, East Bay Votes! West Oakland's voting rate increased by 12 percent from 2000 to 2004, thanks to groups that worked to Get Out the West Oakland Vote. The data collected will be included in the forthcoming Indicators II Report.

3/28, Pacific Institute staff, in conjunction with the Regional Asthma program, Urban Habitat, and West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, hosted a meeting of the Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative. The meeting attracted 40 representatives from grassroots, and regional health and environmental justice organizations, to select regional campaigns and move forward efforts to reduce diesel pollution throughout the Bay Area.

3/24/05, Michael Cohen contributed to "The Colorado River Drought -- Sharing the Pain" panel at the Water Education Foundation's Executive Briefing in Sacramento, Calif.

3/17, Peter Gleick presented a briefing at the State Department on water supply and sanitation issues, with recommendations for moving forward more effectively and aggressively.

3/16/05, Michael Cohen participated at the Salton Sea Advisory Committee bimonthly meeting held in Los Angeles, Calif.

3/16, Emily Lee and Margaret Gordon presented comments on air quality to the Oakland Planning Commission at a hearing regarding the Final Environmental Impact Report for the 16th and Wood Street Train Station project in West Oakland.

3/10, The Pacific Institute and the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project co-hosted a meeting with city agencies, community residents, truckers, and the Port of Oakland to discuss truck management issues in West Oakland. This diverse group is working towards implementing a residential truck route that keeps truck traffic out of residents' neighborhoods. Outreach to stakeholders is a priority, and feedback has been received from the Teamsters, West Oakland residents, and Council member Nadel. For more information, please contact Emily Lee at elee(at)pacinst.org or 510-251-1600.

3/8, Meena Palaniappan participated in the kick-off of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project and USEPA West Oakland Air Toxics Collaborative. The Collaborative brought together a host of agencies, from the federal to the local level, along with community advocates to implement solutions to reduce diesel pollution, which were identified through Pacific Institute's 2003 Clearing the Air: Reducing Diesel Pollution in West Oakland report.

3/8, Peter Gleick gave a presentation to the World Affairs Club in San Francisco on United States water policy for their "Great Decisions" series.

3/7-3/12, Jason Morrison joined over 300 representatives from 42 countries to attend the kickoff meeting of ISO's Working Group on Social Responsibility, which has been tasked with developing an international guidance standard on the subject by 2008. Morrison participated in the meeting, held in Salvador, Brazil, as the NGO representative on the six-person United States multi-stakeholder delegation.

An HTML version of this newsletter is available online: http://www.pacinst.org/online_update/

Problems, questions or comments: newsletter_editor @ pacinst.org (remove spaces)

Copyright 2005, Pacific Institute, www.pacinst.org

654 13th Street, Preservation Park, Oakland, CA 94612, USA