The California Urban Water Conservation Council: a consensus partnership for water conservation

California, perhaps more than any other of the United States, has been a leader in water efficiency experiments. It adopted uniform efficient plumbing standards in 1978 for showerheads and faucets and the same for water closets in 1992. Comprehensive water management planning was adopted in 1983 for all water agencies serving more than 3,000 connections or 3,000 people, and in 1991, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by major water utilities and environmental groups statewide - pledging to implement standardized water efficiency programs called “Best Management Practices” in an attempt to help save the dying Bay-Delta Estuary. The California Urban Water Conservation Council, created by this Memorandum, is a non-profit NGO formed to oversee the Best Management Practices and to enforce the terms of the Memorandum. Since the historic signing of this Memorandum ten years ago, the Council has become a national example of consensus partnership on water efficiency. Water utilities and environmental groups work together on defining programs for water conservation, not as adversaries fighting each other in the press or in the courtroom. Technical assistance provided by Council staff helps utilities plan and implement conservation projects. This paper will outline national programs and will focus specifically on the Council partnership, which has resulted in benefits to water utilities, environmental groups, and state governmental agencies alike.

Rare or Threatened Australian Plants

The Rare or Threatened Australian Plants (ROTAP) list and associated coding system was developed and has been maintained by CSIRO since 1979, and lists taxa that are Presumed Extinct, Endangered, Vulnerable, Rare or Poorly Known at the national level. This edition provides the most up-to-date list for conservation purposes. A significant number of endangered and Vulnerable taxa are included, which have not yet been considered for inclusion on either the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council list or the Commonwealth's Schedule 1. This is the first ROTAP publication to include subspecies and varieties, and the list now includes 5031 taxa. There have also been at least 3270 amendments to data for listed taxa. A total of 2012 additional records of regional data for tax already listed has been included. A key factor in the development of public opinion, and the design of effective management schemes, lies in the production of accurate data to tell the story. What is threatened? Where is it found? These are two of the most fundamental questions to answer before any strategic plans can be drawn up. Obtaining such apparently simple statistics is a huge task. Rare or Threatened Australian Plants is therefore an important reference for the national status of threatened species, particularly for Rare and Poorly Known species.