About This Newsletter

What is the California Water News?
A: The California Water News (CWN) is a free daily Internet mailing with links to news stories concerning water resource issues in California. It is an "instant clipping service" for people who need to stay current on regional and local water issues. It is published on an almost-daily basis and has more than 15,000 subscribers.

What kinds of news does it cover?
A: We cover news on potable water, wastewater, groundwater, flood control, surface water, and stormwater. We also carry run-off related coastal water quality news as well as out-of-area stories that seem important, interesting, or (sometimes) amusing. In addition, the CWN has the web's most comprehensive links to water resource agencies and professional organizations.

Who can subscribe?
A: Subscriptions are available to officials and employees of agencies directly involved in managing water resources. Agencies may request subscriptions for their consultants, lawyers, or other advisors. We retain the absolute right to refuse a subscription to any person, for any reason.

How do I read the CWN?
A: The CWN is delivered daily to your e-mail inbox as a short e-mail with a link to the newsletter. To read the CWN, merely click on the link. If you have a web browser, it should open automatically and display the CWN. To read or print any story listed, simply click on the headline. When you're done with the story, close the story window and you will again see the newsletter.

How can I subscribe?
A: Easy. Just visit our subscription site at
www.bcwaternews.com  
You qualify if you have an interest in California water issues and are:

• A director, board member, or employee of a water resources agency, or
  
• Employed in public service or education with the "need to know" regarding the water resources field.

We are sorry that, due to the administrative workload in managing our subscriber rolls and the expense of distribution, we cannot offer subscriptions to persons in private companies such as equipment vendors, engineers, consultants, etc.

What about privacy and security?  Any dangers from viruses?
A: See our statement on these issues here. We will not sell, give away, or purposely disclose your e-mail address, and we always do our best to make sure we are virus-free.

You said it's free. I see also that there's no advertising. What's the catch?
A: If there is one, we haven't found it yet!

Occasionally when I click on a story, it is unavailable. Why does this happen?
A: Most Internet news sources archive their stories after a few days, sometimes very quickly. The stories are then unavailable or available but only for a fee.

Why doesn't the CWN display all the way across my screen?
A: The CWN is designed to display full-width on a screen with the lowest resolution normally used by Windows. Many of us use higher resolutions, so the CWN will only display over the center part of our screens.

I can't believe you missed that important story in the Sand Canyon Outlook-Picayune! How do I let you know about this?
A: We monitor a limited number of news sources. There are some sources we'd like to monitor, but we just don't have the time to deal with those sites' inadequate search engines. Please e-mail the editor with the URLs (Internet addresses) of interesting stories, or with news sources you believe may be interesting or useful.

Why do I have trouble printing some stories?
A: Most of our stories are really “links” to other sites, e.g., the LA Times. These sites control how the stories are presented and formatted. For best results, make sure you have upgraded to the latest version of your Internet browser, since print routines have improved recently. Some sites have a handy link to bring up a "printable version" of the story. Also, if the text is clipped off at the right, try printing in landscape mode.

Sometimes when I click on a story my computer won't display it. Why?
A: Some of our items are in PDF format, identified by an asterisk after the story description. You need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to display and print them. You can download the Reader by clicking on the Acrobat icon in the left-hand column of the CWN. Save the downloaded file to your hard disk and then double-click it to install it. You will then be able to read and print PDF files from within your browser.