A collection of top water news from around California and the West compiled each weekday. Send any comments or article submissions to Foundation Writer Matt Jenkins.
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A quarter of the glaciers in the contiguous United States have
disappeared since the mid-20th century while the total
area and volume of glaciers has dropped by about a
third — and even more in California — a new
study shows. The research, published Monday in the Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences, is a particularly
comprehensive assessment of the bleak state of glaciers and a
stark indictment of climate change. Glacial melting in the
Lower 48 states, a product of warming temperatures, is
most severe in the Sierra Nevada and parts of the
Rockies, the study suggests, due to warmer, drier
conditions and glaciers that are generally smaller and less
resilient. … The decline of the glaciers, long a
nourishing — and defining — fixture of the mountain West, is
already having repercussions. Foremost, it’s robbing
alpine ecosystems of needed moisture and squeezing
water supplies for cities and farms.
In Northwest Colorado, local communities depend on water, not
only to support their growing populations, but also to bolster
outdoor recreation and tourism, agricultural production and
more. As Colorado and the West face growing aridification
driven by climate change, threats to water quality,
quantity, timing and more are increasing — and driving
overall economic uncertainty. A new report from the
Northwest Colorado Council of Governments Water
Quality/Quantity Committee seeks to illustrate the
relationships between economic activity, water and emerging
threats in Eagle, Grand, Gunnison, Pitkin, Routt and
Summit counties. Collectively, the report refers to these as
the headwaters counties, owing to the vast number of source
waters and major tributaries that originate within their
mountains — including theColorado
River, which has its headwaters in Grand
County and delivers water to over 40 million downstream
users.
Arizona finished this year’s monsoon with above-average
precipitation in many parts of the state, following
two years of below-average monsoon rain and mountain snowpack.
Forecasters are now watching a strong El Niño pattern
thatcould bring snow to the state’s
high country this winter. In Flagstaff, soil remained
saturated this week from weekend rainfall. Hydrologists say
the moisture helps the state’s water supply and
prepares the water system to retain more water this
winter. Arizona has been in a long-term drought
for decades, and the past few years have been especially dry,
raising concerns about the state’s limited water
supply. … Rain also saturates the soil, which
increases the likelihood that runoff from high-country snow
will refill the water supply. … [First Alert Meteorologist
Pete] Mangione said Arizona’s high country typically sees more
snow during an El Niño pattern.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and his administration are back in
court today defending against claims they failed to
protect Colorado waters and public health from factory farm
pollution. After a Colorado district court ruled in
2024 current regulations for operating permits were sufficient
to comply with the federal Clean Water Act,
conservation groups appealed. Emily Miller, staff attorney for
the advocacy group Food and Water Watch, a plaintiff in the
case, said the main problem is factory farms are
operating as sewer-less cities. “They store vast
quantities of untreated waste that is not just manure. It is
filled with pollutants, including harmful nitrates, bacteria,
heavy metals, antibiotics and hormones that are fed to the
animals,” Miller outlined. … The state agency charged with
regulating factory farms argued monitoring for leaks
was unnecessary because there was no evidence manure pits
leak.
The Poway City Council unanimously approved to ban large,
third-party data centers used for artificial intelligence
applications throughout the city. The ordinance approved by
council members on a second reading Oct. 6 amends the Poway
Municipal Code and the South Poway Specific Plan to prohibit
data centers in all zones of the city. … A staff report
stated there is increasing evidence that these types of data
centers use significant water and electricity and
result in a strain on water and electricity
infrastructure, and have an adverse impact on utility
rates. Additionally, concerns include potential negative
impacts on air quality, noise and increased fire risks.
The Klamath River in the U.S. was heavily dammed over the 20th
century, blocking spawning Chinook salmon. As a result, the
population of salmon that spawned in the river, which runs
through Southern Oregon and Northern California, declined by
roughly 90%. However, a recent study found that removing the
dams resulted in a quick return of the fish to the river. In
2024, four dams were removed from the Klamath, allowing Chinook
salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) to recolonize habitat that
had been unavailable to them for roughly a century. Shortly
after the dams were removed, 7,742 Chinook salmon migrated up
the Klamath River past the former dams. In 2025, that number
jumped to more than 13,000. The fish expanded into 345
kilometers (214 miles) of formerly blocked river, recolonizing
88% of their known historical habitat, the study found.
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has issued a
danger advisory for San Luis Reservoir in Merced County due to
a harmful algal bloom that can expose people and animals to
potentially dangerous toxins. DWR announced the danger
advisory Friday, Oct. 9, and reiterated the warning through its
official social media accounts, urging visitors to keep
themselves and their pets away from algal blooms. The
announcement follows an earlier warning documented by the
California State Water Resources Control Board. Records updated
Oct. 2 showed that San Luis Reservoir was already under a
lake-wide warning advisory, which prohibited swimming and
advised visitors to avoid algae and scum in the water. The
latest danger designation represents an escalation from that
earlier warning and is the highest of California’s three
harmful algal bloom advisory levels.
In collaboration between nonprofit organization Imperial Valley
Equity and Justice and the State of California’s Salton Sea
program, community organizers hosted an Eco-alebrije Community
Art Workshop in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month on
Saturday, Oct. 11. … Miguel Hernandez [public
affairs officer with the California National Resources Agency]
explained how community engagement and restoration efforts of
the Salton Sea have already provided progress in supporting the
Salton Sea ecosystem. Through the Salton Sea Species
Conservation Habitat Project, which began in May 2025, about
2000 acres of water have been restored to the Salton Sea.
… The implementation of art and hands-on building from
the community when addressing the importance of protecting the
ecosystem allowed IVEJ to deliver a much more substantial
message in a way that resonated with the community.
A wisp of smoke on a cloudless early August morning was one of
the first indications that a wildfire had started in the Sangre
de Cristo Mountains of northern New Mexico.
Lightning struck near the village of Cundiyó, and a blaze
quickly erupted in the drought-stricken canyons surrounding the
Río Frijoles. Both this 13-mile stream and the Río en Medio
descend from the Sangres and flow into Santa Cruz Lake, a
reservoir that releases their water into the Santa Cruz River,
which is then joined by another tributary, the Río Quemado.
Like the spurs of a railway, some 30 hand-dug channels,
or acequias, deliver that water — collectively owned
by around 3,000 parciantes or members — to the small family
farms of several historic communities. … But with more than
half of the Río Frijoles in the direct path of the fire,
the health of the watershed — and the future of the
area’s irrigation — were at risk.
Life isn’t a beach for one Boulder property owner, even after
he brought his own sand. The City of Boulder filed a lawsuit
against Marco Campos and his Jaguar Paw Ranch (JPR) LLC on Oct.
7, claiming the property owner violated an agreement between
the two parties by blocking the city’s access to a ditch
connected to Eggleston Reservoir. The city also claims Campos
placed sand around his portion of the reservoir. … The
dilemma surrounding the property near 3200 S. Foothills Hwy,
just west of Superior, goes back to 1879, when the city took
over the Eggleston Reservoir and Eggleston Ditch 4. While the
ditch and part of the reservoir remain on private property, the
city says it has an easement that allows it to maintain,
operate, inspect and repair the systems that are used “for the
diversion, conveyance and storage of water,” according to the
claim.
In the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, where California’s
biggest rivers meet, the state’s massive pumps send water
flowing into canals to about 27 million people and
750,000 acres of farmland. A major new lawsuit argues
the state is taking far too much water out of the
Delta, harming native fish and the ecosystem, causing
toxic algae blooms, and threatening local farms and
communities. “The goal that we are aiming for is to save
the Delta,” said Carolee Krieger, executive director of the
environmental group California Water Impact Network. “We want
them to cut back the water they take out of the Delta
by half.” … Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration
has defended how the state balances pumping in the
Delta to protect fish and the ecosystem with
delivering water for farms and cities.
Denver Water is pulling more water from rivers, creeks and
communities in Grand County to refill its reservoirs after a
record-hot summer, sparking pushback from some western
Coloradans. Denver Water’s reservoirs — the water
storage for 1.5 million people — are far lower than
normal for this time of the year. The utility has
issued mandatory restrictions, which means it can also
increase the amount of water it pulls from certain streams and
rivers on the Western Slope for the Denver
area. … Denver Water has some of the
oldest rights to water in the area, which
means it has priority over more recent, junior water users
under Colorado water law. The utility’s water management is
guided by agreements made in past decades, like the 1992
Clinton Reservoir-Fraser River Water Agreement and the
2013 Colorado River Cooperative Agreement.
… Groundwater overuse and sinking land in the state’s
agricultural heartland continue to jeopardize both
water supply and delivery systems. The fishing industry is
cratering and farmers feel so squeezed that some are planting
solar panels instead of crops. And, hundreds of thousands of
Californians still lack access to safe, affordable
water. The next governor — Republican Steve
Hilton or Democrat Xavier Becerra — will inherit these
challenges, and more. … From this shared reality, the
two candidates’ strategies diverge: Hilton is outspoken about
his plans to clearcut environmental regulations in order to
build more ways to store and move water to farms and
cities. Becerra leans on his history as attorney
general, the legal arm in California’s first-term fights
against President Donald Trump. But Becerra offers no
specific proposals on water.
Just one day after San Francisco set a new October high tide
record, a gauge at Crissy Field surpassed that
mark again when it measured a water level 1.73 feet
above the average highest daily
tide. …Tides are predicted to be
more than a half-foot higher on Oct. 27 and
28. … El Niño is fueling record-breaking
sea surface temperatures off the coast of California.
Warmer-than-normal water takes up more volume and pushes tides
higher, a process known as thermal
expansion. … Scientists predict El Niño
will bring the highest king tides on record
this winter to the California coast and San Francisco
Bay.
… Companies are racing to draw out lithium from brine
bubbling below the Salton Sea. … A
recent study concludes that most lithium mining areas
won’t have enough water by mid-century to meet the
industry’s demands. “Those regions are already
water-stressed,” said co-author Jennifer Dunn, director of the
Center for Engineering Sustainability and Resilience at
Northwestern University. Adding lithium mining onto them
without reducing water consumption across the board will make
it extremely challenging for those mines to operate in the near
future, not to mention meeting everyone’s water needs.
… As the warming planet shrinks freshwater resources,
experts say, the clean-energy transition driving demand
for lithium may ultimately be constrained by the water
scarcity that decades of fossil fuel use have
accelerated.
A controversial gravel mining project north of Fresno near the
San Joaquin River received a temporary stop sign Thursday by
the Fresno County Planning Commission. Multinational mining
company CEMEX proposed expanding their current operation on the
river into a 600-foot deep blast mine with a 100-year timeline.
However, county staff recommended a shallower, shorter project
alternative. By a 3-3 deadlocked vote, commission members
rejected the modified proposal, which had required a majority
for approval. … While gravel mining has been part of the
San Joaquin River landscape since the early 1900s, all used
traditional alluvial methods, which involve digging and
excavating using heavy machinery. What CEMEX proposes, to blast
and drill into the granite bedrock near the river, is entirely
new for the area.
The Riverbank City Council could vote Tuesday to extend
its data center moratorium for 10 1/2 months.
… Aemetis Inc. has been developing a 60-megawatt data
center proposed at the Riverbank Industrial Complex and the
city has received other inquiries in the past year. A city
staff report for Tuesday’s meeting says data centers may cause
significant impacts “related to energy consumption,
water, wastewater, land use, air emissions,
noise, infrastructure demands, environmental quality and
community aesthetics.” … Since passage of the
45-day pause in September, Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed bills
with requirements for data center projects, including
disclosure of projected electricity and water consumption and
assuming financial responsibility for electrical grid and water
system upgrades needed for projects.
The Broomfield Eagle Trace Golf Club permanently closed last
week. The cause? Drought, according to the
club’s staff. “The drought in Colorado this year left us with
very little water available, and has forced us to close as we
will no longer be able to maintain the course,” read a
statement on the club’s website. … The club was already
scheduled to shutter in November after a full lack of
water access went into effect due to a water-rights
issue, according to reporting by The Denver Gazette’s
news partners 9NEWS. The club’s owner privately sold
the water rights to Owl Creek water brokers for more than $4
million. … Denver is under a Stage 1
drought declaration, and businesses were ordered by Denver
Water to turn off their lawn watering and spray irrigation
systems Oct. 1.
High in the Walker Basin, where the Eastern Sierra spills
across the California–Nevada border, an imperiled native trout
is hanging on. Lahontan cutthroat trout (LCT) once thrived
throughout the region’s high-elevation streams and lakes.
Today, roughly 95% of their historic California habitat has
been lost. Non-native trout introductions and decades of land
use change pushed this ancient fish to the edge. Now,
protecting the handful of isolated, fragile populations, is
critical. CalTrout and our partners are working stream by
stream to change that trajectory. Alongside the California
Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Trout Unlimited, and
the Walker Basin Conservancy, and with funding from the Keefe
Family Foundation, we’re reclaiming waters where LCT can build
durable, self-sustaining populations.
The Coachella Valley averages about 3 inches of rain a year,
yet about 95 percent of the drinking water Desert Water Agency
serves to the community and is pumped from wells, according to
the agency. Nearly all the water used in the valley comes from
a groundwater basin, or aquifer, beneath the surface, Desert
Water Agency says. A local water-conservation campaign
describes it as a body of permeable rock that stores water, 500
to 1,300 feet below the valley floor, holding about 39 million
acre-feet, or roughly 13 trillion gallons. Desert Water
Agency, which serves Palm Springs, operates 27 wells drilled
1,000 to 1,200 feet deep, with pumps set as far down as 500
feet. The agency says the water is of high enough quality that
it only needs chlorination, as state regulations require,
before delivery.
