A collection of top water news from around California and the West compiled each weekday. Send any comments or article submissions to Foundation News & Publications Director Vik Jolly.
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The headlines below are the original headlines used in the publication cited at the time they are posted here and do not reflect the stance of the Water Education Foundation, an impartial nonprofit that remains neutral.
A major November deadline for Colorado River negotiations
passed without resolution, though hope remains for an agreement
to avoid federal intervention. … What’s being negotiated are
the future operating guidelines for the two large storage
reservoirs. The guidelines must be realistic and resilient and
not allow one reservoir to be drained to shore up the other, as
has happened in recent years. Both reservoirs have hovered near
critical levels for a few years. These talks are critical for
Colorado Springs. Half of the city’s water comes from the
Colorado River Basin through trans-basin diversions that cross
the Continental Divide.
The Paso Robles Area Groundwater Authority needs help funding
its operating costs next year. On Monday, the agency’s Board of
Directors approved a budget of $944,952 for fiscal year 2025-26
— with a $300,000 shortfall for costs planned for January to
June of next year. The agency’s Board of Directors was
forced to abandon water use fees after a majority of property
owners objected to them this year. Now, the agency is looking
for other ways to cover its operating costs. … On
Monday, the board voted unanimously to ask the four
participating Groundwater Sustainability Agencies to contribute
a combined total of $300,000 to bridge the funding gap.
University of Arizona researchers are testing natural plant
additives called biostimulants to help lettuce farms in Yuma
grow more crops with less water during the peak growing season.
The research comes as drought threatens the Colorado
River, Arizona’s primary water source. Yuma County
supplies about 90% of the leafy greens Americans eat from
November through March. … [Assistant Professor Ali] Mohammed
found that pairing biostimulants with smart irrigation sensors
and organic farming techniques significantly boosted crop
yields. He estimates this combination could allow Yuma’s
organic farms to skip a few watering cycles during the growing
season, potentially saving 1 to 2 inches of water per
acre.
… Iran’s escalating water and environmental problems are the
predictable outcome of decades of treating the region’s finite
water resources as if they were limitless. … Iran has
relied heavily on water-intensive irrigation to grow food in
dry landscapes and subsidized water and energy use, resulting
in overpumping from aquifers and falling groundwater supplies.
… The country needs to start to decouple its economy
from water consumption by investing in sectors that generate
value and employment opportunities with minimal water
use. Agricultural water consumption can be reduced by
producing higher-value, less water-intensive crops, taking into
account food security, labor market and cultural
considerations.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has unveiled
preliminary flood maps for Butte County and the City of Chico,
highlighting revised flood hazards along various sources in the
region. These maps aim to assist building officials,
contractors and homeowners in making informed mitigation
decisions, fostering safer and more disaster-resilient
communities. Before the new Flood Insurance Rate Maps
(FIRMs) take effect, a 90-day appeal period will run from Dec.
3, 2025, to March 3, 2026. During this time, residents or
businesses with technical and scientific data, such as detailed
hydraulic or hydrologic information, can challenge the flood
risk details on the preliminary maps.
On November 19, 2025, the Klamath Tribes filed a motion to
amend their petition in the Circuit Court of Klamath County.
The amended petition seeks to reverse recent illegal orders
that replaced a long-time administrative law judge in the
Klamath Basin Adjudication (KBA) on the heels of a secret deal
cut between the Oregon State Office of Administrative Hearings
and certain water users in the Upper Klamath Basin.
… The KBA is a several-decades-old lawsuit pending in
the Circuit Court of Klamath County. It is quantifying the
federal reserved water rights of the Klamath Tribes in the
Klamath River Basin.
Many thousands of fall-run Chinook salmon migrated beneath the
Golden Gate Bridge into the upper Sacramento River to spawn
this fall. About 100 of the adult fish carried small tags that
signaled their location as they went. A monitoring network
tracked the fish, showing their progress online in real time as
part of a joint project by scientists at NOAA Fisheries and UC
Santa Cruz. They followed adult salmon through the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta into
Central Valley Rivers and their tributaries. … The
research is funded by California’s State Water Board to learn
more about how water temperatures influence the salmon that
support valuable commercial and recreational fisheries.
Deep in the heart of the Tijuana River Valley is a small
commune of growers who thrive despite being in an area that has
been described as “an environmental disaster.” The site is
known as the Tijuana River Valley Community Garden, which is
owned by the County of San Diego and managed by a private
contractor. … One concern is whether the food grown by
[grower Ed] Whited and the others is safe for consumption,
considering the amount of contamination in the area, especially
with the heavily-polluted Tijuana River next door. “Our worst
problem here is the flooding,” he said. “The river runs right
by here; if a plant is touched by water or potentially touched
by water, it’s no longer edible or considered edible and it’s a
complete loss.”
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum signed a directive Tuesday that
could allow local irrigation districts and other Bureau of
Reclamation customers more say in managing their federally
funded projects. … Burgum asserted his Secretarial Order 3446
could benefit water and power users throughout the 17 Western
states served by the bureau. … A dam-raising
project in California’s San Joaquin Valley will
exemplify how the new system might work, according to an
Interior Department news release. Burgum’s order directs the
Bureau of Reclamation to work with local water and power
partners to modify certain contracts and establish new contract
terms.
Chinook salmon are once again populating an upper part of the
largest local tributary of the San Francisco Bay, thanks to the
recent completion of a multiyear fish passage and restoration
project. … The salmon’s passage up Alameda Creek,
which carves through Niles Canyon and the Sunol Wilderness
Regional Preserve to the Diablo Range, was made possible this
year through the relocation of a PG&E-owned gas pipeline
near the Interstate 680 overpass, CalTrout wrote. … This
month, PG&E and CalTrout wrapped up efforts to relocate the
pipeline and bury it under the riverbed, allowing salmon to
migrate upstream once more.
Water from the Colorado River and its tributaries irrigates
farms, sprinkles lawns and quenches the thirst of millions
across Utah and the greater Southwest. While only 27% of the
state’s water comes from it, some 60% of Utahns rely on the
Colorado River for drinking water, agriculture and industries
such as energy and mining. … With less water flowing
through the river system, though, states will have to cut back
their consumption. But negotiators can’t agree on who carries
that burden. If that plan includes mandatory cuts to Utah’s
water use, that may affect cities, tribes and farmers across
the state.
An appeal submitted last week may pause the Delta Conveyance
Project (DCP) if the Delta Stewardship Council, the state body
charged with implementing a Delta sustainability plan, upholds
the appeal. … The state Delta Protection Commission
on Nov. 17 voted 9-0 with one abstention to appeal an Oct. 14
certification by DWR that the tunnel project is consistent with
a regional management strategy known as the Delta Plan.
… The letter details some 3,800 acres of farmland that
would be lost to the project, along with damages to the
region’s $250 million recreation industry.
Water replenishment charges imposed by the Coachella Valley
Water District are unconstitutional taxes because the district
failed to justify its practice of charging customers in
different areas unequal rates, a California appeals court held.
The California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, held these
charges violate the allocation rule in the California
constitution which requires fees and taxes to be fairly
allocated among payers. The court determined the district
couldn’t provide a reasonable justification for charging higher
rates to residents in its western area compared to those in its
eastern area, so the court affirmed a refund of about $13.4
million.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power says it has
captured nearly 5.5 billion gallons of water since Oct. 1
following the recent storms. … According to the National
Weather Service, downtown Los Angeles received more than five
and a half inches of rain in November, making it the 5th
wettest November on record. … The DWP captured rain
through stormwater infrastructure, residential rain barrels and
cisterns, and large spreading grounds such as the Tujunga
Spreading Grounds that help recharge underwater aquifers, also
known as “groundwater banks.”
If you want a glass of water with your meal in Aurora, soon you
might have to speak up. Aurora Water is asking local
restaurants to move to a water-by-request-only model.
… It’s the latest effort by Aurora Water to conserve as
much water as possible. It’s asking restaurant owners to only
serve a glass of water if the customer asks for it. It’s not a
law or an ordinance. Just an ask. … Aurora Water says its
long-term conservation strategy is necessary if customers want
to keep their water bills affordable. ”It is actually
becoming much harder to go out and acquire water rights. And
it’s very expensive to do this,” said [Aurora Water's deputy
director of internal and external affairs, Shonnie] Cline.
It’s been over two years since Colorado passed a law meant to
keep people from flushing wipes down toilets. But that hasn’t
fully stopped the pipe-clogging practice. Senate Bill 23-150
required disposable wipe products, like baby wipes and
antibacterial wipes, to be labeled with the phrase “Do Not
Flush”. The issue reached a head during COVID-19 lockdowns,
when more people were at home and using disposable wipes to
disinfect surfaces and packages. … Anecdotally, [Metro
Water Recovery’s chief operating officer, Liam] Cavanaugh said
they’ve seen a reduction in the number of wipes passing through
the facilities. But there’s still room for improvement.
Federal agencies released their first quarterly progress report
Friday on efforts to permanently resolve the decades-old
Tijuana River sewage crisis. … The Nov. 21 update from the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S.
International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC) marks the
first public progress report required under a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) signed in July between the U.S. and Mexico.
… [T]op of mind for many residents, advocates and officials
was expanding treatment capacity for the South Bay
International Wastewater Treatment Plant, which the EPA
reported is now at 35 million gallons per day capacity — up
from 25 million gallons.
There’s a big new development going up in Mountain View along
the edge of San Francisco Bay. … Workers are putting the
finishing touches on a three-year effort to restore 435 acres
of former industrial salt evaporation ponds to natural wetlands
and tidal marshes, along with building new public bayfront
hiking trails. … The $20 million project, which is scheduled
to be completed by the end of December, is the latest chapter
in an ongoing saga in which the state, federal government and
environmental groups are slowly converting 15,100 acres of
former salt ponds that ring the South Bay, Peninsula and
East Bay back to habitat for ducks, shorebirds, fish, even
leopard sharks, bat rays and harbor seals.
Tom Sephton, the president of Sephton Water Technology, gave a
presentation about water quality restoration at the Salton Sea
during the Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, Nov.
25. … To increase the availability of local
distilled water, Sephton proposed purifying and selling salt
from the Salton Sea to reduce the water’s salinity. … Phase 1
of this project will be a commercial demonstration of
technology, according to Sephton. Up until now, he said Cal
Energy has been doing a pilot scale project, which he wants to
expand. Sephton proposed building a demonstration plant to
distill the water and concentrate the salt brine.
Tucson city officials are moving to advance a plan to turn
wastewater into drinking water by seeking a company to design
and build an advanced water purification facility capable of
filtering 2.5 million gallons per day. … Last year, the
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality passed new rules
allowing municipal water officials to build so-called
“toilet-to-tap” systems, treating wastewater to what officials
called “very-high quality” water. In January, city officials
and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation officials signed an
agreement to build the $86.7 million water-purification
facility, scheduled for completion by June 2031.
