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 Chris Bowman.
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Atmospheric river storms are like punches in a boxing match. A
flurry of weak ones are OK. But it’s best to avoid the big
knockout blows. That’s exactly what happened in California this
winter. Scientists say that from Oct. 1 to April 1, the state
actually received more atmospheric rivers, the famous
moisture-laden meteorological events that are critical to the
water supply, than it did last year — 44 this winter compared
to 31 last winter. But the intensity made all the difference.
Statewide, California had just 2 strong atmospheric rivers this
winter, compared with 7 last year. Many of the biggest this
winter hit Washington and Oregon instead. The result was, for
the most part, a remarkably, blissfully average rainy season
for California. 3 were moderate and 7 were strong. This year,
26 were weak, 16 were moderate and 2 were strong.
With San Diego more than half done with the first phase of its
Pure Water sewage recycling system, city officials say they are
considering major changes to how they will handle the second,
larger phase. … Plans for the second phase, which were
mostly put in place 13 years ago, could change significantly
based on new state regulations and new information about how
much purified water the city is projected to need. … But
the city could abandon a plan to build the phase two
purification plant on a vacant 17-acre site in Mission Valley,
and plans to store purified water from that plant in either
Lake Murray or the San Vicente Reservoir.
After a decade in the works, California is getting a new state
park this summer. Dos Rios Ranch, a 1,600-acre plot west of
Modesto where the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers converge, has
long been slated to become the next state park. On Monday, the
Department of Parks and Recreation announced it would open June
12. … Department of Parks and Recreation Director
Armando Quintero has characterized Dos Rios as a needed
public investment in a “a park-poor region.” The site for
Dos Rios was donated by the Chico conservation group River
Partners, which spent $40 million restoring the
area from its previous incarnation as a dairy farm to its
more natural state as a floodplain, a transition that state
leaders have touted as climate-resilient. In Monday’s
announcement, Gov. Gavin Newsom called the Dos Rios restoration
“a key asset to fighting the climate crisis.”
Our popular water maps don the office walls of many in the
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Southern California’s rivers and creeks once teemed with large,
silvery fish that arrived from the ocean and swam upstream to
spawn. But today, these fish are seldom seen. Southern
California steelhead trout have been pushed to the brink of
extinction as their river habitats have been altered by
development and fragmented by barriers and dams. Their numbers
have been declining for decades, and last week California’s
Fish and Game Commission voted to list Southern California
steelhead trout as endangered. Conservation advocates said they
hope the designation will accelerate efforts to save the fish
and the aquatic ecosystems on which they depend.
For the past two years, Mt. Shasta has emerged from winter
covered in thick blankets of white snow that conceal what
decades of drought have done to the Northern California
mountain’s ancient glaciers. The seasonal snows come and go on
the 14,179-foot peak. For hundreds of years, the glaciers have
clung to the mountain’s steep slopes, slowly changing and
moving over time. But for the past few decades, droughts and
periods of abnormally warm weather have caused the glaciers to
shrink. Scientists have studied the glaciers and documented
their demise as climate change — with its warmer temperatures
and dearth of snow — has slowly caused Mt. Shasta’s glacial
masses to dwindle, especially during the 2020-22 drought.
Long before rising seas wash over San Francisco’s shores and
flood its streets, rising groundwater mixed with salt water
from the bay could touch and degrade underground structures
like sewage lines and building foundations. … That’s the
implication of a study released this week by
scientists at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. They compiled
research from around the globe showing that as sea levels rise,
coastal groundwater is lifted closer to the surface while also
becoming saltier, more corrosive and potentially more
destructive to subterranean systems. … Habel’s
publication aligns with a growing body of data from Bay Area
researchers and others about the risks posed by rising
groundwater as sea levels are projected to rise …
More people will be cooling off in the waterways as the
temperatures warm up. However, safety officials have a warning.
Officials are calling on people to wear a life jacket on the
river, use heavy duty rafts or raft rentals, be careful of
hidden objects in the river and avoid getting hypothermia as
the river runs colder. “We are fully prepared and fully
staffed for whatever happens,” said Battalion Chief Parker
Wilbourn, with the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire
District. Mostly small crowds enjoyed the American River
this weekend. However as the weather warms up, Wilbourn knows
the crowds will only get bigger, and it’s important to listen
to your body.
Since the first Earth Day in 1970, the world has experienced
profound ecological changes. Wildlife populations have
decreased by 69 percent, the result of habitat loss caused by
rapid industrialization and changing temperatures. 2023 was the
hottest year on record. Certain ancient practices could
mitigate the deleterious effects of global warming. From
building seaside gardens to water management in desert terrain,
these time-honored practices work with the natural world’s
rhythms.
Plastic bottles, sports balls, and what look like the wheels
from a toy pram float down the San Pedro River that runs
through Quito, Ecuador. They are on their way towards the
Pacific Ocean, on a downstream journey repeated all over the
world as plastic waste is flushed through rivers into the seas.
However, this particular patch of plastic waste is about to
have its journey cut short. It is brought to a stop by a
floating barrier in the water, part of a local plastic clean-up
technology called the Azure system, which collects plastic from
rivers.
When PG&E announced that it would remove Scott and Cape
Horn dams on the Eel River as part of the Potter Valley
hydroelectric project decommissioning, it put a continuing
water diversion to the Russian River in question. A Press
Democrat editorial praised Eel and Russian River stakeholders
coming together to endorse the possibility of a new fish
friendly diversion from the Eel River (“Progress toward water
security,” March 27), and we at Russian Riverkeeper concur.
However, a continued diversion from the Eel River is not a
solution in and of itself when it comes to ensuring long-term
water reliability in the upper Russian River watershed. A
continued diversion will not solve all the region’s water
issues. -Written by Don McEnhill and Ed Burdett, both with the
Russian Riverkeeper.
Kari Lake’s recent op-ed in the Star set forth her platform for
the “most urgent issue” facing Arizona and the Southwest:
water. I agree, which is why it’s so disappointing that she has
so little to offer. Let’s unpack her three main
ideas. -Written by Robert Glennon, Regents Professor
Emeritus at the University of Arizona College of Law and author
of Unquenchable: America’s Water Crisis and What To Do About
it.
In one of the biggest rollbacks of the Clean Water Act since
its inception five decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court last
year abolished protections for tens of thousands of acres of
wetlands in Colorado. And unless the state legislature passes a
measure to create a permitting plan and restore the protections
that existed before the Supreme Court’s decision, Grand
County’s waterways are at risk. In every area of the state,
Colorado’s wetlands lacking a permanent surface flow – along
with intermittent streams that run seasonally and ephemeral
streams that only flow in response to rain or snow – are in
jeopardy. In essence, the ruling means wetlands that were
previously protected can now be filled, paved over and
destroyed with impunity. -Written by Kirk Klanke, Colorado Headwaters
Chapter of Trout Unlimited.
El Porvenir works on projects in Nicaragua, focusing on how
access to clean water can be life changing for communities. See
how this group is making an impact.
The West has experienced what’s been called “mega-drought” for
longer than they’ve been alive. Each year brings new record-hot
temperatures, lower water levels at Lake Mead, state
in-fighting on the Colorado River and more uncertainty about
the longevity of their hometown. And yet, with limited lessons
available at their schools, these Gen Z Las Vegans have taken
it upon themselves to learn about the water crisis in its
entirety, no holds barred. These students are the
centerpiece of a lesser-known initiative of the Southern Nevada
Water Authority — the Youth Conservation Council, a
16-week program for high school students that helps expand
young people’s understanding of water.
California has unveiled an ambitious plan to help combat the
worsening climate crisis with one of its invaluable assets: its
land. Over the next 20 years, the state will work to transform
more than half of its 100 million acres into multi-benefit
landscapes that can absorb more carbon than they release,
officials announced Monday. … The plan also calls for
11.9 million acres of forestland to be managed for biodiversity
protection, carbon storage and water supply protection by 2045,
and 2.7 million acres of shrublands and chaparral to be managed
for carbon storage, resilience and habitat connectivity, among
other efforts.
While work crews continued dismantling dams on the Klamath
River, leaders of four tribes gathered on a riverbank last week
to watch and offer prayers as a valve on a tanker truck was
opened. Over two days, workers from the California
Department of Fish and Wildlife released 16 truckloads of
juvenile salmon that were raised in a newly built
hatchery. … The last time state workers released
Chinook salmon in February, they let loose more than 800,000
fish in a tributary upstream of Iron Gate Dam, which is slated
to be removed, and the fish were later found dead in the
river. Biologists determined the salmon died as they passed
through a tunnel beneath the dam. To prevent that from
happening again, state officials selected another location just
downstream of Iron Gate Dam.
A recent study in the journal Science analyzed dozens of
Chinese cities, revealing that they’re slowly sinking. This
phenomenon of the Earth’s surface literally being pushed down —
technically known as land subsidence — is not limited to the
tens of millions who will be impacted in China. From California
to Greece, human activity is making the land under our feet
more prone to subsiding than ever. … Local authorities
are starting to take notice. Earlier this month in
California, state water officials put a farming region known as
the Tulare Lake groundwater sub basin on “probation” to curb
excess water use.
On Friday, the Environmental Protection Agency designated two
types of “forever chemicals” as hazardous substances under the
federal Superfund law. The move will make it easier for the
government to force the manufacturers of these chemicals,
called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, to shoulder
the costs of cleaning them out of the environment.
… Although the EPA’s new restrictions are
groundbreaking, they only apply to a portion of the nation’s
extensive PFAS contamination problem. That’s because drinking
water isn’t the only way Americans are exposed to PFAS … In
Texas, a group of farmers whose properties were contaminated
with PFAS from fertilizer are claiming the manufacturer should
have done more to warn buyers about the dangers of its
products.
As the Bureau of Reclamation looks to prepare new rules for the
Colorado River, states across the West and other interested
stakeholders have proposed plans for the river’s future. These
alternative plans aim to shape the operation of the Colorado
River after many of the current rules expire in 2026. In April,
a coalition of conservation groups including Audubon,
Environmental Defense Fund, The Nature Conservancy, and others
submitted a plan for managing the Colorado River. Known as the
Cooperative Conservation Alternative, the proposal seeks to
broaden management efforts on the Colorado River to be more
inclusive of various interests, Tribes, and the environment.
