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.
Subscribe to our weekday emails to have news delivered to your inbox at about 9 a.m. Monday through Friday except for holidays.
Some of the sites we link to may limit the number of stories you can access without subscribing.
We occasionally bold words in the text to ensure the water connection is clear.
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.
The Water Education Foundation has named Alex Hager, KUNC’s
reporter covering the Colorado River Basin, as
this year’s recipient of the Rita Schmidt Sudman Award for
Excellence in Water Journalism. The award recognizes
Hager’s clear, deeply sourced reporting that helps the public
understand the people, policies and ecosystems tied to one of
the West’s most important rivers, said Jenn Bowles, the
Foundation’s Executive Director. Hager is the first
broadcast journalist to receive the award that acknowledges
outstanding work illuminating complicated water issues in
California and the West.
The Senate on Tuesday evening confirmed a new leader of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, installing
Neil Jacobs. … Dr. Jacobs, an atmospheric scientist and
meteorologist who has stressed a strong desire to improve the
accuracy of U.S. weather forecasting models, is generally
respected across NOAA, which oversees much of the federal
climate research that the administration has targeted for deep
cuts. At the same time, he has faced criticism and rebuke
for his tenure during President Trump’s first term.
More than 100 engineers, utility leaders, scientists, and
public officials came together in the wake of January’s
catastrophic Los Angeles firestorms to identify innovative
strategies and emerging technologies that could build more
resilient infrastructure, recognizing the broader challenges of
growing climate and disaster risks. … The resulting
report, “Innovation Opportunities for a Resilient L.A.,”
emphasizes that no single strategy is sufficient. Instead, Los
Angeles must pursue a mix of approaches, from upgrading
infrastructure to improving coordination across agencies.
… Climatologists are forecasting a 71% chance of another
La Niña this fall, which could lead to more drought conditions
and potentially higher-than-normal wildfire danger.
… While the latest data suggests that a La Niña may
impact us, it remains unclear whether it will be a weak or
moderate one. … [Bill Patzert, research scientist and
oceanographer with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory] predicted
that the best-case scenario is that we get a series of
spaced-out storms over the next few months. So, even if
rainfall is below normal again, if it’s spread out, and any
potential fuels are damp enough, we won’t see another round of
major wildfires this season.
Under a new program developed by Arizona’s water department,
West Valley housing developers have access to a new water
provider. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs announced that EPCOR is
the first company operating in Arizona to receive an
Alternative Designation of Assured Water Supply, or ADAWS.
ADAWS went into effect in November and serves as a pathway for
providers to prove they have enough water to last an area for
100 years. … Hobbs said the alternative designation
allows water companies to prove they have an adequate supply
from a variety of sources — in EPCOR’s case, a combination of
groundwater and sources like Lake Pleasant and the Colorado
River.
A Palo Alto environmental nonprofit recently acquired 668 acres
of farmland in the Pajaro River Valley with the hopes of
returning parts of the property to its former wetland
landscape. The property, situated along the Upper Pajaro
River on the border of Santa Clara and San Benito counties, was
formerly a privately owned farm along with two ranches used for
livestock grazing and vegetable crops. … POST
[Peninsula Open Space Trust] crafted its vision for the site’s
restoration with the hopes of making the surrounding watershed
— and the communities it feeds into — more resistant to the
effects of flooding.
Some of the biggest names in the American food world are
rallying to stop California from banning common nonstick
cookware, saying the proposal will hurt restaurants and home
cooks. … Proponents of the bill argue that there are
already many nonstick cookware products that are made without
PFAS. They have also argued that the environmental damage from
manufacturing PFAS products and disposing of them significantly
harms the environment, including drinking water
sources.
California state prosecutors are taking Sable Offshore to
court, accusing the oil company of repeatedly discharging dirt
and other material into coastal streams and wetlands without a
permit as it rushed to bring a pipeline and an offshore
drilling platform back online. … The lawsuit accuses
Sable of digging around the idle pipeline it is seeking to
repair and reopen without first seeking a permit from the
Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. … The
work, called “pig and dig” operations, risks damaging the
“sensitive aquatic and riparian habitat” by discharging dirt
and vegetation in violation of state water quality rules,
according to the complaint.
The six bathrooms that will be in a
184,000-square-foot data center that Related Digital
is building out for CoreWeave in Cheyenne are going
to use more water than the data center’s cooling
systems. That’s according to Related Companies CEO Jeff
Blau, who was in Cheyenne Tuesday to break ground on the $1.2
billion facility. … “What are the two complaints you
hear about, you hear about water consumption. Neighborhoods and
communities are concerned that we’re going to use up all the
water,” he said. So, the $1.2 billion data center that Related
Digital is developing isn’t going to use any water.
… There are several ways to get energy from deep within the
Earth. Hydrothermal systems tap into underground hot water and
steam to generate electricity. These resources are concentrated
in geologically active areas where heat, water and permeable
rock naturally coincide. In the U.S., that’s generally
California, Nevada and Utah. … Some geothermal fluids
contain valuable minerals; lithium concentrations in the
groundwater of California’s Salton Sea region could potentially
supply battery manufacturers. … Despite its challenges,
geothermal energy’s reliability, low emissions and scalability
make it a vital complement to solar and wind.
The human right to water is often framed in terms of pipes,
treatment plants, and funding. Far less attention is paid to
governance and who gets to decide on the rules that shape water
quality, price, and reliability. Now, writing in Nature Water,
Kristin Babson Dobbin and co-authors shed light on how local
democracy influences the right to water. … By analysing
over 2,400 community water systems in California, Dobbin et al.
show that ‘water democracy’ — the extent to which residents can
vote for their water system’s governing board — is linked to
measurable differences in performance.
The ongoing water distribution dispute between the City of
Tehachapi and the Tehachapi Cummings County Water District has
escalated, with both parties taking their grievances to social
media. The conflict, which began three years ago, centers on
the allocation of water from the California State Water
Project. … City Manager Greg Garrett claims that the majority
of water from the SWP is being allocated to agriculture,
leaving the city with insufficient resources for residents and
future developments. … In contrast, Thomas Neisler,
general manager of the water district, insists that the city’s
goals can be met without additional SWP water.
Deep in the Piedmont Hills, Gregg Semler and Casey Leblanc are
checking up on what could be described as the Bay Area’s newest
and smallest hydroelectric power plant. … The team installed
the miniaturized turbine in a pipeline connecting part of the
East Bay Municipal Utility District’s water distribution
system. It takes the place of the normal water pressure
regulator, housed in a small building next door. But instead of
just controlling the flow, they say it harnesses it to produce
electricity, spinning the turbine-driven generator.
California’s wet season started with a bang, or at least a
drizzle, as rain pitter-pattered on the Bay Area last
week. But the state’s water experts say at this time of
year, they still have to prepare for floods, drought or even
both. Oct. 1 officially began the rainy season in California,
and with this seasonal shift, they sealed their record of
annual rain and snow and started a fresh tally.
… Forecasters reported a 71% chance of La Niña beginning
this fall. The seasonal climate pattern can signal parched
conditions in Southern California but leaves precipitation in
the northern part of the state mostly a mystery.
As negotiators for the seven Colorado River Basin states
rapidly approach Reclamation’s November deadline for providing
a framework for a seven-state agreement for the Post-2026
Operating Guidelines for Lakes Powell and Mead, a larger threat
looms. … Reclamation’s latest analysis predicts that
storage at Lake Powell would fall below the 3500-ft elevation
as early August 2026 and might continue to be below this
critical elevation until March 2028. … In the face of this
imminent possibility, Basin States and the Federal Government
must commit to an enforceable agreement to reduce their total
consumptive Colorado River uses with an equitable sharing of
the burden sufficient to justify a waiver of claims under the
Compact for the duration of the agreement.
As groundwater agencies limit pumping, sometimes in different
amounts and ways, farmers with land across boundaries are
trying to figure how to operate. Lakeside Irrigation
District Board member and farmer Ralph Alcala brought up a
hypothetical at the district’s Oct. 1 meeting: How will
groundwater agencies stop farmers from transferring water
between parcels, potentially out of one groundwater region and
into another?
The federal agencies responsible for managing the
ever-shrinking Colorado River have two new leaders at the helm.
Scott Cameron, who previously served as acting assistant
Interior secretary for water and science, will lead the Bureau
of Reclamation as acting commissioner. Interior Secretary Doug
Burgum appointed him Wednesday through a secretarial
order. … The post Cameron was filling will go
permanently to Andrea Travnicek, who has experience leading the
North Dakota Department of Water Resources and served in the
first Trump administration’s Interior Department in various
roles.
Only a few seats are left on the bus for our Northern
California Tour on Oct. 22-24. This 3-day,
2-night excursion travels across the Sacramento Valley and
follows the river north from Sacramento through Oroville to
Redding and Shasta Lake. Tour participants will also get an
up-close view of Oroville Dam’s repaired main spillway
that suffered major damage during a power 2017 storm. Claim
your seat now!
The Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board,
represented by the California Attorney General’s Office, filed
suit against Sable Offshore Corp., alleging repeated violations
tied to the repair and restart of the Santa Ynez Unit oil and
gas operation. … It alleges that Sable repeatedly discharged
or threatened to discharge waste to waters of the state without
authorization, despite being notified by the Central Coast
Water Board that permits were required for the activities. The
complaint also contends that Sable activities resulted in the
discharge of sediment and vegetative debris to various bodies
of water inland and near the Gaviota Coast.
On a bright afternoon in August, the shore on the North Arm of
the Great Salt Lake looks like something out of a science
fiction film set in a scorching alien world. … This
otherworldly scene is the test site for a company called Lilac
Solutions, which is developing a technology it says will shake
up the United States’ efforts to pry control over the global
supply of lithium, the so-called “white gold” needed for
electric vehicles and batteries, away from China.
… Lilac is not the only company in the US pushing for
DLE. In California’s Salton Sea, developers such as
EnergySource Minerals are looking to build a geothermal power
plant to power a DLE facility pulling lithium from the inland
desert lake.
