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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As California moves closer to construction of its largest
reservoir in nearly 50 years, a union’s concerns about an
out-of-state company building the water project are adding a
late-stage complication. Montana-based Barnard Construction Co.
is expected to be named the main contractor for the
proposed Sites Reservoir, 70 miles northwest of
Sacramento, during a meeting Friday of the agency in charge of
the $6 billion enterprise. Powerful labor interests, however,
are urging the Sites Project Authority to reconsider its
selection. The Nor Cal Carpenters Union, in particular, is
arguing that Barnard Construction has not only failed to
exclusively employ union workers but also that it doesn’t have
the experience, expertise or staffing to handle one of the
state’s biggest infrastructure jobs.
A well-intended state law mandating the removal of Southern
Nevada’s “useless grass” to conserve water has massively
backfired, according to a new lawsuit. Filed Monday in Clark
County District Court, the complaint alleges that an estimated
100,000 mature trees throughout the Las Vegas Valley have
been a casualty of Assembly Bill 356, a 2021 law that
will make it illegal to irrigate certain grass with water from
the Colorado River starting in 2027.
… State legislators passed the law in an effort to push
water conservation forward as Lake Mead and
the Colorado River — Southern Nevada’s main water source — face
historic drought amid interstate negotiations forcing seven
states to reconcile with how cities, tribes and farms can live
with less.
Warming temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns will
reshape the American, Bear and Cosumnes river watersheds,
intensifying snowpack loss and placing greater strain on
California’s water supply, a two-year study
has found. A draft watershed resilience report by the Regional
Water Authority reviewed by The Sacramento Bee projects earlier
snowmelt, shifting runoff patterns, and more water lost to
evaporation due to climate change. … It also predicts
snow water equivalent measurement at 7.2 inches on average — a
66% decrease compared with historical data — by the mid‑century
period, between 2041 and 2070, and 4.6 inches — a 79% decrease
— by the end of the century for the American River region.
Other snowpack and water supply news around the West:
We have much to look forward to in 2026, especially as we gear
up to mark and celebrate the Water Education Foundation’s 50th
anniversary in 2027! One of our most exciting projects this
year will be replacing our 12-year-old website
with a beautifully streamlined version that is
mobile-adaptable. It will allow for a more intuitive experience
as users conduct research, read our weekday newsfeed or water
encyclopedia, and sign up for tours and events. Along with our
new website, we’ll be launching a new and improved
Aquafornia newsfeed
to better align with our reach across California and the
Colorado River Basin. By summer, we’ll have updated our
Layperson’s Guide to California Water in both
English and Spanish, published a new Klamath River
Map. Check out what new water tour
we’re pondering for the fall!
Congress is poised to reject President Donald Trump’s
“astounding” proposed cuts to the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration as well as NASA’s Earth science
programs. Trump sought to slash spending in scientific research
at NOAA and NASA, among other agencies. The administration’s
budget request would have eliminated all of NOAA’s research
laboratories, including those like the National Severe Storms
Laboratory that work to make weather forecasts more accurate.
The budget request also sought to cancel weather and climate
satellite programs and instruments at NOAA and NASA, including
multiple missions that had already been launched. Instead, the
House has passed a funding bill for the Commerce, Justice and
State Departments that funds science at NOAA and NASA.
California’s biggest rivers converge in the Sacramento-San
Joaquin River Delta, the waterways and wetlands forming an
ecosystem where fresh water meets salt water from San Francisco
Bay, and where native fish historically flourished. Every
few years, dozens of scientists examine the environmental
health of the estuary in a report card that considers water
flows, wildlife and habitat, as well as other factors. Their
latest shows the bay is mostly in fair condition and stable,
but the Delta is “mostly in poor condition and declining.”
According to the State of Our Estuary report, less fresh water
has been flowing through the Delta in recent years, which
creates “chronic artificial drought conditions” and harms fish.
Some four miles off the Southern California coast, a company is
betting it can solve one of desalination’s biggest problems by
moving the technology deep below the ocean’s surface.
OceanWell’s planned Water Farm 1 would use natural ocean
pressure to power reverse osmosis — a process that forces
seawater through membranes to filter out salt and impurities —
and produce up to 60 million gallons (nearly 225 million
liters) of freshwater daily. … OceanWell claims its deep sea
approach — 1,300 feet (400 meters) below the water’s surface —
would cut energy use by about 40% compared to conventional
plants.
How much fresh water is in the United States? It’s a tough
question, since most of the water is underground, accessible at
varying depths. In previous decades, it’s been answered
indirectly from data on rainfall and evaporation. Knowing how
much groundwater is available at specific locations is critical
to meeting the challenges of water scarcity and contamination.
Now, researchers at Princeton University and the University of
Arizona have answered this question in unprecedented breadth
and detail. Combining direct measurements with artificial
intelligence methods, their new map estimates groundwater depth
across the continental United States at a resolution of around
30 meters (98 feet).
… [Sen. Steve] Padilla, a Democrat whose district includes
San Diego and Imperial counties, introduced Senate Bills 886
and 887 on Tuesday. One would require the state Public
Utilities Commission to establish a tariff that data center
customers would have to pay. The other would assert that data
centers are not exempt from the California Environmental
Quality Act while also providing an avenue to fast-track
construction of centers that require large amounts of water and
energy. … [SB 887] would provide a path to
fast-tracking construction so long as the project meets
certain criteria regarding water use, clean energy and
infrastructure costs.
San Simeon residents and businesses will face sharp increases
in water and wastewater bills after the San Simeon Community
Services District (SSCSD) approved a new rate ordinance on Jan.
7, a decision the district said is necessary to keep the system
operating while it undergoes a potential dissolution. Under the
ordinance, water rates will rise by 32 percent and wastewater
rates by 36 percent, starting Feb. 7. San Luis Obispo County
Public Works Division Manager Suzy Watkins, who is serving as
the district’s interim general manager, said the increases are
meant to provide short-term financial stability.
A plan to raise a bridge in a flood-prone area of Highway 37 in
Marin County is in line for a $25 million funding boost. The
Transportation Authority of Marin is set to transfer the funds
to the California Department of Transportation for the Novato
Creek Bridge replacement project. The funds are part of the
county’s share of Regional Measure 3 bridge toll revenue
administered by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
… The project is expected to withstand sea-level rise
projections through 2050 and improve travel time and
reliability. Construction is expected to begin in the fall
and continue through winter 2030.
At the November meeting of the California Water Quality
Monitoring Council, a comprehensive presentation shed light on
the growing challenges posed by wildfires to drinking water
systems. The discussion covered wildfire trends and behavior in
California, the contamination that can occur in the aftermath
of fires, the critical importance of post-fire water quality
monitoring and the evolving best practices to address these
issues. As wildfires become more frequent and severe, the
presentation highlighted actions the State Water Board’s
Division of Drinking Water is taking to protect public health
and ensure the safety of drinking water systems in
fire-affected communities.
There’s a certain kind of queer magic that thrives
along the Russian River. For more than a century, queer
people have sought refuge in rural Sonoma County, leaving the
stress of city life for the peace — and parties — of the
sprawling river valley and redwood forests. … Now, two
groups, Shelterwood Collective and Solar Punk Farms, are
actively calling queer people back to the land, and not only to
party. They’re creating a different type of magic: Shelterwood
is restoring acres of forest through Indigenous practices like
controlled burns, and Solar Punk advocates for environmental
policy and farms the land — all while making space for queer
community-building, joy and self-expression.
The Trump administration issued a proposal Tuesday that would
clamp down on state water quality reviews and veto authority
under the Clean Water Act. The rule targets Section 401 of the
law, which authorizes states and tribes to assess pollution
risks from pipelines, hydropower dams and other major
infrastructure before they can be approved by a federal agency.
EPA officials said the proposal would reduce “regulatory
overreach” and prevent states from unlawfully slowing down
projects. “Our proposed rule would maximize efficiency and
eliminate delays in Clean Water Act permitting to unleash
energy dominance and strengthen the economy,” Jess Kramer, EPA
assistant administrator for water, said on a call with
reporters.
The Sites Project Authority is eyeing a significant milestone
this month in its endeavor to build a new water storage
reservoir in Colusa County. They are hopeful to secure a draft
water right permit for the future reservoir. The Sites
Authority said the State Water Resources Control Board might
issue the water right order as soon as this summer. Any delays
in issuing the water right could increase the project’s cost by
$20 million each month. … However, several organizations
have filed protests against the water right application,
including the Center for Biological Diversity, the Winnemem
Wintu Tribe, AquAlliance, and the Central Delta Water Agency.
… The seven basin states only have until February 14 to come
up with a plan for how to manage the river in dry times. The
current guidelines expire at the end of the year. If they test
their luck and fail to reach an agreement, they risk the
Interior Department making a plan for them or years of
litigation. The seven state negotiators are meeting for
four days in Salt Lake City this week as they work to
hash out a deal before that deadline. … The bureau released
a draft environmental impact statement on Friday that
lays out a series of pathways to manage the river system and
its major reservoirs. If the states reach a deal, the bureau
says it will insert that plan as the preferred way forward. …
If states can’t agree, the federal government will choose an
alternative itself.
… Terraine’s entire development utilizing water-wise
landscaping is believed to be the first of its kind in
northern Utah (several developments in southern Utah
have leaned into it as that region of the state is more closely
impacted by the declines along the Colorado
River). … The state has tried to push communities
to adopt water conservation ordinances governing new
construction, including making it a requirement for financial
incentives. But data provided to FOX 13 News by the Utah
Division of Water Resources shows 95 different communities in
the Great Salt Lake basin alone have yet to.
For years, the water table has been dropping beneath thousands
of acres of desert farmland in western Arizona, where a
Saudi-owned dairy company has been allowed to pump unlimited
amounts of groundwater to grow hay for its cows. But the
company and other landowners in the area will now face limits
under a decision by state officials to impose regulation. …
After conducting a review, the state Department of Water
Resources designated the Ranegras Plain area, located 100 miles
west of Phoenix, as a new “active management area” to preserve
the groundwater. …The state’s action will prohibit landowners
from irrigating any additional farmland in this part of La Paz
County and require those with high-capacity wells to start
reporting how much water they use. It also will bring other
changes, forming a local advisory council and requiring a plan
to reduce water use.
Colorado’s snowpack is officially back at all-time lows at the
statewide level, at just 63 percent of the long-term median for
the date. As of January 13, the snow water equivalent is 4.8
inches, slightly below a prior record set on January 13, 2000
of 4.9 inches. … The lack of snow is having an impact on
dryness in Colorado, as well, with about 74 percent of the
state now abnormally dry or worse, including 46 percent of the
state that’s in a technical stage of drought. This time last
year, 29 percent of the state was abnormally dry or worse and
11 percent of the state was in drought.
Coastal communities across California face increasing threats
from flooding with changes in storm patterns and sea-level. Now
all coastal areas across the state have future flood hazard
projections from the USGS Coastal Storm Modeling System
(CoSMoS) to inform coastal planning and risk reduction.
… With the release of data in Mendocino County, CoSMoS
projections are now available across the entire state,
including San Francisco Bay and the Channel
Islands. CoSMoS is a dynamic modeling approach that allows
for detailed projections of coastal flooding due to both future
sea level change and extreme storms, integrated with long-term
coastal evolution (i.e., beach changes and cliff
retreat).
