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.
Please Note:
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.
An alfalfa-growing megafarm can’t halt a public nuisance
lawsuit accusing it of excessive groundwater pumping in the
southwest corner of Arizona, plagued with fissures and land
subsidence, a state judge ruled Friday. Fondomonte
Arizona LLC, which accounts for more than 80% of groundwater
pumping in the 912-square-mile Ranegras Plain Basin,
asked Maricopa County Judge Scott Minder to pause a 2024
lawsuit filed by Attorney General Kris Mayes so the Arizona
Department of Water Resources could first implement its own
restrictions. The department designated the basin an active
management area in January and has begun a two-year process
aimed at cutting groundwater pumping by 50% over 50
years.
Data center builders don’t tell the public how much water they
use, according to a new report — and the industry is
encroaching into water-stressed and vulnerable communities. The
report, by the think tank Next10 and researchers at Santa Clara
University, finds that planned data centers — the ganglia of
artificial intelligence — are spreading to regions
reliant on overtapped groundwater and strained surface water,
with potentially major effects in the Central and Imperial
Valleys. But, reinforcing previous studies, the
researchers found that a patchwork of state, federal and local
policies allow data center operators to avoid publicly
disclosing their actual water use.
Gov. Gavin Newsom set aside $25 million for the Healthy Rivers
and Landscapes Program in his May budget revision – a Delta
Plan option strongly supported by Solano County, Suisun City
and a number of other local agencies. However, a usual Solano
water ally is not happy with Sacramento. Restore the Delta, a
coalition of regional tribes, farming, environmental and
fishing interests, called the revise a “major blow to an
already declining Delta.” It was particularly unhappy that no
funding was provided for what it says are critical Delta levee
protections. … Solano County Water Agency General
Manager Chris Lee had not seen the revise details, so he did
not want to comment. However, he has strongly advocated for
the Healthy Rivers and Landscapes Program over an earlier
Unimpaired Flow state proposal that Lee and others have said
would devastate Solano.
The U.S. government has proposed a new water-sharing plan for
the drought-stricken Colorado River that could cut up
to 40% of current supplies to Arizona, California and
Nevada, according to a senior Arizona official. With a
20-year-old plan expiring this year, and talks between seven
states that share the river at an impasse, the federal
government late last week intervened with a strategy to deal
with severe water shortages, according to Tom Buschatzke,
director of the Arizona Department of Water
Resources. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation proposed a
10-year plan in which Arizona, California and Nevada would
potentially cut water use by up to 3 million acre-feet per year
to maintain water levels in Lake Mead and Lake Powell.
San Diego County officials are warning South Bay residents
about possible sewage impacts after failures in Tijuana’s
wastewater system prompted concerns about increased
cross-border flows into the United States. According to the
U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC),
emergency repairs are underway on a leak involving the Parallel
Gravity Line, a major pipeline that carries wastewater through
Tijuana. … During the repairs, pump stations known as PBCILA
and PB1 will be taken offline, forcing additional wastewater
from Tijuana’s sanitation system toward the treatment plant
near the U.S.-Mexico border. Officials say South Bay
residents could notice stronger sewage odors and increased
wastewater flows in the Tijuana River Channel while repairs are
underway.
The West is entering the summer in a drought. The Wyoming state
engineer’s office is in charge of water rights in the state.
It’s preparing for the summer with some water restrictions
already in place. Wyoming Public Radio’s Kamila Kudelska spoke
with Deputy State Engineer Jack Morey to learn about what this
summer might look like. … KK: Could you say some
examples of some tributaries that would be affected that you
said have never been affected before? JM: On the western side
of the state, there’s a lot of tributaries. … I think it
would be safe to say pretty much any tributary in Wyoming,
there’s a chance of being on regulation this summer.
As the summer boating season gets underway with Memorial Day
weekend, golden mussels continue to pose a threat to
California’s waterways, officials said. The invasive
mussels clog critical water delivery pipes, damage boats and
outcompete native fish. They also spread rapidly,
mostly via boats. On Tuesday, Kern County supervisors
declared a local emergency over the mussels, joining San
Joaquin County. Many lakes and waterways across California,
including Lake Tahoe, now require inspections before you can
put your boat in the water. “Golden mussels are not in Lake
Tahoe, and you can help us keep it that way,” the Lake Tahoe
Invasive Species Program said. Motorized boats are required to
be decontaminated before entering the lake.
Scientists predict that an upcoming “Super El Niño” will make
2026 to 2027 the hottest years on record and bring significant
sea level rise to the Bay. An update on Thursday from the
National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center said that
El Niño is likely to emerge as soon as May and persist through
the end of winter. While El Niño, a warming of the ocean,
and La Niña, a cooling of the ocean, are natural patterns that
come and go every 2 to 7 years, this year’s El Niño could be
one of the strongest on record. … Beyond sustained sea
level rise, scientists expect major storms and flooding
starting this winter. They predict that these storms will be
particularly strong as the effects of El Niño compound with the
effects of climate change.
For the first time in three years, Morro Bay fisherman Mark
Tognazzini sailed into the harbor this month with a catch of
wild Chinook salmon. The state reopened the commercial salmon
fishery on May 1 after a three-year hiatus, and the fishermen
who survived the closure readied their boats and dashed out to
sea to catch their share of an icon of the Pacific coast.
… From May 1 to 6, fishermen across the state caught
about 16,975 salmon, according to the California Department of
Fish and Wildlife. After a two-day break to allow the
California Department of Fish and Wildlife to tally the number
of salmon caught, the fishermen launched for another five days
of fishing on May 9.
Stockton assured thousands of residents [last] week that
its tap water is safe to drink despite a foul odor, while
residents of a Mountain View neighborhood continue to face boil
restrictions weeks after their water supply was
contaminated. Stockton’s supplier, the California
Water Service, said the odor was caused by a seasonal sourcing
shift but that the supply continues to meet safety standards.
… Meanwhile, in Mountain View, water samples taken at
service lines near homes north of Cuesta Park came back clear
of bacteria this week, while a fire hydrant in the affected
area tested positive for bacteria and was disconnected from the
system, the city said in an update Friday.
In many San Luis Obispo County communities, water is the single
biggest limiting factor on development. Social media commenters
with a shallow understanding of water economics frequently
suggest that water districts are weak willed. The argument
is, “You got all the water you need, the biggest ocean in the
world is right there. Go get it.” … The county is studying
desalination as a resilient source of drinking water, and there
are certainly communities that need water — Nipomo, Los Osos
and Cambria spring to mind. But when wells and reservoirs
are full of relatively cheap water, it is hard to sell
expensive desal. It has been a long evolution of finding the
easiest cheapest water sources.
Just off Palm Canyon Drive in Borrego Springs, a dead honey
mesquite tree remains rooted in the hot sand. It’s lifeless but
not yet useless — not to the creatures that find shade under
its branches or the plants that count on its nutrients. Over
the last year, mesquite has been at the heart of a growing
water war in Borrego Springs, a tiny but scenic town deep in
the San Diego County desert that for years seemed blessed with
a rare combination of blazing sun and a font of available
groundwater. A century ago, abundant green mesquite blanketed
the landscape. But in the decades since, the forest the trees
form has deteriorated — just as the town has pumped too much
water out of its underground subbasin to sustain its farms,
resorts, golf courses and some 3,000 residents. Now,
controversy has broken out over whether that mesquite forest
relies on the same water as the town.
The likelihood of a potentially powerful El Niño taking shape
in the Pacific Ocean is rising, heightening concerns that
Southern California could be in for an extreme rainy season.
There is now an 82% chance that El Niño is likely to
emerge over the next few months, up from the 61%
chance estimated a month ago. And there’s now a 96% chance
that the climate pattern — characterized by warmer
ocean waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific — will
be in force this winter, the National Weather Service’s Climate
Prediction Center said Thursday. … While it’s no given
that El Niño will bring a potent rain season to Southern
California, some previously high-powered patterns have been
monsters.
Arizona climate experts recommended Thursday that Governor
Katie Hobbs renew a drought declaration in effect since 1999 as
the state continues to reel from the hottest March on
record. … In Northern Arizona, wildfires are
already raging about a month ahead of schedule. Little to no
snowpack, drought-stressed trees and a lot of dead pinyon and
juniper means a higher risk this year for crown fires, in which
fire climbs to the tops of trees and quickly spreads across the
canopy. … Both the 1999 declaration and a later drought
declaration enacted in 2007 by then-Governor Janet Napolitano
will remain in effect for the foreseeable future. Hobbs last
renewed the declarations in 2024.
After months of pressing Western states to come to their own
agreement, the Trump administration told their leaders it’s
drawing up a 10-year plan for dealing with water shortages on
the Colorado River. The river is a major water source
forSouthern California and much of the
Southwest, but its largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and
Lake Powell, are severely depleted and their
levels continue to drop. News of the federal government’s
preliminary plan surfaced Wednesday during
a meeting in Phoenix. Tom Buschatzke, director of the
Arizona Department of Water Resources, said federal officials
informed state water managers they are developing a
“10-year framework” with specific rules requiring water
reductions that would be reassessed every two years.
Golden mussels are continuing to spread throughout
California, potentially imperiling key water infrastructure and
leading Kern County to declare an emergency. … This
week, Kern County officials declared a local emergency over the
invasive species. … Kern County is the second to
declare an emergency due to the invading bivalves. On
April 28, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors also
declared a local emergency, reporting that golden mussels had
already affected key infrastructure, including a $100 million
floodgate. And the invasive mussels are also impacting the
Bay Area. Earlier this month, water officials in Santa Clara
County reported two golden mussels were found for the first
time in their water treatment facilities.
After nearly a decade of advocacy, residents of the
unincorporated community of Tombstone Territory in Fresno
County are now connected to a reliable water source. Families
in Tombstone Territory endured years of unsafe and unreliable
water supply, according to the nonprofit organization
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability. The group
says residents dealt with wells going dry and with contaminated
water. But residents in the area, with roughly 40 homes,
recently celebrated a consolidation project that connected the
community to the City of Sanger’s water system. The
consolidation project cost $5 million. The effort is part of a
state program known as the Safe and Affordable Funding for
Equity and Resilience, or SAFER.
Chants of “no data center!” echoed in the Utah Capitol Thursday
as protesters carried a letter to the office of Gov. Spencer
Cox demanding independent reviews of the planned 40,000-acre
Stratos project in Box Elder County and a “genuine public
comment period.” … With signs saying “Keep sharks out of
the Great Salt Lake” and “You can’t drink data,” they sang,
chanted and called for state officials to press pause on the
fast-moving Stratos proposal. … Cox said the developers
are committing to pursue other types of energy apart from
natural gas that could include low- or no-emissions solutions,
and he’s asked them to publish a water plan showing how they’ll
avoid any degradation to the lake. … Opponents say the
Great Salt Lake Basin doesn’t have an extra drop to give.
Rain and melted snow from mountain forests in northern and
eastern Arizona flow into Horseshoe and Bartlett dams, where
the water is transported by Salt River Project’s canals to
water taps in the Valley. But over seven decades, that water
has been depositing natural sediment at the bottom of Horseshoe
and Bartlett reservoirs, reducing their combined ability to
store water by about 15%, according to the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation’s 2021 survey. As the Verde River flows south into
Salt River, both together supply roughly 40% of the surface
water for the Phoenix metropolitan area. … Gilbert and
22 other Valley municipalities, tribal and agricultural
entities are partnering with SRP and the Reclamation Bureau on
a feasibility study to evaluate four proposed project
alternatives to restore and enhance the storage capacity of
Verde River water.
Emergency repairs began Thursday night on a leaking wastewater
pipe in Tijuana, which may result in stronger odors, increased
wastewater, and potential beach closures, the US International
Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) reports. The repair on the
leaking Parallel Gravity Line is expected to take at least 24
hours. During the repair window, two pump stations — PBCILA and
PB1 — will be taken offline, rerouting flow from the Tijuana
sanitation system to the South Bay International Wastewater
Treatment Plant. The IBWC warned that area residents may notice
increased wastewater and stronger odors along the Tijuana River
Channel as a result. Transboundary flows, which have been a
chronic driver of the ongoing sewage crisis that has prompted
beach closures from Imperial Beach to Coronado for years,
remain a concern.
