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] potentially giant data center is coming to the
Casper area, announced by Prometheus Hyperscale, in
partnership with Spiritus and Casper Carbon Capture.
… Thornock’s data centers will all use a water frugal
model, though it’s a different approach from the one Related
Digital outlines this week in its groundbreaking ceremony for
its $1.2 billion project in Cheyenne. … [Prometheus CEO
Trenton] Thornock’s system takes a geothermal approach to
cooling. It will pull up non-potable water
from far below the drinking water table for cooling its
systems, then send that water back where it came from.
On Oct. 7, the United States Senate confirmed William “Billy”
Kirkland as the assistant secretary of the Interior for Indian
Affairs with a 51-47 vote. Kirkland’s confirmation makes him
the highest-level Navajo currently serving in the U.S.
government. … Kirkland told the committee that he first
learned first-hand infrastructure struggles of reservation life
while hauling water to his grandmother Susie’s sheep camp in
LeChee. “Like on many reservations even today, water is scarce,
and electricity was just a dream,” he said.
The Trump administration is months behind schedule in
distributing an estimated $3 billion to remove and replace lead
water pipes, delaying infrastructure projects critical to
protecting people from the toxic heavy metal. The 2021
infrastructure law included $15 billion to help fund the
replacement of millions of lead-based drinking water pipes
nationwide. The money has been divvied up and distributed in
tranches to states each year, typically in the spring. But
nearly five months after EPA announced other funding this year
for water projects through the State Revolving Funds, money for
lead pipes remains held up.
A key facility at Southern California’s largest reservoir,
Diamond Valley Lake, was dedicated today in honor of a man who
was instrumental in getting the reservoir built – former
Metropolitan General Counsel N. Gregory Taylor. Current and
former water leaders from across Southern California gathered
to recognize Taylor’s legacy during a ceremony to name the
Inlet/Outlet Tower, which controls the flow of water into and
out of the reservoir, in his honor. Taylor, who passed away in
2023, used his visionary leadership and guidance to secure the
necessary approvals for the reservoir’s construction, ensuring
Southern California has reliable water supplies through
drought, emergencies and other challenges.
Santa Barbara County Public Works has wrapped up the Toro
Canyon Oil Water Separator Project, a multimillion-dollar
effort designed to stop crude oil from seeping into Toro Canyon
Creek and protect the surrounding environment. On October 7,
the Board of Supervisors approved the final accounting for the
$2.5 million project, completed by Innovative Construction
Services, Inc. Records of the Toro Canyon oil seep date back to
1882, when Occidental Mining and Petroleum Corporation (OMPC)
dug into the hillside hoping to strike oil. Instead, they hit a
water source.
As best practice, public water agencies prudently plan for
regional water supply needs and carefully piece together
resilient portfolios of various water supply sources. Zone 7 is
no different. … For these reasons, Zone 7 continues to
support investment in and modernization of the State Water
Project. We are supporters of the Delta Conveyance Project, the
Healthy Rivers and Landscapes Program and other efforts to
invest in and modernize the State Water Project. –Written by Valerie Pryor, general manager of the Zone 7
Water Agency.
Lately, the Imperial Valley has been graced by rain. Flooding
streets, darkening the desert floor, and releasing the scent of
desert soil. It has made me reflect on the impact of rain on
the psyche of the Imperial Valley. For us here in the Imperial
Valley, water is scarce and carefully managed; it also shapes
agriculture, daily life, and the way people relate to the land.
In a region defined by extremes, heat, and aridity, rain feels
like a special event.
Seeking to prevent the California State Water Resources Control
Board from stepping in to regulate groundwater in critically
overdrafted subbasins, local agencies are working to correct
deficiencies in their plans to protect groundwater. With
groundwater sustainability agencies formed and groundwater
sustainability plans evaluated, the state water board has moved
to implement the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act,
or SGMA. … Under probation, groundwater extractors in
the Tulare Lake subbasin face annual fees of $300 per well and
$20 per acre-foot pumped, plus a late reporting fee of 25%.
SGMA also requires well owners to file annual groundwater
extraction reports.
Last year’s snow deluge in California, which quickly erased a
two decade long megadrought, was essentially a
once-in-a-lifetime rescue from above, a new study found. Don’t
get used to it because with climate change the 2023 California
snow bonanza —a record for snow on the ground on April 1 — will
be less likely in the future, said the study in Monday’s
journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
… UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain, who wasn’t part
of the study but specializes in weather in the U.S. West, said,
“I would not be surprised if 2023 was the coldest, snowiest
winter for the rest of my own lifetime in California.”
Six tribes in the Upper Colorado River Basin, including two in
Colorado, have gained long-awaited access to discussions about
the basin’s water issues — talks that were formerly
limited to states and the federal government. Under an
agreement finalized this month, the tribes will meet every two
months to discuss Colorado River issues with an interstate
water policy commission, the Upper Colorado River Commission,
or UCRC. It’s the first time in the commission’s 76-year
history that tribes have been formally included, and the timing
is key as negotiations about the river’s future intensify.
… Most immediately, the commission wants a key number:
How much water goes unused by tribes and flows down to the
Lower Basin?
A group of Western lawmakers pressed the Biden administration
Monday to ramp up water conservation, especially in national
forests that provide nearly half the region’s surface water.
“Reliable and sustainable water availability is absolutely
critical to any agricultural commodity production in the
American West,” wrote the lawmakers, including Sens.
Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), in a
letter to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. The 31
members of the Senate and House, all Democrats except for Sen.
Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.), credited the administration for
several efforts related to water conservation, including
promoting irrigation efficiency as a climate-smart practice
eligible for certain USDA funding through the Inflation
Reduction Act.
A study led by NASA researchers provides new estimates of how
much water courses through Earth’s rivers, the rates at which
it’s flowing into the ocean, and how much both of those figures
have fluctuated over time—crucial information for understanding
the planet’s water cycle and managing its freshwater supplies.
The results also highlight regions depleted by heavy water use,
including the Colorado River basin in the United States, the
Amazon basin in South America, and the Orange River basin in
southern Africa.
State water management officials must work more closely with
local agencies to properly prepare California for the effects
of climate change, water scientists say. Golden State
officials said in the newly revised California Water
Plan that as the nation’s most populous state, California
is too diverse and complex for a singular approach to manage a
vast water network. On Monday, they recommended expanding the
work to better manage the state’s precious water resources —
including building better partnerships with communities most at
risk during extreme drought and floods and improving critical
infrastructure for water storage, treatment and distribution
among different regions and watersheds.
It’s the most frustrating part of conservation. To save water,
you rip out your lawn, shorten your shower time, collect
rainwater for the flowers and stop washing the car. Your water
use plummets. And for all that trouble, your water supplier
raises your rates. Why? Because everyone is using so much less
that the agency is losing money. That’s the dynamic in
play with Southern California’s massive wholesaler, the
Metropolitan Water District, despite full reservoirs after two
of history’s wettest winters. … Should water users be
happy about these increases? The answer is a counterintuitive
“yes.” Costs would be higher and water scarcer in the future
without modest hikes now.
A steady stream of water spilled from Lake Casitas Friday, a
few days after officials declared the Ojai Valley reservoir had
reached capacity for the first time in a quarter century. Just
two years earlier, the drought-stressed reservoir, which
provides drinking water for the Ojai
Valley and parts of Ventura, had dropped under 30%.
The Casitas Municipal Water District was looking at emergency
measures if conditions didn’t improve, board President Richard
Hajas said. Now, the lake is full, holding roughly 20 years of
water.
After nearly a century of people building dams on most of the
world’s major rivers, artificial reservoirs now represent an
immense freshwater footprint across the landscape. Yet, these
reservoirs are understudied and overlooked for their fisheries
production and management potential, indicates a study from the
University of California, Davis. The study, published
in the journal Scientific Reports, estimates that U.S.
reservoirs hold 3.5 billion kilograms (7.7 billion pounds) of
fish. Properly managed, these existing reservoir ecosystems
could play major roles in food security and fisheries
conservation.
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.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife recommended
Alternative 3 – Salmon Closure during the final days of the
Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) meeting mirroring
the opinions of commercial and recreational charter boat
anglers. The department’s position is a significant change from
early March. The PFMC meetings are being held in Seattle from
April 6 to 11, and the final recommendations of the council
will be forwarded to the California Fish and Game Commission in
May.
Sustaining the American Southwest is the Colorado River. But
demand, damming, diversion, and drought are draining this vital
water resource at alarming rates. The future of water in the
region – particularly from the Colorado River – was top of mind
at the 10th Annual Eccles Family Rural West Conference, an
event organized by the Bill Lane Center for the American West
that brings together policymakers, practitioners, and scholars
to discuss solutions to urgent problems facing rural Western
regions.
Today, Congresswoman Norma Torres and Congressman David Valadao
– members of the House Appropriations Committee – announced the
introduction of the bipartisan Removing Nitrate and Arsenic in
Drinking Water Act. This bill would amend the Safe Drinking
Water Act to provide grants for nitrate and arsenic reduction,
by providing $15 million for FY25 and every fiscal year
thereafter. The bill also directs the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to take into consideration the needs of
economically disadvantaged populations impacted by drinking
water contamination. The California State Water Resources
Control Board found the Inland Empire to have the highest
levels of contamination of nitrate throughout the state
including 82 sources in San Bernardino, 67 sources in Riverside
County, and 123 sources in Los Angeles County.
