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 Department of Water Resources said Monday the State Water
Project will supply 10% of the water that local agencies
requested for the new water year. The initial number is based
on current weather and water conditions, how much water is
stored in reservoirs and the assumption that the rest of the
year could be drier than normal, the state agency said. The
allocation is then adjusted month-to-month based on new data,
with a final number typically set in May or June. … In
Monday’s statement, the agency added that the
reservoirs statewide are slightly above
normal, at 114% of average typical for this time of
year.
A Trump administration proposal to reduce the scope of the
Clean Water Act would exclude more waters than
at any other point in the past 50 years. But it also left open
the possibility of going even further. Administration officials
last week unveiled their plan to define “waters of the U.S.,” a
frequently litigated term that delineates which waters and
wetlands are regulated by the 1972 law. … [The proposal]
suggests including only rivers, streams and other waterways
that flow at least for the duration of the “wet season.” The
proposal also floats an alternative approach: exclusively
regulating perennial waters and wetlands.
… The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is
forecasting La Niña conditions for this winter, possibly
switching to neutral midway through. … When we look at the
consequences for snow, La Niña does tend to mean more snow in
the Pacific Northwest and less in the Southwest. … This
winter’s forecast isn’t extreme at this point, so the impact on
the year’s water supplies is a pretty big question mark. …
The West’s water infrastructure system was built assuming there
would be a natural reservoir of snow in the mountains.
California relies on the snowpack for about a third of
its annual water supply. However, rising temperatures
are leading to earlier snowmelt in some areas.
Other snowpack and water supply news around the West:
… A 2024 federal report found that U.S. data centers consume
17 billion gallons of water a year, but that’s a drop in the
bucket compared to industries like mining or farming, which use
billions of gallons every day. But demand from data centers is
expected to double or even quadruple soon, according to that
report. … By 2027, AI is expected to account for
28% of the global data center market, according to Goldman
Sachs. … This data center boom is not just happening in
northern Nevada. Across the West, including Colorado,
Wyoming and Arizona, states have rolled out major tax
incentives to attract data centers, but rising concern over
their water use is fueling public pushback.
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A major November deadline for Colorado River negotiations
passed without resolution, though hope remains for an agreement
to avoid federal intervention. … What’s being negotiated are
the future operating guidelines for the two large storage
reservoirs. The guidelines must be realistic and resilient and
not allow one reservoir to be drained to shore up the other, as
has happened in recent years. Both reservoirs have hovered near
critical levels for a few years. These talks are critical for
Colorado Springs. Half of the city’s water comes from the
Colorado River Basin through trans-basin diversions that cross
the Continental Divide.
The Paso Robles Area Groundwater Authority needs help funding
its operating costs next year. On Monday, the agency’s Board of
Directors approved a budget of $944,952 for fiscal year 2025-26
— with a $300,000 shortfall for costs planned for January to
June of next year. The agency’s Board of Directors was
forced to abandon water use fees after a majority of property
owners objected to them this year. Now, the agency is looking
for other ways to cover its operating costs. … On
Monday, the board voted unanimously to ask the four
participating Groundwater Sustainability Agencies to contribute
a combined total of $300,000 to bridge the funding gap.
University of Arizona researchers are testing natural plant
additives called biostimulants to help lettuce farms in Yuma
grow more crops with less water during the peak growing season.
The research comes as drought threatens the Colorado
River, Arizona’s primary water source. Yuma County
supplies about 90% of the leafy greens Americans eat from
November through March. … [Assistant Professor Ali] Mohammed
found that pairing biostimulants with smart irrigation sensors
and organic farming techniques significantly boosted crop
yields. He estimates this combination could allow Yuma’s
organic farms to skip a few watering cycles during the growing
season, potentially saving 1 to 2 inches of water per
acre.
… Iran’s escalating water and environmental problems are the
predictable outcome of decades of treating the region’s finite
water resources as if they were limitless. … Iran has
relied heavily on water-intensive irrigation to grow food in
dry landscapes and subsidized water and energy use, resulting
in overpumping from aquifers and falling groundwater supplies.
… The country needs to start to decouple its economy
from water consumption by investing in sectors that generate
value and employment opportunities with minimal water
use. Agricultural water consumption can be reduced by
producing higher-value, less water-intensive crops, taking into
account food security, labor market and cultural
considerations.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has unveiled
preliminary flood maps for Butte County and the City of Chico,
highlighting revised flood hazards along various sources in the
region. These maps aim to assist building officials,
contractors and homeowners in making informed mitigation
decisions, fostering safer and more disaster-resilient
communities. Before the new Flood Insurance Rate Maps
(FIRMs) take effect, a 90-day appeal period will run from Dec.
3, 2025, to March 3, 2026. During this time, residents or
businesses with technical and scientific data, such as detailed
hydraulic or hydrologic information, can challenge the flood
risk details on the preliminary maps.
On November 19, 2025, the Klamath Tribes filed a motion to
amend their petition in the Circuit Court of Klamath County.
The amended petition seeks to reverse recent illegal orders
that replaced a long-time administrative law judge in the
Klamath Basin Adjudication (KBA) on the heels of a secret deal
cut between the Oregon State Office of Administrative Hearings
and certain water users in the Upper Klamath Basin.
… The KBA is a several-decades-old lawsuit pending in
the Circuit Court of Klamath County. It is quantifying the
federal reserved water rights of the Klamath Tribes in the
Klamath River Basin.
Many thousands of fall-run Chinook salmon migrated beneath the
Golden Gate Bridge into the upper Sacramento River to spawn
this fall. About 100 of the adult fish carried small tags that
signaled their location as they went. A monitoring network
tracked the fish, showing their progress online in real time as
part of a joint project by scientists at NOAA Fisheries and UC
Santa Cruz. They followed adult salmon through the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta into
Central Valley Rivers and their tributaries. … The
research is funded by California’s State Water Board to learn
more about how water temperatures influence the salmon that
support valuable commercial and recreational fisheries.
Deep in the heart of the Tijuana River Valley is a small
commune of growers who thrive despite being in an area that has
been described as “an environmental disaster.” The site is
known as the Tijuana River Valley Community Garden, which is
owned by the County of San Diego and managed by a private
contractor. … One concern is whether the food grown by
[grower Ed] Whited and the others is safe for consumption,
considering the amount of contamination in the area, especially
with the heavily-polluted Tijuana River next door. “Our worst
problem here is the flooding,” he said. “The river runs right
by here; if a plant is touched by water or potentially touched
by water, it’s no longer edible or considered edible and it’s a
complete loss.”
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum signed a directive Tuesday that
could allow local irrigation districts and other Bureau of
Reclamation customers more say in managing their federally
funded projects. … Burgum asserted his Secretarial Order 3446
could benefit water and power users throughout the 17 Western
states served by the bureau. … A dam-raising
project in California’s San Joaquin Valley will
exemplify how the new system might work, according to an
Interior Department news release. Burgum’s order directs the
Bureau of Reclamation to work with local water and power
partners to modify certain contracts and establish new contract
terms.
Chinook salmon are once again populating an upper part of the
largest local tributary of the San Francisco Bay, thanks to the
recent completion of a multiyear fish passage and restoration
project. … The salmon’s passage up Alameda Creek,
which carves through Niles Canyon and the Sunol Wilderness
Regional Preserve to the Diablo Range, was made possible this
year through the relocation of a PG&E-owned gas pipeline
near the Interstate 680 overpass, CalTrout wrote. … This
month, PG&E and CalTrout wrapped up efforts to relocate the
pipeline and bury it under the riverbed, allowing salmon to
migrate upstream once more.
Water from the Colorado River and its tributaries irrigates
farms, sprinkles lawns and quenches the thirst of millions
across Utah and the greater Southwest. While only 27% of the
state’s water comes from it, some 60% of Utahns rely on the
Colorado River for drinking water, agriculture and industries
such as energy and mining. … With less water flowing
through the river system, though, states will have to cut back
their consumption. But negotiators can’t agree on who carries
that burden. If that plan includes mandatory cuts to Utah’s
water use, that may affect cities, tribes and farmers across
the state.
An appeal submitted last week may pause the Delta Conveyance
Project (DCP) if the Delta Stewardship Council, the state body
charged with implementing a Delta sustainability plan, upholds
the appeal. … The state Delta Protection Commission
on Nov. 17 voted 9-0 with one abstention to appeal an Oct. 14
certification by DWR that the tunnel project is consistent with
a regional management strategy known as the Delta Plan.
… The letter details some 3,800 acres of farmland that
would be lost to the project, along with damages to the
region’s $250 million recreation industry.
Water replenishment charges imposed by the Coachella Valley
Water District are unconstitutional taxes because the district
failed to justify its practice of charging customers in
different areas unequal rates, a California appeals court held.
The California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, held these
charges violate the allocation rule in the California
constitution which requires fees and taxes to be fairly
allocated among payers. The court determined the district
couldn’t provide a reasonable justification for charging higher
rates to residents in its western area compared to those in its
eastern area, so the court affirmed a refund of about $13.4
million.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power says it has
captured nearly 5.5 billion gallons of water since Oct. 1
following the recent storms. … According to the National
Weather Service, downtown Los Angeles received more than five
and a half inches of rain in November, making it the 5th
wettest November on record. … The DWP captured rain
through stormwater infrastructure, residential rain barrels and
cisterns, and large spreading grounds such as the Tujunga
Spreading Grounds that help recharge underwater aquifers, also
known as “groundwater banks.”
If you want a glass of water with your meal in Aurora, soon you
might have to speak up. Aurora Water is asking local
restaurants to move to a water-by-request-only model.
… It’s the latest effort by Aurora Water to conserve as
much water as possible. It’s asking restaurant owners to only
serve a glass of water if the customer asks for it. It’s not a
law or an ordinance. Just an ask. … Aurora Water says its
long-term conservation strategy is necessary if customers want
to keep their water bills affordable. ”It is actually
becoming much harder to go out and acquire water rights. And
it’s very expensive to do this,” said [Aurora Water's deputy
director of internal and external affairs, Shonnie] Cline.
