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 cities of Phoenix and Tucson are setting up a new system
for sharing water among cities, towns and other water users in
Arizona. City officials are framing it as a way to help keep
cities around the state from going dry in the face of a
shrinking Colorado River. The program, which will be called the
“Secure Water Arizona Program” or “SWAP” will create an
emergency reserve of water and connect cities that are
interested in buying and selling water from other cities and
businesses. … SWAP is designed to be a completely
voluntary program that can help cities and towns facing water
cutbacks.
The California Department of Water Resources says it is ending
its invasive mussel inspection program at Lake Oroville, the
Thermalito Forebay and the Thermalito Afterbay. Effective
Wednesday, DWR says watercraft inspections, decontamination
services and seal checking at the Oroville facilities are no
longer required. … The decision to implement an
invasive mussel boat inspection program at DWR’s Oroville
facilities in May 2025 was based on available information about
how best to protect DWR infrastructure from golden mussel
establishment. Additional analyses of golden mussel biology and
habitat requirements, as well as an assessment of DWR’s
Oroville infrastructure, have shown a lower risk of golden
mussel establishment than was originally anticipated.
Arizona judges won’t force state officials to determine if
there should be greater state oversight of water use along the
upper San Pedro River. In a new ruling Wednesday, the state
Court of Appeals acknowledged that state law requires the
Arizona Department of Water Resources to “periodically review”
whether to create what are known as “active management areas”
in parts of the state which now have minimal to no limits on
groundwater pumping. Such a designation would
give the state the power to impose new restrictions on pumping.
The court did not dispute arguments by two environmental groups
that it has been more than 20 years since the state agency
conducted such a review of the area.
Colorado forecasters expect the recent pattern of wetter,
cooler weather to continue into the start of May, offering
relief — but not real healing — from drought conditions after a
historically hot, dry winter. … Widespread drought conditions
persist across Colorado, with the U.S. Drought Monitor showing
nearly the entire Western Slope under extreme — Level 3 of 4 —
or exceptional — Level 4 of 4 — drought conditions. The
northwest corner of Colorado is facing some of the worst
drought conditions in the entire country. … [T]he drought
conditions are so severe that the precipitation, which is about
average for April, will hardly make a dent.
… Rep. Jared Huffman, the top Democrat on the House Natural
Resources Committee, has opened an investigation into the Trump
administration’s role in brokering a potential deal that would
send Eel River water to a water district in Southern
California, roughly 600 miles away. The controversy centers on
the Potter Valley Project, a pair of aging dams on the Eel
River that PG&E no longer wants to operate. Under a deal
reached in early 2025 and supported by tribal nations,
conservation groups and five counties, the Scott and Cape Horn
dams were set to be removed, which would have made the Eel the
longest free-flowing river in California and reopened hundreds
of miles of salmon habitat.
With watering restrictions in place in many communities
across the Denver metro area, more people are considering
different ways to conserve water and use it in their lawns.
Installing a rain barrel can be a great option, but there are
some rules in place for how you can use that water.
… Under Colorado state law, homeowners can install up to
two rain barrels with a combined storage of 110 gallons of
water or less. … Rainwater that’s collected can be used
only for outdoor use, like watering your lawns, plants, or
gardens. … The rainwater collected must also be used
outdoors on the same property it was collected on.
As thirsty downstream states along the Colorado
River drainage continue to clamor for water,
Wyoming is having problems of its own, as
indicated by low levels at Fontenelle Reservoir in
Lincoln County. As of early April, Fontenelle Reservoir was at
49% of its full storage capacity, according to the Bureau of
Reclamation — despite March inflows roughly 99% of average.
Downstream from Fontenelle, Flaming Gorge Reservoir will be
drawn down between 660,000 and up to 1 million
acre-feet between now and April 2027, according to the Bureau
of Reclamation. … So far, there are not any plans for
similar drawdowns at Fontenelle Reservoir. But some Wyomingites
wonder if that’s inevitable as drought conditions persist
across the West.
A Northern California member of Congress is opening an inquiry
into the Trump administration’s bid to stop dam removal on the
Eel River, citing potential legal,
environmental, economic and water-supply problems. Rep. Jared
Huffman, D-San Rafael, wants details on why Agriculture
Secretary Brooke Rollins is advocating for a Southern
California water agency to buy the century-old Potter Valley
hydroelectric project in Mendocino and Lake counties,
including its two dams, and continue operating
it. … “My concern is that this is part of a bigger
water play,” Huffman told the Chronicle. … “There’s also a
history here that can’t be divorced from this moment: Folks in
Southern California and the Central Valley have had their eye
on Eel River water for a long time.”
San Joaquin County leaders are declaring a local state of
emergency due to the impact of golden mussels in the area. The
San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors passed a motion Tuesday
to declare the local emergency on golden mussels, an invasive
species that officials say are threatening the local
ecosystem and infrastructure in Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta. By declaring the resolution, the board of
supervisors are requesting that Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaim a
state of emergency and multiple state agencies, including the
California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Department of Water
of Resources and State Water Resources Control Board, provide
assistance on the issue.
… [T]he second-largest new data center being considered
statewide … would be less than half a mile from … the
center of Imperial Valley. If finished by 2028, as the
developer expects, the at least 950,000-square-foot, two-story
data center could be the largest operating statewide, taking up
17 football fields’ worth of land. The roughly $10
billion, 330-megawatt data center would require 750,000 gallons
of water a day to operate, said developer Sebastian Rucci, who
insists electricity and water costs won’t rise due to the data
center. … On top of the data center boom in California,
the hundreds of water districts, a deepening
Southwestern megadrought and the diminishing of the Colorado
River increasingly complicate water issues.
On Tuesday, April 28, Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz (CA-25) pressed
The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Administrator
Lee Zeldin at the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on
Environment hearing on the FY2027 EPA Budget, securing a
commitment from the administrator to visit the New River
region, engage with the binational water quality study, and
apply the same federal model used to address the Tijuana River
crisis to the New River in the Imperial Valley. … Ruiz
detailed the severe conditions facing communities along the New
River, which originates south of Mexicali carrying raw sewage,
industrial waste, pesticides, and heavy metals across the
border into Calexico before traveling sixty miles through
Imperial County and emptying into the Salton
Sea.
Large swaths of the United States are in desperate need of
soaking rainfall as drought continues to deepen. … The
driest state compared with its average has been
Utah, where there has been a 59 percent
reduction in precipitation since October. Not far behind are
Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico, seeing a 46,
43 and 39 percent reduction, respectively. “The West’s
hydrology and climate are very much out of sync with the
historical rhythm,” said assistant Utah state climatologist Jon
Meyer. … Record low winter snowfall and record high
March temperatures resulted in extremely premature snowpack
melt and dismal water runoff volumes. That is also the case in
Colorado, where “the mountain snowpack is in historically bad
shape,” Colorado state climatologist Russ Schumacher wrote
earlier this month.
A bill that would have effectively weakened protections for
animals and plants under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was
pulled last-minute before a vote by the U.S. House of
Representatives on Earth Day (April 22). For endangered
California condors and steelhead trout
recovering in the backcountry canopies and streams of Los
Padres National Forest, no vote is good news, according to
Central Coast environmental groups. … It would have
slowed the process of listing species and fast-tracked
delisting — meaning, if the federal government wished to remove
any species from protection, it would have been able to
do so more quickly.
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has introduced its first
nationwide platform designed to help water planners evaluate
whether current and future water needs can be met. The new
National Water Availability Assessment Data Companion aims to
simplify access to critical information that was previously
scattered across multiple sources. According to the agency,
nearly 27 million people in the United States—around 8% of the
population—live in regions where water demand regularly
approaches or exceeds natural supply. The newly released tool
addresses longstanding challenges in accessing comprehensive
datasets by consolidating information on water supply and
demand for approximately 80,000 watersheds.
The billionaire-backed California Forever project, which is in
talks with Suisun City to expand the city’s borders and build a
city for thousands of residents, could threaten the sensitive
Jepson Prairie habitat right outside of its borders and the
endangered species who live there, environmentalists said
during a tour of the site on Friday. Jepson Prairie is a
1,566-acre preserve south of Dixon and east of Travis Air Force
Base that is home to several vernal pools, which are seasonal
wetlands that fill with water in the winter and dry up in the
summer. When the pools exist, flowers bloom around the
perimeter and shrimp and salamanders lay their eggs. When the
pools dry up, they look like muddy plains, which is beneficial
for certain crustaceans.
Large bundles of rock and wood called ‘rockwads’ are being put
into the Sacramento River just north of Turtle
Bay to provide a vital area for young fish to hide. Project
leaders said they hope the novel approach to salmon recovery
will recreate natural hiding areas for native fish. People’s
use of the Sacramento River over the last several decades has
left it fairly bare of debris. The installation of the Shasta
Dam essentially blocking off the historic debris flow that
would come down from the mountains following major storms. That
debris that once acted as hiding spots for young salmon and
trout to avoid larger predators. This has been one of several
factors experts believe to have contributed to California’s
salmon population declining.
Sycamore Island, a 600-acre property on the banks of
the San Joaquin River in the Central Valley,
is a little pocket of nature in the middle of a metropolis.
… Last week, Sycamore Island became part of California’s
largest expansion to its state park system in decades. On Earth
Day, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled plans for three new California
state parks and announced the expansion of several more. The
state parks expansion touches the redwoods, the Sierra Nevada,
the Pacific Coast and the Central Valley. … The San
Joaquin River Parkway, including Sycamore Island, is a proposed
state park that would consist of 874 acres of riverfront
property and will provide river access and recreation
opportunities for communities in Fresno and Madera.
Spring is already a month in, and rainfall has been scarce
across San Diego. That’s prompting more homeowners to rethink
their backyard landscaping — swapping out thirsty grass lawns
for drought-tolerant plants that are better for the environment
and easier on the wallet. Plants native to Southern California
are built for dry conditions. Drought-tolerant species have
evolved to thrive through the region’s notoriously dry spring
and summer seasons — and now, more residents are taking note.
Sprinkler-heavy landscapes are giving way to low-water designs
that reduce both maintenance and monthly water bills.
With the drought-riddled Colorado River careening toward crisis
levels in the coming months and seven Western states bitterly
deadlocked on how to share its diminished flows, one faction is
attempting to break off and go it alone. Over the past week,
the downstream states of Arizona, California and
Nevada have been negotiating feverishly over a
potential deal to divvy up water delivery cuts for the next few
years and develop a handful of tools for blunting the pain that
will stem from them. It’s a Hail Mary bid to exert some
control over their own fate as the Interior Department prepares
to begin unilaterally operating the river’s system of dams and
canals starting in October.
Utah has taken steps to rein in water use by large data centers
but conservationists and other advocates said more needs to be
done to protect the state’s dwindling water resources.
Lawmakers recently passed the Data Center Water Transparency
Amendments, which require server farm developers to provide an
estimate of future water use. The facilities often need
massive amounts of water to cool their servers,
particularly for artificial intelligence systems. … Utah
is a rapidly growing hub for data centers, featuring 48
operational facilities with more than 900 megawatts of
capacity.
