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.
While some Americans were gazing at tulips and mowing lawns,
people in Colorado and Wyoming were getting
out their snow shovels. A late snowstorm swept over the Rocky
Mountains and into the High Plains on Tuesday, bringing heavy,
wet accumulation north of Denver into southeastern Wyoming.
… Even as Denver imposed lawn-watering restrictions to
address what have been low mountain snows, the city was facing
what may be its biggest snowfall of the season.
… But one storm won’t solve the West’s water
problems. A report from the National Drought
Mitigation Center said recent precipitation helped boost
topsoil moisture and reduced irrigation demands, but hasn’t
changed a “mostly bleak” water outlook heading into the
summer.
The Colorado River is flowing at record-low depths, raising
concerns for water providers and consumers across the Western
Slope. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA), the Colorado River below the Grand
Valley Diversion near Palisade reached a maximum depth of 9.91
feet in June 2024. … Mesa County is in an exceptional
drought, according to the Drought Response Information Project
(DRIP). … Ty Jones, district manager of Clifton Water
District, said the river is flowing at less than a
fourth of what it was in 2025. “We’re seeing
things never seen before, in all the records that we’ve kept in
the last 100 plus years,” Jones said. “I mean, we’ve not seen
that here in the valley.”
Lake Oroville [the anchor reservoir of the State Water
Project] is nearing full capacity at 97%, according to the
Department of Water Resources (DWR). The lake is at an
elevation of 893 feet as of May 1. Releases from Lake Oroville
to the Feather River have decreased from 1,700 cubic feet per
second to 1,300 cubic feet per second on May 3. This accounts
for reduced inflows and optimizes storage for water supply,
recreation and fish and wildlife enhancement. Releases from the
Feather River are assessed by DWR daily. DWR manages water
releases from Oroville Dam for flood control during the winter
and early spring months. … Due to dry conditions
and low snowpack in the Feather River watershed, DWR has the
flexibility to conserve water and encroach into the flood
space.
As New Mexico faces extreme drought, the state has launched a
new website to track the water goals the
governor set two years ago. Extremely low snowpack
levels threaten the state’s rivers and aquifers this
year, a trend that’s expected to continue, with a
recent report from water experts across the state projecting
that changing climate patterns and groundwater overuse could
reduce water supplies by 25% in coming decades. The remaining
waters are more vulnerable to pollution concerns from wildfires
and other contaminants. The dashboard includes data on water
conservation, development of new water resources and protection
of existing water resources.
An annual groundwater conference is being moved this year from
downtown Sacramento to Clovis in an attempt to reach those most
affected by the state’s new groundwater law – farmers. The
conference, “Faces of SGMA Implementation Summit” put on by the
Groundwater Resources Association will be held June 2-3 at the
Clovis Veterans Memorial Building. … The Groundwater
Resources Association’s mission is to help improve groundwater
supply by fostering greater education. To that end, this year’s
conference will feature large and small
growers who will give examples of how they’ve
modified their operations under SGMA.
City officials shut off water access to the planned
Project Blue data centers complex and are demanding
reimbursement after discovering what they call unauthorized use
of city water at the construction site. Tucson City
Manager Timothy Thomure sent a letter to the project’s
developers Monday, stating that the city revoked a construction
water meter obtained by contractor Ames Construction, which was
using city water for “dust control purposes at the Project Blue
site” on South Houghton Road near the Pima County
Fairgrounds. The letter claims the contractor obtained the
water meter within the Tucson Water service area and
transported it out for use at the site. “This was completely
unacceptable and was terminated by Tucson Water immediately,”
the letter says.
A citizen-led coalition has submitted more than 151,000
signatures in an effort to put a half-cent sales tax increase
before San Diego voters this November to address the
long-running Tijuana River sewage crisis. The proposed “San
Diego Health and Safety Act” would direct funding toward
stopping toxic sewage pollution from the Tijuana River,
expanding health care access and childcare support, and
strengthening wildfire and 9-1-1 response. The San Diego
County Registrar of Voters has 30 days to verify the signatures
before the measure can be placed on the ballot. While
supporters say the region has waited years for meaningful
solutions, not everyone is convinced a tax increase is the
right approach.
… Firefighters and wildfire experts say that perception
matches reality. Wildfires have become more intense and more
extreme, according to Bakersfield Battalion Chief AJ Clark, who
pointed to major incidents in recent years. … But
according to those who have spent decades studying this
phenomenon, the drivers behind worsening wildfire seasons may
surprise people who assume drought is the primary cause.
“Plants are the source of the fire, the fuel,” UC Riverside
wildfire expert Dr. Richard Minnich said. “So the more it
rains, the more it burns in the climate around here. We think
somehow that drought is a necessary thing. It’s not, not really
at all.”
Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s Rio Dell feeder project,
which will provide more reliable and increased electrical
capacity, has received approval from the California State Lands
Commission. … The project includes the installation of two
20-inch conduit castings under the Eel River,
using Horizontal Directional Drilling. The Horizontal
Directional Drilling method is a trenchless technique meant to
avoid disturbance along the bore path to minimize impacts to
waterways and sensitive habitats. … Permits are
still needed from the California Department of Fish and
Wildlife and the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control
Board.
There is not enough water. That is the blunt assessment from
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the feasibility of four
modest plans intended to address environmental and health
problems at the Salton Sea. The announcement came [April 30]
during a community informational meeting at the North Shore
Yacht Club in Mecca, one of a series of recent meetings the
Corps has held on the long-standing crisis. The four plans,
developed to ease the dust and air pollution created as the
Salton Sea shrinks and more lakebed is exposed, share one
critical flaw: none has the water needed to be viable. A
hydrology study presented at the meeting concluded
there is not enough water available to support even the
most modest restoration alternatives.
San Luis Obispo County is studying the construction of a major
seawater desalination plant along its 90-mile coastline, to
provide a drought-proof water supply for 16 partner water
agencies. One of the leading options involves pairing or
expanding the plant at or near Diablo Canyon, California’s last
operating nuclear power station. … This path carries
substantial risks. Critics contend economic pressures and
electric grid reliability concerns shouldn’t be prioritized
over public health, safety and the environment. –Written by William Simpson, executive director of the
Wild Horse Fire Brigade.
… San Diego is not alone in experiencing catastrophic extreme
weather disasters, and many are often hit hardest due to
neglected infrastructure. We cannot afford another climate
disaster in this city — the human cost is too high. Human lives
were lost, along with pets, wildlife and plants in the area
surrounding Chollas Creek flood channels. Today, all of
the recovery work and reconstruction of homes is now at risk of
flooding again because the flood channels have not received the
investment needed to bring them up to date. Flood survivors
have yet to receive all the support needed to live, recover and
heal. What they have received has been because we spoke up.
It’s time to do so again. –Written by Jessica Calix, a San Diego resident whose home
in Southcrest was destroyed in the 2024 flood.
For nearly three decades, Cal Poly Humboldt Wildlife Professor
Jeff Black and citizen scientists have been quietly documenting
the lives of one of the North Coast’s most charismatic
residents: river otters. Now, marking the 27th and final year
of this long-term research effort, Black is sharing new
observations at the Arcata Marsh & Wildlife Sanctuary—a place
where wastewater treatment, wildlife habitat, and public access
intersect. Based on two years of intensive study, the latest
findings, published in the Northwestern
Naturalist, reveal just how deeply river otters rely on
the marsh. Otters were present nearly every day, using the
wetlands not only to hunt, but to raise pups, socialize, rest,
and navigate a landscape shared with hundreds of daily
visitors.
The federal government has agreed to pump more than
$450 million into programs to carry out additional
Colorado River water conservation, Arizona Department of Water
Resources chief Tom Buschatzke said Monday. The
spending is necessary to make the new proposal from
Arizona, Nevada and California work, Buschatzke
and other water officials said Friday in releasing their offer
to save 700,000 to 1 million acre-feet of river water through
2028. … The U.S. Interior Department proposed that the money
be spent, and the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, which
must sign off on all federal expenditures, approved it,
Buschatze said at a news briefing Monday afternoon on the new
plan from the three Lower Colorado River Basin states.
Weeks after most of Colorado’s ski resorts shut down for the
spring, a late-season snowstorm is expected to drop more than
two feet of snow across the Rocky Mountains this week. Snow
this time of year is not unusual for the region, but it is
unusual for this year, after a prolonged snow drought
and record heat in March all but eliminated the critical
snowpack across much of the American West. As of late
last week, nearly 60 percent of Colorado was in an “extreme” or
“exceptional” drought, according to the U.S. drought
monitor. “In terms of the liquid content, this will
certainly be one of the bigger storms” the region has had this
year, said Russell Danielson, a meteorologist with the National
Weather Service in Boulder.
A land study shows California’s bearing almond acreage
decreasing for the first time in more than three decades. The
Almond Board of California reported that the 1.385 million
acres of almond acres measured in its Land IQ study means a net
decrease of 15,227 acres from last year. … The
orchard removals come as the Sustainable Groundwater Management
Act has growers pulling up trees, especially in areas
outside the scope of California water agencies — called white
areas. … Grape grower Linda Pandol, head of operations
for Pandol Brothers Inc., said at the economic outlook that
because of SGMA, about 70% of the company’s land gets farmed.
In wet years, her family may plant grains on fallowed land.
Despite Paldon Brothers digging recharge basins, Pandol said
the state is not yet giving out credits for water put back into
the ground.
The Box Elder County Commission [Utah] has voted unanimously
to allowa massive data center project
to move forward. The commission held a “special”
meeting Monday afternoon to decide if they’ll approve
the construction of a massive data center, a proposal
that has garnered widespread opposition in their county and
across the state. … The Box Elder County Commission,
made up of three elected commissioners, was supposed to vote on
the proposal last Monday. However, they delayed the vote after
hearing concerns about water usage,
electricity, and fears that the proposal was being
rushed toward a final decision.
A coalition of healthcare workers, first responders and union
leaders Monday submitted more than 151,000 signatures for
a [county] ballot measure intended to stop
the Tijuana River pollution crisis on a
local level, while also bolstering healthcare. If passed, the
measure would increase the county sales tax by 0.5%. The
San Diego Health & Safety Act, which needs 102,923 valid
signatures from San Diego County registered voters, will likely
make it to November’s ballot. Proponents said they want to take
matters into their own hands after decades of state and federal
leadership not solving the pollution issue. It is also intended
to handle a bevy of issues related to public health and safety.
It has been widely reported that March was a disaster for
California’s snowpack. Summer seemed to arrive three months
early, with record-shattering heat and dryness and a mere
pittance of precipitation. Did a relatively cool, rainy, and
even snowy April make up for it? The short answer is no—but it
helped. It’s important to remember that snowpack is
California’s third-largest source of water storage, behind
surface reservoirs and groundwater. Our statewide
water supply grid is built around storing roughly 30% of
statewide water supply in snowpack, a relatively reliable
source of water through the 20th century. … Depending on
how thick the snowpack is, this melting can last well into June
and even July in some years.
Fishermen in Arena Cove are abuzz as they prepare their boats
for salmon fishing for the first time since 2022. This
week marks the end of a three-year closure on commercial salmon
fishing. … The decision to resume commercial
salmon fishing came via the Pacific Fishery Management Council
Agency after significant improvements in key California salmon
populations were observed. … Along the Mendocino coast,
salmon fishing opened in the southern part of the county, in an
area that stretches from Pigeon Point in Pescadero to Point
Arena. Salmon fishing is allowed exclusively between May 1-6,
9-13, 16-20, 23-29, and August 1-7, 13-16, and 25-27.
