Aquafornia

Overview

Aquafornia
Water news you need to know

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.

For breaking news, follow us on X (Twitter).

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.
Aquafornia news Cowboy State Daily (Cheyenne, Wyo.)

Friday Top of the Scroll: Wyoming irrigators frustrated by getting shut off earlier in Colorado River Basin

For Mike Vickrey, a rancher in Wyoming’s Upper Green River Valley, this summer delivered another harsh lesson about the unpredictability of water in the arid West. Despite what appeared to be a promising winter snowpack, Vickrey had to shut off irrigation to his hay meadows about 10 days earlier than normal. … Vickrey wonders if early water cutoffs are here to stay as all the states in the Colorado River Basin continue to negotiate how to manage Lake Mead and Lake Powell downstream as less and less water flows through a watershed stretching from the Wind River Mountains to Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. … Lately, hay production has fluctuated from around 2,500 tons in good years down to 1,600 tons or less in bad years. That’s one reason Vickrey is encouraging others to join him at an upcoming public meeting in Pinedale, which is one of four outreach meetings Wyoming officials are hosting next week to discuss the state’s role in managing Colorado River water. 

Other Colorado River Basin news:

Aquafornia news The Sonoma County Gazette

Drying up: Sonoma County’s quiet disaster you need to know about

Sonoma County’s groundwater is quietly vanishing beneath our feet, and the numbers are alarming. In parts of Sonoma Valley, deep aquifers have plummeted nearly 100 feet in the last decade, according to recent reports from the Sonoma Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA). With some wells dropping as much as eight feet per year, residents and businesses alike have good reason to be worried. … Drilling a new well can cost $50,000 or more, a financial blow that smaller family-run vineyards find especially daunting. Sonoma Valley has responded by expanding a recycled water pipeline on the east side, delivering treated wastewater for irrigation and reducing pressure on depleted aquifers. …  The county is experimenting with Aquifer Storage and Recovery (ASR), injecting excess treated Russian River water underground during rainy months, banking it for future dry spells.

Other water scarcity and drought news:

Aquafornia news Politico

From green icon to housing villain: The fall of California’s landmark environmental law

… More than half a century ago, when Republicans were still running the state, Reagan brought CEQA (pronounced ‘see-kwa’) into the world as a shield against unintended consequences: a project that befouled waterways or drove species toward extinction. But the law’s reach expanded through a series of court rulings until it applied to developments of all kinds, becoming a handy tool for almost anyone to challenge a proposed project by demanding more analysis and remediation. CEQA has long been a bogeyman for Republicans and developers, a symbol of regulatory excess and government dysfunction — and an expensive one at that. … This summer, Newsom and like-minded legislators did what was unthinkable just a few years ago: They scaled the law back dramatically, exempting most urban housing developments, along with daycares, manufacturing hubs and clinics. 

Other CEQA news:

Aquafornia news Tahoe Daily Tribune (South Lake Tahoe, Calif.)

Tahoe State of the Lake Report released for 2024

The UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center today released its “Tahoe: State of the Lake Report,” which presents data from 2024 in the context of the long-term record. … Highlights of the report include data related to temperature, precipitation, algae, water clarity and more. Lake Tahoe today generally experiences higher air temperatures, more rain, less snow and earlier snowmelt than it did 113 years ago, the report said.

Related article

Aquafornia news The Durango Herald (Colo.)

Colorado senators reintroduce bill to improve water access in tribal communities

Colorado Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper have reintroduced a bill to expand access to clean water in tribal communities. The Tribal Access to Clean Water Act aims to increase funding that would critically expand water infrastructure projects through the Indian Health Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Reclamation. … The 2025 version would authorize the USDA to provide grants and loans for water infrastructure in tribal communities, increasing funding for its Rural Development programs by $100 million annually for five years, with $30 million specifically dedicated to technical assistance. It would also boost funding to the Indian Health Service for facility construction, technical assistance and operations, as well as authorize $90 million annually to the Bureau of Reclamation’s existing technical assistance program.

Other water infrastructure funding news:

Aquafornia news E&E News by Politico

EPA nudges out more staff, announces ‘next phase’ of reorg

EPA is moving to shed more employees and overhaul its enforcement work as the Trump administration continues its efforts to downsize and revamp the agency. The agency is offering another round of incentives to resign or retire early for staff who work in offices including the stand-alone science shop, the enforcement office, staffers in regional offices, those who had previously received layoff notices, and others, according to an email sent to staff Thursday and obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News. The move to downsize with another round of “deferred resignation” and early retirement incentives comes after a significant chunk of EPA’s staff has already left the agency during the Trump administration. More than 1,500 employees signed on to leave the agency during its most recent round of incentives for staff departures, according to figures provided by EPA earlier this month.

Other EPA news:

Aquafornia news NBC News

U.S. hit with record number of flash flood warnings

More than 3,000 flash flood warnings have been issued in the United States so far this year — the highest number on record, according to data from Iowa State University. A total of 3,040 warnings from the National Weather Service went out from Jan. 1 through July 15, according to figures compiled by the Iowa Environmental Mesonet, which collects and tracks data on precipitation, soil temperature and other environmental conditions. That’s more than any other year during that same time period since 1986, when the modern alert system was adopted. The new record portends a wetter and rainier future that experts say is likely because of climate change. Studies have shown that severe storms and extreme rainfall are both expected to occur more frequently in a warming world. A flash flood warning is issued by the National Weather Service when sudden and dangerous flooding is imminent or occurring.

Other flooding and climate change news:

Aquafornia news Courthouse News Service

Judge scratches federal approval of Northern California mixed-use project

A federal judge on Thursday overturned the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ approval of a 314-acre mixed-use development in Chico, California, that environmentalists claim will destroy vernal pools that are the natural habitat of several threatened species. U.S. District Judge Daniel Calabretta granted in part the request for summary judgment by the plaintiffs — the Center for Biological Diversity and AquAlliance — and halted implementation of the Stonegate Development Project until the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has prepared a legally adequate biological opinion that the development wouldn’t jeopardize protected species. … According to the conservation groups, the project would also permanently destroy 9.14 acres of wetlands, although some additional meadowfoam habitat may be established through mitigation efforts.

Other wetlands news:

Aquafornia news ABC10 (Sacramento, Calif.)

Sacramento residents oppose tree removal plan along American River

Hundreds of trees along the American River – and the habitat around them – could be removed, as part of a flood- and erosion-control project. Neighbors in Sacramento County’s La Riviera neighborhood are urgently fighting the plans, which are up for an important vote Friday. … [T]he park could be filled with construction materials and equipment as soon as next summer. Its soccer fields are set to be the staging area for part of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) project aimed at protecting the levy from erosion in the event of a disastrous flood. … The Corps is seeking environmental approvals to move forward with a part of the project called Contract 3B, which would affect trees and riverbanks along a three-mile stretch of the American River, from Howe Avenue to just east of Larchmont Park. It calls for the removal of between 675 and 715 trees. … Neighbors say they want to see more targeted, surgical approaches to erosion, rather than the transformation of entire stretches of the riverbank, like the Corps work done along the river in 2023 near Sac State.

Aquafornia news KYMA (Yuma, Ariz.)

IID pushes to protect farmland from solar projects

The Imperial Irrigation District has taken a stance on where solar energy projects should go. The board passed a resolution saying too much farmland in the Imperial Valley is being replaced with solar panels. Most of the power from these projects goes to big cities like San Diego, not the local community. IID officials say they support solar development, but not at the expense of agriculture. “One in every six jobs in the Imperial Valley is directly related to agriculture, so solar is great, as long as it’s not on ag land,” said Robert Schettler with IID. The district also says farmland plays a role in helping the Salton Sea. “When growers grow, whatever the size of their farmland is, one third of the water that goes onto the field drains off and goes to the Salton Sea, so if you take ag out of production you’re not only affecting the local economy, you’re affecting the Salton Sea,” said Schettler. … IID is encouraging future solar projects to be built on desert or unused land instead.

Other farm-to-solar news:

Aquafornia news San Diego Union-Tribune

San Diego water customers probably won’t get a break from steep rate hikes

Relief from huge proposed rate hikes for San Diego water and sewer customers is looking less likely, after a consultant recommended no rate changes and after a City Council committee tentatively endorsed the increases Thursday. City officials are proposing 62% hikes to water rates and 31% hikes to sewer rates over four years to cover sharply rising costs for workers, imported water, chemicals, energy, construction projects and other priorities. The increases, which would incrementally kick in between January 2026 and January 2029, need final approval from the full council during a public hearing scheduled for Sept. 30. But the city’s independent budget analyst said Thursday that what is usually a key opportunity for a reprieve — a legally mandated second opinion from an outside consultant — won’t be providing relief this time around.

Aquafornia news Sacramento News & Review

Indigenous youth complete first descent of undammed Klamath River, reaching the sea

On July 11, several dozen indigenous youth from the Klamath Basin and beyond completed a historic 310-mile, month-long source-to-sea “first descent” of the recently undammed Klamath River. They began their journey in Oregon and ended at the mouth of the river on the Yurok Reservation. Rios to Rivers, a nonprofit conservation group, observed that “as the youths approached the sand spit adjacent to the Klamath’s mouth in their bright-colored kayaks, tribal elders, family members, friends and supporters waved and cheered them on.” … The young paddlers trained up to three years to run whitewater with kayak instructors from the Paddle Tribal Waters program, which is operated by Rios to Rivers. The program includes teens from the Klamath, Yurok, Karuk, Quartz Valley, Hoopa Valley, Warm Springs and Tohono O’odham tribes. Four hydroelectric dams owned by PacifiCorp had blocked the river for over a century, preventing once-abundant salmon and steelhead runs from ascending into their native habitat.

Related article:

Aquafornia news California Trout

News release: Fisherfolk! It is time once again to go kill all the Eel River pikeminnow you can find, and maybe win a prize

The Eel River Pikeminnow Fishing Derby is back again, after over 500 fish were caught in the 2024 derby. The derby is put on by a collaboration of groups working to restore native fishes in the Eel River. From now through August 31st, anyone with a fishing license (or if under 16 years of age, no license is necessary) can go and catch pikeminnow on the Eel for a chance to win up to $500, with $2,500 in cash prizes! There is no entry fee. Data from your catches can help managers aid in the conservation of our native fishes. Pikeminnow were introduced to the Eel River via Pillsbury Reservoir in the late 1970’s. Since then, they have spread to all the forks of the Eel and are remarkably prolific. … The waters open to fishing for the derby are: the South Fork Eel River downstream of the Humboldt County line to the confluence with the mainstem, the mainstem Eel from Dos Rios to the mouth of the Van Duzen, and the Van Duzen from Grizzly Creek to the mouth of the Van Duzen.

Aquafornia news SJV Water

Thursday Top of the Scroll: California’s highest court to hear Kern River case

For the first time in more than 100 years, the Kern River is headed back to the California Supreme Court where justices may overturn or uphold an order mandating flows be kept in the riverbed through Bakersfield. The high court announced Wednesday that it would grant review of a 5th District Court of Appeal’s ruling that overturned a Kern County Superior Court judge’s order mandating water be kept in the river for fish. The 5th District’s ruling was also “published,” meaning it can be used as legal precedent in other, similar cases. The Kern River plaintiffs asked the Supreme Court to review the 5th District’s ruling and have it depublished. Justices granted review but declined to depublish the ruling. Instead, justices said the 5th District’s Kern River ruling could stand, pending their review. And that the ruling could be cited as both an authoritative precedent as well as to show there is a conflict of authorities and that it was up to trial courts to then “choose between sides of any such conflict.” 

Other fish conservation news:

Aquafornia news The Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.)

Cost to build largest new reservoir in California in 50 years increases by $2 billion to at least $6.2 billion

Construction costs to build the largest new reservoir in California in 50 years, a vast 13-mile-long off-stream lake that would provide water to 500,000 acres of Central Valley farmlands and 24 million people, including residents of Santa Clara County, parts of the East Bay and Los Angeles, have risen sharply. The price tag for Sites Reservoir, proposed to be located in the rural ranchlands of Colusa County 70 miles northwest of Sacramento, have increased from $4.5 billion to at least $6.2 billion, and potentially as much as $6.8 billion, the project’s planners confirmed Wednesday. The increase is due to inflation for concrete, steel and other construction materials since 2021, when the original estimate was generated, planners said. Factory shutdowns during the COVID pandemic caused many construction materials to increase in price, and tariffs imposed by President Trump have led to more cost increases in recent months.

Aquafornia news The Colorado Sun (Denver)

Lake Powell forecasts show hydropower generation at risk

Federal officials reported Tuesday that the water level in Lake Powell, one of the main water storage reservoirs for the Colorado River Basin, could fall low enough to stop hydropower generation at the reservoir by December 2026. The reservoir’s water levels have fallen as the Colorado River Basin, the water supply for 40 million people, has been overstressed by rising temperatures, prolonged drought and relentless demand. Upper Basin officials sounded the alarm in June, saying this year’s conditions echo the extreme conditions of 2021 and 2022, when Lake Powell and its sister reservoir, Lake Mead, dropped to historic lows. The basin needs a different management approach, specifically one that is more closely tied to the actual water supply each year, the Upper Colorado River Commission’s statement said.

Other Colorado River Basin news:

Aquafornia news The Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Calif.)

California sues over loss of FEMA program used for natural disasters

California is suing to reverse what it says is an unlawful termination of a grant program that’s been used to mitigate the impacts of natural disasters nationwide. California Attorney General Rob Bonta and a coalition of 19 other states are asking the courts to compel the Federal Emergency Management Agency to reverse the termination of the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities grant program, according to a news release from the attorney general’s office. … According to a court filing, FEMA had selected Sacramento’s application for a $21.36 million project under the program that would have funded flood mitigation. … Prior to the grant program being shut down, it was poised to fund hundreds of projects targeting flooding mitigation, seismic retrofits, shelter from tornadoes, vegetation management to reduce damage from wildfires and more nationwide, according to the court document.

Other FEMA news:

Aquafornia news Los Angeles Times

Weather Service cuts are harming agriculture, worsening wildfire danger, California senators say

California lawmakers are growing increasingly concerned about federal staffing cuts at the National Weather Service, which they say are harming the state’s agriculture industry and putting critical fire operations in jeopardy. In a letter dated Wednesday and obtained by The Times, both U.S. senators from California, Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, urged the Trump administration to reverse its considerable cuts to the nation’s leading weather agency, which has lost at least 600 employees to layoffs and buyouts this year. … Their letter follows a Times report which found that two of the six NWS offices in California — Hanford and Sacramento — are among the hardest-hit by federal cuts in the nation. The president and his unofficial Department of Government Efficiency have said the cuts will help save taxpayers money and reduce federal waste.

Other weather forecasting news:

Aquafornia news Ag Alert (California Farm Bureau)

Abandoned crops bring pest plague to adjacent farms

California farmers, agricultural commissioners and lawmakers have in recent months sounded an alarm about a troubling symptom of the state’s struggling farm economy.  “Everywhere you turn there’s an abandoned vineyard,” said Randy Baranek, project manager for the Stanislaus County-based agricultural service provider Fowler Brothers. He estimated there are twice as many untended grapevines in the Central Valley this year than he has ever seen. … The phenomenon has led to widespread concern that pests harbored in abandoned orchards and vineyards could impact adjacent farms. … Farmers cautioned that the situation could get worse before it improves. While almond prices have improved this year, the winegrape market has not. Meanwhile, limits on groundwater pumping under California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act have led some growers in parts of the San Joaquin Valley to begin abandoning orchards. 

Other agricultural water news:

Aquafornia news The Sonoma Index-Tribune (Calif.)

Officials raise alarm over growing groundwater shortage in Sonoma Valley

El Verano and eastern Sonoma Valley face worsening groundwater shortages, leading officials to designate those regions as Groundwater Sustainability Priority Areas requiring stronger conservation efforts. The Sonoma Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency made the announcement in June following years of observing the continously declining water levels in the Valley’s deep aquifers, some of which have dropped by nearly 100 feet over the last decade. In the most severely impacted zones, groundwater levels are falling by as much as 8 feet per year, officials say. … The primary cause of the crisis is over-pumping of deep aquifers — those more than 200 feet below ground — which recharge significantly slower than shallow aquifers. 

Other groundwater management news: