Federal water managers and the local agencies they serve usually gather every January in Reno, Nevada, to swap wish lists, from higher dams to new reservoirs to changes to endangered species rules. This year, at the Mid-Pacific Water Users Conference, the focus was more basic: whether the federal water system has enough people left to keep it running. … President Donald Trump has made Western water a priority, maintaining close ties with farm districts that receive federal deliveries — including Westlands Water District — and ordering agencies like Reclamation to move more water, faster. Yet a year into his return to office, talk of marquee projects like raising Shasta Dam to store and deliver more water to Central Valley farmers (overriding longstanding environmental and tribal opposition) was largely absent. 

Other water infrastructure news around the West:

• Orange County Register (Irvine, Calif.): Editorial: Drought is over, but state sets Sites on storage
• Pagosa Daily Post (Pagosa Springs, Colo.): ​Editorial: San Juan Water Conservancy District considers a reservoir, part three
• City of Roseville (Calif.): Blog: Federal funding helps strengthen Roseville’s water reliability