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.
The combined effects of climate change and air pollution have
led to direct declines in precipitation in the U.S. Southwest,
making drought inevitable, a new study has shown. These
circumstances, which began taking hold in about 1980, are
likely here to stay as the planet warms, according to the
study, published on Wednesday in Nature
Geoscience. Its authors attributed this decades-long trend
toward less precipitation to La Niña-like conditions, weather
patterns that lead to cooler surface temperatures in the
tropical Pacific Ocean. Even if El Niño-like conditions had
prevailed instead, the Southwest would not have experienced a
corresponding surge in rainfall, the researchers found.
… The post-1980 period in the U.S. Southwest exhibited
the fastest soil-drying among past and future periods of
similar lengths — a result that the authors attributed to
human-induced warming and a decline in precipitation.
The state of New Mexico is suing the US air force over its
refusal to comply with orders to address extremely high levels
of Pfas pollution stemming from its base, which has tainted
drinking water for tens of thousands of people, damaged crops
and poisoned dairy cows. Though the military acknowledges
Pfas-laden firefighting foam from Cannon air force base is the
source of a four mile chemical plume in the aquifer below
Clovis, New Mexico, it has refused to comply with most state
orders to address the issue. … In 2018, Cannon’s Pfas
was found to have poisoned drinking water for over 100 private
wells, and has so far taken out one municipal well that serves
Clovis, a city of 40,000 people. Levels found in surface water
were about 27,000 times higher than US Environmental Protection
Agency drinking water limits. … The air force has refused to
pay a $70,000 state fine.
California lawmakers reeling from President Donald Trump’s
assault on clean energy are considering a controversial
strategy to keep projects on track — slashing environmental
permitting further. That plan could intensify a fight between
clean energy advocates and environmentalists over the
trade-offs between building fast and environmental protection
that’s already playing out at home. California officials are
scrambling to respond to congressional Republicans’ budget
“megabill,” signed into law Friday, which demolishes Biden-era
tax credits that incentivize construction of large-scale solar
and wind projects, home energy efficiency improvements and
electric vehicle purchasing — centerpieces of blue states’
strategies to wean themselves off fossil fuels. Clean energy
groups say it will be impossible for California — which already
faces a tight budget — to replace those incentives, and are
instead pushing lawmakers to cut red tape and allow projects to
get shovels in the ground faster.
The frightening partial collapse of an L.A. County sanitation
tunnel under construction left 31 workers scrambling to make
their way to safety on Wednesday evening. … The accident took
place in the Clearwater Project, which is designed to carry
treated, cleanwastewater from the Joint Water Pollution Control
Plant to the ocean. Prior to the accident, the tunnel was
expected to reach Royal Palms Beach by the end of the year, at
which point it would be seven miles long. The plant is
the largest wastewater treatment plant owned and
operated by the L.A. County Sanitation Districts. This is
the first major incident that has taken place since
construction on the project began in late 2019. Work on the
tunnel itself started in 2021. But that work is paused for
the foreseeable future, [L.A. County Sanitation Districts chief
engineer Robert] Ferrante said on Wednesday night.
An isolated storm that caused large quantities of unexploded
fireworks to spill into Lake Tahoe has derailed what was
expected to be the most comprehensive modern study examining
the effects of fireworks shows on the famed lake. Clean Up The
Lake, a nonprofit group traditionally focused on removing
subsurface lake pollution, including the use of the first
human-powered circumnavigation cleanup of Lake Tahoe using
SCUBA, switched gears this July to spearhead the study. It was
aimed at examining the effects of fireworks on the lake, which
has suffered for decades from declining clarity, aquatic
invasive species invasions and other human-induced problems.
… The study was geared toward examining not just trash,
but also water quality, including microplastics in the
water, and had the potential to show the effects of
firework debris and large-scale public events at the lake. …
The barge, which sank in the lake near Incline Village, housed
the very fireworks Clean Up The Lake was planning to study
after their detonation.
Ruby Williams’ birthday was not your average 18th. She
celebrated it on the Klamath River, with a group of young
people making a historic journey paddling from the river’s
headwaters in southern Oregon to its mouth in the Pacific
Ocean, just south of Crescent City, California. It marked the
first time in a century that the descent has been possible,
after the recent removal of four dams allowed the river to flow
freely. Williams, together with fellow paddler Keeya Wiki, 17,
spoke to CNN on day 15 of their month-long journey, which they
are due to complete on Friday. At this point, they had just 141
miles (227 kilometers) of the 310-mile (499 kilometer) journey
left to go and had already passed through some of the most
challenging rapids. … [Wiki said] “I think we’re all just so
grateful, knowing that the salmon can finally go from the mouth
to the headwaters, and that we can go from the headwaters to
the mouth too.”
Energy companies that manage coal ash dumps have asked the
Trump administration for relief from a new regulation requiring
them to inspect and monitor those retention ponds for signs of
pollution. If EPA grants their request, it could delay cleanup
of one the nation’s most significant sources of industrial
waste. In a sweeping rule issued last year, EPA directed
companies to begin cleaning up over 100 coal ash dumps and
landfills, some of which are known to leak toxic,
cancer-causing metals like mercury, lead and arsenic into
groundwater. Now, companies say they are
struggling to evaluate those sites for signs of leaks and
structural problems, as required under the rule. Describing the
rule’s deadlines as “unreasonable and unworkable,” the Utility
Solid Waste Activities Group has asked EPA to delay additional
requirements until the agency creates a permit program to
“review, approve, and verify the existence” of coal ash sites
across the country, according to a letter viewed by POLITICO’s
E&E News.
… When the San Diego County Water Authority settled its long
legal battle with the Metropolitan Water District, it brought
to a close a nearly 20-year period of expensive and aggressive
contention between the two agencies. The agency’s Board of
Directors discussed re-upping the contract for the architect of
the legal confrontation over all those years, Chris Frahm, from
the law firm Brownstein, Hyatt, Farber and Schreck. It blew up
into a tense dispute mainly between former San Diego City
Councilmember Jim Madaffer, a board member, and General Counsel
David Edwards. The dispute was about whether some of Frahm’s
work deserved to be considered attorney-client privilege still
(the general counsel was vehement it should be public.)
… Now, several water managers in the region have sent a
letter reiterating that they believe Frahm’s work should be
public and demanding the Water Authority chair compel Madaffer
to apologize for what could be considered threats and a hostile
work environment.
Stantec announced on July 8, 2025, that it has been selected by
the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to provide
water resource planning and facilitation services to support
the California Water Plan Update 2028, a document that serves
as the state’s roadmap to set water management priorities in a
changing climate. First published in the 1950s and updated
every five years, the California Water Plan is the state’s
strategic plan to sustainably manage and develop water
resources for current and future generations. Required by
California Water code Section 10005(a), Update 2028 will
describe the status and trends of California’s water-dependent
natural resources; water supplies; and agricultural, urban, and
environmental water demands for a range of plausible future
scenarios. The document guides state and local agencies to
sustainably manage water resources in a manner that benefits
all water uses and users in California.
A new groundwater sustainability agency that has struggled to
get its footing in recent months is on a fresh trajectory with
a new general manager. Michael Knight, Porterville
assistant city manager, is leaving the city to take the reins
as manager of the Porterville Groundwater Sustainability
Agency. He also will serve as assistant manager for Porterville
Irrigation District. His first day is Aug. 4.
… Landowners have repeatedly voiced concerns over
management and transparency issues since the Porterville ID
board voted to break away from the embattled Eastern Tule GSA
in February. That move came amidst fallout from a ruling by the
state Water Resources Control Board to place the Tule subbasin
on probation for its lack of a cohesive groundwater plan that
would staunch runaway subsidence in the region and protect
domestic wells.
U.S. senators are set to interview President Donald Trump’s
pick to lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration on Wednesday in a confirmation hearing that may
be charged with concern over whether massive cuts to the
agency’s workforce may have contributed to the deaths of more
than 100 people when torrential rain flooded Central Texas
early Friday. In the five months since Trump chose Neil Jacobs
to serve as NOAA administrator, hundreds of NOAA scientists and
meteorologists have left the agency through firings, buyouts
and retirements. … Jacobs has emphasized a need for
the United States to improve the accuracy of its weather
forecasting models, which routinely perform worse than models
operated in Europe and, at times, Canada. He has most recently
served as chief science adviser for the Unified Forecast
System, an initiative he has spearheaded to improve U.S.
weather and climate forecasting accuracy using government,
academic and private-sector data.
A state water quality agency hopes to tackle a problem as old
as civilization itself – salt build up from irrigation. The
Central Valley Salinity Alternatives for Long-Term
Sustainability (CV-SALTS) is working with local water managers
and using state-of-the-art engineering software to understand
how groundwater moves through the western Kings and
Delta-Mendota subbasins as part of a long-term salt study. The
salt study, which began in 2022, aims to develop a Central
Valley-wide plan to manage salinity, focusing first on the
Kings and Delta-Mendota subbasins. … The salt study is
still laying the groundwork to understand the complex San
Joaquin Valley watershed and aquifer system. CV-SALTS will
begin developing water and salt management plans by 2026 and
develop a prioritization plan by 2028.
Six months after EPA warned about “forever chemicals” tainting
sewage sludge, states are resorting to a patchwork of policies
as the agency’s path forward on the widely used farmland
fertilizer remains unclear. In the final days of the Biden
administration, EPA inched toward regulating the toxic
chemicals in sewage sludge, releasing a draft report outlining
risks to people living near farms that use the foul-smelling,
nutrient-rich material to grow crops. Now, as the Trump
administration weighs options for addressing contamination
concerns, states and localities are struggling with how to
respond to growing evidence that sludge fertilizer can spread
forever chemicals. … Also known as biosolids, sewage sludge
is the partially dry byproduct of treated sewage from municipal
and industrial sources. EPA has long touted selling the
material to farmers, a practice that frees up landfill space
and reduces reliance on chemical fertilizer.
A major thunderstorm like the one that produced devastating
flash flooding in Texas over the holiday weekend is not likely
in the Bay Area or most of California, but climate scientists
say that if the perfect weather at the right time of
year and geography align, serious flooding can still wreak
havoc here. … A big flash-flood-producing thunderstorm
in California isn’t entirely out of the picture and can occur
during the summertime in the Sierra Nevada or the deserts
across the southeastern part of the state. “The kind of thing
that happened in Texas could also happen in California,” said
Nicholas Pinter, associate director of the UC Davis Center for
Watershed Sciences. “Anyone out hiking in confined, rugged
topography needs to be aware that we have this risk of flash
flooding in California, kind of similar to Texas.”
California officials have moved closer to their goal of
conserving 30% of lands and coastal waters by the target year
of 2030, a revelation that arrives as the Trump administration
advances directives that could claw back areas that were set
aside. Nearly five years after the inception of the so-called
30×30 initiative, California has conserved 26.1% of its lands
and 21.9% of its coastal waters — or roughly 41,000 square
miles and 1,150 square miles, respectively — according to a
California Natural Resources Agency report released Monday. In
2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order that set the
30×30 effort in motion. The initiative kicked off in earnest
two years later when officials released a detailed road map for
the plan. At that time, approximately 23.8% of lands and 16.2%
of coastal waters were conserved. The stated goals of the 30×30
initiative extend beyond conservation. The plan also seeks to
restore biodiversity, expand Californians’ access to nature and
help mitigate and build resilience to climate change.
Swimming past the California-Oregon border, a lost fish — one
of thousands — finds its way home after an exile of over 100
years. As swarms of salmon migrate north to Oregon along
the Klamath River, youth from across the region’s indigenous
tribes kayak south through northern California to the Pacific
Ocean — a 300-mile celebratory journey that would not have been
possible just a year ago. What’s changed? Beneath the fish
and kayaks lie the watery graves of four dams, built in the
early 20th century and dismantled over the past two years at a
cost of $500 million, the largest and most ambitious dam
removal in history. The return of salmon to the upper
Klamath River represents a victory for nature, an exhibition of
the century-long transition in how Americans view the
environment, and a signal achievement of the 1973 Endangered
Species Act.
Other dam removal and anadromous fish restoration news:
People who live, work or visit communities near the Tijuana
River Valley, where untreated wastewater spills over from
Mexico, attribute their worsening physical and mental health
issues to the cross-border pollution, a federal survey about
the sewage crisis found. County public health officials on
Tuesday released the findings on behalf of the federal Agency
for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which made its
online survey available from Oct. 21 through Nov. 22, 2024.
More than 2,000 people from Coronado, Imperial Beach, Nestor,
Otay Mesa West, San Ysidro and Silver Strand responded. The
survey, called an Assessment for Chemical Exposures or ACE,
follows a similar survey the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention launched in October, which also highlighted the
severe effect of the crisis on daily life and health. The CDC’s
randomized, in-person survey captured data from a much smaller
sample. But both document what residents and workers have said
for years: the ongoing pollution is affecting their quality of
life.
At least three people were missing in a mountain village in
southern New Mexico that is a popular summer retreat after
monsoon rains triggered flash flooding Tuesday that was so
intense an entire house was swept downstream. … In New
Mexico, officials urged residents to seek higher ground Tuesday
afternoon as the waters of the Rio Ruidoso rose nearly 19 feet
(2.7 meters) in a matter of minutes amid heavy rainfall. The
National Weather Service issued flood warnings in the area,
which was stripped of vegetation by recent wildfires.
… Matt DeMaria, a meteorologist with the National
Weather Service in Albuquerque, said storms formed in the early
afternoon over terrain that was scorched last year by wildfire.
The burn scar was unable to absorb a lot of the rain, as water
quickly ran downhill into the river. Preliminary
measurements show the Rio Ruidoso crested at more than 20 feet
(6 meters) — a record high if confirmed — and was receding
Tuesday evening.
Amid funding and programmatic uncertainty, many communities are
testing new plans, exploring new financing tools, and even
rethinking how they govern and operate their water
infrastructure. Aging distribution pipes, overwhelmed sewers,
and other vulnerable systems not only pose environmental and
public health risks, but also strain state and local budgets,
as well as those of the public utilities that own and operate
this infrastructure. Now,
“regionalization”—collaborations or partnerships among
geographically proximate local water systems—is gaining renewed
momentum nationally as a potential solution. But the specifics
of how communities pursue regional coordination vary widely,
and simply focusing on the economics of small systems to do so
overlooks a key point: how utilities can more effectively
function as essential community and economic partners and
service providers.
Last week, California enacted the most significant reforms to
the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) since the
mid-1970s. On June 30, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate
Bill 131 and Assembly Bill 130 into law,
effective immediately. These laws will streamline or
exempt new project categories from CEQA review and reduce
litigation risks across the state. These unprecedented changes
mark a significant shift in how CEQA will shape project
timelines and risk profiles for developers, public agencies,
and regulated industries. The new framework also raises
important questions about the future impacts on environmental
protections and environmental justice communities throughout
the state.
