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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Since golden mussels were recently identified in the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, officials introduced new rules
for boaters at some waterways in parts of Northern California
and the Bay Area. … Federal and California state officials
announced Monday a set of new inspection and quarantine
requirements for the launch of boats at Folsom Lake and Lake
Clementine. Those will take effect starting April 14. This
comes after other new restrictions have been put in place at
Rancho Seco Lake, Woodward Reservoir and Lake Berryessa, among
other water bodies. The state maintains a list of where
watercraft inspections are required for certain vessels to
combat the spread of golden mussels, zebra mussels and quagga
mussels. Because the list may not have the latest information,
boaters are urged to contact the agency that manages the water
body they plan to visit. See more in the map below.
… In a published opinion filed on April 2, 2025, California’s
Court of Appeal for the Fifth Appellate District considered the
interaction between the Fish and Game Code’s requirements for
water to keep fish in good condition one the one hand, and the
California Constitution’s mandate that water be put to
reasonable and beneficial use on the other.
… In Bring Back the Kern, et al. v. City of
Bakersfield, a group of environmental plaintiffs sued the City,
arguing operation of the weirs violated Fish and Game Code
section 5937, which requires that a dam owner or operator
“allow sufficient water at all times to pass over, around or
through the dam, to keep in good condition any fish that may be
planted or exist below the dam.” … The trial court granted
the injunction. … The Court of Appeal reversed, holding
that courts “must always consider reasonableness whenever
[they] would direct or adjudicate a particular use of water,
even when applying statues that do not expressly incorporate a
reasonableness determination.”
Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Bakersfield) held a press conference
announcing legislation to support floodplain restoration,
enhance flood safety, and improve groundwater recharge in the
counties of Kern, Kings, and Tulare. According to a
release, the bill, Senate Bill 556, represents a rare example
of consensus in California water policy as the farmers,
environmentalists, local communities and irrigation districts
are supportive the bill. Those who attended the conference
include Bakersfield Mayor Karen K. Goh, Kern County Supervisor
Jeff Flores, and McFarland Mayor Saul Ayon.
A new partnership between three organizations will explore
options for raising the dam at Lake Mendocino to boost the
water supply supporting agriculture and recreation. State
and local politicians, tribal officials and representatives
from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers met Friday at Lake
Mendocino to formalize a cost-sharing agreement for the Coyote
Valley Dam General Investigation Study. According to the
Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission, Lake
Mendocino provides drinking water for over 650,000 people in
Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin counties and plays a role in flood
control. The study, led by a partnership between the
commission, the Lytton Rancheria and the Corps of Engineers
will assess the prospects of greater water supply and potential
federal interest in reducing flood risks.
What’s described as a major restoration project in Humboldt
County’s Eel River delta area will restore tidal marshes and
create a new public trail. Restoration of a 795-acre area of
the Eel River estuary gained permitting from the Humboldt
County Planning Commission at its April 3 meeting. Under a
partnership including the CalTrout non-profit conservation
group and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the
complex project encompasses and surrounds the estuary’s
Cannibal Island area. It includes deepening 5,000 linear feet
of existing dikes, replacing failed culverts that separate
tidal habitat areas and re-connecting 500 acres of former marsh
habitat to tidal action. Also included are construction of
“inter-tidal lagoons” and a 6,000 linear-foot earthen levee
with two gated culverts to shield agricultural lands from tidal
intrusion.
As warmer days approach, many Angelenos eager to once again
spread their toes in the sand may find an unwelcome sight along
the shoreline: dark, ashy sediment still sitting on beaches
from the devastating January firestorm. But residents need not
fear the detritus, which is composed of fine ash that swirled
together with sand and washed ashore, the Los Angeles County
Department of Public Health announced. Tests performed by the
L.A. Regional Water Quality Control Board
found that the charred silt does not contain wildfire-related
chemicals at levels considered to be dangerous to human health,
the health department concluded. … Earlier this week,
the public health department lifted its final wildfire-related
ocean water advisory and declared that beaches in the burn area
— from Las Flores State Beach to Santa Monica State Beach — are
once again safe for swimming.
Radhika Fox has spent her career at the intersection of people,
policy, and infrastructure. In a conversation from the
Reservoir Center in Washington, D.C., the former head of EPA’s
Office of Water shares how she helped lead the largest federal
investment in U.S. water infrastructure, advance PFAS
regulation, and expand environmental justice efforts. Radhika
reflects on her path to leading federal water policy, shaped by
experience at the San Francisco PUC and the US Water Alliance.
She explains how EPA launched $500 million in technical
assistance to help more underserved communities access federal
funding. Radhika also discusses the creation of EPA’s first
agency-wide PFAS strategy and the importance of holding
polluters accountable. Plus, she shares what she’s working on
now—from sector disruption and AI to impact investing and
democracy renewal.
Earlier this week, as part of annual Water Week, when water
professionals gather to discuss priority issues impacting the
industry, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Senior
Advisor for Water Jessica Kramer joined a roundtable to discuss
the Water Infrastructure Financing and Innovation Act (WIFIA).
The WIFIA program provides borrowers with flexible, affordable
financing options to support water updates in communities. It
funds planning, design, and construction of water
infrastructure projects and can finance a combination of
projects in a single loan. … Roundtable participants
included East County Advanced Water Purification Joint
Powers Authority in California, which is using a WIFIA
loan to help fund a water reuse project that will meet up to
30% of East San Diego County’s drinking water demand.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened Mexico with
sanctions and tariffs in a dispute over water sharing between
the two countries, accusing Mexico of breaking an 81-year-old
treaty and “stealing the water from Texas Farmers.” Under the
1944 treaty, Mexico must send 1.75 million acre-feet of water
to the U.S. from the Rio Grande through a network of
interconnected dams and reservoirs every five years.
… The treaty also requires that the U.S. deliver 1.5
million acre-feet of water annually to Mexico from the
Colorado River, an obligation that the U.S.
has largely fulfilled, although recent deliveries have been
reduced due to severe drought, something the 1944 accord allows
for. While Mexico sends far less water to the U.S., it has
struggled to fulfill its end of the bargain due to a
combination of factors including droughts, poor infrastructure
and growing local demand.
La Niña has fizzled out, data released Thursday shows.
According to the Climate Prediction Center, temperatures in the
central and eastern equatorial Pacific have returned to
near-normal. And, according to a technical definition, La Niña
never truly developed. The outlook for La Niña became
progressively weaker over the past half year. In October 2024,
experts predicted that La Niña would emerge during the fall.
After months of delay, officials announced in January that La
Niña conditions had finally arrived, with below-average sea
surface temperatures in the Pacific. But those temperatures
didn’t hold. The Climate Prediction Center update calls
for neutral conditions — neither La Niña nor El
Niño — for the coming months. That means different climate
patterns, some of which are harder to anticipate than La Niña,
could have outsize effects on California weather in the coming
months.
… California is the country’s breadbasket, supplying roughly
one-third of US vegetables and 75% of its fruits and nuts. But
it also exports much of its produce – close to $24bn worth in
2022. This means farmers in the state could lose out
significantly as China imposes retaliatory tariffs on American
goods. … Already grappling with extreme weather events that
have damaged or destroyed crops and water
restrictions that added challenges, a spate of Trump
policies – including attacks on agricultural research, a
funding freeze of billions from the US Department of
Agriculture, and crackdowns on migrant workers – have left
farmers reeling. … But even as Trump takes grave risks
with California agriculture in his attempts to rework global
markets, few in the industry have been outwardly critical of
his actions. Many growers are instead focusing on their
confidence that the president will come through with campaign
promises to make more water available for
thirsty crops.
The 8-Station Index is compiled by the California Department of
Water Resources as a tool to measure the amount of water that
has fallen in the Northern Sierra. Measurements from the eight
stations cover the watersheds of the Sacramento, Feather and
American rivers during the rain season, which begins Oct. 1 and
ends Sept. 30 the following year. During a dry season, the
average precipitation can be as little as 20 inches, while the
wettest season ever recorded was 2016-17 when 94.7 inches fell.
This year, the index is at 53.6 inches, which is 118% of the
season average to date and 101% of the season total. While the
chance for additional rain or snow decreases through the rest
of the season, more rain should add to these totals before the
season ends. This is good news, considering most Valley spots
are running below the average this season.
Other snowpack, water supply and drought news around the
West:
… President Donald Trump unleashed his latest tirade against
American norms with an executive order Thursday in the quest of
“maintaining adequate water pressure in showerheads.” He has
eliminated federal energy definitions of the shower device in
the hopes of eliminating restrictions for how many gallons a
showerhead can emit per minute. First instituted during the
Obama administration, then eliminated in Trump’s first term and
then reinstated again by President Joe Biden, federal
regulations limit a showerhead to emitting 2.5 gallons of water
in a minute. In California, the maximum showerhead gusher has
been 1.8 gallons since 2018. There should be no turning back on
regulations that save water, but the president has other
concerns. “I like to take a nice shower to take care of my
beautiful hair,” Trump said Thursday. “I have to stand in the
shower for 15 minutes until it gets wet. … It’s ridiculous.”
What’s truly ridiculous is that the math of water conservation
is so overwhelming in its usefulness, it should be
bipartisan. –Written by opinion columnist Tom Philp.
… Suzanne Rhoades and Cleo Woelfle-Hazard were monitoring
salmon at two field sites hundreds of miles apart: the South
Fork of the Eel River running through Humboldt and Mendocino
counties and the Salmon Creek Watershed in western Sonoma
County. But they realized steelhead trout and coho salmon,
whose populations have been in decline, were noticeably absent
from both watersheds. … The mystery prompted a
near-decade-long study that was published last week in the
journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,
revealing the impact of one “severely dry” California winter
that dramatically altered the ranges of three native species,
and in some cases, caused them to completely vanish from the
watersheds where they once thrived. But it also demonstrated
the resilience of coho and chinook salmon and steelhead trout,
paving the way for how the fish can be better protected in the
years to come.
California’s water system is complex and requires real-time
adjustments to balance the needs of our state’s cities and
farms and the natural environment. Starting today, the State
Water Project (SWP) is adjusting operations to meet those
needs. … As of today, SWP pumping rates in the Delta
have been reduced from approximately 1,200 cubic feet per
second (cfs) to 600 cfs. … The pumping curtailment is
required under a permit to protect five fish species listed
under endangered species laws. … In future years,
the SWP’s spring outflow requirement may be satisfied through a
different method than simply reduced pumping. The State Water
Resources Control Board is currently considering adoption of a
program, called Healthy Rivers and Landscapes, that would
expand fish habitat and increase springtime flows in the
Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and the rivers that flow to
them, as well as Delta outflow.
President Trump directed agencies that regulate energy and the
environment to sunset a wide array of environmental protections
in an executive order issued Wednesday night. He ordered
agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
Energy Department, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Bureau of
Safety and Environmental Enforcement and Fish and Wildlife
Service to amend regulations so that they expire by October
2026. The order applies to all regulations issued under
laws governing things like energy appliance standards, mining
and offshore drilling — as well as regulations issued under the
Endangered Species Act. It’s not yet clear whether the order
will also apply to regulations at the EPA under laws like the
Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act or Safe Drinking Water Act
because the order directs that particular agency to provide the
White House with a list of statutes that should be subject to
the order.
Letters went out to hundreds of workers at the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) on Thursday, informing
them their jobs had been terminated – again. The probationary
employees, many who performed important roles at the US’s
pre-eminent climate research agency, have spent weeks in limbo
after being dismissed in late February, only to be rehired and
put on administrative leave in mid-March following a federal
court order. … These firings are already hampering the
agency’s ability to provide essential climate and weather
intelligence. Noaa is also bracing for more cuts as leaders
make moves to comply with Trump’s “reduction in force”, an
order that could cull 1,029 more positions.
Mexico is diverting untreated wastewater into the Tijuana River
as it works to repair its faulty sewage infrastructure. About
five million gallons per day (MGD) have been diverted since
April 8 as Mexico repairs a critical junction box that is a
part of its International Collector project. The junction box
must be dried so it can be rebuilt with reinforced concrete. On
Wednesday, Mexico shut off the water supply to a portion of
Tijuana for other projects, which eliminated the need to divert
wastewater into the Tijuana River. Because of that, the average
daily impact has been three million gallons per day, according
to Maria-Elena Giner, commissioner for the U.S. section of the
International Boundary and Water Commission. To help remove as
much wastewater as possible from the river, Mexico is working
to activate its PBCILA lift station, which is usually turned
off during the dry season. It is expected to be operational by
Sunday.
Less than two months after agreeing to join forces with the
City of Porterville to manage area groundwater, the Porterville
Irrigation District board voted Tuesday to abandon the
partnership and hold a public hearing on whether to form its
own groundwater agency. That hearing will be held May 13. …
The breakup is a continuation of the strife that has dogged the
Tule subbasin as it struggles to comply with the Sustainable
Groundwater Management Act, which mandates aquifers be brought
into balance by 2040. Squabbles and lawsuits have centered
on the southeastern portion of the subbasin where some growers
are blamed for overpumping so much that the ground has
collapsed, sinking a 33-mile section of the Friant-Kern
Canal.
Whiskeytown National Recreation Area rangers are cautioning
anglers and boaters to clean their equipment and crafts (small
and large) before taking them to Whiskeytown Lake and other
Shasta County waters. They and California Department of Fish
and Wildlife officials are trying to stop golden mussels from
invading North State waters after the animals first arrived for
the first time in Northern California last October. The tiny
fresh and brackish water mollusk could spell big trouble for
California reservoirs, clogging pipes, they said; and could
potentially devastate Whiskeytown Lake’s other freshwater
bodies’ ecosystems. The state recently began to require
inspections of boats at Folsom Lake and Lake Clementine in the
Sacramento area to stop the invasive species from spreading.
