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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A proposal by the Trump administration to reorganize the
Environmental Protection Agency targets divisions that house
its climate change offices as well as Energy Star, a widely
popular program designed to help lower energy costs for
American households. A chart of the proposed reorganization
reviewed by The Times on Tuesday showed plans for vast changes
to the Office of Air and Radiation, where the programs are
currently held, among several other divisions. … And
yet, perhaps the most dramatic cuts may be to the agency’s main
office devoted to understanding, tracking and combating climate
change, which is housed under the same division set for a
shuffle.
A tour bus filled with water experts, agency directors,
biologists, engineers and one news reporter traveled through
the Central Valley this spring, stopping at key infrastructure
sites where the San Joaquin Valley’s water is collected and
shipped to farms and cities. The tour offered a wealth of
information on water structures and districts covering about
20,000 square miles of the southern valley. The three-day
tour was put on by the Water Education
Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides
information and education on California’s byzantine water
world, from April 23 – 25. Starting in Sacramento, the
tour moved south to the San Luis Reservoir, which stores water
for both the state and federal systems. Along the way, water
managers and experts shared crucial information about how the
systems operate.
American River Trees (ART), a grassroots organization based
in Sacramento, arranged a walk Sunday morning to protest
a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (USACE) erosion
project. The USACE project, which aims to alleviate flood risk,
threatens the destruction of nearly 700 trees and miles of
habitat in the American River Parkway, according to ART. The
group walked during its protest a two-mile stretch of trail
from the Kadema Drive River Access to Larchmont Community
Park. ART says many trails, beaches and access to the
river’s edge will be lost, and USACE hasn’t sufficiently looked
into or incorporated less destructive alternatives.
… The organization said flood risk is exaggerated as the
stretch of river is relatively straight, has slower velocities
than downstream sites, and seepage walls in reinforced levees
are built to withstand water against them.
At its next regular meeting Wednesday, the Ukiah City Council
is expected to consider approving the contribution of another
$84,000 to another local entity for ongoing work related to the
Potter Valley Project. According to a staff report on the item
prepared for the May 7 meeting, the City Council will be asked
to approve a “financial contribution in the amount of $84,000
to the (Mendocino County) Inland Water and Power Commission for
consulting and legal services related to the Potter Valley
Project, and approve a corresponding budget amendment.”
… In an effort to continue the diversions in some form,
(Ukiah City Council administrative analyst Seth) Strader notes
that the IWPC, along with “the Round Valley Indian Tribes and
the Sonoma County Water Agency have submitted a proposal to
advance a regional solution for preserving flows in the Russian
River and improving Eel River fisheries.
The San Luis Obispo County Department of Public Works is
temporarily changing how it disinfects water in the South
County after residents were put under a boil water notice late
last week. Around 50,000 residents in the Five Cities area were
told on April 30 to boil their water before use after a sample
from the Lopez Lake water system tested positive for E. coli,
the county said. It was the first time such a sample had
prompted a boil water notice for the distribution system, which
feeds much of the South County region. … Now, Public
Works is expected to temporarily change the disinfectant used
in the Lopez Project distribution system from chloramine
disinfection — which uses a blend of chlorine and ammonia — to
free chlorine, according to a news release.
Windsor residents could expect to pay more for their water and
sewer services come July, as the Windsor Town Council is
looking to raise rates by about $12 a month. And that’s just
next year. Rate hikes are expected to increase each year
through 2029. The Town Council will discuss the proposed rates
at its upcoming meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Town Council
chambers, 9291 Old Redwood Highway. Should the council approve
the rates, a typical Windsor household would expect to pay
$3.24 more per month for water and $8.82 more per month for
wastewater, bringing average monthly water bills to $38.85 and
average monthly sewer bills to $94.07. … The
council is also proposing subsequent rate increases over the
next four years.
… As extreme weather intensifies, securing and sustainably
managing water resources will be critical to mitigating the
impacts of prolonged drought, wildfire and flooding. That’s why
business leaders are tapping in, with corporate stewardship
activities aimed at helping secure California’s water future.
We have come together under the California Water Resilience
Initiative, managed by the Pacific Institute, to accelerate
collective action across sectors. As part of the Water
Resilience Coalition, a global effort to mobilize corporate
water stewardship, the California Water Resilience Initiative
has a unique opportunity to lead both nationally and globally,
defining the playbook for how businesses, government and
non-profits can help build water resilience at scale. –Written by Emilio Tenuta, senior vice president and chief
sustainability officer of Ecolab, and Jason Morrison, president
of the Pacific Institute and head of the CEO Water
Mandate.
Every year, billions of gallons of sewage and toxic industrial
waste flow down the Tijuana River, across the U.S.-Mexico
border, and into the Pacific Ocean. It is a complex,
decades-old, transjurisdictional issue that environmentalists
and governments at the local, state, and federal level have
been grappling with for years. Recently, entities on both sides
of the border have made some progress, but experts agree that
more has to be done to address the international pollution
crisis. But viewers watching Fox News would have scant
understanding of the complexity of this issue, the shared
responsibility for its resolution, or the progress that has
been made in both the U.S. and Mexico. According to Fox and new
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, the issue is simple: Mexico is to
blame.
The Klamath River Fund, a program of Humboldt Area Foundation
and Wild Rivers Community Foundation (HAF+WRCF), today
announced $1.2 million in grants awarded to 12
organizations working across the Klamath Basin. These
grants mark a significant step in the Fund’s 10-year commitment
to invest in and amplify community-led climate resilience and
restorative justice efforts following the unprecedented removal
of four dams on the Klamath River in 2023 and 2024.
… The grants invest in a wide range of organizations and
projects including sustainable agriculture along the Sprague
River at the Klamath’s headwaters in Oregon to the first effort
to boat the length of the un-dammed Klamath by local Tribal
youth.
The Imperial Irrigation District and its partners, the
California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and California
Project WET (Water Education Today), hosted a climate change
and water workshop for educators, Saturday, May 3, in IID’s
Condit Auditorium. Teachers working with students in
grades 3-12 attended to learn how climate change is allegedly
linked to floods, droughts, and water quality. Educators
learned how the changing climate may impact California’s water
resources, and Imperial Valley’s water in particular. They also
discussed activities to help students understand how they can
adapt to the region’s changing environment.
In a May 2, 2025, letter to Appropriations Committee Chair
Susan Collins, President Donald Trump’s FY2026 budget proposal
amounts to $4.2 billion in total funding reduction in 2026
compared to 2025 for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA). Clean and Drinking Water State Revolving Loan programs
would see the greatest reduction with an overall budget of $305
million. That amounts to $2.46 billion less than the 2025
budget. The President’s letter claims this change will place
the onus on states to fund their own infrastructure while
sharing additional reasoning as to why the reduction is on the
table.
Other water, environment and
agriculture funding news:
In a major change of plans aimed at rescuing California’s
struggling salmon populations, state wildlife officials have
done something never tried before: releasing millions of young
hatchery-raised Chinook salmon directly into the main stem of
the Sacramento River. This historic release of roughly 3.5
million juvenile fall-run Chinook salmon happened in mid-April
near Redding and Butte City. Typically, hatchery fish are
released into the rivers where their hatcheries are located,
like the Feather or Mokelumne Rivers. … This unprecedented
move comes as fall-run Chinook salmon numbers in the main
Sacramento River – the historical heart of California’s salmon
fishery – are at critically low levels.
A decade after the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act
became law, many California farmers still feel lost in the
bureaucracy surrounding its implementation. A new study finds
that, despite widespread awareness, real engagement remains
low. According to research from CSU-WATER — an initiative
encompassing 23 California State University campuses —
significant logistical and representational barriers have
prevented farmers from meaningfully engaging with their
Groundwater Sustainability Agencies. The research is part
of SGMA WAVE — short for Water and Valley Economy — a project
led by CSU-WATER, a water policy initiative involving all 23
CSU campuses. The study focuses on 72 GSAs across the San
Joaquin Valley counties of Madera, Fresno, Tulare, Kings, and
Kern.
With the recent discovery of invasive golden mussels in
California waterways, the Department of Water Resources (DWR)
is ramping up prevention efforts to protect Lake Oroville and
surrounding State Water Project (SWP) facilities. Golden
mussels haven’t been detected in Lake Oroville, Thermalito
Forebay, or Thermalito Afterbay, but DWR is taking proactive
steps to keep it that way. These invasive mussels can severely
damage ecosystems, clog pipelines, foul boat motors, and
disrupt water delivery systems. To stop their spread, DWR is
partnering with California State Parks and California
Department of Fish and Wildlife to implement a mandatory
watercraft inspection program at Lake Oroville starting later
this month.
In November 2024, powerful gusts whipped across parts of the
Central Valley. The winds not only knocked out power, but they
also kicked up soil particles, producing a massive dust storm.
The extreme weather event dropped visibility to near zero,
grinding highway traffic to a halt. Scientists expect dust
storms in California to occur even more often in the future,
due to climate change and human activities like construction
and agriculture. … The Sustainable
Groundwater Management Act may have also increased the
chances for dust storms. The act, passed in 2014, limits the
overdraft of groundwater in order protect groundwater basins in
the long term. It has caused farmers to take some fields out of
production due to decreased water access.
… With the rapid rollbacks taking place across the federal
government showing no signs of decelerating, many environmental
groups have expressed concern that regulations safeguarding
against PFAS contamination could soon be weakened or
overturned. As a result of the unclear future of federal
regulation, as well as the prevalence of PFAS in drinking
water, many states have taken it upon themselves to strengthen
their PFAS laws to protect their waterways. … One such
example was seen in California, where state
legislators introduced Assembly Bill 794 aiming to strengthen
the State Water Board’s authority by empowering the Water Board
to directly combat challenges to the existing federal
regulation by ordering it to “establish emergency regulations
that are at least as protective as current federal standards”
(as of January 19, 2025).
This article documents the current status of tribal water
rights
in California and explains why they differ from other
states. … In 1908, the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed in
Winters v. U.S. that through the creation of reservations,
tribes are entitled to water rights sufficient to meet their
homeland needs. … The Klamath Tribes in Oregon, the
Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe (PLPT) in Nevada, and five
reservations along the California-Arizona border hold
high-priority Winters rights to surface water crossing the
California state line. In each case, the sovereignty tribes
were able to exert over their rights increased when tribal
priorities aligned with state or federal interests.
… Across Colorado, the snowpack peaked lower in major river
basins than the 30-year median, according to federal data from
1991 to 2020. The peaks were often earlier than usual, and the
snowpack is melting quickly — several weeks earlier than the
norm in some areas. Water managers and climatologists are
hoping for a rainy May and active summer thunderstorm season.
In dry years, farmers and ranchers can be short on irrigation
water in late summer. Reservoirs can have less extra water to
carry over into the next year. Fish and aquatic ecosystems can
suffer with less water in warmer rivers. Water managers across
the desert Southwest are in similar situations. Western
Colorado is a key water source for the Colorado River
Basin, where rivers and streams send water into an
immense reservoir, Lake Powell.
Along the Pacific Northwest coast, scientists have long warned
of a looming threat: a massive earthquake from the Cascadia
Subduction Zone, capable of triggering tsunamis and devastating
shaking. Now, new research highlights another, often-overlooked
danger—the sudden sinking of the land itself and the
longer-term threats posed by coastal flooding. A study
authored by a team of scientists including USGS shows that a
magnitude 8 or greater earthquake today along the Cascadia
megathrust fault—stretching from northern California to
Vancouver Island, British Columbia—could cause 0.5 to 2 meters
(1.6 to 6.6 feet) of sudden land subsidence, instantly raising
relative local sea levels and more than doubling the number of
people, buildings, and roads exposed to coastal flooding.
The Los Osos water pipeline has been in the works for the past
four years. If funded, it would connect Los Osos to the state
water project, providing the town with a new source of water.
The project has already been approved at the federal level, but
for work to begin, the Army Corps of Engineers needs to approve
the allocation of funds. A recent report from the Los Osos
Community Services District’s general manager states the CSD
has reached out to the Corps several times since December for
an update on the project but has never received a
response.
