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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… As climate change drives up flooding risk, the safest
move for Isleton residents might be to abandon their small city
— but short of that drastic option, insurance could provide a
safety net. Now, with help from researchers, the state has
funded its first community flood program, providing one private
insurance policy for all Isleton residents at no cost. Isleton
is piloting community-based insurance for California, which
desperately needs alternatives. … Isleton hoped to fund
the program independently after the pilot ends in 2027 by
establishing a parcel tax, but many residents seem unsupportive
of paying it. Despite the uncertain future, Isleton’s new
leadership said they plan to lock in the insurance policy this
month.
Humans might be the ultimate ecosystem engineers in the sense
that we constantly modify ecosystems and change the processes
which drive them. In some cases, this can harm biodiversity by
displacing native ecosystem engineers which deliver important
benefits for other species and bolster both habitat and species
diversity (Romero et al. 2015). Humans also can leverage their
ecosystem engineering to benefit biodiversity, such as through
mimicking ecosystem engineering structures as part of
restoration. Our recent paper (Goss et al. 2025) reviews how
mimicked ecosystem engineer structures might help meet
restoration goals, and potential risks with the use of these
human-engineered structures.
PG&E mostly agrees with a recent opinion piece urging the
removal of Scott Dam due to a better understanding of the
seismic risks. As described in our draft decommissioning plan,
PG&E considers the expedited removal of the Scott Dam to be
in the best interest of PG&E customers. It is also the most
appropriate long-term mitigation to address the seismic risk.
In the meantime, PG&E has implemented interim measures to
reduce near-term seismic risk — the most prominent being the
restricted maximum reservoir storage elevation. However,
contrary to the opinion piece, PG&E’s decision not to seek
a new license for the Potter Valley Project — a hydroelectric
facility — is based on the fact the project is not economical
for PG&E’s customers. –Written by Dave Canny, vice president of PG&E’s North
Coast Region.
San Luis Obispo County lifted the boil-water order for all
remaining areas on Saturday afternoon, following a
water-contamination alert that lasted four days. According to
an alert from the county, the boil-water order was lifted
shortly after noon, allowing residents in Pismo Beach and Avila
Beach to resume normal water use, after the State Division of
Drinking Water gave the all-clear. … The county said it
was working with state officials to investigate the cause of a
single positive E. coli test result that spurred the boil
order. The investigation is expected to take 30 days. Director
of Public Works John Diodati said the drinking water is safe
and will be monitored and tested as the county investigates the
cause.
Four City Councilmembers, City of Malibu staff and a
group of concerned citizens rolled up their sleeves at a work
session on April 24, deliberating about three keystone issues
that officials must make decisions about before those who are
rebuilding homes are able to submit architectural
plans and permit applications for city approval. The meeting
addressed wastewater treatment for parcels destroyed by the
Palisades Fire, geotechnical study requirements, and
self-certification by some design professionals, an approach
that would save fire victims time and money. Residents
were palpably frustrated because the four long months since the
fire have been full of tumult and the tough
issues discussed in the session are complicated, will take a
lot of time and will be expensive.
Other local water management and infrastructure news:
Housing developers and conservation advocates clashed over a
bill Thursday that would encourage the federal government to
open thousands of acres of public land in Clark County for
development, a move critics say will encourage sprawl and
supporters argue would lower housing costs. … The
resolution’s opponents cited concerns about water scarcity,
utility costs, urban sprawl, and the urban heat island effect.
… A joint study by Clark County and the City of Henderson
found that development under the Clark County Lands Bill could
increase daily water demand by 49 million gallons, or about 18%
of Nevada’s total allocation from the Colorado River.
Up and down the coast, sea birds, sea lions, dolphins and even
whales have fallen victim to the bloom starting in late
February. One recent Sunday, 16 dead dolphins were collected
from San Diego-area beaches. … This is the fourth year
in a row there’s been significant blooming of Pseudo-nitzschia
off the coast of California. It creates domoic acid, a
neurotoxin that accumulates in small fish, like sardines and
anchovies, which are then eaten by marine mammals and birds.
… Recent algae blooms were fueled by La Niña weather patterns
that brought colder, nutrient-rich waters to the surface. A
“ribbon” of cold water formed in December and was still in
place in April, extending about 30 miles off the shoreline.
House Republicans passed a measure Thursday that would repeal
the government’s decision to place California’s longfin
smelt, a finger-sized fish, on the endangered species
list. House members passed the resolution, introduced by
California Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale), in a 216-195 vote
that followed party lines. The resolution now goes to the
Republican-controlled Senate. “We want to block the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service’s misguided decision to list the San
Francisco Bay Delta population of the longfin smelt as being
endangered,” LaMalfa, who represents a rice-growing region in
Northern California, said before the vote. He said the agency’s
decision last year to declare the fish species endangered was
“unscientific” and said it’s making it harder to deliver water
from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to farmers.
Rapid melts across the U.S. West have caused snowpack to
disappear up to four weeks early in some areas — wreaking
potential havoc on the region’s water supply, federal
meteorologists warned Thursday. These conditions have
particularly affected parts of Utah, Colorado and New Mexico,
causing some basins to shift from above-average snowpack to
“snow drought,” according to an update from the
National Integrated Drought Information System
(NIDIS). That transition occurred in under a month, with
snow disappearing one to four weeks earlier than usual, the
NIDIS updated stated. … As for the Colorado
River Basin, the NIDIS update said that supply
forecasts for this region declined in comparison to April 1
projections, presumably due to dry conditions and early, rapid
snowmelt.
California’s largest reservoir, Lake Shasta, reached
capacity this week, marking the third straight year it has
filled or nearly filled with water. The run of big water years
at the reservoir reflects the unusual string of wet winters the
state has experienced, and it bodes well for water supplies
this year across California. The lake, which stretches
across an extraordinary 35 miles in the southern Cascades north
of Redding near Mount Shasta, is the cornerstone of the
federally run Central Valley Project. Its supplies are sent to
cities and farms hundreds of miles away, including the Bay
Area. The San Joaquin Valley’s booming agricultural industry is
the primary beneficiary.
… As we’ve been reporting, the Kern groundwater subbasin
could be put under probation. On Thursday, local water
officials met to discuss how to fix the problem. The Kern
River Groundwater Sustainability Agency is just one of 20 GSAs
(Groundwater Sustainability Agencies) in the Kern County
subbasin. They are working with the Kern County Water Agency,
Kern Delta Water District, the City of Bakersfield, and many
others to keep the Kern subbasin from going into probation
under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act.
Political leadership at EPA has told employees with at least
two program offices to expect reorganization announcements
Friday. According to multiple people with knowledge of
senior-level meetings, EPA has scheduled an all-hands meeting
late Friday with Office of Research and Development employees.
There, agency leaders are expected to inform staff that some
functions will be restructured or absorbed into other offices,
but ORD will no longer exist as a stand-alone program, said one
source with knowledge of the plan and granted anonymity to
speak due to fear of retaliation. … Staffers who sign up
for the “deferred resignation” program will go on paid leave
through the end of September. … This is the second time the
option has been offered since President Donald Trump began his
second term. About 545 workers took advantage of it in the
first round, according to EPA.
This month, a key milestone was reached as water began flowing
into the East Pond of the Species Conservation Habitat (SCH)
Project—the largest restoration initiative at the Salton Sea. A
mixture of water from the New River and the Salton Sea is now
filling the first pond, with the East Pond 1 expansion Pond
expected to follow by the end of May. Together, the two ponds
will support roughly 2,000 acres of habitat-roughly three
square miles, the California Natural Resources Agency said.
Launched in 2021, the SHC Project has expanded to nearly 5,000
acres at the Sea’s southern end, with future plans to grow the
footprint to more than 9,000 acres. The restoration efforts are
designed to rebuild critical wetland habitats and reduce
harmful dust exposure for surrounding communities.
Tiny pieces of plastic are an increasingly big problem. Known
as microplastics, they originate from clothing, kitchen
utensils, personal care products, and countless other everyday
objects. Their durability makes them persistent in the
environment – including in human bodies. … According to
a new literature review, a significant portion of our
microplastic exposure may come from drinking water, as
wastewater treatment plants are still not effectively removing
microplastics. … ”What our systematic literature review
found is that while most wastewater treatment facilities
significantly reduce microplastics loads, complete removal
remains unattainable with current
technologies,” says senior author Un-Jung Kim,
environmental engineer at the University of Texas at Arlington
(UTA).
The Water Forum is pleased to announce the appointment of
Ashlee Casey, PE, as its new Executive Director. With over a
decade of experience addressing California’s most pressing
water resource challenges, Casey brings a strong foundation in
engineering, collaborative problem-solving, and strategic
planning to her new leadership role. Casey originally joined
the Water Forum in 2021 as a water resources engineer, where
she focused on regional surface and groundwater reliability,
managed technical support for the Water Forum’s Flow Management
Standard on the Lower American River, and contributed to
projects addressing long-term sustainability. (Casey
graduated in 2018 from the Water Education Foundation’s
Water Leaders
program.)
Federally declared fishery disasters have risen sharply in the
United States over the past decade, but NOAA hasn’t stepped up
its efforts to get relief dollars to affected communities, a
new report found. NOAA can take a long time — in some cases up
to five years — to hand out financial assistance to fishermen
and others dealing with a fishery collapse or other disaster,
according to a report issued Wednesday by the Government
Accountability Office. The report examined the federal response
to 111 fishery disaster requests since January 2014, finding
that for nearly half of the approved requests, relief money
began flowing at least 12 months after communities were hit by
a disaster.
Atascadero residents could soon see their sewage bills go up
after the state mandated the city undertake a costly plan to
upgrade its water treatment plant. To help fund the project —
currently expected to cost upwards of $173 million — the city
is considering a sewage service rate increase of 18.5% to go
into effect this year, followed by a potential increase of the
same amount again in 2026. A single-family household would
pay over $100 more every year, according to the staff report
from the April 22 city council meeting. But there is still a
chance the rate increase might fail. … If a majority of
impacted homeowners or lease holders protest the rate increase,
Atascadero would be legally blocked from imposing the fee.
Thousands of San Luis Obispo County residents were recently
warned to boil or purify their drinking water after tests
detected a strain of coliform bacteria in the water supply. The
bacteria, which was found in the water distribution system of
Zone 3 of the San Miguelito Water Co., is an early indication
of a potential E. coli contamination. … This is the
first time coliform bacteria contamination at the Lopez
distribution system has triggered a boil water notice, the
county Public Works Department said in a Thursday news release.
Here’s what to know about the potentially dangerous water
contaminant.
Last week, I sat down with Environmental Protection Agency
Administrator Lee Zeldin for a roundtable focused on a crisis
that’s poisoned our coastlines for decades: the relentless
dumping of toxic sewage from Mexico into Southern California’s
waters. This wasn’t another meeting about more studies, more
delays, or more bureaucratic finger-pointing. It was about one
thing: action. I told Administrator Zeldin what so many San
Diegans already know: this isn’t just an environmental disaster
— it’s a national security threat. When our Navy SEALs — the
elite warriors of our military — are forced to abandon training
operations due to contaminated waters, we have crossed a line.
When our families can’t enjoy our beaches without the risk of
serious illness, something is fundamentally broken. The good
news? Your voices are being heard. –Written by Jim Desmond, member of the San Diego County
Board of Supervisors.
… Arizona Water for All (AW4A) is a program of ASU’s Arizona
Water Innovation Initiative bringing together community
advocates, nonprofit organizations, and state agencies to
address water insecurity through community-based approaches.
This statewide network — with nodes in Tucson, Tempe, and
Flagstaff — aims to promote community participation in research
and policy related to water decision-making and to better plan
for the future of access to this precious resource,
particularly for the state’s most vulnerable residents.
… By prioritizing outreach with organizations and groups
across southern Arizona, organizing conversations around
household and community-level water insecurity, building
awareness about water-related struggles in our communities, and
helping to advance local solutions, our vision is to ensure
water security for all residents. –Written by Megan A. Carney, associate professor of
anthropology at the University of Arizona and southern Arizona
lead for AW4A, and Deyanira Ibarra, a PhD candidate in
anthropology at the University of Arizona.
