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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… 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.
Legislation re-introduced by U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Kelly) and
a group of bipartisan lawmakers would ramp up testing and
treatment of PFAS contamination in private wells. PFAS are a
group thousands of human-made chemicals used in industrial and
consumer goods. Exposure has linked to health issues like
cancer. The legislation would allow states to use $5 billion
from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Kelly says the change
will help ensure funding reaches communities that rely on those
wells — like those in rural and small areas. Funding provided
by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law earmarked for water
contamination did originally include private wells, but, Kelly
says, not all communities ended up having access.
Tens of millions of Americans have likely consumed drinking
water containing cancer-causing chemicals that form when
livestock manure and other organic substances end up in public
water sources, according to a new analysis. Thousands of
industrial-scale farms across the country spray manure from
livestock onto farm or other lands, which then runs off into
waterways. When water utilities disinfect water using chlorine
and other chemicals, the process interacts with manure runoff
to create a byproduct known as trihalomethanes, or TTHMs, which
have been found to cause birth defects and cancers. A new
analysis by the environmental watchdog organization
Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that, between 2019 and
2023, unsafe levels of TTHMs ended up at least once in each of
nearly 6,000 community water systems across 49 states and
Washington, DC affecting an estimated 122 million people.
California is making it faster, easier, and more affordable to
launch environmental restoration projects across the state,
thanks to a program the state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife
established in 2021 called Cutting Green Tape. It’s a simple
idea: streamline the complex red tape – ‘green tape’ in the
case of restoration work – that often delays or blocks habitat
restoration projects. … Since 2022, the program has helped
more than 500 restoration projects move forward by reducing
costly delays and making the approval process easier to
navigate. These efforts have already contributed to the
restoration of nearly 200,000 acres of habitat, the
reconnection of 5.5 million acres of land, and the improvement
of over 700 miles of California streams. All of these projects
are critical for fish, wildlife, and clean water.
… A year and a half has passed since the historic moment when
wildlife officials re-released a family of six beavers to their
state habitat — the first time they had returned to their
native range in nearly 75 years as part of a major project
spearheaded by the CDFW and the Maidu Summit Consortium. Over
400 miles away in the South Fork Tule River deep in the Sierra
Nevada, three more groups made their debut for the first time
in more than a century when they were subsequently released
last year. Now, wildlife officials say the translocated
beaver populations are settling into their new homes — and
they’re growing. … The animals increased the surface water
area by 23%, contributing to the formation of wetlands that
could slow or stop wildfire from burning across the land and
provide more habitat for local mammals, reptiles and
amphibians.
California’s Department of Transportation, known as Caltrans,
is seeking a contractor to develop and execute a statewide PR,
advertising and marketing campaign. The push, expected to
have a multimillion-dollar budget, is expected to begin next
month. The goal of the stormwater public education
campaign will be to motivate the public to change behavior,
leading to improved water quality in California’s streams,
rivers, lakes and coastal waters, according to solicitation
documents. The solicitation did not include a contract end
date. “California’s waters should be drinkable, swimmable
and fishable, and its coastline water should be swimmable and
fishable,” Caltrans said. “However, studies have shown more
than 70% of marine litter on our beaches comes from inland
sources.” PR agencies Allison and Fraser Communications
were among the contractors represented at an optional
pre-proposal teleconference held on March 25, state documents
showed.
In a state where drought is never far from mind, Pasadena is
taking fresh approaches to water conservation, turning
educational initiatives into community celebrations.
Pasadena Water and Power is joining utilities nationwide this
May to celebrate Water Awareness Month with a series of free
educational events, tours, and contests designed to
promote water conservation. The initiative, part of
PWP’s “The Ripple Effect” campaign, aims to raise awareness
about water sustainability and encourage community members to
become local water stewards. … A virtual Water
Town Hall is scheduled for May 7 from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. via
Zoom, offering information about water sources, delivery
systems, and sustainability efforts. Residents can also
tour the Monk Hill Water Facility on May 10 from 9 a.m. to 11
a.m. to learn about the history of Monk Hill and its role in
Pasadena’s water supply, as well as water treatment, storage,
and delivery systems.
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is facing a funding crisis
that has bogged down efforts to repair and maintain an aging
network of about 1,100 miles of levees that protect the region
from floods. These protective ridges of dirt and rocks,
mostly on private land, are at growing risk of rupturing, which
would endanger half a million people, mostly in Stockton but
also in smaller towns and farmsteads. Also threatened are
thousands of acres of farmland, highways and water supply pumps
that send water to much of the state. … Without substantial
improvements to Delta levees in the next 25 years, “more than
$10 billion in agricultural, residential, commercial, and
infrastructure assets and nearly $2 billion in annual economic
activity would be exposed to flooding,” according to an
estimate from the Delta Stewardship Council.
It’s been a late season bonanza up north, with snowpack levels
sitting at 120 percent of average north of Lake Tahoe. The
central Sierra are a little less well-off but still close to
normal. The southern Sierra have not had their best winter
ever, but even still snow water equivalent is around 85 percent
of normal. There have certainly been worse years in California.
It’s when you get into the interior West that the problems
start. Take Colorado. Their peak snowpack is likely to be the
lowest since 2018. The northern part of the state has done well
with near average snowfall this year. The Colorado River
headwaters are also running near average, but southern
Colorado, particularly the San Juan and Upper Rio Grande basins
are in bad shape. Snow water equivalents are running about 60
percent of the median right now, or well, well below average.
The story improves some in Utah, where the basins are a little
noisier, but in general not in bad shape outside of southern
Utah. Similar story in Wyoming and Idaho. Not great, not
terrible. Oregon? Fantastic winter. Washington? Less so. But
for Arizona and New Mexico, it was a dreadful winter.
Other snowpack and water supply news around the West:
Driving around the cities and small towns of the West, one of
the most consequential changes to the landscape are hard to
see. Data centers, the buildings of the future, are usually
low-slung, their large bulk is best seen from above. A
drone’s-eye view shows a spreading, warehouse-flat landscape
born of the economic and electrical revolution that is
reshaping places like Phoenix, the city of Santa Clara in
Silicon Valley, or rural Oregon towns close to the Columbia
River. … Heat is the enemy of data operations, reducing
their efficiency or even making them inoperable. What creates
the heat? The armies of servers gobbling up vast amounts of
electricity. What cools it? A variety of technologies, with
one, evaporative cooling, requiring significant amounts of
water.
The mythology of rugged individualism often touted in the West
comes to a screeching halt where water is concerned, especially
here in Los Angeles. That’s because the city has long been
propped up by water shipped from hundreds of miles away to the
extent that today, about 85% of its drinking water is imported.
… Imported water is an addiction the city will have to kick
if it’s to weather the worsening impacts from climate change.
That’s why, since at least 2008, LA leaders have pushed the
city — but have so far failed — to massively increase the
amount of recycled wastewater it uses for drinking. Currently,
that number is around 2%. These plans took a major step forward
with the completion last December of Pure Water LA, a city plan
to massively scale-up the amount of wastewater it recycles at
the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant in Playa Del Rey. The aim
is to eventually make the city 70% reliant on local supplies.
Today, about 15% of water is derived from local supplies.
The Trump administration this week ramped up its efforts to
erode nationwide climate progress with a sweeping executive
order aimed at undermining states’ ability to set their own
environmental policies, including key components of
California’s fight against climate change. In an order dated
April 8, the president directed Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi to
identify and “stop the enforcement of” state laws that address
climate change and other environmental initiatives.
… The order also takes aim at California’s cap-and-trade
program — a first-of-its-kind initiative that sets limits on
companies’ greenhouse gas emissions and allows them to sell
“credits” for unused emissions to other companies.
In an emergency directive issued late last week, U.S.
Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced
her department’s plan to expand logging and timber production
by 25 percent and, in the process, dismantle the
half-a-century-old environmental review system that has blocked
the federal government from finalizing major decisions
concerning national forest lands without public insight. …
While it may seem intuitive that cutting down high-risk trees
will lead to less organic material that could incinerate,
environmentalists say the administration’s plans to increase
timber outputs, simplify permitting, and do away with certain
environmental review processes are likely to only escalate
wildfire risk and contribute more to climate change.
