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 long-running fight over California water and the fate of a
tiny fish found a new front with a House measure to strip
federal protections from the longfin smelt. Introduced Friday
by Rep. Doug LaMalfa and six fellow Golden State Republicans,
H.J. Res. 78 would undo the Fish and Wildlife Service’s listing
of the longfin smelt’s San Francisco Bay Delta
population as endangered. “This listing is just another example
of out-of-touch environmental policies making it harder to
store and deliver water in California,” LaMalfa said in a
statement first published by LassenNews.com.
Drinking water has earned a “C-” on the 2025 American Society
of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Report Card for America’s
Infrastructure, which is the same score it received in 2021.
ASCE released the report card grading America’s infrastructure
on March 25, 2025, where the country received an overall grade
of “C,” its highest ever score. ASCE drinking water report card
The ASCE Report Card highlighted the need for funding and
building more resilient infrastructure. According to ASCE, the
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined that the
nation’s water infrastructure needs stand at $625 billion over
20 years, exceeding EPA’s 2018 assessment by more than $150
billion. … The report highlighted new funding opportunities,
such as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA),
which invested more than $30 billion for drinking water
improvements, removal of lead service lines and addressing
emerging contaminants like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances
(PFAS).
In a historic and consequential move, the United States has
officially denied Mexico’s request for a special water delivery
from the Colorado River to Tijuana. … The 1944
treaty, a longstanding bilateral agreement, regulates water
distribution between the U.S. and Mexico between the Rio Grande
and Colorado Rivers. According to the treaty, Mexico must
deliver 1.75 million acre-feet of water to the U.S. over
five-year cycles, averaging 350,000 acre-feet annually.
However, by late 2024, Mexico had fallen over one million
acre-feet behind its commitments. Officials attribute this
shortfall to a combination of prolonged drought, increased
agricultural demands, and aging infrastructure on the Mexican
side of the border.
California is not alone in its struggles to save its freshwater
biodiversity. Across the West, rivers and lakes have been
tapped to supply water to farms and cities—and ecosystems have
paid the price. One project has been restoring water to a
Nevada lake through an unusual mechanism: environmental water
acquisitions. We spoke with the Walker Basin Conservancy’s
Carlie Henneman and Peter Stanton to learn more.
… Despite some recent rainstorms, the majority of Southern
California remains in “severe” or “extreme” drought conditions,
as of the latest report from the U.S. Drought Monitor.
Precipitation for this water year, which begins Oct. 1, is
still well below average for the southern third of the state.
In coastal areas, rainfall amounts are about 40% to 60% of
average for this time of year; in the state’s most southwestern
corner, it’s even lower, according to California Water Watch.
While Northern California’s precipitation and snowpack are
above average for the year, the Southern Sierra still remains
at about 87% of average for this time of year, according to the
California Department of Water Resources.
A large number of people were scheduled today to testify and
comment on the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) … when a bizarre
hacking incident occurred on the Zoom platform that the
California State Water Resources Control Board was using for a
hearing. The hearing was regarding the pending petitions for a
change in water rights by the California Department of Water
Resources that are required to move forward with the Delta
Tunnel. … When the hearing started, one of the attendee windows
displayed a graphic obscene video with a synthetic or altered
voice saying loudly, “Shut this Zoom Call Down.” The hacker
took over the audio so the Hearing Officer could not speak, so
she shut the hearing down.
Due to staff reductions, retirements, and a federal hiring
freeze, the National Weather Service has announced a series of
suspensions involving weather balloon launches in recent weeks.
The question is, will this significantly degrade forecasts in
the United States and around the world? … (B)ased on 20
years of experience and a number of conversations about this
with others in the field, there are some very real, very
serious concerns beyond statistics. One thing is that the
suspended weather balloon launches are occurring in relatively
important areas for weather impacts downstream. A missed
weather balloon launch in Omaha or Albany won’t impact the
forecast in California. But what if a hurricane is coming? What
if a severe weather event is coming? You’ll definitely see
impacts to forecast quality during major, impactful
events.
The EPA recently announced a consent decree with the operators
of the Oasis Mobile Home Park in California to resolve
violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The consent
decree requires the park’s operators to upgrade its drinking
water and wastewater systems and pay a $50,000 penalty. … The
mobile home park is located within the Torres Martinez Desert
Cahuilla Indians Tribal Reservation boundaries in Thermal,
California, which is in the Eastern Coachella Valley. With an
estimated population of 1,000 people, it’s the valley’s largest
mobile home park, primarily serving agricultural workers,
according to the EPA. “While situated on Tribal land, the
public water and wastewater systems at Oasis operate
independently from Tribal control or ownership,” the EPA
release notes. “The Park’s drinking water system uses
groundwater that has high levels of naturally occurring
arsenic.”
The Bureau of Reclamation has announced the award of a
$115,900,000 contract to AMES Federal Contracting Group of
Burnsville, Minnesota, for the construction of a new spillway
at Hyrum Dam. Hyrum Dam was built on the Little Bear River in
northern Utah in 1935 and impounds Hyrum Reservoir, which
provides water storage for irrigation and municipal use.
In addition to continued repairs and modifications over the
years, operators have done their best to minimize the amount of
water released through the spillway. … “The spillway at Hyrum
Dam is used every year to release excess water downstream, and
though continuous maintenance has occurred on the spillway
since its construction, the 90-year-old structure is in need of
replacement,” said Reclamation Upper Colorado Basin
Regional Director Wayne Pullan.
At its February 13, 2025, meeting, the Mendocino County Inland
Water & Power Commission (IWPC) discussed a landmark Memorandum
of Understanding (MOU) that sets the stage for a New
Eel-Russian Diversion Facility (NERF). … IWPC also
discussed efforts to restart the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE)
Feasibility Study on raising Coyote Dam, a long-debated project
aimed at increasing water storage capacity in the Upper Russian
River Watershed. Coyote Dam was originally designed to be
36 feet taller, but funding shortfalls prevented the full
construction. Increasing the dam height would allow more water
to be stored for dry-season use, especially as flows from the
Potter Valley Project decrease.
Officials are investigating several fire stations between
Livermore and Pleasanton for water contamination as Pleasanton
continues looking for new well sites. In 2023, The San
Francisco Bay Regional Water Board started to examine
facilities for evidence of possible PFAS, or polyfluoroalkyl
substances, in groundwater and runoff storm water in the two
cities. The board chose to investigate the fire stations
after Pleasanton in 2019 began shutting down its three
wells due to significant PFAS contamination. The board now
wants to figure out if fire-fighting foams, which contain the
forever chemical, were a significant source of a massive
subsurface plume of those substances.
Only about a dozen residents attended a recent event in Hanford
to learn about free well testing and organizers learned it’s a
trust thing. “(Rural Kings County residents) don’t want you
coming out and checking their water because they’re afraid
you’re going to close their well down and tell them they have
to dig a new well that they can’t afford,” said attendee Sandra
Martin. “A lot of elderly are afraid.” Kings Water
Alliance Executive Officer Debra Dunn assured attendees the
organization has no intent, nor authority, to shut anyone’s
well down. “We do not tell people what to do with their wells,”
Dunn said.
At the California Tahoe Conservancy Board meeting on Thursday,
the board acquired a parcel of land at the entrance of Van
Sickle Bi-State Park, approved the Senate Bill 630 public
access grants for Regan and Secline Beach, and approved Tahoe
City Public Utility District’s water main extension into Meeks
Bay. … The passing of Proposition 4 this past election
authorized $10 billion to spend on environmental and climate
projects. Here in the Basin, Vasques said there is $25.5
million available for watershed and forest health work and $29
million allocated for reducing the risk of climate change;
impacts on communities, fish, wildlife, natural resources; and
increasing public access. Vasques also said that the bond will
drive benefits towards disadvantaged communities, including
tribes like the Washoe.
When the Nevada Irrigation District (NID) Board of Directors
meets again this Wednesday, it will be hot on the heels of a
relatively contentious meeting that took place March 12 wherein
the board voted on what would become of properties that were
initially designated as surplus land for what was intended to
be part of the now-abandoned Centennial Dam project. Greg
Jones, Assistant General Manager for NID, proposed the
resolution to declare 17 properties, mostly residential and in
the Bear River region in the footprint of the Centennial
Reservoir, exempt surplus land for certain real property
purchased. … The 17 properties include residential units
ranging from mobile homes to houses valued at over $1
million.
As the Valley grows, so does the pressing question: Is there
enough water to support everyone? In Peoria, this concern is at
the forefront. The city is unlocking thousands of acres for new
development and welcoming a significant Amkor semiconductor
plant. To meet the increasing demand, Peoria is expanding its
Beardsley Water Reclamation Facility, aiming to increase its
capacity and send more reclaimed water to the growing
northern region of the city. This expansion is crucial
for treating the rising wastewater volumes, for use in public
green spaces, construction, street cleaning, replenishing
groundwater, and ensuring a sustainable water supply for the
city’s future. … While this reclaimed water isn’t used for
drinking, its increased availability means that more potable
water remains accessible to residents.
To improve stream health and help restore wetlands, ecologists
have increasingly looked to beavers for inspiration.
Stream-spanning structures made of vegetation, called beaver
dam analogues (BDAs), offer a cost-efficient way to slow down
moving water. A new study suggests they have another benefit:
improving water quality downstream. This week in Applied
and Environmental Microbiology, researchers report that BDAs
significantly reduce the amount of a waterborne protozoal
pathogen, Giardia duodenalis, in stream water flowing through a
cattle ranch in California. “We found that slowing down
the water in these creeks allowed these pathogens, which can
cause disease in animals or people, to be removed by the BDA
structures,” said epidemiologist and senior author Woutrina
Smith, DVM, MPVM, Ph.D., from the University of California,
Davis.
With massive job cuts, the National Weather Service is
eliminating or reducing vital weather balloon launches in eight
northern locations, which meteorologists and former agency
leaders said will degrade the accuracy of forecasts just as
severe weather season kicks in. The normally twice-daily
launches of weather balloons in about 100 locations provide
information that forecasters and computer models use to figure
out what the weather will be and how dangerous it can get.
… Launches will be eliminated in Omaha, Nebraska, and
Rapid City, South Dakota, “due to a lack of Weather Forecast
Office (WFO) staffing,” the weather service said in a notice
issued late Thursday. It also is cutting from twice daily to
once daily launches in Aberdeen, South Dakota; Grand
Junction, Colorado; Green Bay, Wisconsin; Gaylord,
Michigan; North Platte, Nebraska and Riverton,
Wyoming.
Other federal weather and environmental agency news:
After decades of trial and error, a new plan is taking shape
around the Salton Sea, California’s largest — and endlessly
troubled — lake. The accidental inland sea, some 35 miles long,
sprung to life 120 years ago when the Colorado River breached
an irrigation canal east of Palm Springs. The sudden,
shimmering water briefly created a tourist boom that lasted
into the 1960s, though for much of the half-century, the lake
could more aptly be described as an environmental disaster
zone. Now a new wave of conservation efforts, sparked by
millions of dollars in recent federal funding, has washed
ashore at the ultra-briny sea, and there’s
cautious hope from some that incoming industry will bring
an economic boom. That is, if it doesn’t all fall apart
first.
More than 200 people from Humboldt to Marin counties packed the
Cloverdale Veterans Memorial Hall Thursday night for a town
hall meeting about how PG&E’s planned shutdown of its
Potter Valley hydropower plant would impact the region’s water
supply. The controversial project involves the removal of the
Scott and Cape Horn dams and PG&E’s nearby hydroelectric
facility in Lake County, with PG&E saying it won’t shut
down the plant and begin dam removal until 2028 at the
earliest. Residents and some elected officials are
concerned the project will spark the potential loss of water
from the Eel River to the Russian River that individuals from
Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin counties have relied on for more
than 100 years.
It took nearly 25 years to figure out how to supply running
water to homes in Westwater, a small Navajo community in
southeastern Utah. … The Westwater project is one of many
efforts to provide reliable water to communities around the
27,000-square-mile Navajo Nation reservation, where 30%-40% of
homes lack access to running water. … Building
infrastructure and resolving water rights have been ongoing
challenges for tribal nations in the Colorado River
Basin. Together, tribes have rights to about 25% of
the basin’s water, but about 12 tribes were still working to
settle their water rights as of 2021, including the Navajo
Nation. Settling rights is a legal step that must be done
before water can be used and infrastructure built.
