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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The effort to build California’s largest new reservoir in
decades received a welcome commitment of cash on Wednesday —
nearly $220 million — which will help keep the project on track
to break ground as soon as next year. Planned for 70 miles
northwest of Sacramento, the proposed Sites Reservoir won the
bulk of the funding because plans to expand the Los Vaqueros
Reservoir in Contra Costa County fell through, freeing up money
in the state’s 2014 water bond. The remainder of the money for
Sites came from last year’s state climate bond.
Colorado water officials announced Wednesday a rough plan to
figure out how the state would handle an unwelcome specter in
the Colorado River Basin: forced water cuts. Mandatory water
cuts are possible under a 100-year-old Colorado River Compact
in certain circumstances, mainly if the river’s 10-year flow
falls too low. It’s a possibility that is one or two “bad
years” away, some experts say. Colorado, however, does not
have a clearly defined plan, or regulations, for how exactly it
would handle such forced water cuts. … If the river’s
flow falls below a 10-year rolling average of about 82.5
million acre-feet, the Lower Basin states — Arizona, California
and Nevada — could demand that the Upper Basin send more water
downstream based on the 1922 Colorado River Compact. In
the water world, this is often called a “compact call.”
Karla Nemeth, the Director of the California Department of
Water Resources, says the Delta Conveyance Project is a crucial
step in updating the State Water Project, which has been
serving Californians for decades. … California’s water policy
has evolved significantly since the 1950s with increased focus
on environmental protection and equitable access to water. To
address these complexities, officials say that revitalizing the
State Water Project is seen as a key step towards ensuring
water resilience. … Governor Newsom has called the Delta
Conveyance Project “one of the most important climate
adaptation projects in the country.”
… The Uncompahgre strain of Colorado River cutthroat trout,
which is unique to the upper Dolores River watershed in extreme
southwest Colorado, lives in Wildcat Creek, and the fear on the
part of biologists with Colorado Parks and Wildlife was that
the Stoner Mesa Fire — which, as of Wednesday, August 20, had
consumed almost 9,000 acres and was burning out of control —
would not only have immediate impacts to the native fish, but
also leave a lasting toxic legacy. So, ahead of the fire’s
path, CPW work crews, along with biologists crews from the San
Juan National Forest, electroshocked the remote reaches of
Wildcat Creek and removed 266 native cutthroats.
Climate change enhances extreme rains more than the ordinary
drizzle. New research shows that frontal rain increases the
most, and illustrates why extreme rains caused by other
phenomena are not equally affected. … In a recent study
published in Geophysical Research Letters, she [Kjersti
Konstali, University of Bergen] and her colleagues looked into
the mechanisms making the heaviest rainfall not just more
extreme, but more extreme relative to not quite as extreme
rainfall. … The wettest days occur when cyclones march
in with fronts and an atmospheric river—a powerful troika now
and in the future. But of the three, the front causes the
largest increase.
A planned-for reduction in the amount of water Pacific Gas &
Electric Co. is releasing from Lake Pillsbury caught Potter
Valley farmers and ranchers off guard earlier this month during
a key point in the summer growing and ranching
season. PG&E says stakeholders should have been
expecting the dip in water pressure, which occurred on Tuesday,
Aug. 5. … As the Potter Valley agricultural community
panicked over keeping cattle and crops sated, rumors erupted on
social media that PG&E had begun cutting off the water
supply from Scott Dam in advance of the structure being torn
down as part of the decommissioning of PG&E’s Potter Valley
Project, which includes a shuttered hydroelectric power
plant.
… For almost 40 years in the middle of the 20th century,
workers at an oil refinery with connected facilities in
Wilmington and Carson buried truckloads of slop oil and acid
sludge directly on site. Decades later, much of that waste is
still in the soil and water table, state records
show. Phillips 66, which now owns the century-old
refinery, will idle the plants by the end of the
year. … Among the pollutants in the
groundwater under the Carson and Wilmington facilities,
overseen by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control
Board, are lead from buried waste and dangerous levels of per-
and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from foam used to fight
fires at the refinery.
On the one hand, state and federal agencies pledged more than
$40 million to the recovery and future protection of Planada,
the tiny farm town swamped by floods in 2023. Multiple agencies
and helping organizations were mobilized and tasked with
rebuilding the 840 homes lost after Miles Creek busted its
banks south of Merced. On the other hand, more than two years
is a long time to wait to get back home. Add to that what some
say has been poor communication and a lack of transparency and
residents are frustrated. … On top of their long,
frustrating wait, residents fear they could be flooded out
again if Miles Creek isn’t kept clear and the region is hit by
another string of atmospheric rivers.
Landowners who rely on domestic wells for drinking water may be
able to seek help from the Mid-Kings River Groundwater
Sustainability Agency if the tap runs dry. In an Aug. 12 board
meeting, the GSA unanimously approved a $2 million program to
help owners repair wells damaged by excessive groundwater
pumping and keep water flowing to residents. … In April
2024 the state Water Resources Control Board put the region on
probation for lacking an adequate groundwater plan. A month
later, Mid-Kings imploded after the Kings County Water District
bailed and the county was left to pick up the pieces.
Southern Nevada is one of several southwest areas in an
“exceptional” drought – the most severe category, according to
the U.S. Drought Monitor. … The Southern Nevada Water
Authority (SNWA) responded with a number of water conservation
efforts more than two decades ago, including a Water Patrol.
About two dozen Water Waste Investigators patrol the city in
blue and white vehicles searching for signs of waste.
… When the SNWA first started enforcement, about 20% of
residents received citations.
Tucson’s City Council’s August 6 vote to reject Project Blue
was more than a local win, it was a line in the sand over how
this city’s water and infrastructure will be used in the age of
AI. Now, with developer Beale pursuing relocation to Marana, a
nearby community whose water rights and public benefit
protections could soon be tested. At the same time, the
proposed Benson Aluminum Dynamics plant has raised its own
concerns over large-scale industrial water use and unclear
public returns. Together, these projects underscore that
Arizona’s fight over how much public we give for private
development is far from over. –Written by Tucson resident Julie Dittmer.
… On Tuesday, [North American Development Bank managing
director John Beckman] met in Juarez with the head of
CILA, the Mexican section of the International Boundary and
Water Commission, to talk about the sewage crisis in the
Tijuana River. … The United States will
spend $600 million to improve wastewater treatment in the San
Diego-Tijuana area, while Mexico is expected to commit at least
$94 million. NADBank will commit funds, and it previously
issued a $150 “green” loan to the state of Baja California for
water sanitation.
Lake Tahoe’s clear waters are benefiting from a record-breaking
effort to reduce pollution, according to a new report from
California and Nevada. The report by the Lahontan Regional
Water Quality Control Board found that an estimated 727,000
pounds of fine sediment; more than 5,800 pounds of nitrogen;
and nearly 2,100 pounds of phosphorus were prevented from
reaching the lake in 2024 — all annual record highs since the
program began tracking these statistics in 2016. These
pollutants can fuel algae growth and harm the lake’s clarity.
Blue Forest, a nonprofit conservation finance organization,
announces it has joined the Sierra Institute for Community and
Environment, U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service,
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, Pacific Gas
and Electric Co., California Department of Water Resources and
the Sierra Nevada Conservancy to launch the North Feather I
Forest Resilience Bond. This bond represents a strategic
alignment of organizations and governmental agencies to finance
the acceleration of forest restoration activities, known as
treatments, bringing a comprehensive approach to address
wildfire and watershed risks in California,
says Blue Forest.
As the leading voice of our state’s water community, shaping
beneficial regulations and legislation, the Colorado Water
Congress provides leadership to help manage, protect, conserve,
and develop the state’s water. Hosting a slate of annual events
to foster collaboration, networking, and professional
development, this one is the year’s biggie. The state’s
preeminent water industry convention lets members share
information on the state’s key water resource issues to drive
positive change for the state’s water future.
As Gov. Gavin Newsom pushes for building a giant water tunnel
beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, his
administration is saying it‘s the “single most effective” way
for California to provide enough water as the warming climate
brings deeper droughts and more intense storms. Environmental
advocates and political leaders in the Delta, among other
opponents, condemned a new state analysis that draws that
conclusion, arguing that building the tunnel would harm the
environment and several types of fish and would push water
rates much higher for millions of Californians.
… Utah and the six other states along the Colorado River are
in the middle of negotiating new agreements governing the
river. At times, it appears the discussions have been
acrimonious. When the seven state representatives left a power
summit in Las Vegas last year? They weren’t speaking. …
Upper Basin states have been criticized for not taking as deep
of cuts, where they argue they already have made reductions.
One thing that Utah is planning for post-2026? More
conservation. … ”Conservation is one thing that I think
that the Upper Basin has contemplated all along that we would
be able to put on the table in order to facilitate a deal,”
said Amy Haas, the executive director of the Colorado River
Authority of Utah.
Until Tuesday, a company with zoning approval in Tucson could
have relatively unlimited access to Tucson’s water system, even
if it was going to use millions of gallons of water. Now, with
the unanimous passage of a new ordinance by the city council,
any large water user that wants to gain access to Tucson’s
water will have to apply to the city and show its water
conservation efforts. The goal, said Mayor Regina Romero, was
to protect the city from large water users like data centers as
quickly as possible.
Without a water tax, the Paso Robles Area Groundwater Authority
is on the hunt for funding to support its operating costs for
the rest of the year. The agency’s Board of Directors was
forced to abandon water use fees during a meeting on Aug. 1
after a majority of property owners objected to them. Now, the
agency is almost $300,000 short of funds needed to cover the
rest of the year’s operating costs, such as paying consultants
and preparing the state-mandated annual report. … During
a meeting on Monday, the board voted unanimously to direct
staff to send a request to the four participating groundwater
sustainability agencies to bridge the funding gap.
A proposed trail bridge in San Juan Capistrano would allow for
the removal of barriers in Trabuco Creek, making it easier for
endangered southern steelhead trout to travel from the ocean to
their spawning grounds in the Santa Ana Mountains. The $45
million project, which would also include removing non-native
plant species along the creek, stabilizing soil along the banks
and some other public safety features, is being spearheaded by
California Trout, a nonprofit group with a mission to preserve
the state’s salmon, steelhead trout and other wild trout
populations.
