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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Without an end in sight to the pollution and sewage stench in
the Tijuana River Valley, long-time resident and advocate
Gabriel Uribe has decided to move out of the area. He recently
leased an apartment a few miles north of the Valley to get away
from the smell and toxins in the air, which he blames for his
son’s respiratory and other health issues. … He was also
disappointed with last month’s visit from Lee Zeldin, the
Environmental Protection Agency’s administrator, saying he felt
Zeldin didn’t really want to help. During his visit the
area on Earth Day, Zeldin said that Mexico must stop the flow
of billions of gallons of sewage and toxic chemicals, adding
that he would present Mexico a to-do list of projects to
resolve the decades-long environmental crisis. However, he
stopped short of specifying how the Trump administration would
hold Mexico accountable if it does not act.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has canceled
grant funding to university research teams studying how
“forever chemicals” contaminate soil and groundwater, including
at least $3 million for two projects specifically looking at
contamination on farms. The chemicals, collectively called PFAS
(per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), are linked to a variety
of serious health risks. Over the past several years, they have
increasingly been found in farm soils due to the use of sewage
sludge as fertilizer, causing devastation for farmers. They are
also now widely found in drinking water, in the foods Americans
eat, and in pesticides, and experts say more research is needed
to understand their impacts and find effective ways to
eliminate contamination.
… To navigate climate change in freshwater ecosystems,
California must be bolder. Last year, my colleague Ted Sommer
published a report outlining climate-smart conservation tools
to help do just that. The report identifies immediate actions
and recommends each watershed develop a portfolio of tools
tailored to its needs. The Public Policy Institute of
California (PPIC) then asked: are these tools legal? The answer
is yes. As outlined in PPIC’s recent report, laws such as the
state and federal Endangered Species Acts are not, for the most
part, barriers to using climate-smart tools. In many instances
these laws just need to be approached differently. But this
effort will require shifting direction on species protection,
making hard choices, and learning to take risks. Where to
start?
… The corporate race to amass computing resources to train
and run artificial intelligence models and store information in
the cloud has sparked a data center boom in the desert—just far
enough away from Nevada’s communities to elude wide notice and,
some fear, adequate scrutiny. The full scale and potential
environmental impacts of the developments aren’t known, because
the footprint, energy needs, and water
requirements are often closely guarded corporate secrets. Most
of the companies didn’t respond to inquiries from MIT
Technology Review, or declined to provide additional
information about the projects. … The build-out of a
dense cluster of energy and water-hungry data centers in a
small stretch of the nation’s driest state, where climate
change is driving up temperatures faster than anywhere else in
the country, has begun to raise alarms among water experts,
environmental groups, and residents.
The Los Angeles fires were one of the most destructive
disasters in U.S. history. As the immediate emergency response
turns toward longer-term recovery and rebuilding, several
challenges remain, including the region’s overwhelmed and
vulnerable water infrastructure. Unfortunately, these
challenges are not just limited to Los Angeles. The hydrants,
pipes, and other systems we depend on for safety and survival
remain underinvested and ill-equipped to handle mounting
climate impacts across the country. In this episode of Metro
Blueprint, Brookings Fellow Joe Kane and Greg Pierce, the
research and co-executive director of UCLA’s Luskin Center for
Innovation, discuss how the fires exposed long-standing
challenges within water utility systems in Los Angeles and
beyond and how policymakers can improve these systems amid a
more extreme and destructive climate.
City leaders face difficult tradeoffs as they navigate budget
decisions. City tax revenue must cover essential services and
infrastructure needs. At the same time, city government aims to
fulfill legal obligations and environmental responsibilities,
all while respecting the will of voters. Increasing Mission
Bay’s vanishing wetlands uniquely meets all these criteria and
constraints, using funds already earmarked by voters
specifically for this purpose. San Diego voters passed
Proposition C (2008) and Measure J (2016) creating a clear
roadmap for Mission Bay Park Improvement Funds. Binding
priorities in the City Charter Section 55.2 direct
taxpayer investments first toward navigable waterways, then
environmental restoration and protection, and last to deferred
maintenance projects. These dedicated funds cannot be diverted
to address any other citywide needs, no matter how
pressing. –Written by Jim Peugh, a founding member of the ReWild
Coalition and conservation co-chair of the San Diego Bird
Alliance, and Nan Renner, Ph.D., the senior director of
strategic partnerships at Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution
of Oceanography.
Sea level rise will become unmanageable at just 1.5C of global
heating and lead to “catastrophic inland migration”, the
scientists behind a new study have warned. This scenario may
unfold even if the average level of heating over the last
decade of 1.2C continues into the future. The loss of ice from
the giant Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets has quadrupled
since the 1990s due to the climate crisis and is now the
principal driver of sea level rise. The international target to
keep global temperature rise below 1.5C is already almost out
of reach. But the new analysis found that even if fossil fuel
emissions were rapidly slashed to meet it, sea levels would be
rising by 1cm a year by the end of the century, faster than the
speed at which nations could build coastal defences.
Democrats bashed the Trump administration Friday for cutting
funding for water infrastructure in several blue states,
calling the move politically motivated. The Army Corps of
Engineers has zeroed out of its budget hundreds of millions of
dollars for ports, dams and other projects in
California, Washington state and Hawaii, while
giving projects in some red states a funding boost, according
to top Democrats on the House and Senate Appropriations
committees. The shuffling of funds was revealed this week in
the Army Corps’ work plan for this year. Because of the
continuing resolution that Congress passed in March, President
Donald Trump has more discretion on spending decisions than
would normally be allowed.
The White House wants to cut funding for the project that
delivers Colorado River water to millions on the Wasatch Front
— but no one will say what those cuts would entail. Tucked 28
pages into President Donald Trump’s budget recommendations for
next year, released May 2, was a proposed funding cut to the
Central Utah Project to the tune of $609 million. Congress must
approve the final budget. The Central Utah Project is “the
largest and most complex water resources development project”
in the state, according to the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation. The project is a complicated system of
reservoirs and pipelines that bring water from the
Colorado River system to the Wasatch Front for
irrigation, municipal and industrial uses, supporting the
region’s rapid growth. It also provides opportunities for
recreation, water conservation and fish and wildlife
protection.
For decades, hydrologists believed most spring snowmelt rapidly
enters rivers and streams. But a new study from the University
of Utah shows that most of it spends years as groundwater
before it spills into reservoirs – new research that could help
western water managers and farmers better plan each year.
Researchers collected runoff samples from river basins at 42
sites across the Mountain West, including Colorado, Idaho, New
Mexico, Wyoming and Utah. They used what’s called tritium
isotope analysis to determine the age of the water. In other
words, they were figuring out how much time had elapsed since
the water flowing in the stream was snow falling in the
mountains. Researchers found that a snowflake that falls and
melts will spend, on average, five years as groundwater before
it seeps into mountain streams. That means there’s a whole lot
more water stored underground than water managers account for.
… While the minimal season has been met with joy from many
recreational anglers who will finally have the opportunity to
fish for salmon, others believe the season should not have
opened. … The Sacramento River is the only viable source for
salmon since the San Joaquin was dewatered close to 70 years
ago, and there are four distinct runs on the Sacramento:
winter-run, fall-run, late fall-run, and spring-run. The winter
run was listed as threatened in 1989 and upgraded to endangered
in 1994 while the spring-run was listed as threatened in 1999
and is currently under consideration for upgrade to endangered.
… Opening the ocean season provides some relief for the
long-suffering businesses and coastal communities dependent
upon salmon, but until major changes are made in water
management to allow salmon to migrate safely from the spawning
grounds and the hatcheries, closed or curtailed seasons
designed to save face may be the new normal.
Less than six months into his second term as president, Donald
Trump has initiated or proposed more than 150 actions that
experts say are detrimental to the environment, which range
from cancelling climate grant programs to loosening regulations
that govern air and water quality. Many of these actions have
been part of the president’s larger goals of reining in
government spending, increasing energy independence and
restructuring federal agencies. But some also appear to target
one state in particular: California. Long known as a
nationwide leader in climate and environmental policy, the
Golden State has been in Trump’s crosshairs since his first
administration, when he sparred with Gov. Gavin Newsom over
issues such as forest and water-supply management.
Elected officials and advocacy groups in San Joaquin County are
sounding the alarm after Gov. Gavin Newsom called
for fast-tracking the Delta Conveyance Project. The
$20 billion project would divert water from the Sacramento-San
Joaquin River Delta and send it south. Critics warn it could
drain water needed for agriculture in the Central Valley and
harm Delta smelt, Chinook salmon and other imperiled fish.
“This $20 billion boondoggle won’t create a single
drop of water for anyone, yet Sacramento is doing everything
they can — including ducking the law — to force its destructive
effects and ballooning costs on Delta families,” U.S. Rep. Josh
Harder, D-Tracy, said in a statement.
Two California National Weather Service offices will no longer
operate 24 hours per day, curtailing the output of an agency
that issues extreme weather warnings for more than 7 million
Californians in the Central Valley, the Chronicle has
confirmed. The moves come amid a broader upheaval of weather
service operations touched off by federal budget cuts.
Collectively, the Sacramento and Hanford (Kings County) offices
provide forecasts from Redding to Bakersfield, including
Lassen, Yosemite, Kings and Sequoia national
parks. Officials have previously said the two weather
service offices were enduring “critically reduced staffing”
levels after early career meteorologists were fired in February
and two separate rounds of retirement offers.
A California winery was served with a cease-and-desist letter
after inspectors found that “excessive rates” of wastewater
produced by the winery threatened Fresno drinking water due to
high levels of toxic chemicals, records show. Early this
month, the Central Valley Water Regional Quality Control Board
issued E. & J. Gallo Winery a cease-and-desist after the winery
violated groundwater limitations set by water regulators, the
Fresno Bee reported Thursday. The letter, which was reviewed by
SFGATE, capped wastewater discharges at Gallo’s Fresno winery
at 5610 East Olive Ave. at no more than 54.2 million gallons
per year. But records show that the winery disposed 400 million
gallons of treated and untreated wastewater on its property
annually.
At its May 8 meeting, the Mendocino County Inland Water and
Power Commission (IWPC) focused once again on PG&E’s
planned withdrawal from the Potter Valley Project and the
region’s efforts to secure long-term water supplies. Central to
the discussion was the New Eel Russian Facility (NERF), a
proposed infrastructure project that would maintain Eel River
water diversions into the Russian River after PG&E’s exit.
The IWPC, a joint powers authority composed of five local
agencies—the County of Mendocino, the Redwood Valley County
Water District, the City of Ukiah, the Potter Valley Irrigation
District, and the Russian River Flood Control and Water
Conservation Improvement District—continues to work in
partnership with Sonoma County and Sonoma Water through the Eel
Russian Project Authority (ERPA). ERPA is leading negotiations
with PG&E and planning for the construction of NERF.
New public access sites have opened along the post-dam Klamath
River, allowing opportunities to enjoy the free-flowing river.
The largest dam removal project in U.S. history was completed
last year along the Klamath River. Proponents wanted the dams
gone to restore native salmon populations and important
cultural sites for the Shasta Indian Nation. But the undamming
project has also added new recreational opportunities on the
free-flowing river. Three sites opened this week in Oregon
and California, where visitors can put in boats, part of the
Klamath River Renewal Corporation’s recreation plan. American
Whitewater, a recreation advocacy group, has helped with the
process. … This week, the Pioneer Park West site opened
in Oregon. In California, the Copco Valley (K’utárawáx·u or ),
Fall Creek (K’účasčas) and Iron Gate locations have also
opened.
At least 16 AmeriCorps members in the Tahoe Basin were
terminated essentially overnight after the Department of
Government Efficiency (DOGE) cut funding to the AmeriCorps
program nationwide on Sunday, April 27. Those included the
Sierra Nevada Alliance’s ten in the Tahoe region and 25 total
over the entire Sierra Nevada. The ten in the Tahoe Basin serve
at host sites such as the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research
Center, Trout Unlimited Truckee Chapter, Tahoe Regional
Planning Agency, Sierra House Elementary School, and Sierra
Club Tahoe Area Group. The cuts impacted another two CivicSpark
AmeriCorps fellows with South Tahoe Public Utility District,
and four with the City of South Lake Tahoe (co-hosted with
South Tahoe Refuse and South Tahoe Fire Rescue). … Since
2007, SNA hosted AmeriCorps members have restored over 25,000
acres of land, monitored 8,000 watershed sites, and reached
more than 250,000 individuals through environmental education
and outreach.
Today (May 16), the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
(LADWP) released its Annual Operations Plan (AOP) for the Mono
Basin’s 2025-2026 runoff year. The AOP sets forth how LADWP
will manage water exports and stream releases in accordance
with supply conditions, environmental priorities, and its
amended water rights licenses. It is a critical tool for
ensuring the City of Los Angeles continues to advance its
environmental stewardship goals while meeting the water supply
and storage needs of Los Angeles. … The 2025-2026 AOP
projects an export of 16,000 acre-feet, subject to ongoing
review and revision based on evolving supply conditions,
amended water rights licenses requirements, precipitation
forecasts, and storage availability. … The AOP also
incorporates findings from the April 1 snow survey and Mono
Lake elevation readings.
California shouldn’t weaken hazardous waste rules to allow
local landfills to accept toxic dirt that currently goes to two
specialized disposal sites in the Central Valley and hazardous
facilities in other states, the state Board of Environmental
Safety voted Thursday. The vote went against a proposal by the
Department of Toxic Substances Control that had prompted fierce
opposition from environmental groups. … California only
has two hazardous waste landfills — Buttonwillow and Kettleman
Hills in the San Joaquin Valley — which are expected to reach
capacity by 2039, according to a report by the department. An
estimated 47% of California’s hazardous waste is trucked across
state borders. Contaminated soil, waste oil and mixed oil are
the state’s three largest annual sources of hazardous waste. On
average, more than 567,000 tons (514,373 metric tons) of toxic
soil are produced every year.
