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 headlines below are the original headlines used in the publication cited at the time they are posted here and do not reflect the stance of the Water Education Foundation, an impartial nonprofit that remains neutral.
The Trump administration canceled $11 billion in disaster
payments to states in an unprecedented move that could signal a
slowdown in the flow of federal funding after extreme
weather events. The unannounced move was revealed
in a Sept. 15 government report showing that the Federal
Emergency Management Agency withheld $10.9 billion it had
planned to give 45 states in the final two months of the fiscal
year that ended Sept. 30. … One-third of the $11 billion
was slated for New York and California,
according to an analysis of FEMA records by POLITICO’s E&E
News.
Three scientists won the Nobel Prize in chemistry Wednesday for
their development of new molecular structures that can trap
vast quantities of gas inside, laying the groundwork to
potentially suck greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere or
harvest moisture from desert environments.
… The committee said Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and
Omar M. Yaghi were honored for “groundbreaking discoveries”
that “may contribute to solving some of humankind’s greatest
challenges,” from pollution to water scarcity.
… Today, Reno, “the Biggest Little City in the World,” is
poised to become a new player in the nation’s data center
construction boom. At least three data center projects have
been approved since 2024, with more in a nearby industrial
park. … But opponents argue that data centers can also
bring consequences, if they raise electricity costs or cause
water shortages down the road. … A Bloomberg investigation
found that two-thirds of all new data centers are being built
in water-stressed regions, like Nevada, where severe drought is
a major concern.
Western Slope elected officials, water managers, engineers, and
conservationists met in Grand Junction on Friday, Oct. 3, all
focused on one thing: the uncertain future of the Colorado
River. … While the seminar broached many of the
challenges and opportunities facing those who rely on the
Colorado River, most discussions came back to two looming
decisions that will dictate how the future looks for the 40
million people, seven states, two counties, and 30 tribal
nations that rely on the waterway.
… According to a September 2025 report issued by Comité
Cívico del Valle and Earthworks, Controlled Thermal Resources’
proposed lithium mining operation, the Hell’s Kitchen Lithium
and Power Project, will have significant environmental impacts
on the surrounding area. The operation, which is still in the
beginning stages, will divert at least 6,500 acre-feet
of fresh water each year, straining natural resources
in an arid region that’s already struggling to combat drought.
According to CCV, mining will speed up the recession of the
Salton Sea’s toxic shoreline, exacerbate dust
pollution, and produce hazardous waste containing arsenic and
lead.
… In Arizona, 76 percent of water use goes toward
agriculture. Mature alfalfa (hay) is largely used to feed
cattle, and in Arizona, alfalfa is a commonly planted thirsty
crop. A 2020 study found 79 percent of Colorado river water
goes to alfalfa. … Outside of certain areas, like
Phoenix, if you own the land, you can drill a well and take as
much water as you want. And many farms are doing just that. In
2015, the Center for Investigative Reporting did a deep-dive
into the Saudi-owned farm drilling deep wells to water alfalfa
that they then harvest and ship to Saudi Arabia. The story
brought light to a situation that, as time has gone on, is
slowly rendering the desert almost unlivable.
Wastewater plants emit about twice as much greenhouse gas as
previously believed, according to Princeton engineers who used
a mobile lab to check plants across the country. In an
article published Oct. 8 in the journal Nature Water, a
research team led by professors Mark Zondlo and Z. Jason Ren,
in collaboration with Prof. Francesca Hopkins of UC-Riverside,
reported that collectively sewer plants produced 1.9 times the
nitrous oxide gas estimated by the Environmental Protection
Agency and 2.4 times the methane. Based on the new
measurements, wastewater plants contribute 2.5 percent of U.S.
methane emissions and 8.1 percent of nitrous oxide.
The United States Senate has confirmed the nomination of former
NOAA Acting Administrator Neil Jacobs to lead the agency once
again as the undersecretary of commerce for oceans and
atmosphere. … Jacobs also said he would prioritize
getting stock assessments for commercial fisheries “back on
track” and expressed interest in “beefing up” the country’s
Seafood Import Monitoring Program (SIMP). An atmospheric
scientist by trade, Jacobs was previously selected by Trump to
lead the administration during Trump’s first administration,
naming him acting administrator in 2018.
The Oroville City Council has moved to address the growing
issue of trash along the Feather River by approving a motion to
send a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom. The council is seeking
assistance in tackling the environmental impact they believe is
caused by nearby homeless encampments. … Last month, the
Feather River Recreation and Parks District held their annual
Feather River Cleanup event. … Joseph Velasquez,
the park maintenance supervisor with the district, says their
team and the community picked up about 10,000 pounds of trash.
This fall, Pasadena Water and Power (PWP) invites the community
to participate in programs that help conserve one of Southern
California’s most precious natural resources: water. At these
events, attendees can capture rainwater for irrigation by
participating in an upcoming rain barrel distribution and
attending water efficient landscape workshops. All events are
open to the public and can be
found at PWPweb.com/TheRippleEffect.
A town administrator in Las Animas County is facing several
felony charges after investigators say she funneled more than
$26,000 from a small town’s water project intended to secure
long-term water access, to her personal bank account.
… Investigators say she took money from federal loans
and grants that were awarded to the town of about 450 for a
massive reservoir project. The money was allegedly commingled
with the town’s general fund and used for unauthorized personal
transactions and other town expenses, leaving contractors for
the critical water project unpaid.
… Every few years, wild pigs emerge from river habitat to
wreak havoc in the Fairmount Park area. … The pigs currently
roaming Riverside’s corridors descend from domestic swine that
escaped during catastrophic 1930s floods. … The Santa
Ana River corridor creates a green highway connecting
rural habitats to urban resources, with residential
neighborhoods serving as unintended waypoints between
wilderness areas. … The pigs have inhabited these river
bottoms longer than most human families, and they’ll probably
outlast current management strategies too.
Appellate court justices heard arguments Tuesday in the highly
watched dispute over whether the state exceeded its authority
when it placed the Tulare Lake subbasin on probation last year
for failing to come up with an adequate plan to protect the
region’s groundwater. … The outcome of Tuesday’s
arguments could have far reaching effects throughout the San
Joaquin Valley, most of which is severely overdrafted and
struggling to comply with the Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act (SGMA).
The Colorado River Indian Tribes may soon become the third
Indigenous government in North America to grant personhood
rights to a river. ‘Aha Kwahwat, or the Colorado River, has
been at the heart of Mojave culture and history for millennia.
The river is also critically important to the other three
cultures that make up the Colorado River Indian Tribes: the
Chemehuevi, whose ancestral lands lie to the northwest of
CRIT’s lands, Navajo and Hopi who moved to the area in the
1940s. … Once the tribal membership has completed weighing in
… the already-drafted resolution will be put before the
tribal council, and once approved, will become part of CRIT’s
law.
A bill with unanimous support is basically a unicorn in today’s
divided politics, so California just saw the return of a
water-planning unicorn in the form of SB 72 that Gov. Gavin
Newsom signed into law Oct. 1. Prior to being signed, the bill
— effectively an update to the California Water Plan that
enforces the need for quantifiable water needs reports and
water goals — passed through the state’s legislature without
any “no” votes. This also isn’t the first time it
happened. Past iterations of the bill also received unanimous
support, but this is the first time the governor signed it.
The clock is ticking down on Mexico’s deadline this month to
pay the United States water it owes under a 1944 international
treaty. So far, Mexico has paid less than half what it
owes during this five-year cycle, which ends on Oct. 25.
… Mexico must pay the United States 1.75 million
acre-feet of water every five years. The current cycle ends
Oct. 25 but so far they have only sent 807,980 acre-feet to the
Rio Grande. … Under the treaty, the United
States must send Mexico 1.5 million acre-feet of water annually
via the Colorado River out West.
The Water Education Foundation has named Alex Hager, KUNC’s
reporter covering the Colorado River Basin, as
this year’s recipient of the Rita Schmidt Sudman Award for
Excellence in Water Journalism. The award recognizes
Hager’s clear, deeply sourced reporting that helps the public
understand the people, policies and ecosystems tied to one of
the West’s most important rivers, said Jenn Bowles, the
Foundation’s Executive Director. Hager is the first
broadcast journalist to receive the award that acknowledges
outstanding work illuminating complicated water issues in
California and the West.
The Senate on Tuesday evening confirmed a new leader of the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, installing
Neil Jacobs. … Dr. Jacobs, an atmospheric scientist and
meteorologist who has stressed a strong desire to improve the
accuracy of U.S. weather forecasting models, is generally
respected across NOAA, which oversees much of the federal
climate research that the administration has targeted for deep
cuts. At the same time, he has faced criticism and rebuke
for his tenure during President Trump’s first term.
More than 100 engineers, utility leaders, scientists, and
public officials came together in the wake of January’s
catastrophic Los Angeles firestorms to identify innovative
strategies and emerging technologies that could build more
resilient infrastructure, recognizing the broader challenges of
growing climate and disaster risks. … The resulting
report, “Innovation Opportunities for a Resilient L.A.,”
emphasizes that no single strategy is sufficient. Instead, Los
Angeles must pursue a mix of approaches, from upgrading
infrastructure to improving coordination across agencies.
… Climatologists are forecasting a 71% chance of another
La Niña this fall, which could lead to more drought conditions
and potentially higher-than-normal wildfire danger.
… While the latest data suggests that a La Niña may
impact us, it remains unclear whether it will be a weak or
moderate one. … [Bill Patzert, research scientist and
oceanographer with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory] predicted
that the best-case scenario is that we get a series of
spaced-out storms over the next few months. So, even if
rainfall is below normal again, if it’s spread out, and any
potential fuels are damp enough, we won’t see another round of
major wildfires this season.
