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 Interim Director Doug Beeman.
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As Arizona’s record-dry winter continues, Western water
managers are quietly preparing for what many have called a
“nuclear option” in the ongoing battle for who-gets-what from
the quickly drying Colorado River. Seven states are locked in a
standoff right now over who should use less water from the
river, as climate change continues to dry it up. They’re facing
a 2026 deadline to create new rules to govern it. Last month,
Arizona rocked the boat by proposing a state budget that
included millions to pay for a court battle over Colorado River
water, they say, just in case those negotiations don’t work.
… The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
employs about 12,000 staffers around the world, more than
half of which are scientists and engineers. NOAA
operates 18 satellites and 15 ships and has
a budget of $6.8 billion. Their job is to study the skies,
the seas, the fish, tracking how they’re changing and
predicting what will happen to them. NOAA’s work is essential
for aviation, fishing, climate research, and offshore oil and
gas exploration, particularly when it comes to modeling
weather.
Other natural resources, water and weather layoff news:
For young salmon, the journey along the San Joaquin River in
Central California is no small feat. Every spring and fall,
thousands of these fish—each as long as a pinky finger— embark
on a 350-mile race, swimming day and night and dodging
predators along the way to reach the Pacific Ocean. But less
than 5% survive the journey, and in some years, hardly any make
it. Elevated water temperatures, dams and poor water quality
all endanger the animal, but human-introduced predators,
including striped and largemouth bass, kill most of them. In a
new CU Boulder-led study, researchers reveal how these salmon
learn to swim in different parts of the river at different
times of day to avoid predators and conserve energy.
It was all kumbaya a couple of weeks ago, as various players in
the drama over the Eel River Project stamped their seals of
approval on a deal that would tear down both Scott and Van
Arsdale dams, while at the same time continuing delivery of Eel
River water to the Russian River watershed. But Lake County —
the actual home of Lake Pillsbury, the reservoir created by
Scott Dam — now seems ready to throw a wrench into the gears,
via a direct appeal to President Donald Trump. At its meeting
tomorrow, the Lake County Board of Supervisors will consider
sending two letters — one to Gov. Gavin Newsom and one to
various cabinet-level officials in the Trump administration,
arguing that removal of the badly broken dams runs contrary to
policy.
Utah appears to be the first state ready to put a full ban on
fluoride in public water systems under a bill that doesn’t
allow cities or communities to decide whether to add the
cavity-preventing mineral. … Utah’s bill cleared its final
hurdle in the legislature Friday and heads to Gov. Spencer Cox
for his approval. A spokesperson for Cox didn’t immediately
respond to a question about whether he’d sign it. Already,
some cities across the country have tossed fluoride from their
water and other municipalities are considering doing the same.
A few months ago, a federal judge ordered the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency to regulate fluoride in
drinking water because high levels could pose a risk to kids’
intellectual development.
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) has
launched an interactive Water Quality Restoration Dashboard to
provide essential updates and information for residents
affected by the “Do Not Drink” notice in effect in most
portions of Pacific Palisades and adjacent LADWP service areas.
… Customers in the affected areas, which include most of the
90272 Zip Code and portions of the LADWP Service Area
immediately south of 90272, north of San Vicente Blvd. can now
use the dashboard to locate their address on an interactive map
to determine their corresponding water service zone within the
affected area. For added clarity, the dashboard specifies each
zone’s current restoration status while providing preliminary
test results and progress updates for testing in each zone.
The Tahoe Regional Planning Agency’s (TRPA) environmental
threshold evaluation report, which monitors the regional plan’s
environmental factors across 140 indicators, shows that in 2019
to 2023, 75% of the indicators trended
positively. … One major question in this report was
on the ever-elusive lake clarity. Winter clarity has improved,
indicating that projects that stop stormwater runoff and
sediment collection in the lake are likely working. But summer
clarity has been trending down over the years, with no clear
answer as to why.
Toxic algae off the coast of Malibu is likely sickening
sea lions, causing the large marine mammals to experience
seizures and comatose states, according to a nonprofit wildlife
rehabilitation center…. Domoic acid is an algal bloom
that can be either benign or toxic, according to the California
Wildlife Center…. This year’s suspected bloom off the coast
of Malibu is yet another hit to Southern California’s marine
wildlife and beaches. Researchers are racing to determine just
how much all of the runoff of ash and burned remnants of homes,
cars and household items from the recent fires could impact the
ocean and its inhabitants.
San Luis Obispo County and a coalition of environmental groups
are fighting over the appropriate amount of water to release
from Lopez Dam to support an endangered fish without
jeopardizing the drinking water supply. In December, U.S.
District Court Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett ordered the county
to release more water from Lopez Dam to support steelhead trout
migration through Arroyo Grande Creek. The county appealed the
decision, arguing that the court-ordered water release schedule
would drain Lopez Lake during a drought — preventing the county
from delivering drinking water to South County.
It’s looking like another round of heavy snow might be on tap
for Colorado – but powderhounds will have to wait for a few
more days. The remainder of February is currently expected to
be mostly dry in the Centennial State after major mid-month
snow dropped three-plus feet of fresh powder in high elevation
areas. All that snow helped Colorado’s snowpack in a big way,
increasing it from about 81 percent of what was typical for
that point in the season pre-storm to about 95 percent of
what’s typical for the date post-storm. That number has since
dropped to 92 percent as of February 24 after a warm and mostly
snow-free weekend.
Members of local group Bring Back the Kern are holding a march
in the dry riverbed on March 15 to show support for keeping
flows in the Kern through Bakersfield before a hearing at the
5th District Court of Appeal. Fifth District justices will hear
arguments about whether to uphold a preliminary injunction
issued by Kern County Superior Court Gregory Pulskamp in
October 2023 mandating the City of Bakersfield keep enough
water in the river for fish to survive. The hearing will be
held March 20 at 1:30 p.m. in Fresno.
Storm damaged levees and a proposed bond sale for at local
health care system are among the items the Solano County Board
of Supervisors will consider when it meets Tuesday at 9 a.m. at
the county administration building, 675 Texas St. in Fairfield.
High tides and unrelenting storms damaged levees in Solano
County in December, prompting county leaders to declare a state
of emergency. The board will consider extending that
declaration for another 60 days as a result of storms in
January and February.
Citing concerns that the Trump Administration could roll back
or weaken drinking water standards for per- and polyfluoroalkyl
substances (PFAS) set by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) under the Biden Administration, California
Asseblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-46) has introduced Assembly Bill
(AB) 794, which would set state-level drinking water standards
for PFAS. In April 2024, EPA issued the first-ever national,
legally enforceable drinking water standard for PFAS, setting
legally enforceable limits for five PFAS of concern (PFOA,
PFOS, PFNA, PFHxS, and HFPO-DA). Exposure to these “forever
chemicals” has been linked to cancer, impacts to the liver and
heart, and immune and developmental damage to infants and
children.
A three-year dispute between oil giant Chevron and New Mexico’s
top water authority has been resolved, allowing some proposed
transfers of water rights tied to the shuttered Molycorp
molybdenum mine in Questa to move forward. The fight over 1,433
acre-feet of water rights held by Chevron Mining Inc. began
three years ago when the Office of the State Engineer blocked
the company’s attempt to sell 7 acre-feet of rights to two
small businesses north of Questa. Then-State Engineer Mike
Hamman rejected the transfer applications based on the agency’s
determination the rights in question were invalid because
Chevron had not used them. New Mexico is a “use it or lose it”
state when it comes to water rights. According to statute,
water rights holders must put their water to “beneficial use”
or risk losing it.
Just weeks after Chiquita Canyon Landfill evacuated in response
to the Hughes Fire in January, residents learned last week the
facility is looking into an on-site treatment facility for its
ongoing leachate problems. The discussion of the
potential plans came up during the Feb. 19 Castaic Area Town
Council meeting during the group’s monthly Chiquita Canyon
Landfill update and questions from residents. A resident
asked why the facility was seeking a conditional authorization
request from the county’s Fire Department and the state’s
Department of Toxic Substances Control. Town Council
President Bob Lewis said he had looked into the question and
learned Chiquita Canyon Landfill is looking to mitigate its
risks with leachate transportation, Lewis told the group during
the virtual meeting.
… Everyone from plumbers to manufacturers to third-party
testers agrees: Thanks to lessons learned from the disastrous
low-flow products of the ’90s, the latest toilets not only
work, but they work better than the old water-guzzling ones
ever did. Stroll down a Home Depot aisle, and most toilets you
see will use a mere 1.28 gallons per flush. That low of a flush
not only works, but it can save households nearly 13,000
gallons of water per year, in addition to a bit of money,
according to the Environmental Protection Agency. If everyone
opted for a 1.28 gpf toilet, the country could save 260 billion
gallons of water per year. (For comparison, about 60 billion
gallons careen over Niagara Falls per day.)
Mexico’s northwest region is experiencing widespread drought,
according to the National Water Commission (Conagua). Drought
levels in the parts of Sinaloa, Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango and
Coahuila states are classified as “exceptional,” the most
highest drought severity classification. There has been a
shortage of rain in the region due to the La Niña climate
phenomenon, with little to no precipitation expected until the
rainy season commences around July. … Due to the lack of
rain, the drought is expected to intensify in Sinaloa, Sonora
and Baja California Sur over the coming months, leading to more
severe water shortages. The average storage level in Sinaloa’s
dams fell to 11.8% on Feb. 23 — the lowest in 30 years,
according to Conagua.
… Beyond oil spills and industrial accidents, there are other
reasons that it’s past time to aggressively move away from
fossil fuels. In Santa Barbara County, the remaining oil
deposits are tar-like and incredibly polluting and
energy-intensive to extract out of the ground. They are also
located under our groundwater reservoirs, putting our drinking
water at risk of contamination. –Written by Katie Davis, chair of Sierra Club Los Padres
Chapter, Linda Krop, Chief Counsel of Environmental Defense
Center, and Sigrid Wright, executive director of Community
Environmental Council
A California state lawmaker introduced legislation Thursday to
enshrine federal water quality rules in state law following
President Donald Trump’s inauguration and a 2023 Supreme Court
decision rolling back wetlands protections. State Sen. Ben
Allen’s (D) SB 601 would significantly boost the State Water
Resources Control Board’s authority to adopt and enforce water
rules at least as stringent as the federal rules at a time when
Trump has promised to roll back regulations. “The challenges
presented by ever-changing federal policy requires California
to step up and fill the void that is left when priorities
become misaligned,” said Allen in a press release.
As the Trump administration continues to freeze federal funds
for environmental projects, some in the water sector see an
ally for their funding needs in the president’s nominee to lead
EPA’s Office of Water. As a GOP aide on the Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee, Jessica Kramer helped craft the
water funding provisions included in the infrastructure law.
Enacted in 2021, the law set aside roughly $50 billion to fix
aging water pipes and treatment plants and remove toxic
pollutants. Funding from the law is now in question under
President Donald Trump. … Still, Kramer’s nomination suggests
that federal dollars for water projects could be spared from
the defunding blitz.
