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 Doug Beeman.
Subscribe to our weekday emails to have news delivered to your inbox about 9 a.m. Monday through Friday except for holidays. Or subscribe via RSS feed.
Please Note: Some of the sites we link to may limit the number of stories you can access without subscribing. Also, 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.
Millions of tons of riverine plastic waste enter the ocean via
estuaries annually. The plastics accumulate, fragment, mix and
interact with organisms in these dynamic systems, but such
processes have received limited attention relative to
open-ocean sites. In this Perspective, we discuss the
occurrence and convergence of microplastics at estuarine
fronts, focusing on their interactions with physical,
geochemical and biological processes. Microplastic
transformation can be enhanced within frontal systems owing to
strong turbulence and interactions with sediment and biological
particles, exacerbating the potential ecosystem impacts. The
formation of microplastic hotspots at estuarine fronts could be
a target for future plastic pollution mitigation efforts.
Balancing the state’s groundwater supplies for a sustainable
future may not be easy due to severe drought and ongoing
economic challenges facing farmers. “We’ve got the lowest
prices and highest production costs and the least-reliable
water supply that we’ve had since I’ve been farming,” said Bill
Diedrich of Firebaugh, who farms row crops and permanent crops
on the west side in Madera and Fresno counties…. Diedrich,
who relies on groundwater for irrigating farmland in Madera
County and surface water for ground in Fresno County, said
farming at this time “is very difficult.” He said the 2014
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which tasks local
agencies to balance groundwater supplies in affected basins by
2040 and 2042, means farmland must come out of production.
Operations at one of Spain’s largest hydropower plants have
been halted due to drought-like conditions, foreshadowing the
future of the rapidly receding Lake Mead. Electric utility
company Endesa SA has shut down its facility in Mequinenza,
Zaragoza, Spain after its water levels receded below 23 percent
capacity, Bloomberg reported. This is below the minimum
required to produce electricity. The plant first opened in
1966, and until now, has never been shut down. Spain is
suffering one of the most severe droughts seen in more than a
decade, with around 32 percent of the country affected due to
rising temperatures and lack of rainfall.
As climate change worsens water quality and threatens
ecosystems, the famous dams of beavers may help lessen the
damage. That is the conclusion of a new study by
Stanford University scientists and colleagues, publishing Nov.
8 in Nature Communications. The research reveals that when
it comes to water quality in mountain watersheds, beaver dams
can have a far greater influence than climate-driven, seasonal
extremes in precipitation. The wooden barriers raise water
levels upstream, diverting water into surrounding soils and
secondary waterways, collectively called a riparian zone. These
zones act like filters, straining out excess nutrients and
contaminants before water re-enters the main channel
downstream.
The state awarded $300,000 to the Allensworth Progressive
Association, a local nonprofit, to “implement
neighborhood-level projects that reduce greenhouse gas
emissions, improve public health and the environment and expand
economic opportunity for residents,” according to a press
release from the Governor’s office. The money will be
used, in part, for planning flood control and infrastructure
for wastewater management. … Funding comes from the
state’s Transformative Climate Communities program, which
awarded $96 million to 10 disadvantaged communities throughout
the state last month. The projects aim to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions by 64,000 metric tons, according to the press
release.
Carbon sequestration garners a lot of attention from those
interested in climate change and sustainable agriculture. The
piece that should be added to much of the conversation,
however, is the relationship of water and carbon. “We
should be considering that carbon sequestration and plant
growth doesn’t happen without water,” says Nick Goeser,
Principal and co-founder of Carbon A List … Goeser,
who co-founded Carbon A List with Christophe Jospe, adds that
raising public awareness that carbon sequestration and
sustainability don’t happen without water is important.
City officials recently met with the Bureau of Reclamation
about the current and forecasted conditions of the Colorado
River Basin. Needles City Manager Rick Daniels, at the Nov. 1
Public Utilities Board meeting, said that as of Oct. 16 Lake
Powell is 25% full and Lake Mead is at 28% — for a total system
storage capacity of 33%. … BOR, he said, is forecasting that
by the end of the year the Lower Colorado River Basin will be
in a Level 1 shortage with a high possibility of being in a
Level 2 shortage, which would mean “further cutbacks
particularly in the more junior water rights states.”
From water infrastructure failures in Jackson, Mississippi, to
a political and financing puzzle in California, water
affordability is an emerging policy concern for an industry
already facing huge challenges. Tune is as Brownstein’s Jessica
Diaz speaks to industry experts Jennifer Capitolo and April
Ballou about how the issue of water affordability and
fragmentation is playing out among providers, the potential and
pitfalls that come with federal assistance programs and the
critical balance of providing affordable water without
sacrificing safety or reliability.
A flash-flood warning mistakenly went out to a far larger area
than intended Tuesday as a heavy storm continued to lash
Southern California, killing at least one person and forcing
multiple swift-water rescue attempts. The warning, which was
meant for about 1,500 people in the Fish fire burn area east of
Duarte, went wide when a “glitch” changed the small, targeted
area to all of L.A. County, according to the National Weather
Service. The warning was canceled, and a corrected warning was
sent to those in the burn scar area. Although the weather
service issues such warnings, the alerts that are sent to
cellphones come from a separate, federally managed system that
the weather service does not control, said John Dumas, a
meteorologist with the Oxnard office.
Beaches across Southern California have been placed under a
high bacteria and high surf warning after heavy rainstorms
covered the southland on Tuesday. The public is being advised
to stay out of the water across all Los Angeles County beaches
due to possible heightened levels of bacteria caused by “storm
drainage, chemicals, debris, trash, and other public health
hazards,” said the Los Angeles County Department of Public
Health. The advisory for all L.A. County beaches will last
until Thursday at 3 p.m. People who enter the ocean water
during this period could become ill, officials warned.
The bacteria and debris typically seep from nearby city streets
and mountain areas, likely contaminating ocean waters around
discharging storm drains, creeks and rivers after rainstorms,
officials said.
With a harsh desert climate fed only by a river over 80 miles
away, water conservation is always on the minds of our Imperial
Valley farmers, who demonstrate on a daily basis how to
maximize water-use efficiencies while increasing their yields.
Since 2003, IID has implemented and managed large-scale
conservation programs that have yielded over 7.2 million
acre-feet of conserved water to fulfill the obligations of the
nation’s largest agriculture-to-urban water conservation and
transfer program…. IID believes that the key to
accomplishing Reclamation’s call for 2 million to 4 million
acre-feet of Colorado River reductions to protect critical
reservoir elevations is to develop cooperative solutions that
respect the Law of the River, existing agreements and the
water-rights priority system. -Written by Tina Shields, water department manager for
the Imperial Irrigation District, which supplies Imperial
Valley agriculture.
The Solano County Board of Supervisors agreed Tuesday to send a
letter to Caltrans supporting the Highway 37 Interim Project
for interim and long-term solutions to congestion and sea rise
issues. One of those solutions, Supervisor Erin Hannigan said,
will eventually be making the highway a toll road, which she
said many of the motorists using Highway 37 have indicated they
support if it means less congestion. “Due to current and
projected traffic congestion and flooding of the (Highway 37)
corridor, the region requires both an interim and long-term
solution to address these pressing concerns, including
balancing a variety of transportation needs with enhancing
recreational opportunities and protecting and enhancing
sensitive marshland habitats,” …
Incumbent John Allen is leading two challengers in his quest
for a third term representing Long Beach on the Water
Replenishment District Board of Directors. With mail-in ballots
counted, Allen had 52% of the vote, while challengers Mike
Murchison has 23% and Gerrie Schipske has 25% in the race for
the Area 3 board seat. The Area 3 seat represents 800,000
residents in seven cities: Long Beach, Signal Hill, San Pedro,
Lakewood, Hawaiian Gardens, Artesia and Cerritos.
Productive agriculture is essential to civilization, but water
privateering – the seizure of public trust water for exorbitant
private profit – is not. California’s water privateers often
present themselves as farmers. But while they may use the water
they’ve commandeered from state and federal water conveyance
projects for industrial-scale agribusiness initiatives, they’re
not farmers. They’re water brokers. If there’s money to be made
in irrigating almonds or pistachios, they’ll do that. If
there’s more money to be made by selling their allocated water
to cities or other agribusiness operations, they’ll choose that
option instead. It’s not about a devotion to agriculture – and
certainly not about food security or land stewardship.
Even as worsening drought and aridification force Los Angeles
to end its overwhelming dependence on imported water, Angelenos
may soon realize that weaning themselves off supplies from the
rugged eastern Sierra Nevada doesn’t mean they will stop paying
for the city’s long, complicated history there. That’s because,
even if the city is able to make good on a pledge by Mayor Eric
Garcetti to recycle 100% of its water by 2035 and increase its
ability to capture storm water, Los Angeles will still have to
pay millions of dollars to control the region’s hazardous dust
pollution — an environmental consequence of L.A.’s draining of
Owens Lake more than a century ago, as well as recent
diversions that have lowered the level of Mono Lake farther
north.
California’s water officials plan to impose a $4,000 fine on
Siskiyou County ranchers for violating orders to cut back their
water use during a weeklong standoff last summer. State
officials and the ranchers agree: A $4,000 fine isn’t much of a
deterrent to prevent illegal water diversions during
California’s droughts. The proposed fine would amount to about
$50 per rancher. A rural water association serving about
80 ranchers and farmers — facing mounting costs from hauling
water and purchasing hay to replace dried out pasture — turned
on their pumps for eight days in August to divert water from
the Shasta River. State and federal officials said the pumping,
which violated an emergency state order, threatened the river’s
water quality and its salmon and other rare species.
Mark Kelly, the incumbent Democratic senator from Arizona, is
facing a strong reelection challenge from far-right Republican
nominee Blake Masters, in a race that could be key for control
of the Senate. Last month, during a televised debate between
the two candidates, Masters went on the attack, criticizing
Kelly’s positions on several issues. Toward the end of
the debate, after skewering Kelly on inflation and the border,
Masters hit him on a more niche issue: federal water cuts on
the Colorado River. … it is no surprise that drought has
emerged as a key issue in the region ahead of this week’s
midterm elections. Senators and representatives in close races
have talked about drought in debates and campaign ads …
In October 2021, ecologists shattered the top of a dam on Mill
Creek, near Davenport, California, with a hydraulic hammer.
Within hours, the entire structure was down. For at least 110
years, the long-obsolete dam had kept threatened steelhead from
reaching important spawning habitat just upstream.
…. Then, in September 2022, [Ian] Rowbotham’s team
spotted juvenile steelhead above the former dam site. To their
surprise, they also found 15 juvenile coho salmon downstream.
It was the first time coho, an endangered species, had ever
been recorded in Mill Creek….The experience adds to a growing
body of research documenting the speedy recovery of fish and
other species after dams are removed
Steve Deverel gazes out over a levee on the San Joaquin River
to a buoy where half a dozen sea lions are barking. It’s a loud
reminder that even here, 50 miles inland, some of California’s
most productive farmland lies perilously close to the Pacific
Ocean. At any moment, a weak spot in the more than 1,000 miles
of earthen levees protecting islands in the Sacramento-San
Joaquin River Delta could unleash a salty deluge, threatening
not just crops, but the drinking water for as many as 27
million Californians. Deverel, a Davis-based hydrologist,
refers to this threat as “The Big Gulp,” a breach that would
suck in tens of billions of gallons of river water, drawing
ocean water in its wake.
In February 2020, Andrea Jones scrambled up Obsidian Butte, a
lava dome on the southeastern corner of Salton Sea. Amid the
expanse of dry, exposed lakebed, the result of decades of water
diversions and ongoing drought, she also saw a glimmer of
green—unexpected reeds and cattails taking hold around the edge
of the sea, signs of budding wetlands. … Agricultural
drains—dozens of ditches and pipes directing water off nearby
farmland—once flowed directly into the sea. But as the sea
shrinks, their outflow now trickles and meanders across exposed
playa, allowing wetlands to form. They are a happy
surprise amid an otherwise desperate scene at the Salton
Sea, a 343-square-mile inland saltwater lake and the largest
remaining body of water in California.
