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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Wyoming’s federal delegation has filed legislation to restore
millions of dollars to pay state irrigators in the Colorado
River Basin for conserving water. Bills filed in the U.S.
Senate and House would restore the System Conservation Pilot
Program that Congress ended in December. The program contracted
to pay $8.3 million in 2023 to 21 entities in Wyoming. The
conservation effort aims to supply more water to downstream
states without harming Wyoming water users. Headwater
upper-basin states of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico
favor voluntary paid-for conservation over uncompensated
reductions proposed by California, Nevada and Arizona.
If stakeholders in Kern County’s Groundwater Sustainability
Plan want to avoid a state takeover, they’ll need to do a
better job of monitoring and measuring pumping activity,
avoiding land subsidence and setting minimal groundwater
levels. On Friday, the State Water Resources Control
Board considered placing the Kern County Sub-basin on
probation, as had been recommended by the its water board
staff. The board granted Kern County Groundwater Sustainability
Agencies a continuance instead of probation, as they work to
satisfy the water board’s demands. Probation would impose
serious state oversight on Kern County water boards, something
they want to avoid very much.
The Climate Prediction Center’s latest outlooks for March and
upcoming spring months call for wetter-than-average weather in
the northernmost parts of California and drier-than-average
conditions in the southeast. The pattern is consistent with
what’s expected for La Niña, which typically brings
drier-than-normal winters for the southern tier of the United
States and wetter-than-normal conditions to the Pacific
Northwest. For much of California, forecasters declared equal
chances for below-normal, near-normal or above-normal
precipitation.
Despite the closure of salmon fishing in California river and
ocean waters in 2023 and 2024, the number of Fall Chinook
Salmon returning to both the Sacramento and Klamath River
Basins was well below the numbers forecasted by state and
federal officials one year ago. Under the 2024
regulations, the projected spawning escapement in the
Sacramento River Basin was 180,061 hatchery and natural area
fall Chinook adults, according to the Pacific Fishery
Management Council’s just-published Review of Ocean Salmon
Fisheries. However, only 99,274 hatchery and natural area adult
spawners were estimated to have returned to the Sacramento
River Basin in 2024. That number is only 55 percent of the
2024 conservation and management objective of 180,000 fish.
The California Department of Water Resources began releasing
water over the spillway at the Oroville Dam on Feb. 3,
directors of Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District heard in
a report on Feb. 19. According to General Manager Tom Neisler,
the releases are to comply with flood control requirements
intended to ensure that adequate storage is available to
control storm runoff at the dam in Northern California that
feeds the State Water Project, an important source of water in
Tehachapi and other locations. Neisler told directors that the
flow over the spillway varies but has been as much as 35,000
cubic feet per second this month.
… A spokesperson for the State of Baja California said the
San Antonio de los Buenos wastewater treatment plant is nearing
completion. The plant has been offline and dumping more than 17
million gallons of raw sewage a day directly into the Pacific
Ocean for several years. That raw sewage flows north and has
forced the County of San Diego to use the yellow signs from the
border to the IB Pier for most of that time. There have been
long stretches when the water has been off limits all the way
up to Coronado Beach. Mexico began fixing its plant at the
beginning of 2024. They said it would be ready by last
September. That was five months ago. Last week, Dr. Maria-Elena
Giner, the International Boundary and Water Commission
commissioner, said it was finally done.
There’s a lot to like about the historic agreement to manage
water in the Russian and Eel rivers. For farmers and city
dwellers in Sonoma and Mendocino counties, preserving
diversions into the Russian River is nothing short of a
lifeline. For conservation and fishery groups, a commitment to
restore flows on the Eel is a milestone in a decades-long
campaign to revitalize a historic salmon stream. –Written by The Press Democrat Editorial Board
Crews have commenced work on replacing the Kern River Canal
Backup Weir, a crucial water infrastructure component for the
city. Demolition of the existing weir began on Thursday,
February 20, 2025, marking the initial phase of the replacement
project. The weir, situated east of the Coffee Road bridge,
plays a vital role in allowing Bakersfield’s water department
to manage floodwaters and divert the Kern River’s flow.
Officials reported that the weir sustained damage in 2019 and
again in 2023, rendering it non-operational.
The El Centro City Council approved an upgrade to the
disinfection system at the city’s wastewater treatment plant on
Tuesday, Feb. 19, at City Hall. “Ultraviolet light disinfection
is the last treatment process to eliminate any remaining
bacteria in wastewater before it is released,” Public
Works Director and City Engineer Abraham Campos said. The
UV-treated water is discharged into the Imperial Irrigation
District’s drainage system and ultimately into the Salton Sea,
according to city documents. The existing UV lamps, which
have been in use for the past 15 years, will no longer be
serviceable as manufacturers and current part suppliers are
transitioning to a new system.
(Gail Krantzberg, professor emeritus in McMaster’s W Booth
School of Engineering Practice and Technology:) Trump’s
suggestion about a faucet in B.C. should concern Canadians.
It’s crucial that people start thinking about the potential
impact of Trump’s policies on our water resources, not just in
British Columbia, but across the entire continent. If he’s
considering taking B.C.’s water to fight fires in California,
what about our Great Lakes that support a $7 trillion
economy? … The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Sustainable
Water Resources Act mandates that any water taken from the
lakes must be returned, and it is only allowed for specific
emergency purposes, like firefighting and drinking water.
Pumping water back over long distances would be prohibitively
expensive and difficult.
At Sacramento County’s Mather Airport, an hour’s drive south
from Marysville-Yuba City, specially outfitted U.S. Air Force
“Hurricane Hunter” aircraft stand by, preparing to launch into
powerful storms across the Pacific. Led by the Center for
Western Weather and Water Extremes (CW3E) at Scripps
Institution of Oceanography, the Atmospheric River
Reconnaissance (AR Recon) program sends these WC-130 Super
Hercules aircraft to locations such as Japan, Guam and
Hawaii. Comprised of a team of Air Force reservists, the
53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron collects data from
atmospheric rivers and hurricanes, sending it back to the
ground in real time. This helps enhance forecasts and better
understand the storm system path, thereby supporting more
informed decision-making to mitigate storm impacts.
At least 40 volunteers who want to spend a day outdoors
measuring plants are needed Feb. 27 and Feb. 28 at the Capinero
Creek Restoration Area in Tulare County. The 467-acre property
is owned by the Tule Basin Land & Water Conservation Trust and
is the site of a former dairy. This is the second volunteer
event of the year at Capinero Creek, which is in the midst of
being transformed from intensively farmed ground back to native
habitat. Thousands of recently planted native scrub grasses
have taken the place of water-intensive crops that used to feed
dairy cows. … The project is an example of land
repurposing shepherded by the trust that will become more
common throughout the San Joaquin Valley as the region adapts
to groundwater restrictions under the Sustainable
Groundwater Management Act (SGMA).
Water Week is returning to Washington, D.C. the week of April 6
as drinking and clean water sector leaders from across the
country will convene for a week of policy discussion and
Congressional office visits. The anchor event of Water Week is
the National Water Policy Fly-In, being held April 8-9,
presented by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies
(NACWA), which spearheads the event, in partnership with the
American Water Works Association (AWWA), the Association of
Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA), the Water Research
Foundation (WRF), the Water Environment Federation (WEF), and
the WateReuse Association.
Drought conditions in California improved after a series of
atmospheric river-fueled rain storms swept through the state.
However, more than half of the state was “abnormally dry” as of
Thursday, Feb. 20, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. As of
Thursday, areas of “moderate drought” could be found in Central
California, including parts of Fresno, Kern, Madera and Merced
counties, the Drought Monitor said, as well as San Bernardino
County in Southern California. On the Central Coast, parts of
Santa Barbara and Ventura counties were experiencing severe
drought conditions, the federal agency said. So were areas of
Inyo, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties further south.
“Extreme drought” conditions could be found in Imperial,
Riverside and San Diego counties, the federal agency said.
Here’s a look at drought conditions across California.
Other drought and water supply news across the West:
Utilities in both the Eaton and Palisades fire burn scars have
reported detecting the carcinogen benzene in parts of their
water systems. State regulators have recommended the utilities
issue “do not drink” and “do not boil” notices, which still
permit residents to use the water for showers, handwashing,
laundry and other daily activities. The state said the order
attempts to balance safety with the need for usable water,
while some scientists warned that using the water, even for
purposes other than drinking or cooking, could pose a
risk. … So far, two of Altadena’s three customer-owned
water utilities have detected the carcinogen.
A water grab is taking shape in Utah, where thirsty urban
development north of Salt Lake City has created demand where
supplies are limited. Enter the “Utah state water agent,” a
position created in 2024 with the mission of seeking water
supplies beyond Utah’s borders. It’s a bold move by a state
that once pushed a plan to pipe water from Lake Powell to St.
George to secure water for that fast-growing community. Now
conservation groups are among the voices speculating that Utah
could divert water from the Green River — the largest tributary
of the Colorado River, providing about 40% of all the water
that flows into Lake Powell.
West Coast states and members of Congress worry that mass
federal employee firings at Bureau of Reclamation dams and at
the Bonneville Power Administration could disrupt hydropower
generation in the Pacific Northwest. Washington Gov. Bob
Ferguson (D) is “deeply concerned” about how the firings at
federal dams across the region may affect the Northwest’s
primary power supply, spokeswoman Brionna Aho said Wednesday.
“These cuts are dangerous,” she said. “Increasing the risk of
blackouts for our region is a security concern.” It’s unclear
how many employees have been let go at the BPA and the Bureau
of Reclamation.
Eight years ago this week, after a series of drenching
atmospheric river storms, Coyote Creek, the longest creek in
Santa Clara County, flooded, forcing the emergency evacuation
of 14,000 people in neighborhoods around downtown San Jose and
causing $100 million in damage in a torrent of muddy water. On
Thursday, the Santa Clara Valley Water District finished a
project aimed at reducing the chances of serious flooding in
the area in the future. The $117 million project from the
district, a government agency based in San Jose, constructed
flood walls and other features along 8,500 feet of Coyote Creek
in a 4-mile stretch of the waterway between Interstate 280 and
Old Oakland Road in some of the areas that suffered the worst.
The State Water Resources Control Board unanimously voted to
continue the hearing process for the Kern County Subbasin’s
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act compliance today,
despite community based organizations’ pleas to put the
subbasin on probation. The decision comes after Kings
County Farm Bureau blocked the Tulare Lake probationary
decision, earning a temporary injunction that will stop the
board from collecting fees through the first half of 2026.
Having reviewed the resubmitted Kern County Subbasin 2024 Draft
groundwater sustainability plans, the board staff identified
that GSAs have addressed some issues with coordination, but
recommended they revise methodologies that could result in
incompatible criteria across the GSA and Hydrogeologic
Conceptual Model boundaries.
First, there was Donald Trump’s executive order to release
billions of gallons of water from two reservoirs in
California’s Central valley, a move the feds walked back after
farmers and water experts decried it as wasteful, ill-conceived
– and an unnecessary risk factor for levees in the region.
… (T)he condition of California’s levees is, by and large,
already precarious. On its 2019 infrastructure report card, the
American Society of Civil Engineers gave the state’s levees a
“D”, citing that despite significant investments, much more
work was needed to rehabilitate and improve them. With more
rain in the forecast, here’s what to know about California’s
levees.
