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.
With golden mussels now confirmed
in California waterways, the focus has shifted from
detection to defense. On Monday, local leaders toured the Port
of Stockton—where the invasive species was first spotted in
North America just 10 months ago—to highlight the growing
efforts to stop the mussels before they cause widespread damage
to critical water infrastructure. … [Rep. Josh] Harder and
other California Democrats are backing a $15 million bill in
Congress to create a task force that would research, prevent,
control and eradicate golden mussels. The bill is currently in
committee. Meanwhile, scientists at a Davis-based lab are
already testing a potential biological solution.
Concrete weirs built in the 1950s in Big Chico Creek are
obstructing Chinook salmon and steelhead trout from reaching
upstream spawning habitats, according to biologists. The Chico
State Ecological Reserve, in collaboration with the Mechoopda
Tribe and the City of Chico, is working on the Iron Canyon Fish
Corridor Restoration Project, led by California Trout, to
address this issue. … The project aims to remove the
outdated fish ladder and replace it with a sustainable
solution. … This will result in natural resting pools
using existing boulders that fish can navigate across varying
flows.
Sacramento joined a nationwide class-action lawsuit challenging
the Trump administration’s decision to terminate billions of
dollars in federal climate justice grants, which would’ve
included funding for an expansion of the tree canopy in
California’s capital city. City officials on Wednesday
announced Sacramento had joined the lawsuit filed by
Earthjustice, Southern Environmental Law Center, Public Rights
Project and Lawyers for Good Government. The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency’s Environmental and Climate Justice grants,
authorized by Congress, provided $3 billion to help communities
across the country combat environmental degradation and prepare
for the impacts of climate change.
… US beef prices are spiking after years of
drought in areas where cattle are raised. In
the southwestern US in particular, which includes
cattle-producing areas like California’s San Joaquin Valley,
drought has exceeded historical expectations over the last
quarter-century. … Ranchers have some options, including
feeding their herds alternatives to pasture grass, such as hay.
But as dry conditions continue, selling the cattle begins to
make more financial sense than buying the expensive feed. US
herds have been dwindling for years, and are now smaller than
ever even as drought conditions have improved.
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are increasingly recognized as a
serious environmental and public health concern. … When these
algae flourish in drinking water sources such as lakes, rivers,
and reservoirs, they can lead to cyanotoxin concentrations that
exceed safety limits set by health
organizations. … Recent research conducted in
partnership between The Ohio State University, Boise State
University, and USGS evaluated UV254 and UV222 irradiation
treatment effectiveness to reduced microcystin-LR in samples
with known toxins. The findings showed that UV222 not only
worked three times faster but also produced fewer harmful
byproducts than UV254. The byproducts created from using UV222
do not retain the toxicity of Microcystin-LR, which means that
UV222 effectively neutralizes the toxin’s harmful effects.
[Director Neenma Ebeledike:] “Allensworth Rising: A Fight for
Water” is a labor of love, justice and storytelling. As a
journalist and filmmaker, I was drawn to Allensworth because of
its rich history as California’s first town founded by African
Americans and its continuing fight for basic rights like
access to clean water. What drew me to this
story was the intersection of environmental injustice, racial
inequity and historical erasure, and the resilience of
residents who refuse to let their town be forgotten. My vision
was to create an intimate, people-centered film that amplifies
the voices of those leading the fight, showing their strength
and unwavering hope.
… Satellites are helping remote communities like these
protect themselves from flooding disasters by providing
reliable access to water level data. For the first time,
vulnerable neighborhoods can monitor their local waterways with
comprehensive information that was previously unavailable,
giving them critical insights to improve flood preparedness.
This breakthrough comes through a new web application called
Water Information from Space, or WISP, recently launched by the
U.S. Geological Survey. The satellite-powered tool is
transforming how communities understand and analyze their water
systems, providing valuable data for flood recovery,
infrastructure planning and long-term water resource management
across America.
As billions of dollars in promised funding flood the U.S.
semiconductor industry, manufacturers are increasingly turning
their attention to a key issue: Water usage. … Prior
research has found that semiconductor production can require up
to 10 million gallons of ultrapure water per day, a grade of
H2O that’s virtually free of all impurities. … For chip
manufacturers, the challenge lies in not just securing high
volumes of ultrapure water, or UPW, but also in purifying it to
a usable degree and recycling the wastewater within the
manufacturer’s ecosystem. … [S]ources say much more is needed
— and possible — to make semiconductor manufacturing’s water
use a sustainable enterprise.
… I understand and support the intent behind SGMA; conserving
groundwater is essential to the long-term survival of
agriculture in this state. But the reality is stark: as SGMA is
implemented, vast swaths of productive farmland—nearly a
million acres statewide—are being fallowed, with no clear
economic alternative for the land or the people who rely on it.
… AB 1156 would allow landowners to lease fallowed land
for clean energy development through updated solar use
easements. It provides a stable, dependable source of income to
support families, workers, and communities—while still honoring
the land. –Written by Cameron Moors, manager of Renton and Terry
Farms LLC and co-founder and business development officer of
SunHarvest Partners.
The 2025 WaterWise Garden Recognition Contest is an
annual floral celebration in the County that highlights
remarkable water-saving home gardens. The Santa Barbara County
Water Agency and participating local water purveyors encouraged
residents to partake in the garden competition, offering both
regional and county-wide awards. This year’s competitors
included the Montecito Water District, Carpinteria Valley Water
District, and the City of Santa Barbara. The title for the
grand prize county-wide winner went to Teri and Pat Guillies of
the Montecito Water District for their beautiful
native-dominated garden. … These exceptional gardens
demonstrate that water-efficient, sustainable landscapes can be
lush, colorful, and wildlife-friendly.
… The scrubby little creosote bush, known as King
Clone, sits in an untidy ring just off Bessemer Mine Road
(if you can call it a road), not far from Pioneertown.
What looks like an oblong collection of bushes is actually a
single, thriving clonal colony with a genetically unique
starting point buried underground. That first plant from all
those thousands of years ago has, in essence, been regenerating
slowly for close to 12,000 years, a single living organism
that’s as old as the ice age. King Clone, for all intents and
purposes, is among the oldest living anything on this
planet. … It’s even possible that, somewhere way out
past Soggy Dry Lake, there’s a hidden clonal creosote bush
that’s somehow even larger and older than King Clone, but that
seems unlikely.
The Paso Robles Area Groundwater Authority was forced to
abandon water use fees during a tense meeting Friday after a
majority of property owners overwhelmingly objected to them.
This means that people pumping from the basin still won’t have
to pay for their water use. … As of Friday, 689 of the 1,283
impacted parcels submitted protests for the fees — the majority
vote needed to stop the Board of Directors from voting on the
rates. … Because the basin is considered “critically
overdrafted” by the California Department of Water Resources,
the Paso Robles Area Groundwater Authority is required to bring
the basin into balance by 2040. The fees were designed to
fund state-mandated tasks like monitoring wells and writing
annual reports, along with new programs designed to support
farmers, dry well owners and balance the basin.
The picturesque tufa towers on the shores of Mono Lake, formed
over centuries by underwater springs and left high and dry as
Los Angeles diverted water from nearby creeks, have long been a
symbol of the saline lake. … But residents, local officials
and environmentalists say the lake’s level should be much
higher than it is today, and that the fully exposed tufa spires
show L.A. remains far from meeting its obligation to restore
the lake’s health. … Frustrated by what they view as
L.A.’s lagging progress, environmental advocates are looking to
the State Water Resources Control Board to set new rules
further limiting diversions so the lake can rise toward the
target level. … DWP officials say they welcome an
opportunity to revisit Mono Lake’s issues, and have encouraged
the state water board to schedule a hearing.
Last week Mexico and the U.S. reached an agreement committing
both nations to expedite and solidify funding for projects
meant to curb the Tijuana River sewage crisis. [I]f both
countries keep their promises, the Tijuana and San Diego
communities could see significant progress in confronting a
problem that has long plagued them – billions of gallons of
untreated wastewater flowing through the Tijuana River
watershed past neighborhoods, and into the Pacific Ocean. The
projects on the agenda, however, are nothing
new. … While leaders and advocates are celebrating
the efforts from both governments to accomplish goals, they
also say more can be done and it remains unclear what recourse
there will be if either party fails to meet the timelines.
Plans to keep dwindling Kern River rainbow trout populations
from dipping into endangered species territory are detailed and
exacting. … When the first “Upper Kern Basin Fishery
Management” plan was written in 1995, its goal was to
avoid the Kern River rainbow having to be listed as threatened
or endangered after it became a candidate for listing under the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Since then, the fish has,
in fact, become listed as a “species of concern” by the U.S.
Forest service and California Department of Fish and Wildlife
(CDFW). Still, there has been little to no headway made on
actions described in that 1995 management plan, nor an updated
and comprehensive 2014 conservation checklist by CDFW, the
state’s top agency tasked with managing its fish populations.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has announced a plan to
contain and treat invasive zebra mussels in a privately owned
body of water in western Eagle County. According to a press
release from CPW, staff will apply EarthTec QZ, an
EPA-registered copper-based molluscicide, to the lake in the
coming weeks. Staff will routinely monitor the water to
evaluate its effectiveness following the initial treatment.
… As well as this planned treatment, CPW staff will
continue increased sampling efforts on the Colorado River and
its tributaries above and below the infested body of water.
Three straight years of wet winters appear to be benefiting
water bird species in the state, with some species showing a
more than doubling in population since last year, according to
the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Total breeding
duck populations in California increased 27%, with mallards
increasing 49%. Gadwall numbers are up 104%. … These
gains were accomplished with even more development and changes
in agriculture to less water bird friendly crops continue to
decrease habitat in the state. … For perspective on
the loss of habitat statewide, mallards remain below the
long-term average by 16%.
Officials are warning the public to stay out of the water near
a popular resort on Lake Tahoe’s southern shore … after
detecting “high levels” of E. coli bacteria Friday after a
sewage leak. Water quality samples collected near the Camp
Richardson resort revealed elevated levels of Escherichia coli,
commonly known as E. coli, according to the U.S. Forest
Service’s Tahoe Basin Management Unit. Immediately after the E.
coli was detected, the resort conducted a sewer line
inspection, located a leak and began repairs, the forest
service said. … According to the Forest Service,
officials are collecting and analyzing water samples from Camp
Richardson and areas east and west of the resort and will
advise the public if they need to take additional precautions
or if it’s safe to resume normal activities.
Officials have lifted the caution advisory for Lake Oroville’s
Middle Fork, as the algal bloom that prompted the advisory has
dissipated. The California Department of Water Resources
initially issued the advisory on July 3 after staff observed
the bloom. Testing revealed no toxins present in the samples
collected. Blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria, naturally occur
in ecosystems but can grow rapidly under certain conditions,
such as warmer temperatures and increased nutrient loads. Such
blooms sometimes produce toxins harmful to humans and animals.
After three years of negotiations, a coalition that includes
Palo Alto, Mountain View, Menlo Park and about two dozen other
cities is preparing to sign off on a revised deal with its
water supplier, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.
The agreement between the Bay Area Water Supply and
Conservation Association, which represents the 26
municipalities, and the SFPUC seeks to take some of the
pressure off cities that have not bought their minimally
required allotment thanks to conservation efforts and alternate
supplies. This includes Mountain View, which has had to pay
millions of dollars in penalties over the past 15 years for not
meeting the purchase quotas, and which would see some relief in
the amended agreement.
