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.
On July 30, 2025, a divided California Court of Appeal issued
its long-awaited opinion in Patz v. City of San Diego,
affirming the trial court’s judgment that the City’s tiered
residential water rates violated Proposition 218 of the
California Constitution. The ruling reinforces the strict
interpretation of cost-of-service requirements previously
articulated in Coziahr v. Otay Water District. However, given
the nearly 70-page dissenting opinion, the California Supreme
Court may take up the case if the City seeks review.
… The City argued that higher-volume users should pay
more due to the increased infrastructure costs required to
support peak demands, which is unnecessary for lower-use
customers. The Court of Appeal rejected this rationale,
holding that the City failed to demonstrate that its rates bore
a reasonable relationship to the “proportional cost of service
attributable to the parcel.”
The Environmental Protection Agency has approved the Yurok
Tribe Environmental Department’s application for Treatment as a
State (TAS), giving the tribe authority to set and enforce
water quality standards on the Yurok Reservation in northern
California. The designation, based on a 1987 amendment to the
Clean Water Act, allows the department to administer federal
environmental laws including the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act
and Safe Drinking Water Act within reservation boundaries. The
approval applies to 44 miles of the Klamath River and its
tributaries, according to a Yurok news release. Under TAS,
the tribe may determine beneficial water uses based on local
cultural, environmental and community considerations.
Toxic chemicals present in our air, food and water have been
strongly linked with a huge number of environmental problems
and serious health issues, including cancer, obesity, dementia,
infertility and ADHD. … The team warned the production
of persistent chemicals, a group of toxic chemicals that remain
in the environment for a long time, has grown so large that “a
safe planetary boundary has been breached”. As an example, they
said PFAS have “contaminated the entire planet”, with rainwater
levels often surpassing safe drinking water limits and the
chemicals found in the blood of almost the entire population.
… [O]n June 17, when the USDA announced the end of $148.6
million in funding awarded by prior administrations to projects
geared toward DEI, the move appeared in lockstep with the
president’s priorities. … The press release said that
“more than 145” awards would be canceled, and it gave three
anonymized examples of such projects. There was a $575,251
project “educating and engaging socially disadvantaged farmers
on conservation practices”; a $192,246 project for “creating a
new model for urban forestry to lead to environmental justice
through more equitably distributed green spaces”; and a $2.5
million award for a project “expanding equitable access to
land, capital, and market opportunities for underserved
producers in the Bay Area.” … More than a month later, no one
yet seems to know whether, or to what extent, the $148 million
in grants has actually been canceled.
On July 24, 2025, the State Water Resources Control Board
released an updated Bay-Delta Water Plan, a critical framework
designed to protect the ecological health of the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta while addressing California’s diverse water
demands. The plan outlines two primary approaches—the
Unimpaired Flow Alternative and the Healthy Rivers and
Landscapes (or Voluntary Agreements) alternative, to balance
water quality, ecosystem restoration, and water supply needs.
So, what are the key differences between these approaches? How
is their success evaluated? And what is the unimpaired flow
alternative water users may have to adopt? A dive into the Plan
helps answer those questions, and more.
… For generations, America’s crumbling infrastructure has
quietly poisoned its most vulnerable populations. From peeling
paint in public housing to unsafe water pipes beneath city
streets, lead has lingered long before and after its federal
ban in 1978. But while the government has taken action
against lead exposure in homes, experts say its impact in our
schools remains overlooked. … Nationwide, more than 38
percent of public K-12 schools were built before 1970, well
before the government banned the use of lead-based paint. Many
of the schools were built to serve Black students in
underfunded, segregated neighborhoods, and these aging
buildings often contain lead service lines, contaminating the
water that flows into cafeteria faucets and hallway water
fountains.
… [I]n the American West, water shortages are severe enough
that even St. George, a small city of only 200,000 people, has
decided to commit to the high financial costs of water
reclamation. The project will cost about a billion dollars in
total. … The new water reclamation plant, with 60 miles of
new pipeline, and advanced wastewater treatment technology will
enable them to stretch their resources even further.
… While there are no active DPR facilities up and
running in the United States right now, El Paso, Texas and San
Diego, California are both considering DPR projects for the
future. And diminishing regional water sources mean that we
will likely see more water reclamation projects in the coming
years across the Southwestern U.S.
State officials may have solved the puzzle of how zebra mussels
got into the Colorado River. On July 3, Colorado Parks and
Wildlife officials discovered a large number of adult zebra
mussels in a privately owned body of water in western Eagle
County. On Monday, Madeline Baker, an invasive species
specialist with CPW, told members of the Colorado Basin
Roundtable they believe this private lake is an upstream source
of the mussels that have contaminated the Colorado River, the
Government Highline Canal, Highline Lake and Mack Mesa Lake.
… Baker said that the lake’s owner is collaborating with
CPW on a mitigation plan. … Zebra mussels are a prolific
invasive species that if left unchecked could clog irrigation
infrastructure, and strip the plankton and nutrients from the
water.
Emergency hiring plans are underway in an effort to keep two
Central Valley weather stations fully staffed in the wake of
federal budget cuts. The National Weather Service’s Sacramento
and Hanford offices have been operating for months with reduced
staff. California legislators have issued dire warnings about
the service reductions, calling the cuts “the beginning of a
public safety crisis.” … [Tom Fahy, the legislative
director for the union that represents the National Weather
Service] said in late July there were 11 vacancies among the 29
staff positions at the NWS’s Sacramento office, including eight
unfilled meteorologist roles. Three technical staff vacancies —
an observing program lead, or OPL, an assistant electronic
systems analyst and an administrative assistant — are also
leaving gaps, he said.
A western Fresno County groundwater agency hopes to increase
pumping fees by about 212%, from $8 per acre foot to $25 per
acre foot, in a bid to avoid state intervention. The Pleasant
Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) board agreed at
its July 29 meeting to put the proposed fee hike to a vote of
its growers through a Proposition 218 election, which is
required before increasing land assessment or pumping
fees. A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 28 where growers can
protest the proposed increase. If the pumping fee hike
succeeds, the Pleasant Valley Water District, which also acts
as the GSA, would reduce existing land assessment fees from $6
per acre to $3.25 per acre. The money from the pumping fee is
needed, according to GSA board members, to pay for a revised
groundwater plan. The Department of Water Resources deemed
the region’s existing plan inadequate in
February.
With the removal of four dams on the Klamath River,
Californians now have a new place to kayak, raft, fish and
explore. In the footprints of century-old reservoirs in a
remote area near the Oregon border is a fresh 45-mile stretch
of restored river that flows freely through a varied landscape
of striking basalt canyons, evergreen forests and grassy
valleys. There’s palpable excitement in witnessing the river
corridor come back to life, and opportunities abound for
world-class whitewater paddling and steelhead fishing.
… Friday marks the opening of five newly installed
recreation sites along the Upper Klamath – three in California
and two in Oregon. There’s been limited access since May but
the sites are fully open as of Aug. 1.
In Puerto Rico’s most rural municipalities, residents are often
not connected to the main water system. The Puerto Rico
Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) owns and operates 95
percent of the public water supply and wastewater systems in
the archipelago, but rural residents must rely on smaller
aqueduct systems for their potable water. Unpaid
community members often volunteer to maintain these smaller
systems, doing the work out of passion and care for their
neighbors despite having far fewer financial resources than
PRASA. But when federal funding that helps communities maintain
their water systems is cut, the way that individuals are able
to maintain these systems is impacted. Weather patterns
attributable to climate change, such as more frequent and
powerful storms, exacerbate this issue.
State water officials are worried about how to protect
residents from drinking water contaminated with “forever
chemicals” — and how shifting federal regulations will affect
their responsibilities. During a meeting this week with the
Environmental Protection Agency on its plan to rescind and
reconsider President Joe Biden’s landmark drinking water
standard on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), state
officials and industry representatives complained that
regulatory uncertainty was placing communities in a bind.
… At least 250 bills have been introduced in about 36
states this year to address PFAS by banning the chemicals in
products, setting maximum levels in drinking water and
allocating funding to clean up contamination. Dozens of states
have passed regulatory standards for at least one forever
chemical in drinking water.
A Sacramento agency that’s been criticized by the grand jury
for its poor operational and safety practices is now being
dissolved. The Del Paso Manor Water District has been in
business since 1956, serving customers in the Arden-Arcade
area. Now a new district is taking over. A long list of
problems needs to be fixed in the Del Paso Manor Water
District: rusted and corroded underground pipes, contaminated
water wells and fire hydrants with broken valves. … But
now a solution may be in sight. The Del Paso Manor District is
being merged into the neighboring Sacramento Suburban Water
District, which has big plans for improvements. … A top
priority is replacing outdated underground pipes that are
leaking and can’t provide enough water for firefighting.
The Energy Department released a report this week promising a
“critical review” of climate science, coinciding with the
Environmental Protection Agency’s move to end climate
regulation across the federal government. But scientists
say the report, drafted by researchers known for questioning
mainstream climate science, is riddled with errors and
cherry-picked data. … The Washington Post annotated key
sections of the new report with the help of climate scientists.
… Scientists argue that the new report, composed in less
than two months by five authors known to have skeptical views
on climate science, would not pass any peer review process.
… Sulphur Creek was intended to be part of a movement.
Billions of dollars in former President Biden’s Bipartisan
Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) were
meant to be “a freaking game-changer” for conservation and
climate work in the Bay Area, according to one expert Bay
Nature interviewed when we first began tracking that money
in June 2023. … This legislation has been in the
crosshairs of the Trump administration since before its January
inauguration; early executive actions froze BIL and IRA
funding. … Still, a lot of this money has already been
awarded locally—more than $1.4 billion, in fact, according to
Bay Nature’s reporting. What kind of difference can it still
make—especially as Trump claws back funds and eviscerates
federal natural-resource agencies?
… The state Legislature came to a (partial) rescue in 2011 by
passing SB 618, which cut the cancellation fee in half for
farmers who want to transition to solar. To qualify for the
break, however, applicants must prove that the soil on their
land can no longer sustain farming. That program has not been a
rousing success; over its first nine years, only three
applicants pursued solar easements under SB 618, according to
the state Department of Conservation. Now, another bill, AB
1156, would expand eligibility to include land that can no
longer be farmed due to water shortages.
… It’s hard to see any downside to this legislation. If
land isn’t fit for farming and is too remote or otherwise
unsuitable for much-needed housing development, using it to
boost California’s clean energy production makes sense.
The EPA has approved the Yurok Tribe’s request for authority
under the Clean Water Act to develop water quality standards
for rivers and streams on its lands. “This action recognizes
the Yurok Tribe’s capability to protect water resources that
are vital to cultural practices, public health, and local
ecosystems,” the agency said in a statement. With this
approval, the Tribe can establish water quality standards for
its Reservation, which will be subject to EPA review and
approval before taking effect. These standards will help guide
decisions on water protection and management. “The Yurok Tribe
will now be able to develop standards that reflect both
scientific criteria and the Tribe’s priorities for protecting
fish habitat and ceremonial uses,” EPA officials said.
County authorities are warning the public to take precautions
when going to Avocado Lake after elevated levels of E. coli
were found. The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control
identified elevated levels of the bacteria after a sample was
collected on Wednesday. The sample surpassed the Statewide
Bacteria Water Quality Objectives established by the California
State Water Resources Control Board. E. coli is a bacterium
found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals and serves as
an indicator of fecal pollution in water. Officials say
elevated levels may indicate a higher risk of illness for
swimmers who interact with the water.
Tribal leaders and environmentalists are asking the Bureau of
Land Management to reverse course on a southern Arizona mining
project it green-lit at the end of June. The Copper Creek
Exploration Project is the beginning stage of what could become
an open-pit copper mine across a roughly 25 square mile stretch
near a portion of the San Pedro River in the Galiuro mountain
range northeast of Tucson. … The groups argue the BLM’s
Safford Office, which conducted the assessment, didn’t fully
consider the project’s impacts on surface water,
groundwater, and wildlife habitat as is required by
federal laws like the National Environmental Protection Act.
