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 Chris Bowman.
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In one of the first acts of his second term, President Trump is
seeking to put his stamp on California water policy by
directing the federal government to put “people over fish” and
send more water from Northern California to the Central
Valley’s farms and Southern California cities. … Karla
Nemeth, director of the California Department of Water
Resources, said the approach outlined by the president could do
substantial harm by putting water supplies at risk as well as
protections for vulnerable fish species. Nemeth said Trump’s
order, on its own, does not change anything and that the
current rules for operating California’s water delivery
systems in the Central Valley — which were supported by
the state and adopted by the Biden administration in December —
remain in effect. Presumably, the president is directing the
agencies to again start the lengthy process of revising the
framework that governs how the two main water delivery systems,
the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project,
are operated.
Los Angeles County officials missed dozens of opportunities for
water infrastructure improvements that experts say probably
would have enabled firefighters to save more homes during the
Palisades fire, public records show. As crews battled the
blaze, attempting to extinguish flames that burned huge swaths
of L.A. County and killed at least 11 people, some hydrants ran
dry. The lack of water has come under scrutiny since the
wildfire broke out Jan. 7, with officials scrambling to explain
why the 117-million-gallon Santa Ynez Reservoir was left empty
for maintenance. But thousands of pages of state, county
and municipal records reviewed by The Times show the disaster
was years in the making. Red tape, budget shortfalls and
government inaction repeatedly stymied plans for water system
improvements — including some that specifically cited the need
to boost firefighting capacity. Many projects on a list of
about three dozen “highest priority” upgrades compiled by
county officials in 2013 have yet to break ground in
communities devastated by the fires.
A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers wants water users in
four Colorado River Basin states to have more time to cut water
use through a much-debated conservation program that pays water
users to cut back. The lawmakers, including Democratic Sens.
John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet of Colorado, are hoping to
extend funding for the System Conservation Pilot Program,
saying it will help people explore more ways to respond to
prolonged drought in the overstressed river basin. But some
Colorado water experts question whether the program can
actually deliver on its promises, and even if Congress approves
the bill, time is short for potential participants to put their
ideas into action before the summer growing season.
… Extreme flooding events, even in regions typically
associated with dry weather like Southern California, are
becoming more common as the climate warms. Climate change,
driven primarily by burning fossil fuels, is changing weather
patterns, leading to heavier and more dangerous downpours that
can overwhelm infrastructure designed for more predictable
times. But Calix and others impacted by the disaster
insist there is another force that exacerbated the flooding,
one that also led to what many see as a disjointed and
inadequate disaster response: Decades of government neglect and
indifference toward San Diego’s lower-income neighborhoods. …
Residents say the legacy of discrimination continues to this
day through lack of city investment in flood-control
infrastructure, and inadequate disaster planning and support
for those affected. The result is even greater hardship and
precarity for people and communities already on the edge. The
situation is also a microcosm of the inequitable distribution
of risks from climate change, and an example of the challenges
communities and governments must grapple with as floods and
other weather-related disasters become more frequent.
… This site is an experiment in reshaping the unused grassy
expanses that sprawl across campus. For decades, the area was a
patch of green grass that f ell into the category of
“nonfunctional turf” – a term water experts use to describe
grass that serves no purpose besides aesthetics. Now, as part
of a statewide effort to save water, Colorado’s government is
trying to convince people and institutions to rip out their
thirsty grass lawns and replace them with native plants and
more functional space. It comes amid an urgent need to cut down
on water use, but there are limits to the amount of water that
can be saved. With the help of a state grant and money from the
nonprofit Western Resource Advocates, UNC’s patch of grass —
which long served no purpose besides looking pretty — will be
replaced with a patio, spots for hammocks and native prairie
grasses.
A two-decade study offers a rare glimpse into the books of a
large lettuce operation in the Salinas Valley. The research
found labor, food safety and groundwater
management rules — among many other regulations and
fees — have led to a 1,366% increase in regulatory costs since
2006. The case study, commissioned by the Monterey County Farm
Bureau, offers a snapshot of the financial challenges growers
endure to operate within California’s rapidly changing
regulatory environment. … In 2024, after several more
major state laws took effect, regulatory costs hit $1,600 per
acre, a 64% increase from 2017 and a nearly 1,400% jump since
Hamilton first began the work. Compliance now accounted for
more than 12% of the total costs. Total production costs,
meanwhile, rose just 44% over the decades, landing at less than
$13,000 per acre, and the farm gate value for lettuce went up
at the same rate.
Claiming that its residents are charged “double and in some
cases triple” the rates for water in surrounding communities,
Marysville Mayor Chris Branscum raised the specter of “severing
our relationship” with the water company that has served the
city since 1929. At a special meeting called three days after
the city learned of a proposal by the California Water Service
Co. to increase revenue 33 percent over the next three years
across its system of 24 communities, the city council gave City
Manager Jim Schaad direction to investigate the financial
data of the water company, and to let the California
Public Utilities Commission know about its objection to the
proposed increase. Two members of the Yuba County Board of
Supervisors encouraged the city to discuss with the Linda
County Water District and the Olivehurst Public Utility
District the possibility of a regional water supply system, and
to approach the Yuba Water Agency for a grant to help build the
system.
For the first time in over 70 years, an elementary school in
Central California could have consumable water. Grayson
Elementary School in Stanislaus County was built in 1952. The
school has never had suitable drinking water. In November
2024, the district noticed corroded pipes after a pipe break
inside the school. “Back in the fall, we set out to sort of
solve this drinking water problem at Grayson Elementary,” said
Dave Smith of the Patterson Joint Unified School District’s
administrative services. That plan involved replacing all pipes
inside the school that, up until that point, the district
believed to be the original pipes.
The Trump administration has appointed two industry insiders to
oversee chemical regulations, amid a broader Republican push to
speed up an approval process they say has held up innovation
and economic growth. Two veterans of Trump’s first
administration, Nancy Beck and Lynn Dekleva, were named to help
lead regulation of chemicals at the Environmental Protection
Agency, the agency confirmed in an email. The appointments were
first reported by the New York Times. Beck is known for
fighting strict chemical regulations and aligning policy with
industry interests. She is returning to the agency’s Office of
Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention, according to an
internal agency announcement reviewed by The Washington Post.
The move has many environmental groups concerned that major
chemical safety regulations, enacted to protect human health,
could be back on the chopping block.
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-San Rafael) recently announced that the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has awarded Round Valley Indian
Tribes and the Sonoma County Water Agency $15 million toward
implementing the Two-Basin Solution for water diversions from
the Eel River to the Russian River. In a press release, Huffman
explains that “the funds through the Inflation Reduction Act
will fund a major Eel River estuary project supported by the
tribes, and put a down payment on construction of a new
wintertime diversion to the Russian River following the removal
of two salmon-blocking dams on the Eel.” “This funding shows
what can be accomplished thanks to the strong partnerships in
the Eel and Russian river basins. We’ve now reached a
significant milestone in restoring salmon and other aquatic
life in the Eel River while protecting a key water supply for
communities in Mendocino, Sonoma, and Marin counties,” Huffman
is quoted as saying in the release.
… In an interview aired Wednesday night, Trump said he may
withhold aid to California until the state adjusts how it
manages its scarce water resources. He falsely claimed that
California’s fish conservation efforts in the northern part of
the state are responsible for fire hydrants running
dry in urban areas. … Several California
representatives agreed that the federal government must guard
against the misuse of funds but argued that the money should
not be held up or saddled with restrictions not placed on other
states after tornadoes and hurricanes. The dilemma played out
in social media posts by Republican Rep. Ken Calvert, who
narrowly prevailed in November in his swing district
east of Los Angeles. “Californians are entitled to receive
federal disaster assistance in the same manner as all
Americans,” he wrote on X. But, he quickly added, “Some federal
policy changes may be needed to expedite rebuilding as well as
improve future wildfire prevention. Those kind of policies are
not conditions.”
On Friday, in the last hours of the Biden administration, the
Bureau of Reclamation announced it would spend $388.3 million
for environmental projects in Colorado and three other Colorado
River Basin states. Now that funding is in limbo. The money was
set to come from a Biden-era law, the Inflation Reduction Act.
On Monday, President Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to
halt spending money under the act. Lawmakers were still trying
to understand whether the freeze applied to the entire
Inflation Reduction Act or portions of it as of Wednesday
afternoon. The new executive order focused on energy
spending but also raised questions about funding for
environmental projects in the Colorado River Basin, including
$40 million for western Colorado’s effort to buy powerful water
rights tied to Shoshone Power Plant on the Colorado River and
16 other projects in Colorado.
The Department of Water Resources yesterday filed a petition
with the State Water Resources Control Board to extend the
timeframe to maximize its existing water rights. This is an
important component of meeting the State’s climate change
preparedness goals and the potential to develop additional
storage of water and would help support virtually every major
water initiative underway. These include California’s Water
Supply Strategy: Adapting to a Hotter, Drier Future, the
Department’s Climate Adaptation Plan, the Healthy Rivers and
Landscapes Program, the state’s water quality control plan, and
all efforts for water reliability in and through the Delta.
… To accommodate growth in Pacific Palisades, they built a
reservoir in Santa Ynez Canyon, as well as a pumping station
“to increase fire protection,” as the L.A. Department of Water
and Power’s then-chief water engineer, Gerald W. Jones, told
The Times in 1972. Some Palisades residents had initially
fought having a reservoir so close, fearing a repeat of the
1963 Baldwin Hills disaster when a reservoir failed, killing
five people and destroying about 280 homes. In the decades
since, the Santa Ynez Reservoir became a source of comfort. …
But on Jan. 7, the reservoir that had long been a lifeline was
empty when Palisades residents needed it most, as a wildfire
spread rapidly amid dangerously high winds. … The episode has
drawn an urgent question from residents and city leaders: Why
was the reservoir empty for nearly a year?
Tulare County Farm Bureau’s $10,000 contribution to the Kings
County Farm Bureau’s legal defense fund has inspired donations
from several of its members. The donations will help support
the farm bureau’s legal fight against the California State
Water Resources Control Board, which farm bureau members
believe overreached in enforcing the Sustainable Groundwater
Management Act (SGMA). On April 16, 2024, the 837-square-mile
Tulare Lake Subbasin, which is almost entirely in Kings County,
was put on probation for “groundwater over pumping” and as a
consequence, groundwater pumpers in the basin were to be
assessed $300 per well and $20 per acre-foot of water. In May,
however, Kings County Farm Bureau formed the SGMA Defense Fund
to contest these and other sanctions that were to be imposed by
the water board.
A seventy-year-old stalwart is getting a much-needed makeover.
The San Diego County Water Authority is working to upgrade the
historic First Aqueduct to deliver safe and reliable water
supplies for the region. As part of the Southern First
Aqueduct Facilities Improvement project, there will be traffic
diversions and possible delays on Hardin Street between East
Washington Ave. to the north and Escondido Creek Channel to the
south in Escondido. “The Water Authority is working
closely with its member agencies to minimize impacts to
residents and business and ensure there is not interruption to
water delivery,” the agency said in a statement.
One year ago, on Jan. 22, a historic rainstorm hit the San
Diego region, bringing 2.73 inches of rain in a 24-hour period,
making it the highest level of precipitation since 1850.The
storm caused significant flooding in several neighborhoods of
the city along Chollas Creek and in other jurisdictions,
causing devastating damage to homes and businesses. During
the storm, San Diego Fire-Rescue and San Diego Police
Department teams responded to rescue multiple
people who were trapped in their homes or vehicles due to
the flooding. More than 200 water rescues were performed.
Monterey County supervisors on Tuesday declared a state of
emergency in response to last week’s major fire at the Vistra
lithium battery plant in Moss Landing. The emergency
declaration came during a special meeting where officials gave
updates on the fire and ongoing response. While the fire has
burned itself out, there are still a lot of questions from
local leaders and neighbors about what’s next. … The
county says it is going to start water quality testing this
week, but they say that is not as high of a concern as the air
quality was during the fire.
In one of the final acts of the Biden Administration
on January 10, 2025, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) sent a letter to the State Water Resources Control
Board regarding two petitions filed with the EPA by the
Delta Tribal Environmental Coalition (DTEC) in December 2022
DTEC includes the Buena Vista Rancheria of Me-Wuk Indians,
Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians, Winnemem Wintu Tribe,
Little Manila Rising and Restore the Delta. The letter urged
swift action on the San Francisco Bay-Delta Plan in support of
Tribal and Bay-Delta communities at a time when the
Bay-Delta ecosystem is in its worst-ever crisis as Central
Valley salmon and Delta fish populations collapse.
… [The agreement] would resolve the Nation’s
longstanding water rights claims and secure much-needed funding
for regional water infrastructure projects. The Agreement
includes federal funding for a number of projects benefitting
the Nation’s members and potentially other local communities.
The Yavapai-Apache Nation Water Rights Settlement Act,
introduced last summer, proposed $1.039 billion in federal
funding for the Tribe to build and maintain essential water
infrastructure, including the Cragin-Verde Pipeline Project and
the Yavapai-Apache Nation Drinking Water System Project, a
water treatment facility and a treated water distribution
system, together known as the Tú ńlįįníchoh Water
Infrastructure Project or “TWIP”…
