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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Disputes over whether Grover Beach should raise its wastewater
rates to pay for infrastructure upgrades continued on Monday
evening as the Grover Beach City Council unanimously voted to
approve a new wastewater rate structure that will see sewer
costs increase by 90% by 2030. On Monday, the Grover Beach
City Council heard a final report from city staff on whether
increasing wastewater rates was needed to pay for sewer
maintenance and infrastructure costs as the Proposition 218
public protest period came to a close. The protest period,
which started April 14, required the council to send notices to
every customer of the wastewater system explaining the rate
change, why it was needed and giving them an option to send in
a protest ballot. Had the city received protests from more than
50% of customers — or a minimum of 2,681 votes — the rate
structure change would have been off the table.
Attendees of a tap water conference voted Denver has the best
tap water in the U.S. and Canada, but judges from the
organization disagreed. The American Water Works Association
just awarded Henrico, Virginia, the accolade at the annual AWWA
Annual Conference and Exposition in Denver. The region near
Richmond faced off against cities and communities across the
country, including Denver, but ultimately beat Denver, along
with other communities’ tap water. Three judges tasted samples
from 26 water utilities across the U.S. and Canada. Denver
scored a first-place spot in the “People’s Choice” category –
voted on by all conference attendees — but failed to place in
the top three among the judges in the “Best of the Best”
category.
Scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the
University of California San Diego were able to ‘hear’ the
impacts of a marine heatwave and even economic slowdowns by
analyzing 15 years of ocean sounds recorded off the coast of
Southern California. The recordings, collected between 2008 and
2023, allowed researchers to hear whales moving north in
response to a marine heatwave that began in 2014 as well as the
massive decrease in noise from container ships during the 2008
financial crisis. The findings, published June 5 in
the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, show
that listening to the sea can be a tool for monitoring ocean
ecosystems and even human economic activity. … The findings
show how ocean soundscapes can serve as a near real-time
monitoring system for marine ecosystem health, providing early
warning of species displacement and habitat shifts due to
climate change and increasingly frequent marine
heatwaves.
A cross-border sewage crisis affecting Southern California
could play a role in a prominent congressional race, where a
Republican challenger has become a national figure on the
issue. Jim Desmond, a San Diego County supervisor, has been
sounding the alarm recently on Fox News and other conservative
outlets about the untreated sewage that’s been flowing from the
Tijuana River in Mexico to the Pacific Ocean, contaminating the
water and sickening residents. At the same time, he’s seeking
to unseat Rep. Mike Levin, accusing the Democratic incumbent of
not doing enough to protect residents. … Desmond says
Levin’s focus — including $635 million that Levin has gotten
approved for projects like improving a major sewage plant on
the Mexican side through the bipartisan infrastructure law,
among other actions — lets Mexican officials off the hook.
The Trump administration wants to unplug a high-powered U.S.
Geological Survey research program whose scientists have helped
protect wildlife, manage forests, thwart pests and illuminate
nature for over three decades. Eliminating the biological
research branch of the USGS, as called for in President Donald
Trump’s fiscal 2026 budget proposal, would accelerate the
administration’s targeting of scientific experts and studies
already shown in layoffs and grant cancellations at the
National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health.
… The Ecosystem Mission Area is one of five designated
mission areas within USGS. It received about $293 million for
fiscal 2025. Trump’s proposal would drop it to zero in fiscal
2026. … Other USGS mission areas, such as Natural
Hazards and Water Resources, would get less money but
still survive under Trump’s proposed fiscal 2026 budget.
Other science and environmental research funding news:
A federal judge ruled Monday that the U.S. Forest Service
cannot transfer land containing Oak Flat, a site sacred to the
Western Apache, to a copper mining company until two cases
against the project are settled after the Forest Service
publishes its final environmental review for the project. …
The legal battle over Oak Flat, known in Apache as Chi’chil
Biłdagoteel, has been one of the most high-profile mining cases
in the country over the past decade. … It would …
use as much water each year as the city of
Tempe, home to Arizona State University and 190,000
people. It would pull water from the same tapped-out
aquifer the Phoenix metro area relies on,
where Arizona has prohibited more extraction except for
exempted uses like mines.
Following a wet spring that resulted in a vast amount of
vegetative growth, Boulder County, Colorado, experienced a very
dry fall. The dry conditions zapped the moisture out of the
vegetation. The county was under a red flag for extremely windy
conditions. The heavy winds were coming from the west through
the east, enveloping the open area of the county. The dry
vegetation, combined with the windy conditions, created the
perfect recipe for a fire to break out. What ensued over the
following hours would be studied for years to come. A case
study, titled “Water Utility Resilience: A Case Study of the
2021 Marshall Fire,” was conducted and prepared by Professor
Brad Wham, University of Colorado, Boulder, Professor Erica
Fischer, Oregon State University, and University of Colorado,
Boulder, Graduate Assistant Rachel Geiger. … Geiger
detailed the day the fire broke out, as well as the impact of
it on five nearby water systems and the
residents they serve.
… Recently the governor used his May budget revision to
fast-track the Delta Conveyance Project, saying that was a
critical addition to the State Water Project. That announcement
drew criticism from opponents. The 15-member Delta Caucus
— a bipartisan group of lawmakers representing Delta
communities — sent a letter to Newsom and legislative leaders
saying they are “unanimous in strong opposition to the
governor’s proposal to fast-track the Delta tunnel.” One
of the caucus members is State Sen. Christopher Cabaldon
(D-Yolo), who previously served as the mayor of West Sacramento
for two decades. Cabaldon recently spoke with Insight Host
Vicki Gonzalez about the caucus’s opposition to the Delta
Conveyance Project, and the alternative methods that could help
meet the state’s water needs.
Water pouring from the faucets of at least 42 million Americans
is contaminated with unacceptable levels of “forever
chemicals,” according to a USA TODAY analysis of records the
Environmental Protection Agency released on June 2. Per- and
polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are a family of manmade
chemicals engineered to be nearly indestructible. Studies have
shown they can accumulate over time in human bodies, leading to
certain cancers and other health complications. Over the past
two years, the EPA has collected complete sets of test results
from about 6,900 drinking water systems, with thousands more
expected as the PFAS testing initiative continues another year.
USA TODAY’s analysis of these systems with complete results
shows nearly a quarter of large water utilities serving at
least 100,000 customers exceeded limits the EPA approved last
year on two chemicals: PFOS and PFOA.
… In new research published in the journal Biological
Conservation, (UC Davis PhD candidate Sidney) Woodruff and her
colleagues propose a possible — though intensive —
countermeasure: a near-total eradication of the bullfrog from
habitats that it has invaded. The result was the striking
recovery of the Northwestern pond turtle, California’s only
native freshwater pond turtle species, at a couple of remote
bodies of water within Yosemite National Park.
… Woodruff and her colleagues conducted a combination of
night surveys to remove the adults and day surveys to go after
bullfrog egg masses. Across two sites, she estimates they
removed some 16,000 bullfrogs, amounting to a near-complete
eradication. And after several years of removal, “we came
across our first couple of small pond turtle hatchlings and
juveniles swimming out in the environment,” says Woodruff.
During the Contra Costa Taxpayers Association Members and
Leaders monthly luncheon in May, Contra Costa Water District
Board President, Ernesto Avila provided an update on the
district’s current work and plans. They include repairing 20 of
the 48-mile canal at a cost of $1 billion, keeping water rates
as low as possible and expanding service to keep up with
growth. … Half of the district’s water is provided to
treated water customers and the other half to raw water
customers, Avila stated and then spoke about ensuring adequate
“water supply during disasters such as fire and earthquake
emergencies.” … The district owns Los Vaqueros Reservoir
for storage, which is currently 93% full. But “we can’t just
draw water whenever we want,” Avila stated. “All of our intakes
are screened to protect fish.” “We are out of our drought,”
Avila added. However, “during the drought there were no
constraints on water supply for development and growth.”
Amazon is expanding the number of locations that will use
treated wastewater for data center cooling from 20 to 120. The
company this week announced it will expand its use of water
recycling to more than 120 locations in states and counties
where the cloud giant has data center operations by 2030.
… Though data centers typically reuse water by
recirculating the same water through their cooling systems
multiple times, it is often drawn from potable (drinkable)
sources. As the water can collect bacteria and limescale, it is
treated with chemicals, leaving it unsuitable for people to
drink once it leaves the facility. Exactly how much drinkable
water the data center industry uses is unclear, but estimated
to be in the billions of gallons annually. Today, Amazon
uses recycled water instead of potable or drinkable water
across 20 locations; 16 in Virginia and four in Santa Clara in
California.
On scorching days when winds blow across the California desert,
the Salton Sea regularly gives off a stench of decay resembling
rotten eggs. New research has found that the shrinking lake is
emitting the foul-smelling gas hydrogen sulfide more frequently
and at higher levels than previously measured. The findings
document how the odors from the Salton Sea add to the air
quality problems and health concerns in communities near the
lake, where windblown dust drifts from exposed stretches of
lakebed and where people suffer from high rates of asthma and
other respiratory illnesses. “The communities around the Salton
Sea are on the front lines of a worsening environmental health
crisis,” said Mara Freilich, a co-author of the study and
assistant professor in Brown University’s Department of Earth,
Environmental and Planetary Sciences.
The Senate is speeding to confirm David Fotouhi for EPA deputy
administrator and Stephen Vaden for deputy Agriculture
secretary this week. Committees are also pushing energy and
environment nominees forward. More than four months after
President Donald Trump took office, Fotouhi is the third of
nine candidates for various EPA posts whose nomination has made
it to the Senate floor. Senate lawmakers voted Monday evening
53-43 along party lines to wind down debate on Fotouhi, a
lawyer who also worked at EPA during Trump’s first term. A
final roll call is scheduled for Tuesday. Fotouhi’s
nomination won approval in March from the Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee on a 10-9 tally, also on party
lines. Before Monday’s vote, committee leaders offered starkly
contrasting portrayals of Fotouhi’s credentials.
Salt Lake County water managers say they’re concerned about new
water trends as the region’s irrigation season has gotten off
to a warmer and drier start. Water consumption in the Jordan
Valley Conservancy District, which includes most of Salt Lake
County, is up 15% from last year, which was up 12.5% from the
previous year. … While Utah’s northern half experienced
a normal snowpack this year, dry conditions prior to winter and
an unproductive meteorological spring compromised the runoff
efficiency. Utah’s meteorological spring — March 1 through May
31 — was the 11th warmest and 40th driest since 1895, according
to National Centers for Environmental Information released on
Monday. … Dry soil conditions before the snowpack also
increased the probability that more snowpack water would go
into recharging the groundwater supply, meaning less water that
flows into the state’s reservoirs. … Over three-fourths
of the state is now in at least moderate
drought at the start of meteorological summer.
Ed Curry is passionate about the green, red and yellow chile
peppers he grows on his 3,000-acre farm in Pearce, Arizona,
about 90 minutes southeast of Tucson. He’s also passionate
about saving water. A new technology Arizona State University
is analyzing and promoting has combined his love for spice and
conservation. … (Farmer Ed) Curry said he cut about 50% of
his water usage in the 1990s by going to a drip system. More
recently, he estimates he’s cut another 10% through a new soil
service. ASU and MyLand, a Phoenix-based soil health
company, demonstrated how soil health innovation can drive
measurable water conservation at Curry’s farm at an event on
May 14. This is achieved by using live, native microalgae to
improve soil so that farmers like Curry can achieve greater
water efficiency, increased yields and reduced environmental
impact. … “We have growers who have documented a 15%
decrease in water use on alfalfa, an extra half-day between
irrigation cycles on peppers and a 24% improvement in water-use
efficiency on tree nuts.”
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the
California Department of Water Resources have issued a warning
to residents about a toxic algal mat in the Pit River, located
in the Jess Valley area near the Modoc National Forest. The
departments urged the public to exercise caution when engaging
in recreational activities near this area. They explained that
harmful algal blooms (HABs) are caused by algae or
cyanobacteria that can grow suspended in the water column or
attached to the bottom, forming algal mats. Some species of
these algae can produce toxins, posing a risk to humans and
pets. The department said to call your veterinarian or doctor
immediately if you become sick after ingesting or coming in
contact with algae. … The departments said they will
provide updates through a routine water monitoring program that
conducts site visits at this waterway.
… The future of San Francisco’s iconic fog has been debated
in media stories during recent years, and some experts note a
diminished cloud cover along the California coast that could
lead to a warming trend. … While the scientific
community endeavors to figure out the long-range impact of
climate change on California’s coastal fog, there’s a strong
consensus that diminished cloud cover would have a harmful
effect. Species such as the widely admired coastal
redwoods, which get up to 40% of their yearly water intake from
fog, could be threatened if that resource dwindled.
… But climate scientists are split over whether the
increased heat will lead to less fog because the air over the
ocean won’t be cold enough to condense, or whether stronger
winds will atone for that factor.
… The Colorado River Basin is in dire straits: The water
supply for 40 million people has been dwindling, and
climatologists say the climate future is bleak. State officials
have spent months mired in thorny negotiations over things like
how to split painful water cuts in the driest conditions — with
scant progress to report publicly. … The final plan
could determine everything from how key reservoirs store and
release water to who takes cuts in dry years and how
environments, like the Grand Canyon, will be impacted for years
to come. It will impact water supplies for cities, like Denver,
Phoenix and Los Angeles, ecosystems, a multibillion-dollar
agricultural industry, hydroelectric power and more.
In California’s water wars, fishermen and farmers have long
been enemies. But now that federal and state regulators have
closed the salmon commercial fishing season for an
unprecedented third year in a row to protect declining
populations, at least one major commercial fishing group is
shifting its alliances. The Pacific Coast Federation of
Fishermen’s Associations teamed up with farmers for a
first-ever joint Washington, D.C., lobbying trip in early May.
They met with members of Congress and federal officials to ask
for more money for salmon hatcheries, which breed, raise and
release young fish. … For the Fishermen’s Associations, which
have sued for decades to keep water in California’s rivers for
fish instead of being diverted to farmers, the trip is part of
a larger pivot amid growing desperation as high temperatures
and low water levels kill their business.
