A collection of top water news from around California and the West compiled each weekday. Send any comments or article submissions to Foundation Writer Matt Jenkins.
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The Bureau of Reclamation on Friday released its
two-year operating plan that details how the
agency will manage the Colorado River and the nation’s
two largest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead. It
also released a record of decision to finalize a 10-year
framework that includes ranges for future operating plans and
flexibility if states eventually come to a long-sought
consensus deal in the future. “These decisions provide a water
management strategy for Basin stakeholders to respond to the
prolonged drought by incorporating flexible tools and voluntary
actions while leaving room for consensus agreements,” said
Andrea Travnicek, the Interior Department’s assistant secretary
of water and science.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority has agreed to leave some of
its water in Lake Mead this year in exchange for cash to comply
with what water managers expect to be a firm
requirement to do so through 2028. At a board meeting
Thursday, directors ratified an agreement between the water
authority and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation that gives Nevada
$16.25 million in federal funds for conserving an
amount equal to one-sixth of its total Colorado River
allocation. In 2026, the authority will leave 50,000
acre-feet in Lake Mead — the struggling reservoir that supplies
about 90 percent of Southern Nevada’s water supply and
is falling to new record lows each month.
California water regulators are moving forward with a plan
backed by Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom that would
overhaul water quality and flow rules in the sensitive
ecosystem of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Bay
Delta. The State Water Resources Control Board released a new
version of its Bay-Delta plan on Wednesday. The plan lets
participating water agencies meet protections for species like
chinook salmon and Delta smelt through a 2022 deal Newsom
struck with cities and farmers to keep more water in rivers and
restore habitat, rather than the state’s tougher default flow
rules. The board also announced it would consider
adopting the plan at its Oct. 28 and 29 board meeting,
putting one of Newsom’s signature water deals on track for
adoption before he leaves office.
A deadly botulism outbreak has killed at least 13,730 birds in
the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge near the
Oregon-California border. The refuge, part of the Klamath
National Wildlife Refuge Complex, is one of the most
important stopover and breeding sites for waterfowl and
waterbirds migrating along the Pacific Flyway.
… [Biologist Teresa] Wicks said the scale of outbreaks
in recent years is unnatural, driven by human-caused changes to
the wetlands. … In early August, 14 conservation groups,
including Bird Alliance of Oregon, urged the Bureau of
Reclamation to quickly deliver water to the refuge to slow the
spread of the botulism outbreak. They requested the
release of 15,000 acre-feet of water, enough to flood one acre
of land one foot deep. [Biologist Teresa] Wicks said
this wouldn’t stop the outbreak, but could significantly slow
it down and give refuge staff a chance to catch up on
collecting dead birds.
A water commissioner for the Blue River Basin gave an update on
the state of water resources to Dillon Town Council Aug. 18.
Troy Wineland told the council that about 99% of the state has
been in some stage of drought throughout the summer after
Colorado saw its worst snowpack year on record last winter. …
Weather patterns have shifted from a La Niña to an El Niño,
Wineland said, where temperatures over the Pacific Ocean
increase and affect wind and precipitation behaviors globally.
While El Niño typically brings above-average snowfall to the
coasts and southern United States, Wineland said it
consistently brings higher temperatures to Colorado’s
central Rockies. “People are saying, ‘We had a
bad year, we’re going to rebound, and we’re going to have a
record snowback,’” Wineland said. “Please, please, please do
not put any money on it.”
Concerns over how much groundwater artificial
intelligence data centers could extract prompted the Tulare
County Board of Supervisors to adopt an ordinance Tuesday that
bans consideration of any new data center development for 45
days. The ban could be extended up to a
year. “We all sit on (groundwater sustainability
agency) boards, and we know the issues going on and the impact
they have on our farming,” Supervisor Larry Micari
said. He referred to pumping restrictions in place
throughout Tulare County, required under the
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The
ban gives county planners time to alter zoning regulations,
which are ill-prepared to consider the water, energy
and infrastructure demands of AI data centers that
come in a variety of configurations.
Drought conditions continue to expand across Colorado and the
West as forecasters predict above-average temperatures for at
least the next two weeks. A Thursday drought status update from
the National Integrated Drought Information System describes
how record-breaking July temperatures and a “lackluster
monsoon” have left nearly 95% of the intermountain West
in drought. So far, this year has been the hottest on
record for nearly every county for the region. … Across
the West, the drought update states that the combination of
a record-low snowpack, record hot temperatures
and the unremarkable start to the monsoon season are
stressing water supplies.
Kings County farmers are either underreporting how much
groundwater they pump – by a lot. Or bad data is to blame.
According to the state Water Resources Control Board, farmers
in the Tulare Lake subbasin, most of Kings County, have
reported less than 35% of their actual groundwater extractions
under a mandate aimed at measuring how much is being pumped in
the critically over drafted region. Baloney, said one
groundwater agency, pegging compliance at closer to 90%. “Bad
data would be my official statement,” said El Rico Groundwater
Sustainability Agency chair Jeof Wyrick at the board’s August
11 meeting. … The data dispute has arisen over pumping
that was required to be reported to the Water Board via its
online portal called GEARS.
A day after touring the New River in Calexico, Rep. Dr. Raul
Ruiz joined U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff in opposing
a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposal to deauthorize the New
River and Imperial County environmental infrastructure
projects. In a letter submitted Wednesday, Aug. 19, the
lawmakers urged Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works
Adam Telle to remove the projects from the proposed
deauthorization list, citing ongoing public health concerns and
continued local support for the projects. The letter was
submitted on the deadline for public comment on the Army Corps’
proposed deauthorization list. The lawmakers said the projects
do not meet the criteria for deauthorization because there is
local support, available federal and nonfederal resources and
an ongoing public purpose for the projects.
The California Natural Resources Agency and Department of Water
Resources officials gathered Thursday to discuss the growing
threat of invasive species across the state, with golden
mussels among their biggest concerns. … Officials say
the mussels can attach to water intakes, screens and pipelines,
turning the infestation into both an environmental and water
infrastructure concern. … The state is testing hot water,
ultraviolet light, chemical treatments and other methods while
trying to keep the mussels from reaching new waterways. …
[K]eeping golden mussels out of waterways they haven’t yet
reached is now a priority, and Californians can play a role.
Water officials in Beulah have sent a plea for federal help
after the Aspen Acres fire devastated the southern Colorado
community and damaged its water supply, putting its recovery in
peril. … [T]he fire scorched hillsides in all directions,
including all of those watersheds. The water district treats
the water, uses pumps to move it uphill to three sites with
underground distribution tanks, then lets it flow down to
residents’ houses. But the fire also blazed around the
district’s treatment plant and over all three of its
underground distribution tank sites. When it destroyed
homes, it left open taps, and by Day 2 of the fire, the
district’s system was dry. The residents who still have homes
haven’t had running water for more than a month.
A longtime Santa Clara Valley Water District manager has sued
the agency and its former CEO, alleging Rick Callender denied
her a promotion in retaliation for a sexual harassment
complaint she filed against him years earlier — a connection
the district’s outside investigators found was more likely than
not. A lawsuit filed Monday in Santa Clara County Superior
Court alleged Callender “acted with oppression, fraud, malice
and in conscious disregard” of the rights of Jessica Collins, a
business planning and analysis unit manager who has worked at
the water district since 2006. It also alleged that “Valley
Water failed to take all reasonable steps to prevent
discrimination in its workplace.” On Wednesday, Callender
denied any wrongdoing.
California regulators have released a plan to change how the
state governs the pumping of water from the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. … The plan,
which is similar to a previous draft released in December, is
controversial. Environmental advocates say it would starve the
Delta of needed water and threaten fish that are already in
severe decline. If the plan is adopted in October by
the State Water Resources Control Board, it would give
water agencies two ways of complying with Delta water quality
rules. They could either limit pumping to maintain required
minimum levels of water in rivers and the estuary, as has
traditionally been done, or take part in “voluntary
agreements,” in which water agencies commit to ensuring certain
river flows for the environment while contributing funds for
projects that restore habitat for fish and other wildlife in
the Delta.
Arizona’s water finance agency took a step toward implementing
two projects that could increase the state’s water supply
through partnerships with California and Mexico. The state
Water Infrastructure Finance Authority solicited ideas for
long-term water augmentation projects last year and is
exploring seven proposals. The board voted Wednesday to approve
“scopes of work” for two of those proposals. … The
two proposals WIFA discussed this week involve potable
reuse and groundwater
storage.… This project
would involve Arizona paying to store excess water flows from
the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and tributaries via the
California State Water Project in exchange for
some of California’s share of Colorado River
water.
Following a county-wide moratorium on any new data center
applications, the Nye County Board of Commissioners voted
Tuesday to completely ban data centers in one of the
most over-appropriated water basins in Nevada. After
hours of public comment, the Nye County Board of Commissioners
voted unanimously to ban the construction and operation of data
centers in Nevada’s Hydrographic Basin 162, becoming
the first municipality in Nevada to outright ban data
centers. … The vote comes after county
commissioners approved a temporary county-wide moratorium in
June on any new data center applications, which will remain in
effect until the county adopts local data center regulations.
The temporary moratorium followed an emergency order in May
from the Nye County Water District Governing
Board recommending a pause on data centers in the
Pahrump Valley.
… U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins on Tuesday
announced a long-expected repeal of that rule [the Roadless
Rule], setting off waves of protest — and likely future
litigation — from environmental groups. The rule protects
swaths of the Sierra surrounding Lake Tahoe, including
watersheds of the American, Rubicon and Yuba rivers. Around 4
million acres of federal land in California are protected by
the act. Many of those areas still hold routes cut in before
the roadless rule existed, allowing for wildfire mitigation
work and recreational access. … [T]he roadless rule
is critical in protecting water quality and habitat
for species like salmon, trout and deer, conservation group
Trout Unlimited said in a statement.
Across the Southwest and West Coast, tens of millions of people
are dealing with unprecedented drought and water restrictions -
and perhaps no one is feeling the brunt of that more than
farmers. Agriculture in Arizona has an estimated
economic value of about $31 billion, according to the
Arizona Farm Bureau, but the job of farming is getting tougher
and tougher with external obstacles like the ongoing drought
and inflation ever-present. … According to a state
tracker, there is at least some level of extreme
long-term drought now in all 15 counties across
Arizona. … Nancy [Caywood, farmer] says at times,
it’s easy to feel “hopeless.” “You have your water assessment,
rising costs, and no water – How do you keep going?” Nancy
asks.
Hackers targeting US critical infrastructure, including energy
and water providers, are using AI to help them break into
vulnerable industrial IT systems, according to the FBI. On
Wednesday, the FBI joined with several federal agencies,
including the NSA, to warn the public about the “active
threat,” which has been targeting Siemens-developed industrial
systems connected to the internet. The FBI is raising alarm
bells, noting the hackers have been using AI to create
“exploitation scripts.” … The warning seems related to a
string of recent hacks that’ve been targeting water utility
providers in at least 12 US states. Last month, the FBI warned
the water utility hacks involved internet-exposed PLCs under
the MicroLogix 1100 and 1400 series from Rockwell
Automation/Allen-Bradley.
Members of the United States Section of the International
Boundary and Water Commission, Environmental Protection Agency
and state officials gathered during a New River roundtable on
Tuesday, Aug. 18. Updates were provided on the status of New
River improvements on both sides of the border, including
agency collaboration and a water sampling study. The New River
is located 20 miles south of Mexicali and flows north. After
crossing the border, it travels 65 river miles northward
through Calexico and the Imperial Valley before emptying into
the Salton Sea. … According to the presentation, the EPA
has invested roughly $44 million across seven Mexicali
infrastructure projects.
It could be the biggest transformation of Mission Bay since it
was created in the late 1940’s. After more than a decade of
planning and designing, the California Coastal Commission has
given the thumbs up for an aggressive restoration project they
call De Anza Natural. … Some of the existing ‘land’
around the bay will disappear, only to be replaced by
marshland, like it was in the beginning. … Along with the
city of San Diego, environmental groups have been pushing for
more than a decade to get this done. Not only is marshland
Mother Nature’s water filter, but it’s also the breeding ground
and home to all kinds of endangered species. … This
project in a small section of the bay is expected to take 20
years to complete.
