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 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.
Denver Water customers have yet to embrace a strict water diet
this year, cutting water use just 5% this month as the outdoor
watering season begins. The utility, which serves 1.5 million
customers, has asked residents and businesses to slash
water use by 20% this summer to combat extreme
drought. At the same time, reservoirs, unable to
refill after melting snows evaporated early due to a surprising
March heatwave, are dropping. The utility said its storage
system is just 79% full, down from the 89% mark normally seen
at this time of year. … Aurora homeowners and businesses
have cut use 6.5%, Aurora Water spokesperson Shonnie Cline
said. And the city’s reservoirs are similarly low, standing at
just 56% full. This time last year they were 66% full.
As the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence drives an
unprecedented boom in data center construction across
California, a bipartisan push for tighter industry oversight is
gaining traction in the state capitol. Assemblyman Jeff
Gonzalez (R-Indio) cast his vote this week in favor of a
sweeping package of legislation designed to pull back the
curtain on the secretive, energy-hungry facilities. The move
highlights growing anxiety in rural and suburban communities
over how the massive computing hubs will affect local
infrastructure. … The legislative package targets the
core operational demands of data centers, which require
massive amounts of electricity to run servers and millions of
gallons of water to keep them cool.
… A late-season storm has brought rain across much of
California, particularly the northern half, and snow to
the higher elevations of the Sierra Nevada range. Many
locations have recorded a quarter inch to an inch of rain this
week. The precipitation is welcome at a time of year when
vegetation is drying out and the risk of wildfires is
increasing. … But the low threat of fires is not
expected to last long with a return to warm, dry weather
forecast for next week. … On Tuesday, thunderstorms
rumbled through the Central Valley, and short bursts of rain
and hail were reported in the greater Sacramento area. On
Wednesday, snow dusted the Sierra Nevada. … “These are
beneficial rains, nothing that causes flooding,” said Brian
Hurley, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center.
The Interior Department unveiled Thursday the first iteration
of a new public tool for mapping federal lands and waters,
rolling out a unified “national map” with boundaries used by
five agencies. The U.S. Geological Service led creation of the
digital map to meet requirements laid out by Congress in the
“Modernizing Access to Our Public Land (MapLand) Act” signed
into law in 2022. That legislation directed Interior to
standardize data on federal lands across five agencies: the
Bureau of Reclamation, National Park Service, Bureau of Land
Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, and Forest
Service. Congress subsequently passed the “Modernizing
Access to Our Public Waters (MAPWaters) Act,” which was signed
into law in late 2025, which applied similar requirements to
federally managed waters.
… At an outpost on state-owned land in the eastern mountain
range, a rotating cast of volunteers lent their hands and help
in service of the mission, a collaboration between the Arizona
Game and Fish Department and the Amphibian and Reptile
Conservancy, to create wetlands for a creature that
many people have never seen: Chiricahua leopard frogs.
… The frogs will also share their new wetlands with
other fauna, like bighorn sheep, deer and birds, all of which
need access towater resources in an
increasingly arid Southwest where drought, groundwater
depletion and wildfire are transforming the
landscape.The project depends on the
promise of summer storms.
Three top-level personnel changes at two San Joaquin Valley
water agencies have come with significant compensation
packages, according to employment documents reviewed by SJV
Water. Starting salaries for the three new hires range from
$360,000 to $400,000 a year, with likely increases for each
after the first year. The three, connected personnel changes
started in January when Johnny Amaral was promoted to Chief
Executive Officer of Friant Water Authority from his previous
position of Chief Operating Officer for the authority. In
March, Eric Limas, formerly General Manager of the Lower Tule
River and Pixley irrigation districts, was hired to fill
Amaral’s COO position at Friant. A month later, attorney
Alex Peltzer was hired as General Manager for the Lower Tule
and Pixley districts. All three are key positions in the
southern valley and Tulare County, which is reflected in the
compensation.
The Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) approved $80,450,797 in
grants for 23 projects across 16 counties to protect
biodiversity, restore wildlife habitat and expand public access
to nature. The board met today at the California Natural
Resources Agency headquarters in Sacramento. Among these, seven
projects advance the California Salmon Strategy for a Hotter,
Drier Future(external link), restoring floodplains,
improving stream function and enhancing habitat for
coho salmon, Chinook salmon and steelhead trout. Projects also
include investments in wildlife corridors, wildfire resiliency,
wildlife-oriented recreation and butterfly pollinators.
In a single-paragraph assent this week, the U.S. Supreme Court
accepted a deal between Texas and New Mexico, ending the
13-year lawsuit between the states and the federal government
over the waters of the Rio Grande. With the dismissal of
the case, the deal establishes new rules in the stretch of Rio
Grande below Elephant Butte, an area reshaped by water scarcity
and agriculture. Among other agreements, the parties will
divide irrigation water into a 57-43% split, with the majority
going to New Mexico farmers. The agreement also mandates less
groundwater pumping by New Mexico. … Under the
settlement, New Mexico will need to reduce groundwater
pumping in the Lower Rio Grande by 18,200 acre-feet
within the next 10 years.
Senate Bill 583, passed by the California Legislature and
signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024, created the
Salton Sea Conservancy (SSC), the first state conservancy
created in the last 15 years. On April 10, the governor
announced the inaugural appointees to the conservancy board.
… The initial 22 conservancy board members—15 voting
members, and seven ex-officio members—include state and
regional agency, department and non-governmental organization
representatives, including two local longtime advocates for
long-term solutions: Castulo Estrada, a member of the Coachella
Valley Water District Board of Directors and a 12-year member
of the Salton Sea Authority; and Silvia Paz, founder and
executive director of Alianza Coachella Valley. The Independent
spoke with both of them about the role the SSC will play.
The “Our Water: Innovations and Collaborations in Arizona”
exhibit at Northern Arizona University was created and
sponsored by the Arizona Water for All (AW4A) Program.
AW4A is an initiative that brings together Arizona’s three
state universities and community partners across the state. The
exhibit is focused on water on the Colorado Plateau and the
role of collaboration in managing water issues. The team behind
the project invited local artists to contribute work and
collaborated with local water professionals to create
informational panels highlighting water partnerships in
northern Arizona.
The U.S. Supreme Court has approved a settlement package
designed to rein in groundwater pumping along one of North
America’s longest rivers and ensure enough water reliably makes
it from New Mexico to Texas, ending a long-running dispute over
management of the Rio Grande. In a brief order Tuesday, the
court accepted the recommendation of a special master to move
forward with agreements first proposed last year by New Mexico,
Texas and Colorado. The settlement calls for
reducing groundwater pumping along the dwindling river
and retiring water rights from irrigated farmland in
southern New Mexico. … While the Colorado
River gets all the headlines, experts say the
situation along the Rio Grande is just as dire. Stretches of
the river as far north as Albuquerque are expected to go dry
again this year, marking the third time in five years.
A proposed 12-month moratorium on data centers in Cheyenne was
rejected on a 9-1 City Council vote after nearly four hours of
emotional, and at times angry, testimony Tuesday night.
… Cheyenne’s debate over whether to halt data centers
mirrors a broader national conversation unfolding as
communities grapple with the explosive growth of artificial
intelligence infrastructure and the enormous power and
water demands tied to hyperscale data centers.
… Lawmakers in at least 14 states have recently
introduced or considered legislation aimed at slowing or
temporarily pausing new data center construction while
governments study long-term impacts on energy grids, water
supplies and community growth.
U.S. lawmakers are pushing for a stronger federal response to
golden mussels, an invasive species found on the U.S.
west coast that can cause massive damage to waterways and
infrastructure. … At the federal level, Schiff
and U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-California) have introduced
the Golden Mussel Eradication and Control Act in the Senate
[May 20] to help address the threat. If passed, the legislation
would establish a demonstration program to prevent, eradicate,
and control golden mussels, track their dispersal and create an
early warning systems for future infestations, and provide
grant funding for local or state efforts to tackle golden
mussels. … A companion bill was introduced in the U.S.
House of Representatives in June 2025 by U.S. Representative
Josh Harder (D-California).
… The Golden State Salmon Association is urging Californians
to contact their Assembly members and oppose AB 2215, a bill
designed to advance the proposed Delta Tunnel by bypassing the
normal water rights review process at the State Water Resources
Control Board. A California court recently ruled that the
Department of Water Resources does not currently hold the water
rights needed to divert additional water through the proposed
tunnel. Rather than going through the standard review process,
which includes public oversight and scientific evaluation, AB
2215 would attempt to change those expired 60-year-old water
rights through legislation.
Casually surveying the urban landscapes in much of Colorado’s
Front Range, you’d never know that the Colorado River — the
source for roughly half the water of the cities — has
deteriorated to its most pitiful shape of perhaps the last
century. Oh, yes, some utilities — notably Denver Water and
Aurora Water, which together serve 1.9 million residents — have
imposed rigorous stage-one drought watering restrictions.
Outdoor irrigation is allowed twice per week and never during
the heat of day. Other water utilities that tap Colorado River
water, however, have asked only for voluntary cutbacks, if any
at all. Jeff Lukas, a water consultant with several decades
invested in climate change work, says this seeming aloofness of
some cities will not persist indefinitely.
As the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reviews the Pacific
Gas and Electric company’s application to surrender and
decommission its hydroelectric plant in Mendocino County known
as the Potter Valley Project, it has scheduled two
“scoping meetings” in Ukiah next month to collect public
comments. “This notice initiates the start of a
scoping process the commission will use to gather input from
the public and interested agencies about issues regarding the
proposal,” the Scoping Document recently released by FERC
states.
In an event earlier this month, PPIC Water Policy Center
research associate Kyle Greenspan presented new research about
California’s efforts to reduce severe wildfire hazards.
… Scott Stephens, Henry Vaux special professor of forest
policy at UC Berkeley, explained the problem. “It’s about
what’s going on inside that fire. Maybe 30–40% of that 2020
year of fire was high severity, so you’re killing all trees
over thousands of acres continuously. That’s incredibly
detrimental.” It’s particularly problematic for the state’s
water supply, the vast majority of which originates in
California’s headwaters regions, like the Sierra-Cascade
Mountains.
A new environmental report raises serious health concerns
about surface water frequently tested across California.
… Environmental Working Group (EWG) – a Washington
D.C.-based nonprofit – targeted agricultural areas throughout
the Golden State and found “forever chemicals” or PFAS in half
the samples tested. Repeated samples in ten counties, including
Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, tested positive. The Santa
Maria River and Oso Flaco Creek were two local, surface waters
tested. EWG researchers said the findings suggest
fungicides, herbicides and insecticides not only end up on
produce but could also be exposing millions of Californians to
PFAS through water and soil. … A new bill making its way
through the California legislature aims to phase out PFAS
pesticides by 2035.
The Tijuana River sewage crisis is a multi-faceted problem,
with environmental, public health and political challenges to
overcome. … Enter Sarah Federman’s Peace Studies students.
She teaches conflict resolution at the University of San
Diego’s Joan B. Kroc School of Peace Studies, and this spring
semester, she taught her class on the ongoing cross-border
sewage crisis. … “We found a lot of fragmented data,”
said Elise Free, a USD student who supported Federman’s class.
“We found a lot of very dense scientific reports. And so, our
next goal was to create a document that made all of that
legible.” They wanted to create a chemical index that the
public could use to better understand where the chemicals were
coming from and what dangers they pose to their health.
The United Nations estimates that 2.2 billion people lack
safely managed drinking water, and communities from California
to the Middle East rely on desalination plants to convert ocean
water to fresh water. Common desalination techniques, such as
reverse osmosis and thermal distillation, are energy-intensive,
require pre- and post-water treatment, and leave behind a
concentrated saltwater byproduct called brine. The brine
byproduct wreaks havoc on sea life when it’s deposited back
into the ocean by raising the salt level and lowering oxygen in
the water. But a novel approach developed at the University of
Rochester offers a way to overcome these drawbacks. Researchers
at URochester’s Institute of Optics developed a new
solar-thermal desalination process to produce fresh water in an
energy-efficient way that does not leave behind brine and
requires no chemical additives to pre-treat the water.
