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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In the next few weeks, the public will get their first look at
a critical document two and a half years in the making that
will define how the Colorado River is managed for the next
decade. The Bureau of Reclamation – which manages water in the
West under the Interior Department – is on track to release a
draft environmental review by early January with a range of
options to replace the river’s operating rules, which are set
to expire at the end of 2026. Several elements of the draft
were shared during the annual Colorado River Water Users
Association’s conference in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace
Wednesday.
A powerful Pineapple Express storm could deliver a wet, white
and potentially wild Christmas to California, with the
possibility of snow in the Sierra Nevada and
plenty of rainfall across the Southland. … “This
atmospheric river pattern will bring significant amounts of
rain,” said the weather service office in Sacramento. Snow
levels could drop to 5,500 feet above sea level by Tuesday and
Wednesday, suggesting “potential major mountain holiday travel
impacts” for Christmas Eve. … In the Sierra, where resorts
have been pained by warm weather and a snow drought so far this
season, it was far from clear whether there would be enough
cold air to lower snow levels.
The two largest tribal water rights holders in Arizona and the
Central Arizona Water Conservation District accomplished
something that has eluded states so far. They have pledged
greater cooperation in managing and addressing Colorado River
issues, including shortages, river restoration and a long-term
drought that bodes a long-term change in the Southwest’s
climate. The Colorado River Indian Tribes, Gila River Indian
Community and CAWCD, which manages the Central Arizona Project,
put their promise in a proclamation demonstrating their
commitment to collaboration and conservation, signing it on
Dec. 17 during the Colorado River Water Users Association
annual meeting.
The Trump administration is moving to dismantle the National
Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, according to a
senior White House official, taking aim at one of the world’s
leading climate research labs. Trump officials have circled the
federally funded research institution, based in Boulder,
Colorado, as a hub for “federal climate alarmism” after it was
established decades earlier in 1960 for research in atmospheric
chemistry and physical meteorology. The administration
plans to identify and eliminate what it calls “green new scam
research activities” … while “vital functions” such
as weather modeling and supercomputing will be moved to another
entity or location.
Are you an emerging water leader in the Colorado River Basin?
Consider applying for our
2026 Colorado River Water Leaders cohort. The
biennial program, which will run from March to September next
year, selects about a dozen rising stars from the seven states
that rely on the river – California, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado,
Wyoming, Utah and New Mexico – Mexico and tribal nations.
Listen to
a recording of our virtual Q&A session where
executive director Jenn Bowles and other Foundation staff
provided an overview on the program and tips on applying.
Two Central Valley Democrats brought a legislative package to
the U.S. House of Representatives that aims to address water
infrastructure issues — particularly storage — in the San
Joaquin Valley. Rep. Adam Gray of Merced introduced the
package, cosponsored by Rep. Jim Costa of Fresno, in the House
on Dec. 11. Titled the “End California Water Crisis Package,”
it includes three bills: the Water Agency and Transparency
Enhancement Review (WATER) Act, the Build Now Act and the
Central Valley Water Solution Act. … The WATER Act,
introduced as House Resolution 6639, codifies provisions of
Executive Order 14181, which was issued by President Donald
Trump in January and orders the Secretary of the Interior and
the Bureau of Reclamation to take emergency action to provide
water resources in California.
City leaders voted down a data center in Chandler last week,
but Arizonans can expect to see even more proposed. The state
offers tax breaks for data center projects – significant
incentives, Governor Katie Hobbs says, are “clearly working.”
On Wednesday, she suggested state lawmakers take another look
to find “the right balance.” … Arizona could see
big cuts to its allocation of water from the Colorado
River, which has been diminished by decades of drought
and overuse. Hobbs said she hears the concerns, saying her
administration’s Arizona Energy Promise Task Force is looking
at how to ensure costs don’t hit consumers. … Water is “part
of the conservation, Hobbs said, adding that there’s technology
to help data centers reduce their water consumption.
Directors of the Kern County Water Agency selected Tamara
Johnson, a long time California Water Services manager, to fill
a vacant board seat, despite an outpouring of support from
agricultural water districts for another candidate.
Representatives from several of the agency’s 13 member ag
districts spoke at Wednesday’s meeting in support of Mark
Mulkay, former Kern River Watermaster and retired General
Manager of the Kern Delta Water District. Managers agreed all
candidates were outstanding but said Mulkay brought needed
expertise with regard to the State Water Project as well as
local water rights.
A historic salmon run returned to Northern California this
fall, with a record 2,150 adult Chinook salmon counted spawning
in Putah Creek near Sacramento. Putah Creek, which forms part
of the border between Yolo and Solano counties, has long
supported a small but resilient salmon population. Previous
estimates put the run at about 1,700 fish in 2016, but this
year’s total reflects an individual count conducted by UC Davis
biologists. The surge is being credited to decades of
coordinated restoration work, improved habitat, and carefully
managed water flows. The milestone marks the culmination
of roughly 25 years of restoration efforts backed by nearly $20
million in grant funding.
… The prelude to Southern California’s most destructive fires
in recorded history was Earth’s hottest summer, and
California’s hottest July, in the record books. … All of that
heat has alarming implications for California’s wildfire risk —
namely, drawing out the moisture from vegetation, according to
a blog post by UCLA scientists on climate and weather factors
leading up to the recent wildfires. … Another expected impact
of climate change are increases in the dramatic dry-to-wet and
wet-to-dry weather whiplash California faces. A separate study
published in the journal Nature Reviews in January found that
more episodes of “hydroclimate whiplash” are anticipated
worldwide due to human-caused global warming.
A new project in the Central Valley is aiming to restore
hundreds of acres of grasslands to reconnect the San Joaquin
River. The initiative is part of a larger effort to preserve
the Great Valley Grasslands State Park, and involves removing
levees to reconnect the river with its historic floodplain.
Great Valley Grasslands in Merced County spans more than 2,800
acres of a broader 160,000-acre ecological zone. It’s one of
California’s largest continuous wetland areas. The nonprofits
American Rivers, River Partners, FlowWest and several local
tribes have supported the project dating back to 2009. The
project will reconnect the San Joaquin River with 220 acres of
historic floodplain by removing a defunct levee built in the
1950s.
… On [peach farmer Rob] Talbott’s farm, water pumps move
almost 200 gallons per minute to the thirsty crops on his 145
acres. This year, a new threat is approaching that water
system. And it’s microscopic. Invasive zebra
mussels have now infested at least 135 miles of the
Colorado River, from the Utah border to Dotsero in western
Colorado. That includes the stretch that meanders alongside
Talbott’s orchards in Palisade. And if these tiny pests flow
into his narrow irrigation pipes and tubes, they threaten to
mature and block his most precious farming ingredient. These
mussels rapidly multiply. A single female lays up to 30,000
eggs. And when they reach adulthood, their sharp shells can
wreak havoc on water infrastructure.
Less water heading to Central Valley farmers not only means
billions of dollars lost in economic activity, but also the
loss of thousands of jobs and more public health
risks. Westlands Water District delved into those findings
in its 2025 Economic Impact Report, which was released on
Wednesday, reviewing the latest available data up to 2022.
… While the conclusion may be an obvious one, the report
honed in on how when water flows, the Central Valley thrives.
When water allocations are light, the Valley struggles.
… Along with the direct economic losses, the report also
found that decreased water availability led to more bird
strikes at Naval Air Station Lemoore due to an increase in
fallowed farmland.
Groundwater is a critical resource in Southern California,
where long-term drought and climate change place increasing
pressure on local aquifers. Some regions, like the Hollywood
Basin (a small region in and around the West Hollywood
neighborhood), are increasing their reliance on these aquifers
in order to reduce the amount of water imported from elsewhere.
A new Caltech-led study provides the most detailed picture to
date of how the Hollywood Basin responds to groundwater usage,
revealing that current estimates of sustainable groundwater
yield may be too high.
In the South Bay, engineers are racing to finish a new levee
system meant to shield thousands of homes from rising seas.
Behind the levee, workers are restoring tidal wetlands to
absorb storm surges. The South San Francisco Bay Shoreline
project is a model for climate adaptation — and also a case
study in how long it takes California to approve a project like
this. The project has been slowed by over a decade of
environmental review and multi-agency coordination under the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), even as the water
levels in the Bay creep higher each year. This is a pattern
across California: From groundwater recharge basins in the
Central Valley to coastal retreat fights in Pacifica, CEQA
timelines, exemptions and litigation are directly influencing
whether adaptation keeps pace with our changing climate. –Written by Erin Gustafson, environmental planner and UC
Davis graduate student.
In 2020, a panel of social scientists from across the country
provided a roadmap and motivation for increasing social science
in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Five
years later, we’re asking — “What do we have to show for it?”
Humans are a central part of the Delta system. A truly
resilient Delta that supports a reliable statewide water supply
and healthy ecosystems — as well as thriving communities — must
understand 1) the people who live, work, and recreate in and
around the estuary, 2) how the region impacts their health and
well-being, and 3) how their behavior influences environmental
issues. The social sciences can help us design management
approaches that earn trust, reflect shared values, and advance
equity.
San Diego State University officially broke ground on the One
Water Laboratory (OWL), a pioneering facility dedicated to
research, education and community outreach focused on
sustainable water management. Situated adjacent to the river
park at SDSU Mission Valley, the OWL will be an active research
and training facility, with construction to be completed later
next year. Once operational, SDSU students will have the
opportunity to gain real-world experience, deepening their
understanding of watershed science and hydrological systems.
The project is made possible by $2.6 million in grant funding
from the San Diego River Conservancy.
The San Bernardino Municipal Water Department (SBMWD)
celebrated its 120th anniversary with a dedication of its new
Tertiary Treatment System (TTS) at its water reclamation plant
on Chandler Place. The TTS can treat and reuse up to 2.5
million gallons per day of recycled water. … Operational
since September, the TTS uses recycled water to increase
operational efficiency at the Water Reclamation Plant and
reduce reliance on potable water supplies. … Looking
forward, the TTS also positions the Department to expand the
system’s recycled water capacity to 5 million gallons per day
and help to recharge the Bunker Hill Groundwater Basin.
California’s biggest water districts presented their own
framework Tuesday for how to share the Colorado River’s
dwindling water supply, including a commitment to conserve
440,000 acre-feet of water per year – enough to meet the needs
of 1.5 million households annually. Last month, the seven
western states that rely on the Colorado River missed a
federally-imposed deadline to submit a preliminary agreement
for a plan to replace the river’s operating guidelines set to
expire at the end of 2026. Those negotiations continued Tuesday
during the annual Colorado River Water Users Association’s
conference in Las Vegas at Caesars Palace. … California
is projected to cap water use at 3.76 million acre-feet in 2025
– the lowest annual use since 1949.
The board of California’s largest agricultural water district
approved a master plan Tuesday to convert over a quarter of the
land in its service area into solar farms, a sign that Central
Valley growers are looking for new business as their water
sources dry up. The board of the Westlands Water District
approved the plan to develop 136,000 acres on the west side of
the Central Valley into solar farms, complete with new
transmission lines and substations at a Tuesday morning meeting
in Fresno. The new master plan, called the Valley Clean
Infrastructure Plan, would allow for the development of up to
20 gigawatts of new solar farms, which taken together would be
the largest solar installation in the world.
