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.
Subscribe to our weekday emails to have news delivered to your inbox at about 9 a.m. Monday through Friday except for holidays.
Some of the sites we link to may limit the number of stories you can access without subscribing.
We occasionally bold words in the text to ensure the water connection is clear.
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.
The Bureau of Reclamation today released a draft Environmental
Impact Statement evaluating a range of operational alternatives
for managing of Colorado River reservoirs after 2026, when the
current operating agreements expire. Prolonged drought
conditions over the past 25 years, combined with forecasts for
continued dry conditions, have made development of future
operating guidelines for the Colorado River particularly
challenging. The draft EIS evaluates a broad range of potential
operating strategies. It does not designate a preferred
alternative, ensuring flexibility for a potential collective
agreement.
After experiencing one of the wettest holiday seasons on
record, still soggy California hit a major milestone this week
— having zero areas of abnormal dryness for the first time in
25 years. This data, collected by the U.S. Drought Monitor, is
a welcome nugget of news for Golden State residents, who in the
last 15 years alone have lived through two of the worst
droughts on record, the worst wildfire seasons on record and
the most destructive wildfires ever. Right now, the wildfire
risk across California is “about as close to zero as it ever
gets,” and there is likely no need to worry about the state’s
water supply for the rest of the year, said UC climate
scientist Daniel Swain.
One of the largest farming businesses in Arizona has agreed to
use less water and pay $11 million in a deal that state
officials say will help preserve disappearing
groundwater and provide financial help for residents
whose wells have run dry. Arizona Atty. Gen. Kris Mayes
announced the binding legal agreement with Minnesota-based
dairy company Riverview LLP on Thursday. … Groundwater
levels have been dropping rapidly over the last decade in the
Willcox area of southeastern Arizona’s Sulphur Springs Valley,
where Riverview runs a giant dairy and farming operation.
… Under the agreement, Riverview will stop irrigating
2,000 acres of crops in phases within 12 years.
… Utah is in a snow drought and it’s not
alone: Much of the vast, mountainous West is missing its
lifeblood — fueled by record-hot temperatures so far this
winter. California’sSierra Nevada
Mountains, only recently pasted with heavy snow from
atmospheric river storms, are the exception. And while this is
an immediate problem for businesses and active outdoors fans,
experts are also worried about bigger implications in the near
future. If the trend continues, it could deepen the West’s long
drought, aggravating already contentious negotiations about
allocating water along the Colorado River.
Water levels around the San Francisco Bay Area rose over a foot
higher than the tide charts predicted last week as a winter
storm arrived during king tides. … One reason that tide
predictions were off: sea level rise. The tide charts used by
sailors, city planners, surfers and coastal businesses around
the country are based on sea levels from roughly the 1990s, but
water levels have risen by about 3 inches in the Bay Area in
the meantime. Even that small amount can throw off tide
predictions and exacerbate flooding, though rain and winds —
which also do not get factored into the tide charts — were the
main culprits for both.
A wastewater spill that spurred warnings to stay out of the
Russian River this week after a storm drenched Sonoma County
was stopped Thursday morning, officials said. Tuesday’s heavy
rainfall overwhelmed a local wastewater treatment facility, the
Russian River Treatment Plant in Guerneville, which received
flows at a rate of around 4 million gallons per day — nearly
six times its average dry-weather design of 710,000 gallons.
With no additional storage available, millions of gallons of
untreated wastewater traveled roughly a quarter-mile through a
forested redwood grove before entering the mainstem of the
river. … The spill was officially stopped at 6:50 a.m.
Thursday.
Farmers in two of Southern California’s ag-centric irrigation
districts have long been playing their part to slow the decline
in the Colorado River’s system supply. They do this while
working with Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
to provide water to 19 million urban residents. … Through a
grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture,
(Blythe farmer Grant) Chaffin installed a Rubicon water system
that tightly measures and controls his ditch deliveries from
the main Palo Verde Irrigation District Canal to his home ranch
with its 1,600 acres. He drastically reduced water deliveries
to his crops, … Western farmers are following suit and
have been for some time. Between 1984 and 2013, pressurized
irrigation usage doubled across 17 states.
Through a densely forested slope on the west side of Dutch Bill
Creek, upstream of its confluence with the Russian River, a
dirt road zigzags skyward through the redwoods. Once used by
loggers to extract the watershed’s timber, the road leads past
marks of the lumbering era: a coil of rusted cable strewn in
the ferns, deeply eroded stream channels, and countless redwood
stumps uphill and down. But the din of logging has
vanished from this land. Today, the steep road is a multiuse
trail and the recovering forest is protected, part of Sonoma
County’s Monte Rio Redwoods Regional Park and Open Space
Preserve. Opened in 2020, Monte Rio quadrupled in size last
summer with the purchase of 1,517 acres of mostly second-growth
redwoods and mixed woodland.
The Southern Nevada Water Authority reports that the region has
approximately 11 years’ worth of water resources saved. Yet,
conservation efforts persist as people continue to remove and
replace grass under Assembly Bill 356. The bill, passed in
2021, targets non-functional turf—grass that provides no
recreational benefit. … Laura McSwain, founder and president
of the Water Fairness Coalition, expressed concerns about the
environmental impact of these efforts. … [Bronson Mack
from the Southern Nevada Water Authority] highlighted that
conservation efforts have reduced Colorado
River water consumption by more than 35%.
To get in top shape for the 2034 Winter Games, state officials
say the drying Great Salt Lake needs enough additional water
each year to fill 400,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
… The lake has shrunk after years of drought, climate
change and redirection of water for farming and other uses,
reaching a record low in 2022. It made some recovery before
dropping back down to end 2025 at its third-lowest level since
1903. Agriculture is the biggest consumer of water from the
Great Salt Lake Basin, at 65%, the report says, followed by
municipal and industrial uses at 26.8% and mineral extraction
at 5.7%.
The Trump administration on Wednesday renewed a streamlined
permit program for oil pipelines, highways and other projects
that disturb wetlands and streams, while making data centers
eligible as well. The Army Corps of Engineers finalized for the
next five years its nationwide permit program, which allows
infrastructure purported to have minimal adverse effects on
water quality to get faster approvals under the Clean
Water Act. … In addition to allowing data centers to
qualify for the permits, the agency added a new
category for environmental projects that help fish pass through
dams.
In a decision that could complicate Gov. Gavin Newsom’s push to
build a giant water tunnel and remake California’s water
system, a state appeals court has rejected the state’s plan for
financing the project. The 3rd District Court of Appeal ruled
against the state Department of Water Resources’ plan to issue
billions of dollars in bonds to build the 45-mile tunnel
beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. … If the
appeals court decision stands and the ongoing case doesn’t
bring a different conclusion, it might lead the Newsom
administration to revise its plan for financing the project.
Officials could also petition for the California Supreme Court
to hear the case.
Much of the western U.S. has started 2026 in the midst of a
snow drought. That might sound surprising, given the record
precipitation from atmospheric rivers hitting the region in
recent weeks, but those storms were actually part of the
problem. … A region can be in a snow drought during
times of normal or even above-normal precipitation if
temperatures are warm enough that precipitation falls as rain
when snow would normally be expected. This form of snow drought
– known as a warm snow drought – is becoming more prevalent as
the climate warms, and it’s what parts of the West have been
seeing so far this winter.
With months still left of winter, California’s major reservoirs
are holding about 129 percent of historical water levels for
this time of year. Officials with the state’s Department of
Water Resources say that’s welcome news after years of drought,
but it doesn’t mean California’s water challenges are
completely over. … Above average reservoir levels give
water managers more flexibility as they head into warmer months
and irrigation season, when demand rises and rain typically
fades. It also reduces the immediate risk of shortages for
farms, cities, and ecosystems.
Are you an emerging leader passionate about shaping the future
of the Colorado River Basin? If so, consider applying for our
2026 Colorado
River Water Leaders program to deepen your
knowledge of the iconic Southwest river, build leadership
skills and develop policy ideas with a cohort to improve
management of the region’s most crucial natural resource.
Applications are due Jan. 26, 2024 and you can find
application
materials here along with mandatory program dates.
Registration is also open for our Water
101 Workshop – The Basics & Beyond. Join us March
26 for this once-a-year primer on California’s most precious
natural resource detailing the history, geography, and legal
and political facets of water in California.
Over 10,000 feet above sea level in Sequoia and Kings National
Parks dozens of weather station towers are sprinkled amongst a
forest of towering trees. These towers house antennas and
sensors designed to collect valuable water
data used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Sacramento District and many of its partners. Though these
stations are built to withstand extreme weather, there comes a
time — about every 50 years or so — when the stations need a
little more than routine annual maintenance. This was the
case for two USACE-operated weather stations that were rebuilt
in 2025: Upper Tyndall near Mt Whitney, in the Kern River
watershed, and Mitchell Meadow near Cedar Grove, California, in
the Kings River watershed.
Water recycling treats wastewater so it can be used for
drinking water, farming, housing, and industry. Communities
across the U.S. also turn to water recycling to increase
existing water supplies. The Bureau of Reclamation selected 5
projects in Southern California and Utah to receive grants
worth about $308 million for developing water recycling
projects. Projects will serve rural, suburban, and urban
communities. Agency officials identified ways to address
challenges they had implementing the initial grant program. We
recommended the Bureau document the experience so that Congress
can improve the program if it is revised or reauthorized.
One year after the January 2025 fires devastated communities
across Los Angeles, the region is still reckoning with how its
infrastructure performed and whether it should be modified to
perform under increasingly extreme conditions. The anniversary
has sharpened an urgent policy question with far-reaching
consequences: as urban wildfires become more frequent and
severe, what role can water systems realistically play in
protecting lives, supporting emergency response, and guiding
resilient rebuilding? A new UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation
publication, Water Systems’ Wildfire Fighting Capacities and
Expectations: Workshop Synthesis Report, begins to answer this
question.
With farmland prices sagging and new irrigation rules coming,
diversified farmer Michael Vander Dussen didn’t hesitate to
spend $1.4 million for 321 acres in west Fresno County, as an
insurance policy of sorts. Vander Dussen admits he isn’t
as interested in the land as much as its access to water. He
recently planted a field of pistachio trees nearby, and he
wants to make sure they survive. … Vander Dussen said
both properties are in the same GSA, groundwater sustainability
agency. And he intends to fallow a portion of the new property
that is located west of Raisin City and south of Kerman.
… The Fresno Bee has started tracking these types of
agriculture land sales using an AI tool that we developed to
more efficiently share this news with you.
Residents of a Green Valley neighborhood are voicing their
concerns over plans to remove grass from their community park,
a move driven by Assembly Bill 356 and the Southern Nevada
Water Authority’s (SNWA) efforts to conserve water by
eliminating nonfunctional turf. The SNWA defines nonfunctional
turf as irrigated grass that does not provide functional use.
However, neighbors near Wingbrook Avenue argue that the grass
in their park is functional. … The SNWA asserts that
removing nonfunctional turf will help reduce Colorado River
consumption and protect the community’s water supply.
