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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The federal agency responsible for approving Pacific Gas &
Electric Co.’s bid to decommission two Eel River damsand a
downstream hydroelectric powerplant has signaled its support
for the utility’s plans, despite last-ditch efforts by
those who oppose the teardown to keep the waterworks in Lake
and Mendocino counties intact. In a May 22 scoping
document that provides an overview of proposed actions and
potential resource issues, the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission noted it “proposed to eliminate … alternatives” to
full decommissioning, including a proposed takeover of the dams
either by the federal government or other public agency.
Federal takeover of two PG&E dams and shuttered powerplant,
known as the Potter Valley Project, would require congressional
approval.
A funding agreement signed this week between Cadiz,
Inc. and the US Bureau of Reclamation has put fresh
attention on one of the American Southwest’s most contested
water infrastructure proposals: the Mojave Groundwater
Bank, a conjunctive-use groundwater storage project in
southeastern California that has been seeking regulatory
approval for nearly three decades. Under the
agreement, Cadiz will finance Reclamation’s technical
review of the project, covering validation of water supply
resources, assessment of proposed water exchange mechanisms
within the Colorado River system, and
identification of steps required to enable potential federal
investment. … It is designed to connect the Colorado
River and California State Water Project systems through new
pipeline infrastructure, including converted fossil fuel
pipelines.
A late-season storm is rolling through the Sierra Nevada this
week, bringing snowfall, high winds and
lightning. Although the storm system is expected to target
the whole region, the most snow is likely to fall in the
central and southern Sierra. From Tuesday through Thursday,
up to about 8 inches [of snow] could stick on the
highest peaks, according to the National Weather
Service office in Reno. … There’s about an 80% chance of
at least light precipitation regionwide, as temperatures dip 15
to 20 degrees below the averages for late May. Snow levels
could drop to 5,500 feet by Wednesday morning; hover between
6,500 and 7,500 feet from Wednesday through Thursday morning;
and then rise up to 8,000 feet by Thursday afternoon.
PFAS, often referred to as “forever chemicals,” were frequently
found in surface water and sediment in 10 counties across
California, according to a new study. The analysis from
the Environmental Working Group showed that as much as
50% of California surface water samples contained
PFAS, stemming from their use in agricultural
pesticides. … Using data from California’s Surface Water
Database from 2020 to 2024, samples were taken from waterways
across several counties, including Butte, Colusa, Imperial,
Merced, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Stanislaus,
Sutter and Yolo. Each study found some level of contamination
near agricultural areas, with some at higher concentrations
than others.
The House Subcommittee on Water, Wildlife and Fisheries held an
oversight hearing on May 20 examining the future of the Bureau
of Reclamation, the federal agency that delivers water to 31
million people across the American West. The hearing exposed a
sharp partisan divide over whether the primary barrier to water
infrastructure is bureaucratic red tape, as Republicans argued,
or the Trump administration’s own budget cuts and staffing
reductions, as Democrats contended. … The hearing’s most
contentious exchange came when [Rep. Jared] Huffman pressed
Scott Cameron, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S.
Department of the Interior, on whether the
administration’s proposed elimination of the Water Smart
program, a drought resilience initiative with bipartisan
support, was a serious budget proposal.
The Nye County Water District Governing Board unanimously
approved an emergency order Tuesday requesting that the Nye
County Commission place a moratorium on data centers in the
Pahrump Valley. The emergency order is non-binding and
includes draft language for an ordinance that would
make data center projects a non-permissive use of
water within the Pahrump Regional Planning District
and Nevada Hydrographic Basin 162, a critically
over-appropriated aquifer. Board members emphasized that
they do not have the authority to approve or deny data centers,
and that any recommendation they make will have to be approved
by the Nye County Commission. … The vote comes after the
Reno City Council placed a temporary pause on new data center
applications earlier this month.
Lawmakers and local water agencies are ramping up efforts to
tackle the spread of Golden Mussels, an invasive species that
experts warn could threaten critical water infrastructure
across the state. At the same time, a photo circulating on
Facebook showing a farmer’s pipe in Tracy covered in mussels is
drawing attention online. FOX26 News was unsuccessful in
obtaining permission to air the image, but scenes like it are
becoming a growing concern throughout Delta-connected
waterways. … Now, those conversations are also happening
at the state level. At the California State Capitol,
Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom introduced California Assembly
Bill 2032, legislation aimed at strengthening California’s
response to Golden Mussels.
Mendocino County is not in a drought. That was the message
Tuesday, May 19, from county Department of Transportation
staff, who delivered the first formal drought briefing since
the county adopted its Drought Resilience Plan on May 20, 2025
— nearly a year ago to the day. … Jeanine Jones,
interstate resources manager for the California Department of
Water Resources, gave the statewide picture and a warning about
the El Niño headlines now circulating. A strong El Niño does
not reliably mean a wet California winter, she said. She
pointed to water year 2016, when one of the strongest El Niño
events on record fell in the fifth year of the 2012-2017
drought.
Communities living with one of the most severe pollution
problems in California could see immediate relief if San Diego
leaders can get a key Tijuana River project out of the
gate. While millions of gallons of untreated sewage enter
the river on a regular basis, one road crossing, known as the
Saturn Boulevard hot spot, is the source of most airborne
pollution from the river. As the U.S. and Mexico pursue a
combined $800 million in upgrades to wastewater facilities on
both sides of the border, local governments are working on a
smaller fix to that chokepoint that could improve conditions as
soon as next year, officials said. San Diego leaders are trying
to secure about $25 million to repair the road crossing at
Saturn Boulevard. … But they’re still trying to nail down a
funding source for the project.
The Kings County Water District Board approved hiring a new
general manager a month after firing its long time manager of
12 years. The district hired Madalyn Vieira with an annual
salary of $155,000 at its May 21 special board meeting. Vieira
is expected to start on May 27. … Vieira founded Valley
Water Strategies, a consulting firm that offers groundwater
management support just this month, according to her
LinkedIn. Before that, she was a water policy manager at
4Creeks, a Visalia-based construction and engineering firm, for
nearly two years then a legal operations director for 11
months, according to her LinkedIn.
A wetlands restoration project in eastern Arizona, which has
revitalized six ponds, is helping a frog species get through
ongoing drought in the area. The Chiricahua leopard frog, which
has been looked after by Arizona Game and Fish in their White
Mountains Grasslands Wildlife Area since 2021, is being given a
better chance to thrive in less-than-ideal
conditions. AZGFD has been attempting to lessen the effect
of drought statewide since 2007 for the frogs protected under
the Endangered Species Act. A total of 48 sites where the frogs
dwell have been enhanced in some way or another.
… Severely dry conditions can negatively impact the
survival of the Chiricahua leopard frog, which is native to
Arizona.
In a major win for the Western Slope, the Trump administration
released $40 million in funding for the purchase of
powerful historic water rights on the Colorado River tied to
the Shoshone Power Plant. The Colorado River Water
Conservation District, which spans 15 counties in western
Colorado, has been leading the charge since 2023 to purchase
the water rights from the hydropower facility’s owner, a
subsidiary of Xcel Energy, for $99 million. In early 2025, it
seemed like they’d soon be ready to write the check when the
federal government granted $40 million toward the purchase
during former President Joe Biden’s final hours in
office. Days later, the Trump administration froze the
funding. … The release of the funds a year and a half
later marks a significant step forward in the water rights
acquisition, which will still take years to complete.
Southern Nevada is now looking to the Pacific Ocean to ease its
water woes. In a vote Thursday, the Southern Nevada Water
Authority board approved a memorandum of understanding that
allows General Manager John Entsminger to hammer out a
first-of-its-kind water transfer deal with the San Diego County
Water Authority. In a region where growth could
outpace permanent water supplies in the next few
decades, that matters. The terms are far from certain. But
California would leave water in Lake Mead that Nevada could use
in exchange for compensation; California would fill that gap
with ocean water treated by the Carlsbad Desalination Plant.
… [I]f a contract materialized, it could revolutionize
what water managers thought was possible, effectively adding
permanent water to an arid region’s portfolio.
A coalition of conservation groups wants Southern California to
get 85% of its water locally, up from the 50% it gets now, by
2045, and says a new plan shows how. It’s urging state leaders
to scrap plans for a 45-mile tunnel beneath the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and
consider asking voters to approve a bond measure to fund local
water solutions. The 34-page strategy was released as critical
decisions loom for local officials, California’s next governor
and legislators. … The allied groups are calling
for recycling more wastewater, capturing more stormwater,
improving efficiency and cleaning up contaminated
groundwater. … The coalition includes fishing
groups, environmental organizations and Northern California’s
Winnemem Wintu Tribe.
The state and the Colorado River Water Conservation District, a
public water policy and planning agency on the Western Slope,
have a new plan to protect mountain towns from losing their
water supply during an unprecedented drought this
summer. The District’s proposed emergency water supply
plan was approved at the Colorado Water Conservation Board
meeting on Wednesday. Colorado River District general
manager Andy Mueller said that the Colorado River Basin is in a
historic drought, and “safeguards that we put in place more
than 80 years ago are failing.” The emergency plan would
protect certain water users on the main stem of the Colorado
River by replacing water that would have historically come from
Green Mountain Reservoir. This year forecasts say it won’t fill
up for the first time in history.
The Sites Project Authority submitted comments on a draft water
permit for the Sites Reservoir Project, expressing concerns
that some proposed conditions could undermine the project’s
viability. The authority filed its comments on May 22, 2026,
with the State Water Resources Control Board’s Administrative
Hearings Office. The authority praised the office’s tentative
determination that almost 1 million acre-feet of water is
available for appropriation from the Sacramento River for the
project. However, officials said certain permit conditions need
revision before the proposed order goes to the State Board,
currently scheduled for July 15, 2026.
Along the California coast, from Bodega Bay to Morro Bay,
commercial fishing boats have started pulling in salmon for the
first time in three years, and local salmon are once again
appearing on restaurant menus and in seafood markets across the
state. California’s commercial ocean salmon fishery began
reopening in May 2026 for the first time since a population
crash led to a three-year closure. But while the reopening,
happening in phases and with limits, is welcome news, it does
not mean the underlying problems have been solved. … The
state has the knowledge to create a more resilient system that
can help salmon better withstand California’s increasing
climate whiplash. But without significant changes in three key
areas, we believe today’s good news for salmon could be
short-lived once again.
Something is brewing over the Pacific Ocean that will have
wide-reaching implications for weather across the globe. As it
grows, so does the buzz over the potential for a super El Niño.
A Super El Niño is a stronger-than-normal El Niño, meaning
the surface waters of the Pacific are warming along the
equator. And some weather experts are predicting this one could
be a record-setter. That translates to the potential for
flooding, landslides, record temperatures and a supercharged
hurricane season. … Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day
is aware of these predictions and projections. … “We are
undoubtedly going to have an El Niño, and it’s going to be a
strong one, but I’m telling people to proceed with caution,” he
said. “Making leaps into projections of what’ll happen six
months down the road is not smart.”
… Residents around industrial-scale data centers proposed
near Casper and Evanston are raising a number of questions
about whether data centers are right for Wyoming, ranging from
water and electricity use to fears of a growing artificial
intelligence-powered surveillance society. … The concerns now
surfacing in Natrona County along Big Muddy Creek and in Uinta
County near the Utah border echo a debate that’s already been
stewing in Cheyenne for the better part of a year. That
culminated Monday in debate of a proposed 12-month moratorium
on new data centers in Cheyenne, which drew hours of emotional
testimony. … Ultimately, the committee failed to make any
recommendation for or against the moratorium, which will go
back to the full City Council for a final decision.
… We’re talking about PFAS, or so-called “forever chemicals”
that don’t break down in nature. They can build up in the body
over time and may lead to health issues like cancer, weakened
immune systems and decreased fertility. So far, Utah is in a
“really good spot,” said John Steffan, emerging contaminants
manager with the Utah Division of Drinking Water. And more
funding for testing and treatment could be on the way. Drinking
water is one of the main ways people are exposed to PFAS, short
for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, said Cyrus
Western, Region 8 administrator at the EPA. The agency recently
announced $9.4 million for Utah to help water systems serving
10,000 or fewer people get a sense of what they’re dealing
with.
