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 Trump administration finalized a rollback of the Endangered
Species Act on Friday, paving the way for drilling, mining and
other human development across protected wildlife habitats. The
move redefines “harm” under the Endangered Species Act, the
landmark conservation law that protects threatened and
endangered plants and animals. … The move seems
especially poised to hit California. … Of the roughly 2,300
species protected by the Endangered Species Act, nearly 300 are
found in California. These species include amphibians such as
tiger salamanders and Yosemite toads; birds
such as California condors and northern spotted owls; fish such
as Little Kern golden trout and Santa Ana
suckers. … A report from Earthjustice estimates
that expanded oil drilling in California could threaten five
marine species including humpback whales, sea otters,
leatherback sea turtles, marbled murrelets and wild
salmon.
Predicting the weather is always tricky, with even the most
solid forecasts sometimes not living up to the hype. But over
the last few months, the world’s weather experts have become
more united in the belief that we were going to be hit by a new
El Niño climate pattern, and the consensus of computer models
suggests it will probably be a very strong
one. California is no stranger to the effects of El
Niño, with the pattern associated with some of the state’s most
memorable destructive winter seasons. … For Southern
California, it would mean a higher chance of
above-average rainfall, risking a winter of flash
floods and landslides. During three of the four
“very strong” El Niños in the global record, downtown Los
Angeles got significantly more rain than average.
A San Joaquin water district says it may have found a powerful
tool in the fight against California’s growing golden mussel
problem. The Arvin-Edison Water Storage District says a
large-scale copper-based treatment successfully killed
golden mussels found throughout the areas of its water system
that were treated before farmers experienced disruptions to
their water deliveries. … The district turned to a
copper-based product called Natrix CA, using it in a 30-day
treatment across its water system. … The first
30-day treatment cost the district about $3 million.
… [T]he next round of treatment is expected to cost about
$1.3 million, with the district anticipating two to three
treatments each year.
In its dash to build President Trump’s signature border wall,
the federal government is drilling unpermitted wells into
already-depleted aquifers in New Mexico, according to state
officials. The New Mexico Office of the State Engineer told
Here & Now it counted at least six wells under development
along the border, but none have the necessary permits required
by state law. … [Rancher Russell] Johnson relies on a
natural spring to supply water for his cattle and his
home. “These wells that they’re drilling for border
wall construction, they’re talking about trying to attain
300-plus gallons a minute, and it’s going to pump us
dry,” he said.
As the Trump administration delays regulations on “forever
chemicals” that pollute reservoirs, rivers and aquifers
nationwide, California officials say they are unsure what the
consequences will be for an estimated 1.5 million
Californians served by utilities with contaminated sources of
drinking water. With uncertainty over when regulations
on some of the most common of these cancer-causing pollutants,
called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, will take
effect in California, lawmakers are floating
alternative plans to remove them from the state’s tap
water. Among several forever chemical-related
bills in Congress is one that would tax PFAS manufacturers to
help utilities pay for expensive treatment technologies. State
legislation that could have led to the ban of pesticides
containing PFAS has been watered down by lawmakers, but
environmental advocates still see the bill as an important
first step.
… Folsom Lake is slated to hold 266,000 acre-feet of water at
the end of the year. … Typically, Reclamation aims for a
300,000 acre-foot threshold by the end of December — a number
the Water Forum deems sufficient to survive a subsequent dry
year with minimal implications. Missing the target could
disrupt a delicate balancing act, weighing the needs of local
water suppliers and environmental advocates against the entire
Central Valley Project, which uses reservoirs, dams and canals
to feed agricultural needs alongside some urban customers.
… Missing the mark by 34,000 acre-feet at Folsom Lake
isn’t an immediate cause for alarm, according to RWA [Regional
Water Authority] Executive Director James Peifer. But if winter
deliveries fall short and a drought takes hold, missing the
December target could mark the beginning of a troublesome era.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has approved a
right-of-way (ROW) grant allowing construction to begin on the
conversion of the Cadiz Northern Pipeline from a natural gas
pipeline to a water conveyance system, clearing a major federal
hurdle for the Mojave Groundwater Bank project being developed
by Cadiz Inc. in partnership with the Lytton
Rancheria. … While Cadiz and its tribal partner
describe the project as a critical long-term water supply
investment for Southern California, the proposal has faced
years of scrutiny and opposition from some environmental
organizations and desert conservation advocates who have raised
concerns about groundwater extraction in the Mojave Desert. The
BLM’s approval marks one of the final major federal
authorizations needed before construction can move forward.
We’ve been wondering how the county would spend $80 million per
year on the sewage-plagued Tijuana River under a proposed
half-cent sales tax measure proposed by the San Diego County
Supervisors. On Friday, Supervisor Paloma Aguirre (the issue’s
main champion and former mayor of sewage-blighted Imperial
Beach) put out her proposed plan. Main message? Convert a large
chunk of that money into a bond (a big loan governments often
take out to finance expensive projects) and have the county
build a system that treats the entire Tijuana River. It’s also
known as the “river diversion” project and Aguirre’s been
pushing for it since she was mayor. That basically
involves running the river on the United States side through a
new treatment plant (called advanced primary treatment) so that
raw sewage doesn’t make its way to the Pacific Ocean (and
Imperial Beach).
The City of Bakersfield pledged to run some of its Kern River
water down the normally dry river bed through town at least
until July 30th this year. While it lasts, the Kern River
Parkway Foundation and Bring Back the Kern are hoping to draw
attention to the difference a little water makes in the river
bed by holding “Sunsets on the River” events at Yokuts Park
each Thursday through the rest of the month. … Bring
Back the Kern, along with Water Audit California, sued
Bakersfield in 2022 seeking to have river operations studied
under the Public Trust Doctrine, which requires water be used
to the greatest public benefit, including for the environment
and recreation. A portion of that lawsuit may be heard by the
California Supreme Court in September, while the main lawsuit
is scheduled to come back to court in February 2027. In the
meantime, Bring Back the Kern hopes to take full advantage of
the temporarily flowing river.
The Carpinteria Salt Marsh — a portion of the remaining coastal
wetlands in Santa Barbara County — has become a legal
battleground over a proposed house at 501 Sand Point Road. The
house, elevated above an environmentally sensitive habitat area
(ESHA) has been contested over environmental concerns. Friends
of the Carpinteria Salt Marsh say construction will threaten
hundreds of species that call the marsh their habitat, as well
as the vital flooding control function of the marsh.
… On Wednesday, Judge Thomas P. Anderle of the Superior
Court of Santa Barbara postponed a court hearing between the
Friends of the Carpinteria Salt Marsh (an organization that
aimed to challenge the environmental legality of the project)
and the California Coastal Commission. … When
extreme weather leads to flooding, Carpinteria’s wetlands serve
as a vital stormwater distribution outlet — preventing
disastrous debris-flows that have decimated Santa Barbara in
the past.
The company Cadiz Inc. has been trying for years to pump
groundwater in the Mojave Desert and ship it to thirsty cities
in California. Now, the Trump administration has signed off on
part of its plan: converting an oil and gas pipeline to
transport water across the desert. The federal Bureau
of Land Management released documents Thursday saying the
company’s plan to repurpose 162 miles of the pipeline to
transport water “will not significantly affect” the
environment. … Environmental advocates and leaders of
Native tribes, who have been fighting the project, criticized
the decision by the Bureau of Land Management, saying
it threatens natural springs and wildlife habitat in
the desert.
After emerging in June, El Niño is now gathering power in
the Pacific Ocean. A new outlook released on Thursday
shows an 81% chance that El Niño, the climate
pattern that generally brings a wet winter to California along
with a cascade of global weather impacts, will rank as
“very strong” from October through December. The
forecast, a monthly memo from the National Weather Service’s
Climate Prediction Center, also expects that El Niño conditions
will linger through early spring 2027. The new report expressed
more confidence than June’s that the event will ultimately fall
into the strongest of four categories. … In
California, the El Niño pattern tips the odds in favor of a
wetter winter season, especially in the southern part of the
state. … California’s skiers and snowboarders can
expect increased chances ofa higher
snowpack in the Sierra Nevada.
A federal judge declined on Thursday to halt Northern
California water infrastructure projects that a group of
environmental nonprofits say will harm several vulnerable fish
species. Denying a temporary restraining order, U.S. District
Judge Jennifer Thurston said neither the plaintiffs — the
Center for Biological Diversity, the San Francisco Baykeeper
and Friends of the River — nor the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
provided her an argument on how to interpret the terms of a
Endangered Species Act biological opinion for the
Central Valley Project. … In their March
lawsuit, the three environmental organizations say the
projects threaten fish like the Chinook salmon, steelhead trout
and Northern American green sturgeon.
… Over 70% of the 11 states that make up the region are in
drought, with over half of the region in severe, extreme or
exceptional drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
That’s after most of the region experienced record-low or
extremely below-average snowpacks, thanks to record-warm
temperatures leading to more rainfall in areas that normally
receive snow. Western Colorado and southwestern
Idaho have some of the worst conditions. All
parts of Utah are in drought, with nearly 95% of the
state in at least severe drought, including over 40% of the
state remaining in extreme or exceptional drought.
California is a rare exception, with only 5%
of the Golden State in drought — although half of it remains
“abnormally dry.”
Artificial intelligence has a real heat problem. Cooling
next-generation computer chips for AI requires either
millions of gallons of water or huge amounts of
electricity. Both have ignited sharp opposition from
the public. The industry’s heat trade-off threatens to
deepen its unpopularity in communities where concern is growing
about the financial and environmental toll of data centers. If
a company chooses to save water when cooling a facility, its
power needs surge. If it reduces electricity, its water use
climbs. … Politico spoke with four of the biggest
technology companies about how they choose to use
either water or energy to cool their facilities —
knowing that either one will tax resources and drive public
backlash.
More than $6 million in long-awaited funds are coming to help
bring clean drinking water to the Salinas Valley town of San
Lucas, which has gone without for more than a decade. The
incoming funds are a combination of state and federal grants
earmarked for the construction of a new water treatment
facility. On Tuesday, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors
unanimously approved the funding and authorized the Director of
Public Works, Facilities and Parks to execute a 10-year,
retroactive memorandum of understanding from 2025 to 2035 with
the San Lucas County Water District to work together on the
project. The town of roughly 325 people, just south of King
City, has faced water quality issues since at least 2006 from
pollution by nitrates and other compounds.
Water bills could double by midcentury in some cities as
climate change strains supplies, to the point where over a
quarter of U.S. families may struggle to afford water service,
according to a new study. Researchers at Stanford University
developed a model to estimate how drought and water
shortages driven by climate change could affect costs in urban
areas, using Santa Cruz as a case study. They found
that under a best-case scenario, 26 percent of households in
the Southern California city could have trouble paying for
water bills. Under an extremely dry climate, that number could
rise to 35 percent. Published Wednesday in Nature
Sustainability, the findings are relevant to other
water-stressed cities like Los Angeles and San Diego.
And they foretell a major challenge in the coming years for
drinking water providers, which are already contending with the
steep cost of replacing aging infrastructure.
Environmental organizations from the United States and Mexico
are urging officials to use the upcoming review of the
U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) as an opportunity to
address the long-running pollution crisis affecting the Tijuana
River watershed. During a news conference Thursday, WILDCOAST,
Sierra Club, the Tijuana River Coalition, 4 Walls International
and other nonprofit organizations called for stronger
environmental protections and long-term investments to tackle
what they described as one of North America’s most serious
cross-border environmental and public health challenges.
… According to the coalition, negotiators should include
binding environmental commitments, stronger enforcement
mechanisms and sustained funding to help reduce pollution that
continues to affect coastal communities in both Southern
California and Baja California.
… Dust storms are common in the [Coachella
Valley] region, which is home to around 500,000
people. A major source of that dust is a huge lake that’s
steadily drying up. Spanning some 343 square miles (888 square
kilometers), the Salton Sea is California’s largest lake. But
it’s rapidly shrinking. When winds sweep over the exposed
lakebed, they pick up the parched sediment, producing harmful
dust storms. Children living near the lake have been found
to have disproportionately high rates of asthma. One study that
followed more than 700 primary-school aged children over a
number of years found that 24% reported having the condition —
far higher than the national rate of about 7% for boys and 5.5%
for girls. Over 70% had allergies — more than three times the
national average.
Just northwest of Rifle, the Roan Plateau rises 3,000 feet
above the Colorado River Valley, a towering wall of sandstone
cliffs. … [A] fight has been reignited as the Bureau of Land
Management considers several new oil and gas leases atop the
Roan in its upcoming sale in December. … The BLM first
proposed leasing on the 73,600-acre Roan Plateau in 2007 —
spurring thousands of protests and a lawsuit that took until
2014 to settle, resulting in the cancellation of 17 leases on
the plateau. … The basis of the groups’ argument then — and
now — is that oil and gas development on the plateau would
impact watersheds that support a rare, genetically pure
trout species, wildlife habitat that’s crucial to elk,
mule deer and greater sage grouse and well-established hunting,
fishing and backcountry recreation.
