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.
In the contentious talks over how states will split the
shrinking Colorado River, negotiators are reaching consensus on
one point: Just go with the “natural flow.” The concept is a
somewhat simple one. Instead of negotiating future cuts across
the entire seven-state region, the process would rely on recent
water records — the amount of water flowing from the Colorado
River headwaters in the Upper Basin to a point in Arizona
marking the boundary of the Lower Basin states. Negotiators
recently heralded the move as a potential breakthrough in the
long-stalled talks: It could help end a stalemate over how to
share the pain of future water reductions and at the same time
respond to the impacts of climate change. But that belies a set
of lingering questions. For one, just determining the
water in the river will require complex calculations relying on
evolving research. Even more critically, there’s no indication
negotiators are close on the particularly difficult issue of
deciding how big a share of water each group of states can
claim. Still, observers say it could mark an important change.
As Congress starts work on the next government funding bills,
President Trump is proposing eliminating a key water
conservation program that’s sent more than $3.2 billion to
Western states since 2010. The program, known as WaterSMART and
run by the Bureau of Reclamation, provides federal dollars to
local governments and organizations in the West to address
worsening drought and water scarcity. WaterSMART grants,
combined with state and local dollars, have funded more than
2,350 projects addressing water conservation, habitat
restoration, water recycling, drought preparedness and
more. … The budget proposal strips the Bureau of
Reclamation of around $600 million from its current budget of
around $1.86 billion, according to an analysis by the
Association of California Water Agencies, a policy and trade
group. The proposal zeroes out funding for WaterSmart, as well
as other water programs at BOR.
Every spring, tens of thousands of California gulls, some from
the Bay Area, leave their home on the coast for a lengthy
flight over the Sierra Nevada to summer at Mono Lake. There,
the next generation of birds is born. Last year, however,
long-simmering problems with the gull population exploded into
view. The number of chicks that hatched at Mono Lake dropped to
its lowest level on record: just 324 birds, down from about
11,000 chicks the prior year, according to a new report by the
research group Point Blue Conservation Science. The dramatic
decline is not only raising questions about the future of the
gulls, but it’s rekindling concern about how the iconic lake
200 miles from San Francisco is being
managed. … Those working to protect the lake see
the record-low gull numbers as a sign that the water
restrictions haven’t gone far enough and need to be revisited.
… There are two ways to better predict the weather: Measure
it more accurately, or describe how it works in more
excruciating scientific detail. Enter WindBorne, a start-up in
Palo Alto, Calif. … The good news is that we may be poised to
enter a new golden age of A.I.-enabled weather prediction. …
There’s a catch, though. These new deep learning forecasts are
built on data provided for free by public science agencies. In
the United States, that relationship is threatened by the Trump
administration’s heavy cuts to the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, which houses the National
Weather Service. … For now, weather forecasting models
based on deep learning remain dependent on data releases from
the physics-based models at the public weather agencies.
After the thirtieth consecutive month without rain, the
townsfolk of San Francisco de Conchos in the northern Mexican
state of Chihuahua gather to plead for divine intervention. …
Under the terms of a 1944 water-sharing agreement, Mexico must
send 430 million cubic metres of water per year from the Rio
Grande to the US. … Following pressure from Republican
lawmakers in Texas, the Trump administration warned Mexico that
water could be withheld from the Colorado
River unless it fulfils its obligations under the
81-year-old treaty. … Since then, Mexico has transferred
an initial 75 million cubic metres of water to the US via their
shared dam, Amistad, located along the border, but that is just
a fraction of the roughly 1.5 billion cubic metres of Mexico’s
outstanding debt. … Farmers on the Mexican side read the
agreement differently. They say it only binds them to send
water north when Mexico can satisfy its own needs, and argue
that Chihuahua’s ongoing drought means there’s no excess
available.
A 4.3-magnitude earthquake struck near the Salton Sea
early Friday morning, jolting residents and triggering a series
of smaller quakes in the seismically active region. The
temblor, centered approximately 7.5 miles west-northwest of
Calipatria, occurred at 2:55 a.m. PDT at a depth of 6.5 miles,
according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). …
Interestingly, recent research suggests that the shrinking
Salton Sea may be delaying a major quake. As the lake—formed
[refilled] in 1905 by a breach in the Colorado River—dries
up due to drought and reduced runoff, the reduced water weight
is easing stress on the San Andreas Fault. A 2023 study by San
Diego State University and UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution
of Oceanography found that when the basin filled with water
historically, it increased seismic activity by lubricating
faults. The current drying trend may be stabilizing the fault,
though it could also mean greater stress accumulation for a
future rupture.
The journey is over. The 310-mile First Descent paddle from the
headwaters of the Wood River to Requa, where the Klamath Rivers
pours into the Pacific Ocean, ended Friday when a group of
teenaged kayakers from tribes living along the the river and
its tributaries arrived at a spit at the river’s end. A
gathering of relatives, friends and other watched as the
kayakers broke through the fog and into
view. … Along with congratulating the young
paddlers and giving them words of encouragement, a recurring
theme was celebrating the removal of four Klamath River dams
and the return of salmon. Fittingly, the ceremonies, which
moved from the spit to the road in Requa, were adjacent to what
was intended to be a fish processing plant but is not operating
because of the lack of salmon. Speakers also noted that weeks
after the removal of the dams, salmon were seen beyond the John
C. Boyle Dam near Keno.
In the wake of disastrous floods in Texas, concerns about cloud
seeding technology have run rampant. The technology sounds
fantastical—like the doings of a comic book villain—but
scientists say the real impact of the technology is less than
nefarious. Today, cloud seeding is most common throughout
the western United States. Research programs in mountainous
states such as Wyoming and Colorado are focused on studying how
seeding clouds can increase the odds of snowfall. … A
2017 research program, dubbed SNOWIE and funded by the National
Science Foundation, was the first to quantify the effect of
cloud seeding. It found that cloud seeding could successfully
generate snow that might not have otherwise fallen.
… Scientists remain adamant that this controversy is
spurred by a misunderstanding of what particles introduced into
clouds can do.
Building and maintaining a healthy water supply for Butte
County happens quite literally from the ground up. …
Maintaining and planning for water storage and water usage is a
sizable task that is overseen not only by the Butte County
Department of Water Resource Conservation, but also individual
agencies that work in tandem on local water management. Kamie
Loeser, director of Butte County’s Water and Resource
Conservation Department, said the majority of groundwater
within the county is used both for agriculture and by
municipalities such as the city of Chico. … Loeser and her
team of hydrologists spend a significant amount of time every
year checking water levels at different points of the three
subbasins. The department recently provided an annual report on
groundwater conditions to the Butte County Board of
Supervisors.
New research from Maplecroft has confirmed the common suspicion
– data centers are tied closely to global warming, with their
high energy and natural resource demand compounding effects,
while simultaneously being at risk of climate change. More than
half of the world’s top 100 data center hubs are already at
high or very high risk from rising temperature, with cooling
demands set to increase significantly, ultimately leading to
higher energy and water usage. … In the short and medium
terms, Maplecroft believes shutdowns due to overheating, such
as the ones seen across the UK and US in 2022, could become
more frequent. The report also explains how increased water
demands could spark social and political conflict in certain
communities, with more than half (52%) of data center hubs
expected to be in high and very high water stress areas by
2030.
… While earning her graduate degree in environmental systems
at the University of California, Merced, Brittany Barreto
Martinez, now a postdoctoral research fellow at the Disturbance
Hydrology Lab at San Diego State University, saw an opportunity
to improve HAB monitoring, which has typically relied on
shoreline water samples. … To get a better idea of
how algae starts to accumulate away from shore, Barreto
Martinez decided to look up — way up. Together with her
doctoral advisor, Erin Hestir, a professor of civil and
environmental engineering and director of CITRIS at UC Merced,
she decided to explore the use of satellite remote sensing to
detect HABs within the San Luis Reservoir, across the lake’s
full surface. … Barreto Martinez’s work made
strides toward closing a striking data collection gap and
promoting a greater degree of public safety. Moving forward,
data from satellite sensing can help the DWR decide where to
take ground samples, while allowing the agency to issue more
accurate public health alerts even more quickly.
… Advertised as the “jewel of the San Bernardino National
Forest,” Big Bear Lake snagged first place on USA Today’s list
of the best lakes in the United States. … “Whether you
visit during peak summer or the most frigid depths of winter,
there’s a massive array of activities to enjoy across Big Bear
Lake,” USA Today said, ranging from skiing and snowboarding to
boating, jet skiing and paddleboarding. “Summer brings top-tier
fishing opportunities, with anglers gathering to search for
rainbow trout,” the publication said. … Only one other
lake with a link to the Golden State made USA Today’s top 10
list. Lake Havasu hugs the border between California and
Arizona along the Colorado River. It was ranked No. 10 by the
publication. Formed by the construction of the Parker Dam in
the 1930s, the massive reservoir is a “popular destination for
bass fishing,” USA Today said.
A polluted tailings pond at the Kennecott Utah mine has sunk 20
feet or more, raising concerns that it has seeped contamination
into the neighboring Great Salt Lake. But the state regulator
charged with protecting the lake’s water, the Division of Water
Quality, allowed the mining company to edit this information
out of a recent groundwater permit, documents show. The
division also allowed Kennecott to quietly nix a study that
would have investigated the tailing pond’s connectivity to and
impact on the Great Salt Lake. … At issue is selenium, a
mineral that can be toxic for humans at high concentrations. It
also poses a threat to the millions of migrating birds that
visit the Great Salt Lake every year. The material weakens eggs
and deforms embryos. It can bioaccumulate in the wetland bugs
those birds eat, and work its way up to hunters harvesting
waterfowl.
How do you maintain and preserve water in the desert?
Cooperation. This was the most important strategy used by the
seven municipalities in southwestern San Bernardino County,
Calif., when they joined the Inland Empire Utility Agency
(IEUA) after it was founded in 1950. They banded together
because water resources are so limited in southern California
that its residents had to create IEUA as an independently
elected district, which could import water from the state’s
northern regions and collaborate on solving wastewater
treatment issues. … The utility’s staff provided a tour
of their Chino headquarters and Regional Plant 5 (RP-5) upgrade
presently under construction during Automation Fair 2024 in
Anaheim. RP-5 presently serves 200,000 residents and will take
over RP-2’s solids processing duties once RP-5’s upgrade is
complete. … [F]or RP-5 to assume RP-2’s role, it’s expanding
its existing plant from 16.3 mgd to 22.5 mgd and building a new
biosolids facility. Construction on the $330 million project
began in 2021 and is expected to last another year and a half.
On May 1, Central Arizona Project (CAP) and its construction
partner Mortenson broke ground on the 32,000-square-foot Water
Education Center located near CAP’s headquarters in North
Phoenix. Through interactive exhibits and educational
programming, the community will have an opportunity to learn
how CAP supplies Colorado River water to more than 6 million
Arizonans. The facility — expected to be completed in Fall 2026
— will also feature collaborative space for water policy
discussions and host Central Arizona Water Conservation
District’s (CAWCD) board meetings. … Even though canals
crisscross the Valley, many residents are unaware of what those
waterways represent — an engineering marvel. … With a
project like the Water Education Center, creating a lasting
impression on visitors is a top priority. One way the facility
will create a memorable experience is by having it straddle the
canal.
In the Sierra Nevada, forests and water are deeply intertwined,
and it’s these mountain headwater watersheds that supply clean,
reliable water to our communities. Maintaining this delicate
balance requires collaboration and proactive action to address
the threat posed by large scale wildfires in
California. … Restoring a forest after wildfire
devastation is far more challenging—and costly—than taking
proactive steps to protect it before disaster strikes. This
contrast is clearly illustrated by the Nevada Irrigation
District’s (NID) dual efforts: rehabilitating land scorched by
the 2021 River Fire along the Bear River and proactively
managing forest health around Jackson Meadows, Scotts Flat and
Rollins Reservoirs through thinning and fuel reduction. The
lesson is simple: prevention costs less and delivers greater
long-term benefits for forest and watershed resilience. –Sponsored by Nevada Irrigation District.
Budget cuts, staff reductions and other sweeping changes from
the federal government are posing real threats to California’s
environment and progress against climate change, state
officials said Thursday. … Karla Nemeth, director
of the California Department of Water Resources, said the
agency is reeling from several changes to key components of its
water supply system. Among them are staff
reductions at the federal U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which
oversees the Central Valley Project — a vast network of dams,
reservoirs and canals that delivers water supplies across the
state. The Central Valley Project is the federal companion to
the State Water Project, which performs a similar function.
… The state also works closely with the Bureau of
Reclamation to manage flood protection in
California, where several levee and dam safety projects are now
in jeopardy, Nemeth said. They include projects to enhance the
system along the American River in Sacramento — one of the most
flood-prone urban areas in the U.S. — and to address the
devastating 2023 levee breach that flooded the community of
Pajaro.
Millions of dollars in federal funding have been released to
continue restoring lands and streams in the fire-scarred Upper
Colorado River Basin watershed in and around Grand Lake and
Rocky Mountain National Park. The roughly $4 million was frozen
in February and was released in April, according to Northern
Water, a major Colorado water provider and one of the agencies
that coordinate with the federal government and agencies such
as the U.S. Forest Service to conduct the work. Esther
Vincent, Northern Water’s director of environmental services,
said the federal government gave no reason for the freeze
and release of funds. The amounts and timing of the freeze
and release are being reported here for the first time.
Recent results from white sturgeon monitoring surveys by the
California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) suggest the
white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) population has
continued to decline. CDFW fisheries biologists now estimate
there are approximately 6,500 white sturgeon between 40-60
inches long in California — down sharply from the previous
estimate of approximately 30,000 fish in that size range, based
on the 2016-2021 survey average. There may be many reasons for
the downward trend, including mortality from harmful algal
blooms, poaching, past sport fishing harvest and poor river and
Delta conditions. … Based on historical surveys
conducted by CDFW between 1954–2022, the number of white
sturgeon in California has been in decline for many years. The
species is currently a candidate for listing as threatened
under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA) and receives
full CESA protection while its status is reviewed.
Other California Department of Fish and
Wildlife news:
A federal appeals court on Thursday found California could
still review whether a pair of hydroelectric projects in the
state comply with its water quality standards during license
renewal proceedings. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District
of Columbia Circuit determined the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission was right when it found the California State Water
Resources Control Board had not waived its authority under the
Clean Water Act to review re-authorizations for the Yuba-Bear
and Drum-Spaulding hydroelectric projects. The Nevada
Irrigation District, which had applied with FERC to renew its
licenses for the two projects, said in its lawsuit that the
board had waived certification authority by engaging in a
“coordinated” effort to go beyond the one-year statutory
deadline to review the projects. But the three-judge panel
agreed with FERC that state officials had not coordinated with
the project developer to delay the review process for the
projects.
