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 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.
Thanks to their use of a unique methodology, a McGill-led
research team has obtained new insights into how boulders
affect snow melt in mountainous northern environments, with
implications for local water resources. The team found
that snow near boulders melts faster, not only because rocks
radiate heat, but also due to subtle processes that reshape the
snow’s surface. This information will help researchers
understand how small-scale processes affect downstream water
resources. … The paper is published in the journal Cold
Regions Science and Technology.
When Amazon proposed building its Project Blue data center in
Tucson, Arizona, the company faced intense pushback. Residents
raised concerns about the enormous amounts of water and
electricity that the data center would need—two major ways such
projects impact the environment, especially in a desert
city. … A study published this week in the journal
Nature Sustainability makes that connection even clearer. Led
by researchers at Cornell University, the study analyzed the
environmental impact that data centers could have in the U.S.
as their growth continues, and created a state-by-state look at
where those data centers should go to avoid the worst effects.
The Colorado River Indian Tribes (CRIT) have taken a huge leap
forward in their ongoing efforts to protect and preserve their
namesake. Last week, the tribal council voted to acknowledge
legal personhood status for the body of water. The Nov. 6 vote
follows similar actions other tribes have taken to safeguard
natural resources. However, CRIT has made history as the first
community to ever bestow personhood status on the Colorado
River. The move came in response to overuse of water resources,
according to a Tuesday announcement from the tribes.
… As a legal person, the Colorado River has the right to
be protected under tribal law.
Last month, a trash boom strung across the Tijuana River
channel just inside U.S. territory stopped 40 tons of materials
during a one-hour rain event – as the trash gets removed and
sent to area landfills, another environmental issue has
surfaced. Dumps north of the border are having to take in the
additional trash coming in from Mexico compounding a critical
shortage of landfill space, according to Oscar Romo, director
of Alter Terra, a binational environmental group. All of it has
to go into a landfill in San Diego.
This month, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is
accepting public comments on PG&E’s surrender and
decommission plan for the Potter Valley Project, which would
remove the Scott and Cape Horn dams from the lower Eel River
and replace the utility’s water diversion facility with a New
Eel Russian Facility. Friends of the Eel River and Save
California Salmon, alongside other partners, have teamed up to
host a series of events along the North Coast to update the
public on the dam removal process and help community members
navigate FERC’s public commenting process.
President Donald Trump nominated a former lawmaker from New
Mexico on Wednesday to oversee the management of vast public
lands that are playing a central role in Republican attempts to
ramp up fossil fuel production. The nominee for the Bureau
of Land Management, former Rep. Steve Pearce of New Mexico,
must be confirmed by the Senate. … The Sierra Club said
in a statement that Pearce was “an opponent of the landscapes
and waters that generations of Americans have
explored and treasured.” … The National Cattlemen’s Beef
Association and Public Lands Council said in a joint statement
that Pearce “understands the important role that public lands
play across the West.”
Negotiators for seven Western states are under mounting
pressure to reach an agreement outlining how they plan to share
the Colorado River’s dwindling water. The Trump administration
gave the states a Tuesday deadline to agree on
the initial terms of a plan for cutting water use to prevent
the river’s reservoirs from declining to dangerously low
levels. Because California uses more Colorado River water
than any other state, it will play a central role in any deal
to take less from the river.
A fast-moving atmospheric river is heading toward California
this week and could pack a punch, with the possibility of
periods of heavy rain, and a risk of flooding and debris flows
in recently burned areas. After arriving in Northern California
on Wednesday, the storm system is expected to land in Southern
California on Thursday. … Sacramento could get up to 2
inches of rain. The storm could bring heavy snow to the
Sierra Nevada. … Donner Peak could get 12 to 18
inches of snow.
The Kings County Farm Bureau is passing the hat to raise
between $1.5 million and $2 million to take its legal claims
against the state Water Resources Control Board to the
California Supreme Court. “We’re not stopping,” Executive
Director Dusty Ference told a gathering of about 30 farmers
Friday. … Ference referred to opinions issued last week
by the Fifth District Court of Appeal that both sided with the
state by tossing out a preliminary injunction and kept the meat
of the Farm Bureau’s lawsuit intact for trial in Kings County
Superior Court.
The Colorado River Indian Tribes have formally accorded
personhood status to the Colorado River, creating a powerful
new mechanism to protect the eponymous river that makes life
possible in their arid homelands. The resolution was approved
by the CRIT Tribal Council on Nov. 6 in Parker.
… Granting personhood to natural resources, such as
rivers, allows people or parties to take legal action to
protect them. For example, forum participants said a person
could sue a company or entity that pollutes a river because the
river has the right to be pollution-free.
Observers have rejoiced at recent sightings of Chinook salmon
swimming past former Klamath River dam sites toward historic
spawning grounds. Scott White, general manager of the Klamath
Drainage District, shared in the celebration but grew nervous
after spotting Chinook in canals used to divert water to
agricultural land. … The 2016 Klamath Power and
Facilities Agreement, made among state, federal and other
stakeholders in the Klamath Basin, set a goal to limit new
regulatory burdens on irrigators from the reintroduction of
fish species, like salmon. Part of the agreement was to support
“entrainment reduction facilities” — or fish
screens. White is frustrated that it has remained
unfilled.
The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors has approved a
nonbinding resolution in support of PG&E’s plan to
decommission the Potter Valley Project’s dams. The resolution
was approved 3-2. … [Supervisor Ted] Williams’
resolution, included on the Oct. 21 Board of Supervisors
agenda, got new additions and edits and was moved forward to
last week’s meeting as an alternative to a separate resolution
sponsored by Cline and Norvell. Williams’ resolution outlines
the positive impacts of the removal of the dams, such as fish
restoration and support for local Native American communities,
including the Round Valley Indian Tribes.
General manager Deven Upadhyay has guided Metropolitan Water
District through major droughts and much more. As he prepares
to retire at the end of the year, we sat down with him to talk
about his experiences guiding an urban water agency through the
volatile 21st century. … [Upadhay:] Metropolitan is the
largest treated drinking water provider in the US. Just a few
years ago, 85% of our revenue came from volumetric fees on the
amount of water we delivered each year and just 15% of our
revenue came from fixed charges—but our costs were the
opposite. We’ve been struggling with that. … We’re looking at
multiple tools to raise revenue, including levying fixed
charges and property taxes and conducting water sales outside
of our service area.
Iran’s president has warned that the capital is facing an
unprecedented water and energy crisis as reservoirs have
plunged to historic lows, threatening supplies of drinking
water and electricity generation. … The city has entered
its sixth consecutive year of drought, with some dams at less
than 10% of capacity. Officials say that in the east of Tehran,
the Latyan Dam — one of five key reservoirs — is only about 9%
full. … Experts say the link between water availability
and electricity generation has become increasingly evident, as
hydropower output drops and thermal plants struggle with
cooling shortages.
Chemical-laden dust from southern California’s drying Salton
Sea is probably harming the lungs of people around the
shrinking body of water, and the effects are especially
pronounced in children, new peer-reviewed research from the
University of California, Irvine, shows. A separate
peer-reviewed study from the University of California,
Riverside, also found the Salton Sea’s contaminated dust seemed
to alter lung microbiome, which could trigger pulmonary
problems that have been reported around the lake. The two
new papers are part of a series of studies that are revealing
the environmental and public health risks of dust from the
drying Salton Sea.
Stockton’s downtown waterfront faces an annual takeover by
invasive water hyacinth, a fast-growing plant that can blanket
thousands of square feet of water in a single season. Deemed
“hopeless” by PBS in 2015, the plant returns each year to San
Joaquin County waterways, including McLeod Lake in Stockton,the
Calaveras River and the broader Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Known as “the fastest-growing plant in the world,” a single
hyacinth can wreak massive ecological and economic damage,
making it one of California’s most destructive invasive
species. Unlike other invasive plants, experts say eradication
is nearly impossible, leaving ongoing control as the only
viable solution.
The County of San Diego has selected Olivewood Gardens and
Learning Center as the new operator of the Tijuana River Valley
Community Garden, ensuring continuity for hundreds of plot
owners at the region’s largest community garden. Olivewood
Gardens, a nonprofit founded in National City, will serve as
interim operator for up to one year following the Resource
Conservation District of Greater San Diego County’s decision to
terminate its lease in September due to health and safety
concerns related to the Tijuana River sewage crisis.
Water and sewer rate increases proposed in October to take
effect in 2026 for Oceanside residents and businesses were cut
in half Wednesday by the Oceanside City Council, but only for a
year. Water department employees initially asked for increases
of 6% for water and 4% for sewer in 2026 and again in 2027, but
the council pushed for belt-tightening and postponed a decision
after complaints from residents at the Oct. 1 meeting. The
revised proposal, approved 3-2 Wednesday with Mayor Esther
Sanchez and Councilmember Rick Robinson opposed, calls for a 3%
hike for water and 2% for sewer in 2026 and then the 6% and 4%
increases in 2027.
A federal project cutting trees on the American River Parkway
to fortify banks against flooding could be stalled as a judge
heard arguments Friday from environmental groups seeking a
preliminary injunction. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
planned flood protection measures at the lower American River,
Natomas East Main Drainage Canal, Arcade Creek and Magpie
Creek. … The American River Parkway is at the heart of a
lawsuit filed by Sacramento nonprofits and the Center for
Biological Diversity, a national environmental conservation
group. A judge will consider whether to block a 3.3-mile
portion of the Corps’ work, between Watt and Howe avenues.
Pacific Gas and Electric has announced it will stop diverting
water through the Miocene Canal. This change is taking effect
after the Butte County Board of Supervisors recently approved
an amendment to a 2014 water supply agreement between Butte
County, the Butte County District Attorney’s Office, and
PG&E. Currently, PG&E diverts water from the West
Branch Feather River at the Miocene Head Dam, runs it through
about 500 yards of the canal for measurement purposes, and then
returns the water back to the river. The water eventually flows
into Lake Oroville and is used in the State Water
Project.
