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.
UCLA geographers using satellite data have discovered that kelp
forests recover better after marine heat waves in marine
protected areas than in unprotected areas. The researchers
believe that the protection put in place within MPAs may
support kelp against multiple environmental stressors.
… This effect, known as a trophic cascade, has been
documented in other ecosystems where apex predators are
protected. The finding is published in the Journal of Applied
Ecology.
The origin of water on our planet has not been definitively
proven. One theory suggests that H2O has always existed on
Earth and was released through volcanic eruptions. Another
hypothesis is that water arrived via the impact of comets and
asteroids. A more recent idea proposes that a cloud of water
vapor once enveloped the inner planets of the solar system,
including Earth. The likely answer is that a combination of all
of these factors brought water to our planet.
Dear Aquafornia Readers: This morning, the
Aquafornia news feed included
an article from the Moab Times-Independent
entitled “Utah agrees on cuts from the Colorado River, the
only Upper Basin state willing to budge.” We have since learned
that the article was subsequently removed from the newspaper’s
website.
… [A]ccording to Elizabeth Koebele, a University of Nevada,
Reno professor who studies the Colorado River, progress was
made during closed-door meetings this month, with Utah finally
agreeing to cut back on its water supply. The percentage of
water Utah is willing to cut back on is still unknown, with
Marc Stilson, deputy director of the Colorado River Authority,
saying that’s the “heart of the negotiations.” Though Stilson
said all seven states have shown interest in reducing their
water intake, Koebele said Utah is the only Upper Basin state
that’s willing to reduce its water rights — something the rest
of the three other states haven’t shown interest in.
[Please note: This article has since been
removed from the newspaper's website].
Headed for the Senate Appropriations Committee this week are
two state assembly bills that could spell out a big win for
California geothermal energy projects. While the proposed
legislation is not without opposition, the passage of assembly
bills 527 and 531 could also mean thousands of new jobs in
Mendocino County. … If the state were to pass these
bills, Sonoma Clean Power would ramp up its GeoZone project,
which would tap into geothermal energy within Mendocino and
Sonoma counties. … “[Y]ou potentially could be impacting
water sources and dropping the water table,” [Kim Delfino, a
lobbyist and founder of Earth Advocacy] said. “We would
like to see the determination that there will not be impacts to
water quality with the use of this technology
or fluids.”
… [O]fficials at the scene estimate 150 people lived in
unsanctioned encampments along the levee to make room for the
upcoming Pajaro River Levee reconstruction
project. In their wake were heaps of things the
residents had accumulated—tarps, tents, cooking equipment,
mattresses, clothes and a profusion of trash. … Pajaro
River Flood Management Agency (PRFMA) Director Mark Strudley
said that homeless services advocates are working to find
places for the evicted people to go. … Strudley
explained that the encampments endanger both the integrity of
the levee and the safety of the staff and other people who must
enter the levee.
… The Big Data Center Buildup is transforming the West (and
other regions) as quickly and radically as the post-war Big
Buildup of coal plants and other power infrastructure in the
1950s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. … As I’ve written here before, data
centers use huge amounts of energy and water,
and if they keep sprouting like weeds in business parks and
rural areas, then they very well could not only hamper, but
reverse the transition away from fossil fuels.
Our 41ˢᵗ annual Water Summit, an engaging day of discussions
addressing critical water issues in California and across the
West, will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 1, in Sacramento with the
theme Embracing Uncertainty in the
West. Speakers include Brenda Burman, former
Bureau of Reclamation commissioner and now general manager of
the Central Arizona Project; Tim Quinn, former executive
director of the Association of California Water Agencies; and
Jeff Mount, senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of
California’s Water Policy Center. Foundation members
receive a $100 discount on registration, but space is limited,
so
reserve your spot here.
The Department of Water Resources announced Monday its fish
monitoring station at the Feather River Fish Hatchery,
installed July 2023 about 6.5 miles from the hatchery, has
helped reduce staff hours spent conducting carcass surveys by
three-quarters — and, best of all, the counts of spring-run
salmon are up. The monitoring station is said to be a valuable
tool for scientists counting Chinook salmon and steelhead trout
populations in the Feather River; it uses an underwater camera
to track arrival timing, number, species and origin of
returning fish — whether natural or hatchery raised, according
to the release.
Thousands were left without power after a gigantic wall of dust
and a monsoon slammed through Phoenix, causing damage and
flight delays. On Monday, Aug. 25, a haboob, a huge dust storm
caused by strong winds from a thunderstorm, barreled through
Phoenix. Photos and videos show a massive cloud of dust
consuming homes as it engulfs Phoenix and the surrounding
areas. … A flood advisory was also
issued, according to AZ Central.
This is the final video in our series exploring how the Kern
River is divided up. Several local groups sued the City of
Bakersfield demanding it look at its river operations under the
Public Trust Doctrine. That doctrine requires water in
California to be used for the highest beneficial use, which
includes the environment and public access, according to the
lawsuit. There’ve been a lot of twists and turns in this
lawsuit. Now the trial date has been pushed back to 2027 as the
California Supreme Court has agreed to review one portion of
the case.
A long-planned water storage project benefitting cities in the
western Inland Empire is getting a big infusion of cash. The
Inland Empire Utilities Agency’s Chino Basin Project is
intended to recycle more water in western San Bernardino County
to reduce demand for water imported from Northern California.
On Wednesday, Aug. 20, the California Water Commission approved
an additional $53.9 million in funding.
As part of restoring the Bolinas Lagoon watershed, the
Watershed Stewards Program, San Francisco Bay Area Inventory &
Monitoring Network, Point Reyes National Seashore, and Audubon
Canyon Ranch partnered for a volunteer event at Volunteer
Canyon Creek. With over a dozen volunteers we removed hundreds
of pounds of invasive Cape ivy from the banks of the creek, a
sensitive tributary of Bolinas Lagoon. Bolinas Lagoon, a
Wetland of International Importance, supports large numbers of
harbor seals and migratory birds, and has served as the heart
of surrounding communities for thousands of years.
Utah wildlife officials are allowing anglers to collect more
fish every day at three reservoirs across the state because of
low water levels tied to a mix of drought and upcoming
projects. Utah Division of Wildlife Resources upped the daily
limits at Nine Mile Reservoir in Sanpete County and Vernon
Reservoir in Tooele County late last week amid low reservoir
levels. … The agency typically orders emergency daily
increases at bodies of water when levels drop to a point that
leaves fish species prone to illness.
Despite progress over the last decade, billions of people
around the world still lack access to essential water,
sanitation, and hygiene services, putting them at risk of
disease and deeper social exclusion. A new
report: Progress on Household Drinking Water and
Sanitation 2000–2024: special focus on
inequalities –launched by WHO and UNICEF during World
Water Week 2025 – reveals that, while some progress has been
made, major gaps persist. People living in low-income
countries, fragile contexts, rural communities, children, and
minority ethnic and indigenous groups face the greatest
disparities.
Tensions between the town of Firestone and the Central Weld
County Water District have reached a boiling point as the
directors voted unanimously on Friday to cancel the town’s
water service. … After Aug. 21, 2028, Firestone will be
responsible for all water service operations to its residents
and businesses, the water district said. … The water district
said that there have been disputes over billing practices and
noted that in May, the town owed the water district over
$155,000.
A major ocean temperature index in the North Pacific has
plunged to record low levels signaling a shift that tends to
lock in coastal fog, delay California’s rainy season
and reroute storms to the north. This summer already
bears the stamp of this setup. … New research suggests this
isn’t just a temporary phase. The persistent sea surface
temperature anomalies driving this cool phase pattern may
reflect a longer-term shift in the Pacific’s ocean and
atmosphere, one that climate change appears to be reinforcing.
Three years after an obscure Arizona agency was charged with
finding new water supplies for the state, it has received six
proposals from groups that hope to tap more than $375 million
in state money to develop new water sources. The proposals
include three to create desalination plants using ocean water —
likely from the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. But exactly what
is being proposed — and how much it will cost — remains
confidential as the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority says
state law keeps it so until its board members award one or more
contracts to move ahead with more detailed plans.
Imperial Irrigation District (IID) Water Manager Tina Shields
began her report to the IID board Tuesday, Aug. 19, saying,
“Hydrology never has good news, lately.” … California,
therefore the Imperial Valley, is spared from mandatory cuts in
2026 under the Tier 1 shortage, maintaining its full allocation
of 4.4 million acre-feet, due to its senior water rights.
… If conditions worsen, further reductions could be
triggered, potentially affecting all Lower Basin states. …
She [Shields] said this year was the sixth-worst year in a
64-year recording. “We had a decent snowpack, but the dry soil
and fire damage circumvented the runoff entering the
reservoirs.”
… The Darden Clean Energy Project, approved by the California
Energy Commission in June, is the first development to be
fast-tracked under a 2022 state law that allows large renewable
energy projects to be reviewed and permitted without sign-off
from county and municipal governments. … The nearby
towns struggle with poor drinking water and
air quality. … It will be built on 9,500 acres sold by
the Westlands Water District. … [T]he district’s uncertain
water supplies have made the land impractical
for farming, prompting Westlands to divert water to more
productive land. … Eight other projects, from Imperial
County in the south to Shasta County in the north, currently
are pursuing approval through the opt-in process.
