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.
The city of Livermore has agreed to credit a total of
$3,783,000 to water and wastewater utilities to settle a
lawsuit alleging the agency’s overcharging and misuse of
utility fees. The settlement follows nearly two years of
litigation wherein the Alameda County Taxpayers’ Association
Inc., a California nonprofit corporation, and Livermore
resident Alan Heckman claimed that the city unlawfully inflated
water, sewer and stormwater charges to generate excess
revenue.
The city and county of San Diego have filed a lawsuit along
with more than two dozen local governments across the nation
that challenges alleged Trump administration attempts to place
unlawful conditions on emergency and disaster preparedness
funds. … The San Diego City Attorney’s Office says that
locally, those funds support wildfire and flood prevention
projects, counterterrorism emergency response efforts, port and
transit security infrastructure, and fire department staffing.
Repairs on a century-old dam with a suspected leak located
downstream from Lake Hodges are underway. The repairs to the
San Dieguito dam are projected to cost $650,000. … The
dam was built in 1918, forming the San Dieguito Reservoir,
which serves as a regulating reservoir when receiving water
from Lake Hodges. … The Department of Safety of Dams
discovered a potential leak in the dam during a maintenance
check last year. Officials isolated the area and created a
temporary dam made of rebar and tarps to pull the water away
from the dam so repairs can be made.
A new model of the area’s groundwater basin suggests that new
wells in southwest Pleasanton could supply PFAS-free water for
at least 20 years if built, but questions remain on some of the
model’s assumptions. The update, performed by the Zone 7 Water
Agency and its consultant, EKI Environment and Water, Inc.,
collected data from new geophysical studies, pumping tests and
third parties to replace the previous 2016 model of the area’s
aquifer. … Based on the new model, Zone 7 Water
Resources Manager Ken Minn concluded that new wells in
southwest Pleasanton would not draw the PFAS plume into the
area, nor would they adversely affect existing pumping
operations elsewhere in the basin.
Most residents or visitors rarely think about where their water
comes from or where it goes after use. … California created
Water Professionals Appreciation Week in 2017 to recognize the
contributions of the state’s water workforce. This year, the
observance takes place October 4-12. This week highlights the
essential role water agencies and their employees play in
providing essential services, protecting natural resources, and
supporting local communities. This week, residents are
encouraged to reflect on the work that these teams perform.
The Kern County Water Agency (Agency) has noted that the
federal government has refused to direct additional funding
towards the high-speed rail. The Agency strongly encourages
elected officials to shift these infrastructure investment
funds toward California’s proposed State Water Project (SWP),
Delta Conveyance Project (DCP). The SWP supports a $2.3
trillion regional economy, delivers water to 27 million people,
supports 750,000 acres of farmland, and sustains 8.7 million
jobs and 800,000 businesses. It has delivered consistent,
measurable benefits and remains a California essential
infrastructure system, but one that is in serious need of
investment and federal funding.
The Delta Independent Science Board has welcomed three new
members – Dr. Peter Goodwin, Dr. Cathleen Jones, and Dr. Steve
Lindley – who were appointed to five-year terms by the Delta
Stewardship Council on July 24, 2025. … Dr. Jones and Dr.
Lindley’s terms took effect on September 1, 2025. Dr. Goodwin’s
term will begin on October 1, 2025. The new members succeed Dr.
Virginia Dale and Dr. Bob Naiman, whose terms end on August 31,
2025, and fill one vacancy.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is
working with Crowe LLP and their partner, Blankinship &
Associates, (collectively, Crowe) to conduct a regulatory
alignment study. … Crowe prepared the Draft Final
Recommendations and Implementation Steps outlining draft final
recommendations for consideration by CDFA, CalEPA, Water
Boards, and all interested parties. The draft final
recommendations were informed by a broad range of interviews
and feedback throughout the Study.
… The Great Basin Water Network, Living Rivers-Colorado
Riverkeeper, Utah Rivers Council, and the Glen Canyon Institute
released a report Wednesday with several recommendations they
say would prevent the continued over-consumption of the river’s
water. … Those recommendations include preventing new
dams and diversions, sharing water cuts among states, improving
hydrology data, increasing water recycling, stabilizing
groundwater decline, preserving endangered species, and
improving agricultural irrigation.
California heads into the new water year facing continued risks
from climate-driven extremes, the California Department of
Water Resources said on Tuesday. In a briefing held virtually
on Tuesday afternoon, the department said the state is expected
to see “big swings” in weather patterns between large storm
events and long, intense dry periods — conditions that are seen
as “new normal” for California’s water management — over the
next 12 months.
The San Diego City Council delayed a planned vote on steep
water and sewer rate hikes Tuesday, saying it needs more time
to consider them amid concerns over the potential impacts on
the region’s cost of living. The proposal would raise water
rates for San Diego customers by more than 60% and sewer rates
by more than 30% over the next four years. City officials say
the increases would help cover rising costs for labor, imported
water, chemicals, energy, construction projects and other
priorities. … But council members and residents who spoke
during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s council meeting
said the cost of living in San Diego is already too high.
… [L]ess than 12 hours before the midnight deadline that
marks the end of fiscal 2025 — and without agreement in
Congress on a continuing resolution — only one of Interior’s 16
divisions — the Bureau of Reclamation — had published its
shutdown plans publicly. … But the Bureau of Reclamation’s
shutdown plan could provide insight into how other divisions
could be preparing. … According to the newest
contingency plan, during both short- or long-term funding
lapses, only 241 of Reclamation’s employees would be
furloughed, with the majority funded by a resource other than
annual appropriations.
The San Diego County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved
a proposal Tuesday to request $1.4 million in state funding for
a comprehensive contamination study of the Tijuana River
Valley. The move is part of a renewed effort to designate the
area as a federal Superfund site, which could unlock billions
in federal funding for cleanup efforts. … If
approved by the state, the funds would be allocated to the San
Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board to conduct the
study.
The Bureau of Reclamation has announced the next round of
public negotiation sessions with the Sites Project Authority to
develop a Partnership Agreement for the proposed Sites
Reservoir Project. The project would create a new 1.5 million
acre-foot offstream reservoir just west of Maxwell. The
agreement that’s being negotiated will outline terms and
conditions to be followed by both the Bureau and the Sites
Project Authority.
… The agriculture industry’s seemingly bottomless thirst
gives the Valley another distinction: It is losing its
groundwater – the essential stores of freshwater in underground
aquifers – at a rate among the fastest on Earth. As a result,
the Valley is sinking. Land subsidence is triggered by farmers
drilling thousands of feet deep to tap into the aquifers and
pumping the water to the surface. As water is sucked from the
aquifers, layers of clay between them and the topsoil compacts,
and the ground sinks. Last year, researchers from Stanford
University used satellite imagery to determine that in most
years since 2006, some areas of the Valley floor have sunk by a
foot a year.
A New Mexico Supreme Court order reorganizing the state’s water
courts goes into effect Wednesday, Oct. 1, the Office of the
Administrative Courts announced this week. The order creates a
“regional structure for water courts more closely aligned with
the boundaries of New Mexico’s stream systems,” a news release
announced, with designated water judges presiding over water
law cases in a particular regions. Prior to the order, each of
the state’s 13 judicial districts had one water law judge.
Under the order, five district court judges are appointed to
serve as water court judges in the three regions.
The Water Forum has announced the release of the DRAFT Water
Forum 2050 Agreement, a landmark update to the regional accord
that has guided efforts to balance the Sacramento region’s
water supply reliability with the protection of the lower
American River for the past 25 years. First signed in
2000, the Water Forum Agreement brought together business
leaders, citizen groups, environmental advocates, water
providers, and local governments to address growing water
demands while preserving the environmental and recreational
values of the lower American River.
Tidal rivers, which are a source of water for drinking and
irrigation, are increasingly vulnerable to saltwater intrusion,
according to the findings of an international research team.
… Saltwater entering these freshwater supplies can tip the
salinity scales, making the water unsuitable for human and
animal consumption or for irrigating crops. In a global
perspective paper, published in Environmental Science &
Technology Letters, the team highlighted how a combination of
climate change impacts — including prolonged drought and
rapid sea-level rise — along with localized human activities,
are intensifying the increase in salt in vital freshwater
sources.
The Riverdale Park Tract Community Service
District (RPTCSD) has notified the Stanislaus County Board
of Supervisors that levels of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid
(PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) in local groundwater
have exceeded state notification levels, according to a letter
submitted for discussion at the next board meeting. … While
these levels surpass the notification standard, they remain
below the response level of 70 ppt, which would require
immediate action to remove the water source from service.
… The BIA [Bureau of Indian Affairs] states that the federal
Indian trust responsibility is a legal obligation under which
the U.S. “has charged itself with moral obligations of the
highest responsibility and trust” toward Indian tribes.
… If the BIA has a moral obligation to the Navajo
people, is it moral to take away their water rights or allow
the sale of the water rights while they are advocating or
holding in trust for the Navajo people our land, water and
fiduciary trusts? Is it not a moral responsibility to make
sure those who you are looking after have water while they
don’t have a permanent government? … I encourage my
people to consider the impact of the sale of our water supply
and rights for a small portion of the tribe. –Written by Navajo Nation constituent member Neal
Riggs.
