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 Chris Bowman.
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After being sanctioned by federal regulators for plowing up
protected wetlands on his California farm, a U.S. lawmaker is
now spearheading an effort to roll back federal water
protections — including the very same provisions that he once
paid penalties for violating. If the scheme is successful,
environmental groups say industrial polluters could more freely
contaminate wetlands, rivers, and other waters, harming both
the nation’s water resources and the communities depending on
them. It could also benefit the lawmaker spearheading the
attack, since he still owns the farm where he was found to be
destroying wetlands.
The majority of California’s reservoirs are above their
historic average levels following the end of two wet winters.
The state’s largest reservoirs, Shasta Lake and Lake Oroville,
were measured at a respective 118% and 122% of their averages
for early April, according to data from the California
Department of Water Resources. Folsom Lake in the Sierra Nevada
foothills exits early April at 116%. Only two reservoirs, San
Luis in western San Joaquin Valley and Castaic in Southern
California, were below average. San Luis Reservoir was at just
87% and much smaller Castaic Lake in Los Angeles County was at
92%.
We gathered at Sierra Nevada Brewery on March 8 for our Annual
Meeting, and we continue to cherish the discussions and
insights shared during that event. Among the many highlights of
the gathering was a compelling address by Senator Alex Padilla,
whose remarks resonated deeply with our shared commitment to
safeguarding California’s water resources. Read the excerpt
from Chairman Bryce Lundberg’s introduction and watch Senator
Padilla’s address below.
The water in California’s San Francisco Bay could rise more
than two meters by the year 2100. For the region’s tidal
marshes and their inhabitants, such as the endangered Ridgway’s
rail and the salt marsh harvest mouse, it’s a potential death
sentence. Given enough time, space, and sediment, tidal marshes
can build layers of mud and decaying vegetation to keep up with
rising seas. Unfortunately, upstream dams and a long history of
dredging bays and dumping the sediment offshore are starving
many tidal marshes around the world of the sediment they need
to grow. To keep its marshes above water, San Francisco Bay
needs more than 545 million tonnes of dirt by 2100.
Klamath, Modoc and Siskiyou County leaders are asking for an
“adequate water supply” on behalf of local irrigation. A news
release from Klamath Water Users Association this week said a
letter has been sent to the Bureau of Reclamation requesting
the full water allocations on behalf of Klamath Project
irrigators. The letter, sent to Reclamation Commissioner
Camille Calimlim Touton, bases the request for increase water
flows in congruence with “favorably hydrology” this year in the
Klamath Basin.
Chiquita Canyon Landfill has drawn more than 10,000 complaints,
a number of lawsuits and calls for it to close from residents
and elected officials and is allegedly dumping untreated
stormwater into local waterways, according to a complaint
issued this week by state water officials. The L.A.
Regional Water Quality Control Board issued another violation
Tuesday against Chiquita Canyon Landfill, after Castaic and Val
Verde residents sent the agency numerous photos of the landfill
allegedly pumping from its stormwater basin into the local
waterway at night. Multiple photos were posted to local social
media groups as well.
An interdisciplinary team of scientists and researchers from
University of California, Davis, are studying agave plants in
the Golden State as farmers are turning to the crop as a
potential drought-tolerant option of the future. The research
is centered on studying agave genetics, virus susceptibility,
pest control, soil management and crop productivity, said Ron
Runnebaum, a viticulture and enology professor who is leading
the team of researchers at the newly formed UC Davis Agave
Center. … Agave plants don’t require much water and
their hardy leaves are fire resistant. The crop can be used as
a fiber, distilled into spirits or converted into a sweetener.
That combination of traits could offer an alternative to
fallowing fields by switching from thirsty crops to one
requiring less water.
The Klamath River in southern Oregon and northern California is
now running freer. In late 2023 and early 2024, four of the six
dams along the river were breached and reservoirs drained.
These actions were part of an effort to restore hundreds of
miles of riparian habitat. It is thought to be the largest dam
removal project in history. The four dams—Iron Gate, Copco No.
1, Copco No. 2, and J.C. Boyle—were built between 1918 and 1962
to generate electricity. Facing steep costs to modernize them
in the early 2000s, the utility that owned the dams opted for
deconstruction instead. In addition to removing aging
infrastructure, the project is expected to eliminate the
ecosystem and human health risks posed by toxic algae, which
has regularly reached harmful levels in the reservoirs since
2005.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced
a proposed settlement with Shasta-Siskiyou Transport of
Redding, Calif. to resolve claims of Clean Water Act (CWA)
violations after one of the company’s trucks overturned and a
fuel product spilled into storm drains in downtown Redding. The
fuel reached the Sacramento River. The proposed settlement
requires Shasta-Siskiyou Transport to pay a civil penalty of
$208,840. … On Jan. 21, 2022, one of Shasta-Siskiyou
Transport’s trucks was transporting transmix, a mixture of
gasoline, diesel fuel, and other petroleum distillates, when
the truck overturned in downtown Redding, releasing transmix
into nearby storm drains, which led directly to Calaboose Creek
and subsequently into the Sacramento River.
California ranks as the “greenest” state in America thanks to
rooftop solar, water conservation and electric vehicles,
according to a report released Wednesday by the WalletHub
personal finance website. … The Golden State also ranked
first in water conservation and sixth lowest in gasoline use
per capita, in part because of support to electric vehicles and
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today unveiled the
first nationwide limits on dangerous “forever chemicals” in
drinking water, setting standards that will have sweeping,
costly effects throughout California. Several thousand water
systems around the country are expected to exceed the new
limits for the chemicals, which have been linked to an array of
diseases — including cancer and heart disease — and have
contaminated people and animals worldwide, including
newborns. In California alone, traces of the compounds
have been detected in water systems serving more than 25
million people, nearly a third in disadvantaged communities,
according to an analysis by the Natural Resources Defense
Council.
The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California has
announced that it will increase rates and property taxes
throughout the region over the next two years as the state
grapples with fundamental changes to its water supply and
usage. District leaders said the increases are necessary to
cover the costs of importing and treating water, as well as
finance climate change adaptations to infrastructure and make
up for declines in revenue due to widespread conservation
efforts. … The district’s 38-member board voted Tuesday
to raise water rates 8.5% in 2025 and an additional 8.5% in
2026.
California is expected to experience what some meteorologists
are calling “weather whiplash” this week with a brief spell of
warm weather during the work week followed by a wet weekend
from yet another unusually cold storm. … A significant
weather shift is expected to impact the Golden State starting
Friday, with temperatures dropping as a cold storm system
approaches the area, potentially bringing rains as early as
Friday to some locations. Widespread rain is expected Saturday.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife recommended
Alternative 3 – Salmon Closure during the final days of the
Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) meeting mirroring
the opinions of commercial and recreational charter boat
anglers. The department’s position is a significant change from
early March. The PFMC meetings are being held in Seattle from
April 6 to 11, and the final recommendations of the council
will be forwarded to the California Fish and Game Commission in
May.
Sustaining the American Southwest is the Colorado River. But
demand, damming, diversion, and drought are draining this vital
water resource at alarming rates. The future of water in the
region – particularly from the Colorado River – was top of mind
at the 10th Annual Eccles Family Rural West Conference, an
event organized by the Bill Lane Center for the American West
that brings together policymakers, practitioners, and scholars
to discuss solutions to urgent problems facing rural Western
regions.
Today, Congresswoman Norma Torres and Congressman David Valadao
– members of the House Appropriations Committee – announced the
introduction of the bipartisan Removing Nitrate and Arsenic in
Drinking Water Act. This bill would amend the Safe Drinking
Water Act to provide grants for nitrate and arsenic reduction,
by providing $15 million for FY25 and every fiscal year
thereafter. The bill also directs the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) to take into consideration the needs of
economically disadvantaged populations impacted by drinking
water contamination. The California State Water Resources
Control Board found the Inland Empire to have the highest
levels of contamination of nitrate throughout the state
including 82 sources in San Bernardino, 67 sources in Riverside
County, and 123 sources in Los Angeles County.
Catastrophic weather events wreaked havoc on U.S. agriculture
last year, causing nearly $22 billion in crop and rangeland
losses, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation.
California accounted for $1.14 billion of that figure,
including nearly $880 million in damages from severe storms and
flooding. The figures represent a significant shift from
previous years, when drought and wildfires were California’s
biggest challenges. Since then, atmospheric rivers, Tropical
Storm Hilary and other weather events battered our farming
communities. - Written by Matthew Viohl, director of federal
policy for the California Farm Bureau
… After years of drought, California’s water supply is the
healthiest it’s been in the 21st century. Nevertheless, the
state’s age-old jousting over water use priorities continues
and may become more intense as climate change affects the
amount of water available. - Written by Dan Walters, CalMatters columnist
A bloom of toxic blue-green algae recently forced the closure
of three East Bay lakes to swimmers. Quarry Lake in Fremont,
Del Valle in Livermore, and Shadow Cliffs in Pleasanton are all
off-limits to people and pets due to the dangerous water
conditions, per ABC 7. The East Bay Regional Parks District has
posted signs at the lakes warning people to avoid contact with
the water. A less severe caution advisory has been issued for
Lake Temescal in Oakland, Lake Anza at Tilden Park in Berkeley,
and Contra Loma Reservoir in Antioch. Blue-green algae, also
known as cyanobacteria, are natural organisms that tend to
bloom in areas with low water levels, warm temperatures, and
stagnant water. These conditions can cause the algae to release
toxins that can be harmful to people and animals.
The Bureau of Reclamation’s announcement at Monday’s meeting of
the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District that it is halting
work on El Vado Dam repairs raises hugely consequential
questions about water management in New Mexico’s Middle Rio
Grande Valley. The short explanation for the halt is that the
current approach to repairing the 1930s-era dam wasn’t working.
