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Water news you need to know

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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Aquafornia news Newsweek

Map shows struggling water levels across major US lakes

Water levels at some of the United States’ largest reservoirs are well below average for this time of year, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR). Lake Mead was 31 percent full as of June 29, with just over eight million acre-feet of water in storage, according to the data. This equated to 52 percent of the average storage level for this date between October 1, 1990 and August 30, 2020. … The USBR’s June 29 data revealed that Lake Powell, situated on the Colorado River in Utah and Arizona, fared only marginally better than Lake Mead, at 32 percent of full capacity. However, this was just 49 percent of the average storage level for this date. In contrast, California’s Shasta Lake contained more than 3.8 million acre-feet of water, reaching 84 percent of its total capacity of 4,552,000 acre-feet — about seven percent above its historical average for this time of year.

Other lake and reservoir news:

Aquafornia news CalMatters

Opinion: How Calif. can close a loophole stalling groundwater plans

California is at a groundwater management crossroads as legal loopholes threaten to undo the state’s progress toward responsible groundwater sustainability. At the core of this legal conflict are two legal processes. The first is the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, the landmark law passed in 2014 to bring order to overdrafting of basins and ensure long-term sustainability of the state’s groundwater resources. The second is groundwater adjudications, a legal tool to determine water rights of who can pump water and how much they can use. … Assembly Bill 1413 is sensible, straightforward legislation that would strengthen the state’s efforts to manage this precious resource. AB 1413 is intended to protect the right to challenging a sustainability plan, but at the same time, preserve the integrity of the groundwater law’s process and provide clarity to judges in adjudications.
–Written by Scott Hayman, chair of the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority.

Aquafornia news E&E News by Politico

Greens sue to compel ESA action on desert wildflower

Environmentalists filed suit against the Fish and Wildlife Service on Tuesday for alleged inaction in the face of threats to a rare desert plant called the Tecopa bird’s beak. Citing the presence or possibility of nearby mines, solar energy farms and geothermal projects, the Center for Biological Diversity called on the federal agency to make a final determination as to whether the plant warrants listing as threatened or endangered. According to the lawsuit, the FWS missed a decision deadline established under the Endangered Species Act. “The Fish and Wildlife Service has delayed long enough,” said Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the CBD. “We’re suing to make sure that these special little plants get the protections they need before it’s too late.” Donnelly added that the wildflower found in parts of Nevada and California are “uniquely vulnerable to extinction” because of their reliance on groundwater that’s also being tapped for farming, energy production, (and) residences.

Related article:

Aquafornia news Reuters

US Supreme Court dealt blows to EPA and environmental protections

The U.S. Supreme Court delivered setbacks to environmental interests in a series of recent rulings including by further restricting the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority and relaxing requirements for environmental impact studies for proposed projects. While cases involving President Donald Trump’s policies on immigration and other issues captured attention during its just-completed nine-month term, the court also continued its years-long trend of narrowing federal protections for the environment in several rulings that could be a boon for businesses. Wendy Park, a lawyer with the Center for Biological Diversity environmentalist group, said those rulings “dealt huge blows to the environment and public health and safety.” “We’ll all suffer from unhealthier air, less safe water and more climate warming,” Park added. Park’s organization was on the losing side of perhaps the term’s biggest environmental decision, one that involved a proposed Utah railway intended to transport crude oil. 

Other Supreme Court environmental news:

Aquafornia news KQED (San Francisco)

California has invested billions in forest fire efforts. Newsom wants the US to follow

With the worst of wildfire season ahead, Gov. Gavin Newsom urged President Donald Trump on Tuesday to direct the federal government to dramatically increase its investment in forest management. At the Mount Howell lookout tower in Colfax, Newsom spoke to reporters about a model executive order sent to the White House that he said would bring federal firefighting and forest management efforts more in line with California’s. … The draft order would make it federal policy for the U.S. to match the capabilities and investments of “the most advanced states and local governments with respect to forest management and firefighting capabilities.” It would direct the Office of Management and Budget to develop spending plans to do so, including the reversal of recent staffing and funding cuts. … The U.S. Forest Service has lost 10% of all positions, which will likely “impact wildfire response this year,” Newsom said, adding that noncompetitive federal firefighter pay has led to further staffing shortages.

Related articles:

Aquafornia news Scientific Reports

Report: A molecular specimen bank for contemporary and future study captures landscape-scale biodiversity baselines before Klamath River dam removal

Global restoration and conservation of freshwater biodiversity are represented in practice by works such as the Klamath River Renewal Project (KRRP), the largest dam removal and river restoration in the United States, which has reconnected 640 river kilometers. With dam removals, many biological outcomes remain understudied due to a lack of pre-impact data and complex ecosystem recovery timeframes. To avoid this, we created the KRRP molecular library, an environmental specimen bank, for long-term curation of environmental nucleic acids collected from the restoration project. We used these initial samples, environmental DNA metabarcoding, and generalized linear mixed-effects models to evaluate patterns of pre-dam removal fish richness and diversity. Demonstrating the suitability to resolve biological differences, the baseline shows that tributary and mainstem streams had greater native fish diversity and 2.3–10.7 times greater native fish species richness than reservoirs. 

Other Klamath River news:

Aquafornia news Daily Republic (Fairfield, Calif.)

City drinking water safe, but Vaca dealing with chromium levels

The city’s drinking water met federal and state safety standards last year, but Vacaville is dealing with a new, tougher regulation on a known carcinogen. However, the California State Water Resources Control Board, effective Oct. 1, adopted a new regulation setting the maximum contaminant level for hexavalent chromium, which was detected in city water at levels that exceeded that new standard, the 2024 Annual Water Quality Report released Tuesday states. “Hexavalent chromium is a heavy metal that has been used in industrial applications and found naturally occurring throughout the environment. While chromium can exist in a nontoxic, trivalent form, the hexavalent form has been shown to be carcinogenic and toxic to the liver,” the state Water Resource Control Board reported. “We are working to address this exceedance and comply with the (maximum contaminant level),” the city stated in the report. … In the meantime, the city reported the water system is safe.

Aquafornia news CalMatters

Tuesday Top of the Scroll: Last-minute Calif. budget includes sweeping environmental law rollbacks

California lawmakers today approved one of the most substantial rollbacks of the state’s signature environmental review law in decades, including a controversial exemption that would allow high-tech manufacturing plants to be built in industrial zones with no environmental review. The changes to the California Environmental Quality Act were embedded in a last-minute budget bill that sailed through the Senate and the Assembly. The new law exempts nine types of projects from environmental reviews: child care centers, health clinics, food banks, farmworker housing, broadband, wildfire prevention, water infrastructure, public parks or trails and, notably, advanced manufacturing. Aiming to streamline and lower the cost of construction in California, the new law also restricts legal challenges under CEQA by narrowing which documents courts can consider.

Related articles:

Aquafornia news Courthouse News Service

Judge backs Reclamation in fight over California water contract conversions

A federal judge agreed on Monday with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation that conversion of temporary water contracts from the California Central Valley Project doesn’t require a new environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act or the Endangered Species Act. U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston, a Joe Biden appointee …. said she agreed with and adopted the bureau’s interpretation that (the 2016 Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act) requires contract conversion upon request by farmers and other water users that obtain water from the Central Valley Project and that it strips the bureau of discretion to modify any contractual right other than those related to the financial terms specifically addressed in the statute. 

Other water lawsuit news:

Aquafornia news KQED (San Francisco)

Golden mussel presents widespread threat to major California reservoir

The invasive two-inch wide golden mussel showed up near the Port of Stockton last fall. Since then, it’s spread south, extending to other waterways in the Delta and some in the San Joaquin Valley. Now, eyes are looking north to Lake Oroville, where the mussels could pose a large threat if they’re introduced. The reservoir is the second largest in California. … The mussels also pose a significant environmental threat. Eric See is with the Department of Water Resources. He said Lake Oroville feeds water into the Feather River Fish Hatchery through small diameter piping. It raises steelhead trout and chinook salmon. Chinook populations are threatened, and the state is currently trying to bring them back. If that pipe gets blocked, it cuts off water to the fish. … The mussels could also create large algae blooms that can kill fish and filter water, increasing aquatic weed growth. That makes it harder for fish in the water to navigate and find food.

Other fishery news:

Aquafornia news High Country News (Paonia, Colo.)

Western states step up to save their wetlands​

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 decision on Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency dramatically weakened protections for millions of acres of the West’s essential wetlands and streams. Under the ruling, only bodies of water with a “continuous surface connection” to a “relatively permanent” traditional, navigable water body can be legally considered part of the waters of the United States (WOTUS) and therefore covered by the Clean Water Act. … In the absence of federal regulations, state dredge-and-fill permitting programs can protect wetlands, and California, Oregon and Washington all have broad protections for non-WOTUS wetlands and streams. And since the Sackett decision, Colorado and New Mexico have passed laws restoring clean water protections for waters excluded from WOTUS.

Other wetland preservation news:

Aquafornia news Courthouse News Service

Arizona approves ‘Ag-to-Urban’ water conservation plan

In a bipartisan compromise between state lawmakers and the executive branch, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs approved a program estimated to conserve nearly 10 million acre-feet of water and facilitate thousands of new housing developments across central Arizona. State Senator T.J. Shope’s Senate Bill 1611 met Hobbs’ pen Monday morning, setting in motion what state officials refer to as the “Ag-to-Urban” plan. … Under the program, farmers in either of the active management areas would voluntarily relinquish groundwater rights on individual acres of land irrigated by groundwater in three of the previous five years. In exchange, a farmer would receive conservation credits based on the number of acres relinquished. The farmer would then sell the acres to land developers, who would “pledge” the credits to a water provider that services that land. 

Related articles:

Aquafornia news Smart Water Magazine

Bipartisan WIPPES Act passes U.S. House, requiring labeling of non-flushable wipes

The U.S. House of Representatives during the last week of June passed the Wastewater Pollution Prevention and Environmental Safety (WIPPES) Act, a bipartisan, bicameral, and ACWA-supported legislation. This legislation would require wipe manufacturers to clearly label their products as non-flushable to protect wastewater systems from pollution and structural damage, which can cost millions of dollars to repair critical infrastructure nationwide. The legislation passed by a unanimous voice vote, indicating broad support in the chamber. The WIPPES Act was introduced in March by U.S. Representatives Jared Huffman (D-CA-02), Kevin Mullin (D-CA-15), Lisa McClain (R-MI-10) and Tom Kean (R-NJ-07). Next, the WIPPES Act will be taken up in the U.S. Senate.

Aquafornia news KSL (Salt Lake City, Utah)

Utah’s monsoon season is about to start at a helpful time for the state

Utah’s drought has intensified in recent weeks, but help could soon be on the way. A “light” monsoonal system is forecast for the middle of this week, thanks to a pair of storms near Utah that should rotate moisture in the state, said KSL meteorologist Matt Johnson. A high-pressure system near the Four Corners is helping push water vapor from the Gulf of Mexico, also referred to as the Gulf of America, toward Utah, while a low-pressure system off the California coast may do the same from the Pacific Ocean. … Precipitation totals will vary across the state, depending on where a storm pops up. Monsoonal storms can often dump heavy totals in localized areas, leading to flooding potential, but they also leave some communities without much precipitation.

Other monsoon and drought news:

Aquafornia news The Business Journal (Fresno, Calif.)

Opinion: Using fallowed ag land for solar farms opens training, job opportunities for local workers

In all the talk about the San Joaquin Valley’s groundwater restrictions and resulting loss of agriculture, it’s important to consider how transitioning from farming operations to clean-energy production creates construction job opportunities for thousands of area workers. The mandate to meet state clean energy goals by 2045 — and the loss of farmland due to groundwater restrictions under the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act — have opened the door to a vast solar resource that can keep land economically productive and local people employed in good jobs for the long term. But current law makes these land transitions cumbersome and complicated, hampering the region’s potential to become a solar energy hub. If corrected, the switch from unusable farmland to low-water-use, clean energy projects would generate billions in tax revenue and labor income while lowering household electric bills and cleaning up our air.

Other agriculture and water use news:

Aquafornia news MendoFever (Mendocino, Calif.)

Cost overruns and dam plans shape Mendocino County water discussions

Two of Mendocino County’s key water agencies—the Inland Power and Water Commission (IWPC) and the Ukiah Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (UVBGSA)—met this June to address funding gaps, contractor amendments, and looming questions about long-term water infrastructure and governance. As the region braces for continued drought pressures and state compliance deadlines, both agencies are navigating complex inter-agency negotiations, unexpected cost overruns, and the challenge of maintaining quorums amid member withdrawals. The Inland Power and Water Commission held a closed session to discuss price and terms of negotiations with PG&E regarding the Potter Valley Project. … Although the possibility of extra costs had been raised in December, an invoice totaling $67,280 was not submitted until the day of the meeting. With the 2025–26 budget already finalized, a payment plan will need to be arranged.

Aquafornia news The Guardian (London, U.K.)

EPA employees sign ‘declaration of dissent’ over agency moves under Trump

A group of Environmental Protection Agency employees on Monday published a declaration of dissent from the agency’s policies under the Trump administration, saying they “undermine the EPA mission of protecting human health and the environment”. More than 170 EPA employees put their names to the document, with about 100 more signing anonymously out of fear of retaliation, according to Jeremy Berg, a former editor-in-chief of Science magazine who is not an EPA employee but was among non-EPA scientists or academics to also sign. The latter figure includes 20 Nobel laureates. The letter represents rare public criticism from agency employees who could face blowback for speaking out against a weakening of funding and federal support for climate, environmental and health science. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health made a similar move earlier in June.

Other water and climate research funding news:

Aquafornia news Utah News Dispatch (Salt Lake City)

What the end of the ‘roadless rule’ could mean for Utah’s national forests

The U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture recently announced it would try to roll back the “roadless rule,” a decades-old policy that prevents road construction and logging on nearly 4 million acres of national forest in Utah. … Utah leaders celebrated the decision, with House Speaker Mike Schultz, R-Hooper, calling it a “big win” for the state. But in Utah, proponents of the rule say it’s a vital tool for protecting the state’s forests, which in turn keep water clean, provide habitat for wildlife and allow recreation opportunities. “This rule protects almost half of the forest service land in Utah,” said Kate Groetzinger, communications director for the Center for Western Priorities. “This opens about half of Utah’s forest land to logging that has been previously protected. That can drastically change the feel of some of our most popular forests.” 

Other national forest news:

Aquafornia news The SJV Sun (Fresno, Calif.)

Grand Jury: Fowler making progress to fix drinking water issue

A new Fresno County Civil Grand Jury report found that the City of Fowler has been working to address its drinking water not meeting state standards. The grand jury report, which was released on Monday, detailed that while the city’s water does not currently meet state standards, the city has been working for the past seven years to rectify the situation. Microplastic 1,2,3-trichloropropane (TCP) was found in Fowler’s drinking water after it was detected above the legal limit in one of the city’s wells. … The grand jury found that Fowler has planned to install a new filtration system for several years but could not afford it without some extra funding. … The grand jury is recommending that Fowler should improve its training process for all Public Works, Water Department operators and should improve its website to make it easier to find all water information in order to improve transparency, among other recommendations. 

Other drinking water news:

Aquafornia news The Modesto Bee

$600-a-month water rate approved for Stanislaus’ Diablo Grande

The Western Hills Water District board on Saturday approved a huge increase in water service rates in an attempt to maintain a water supply for the 600-home Diablo Grande community in western Stanislaus County. The Kern County Water Agency, some 200 miles away, had threatened to stop water deliveries June 30 if the financially troubled Western Hills district did not resume payments for an annual 8,000 acre-feet allocation. Mark Kovich, president of the Western Hills board, said at Saturday’s meeting that district representatives would meet with KCWA officials Monday to discuss the next steps. Last week, Kern’s board took action to extend the deadline related to the potential water shutoff to Sept. 30. KCWA has said it would continue deliveries through Dec. 31 if the Western Hills district came up with money to make monthly payments, so that date remains in effect with the water rate increase approved Saturday.