Nature-based solutions that include conservation are an
increasingly important arena for advancing climate action.
Conservation planning decisions can depend on what kinds of
tradeoffs are made and which benefits need to be prioritized.
What then does local implementation look like when governance
of land use planning tradeoffs is confronted by potentially
competing priorities in climate, nature, and development? In
this paper, we analyze institutional instruments – namely,
local and state plans from across California – to better
understand how nature-based solutions include conservation
strategies to deliver co-benefits. … Our analysis of
local planning documents shows that subnational governments,
such as California, are experimenting with different governance
arrangements to decipher co-benefits and to manage trade-offs.
Specifically, we find the presence of supportive citizen
coalitions, funding and financing, and regional collaborations
as notable enablers of nature-based solutions in California.
Julian Fulton followed his curiosity about water to
California’s rivers and oceans, eventually flowing to
Sacramento State. In the decade since he began teaching
Environmental Studies at the riverside campus, Fulton has
integrated science and technology with broader questions of
sustainability and how humans can coexist with nature. … His
research looks at how to protect California waterways, and he
often collaborates with faculty from other departments. He also
engages students in his work, including on grant-funded
projects like cleaning up San Francisco Bay or studying green
stormwater systems designed to filter toxins out of water
flowing from campus into the American River. “We’re using it as
a learning lab,” he said. “It helps students to understand all
these different environmental challenges we have, and to notice
sustainability features in the landscape and how they fit into
their daily lives.”
In an interview with Nick Papagni, “The Ag Meter”, on AgNet
West, Ryan Jacobsen, CEO of the Fresno County Farm Bureau,
provided critical insight into California’s persistent water
challenges—and a glimmer of hope for the future. When asked
whether California’s water issues can ever be resolved,
Jacobsen called it a “loaded question,” acknowledging the
mounting difficulties while still seeing opportunity ahead. “It
just keeps getting tougher and tougher as far as a reliable
water supply,” he said, referencing the impact of the
Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) and federal
reductions. … “Whatever happens during this administration
can be undone by the next,” he warned. “That’s why Congress
must act to create long-term solutions—particularly in the
Delta.”
… The state Senate passed two bills by Sen. Steve Padilla
aimed at protecting the polluted Tijuana River
Valley. One would authorize using funds from the
new East Otay Mesa toll road for the South Bay International
Boundary and Water Commission sewage treatment facility, which
filters sewage from Mexico and discharges the treated water to
the Pacific Ocean. The other would prohibit a state agency
from approving a new landfill, until the local agency that
oversees waste facilities has held a public hearing on the
project and certified that it won’t harm an environmentally
burdened community. It’s aimed at the East Otay Mesa Recycling
Collection Center and Landfill, which was passed by ballot
measure 15 years ago. This is Padilla’s second stab at
this issue. Last year he proposed a related bill that would
have prohibited a regional water board from issuing a waste
discharge permit for a new landfill in the Tijuana River
Valley. That bill failed on the Assembly floor, but
Padilla is trying again.
… We are the Round Valley Indian Tribes. In the early
20th century, without our consent, the Potter Valley Project
dammed our river and started diverting significant portions to
generate electricity, after which the water was made available,
at no cost, to users in the Russian River watershed. All the
while, our community endured the loss of a critical part of our
economy and culture: the decimated Eel River salmon fishery.
… We also understand, however, that we are part of the larger
region, and our members live, work and study in the surrounding
communities, which support our tribal economy. These
communities, in turn, depend on the river. Thus, while removal
of the project facilities and the return of a healthy river is
our goal, we must achieve this goal mindful of how this may
affect others. The Round Valley Indian Tribes support the
Two-Basin Solution, which shares this limited resource between
both basins by pairing fishery restoration with continued
diversions that do not harm the fishery. –Written by Joe Parker, president of the Round Valley
Indian Tribes.
On a warm, Wednesday afternoon, scientists, community members
and local leaders gathered at the Grange Hall in San Luis
Obispo to discuss the Trump administration’s attempts to weaken
laws protecting public land and waters — and how those policies
could impact the Central Coast. … From an attempt
to reduce the scope of the Endangered Species Act to an effort
to allow the president to eliminate national monuments, here
are three issues to keep an eye on for the Central Coast.
… “Our nation’s public lands provide tangible goods that
we all depend on — things like water, safety from wildfire,
timber, grazing for cattle,” (Los Padres National Forest
wildlife biologist Ben) Vizzachero said. “We need to support
those things, and as a biologist, I’m making sure that our
forest can provide those without sacrificing wildlife habitat.”
The first day of summer in Lake Tahoe began under blue skies,
but the sunny Saturday suddenly turned dark when a thunderstorm
whipped up strong winds and waves of 6 to 8 feet high. At least
six people died when a boat capsized near D.L. Bliss State Park
around 3 p.m. … Gusts up to 45 mph were measured by a
NASA-maintained buoy in the middle of the lake when the cold
front hit. It’s likely that stronger winds materialized over a
smaller portion of the lake in a phenomenon known as a
downburst. Downbursts are caused by rain-cooled air that
falls out of a cloud into a drier environment below, often
accelerating as it reaches the ground. Once the downdraft
reaches the ground, winds spread out in all directions, like
water out of a faucet hitting a sink. Weather models estimated
favorable conditions for downburst winds over Lake Tahoe on
Saturday afternoon, with a mix of dry and moist air amid an
unstable atmosphere.
The Nimbus Fish Hatchery, a longtime regional hub for fish
conservation and education along the American River, will close
its visitor center, fish ponds and parking lot beginning July 1
due to budget constraints, officials announced Friday. The
California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which operates the
hatchery, shared the news in a statement posted to social
media. The closure, they said, is due to “reductions in
funding” and will remain in effect until further notice.
… It was originally constructed to offset habitat losses
caused by the development of the Folsom-Nimbus water project,
which severely limited access to upstream spawning areas for
anadromous fish. The Nimbus Hatchery raises Chinook salmon
and steelhead trout, releasing them into the American River
annually. Its visitor center and adjacent fish ponds have long
served as an educational destination for school groups and
nature enthusiasts, especially during the fall spawning season.
The Senate on Wednesday approved a package of bills from the
Energy and Natural Resources Committee, including legislation
to shore up Colorado River water supplies and
to expand a national park. Both Nevada Democratic Sen.
Catherine Cortez Masto and Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa
Murkowski praised the bipartisan package. “I am hopeful that
the Senate can pass more of these similar, very
noncontroversial bills through the unanimous consent process,”
Murkowski said on the Senate floor. … The measures include S.
154, the “Colorado River Basin System Conservation
Extension Act,” from Colorado Democratic Sens. John
Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet. That bill would renew a $125
million effort to reduce water use in the Upper Basin of the
Colorado River. That region covers parts of Colorado, New
Mexico, Utah and Wyoming.
Eighty years ago, in the heart of rural Shasta County,
thousands of workers came together to build something
extraordinary—Shasta Dam. Born out of the Great Depression,
this engineering marvel not only brought much-needed jobs to
the region but transformed the area’s future forever.
Construction on Shasta Dam began in 1937 and continued through
World War II, officially wrapping up in 1944—an impressive 26
months ahead of schedule. … Standing 602 feet tall,
Shasta Dam is the ninth tallest dam in the country and holds
back the largest reservoir in California. Today, it’s not just
a piece of history—it’s a beloved local destination offering
stunning views of Mt. Shasta, fishing spots, scenic walks, and
peaceful picnic areas. … So here’s to 80 years of Shasta
Dam—a symbol of strength, resilience, and NorCal pride.
Wildfires can dramatically alter water quality, resulting in
severe implications for human and freshwater systems. However,
regional-scale assessments of these impacts are often limited
by data scarcity. Here, we unify observations from 1984–2021 in
245 burned watersheds across the western United States,
comparing post-fire signals to baseline levels from 293
unburned basins. … Overall, this analysis provides
strong evidence of multi-year water quality degradation
following wildfires in the western United States and highlights
the influence of basin and wildfire features. These insights
may aid water managers in preparation efforts, increasing
resilience of water systems to wildfire impacts.
Olivenhain Municipal Water District has completed construction
of several recycled water pipelines in Carlsbad and Encinitas.
The installation of over 5,600 feet of new pipelines will allow
several HOA communities in the project area to convert their
irrigation systems to recycled water, resulting in more than
12.5 million gallons of drinking water saved every year,
according to a news release. … OMWD secured more than
$900,000 in grant funding to make the project cost-effective
for ratepayers. Specifically, both the US Bureau of
Reclamation’s Title XVI Water Reclamation and Reuse Program,
and the California Department of Water Resources’ Integrated
Regional Water Management Program contributed grant funds
to offset project costs, the news release stated. … The
project was completed on time and with no interruptions to
customers’ water supplies.
Nearly two-thirds of California was “abnormally dry” as the
state braced for more hot, dry weather and strong winds,
according to the U.S. Drought Monitor’s latest update. About a
third of the Golden State was experiencing “moderate” to
“exceptional” drought conditions as of Thursday, June 19, the
U.S. Drought Monitor said, with Southern California and parts
of the Central Valley getting hit the
hardest. … Recent hot spells and dryness have
“manifested in rapidly developing soil moisture shortages,
declining prospects for summer water supplies, an elevated
wildfire threat, a boost in irrigation demands and increased
stress on rain-fed crops,” researchers wrote in a weekly
national drought summary. Bouts of warm weather have resulted
in the rapid drying and early melting of the snow pack, leading
to “a variety of agricultural and water-supply issues and
concerns.”
… What could have been more California than dipping my paddle
into the waters being fought over by multiple states,
Indigenous tribes, farmers, ranchers, conservation groups, and
so on? We are, after all, on the verge of yet another new
chapter flowing out of the Colorado River, whose silty waves,
east beyond Death Valley, undulate California’s southeast
border and which, in the fullness of thirst, became L.A.’s main
water source. Parsing those waters has been bogged down for
years, seemingly because California has been hogging more than
its realistic share—even the mighty Colorado has shrunk, first
from an overly optimistic estimation of its volume and now from
drought. Welcome to the New West. T.S. Eliot’s “The Waste Land”
springs to mind:
Here is no water but only rock
Rock and no water and the sandy road
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s effort to remove barriers
to energy development within the 3.6 million-acre Rock Springs
Resource Management Plan area (which replaced Green River RMP
in 2024) will include revised estimates of oil and natural gas
reserves, according to the agency. … Initial “low” estimates,
which may change dramatically based on new calculations, will
potentially be used to reduce restrictions on oil and natural
gas development imposed under “area of critical environmental
concern” designations in the Rock Springs RMP updated in
December. That plan will likely change after a review spurred
by President Donald Trump’s Unleashing American Energy
executive order, and Interior orders under his administration.
The U.S. Geological Survey — the BLM’s sister agency under the
Interior Department — released a report Wednesday revising
estimates of “undiscovered, technically recoverable” oil and
natural gas reserves underlying onshore federal lands, boasting
“significant increases.”
Fire and water are seemingly opposing forces. But in the
context of global climate, they go together like peanut butter
and jelly. And looking at the fire and flood tally so far, 2025
has been extra. … Aridification is causing the arid west
to move eastward, encroaching on the mid longitude regions of
the U.S. and Canada. Aridity, drought and heat
combine to make ideal conditions for fire. Increased average
air temperature leads to more water in the atmosphere as water
vapor. More energy in the form of heat moves storms. The
combination of the two–more water and more energy–means more
disasters with higher consequences measured in deaths and
dollars. The end result is that communities are sandwiched
between dry and wet extremes and the economic consequences of
fire and flood disasters. The U.S. sustained 403 weather
and climate disasters from 1980–2024 where overall damages and
costs reached or exceeded $1 billion each (including the
Consumer Price Index adjustment to 2024). When you add them
together, the total cost of these 403 events exceeds $2.915
trillion.
Nevada is taking action to preserve its state animal, the
Desert Bighorn Sheep, by relocating part of a herd based in
Southern Nevada. … The reason for the relocation is a
lack of available food and water for the herd, with drought
being the common denominator. In just one year, dry conditions
have significantly worsened across Nevada. While only a small
area was abnormally dry in June 2024, now most of the state is
experiencing all four levels of drought extremes. “We had to
take action,” said Joe Bennett, a specialist with the Nevada
Department of Wildlife. According to Bennett, since December,
122,000 gallons of water have been hauled to watering holes, or
guzzlers, in Southern Nevada to support sheep hydration.
… According to the Nevada Climate Initiative, drought is
expected to increase in frequency and severity in the future
due to higher temperatures, even if precipitation remains the
same or increases slightly.
A June quarterly monitoring report from a Department of Toxic
Substance Control order for the Saugus Industrial Center,
former home of the Keysor-Century Corp., revealed groundwater
contamination levels many times above the state’s limits as
cleanup continues and plans for nearby properties are filed at
City Hall. A Santa Clarita Valley Water Agency spokesman
said Thursday the reports are from monitoring wells and not
from any sources in circulation for
customers. Water-contamination concerns in that area are
expected to cost tens of millions of dollars for the agency for
years to come, according to officials in court records and past
statements. … The process, which began a decade ago,
involves the injection of emulsified vegetable oil into the
wells as part of a complicated process to “promote anaerobic
biodegradation of volatile organic compounds in saturated soils
and groundwater,” according to (the) report.
Five years ago, Plains Miwok cultural practitioner Don Hankins
got a surprising invitation from Russ Ryan, a project manager
at the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The
agency owns four islands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River
Delta, including one called Webb Tract, and Ryan asked Hankins
for help stewarding them from an Indigenous perspective.
Hankins was skeptical at first. … But Hankins feels a
deep-rooted responsibility toward the Delta. He was also moved
when Ryan visited him at California State University Chico,
where he’s a professor of geography and planning. On a walk in
Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve, the pair forged a
partnership that included bringing tribes into planning a new
wetland on Webb Tract from the very beginning. “It’s a game
changer,” says Hankins, noting that this is the first time
tribes have been integral to a restoration project in the
Delta.
In recent years, scientists and water managers have started
using the term “snow drought” to describe meager snowpacks in
the American West. … Because a lack of snow has
such profound implications for the West’s water supply,
wildfire risk, recreational activities and ecosystem health,
the federal government now regularly tracks the severity of
snow drought across the region. The reports rely on data from
hundreds of SNOTEL stations—a network of automated sensors that
use “snow pillows” to weigh the snowpack and calculate its
water content—but federal budget cuts may hamper that system
going forward. To learn more about snow droughts, I
recently spoke with one of the authors of those reports: Dan
McEvoy, regional climatologist at the Western Regional Climate
Center and the Desert Research Institute.
