Utahns hoping for clarity on the government’s next move to keep
the Colorado River from drying up and still supply plenty of
water to the state will have to wait. Utah and six other states
along the parched river haven’t reached a deal on how they’ll
share the water supply a year from now, but they agree enough
to keep talking. That progress means they don’t have to turn
the job over to the federal government yet, Utah’s negotiator
said Wednesday. … The federal government set a Nov. 11
deadline for a broad agreement, but gave the states approval to
keep talking as they work toward a February cutoff to reach a
firm deal, [Utah Colorado River Commissioner Gene] Shawcroft
told reporters in a brief conference call.
A yearslong effort to purchase two of the most powerful water
rights on the Colorado River has cleared another hurdle after
the state water board agreed to manage the rights alongside
Western Slope water officials. The Colorado Water Conservation
Board voted unanimously Wednesday night to accept the two water
rights tied to the Shoshone Power Plant into its environmental
flow program. The approval is a critical piece in the Colorado
River District’s $99 million deal with the owner of the aging
plant in Glenwood Canyon — Xcel Energy — but the deal has faced
pushback from Front Range water providers that fear the change
could impact their supplies.
When it rains, it pours, and that’s a good thing when it comes
to water supply levels in California, especially in Southern
California. Statewide, reservoir storage is now about 114% of
the historical average, marking a significant improvement in
water availability. … The improved storage arrives just
as drought conditions across California continue to diminish. A
newly released drought map shows more than 70% of the state is
now free from any drought designation. That’s a dramatic shift
from August, when nearly three-quarters of the state was
experiencing drought – including a small area categorized in
the most severe level.
The California Department of Water Resources announced on
Thursday that they will be hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony
for the Big Notch Project at the Fremont Weir. This project
aims to aid in the recovery of endangered fish species and is
one of the largest salmon-rearing habitat projects in the
state’s history. … The gated passages will open
seasonally when the Sacramento River’s water levels are high
enough to utilize the Yolo Bypass as a floodplain. This will
allow water to enter through the notch at Fremont Weir,
creating a shallow water floodplain for fish migration and
providing a food-rich habitat for juvenile salmon.
In January, when crews fighting the fast-spreading Palisades
fire were hampered by low water pressure and dry hydrants, Gov.
Gavin Newsom ordered an investigation. After a 10-month review,
California officials concluded in a report that the water
supply in Southern California was “robust” at the time of the
fire and that the water system isn’t designed to handle
such large, intense wildfires. The state’s findings,
released Thursday, also address an issue that has been a point
of frustration and anger among residents in Pacific Palisades:
the fact that Santa Ynez Reservoir, which can hold 117 million
gallons of drinking water, was empty for repairs at the time of
the fire.
As we wrap up our year at the Water Education Foundation,
we are busy looking ahead to our 2026 slate of
engaging tours, workshops and conferences on key water
topics in California and across the West.
And don’t miss the return of our Lower Colorado River
Tour March 11-13, on which we take you from Hoover
Dam to the U.S.-Mexico border and through the Imperial and
Coachella valleys. Registration opens Dec. 10.
Plus, Giving Tuesday is right after
Thanksgiving and a national day to support nonprofits. You can
support water education across California and the West on Dec.
2 or anytime by donating
here!
As the threat of wildfires looms larger each year, the Bureau
of Reclamation’s California-Great Basin Region is proactively
igniting a regional initiative to protect water
infrastructure, ecosystems, and
communities. Leading this effort is John Hutchings, the
Regional Wildland Fire Coordinator. … Walking along the
thinning foliage of the hillside at Shasta Dam in northern
California, Hutchings explains that the major aspect of the
Fire Program includes strategic proactive removal of overgrown
vegetation. Hutchings emphasizes that his role diverges from
traditional fire initiatives; he does not manage a fire
suppression force but focuses on watershed and
resource management tailored to combat the growing wildfire
risk.
The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee
approved nominations Wednesday for key environment and
science-focused positions in the Trump administration. … The
panel approved the nomination of Timothy Petty for
deputy administrator at NOAA on a bipartisan 21-7
vote, with only Democrats voting in opposition. Petty has been
an aide to multiple members of Congress and on various
committees, handling matters on water, natural resources,
infrastructure, science and technology. He also served as
assistant secretary for water and science at the Interior
Department during the first Trump administration, and as the
acting assistant secretary in the George W. Bush
administration.
… Known as the Nestor Tract, all 105 acres or so were once
prime habitat for species native to the Central Valley,
including giant garter snakes, and relatively abundant in the
Natomas Basin. This is, historically, a flood-prone swath of
wetlands along the Sacramento River, running from the southern
rice fields of Sutter County down to the north of Sacramento.
… That balance, made possible by greater levees and flood
protections, has existed for more than 20 years, as bartered by
Sacramento and Sutter County, and orchestrated by The Natomas
Basin Conservancy. But proposals from Sacramento County now
threaten to upend that arrangement, leaving the capital city,
Sutter County and dwindling species like the giant garter snake
with uncertain fates.
… Whereas most prior research has estimated effects of
exposure to extremely high levels of fluoride, we consider
exposure to levels of fluoride within the range typical in most
places and of greatest relevance to policy debates about
government water fluoridation. We use data from the nationally
representative (United States) High School and Beyond cohort,
characterize fluoride exposure from drinking water across
adolescence, adjust for confounders, and observe cognitive test
performance in both secondary school and at age ~60. We
find that children exposed to recommended levels of
fluoride in drinking water exhibit modestly
better cognition in secondary school, an advantage that is
smaller and no longer statistically significant at
age ~60.
One of Lake Tahoe’s most popular state parks will reopen next
spring after being closed for three years for repairs. D.L.
Bliss State Park, on the lake’s southwest shoreline near
Emerald Bay, will reopen on May 21, state park officials
announced this week. … It was originally planned to cost
$2.8 million and take one summer to complete. But the Southern
California contractor who was awarded the low bid encountered
difficulties installing 3 miles of water lines. Workers dug a
six-foot deep trench across the park, but ran behind schedule,
encountering strict rules from the Tahoe Regional Planning
Agency that prohibit grading or digging after Oct. 15 each year
to prevent winter rains from washing silt and dirt into the
lake and threatening its famed bright blue clarity.
… A new report from the Value of Water Campaign — a coalition
of water organizations that advocates for increased investment
in water infrastructure — says the U.S. needs to invest $3.4
trillion in drinking water, stormwater and wastewater
infrastructure over the next 20 years to bring it up to date.
State and local governments could reasonably provide about $1.5
trillion of that investment, leaving a $2 trillion gap, the
authors say. That gap will increase if federal funding levels
go below those currently provided by the Infrastructure
Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA).
After a brief reprieve from storms, another rainmaker is set to
hit California on Thursday and soak parts of the state that
have already set November precipitation records.
… Rainfall is generally expected to remain below a
quarter of an inch in the Bay Area, but locally higher totals
are possible, especially if showers are stronger than
forecast. Showers are expected to reach Southern
California by Thursday afternoon and stick around through
Friday. … The system, once again, won’t bring
much snow to the Sierra Nevada. The bulk of the
precipitation is expected to remain along the coast, but any
moisture that does reach the Sierra will probably fall as rain
rather than snow below 7,000 feet.
Other weather and water supply news around the West:
President Donald Trump’s administration moved Wednesday to roll
back protections for imperiled species and the places they
live, reviving a suite of changes to Endangered Species
Act regulations from the Republican’s first term that
were blocked under former Democratic President Joe Biden. The
proposed changes include the elimination of the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service’s “blanket rule” that automatically protects
animals and plants when they are classified as
threatened. … [E]nvironmentalists warned the
changes could cause yearslong delays in efforts to save species
such as the monarch butterfly, Florida manatee, California
spotted owl and North American wolverine.
Just over a year after the historic removal of four
hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, the Klamath Basin is
taking massive steps toward restoring its habitat with the help
of more than $30 million. These grants focus on the
conservation of salmon and other anadromous fish species for
both ecological benefits and for fisheries. California
Department of Fish and Wildlife has invested in about 13
projects throughout the Klamath Basin, working with multiple
organizations to complete them and track the lasting impacts.
If heat-trapping pollution from burning coal, oil and gas
continues unchecked, thousands of hazardous sites across the
United States risk being flooded from sea level rise by the
turn of the century, posing serious health risks to nearby
communities, according to a new study. Researchers identified
5,500 sites that store, emit or handle sewage, trash, oil, gas
and other hazards that could face coastal flooding by 2100,
with much of the risk already locked in due to past emissions.
But more than half the sites are projected to face flood risk
much sooner — as soon as 2050. … Most of the sites —
nearly 80% — are in Louisiana, Florida, New Jersey, Texas,
California, New York and Massachusetts.
Facing challenges over cost and constitutional liberties, the
Arizona Department of Water Resources says a new groundwater
rule will promote housing development, not hamper it. The
Arizona Department of Resources established the groundwater
offset rule in 2024 to allow developers to build more housing
on over-pumped and depleting groundwater aquifers, forgoing the
traditional proof of a 100-year supply needed for a water
certificate. But the Home Builders Association of Central
Arizona, backed by legislative Republicans, says the department
overstepped its constitutional authority by pigeonholing
developers into the most expensive option when alternatives are
physically unavailable.
In a momentous decision for the Western Slope, state water
officials unanimously approved a controversial proposal to use
two coveted Colorado River water rights to help the river
itself. Members of the Colorado Water Conservation Board
voted to accept water rights tied to Shoshone Power Plant into
its Instream Flow Program, which aims to keep water in streams
to help the environment. The decision Wednesday is a historic
step forward in western Colorado’s yearslong effort to secure
the $99 million rights permanently. But some Front Range water
providers pushed back during the hearings, worried that the
deal could hamper their ability to manage the water supply for
millions of Colorado customers.
… The Water Infrastructure Finance Authority of Arizona drew
17 proposals for public-private partnerships and advanced four
of them at a Nov. 19 board meeting. They include schemes to
build desalination plants on the California
coast or in the Gulf of California, to produce water
that can be traded for shares of Colorado River water.
… Several people, including representatives of the
Sierra Club and the Chemehuevi Tribe, viewed the board’s
meeting remotely and delivered pleas that the state not finance
a plan to tap groundwater under the Mojave
Desert in California. … WIFA board members said they
had rejected it as part of Arizona’s solution.
… It was in 1878 that the fresh-faced Belfast-born [William]
Mulholland rocked up in the city and met a local well digger
who needed an extra pair of hands, then picked up the trade
himself. Newly obsessed with water (or the lack of it) he rose
quickly through the ranks of various hydrology companies,
eventually becoming head of the Los Angeles Water Department.
After a particularly biblical drought, in 1904 he set himself
the goal of permanently hydrating the city and its 100,000 odd
residents. His plan? Use gravity alone to “surreptitiously
steal” the water of “a large prehistoric freshwater lake” in
the distant Owens Valley (“the Switzerland of California”) and
send it back to Los Angeles.
