The California Legislature was the first in the country to
protect rare plants and animals through passage of the California
Endangered Species Act (CESA) in 1970, Congress followed suit in
1973 by passing the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The federal ESA aims to, “protect and recover imperiled species
and the ecosystems upon which they depend.”
The state ESA states that, “all native species of fishes,
amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, invertebrates, and plants,
and their habitats, threatened with extinction and those
experiencing a significant decline which, if not halted, would
lead to a threatened or endangered designation, will be protected
or preserved.”
Imperiled species are defined as follows: “Endangered” if it is
in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion
of its range and “threatened” if it is likely to become an
endangered species within the foreseeable future.”
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.
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.
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.
Two Central Valley Democrats are pitching a new water bill
designed to protect water access for the region’s
farmers. Rep. Adam Gray (D–Merced) introduced the Valley
Water Protection Act last week and was joined by Rep. Jim Costa
(D–Fresno). The Valley Water Protection Act would amend
the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to protect
farmers from enforcement actions that could pose national
security threats or regional economic harm. … The bill
has widespread support from water users across the Central
Valley, including the Turlock Irrigation District, the Merced
Irrigation District, the Modesto Irrigation District, the San
Luis and Delta-Mendota Water Authority and the Friant Water
Authority. … Along with Gray’s bill, Westerman
introduced the Endangered Species Act Amendments Act of 2025,
which would streamline the ESA permitting process and establish
clear definitions within the act.
Hundreds of tiny endangered fish slipped from orange plastic
buckets into a glittering lagoon in Malibu on Tuesday,
returning home five months after being whisked away from
threats wrought by the Palisades fire. The repatriation of more
than 300 northern tidewater gobies — led by the Resource
Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains — marked a
peaceful moment in a region still reeling from the
aftermath of wildfires. … In January, (conservation biologist
Rosi) Dagit orchestrated a successful rescue of 760 of the
semi-translucent, swamp-colored fish from Topanga Lagoon, an
unassuming biodiversity hotspot located off the Pacific Coast
Highway that drains into the Santa Monica Bay. The Palisades
fire that sparked Jan. 7 tore through the area, scorching all
of the critical habitat for the gobies and an endangered
population of steelhead trout that occupied the same watershed.
… Scientists and citizen volunteers arrived on Jan. 17
and used giant nets that served as sieves to retrieve the fish
that rarely exceed a length of two inches.
… The Colorado River system rushes through
turbines inside Glen Canyon Dam on Lake Powell, producing
affordable, carbon-free hydropower. … Climate change and
chronic water overuse continue to constrict the mighty river’s
flows, though, jeopardizing the dam’s ability to produce
hydroelectric power. The lack of water has also created a slew
of environmental problems in the Grand Canyon’s ecosystem,
which sprawls below Glen Canyon Dam — most notably for an
ancient, threatened fish species, the humpback chub, which is
hunted by invasive smallmouth bass. Under Biden last year, the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation finalized a decision that allows the
dam to periodically release surges of water that bypass the
machinery that generates power. These flows cool the river
below the dam, which curbs smallmouth bass reproduction. Utah
Republicans and power providers say that decision has only
further threatened the valuable energy source — and they hope
to undo it.
A Colorado cactus once thought vulnerable to oil shale
development has now become the first plant to be removed from
Endangered Species Act protections during the
current Trump administration. Crediting a mix of “ongoing
conservation efforts” and “improved scientific data,” the Fish
and Wildlife Service announced its final decision to delist the
previously threatened Colorado hookless cactus. The move
completes a proposal initiated by the Biden administration in
2023. “We determined that oil shale deposit development and
gold mining, predation, herbicide and pesticide application, or
collection and commercial trade are not threats to the
existence of the species even though they were identified as
such in the 1979 listing rule,” the FWS states in a final rule
to be published Thursday in the Federal Register.
… The California Wildlife Conservation Board, a state agency
dedicated to protecting California’s biological diversity, has
approved $59.5 million in grant funding to preserve nearly
23,000 acres of some of the state’s most ecologically
significant habitats, a May 23 news release from the California
Department of Fish and Wildlife shows. … For instance,
the beleaguered Salton Sea, which is at risk
of drying out and releasing toxic dust if left unattended, will
receive $5.2 million in funding to restore over 560 acres of
crucial wetland habitat. … One of the more significant
awards is a $14.75 million grant to acquire nearly 6,500 acres
of land in Ventura County home to at least 20 special-status
species, including the California red-legged frog and the
Southern California steelhead.
The Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) has approved $59.5
million in grants to support 25 habitat protection and
restoration projects in 21 counties across California. Awarded
at WCB’s May 22 meeting, the projects will safeguard nearly
23,000 acres of the state’s most ecologically important
landscapes. Among the awards is a $14.75 million grant to
the Trust for Public Land(opens in new tab) (TPL) to acquire
approximately 6,475 acres near the city of Ventura. Known as
Rancho Cañada Larga, the land features coastal sage scrub,
native grasslands, oak woodlands, chaparral and riparian
habitats that support at least 20 special-status wildlife
species and eight rare plant species. The site provides
critical habitat for the California red-legged frog and
Southern California steelhead, and lies within the year-round
range of the California condor.
Before the construction of Hoover Dam on the lower Colorado River, as well as a slew of smaller sisters downstream, the stretch downriver served as a biological oasis in the middle of the unrelenting Mojave and Sonoran deserts. The marshes and backwaters along the river’s edge provided sheltered areas for fish to spawn and rear their young, and mesquite and cottonwood-willow forests provided important habitat for numerous species of birds and other animals.
Learn the history and challenges facing the West’s most dramatic
and developed river.
The Layperson’s Guide to the Colorado River Basin introduces the
1,450-mile river that sustains 40 million people and millions of
acres of farmland spanning seven states and parts of northern
Mexico.
The 28-page primer explains how the river’s water is shared and
managed as the Southwest transitions to a hotter and drier
climate.
The Klamath River Basin was once one
of the world’s most ecologically magnificent regions, a watershed
teeming with salmon, migratory birds and wildlife that thrived
alongside Native American communities. The river flowed rapidly
from its headwaters in southern Oregon’s high deserts into Upper
Klamath Lake, collected snowmelt along a narrow gorge through the
Cascades, then raced downhill to the California coast in a misty,
redwood-lined finish.
In the vast labyrinth of the West
Coast’s largest freshwater tidal estuary, one native fish species
has never been so rare. Once uncountably numerous, the Delta
smelt was placed on state and federal endangered species lists in
1993, stopped appearing in most annual sampling surveys in 2016,
and is now, for all practical purposes, extinct in the wild. At
least, it was.
Biologists have designed a variety
of unique experiments in the past decade to demonstrate the
benefits that floodplains provide for small fish. Tracking
studies have used acoustic tags to show that chinook salmon
smolts with access to inundated fields are more likely than their
river-bound cohorts to reach the Pacific Ocean. This is because
the richness of floodplains offers a vital buffet of nourishment
on which young salmon can capitalize, supercharging their growth
and leading to bigger, stronger smolts.
This tour guided participants on a virtual journey deep into California’s most crucial water and ecological resource – the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The 720,000-acre network of islands and canals support the state’s two major water systems – the State Water Project and the Central Valley Project. The Delta and the connecting San Francisco Bay form the largest freshwater tidal estuary of its kind on the West coast.
Voluntary agreements in California
have been touted as an innovative and flexible way to improve
environmental conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
and the rivers that feed it. The goal is to provide river flows
and habitat for fish while still allowing enough water to be
diverted for farms and cities in a way that satisfies state
regulators.
One of California Gov. Gavin
Newsom’s first actions after taking office was to appoint Wade
Crowfoot as Natural Resources Agency secretary. Then, within
weeks, the governor laid out an ambitious water agenda that
Crowfoot, 45, is now charged with executing.
That agenda includes the governor’s desire for a “fresh approach”
on water, scaling back the conveyance plan in the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta and calling for more water recycling, expanded
floodplains in the Central Valley and more groundwater recharge.
Bruce Babbitt, the former Arizona
governor and secretary of the Interior, has been a thoughtful,
provocative and sometimes forceful voice in some of the most
high-profile water conflicts over the last 40 years, including
groundwater management in Arizona and the reduction of
California’s take of the Colorado River. In 2016, former
California Gov. Jerry Brown named Babbitt as a special adviser to
work on matters relating to the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and
the Delta tunnels plan.
The growing leadership of women in water. The Colorado River’s persistent drought and efforts to sign off on a plan to avert worse shortfalls of water from the river. And in California’s Central Valley, promising solutions to vexing water resource challenges.
These were among the topics that Western Water news explored in 2018.
We’re already planning a full slate of stories for 2019. You can sign up here to be alerted when new stories are published. In the meantime, take a look at what we dove into in 2018:
Water means life for all the Grand Canyon’s inhabitants, including the many varieties of insects that are a foundation of the ecosystem’s food web. But hydropower operations upstream on the Colorado River at Glen Canyon Dam, in Northern Arizona near the Utah border, disrupt the natural pace of insect reproduction as the river rises and falls, sometimes dramatically. Eggs deposited at the river’s edge are often left high and dry and their loss directly affects available food for endangered fish such as the humpback chub.
An hour’s drive north of Sacramento sits a picture-perfect valley hugging the eastern foothills of Northern California’s Coast Range, with golden hills framing grasslands mostly used for cattle grazing.
Back in the late 1800s, pioneer John Sites built his ranch there and a small township, now gone, bore his name. Today, the community of a handful of families and ranchers still maintains a proud heritage.
Farmers in the Central Valley are broiling about California’s plan to increase flows in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems to help struggling salmon runs avoid extinction. But in one corner of the fertile breadbasket, River Garden Farms is taking part in some extraordinary efforts to provide the embattled fish with refuge from predators and enough food to eat.
And while there is no direct benefit to one farm’s voluntary actions, the belief is what’s good for the fish is good for the farmers.
Does California need to revamp the way in which water is dedicated to the environment to better protect fish and the ecosystem at large? In the hypersensitive world of California water, where differences over who gets what can result in epic legislative and legal battles, the idea sparks a combination of fear, uncertainty and promise.
Saying that the way California manages water for the environment “isn’t working for anyone,” the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) shook things up late last year by proposing a redesigned regulatory system featuring what they described as water ecosystem plans and water budgets with allocations set aside for the environment.
As vital as the Colorado River is to the United States and
Mexico, so is the ongoing process by which the two countries
develop unique agreements to better manage the river and balance
future competing needs.
The prospect is challenging. The river is over allocated as urban
areas and farmers seek to stretch every drop of their respective
supplies. Since a historic treaty between the two countries was
signed in 1944, the United States and Mexico have periodically
added a series of arrangements to the treaty called minutes that
aim to strengthen the binational ties while addressing important
water supply, water quality and environmental concerns.
Butte Creek, a tributary of the
Sacramento River, begins less than 50 miles northeast of Chico,
California and is named after nearby volcanic plateaus or
“buttes.” The cold, clear waters of the 93-mile creek sustain the
largest naturally spawning wild population of spring-run chinook salmon in the Central Valley.
Several other native fish species are found in Butte Creek,
including Pacific lamprey and Sacramento pikeminnow.
This 28-page report describes the watersheds of the Sierra Nevada
region and details their importance to California’s overall water
picture. It describes the region’s issues and challenges,
including healthy forests, catastrophic fire, recreational
impacts, climate change, development and land use.
The report also discusses the importance of protecting and
restoring watersheds in order to retain water quality and enhance
quantity. Examples and case studies are included.
20-minute version of the 2012 documentary The Klamath Basin: A
Restoration for the Ages. This DVD is ideal for showing at
community forums and speaking engagements to help the public
understand the complex issues related to complex water management
disputes in the Klamath River Basin. Narrated by actress Frances
Fisher.
For over a century, the Klamath River Basin along the Oregon and
California border has faced complex water management disputes. As
relayed in this 2012, 60-minute public television documentary
narrated by actress Frances Fisher, the water interests range
from the Tribes near the river, to energy producer PacifiCorp,
farmers, municipalities, commercial fishermen, environmentalists
– all bearing legitimate arguments for how to manage the water.
After years of fighting, a groundbreaking compromise may soon
settle the battles with two epic agreements that hold the promise
of peace and fish for the watershed. View an excerpt from the
documentary here.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, features
a map of the San Joaquin River. The map text focuses on the San
Joaquin River Restoration Program, which aims to restore flows
and populations of Chinook salmon to the river below Friant Dam
to its confluence with the Merced River. The text discusses the
history of the program, its goals and ongoing challenges with
implementation.
This beautiful 24×36-inch poster, suitable for framing, displays
the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas
and Indian reservations within the Klamath River Watershed. The
map text explains the many issues facing this vast,
15,000-square-mile watershed, including fish restoration;
agricultural water use; and wetlands. Also included are
descriptions of the separate, but linked, Klamath Basin
Restoration Agreement and the Klamath Hydroelectric Agreement,
and the next steps associated with those agreements. Development
of the map was funded by a grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service.
This beautiful 24×36-inch poster, suitable for framing, displays
the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas
and Indian reservations within the Truckee River Basin, including
the Newlands Project, Pyramid Lake and Lake Tahoe. Map text
explains the issues surrounding the use of the Truckee-Carson
rivers, Lake Tahoe water quality improvement efforts, fishery
restoration and the effort to reach compromise solutions to many
of these issues.
This 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, explains how
non-native invasive animals can alter the natural ecosystem,
leading to the demise of native animals. “Unwelcome Visitors”
features photos and information on four such species – including
the zerbra mussel – and explains the environmental and economic
threats posed by these species.
The 28-page Layperson’s Guide to Water Rights Law, recognized as
the most thorough explanation of California water rights law
available to non-lawyers, traces the authority for water flowing
in a stream or reservoir, from a faucet or into an irrigation
ditch through the complex web of California water rights.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the State Water Project provides
an overview of the California-funded and constructed State Water
Project.
The State Water Project is best known for the 444-mile-long
aqueduct that provides water from the Delta to San Joaquin Valley
agriculture and southern California cities. The guide contains
information about the project’s history and facilities.
The Water Education Foundation’s second edition of
the Layperson’s Guide to The Klamath River Basin is
hot off the press and available for purchase.
Updated and redesigned, the easy-to-read overview covers the
history of the region’s tribal, agricultural and environmental
relationships with one of the West’s largest rivers — and a
vast watershed that hosts one of the nation’s oldest and
largest reclamation projects.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Delta explores the competing
uses and demands on California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Included in the guide are sections on the history of the Delta,
its role in the state’s water system, and its many complex issues
with sections on water quality, levees, salinity and agricultural
drainage, fish and wildlife, and water distribution.
The federal government passed the Endangered Species Act in 1973,
following earlier legislation. The first, the Endangered
Species Preservation Act of 1966, authorized land acquisition to
conserve select species. The Endangered Species Conservation Act
of 1969 then expanded on the 1966 act, and authorized “the
compilation of a list of animals “threatened with worldwide
extinction” and prohibits their importation without a permit.”
This issue of Western Water looks at the BDCP and the
Coalition to Support Delta Projects, issues that are aimed at
improving the health and safety of the Delta while solidifying
California’s long-term water supply reliability.
This printed issue of Western Water features a
roundtable discussion with Anthony Saracino, a water resources
consultant; Martha Davis, executive manager of policy development
with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and senior policy advisor
to the Delta Stewardship Council; Stuart Leavenworth, editorial
page editor of The Sacramento Bee and Ellen Hanak, co-director of
research and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of
California.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the issues
associated with the State Water Board’s proposed revision of the
water quality Bay-Delta Plan, most notably the question of
whether additional flows are needed for the system, and how they
might be provided.
This printed issue of Western Water examines science –
the answers it can provide to help guide management decisions in
the Delta and the inherent uncertainty it holds that can make
moving forward such a tenuous task.
This printed issue of Western Water provides an overview of the
idea of a dual conveyance facility, including questions
surrounding its cost, operation and governance
This printed copy of Western Water examines the native salmon and
trout dilemma – the extent of the crisis, its potential impact on
water deliveries and the lengths to which combined efforts can
help restore threatened and endangered species.
This printed copy of Western Water examines the Delta through the
many ongoing activities focusing on it, most notably the Delta
Vision process. Many hours of testimony, research, legal
proceedings, public hearings and discussion have occurred and
will continue as the state seeks the ultimate solution to the
problems tied to the Delta.
In California and the West, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is a
critical issue. Development and agricultural interests say the
law should not be used to unjustly block new projects, while
conservationists view the law as a major bulwark against the
destruction of vital habitat. In the water world, municipal and
agricultural interests say there is room to streamline the ESA’s
application to prevent undue interruption of water delivery.
Two events that transformed the West, population growth and the
dominance of agriculture, are inextricable parts of the battles
fought over its most vital resource, water. Throughout the 19th
century, as settlers sought to tame the rugged landscape,
momentum built behind the notion of a comprehensive, federally
financed waterworks plan that would provide the agrarian society
envisioned by Thomas Jefferson. The Reclamation Act of 1902,
which could arguably be described as a progression of the credo,
Manifest Destiny, transformed the West into an economic
powerhouse while putting an exclamation mark to the tide of
American migration.
