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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California’s contentious and long-debated plan to replumb the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and pump more water south finally
has a price tag: about $20 billion. The new estimate for
the Delta tunnel project — which would transform the massive
water system that sends Northern California water south to
farms and cities — is $4 billion higher than a 2020 estimate,
largely because of inflation. Included is almost $1.2 billion
to offset local harms and environmental damage, such as impacts
on salmon and rare fish that state officials have called
“potentially significant.” The goal of the project is to
collect and deliver more water to two-thirds of California’s
population and 750,000 acres of farmland during
wet periods … But environmental groups and many
Delta residents have long warned that the tunnel could put the
imperiled Delta ecosystem at even greater risk, sapping
freshwater flows needed for fish, farms and communities in the
region.
Policymakers say they’re getting closer to an agreement between
seven Western states on how to manage the Colorado River in the
future. But details from those closed-door negotiations have
been limited. Utah’s top water negotiator said states have met
“three or four times” since they split into two factions and
put out competing proposals back in March. Gene Shawcroft
didn’t give specifics but said they’re making progress on a
strategy to share water after 2026, when the current river
management plan expires. “I think the commitment level to stay
together on a seven state proposal is significantly higher now
than it was a few weeks ago,” he said. It does not appear
likely that Shawcroft and his allies are willing to back off
from a proposal to send less water downstream to California,
Arizona and Nevada each year.
Land subsidence remains the biggest issue in the new state
regulation of groundwater. The state Water Board reports that
subsidence measured as much as 7 feet just east of Corcoran
between June 2015 and January 2024. Groundwater pumping west of
Highway 99 has caused the land to sink at least 4 to 5 feet
according to a DWR database. The worry here is the collapse of
water delivering infrastructure. Tulare Lake farmers have been
asked to install metering on their pumps 90 days after the
decision to put the GSA on probation which was made April 16.
That means by mid-July pumpers must install metering as well as
begin reporting how much water they are extracting.
A water dispute between the United States and Mexico that goes
back decades is turning increasingly urgent in Texas
communities that rely on the Rio Grande. Their leaders are now
demanding the Mexican government either share water or face
cuts in U.S. aid. Sign up for the Climate Coach newsletter and
get advice for life on our changing planet, in your inbox every
Tuesday. In a deepening diplomatic conflict, Mexico is behind
in obligations under an 80-year-old treaty that governs
cross-border flows of the drought-stricken Colorado River. It
has for decades resisted water deliveries to the United States
from its reservoirs in the Rio Grande basin as it faces its own
drought pressures on thirsty and valuable crops bound for sale
across the border. -Written by Scott Dance, reporter for The
Washington Post covering extreme weather news.
When the Wilton Rancheria tribe restored its control over a
77-acre parcel outside Sacramento recently, tribal Chairman
Jesus Tarango Jr. couldn’t stop smiling. … For years,
Tarango’s elders had fought to remain on their ancestral
territory in the Sacramento Valley, only to have the U.S.
government repeatedly renege on promises: Officials sold their
land to private buyers and even canceled their status as a
federally recognized tribe. … “Home” means something
different if you happen to be a descendant of the Miwok and
Nisenan tribes that lived on and watched over this part of
Northern California only to watch it fall into the hands of
outsiders, Tarango said. He describes his tribe as “a river
people.” They view the Cosumnes River and the many creeks that
rush over boulders and wind past wooded banks in their homeland
as sacred givers of life and sources of power. Those waters
flow through them too.
As the 2024 wildfire season approaches, experts predict a more
intense season than usual for the United States. Parts of
Lahaina, Maui are still recovering from last year’s
catastrophic fires and communities in parts of the U.S. are
already inhaling smoke from Canadian wildfires, the urgency to
understand and prepare for potential wildfire impacts has never
been greater. The National Interagency Fire Center’s
(NIFC) latest outlook suggests that significant wildfire
activity is expected across various regions, including portions
of southern California, parts of the Southwest, and the Pacific
Northwest. Factors contributing to this heightened risk include
prolonged drought conditions, higher-than-average temperatures,
and persistent winds.
In a region where many farm businesses plant, harvest and
process countless fresh vegetables nearly 365 days a year, it’s
no surprise that Monterey County, Calif., landed as one of Farm
Futures’ Best Places to Farm. … “It’s one of five or six
true Mediterranean climates in the world, so we can produce
fresh leafy greens, veg and berries almost year-round,” says
Norm Groot, executive director of the Monterey County Farm
Bureau. Growers here are highly specialized. Dole Food
Co., for example, has a team of people dedicated solely to
harvest; an average lettuce harvest crew has 35 people who can
harvest 2 acres a day. Growers must understand tricky state and
federal regulations, labor negotiations, and water
restrictions. Yet, they’re motivated by strong market prices
driven by dynamic domestic and global demand that fluctuates
quickly.
Two years ago, the Great Salt Lake became an omen for the risks
of climate change: The water level dropped to a record low,
threatening the ecosystem, economy and even the air quality of
the area around Salt Lake City, home to a majority of Utah’s
population. Now, after two unusually wet winters and a series
of conservation measures, the lake has gained about six feet.
Despite that increase the lake is still below the minimum
levels considered healthy. And environmentalists and
policymakers are concerned that the increase might reduce the
pressure to save the lake. “I worry about complacency,” said
Bonnie Baxter, director of the Great Salt Lake Institute at
Westminster University. “We need to really be cautious about
being optimistic.” Increased water levels in the lake are
primarily the result of higher-than-normal snowfall, according
to Hayden Mahan, a meteorologist with the National Weather
Service in Salt Lake City.
Spring is in full swing, with warm weather providing prime
conditions for enjoying the outdoors in California. But it also
brings safety concerns. Warm temperatures and an
above-average snowpack can combine to produce deadly
incidents on the state’s rivers and streams. Recent flows are
fueled by meltwater from California’s snowpack, which was just
above average on April 1. While flood risk is generally lower
than with last year’s 2023’s behemoth snowpack, there are still
safety concerns this year. “The peak snowmelt season is April,
May, June,” said Andy Reising, manager of the snow surveys and
water supply forecasting unit of the California Department of
Water Resources. … Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke
closed access to the Merced and San Joaquin rivers Monday,
following recent deadly incidents.
The city of San Juan Bautista is set to receive upwards of
$12.5 million in funding from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture to improve wastewater infrastructure, announced
U.S. Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren. The city will receive a
combination of grants and low-cost federal loans from a
specific program that supports clean drinking water systems and
proper disposal, the Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grants
program. San Juan Bautista will receive a loan of nearly
$10.3 million and a grant of just over $2.2 million.
A nasty storm is brewing over the meteorological heart of Los
Angeles. A decision by government forecasters to relocate
downtown L.A.’s official weather observation station from USC
to Dodger Stadium is generating extreme heat and wind gusts
from some local climate experts. They insist the move will cast
fog on local efforts to document the effects of climate change.
“It contaminates the record,” said Jan Null, a veteran
California meteorologist who runs the Golden Gate Weather
Service. “It changes the ballgame.” The station — a curious
array of poles, metal boxes and shiny cylinders that weather
wonks know affectionately as “KCQT” — is slated to move from
USC to the Los Angeles Fire Department’s training center on the
south side of the stadium in Elysian Park on Monday. The last
time the key monitoring station moved was 25 years ago.
In today’s globalized world, ensuring that Americans can depend
on local food production is more critical than ever. The
California Farm Water Coalition, dedicated to raising awareness
about the connection between farm water and our food supply,
has released three educational fact sheets shedding light on
the water needed to produce the food Californians consume
daily, and the risk we face from unsustainable foreign food
production. California’s population of 39 million requires
a staggering 11.3 trillion gallons of water annually to grow
enough food and fiber to meet its needs, as described in the
fact sheet, “Where Does Farm Water Go?”. However, current water
supplies fall short, leaving a gap of 38 percent between the
water used to grow our food and the demand on food production
by the state’s population.
Hundreds of new mining claims have been staked within the
community of Amargosa Valley, Nevada, on thousands of acres
directly adjacent to Death Valley National Park. These new
mining claims, documented here for the first time, are staked
above groundwater aquifers that feed the springs at Furnace
Creek in Death Valley National Park and provide drinking water
to the Timbisha Shoshone Reservation. Furnace Creek hosts the
park’s visitor center, hotels and other tourist amenities.
… The new claims were filed by Canadian-based Rover
Critical Minerals and follow a year of controversy over claims
filed near Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge just a few
miles away. The company’s proposed mining project in that area
sparked a lawsuit that led to the withdrawal of
project approval and prompted efforts to secure a mineral
withdrawal within the Amargosa Valley area.
San Diego’s identity is inextricably tied to its coastline, a
widely cherished wonder that is in a constant state of change.
Depending on one’s perspective, the region’s seashore has been
enhanced or diminished by human endeavors for generations, all
the while being shaped by natural forces. Those elements
currently are coming together in a big way, changing — or
potentially changing — the San Diego coast. Numerous
projects touch on issues involving coastal protection and
access, climate change and sea-level rise, and public safety
and transportation. Most have touched off familiar conflicts of
varying intensity. Some of the projects are completed or
will be soon, while others are years away or still on the
bubble. Taken collectively, the changes could be
transformational. -Written by Michael Smolens, columnist for the San
Diego Union-Tribune.
California’s weather was made for demagogues. For as long as
records have been kept, the state has typically experienced a
series of dry years followed by a series of wet years. The
weather lines up conveniently with election cycles. A few years
of drought will prompt an excitable politician to declare that
projections clearly show the end of the world is upon us unless
California takes immediate action. Depending on the
circumstances, that action can be the election of that
politician to office, or re-election to office, or an
oppressive law that takes effect after the perpetrators are out
of office, or voter approval of borrowed money for an
overpriced project that might be a state-of-the-art boondoggle.
In 2018, as Gov. Jerry Brown prepared to head into the sunset
of his colorful political career, he signed two new laws that
imposed permanent drought-emergency restrictions on the people
of California. -Written by Susan Shelley, columnist with the LA Daily
News.
In August 2022, amidst a severe drought, the State Water Board
ordered ranchers and farmers in Siskiyou County to cease
irrigation. Initially facing fines starting at $500 per
day, escalating to $10,000 after 20 days or a hearing, they
chose to continue irrigating due to economic pressures.
This decision led to a significant reduction in the
Shasta River’s flow, endangering local salmon populations. The
incident underscored the State Water Board’s limited
enforcement capabilities and the minor penalties for water
rights violations compared to water quality infringements.
As a result, there is now proposed legislation aimed at
empowering the State Water Board to enforce water rights more
effectively and impose deterrent fines for violations.
Navigating California’s complex water rights landscape has
always been contentious.
California regulators have decided to ban fishing for chinook
salmon on the state’s rivers for a second year in a row, in
effort to help the species recover from major population
declines. The unanimous vote by the California Fish and Game
Commission on Wednesday follows a similar decision last month
to prohibit salmon fishing along the California coast this
year. The decision will shut down the recreational salmon
fishing season along the Sacramento, American, Feather,
Mokulumne, Klamath and Trinity rivers, among others. State
officials have said salmon are struggling because
of factors such as reduced river flows during the
severe drought from 2020-2022, the effects of climate
change, harmful algae blooms, and shifts in the species’
ocean diet. Fishing advocates blamed Gov. Gavin Newsom and
his administration, arguing that the state has been sending too
much water to farms and cities, and depriving rivers of the
cold flows salmon need to survive.
Governor Gavin Newsom’s May Revision of the state budget plan
released on May 10, aims to address a “sizable deficit” of
roughly $56 billion into 2026. The multi-billion-dollar deficit
is in stark contrast to the $97.5 billion budget surplus that
Newsom projected in the 2022-23 state budget. Several budget
cuts, amounting to over $30 billion were announced, including a
$500 million cut to water storage projects. These discretionary
spending cuts delay certain funding sources for water-storage
projects such as the planned Sites Reservoir north of
Sacramento. While funding awarded under Proposition 1 — a
voter-approved 2014 ballot initiative to support various water
projects — will not be affected by the budget crisis, the
California Farm Bureau explained in a press release that $500
million in discretionary funding to support the project would
be cut.
Colorado lawmakers gave the thumbs-up to 10 water measures this
year that will bring millions of dollars in new funding to help
protect streams, bring oversight to construction activities in
wetlands and rivers, make commercial rainwater harvesting
easier and support efforts to restore the clarity of Grand
Lake. Money for water conservation, planning and projects was a
big winner, with some $50 million approved, including $20
million to purchase the Shoshone water rights on the Colorado
River. Sen. Dylan Roberts, D-Frisco, chair of the Senate
Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee, expressed
gratitude for the legislature’s focus on water issues and for
funding the Shoshone purchase.
When Noah Williams was about a year old, his parents took him
on a fateful drive through the endless desert sagebrush of the
Owens Valley—which the Nüümü call Payahuunadü—in California’s
Eastern Sierra. Noah was strapped into his car seat behind his
mother, Teri Red Owl, and his father, Harry Williams, a Nüümü
tribal elder who loved a teachable moment. “Hey look—that’s our
water!” he liked to tell Noah whenever they drove past the
riffling cascades of the Los Angeles Aqueduct. … In a
state shaped by water grabs, drought emergencies, and “pray for
rain” billboards, Payahuunadü is the locus of
California’s most infamous water war—the fight
between Payahuunadü residents and the city of Los
Angeles, over 200 miles away. … Around 1904, Los Angeles city
officials came up with a plan to take the valley’s water for
themselves.
