A collection of top water news from around California and the West compiled each weekday. Send any comments or article submissions to Foundation Writer Matt Jenkins.
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The headlines below are the original headlines used in the publication cited at the time they are posted here and do not reflect the stance of the Water Education Foundation, an impartial nonprofit that remains neutral.
One of the seven elected board members of Silicon Valley’s
largest water agency was censured for misconduct Tuesday in a
unanimous vote by her colleagues, the latest in a series of
clashes that have marked her four-year tenure in office as she
seeks another term from voters next Tuesday. By a 6-0 vote, the
Santa Clara Valley Water District board of directors censured
Rebecca Eisenberg and prohibited her from serving on any board
committees. It was the second such censure vote board members
have taken against Eisenberg, the other coming in 2024.
… Two weeks ago, Eisenberg was removed from the dais by
security during a water district board meeting when she began
shouting that the other six board members had a vendetta
against her and she refused to yield the floor after her 5
minutes of allotted speaking time expired.
Conservationists across Wyoming are turning to an unlikely
source of inspiration to help combat wildfires, reduce
flooding, and restore natural habitats: beavers. Known as
Beaver Dam Analogs (BDAs), these human-made structures mimic
the effects of natural beaver dams by slowing moving water,
raising water levels and helping restore wetlands and streams.
… Constructed using natural materials such as wooden posts,
branches and vegetation, BDAs are designed to slow water flow
and encourage moisture to spread into surrounding soil and
vegetation. By retaining water in the landscape, these
structures can help create wetter, healthier environments that
may be more resistant to wildfire. They can also slow
runoff during heavy rainfall or snowmelt, potentially reducing
downstream flooding and erosion.
Montecito Water District’s Board of Directors has approved a
non-binding Letter of Intent to sell approximately 40% of the
District’s State Water contract interests. The MWD will keep
nearly 60% of its State Water Contract interests, or
approximately 1,900 acre-feet of annual water allocation, and
the capacity to convey, store, and transfer water, if the sale
succeeds. At the District’s September Board meeting, MWD
General Manager Nick Turner presented information on the State
Water Project and the partial sale opportunity. Data shared
showed that the MWD has received its full annual State Water
Project allocation only five times since participation started
in 1997. “The MWD currently pays about $5 million annually
in fixed costs regardless of whether the allocation is 100% or
0%,” Turner explained. “If there is water available and we
deliver it, that cost increases.”
The federal government is accelerating development and testing
of technologies to remove and destroy PFAS, the persistent
chemicals that have contaminated drinking water in Colorado and
across the country. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
announced its first agency-wide strategy on Monday in Commerce
City, where a new $86 million treatment plant illustrates the
expense communities face in removing the chemicals.
… The initiative calls for research funding, pilot
projects at Superfund sites, military bases, wastewater plants
and drinking-water systems, as well as technical guidance for
local utilities. It will emphasize partnerships with states,
universities and private companies, rather than new regulatory
mandates.
Rivers can look normal on the surface and still be running dry
underneath. Streamflow drought happens when rivers and streams
drop below normal levels for weeks or months, shaped by
snowpack, groundwater, and reservoir operations as much as by
rainfall, which is why it can persist even after the rain
returns. Until now, water managers had little advance notice of
it. River DroughtCast, a new machine learning tool developed by
the US Geological Survey, changes that: it forecasts streamflow
drought one to thirteen weeks ahead at thousands of sites
across the United States, each forecast paired with an explicit
measure of uncertainty. It is the first operational tool of its
kind to combine multiple drought intensities and forecast
horizons at national scale. We spoke with John Hammond, the
research hydrologist who led its development, about how the
model was built, what it can and cannot yet do, and where it is
headed next.
Salinity is already affecting the Central Valley’s water
supplies, agricultural lands, and communities. It has forced
the retirement of hundreds of thousands of acres in the
Westlands Water District and other areas. In the Tulare Lake
Basin, farmers have relied on active evaporation basins and
Integrated Farm Drainage Management Systems to capture and
contain saline drainage water. However, these interim measures
do not provide a valley-wide solution, and a long-term salinity
management plan has yet to be implemented. If left unchecked,
salt accumulation could impair millions of acres of productive
farmland, reduce food production, and constrain the growth of
Central Valley communities. At its October 6 meeting, the State
Water Board received an update on efforts to address salinity
through CV-SALTS, which includes separate salt and nitrate
management programs.
The news business, if you haven’t heard, is a mess. Against the
worrisome backdrop of a steep drop in newsroom jobs, 38 climate
and environment reporters gathered at Flathead Lake Biological
Station, in Montana, in early October for two days of in-depth
talks. Representing big metro dailies, national print and radio
outlets, and nonprofit pioneers, we had an impossibly large
task: discuss the future of climate journalism.
… Organized by the Institute for Journalism and Natural
Resources, the convening was part graduate seminar, part
brainstorming session, part group therapy. It was an
opportunity for frank conversations about the impediments to
covering a gargantuan story that touches everything. Above all,
what business models will sustain it?
After an epically dry winter and a tense summer for the
Colorado River, the autumn has delivered a rare boost to one of
its most iconic stretches. In recent days, heavy rains pushed
Colorado River flows through the Grand Canyon to their highest
levels in years. The rains, which also caused flooding and
destruction in communities throughout the Four Corners region,
provided a crucial slug of water to the Grand Canyon’s
unique ecosystems. River scientists are still
gathering precise information about the exact volume of water
surging through the river, but experts estimate flows reached
at least 21,000 cubic feet per second. According to the U.S.
Geological Survey’s measuring station above Diamond Creek, that
marks the highest rate of flow since April 2023, when
water managers deliberately sent a massive, sudden burst of
water through the canyon.
Scientists today say we’re just beginning to understand
the harm that the tiny bits of plastic we drink, eat
and breathe are doing to the human body. But recently
discovered chemical company documents dating back several
decades show that industry scientists have long been aware of —
and concerned about — the way microplastic particles
migrate beyond the gut in animals and humans, depositing in
important organs. … [T]heir presence has become
concern enough among health officials, lawmakers and
researchers that in 2018, California passed a
law requiring the state’s water agency to define, test
for, and report the particles in drinking water. The
Trump administration, averse to most regulation, announced
earlier this year that the EPA would begin tackling
them in drinking water as well.
Iron County is moving ahead with new regulations for
data centers in the southwestern Utah county — months
after passing a temporary moratorium on the controversial
projects. The Iron County Commission unanimously approved the
new rules during a meeting in Cedar City on Monday after
hearing from residents for more than an hour. Notably,
the new rules do not set hard limits on water use for
data centers. Instead, data center sites that would
use more than 50,000 gallons of water per day would have
to submit a plan to prove the additional water use
won’t harm the aquifer. … In another vote
Monday, the commission repealed the previous moratorium on data
centers, with no debate. Commissioners took public comment
before voting Monday and heard from residents who were
concerned about noise pollution, air quality, water
use and the longtime environmental effect of data
centers.
Winter and spring storms can bring a deluge of rain to Sonoma
County, swallowing vineyards and turning low-lying areas into a
network of lakes and ponds. While the sight of a flooded
vineyard may be worrisome, the dormant grapevines
typically remain unaffected, their roots requiring
little oxygen or nutrients while growth is suspended.
But what happens if the rain keeps
coming? … Despite the potential risks,
heavy rains help irrigate the vines deep beneath the soil,
which is beneficial in the long term, added [Balletto Vineyards
founder John] Balletto. To prepare for impending storms, his
team is currently installing erosion controls in
flood-prone areas. … Jackson Family Wines has
largely continued its usual operations leading up to winter,
but [vice president of farming Scott] Welch took a
precautionary step in mid-July, instructing his team to
stop replenishing some reservoirs in anticipation of El
Niño.
In 1884, a group of ranchers from Redlands rode up over 5,000
feet of elevation into the mountains to their north,
where they built a rock dam to collect water for
agriculture. … But in recent years, the lake
has been plagued by drought-fueled low water
levels, followed by short recovery stints after heavy
winter storms, making it a prime example of the climate
change-fueled whiplash that’s being experienced across
California. … The water issues are hard to spot from the
docks. After all, Big Bear Valley is centered around a giant,
gleaming blue body of water. But that water is
technically still owned by the successors of those 19th-century
ranchers. The mountain communities, meanwhile, rely
entirely on local groundwater fed by precipitation.
… Now, the mountain community is in the early
stages of an $88.6 million plan to keep its wastewater
local.
While lawyers for Arizona and Nevada square off against the
federal government in a Las Vegas federal courtroom, Imperial
Valley farmers are already calculating how much less water the
All-American Canal will deliver to their fields. … For
Imperial County, California’s 440,000-acre-foot annual
reduction is not an abstract number. The Imperial
Irrigation District holds the single largest entitlement on the
river, roughly 3.1 million acre-feet, much of it under senior
Present Perfected Rights dating to the early 20th century.
Nearly all of that water irrigates the half-million
acres of farmland that make the Valley one of the nation’s most
productive agricultural regions. Winter vegetable
crops, alfalfa, and other commodities depend entirely on
Colorado River diversions; there is no meaningful
groundwater alternative.
Salmon habitat and flood protection rarely show up on the same
project list, but the latest round of restoration work planned
for the Tuolumne River promises both. Three more projects are
in the works to benefit Tuolumne salmon, including one that
eases flood risk in west Modesto. The river’s major water
diverters are getting help on them from River Partners, a
nonprofit that has restored floodplains around California.
Those diverters are the Modesto Irrigation District, the
Turlock Irrigation District and the San Francisco Public
Utilities Commission, which together committed $80 million of
their own money to habitat work on the lower Tuolumne. River
Partners leads the team of biologists and ecologists behind it,
and the goal by 2030 is 77 acres of floodplain rearing habitat
and roughly 100,000 tons of added gravel.
Invasive golden mussels continue to spread through California
waterways, increasing concerns about damage to water
infrastructure, threats to agriculture and rising
costs for boaters and communities. The issue was the focus of a
public discussion Monday in Stockton, where Rep. Josh Harder
and Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom discussed efforts to contain
the mussels and limit their spread. Stockton was where
golden mussels were first detected in California more than two
years ago. ”It continues to be where we have the
biggest problem with golden mussels across our state,” Harder
said. … Harder’s bill would establish a
rapid-response program, expand inspection stations and
support research into ways to eradicate the mussels.
The legislation received a congressional hearing last
month but still needs approval before it can take
effect.
… Protected and restored by the Nature Conservancy, Cosumnes
River Preserve is south of Sacramento along I-5. The last
undammed, free-flowing river originating in the Sierra Nevada
is one of California’s richest wildlife areas. The cranes
migrate into the Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta and the
surrounding Central Valley each winter, arriving from far
northern nesting grounds, seeking refuge and food. The
migration has been repeating for thousands of years.
… From its source in the Sierra Nevada counties of El
Dorado and Amador, the Cosumnes watershed comprises 940 square
miles from the Sierra crest to the Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta. … Uniquely undammed, the Cosumnes’ winter floods
still spread across the floodplain, naturally recharging the
groundwater. Native forests regenerate. Salmon still spawn.
At the urging of Gov. Gavin Newsom, California water officials
have been working with a group of agencies for years on a
far-reaching plan to protect the rivers that nourish the
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The
Newsom administration is seeking an arrangement in which urban
and agricultural suppliers across the state agree to
take less water from California rivers, and help restore river
habitat, in exchange for more flexibility using water and
meeting regulations. … But even as the governor has
made finalizing what’s called the Bay Delta Plan a priority
before he leaves office in January, the state’s negotiations
with the water agencies appear to have come up short.
The State Water Resources Control Board is scheduled to
adopt the plan this week, yet water providers up and
down the state are taking issue with it, many saying it isn’t
the collaborative deal they were promised.
Arizona’s historic legal fight over Colorado River water is
drawing a warning from one of the Trump administration’s top
officials, even as an Arizona congressman defends the state’s
decision to take the federal government to court. U.S. Interior
Secretary Doug Burgum cautioned that the lawsuit could
backfire on a state already facing significant cuts to its
Colorado River water supply. ”The last thing that
Arizona should want to do is have a judge decide where the
water is going to go,” Burgum said during a visit to southern
Arizona earlier this week. … Burgum, who oversees the
Department of the Interior and its Bureau of Reclamation,
disputes the legal basis for the lawsuit. “I
think that the lawsuit will get tossed out because you can’t be
injured in theory,” Burgum said.
Communities in southwestern Colorado and the Four Corners
region that faced devastating floods this week will get
a break Monday from the storm system that forced evacuations
and damaged homes. Gov. Jared Polis declared a
disaster emergency for 12 counties due to flooding in
much of southern Colorado. The floods have caused
helicopter rescues, destroyed bridges and closed roads while
rain has continued to fall since Wednesday. Southwestern
Colorado had received about 3 to 7 inches of
rain, according to the NWS office in Grand Junction,
which monitors conditions across the Western Slope. All of
that rain flows downhill into the San Juan
River, which drains rivers and streams in southwestern
Colorado into the Colorado River. …
Meteorologists expect to see the river to peak at about 29.5
feet early Monday morning
San Bernardino County has partnered with a Cadiz Inc. affiliate
to establish a public financing authority that could
advance the company’s controversial Mojave Desert groundwater
pipeline project, which has faced years of
environmental opposition and litigation. The San Bernardino
Water and Power Authority announced its formation Monday, Oct.
19, following an inaugural meeting on Oct. 5. The county Board
of Supervisors unanimously approved the joint powers agreement
with Fenner Gap Mutual Water Co., the Cadiz affiliate, on April
21. The partnership marks another potentially significant
development for Cadiz, which has spent decades trying
to bring its groundwater in the Cadiz and Fenner valleys, near
Amboy, to Southern California communities despite
fears that pumping could dry up natural springs and damage
fragile desert ecosystems.
