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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Each year for the last 50, researchers from UC Davis have
boarded the Research Vessel John LeConte around midday and
slowly motored out into Lake Tahoe’s vast expanse. Somewhere in
the middle, they come to a stop, bobbing on the turquoise
surface. The researchers look over the side, down into one of
the deepest lakes in the world and drop a 10-inch white disk,
not much different than a dinner plate, into the water. …
Measurements taken for this year’s State of the Lake report
show a water clarity of just under 70 feet, roughly 30 feet
less than in 1960. Though researchers are cautiously
optimistic about that reading because it indicates clarity
levels are stabilizing after decades of decline, [Tahoe
Environmental Research Center Director Stephanie] Hampton said
plateauing is not the goal.
Colorado public health officials are tracking nine algae blooms
in reservoirs around the state, prompted in part by this
summer’s hot temperatures and low water levels. Colorado
officials warned of a busy season for toxic algae earlier this
summer, saying they might show up earlier than usual after a
record-poor winter ended a month early. … This summer’s
conditions have set the stage for rapid algae growth. Algae
love warm, stagnant, shallow water and higher concentrations of
nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, which can be found on
farms and in household products. … After a record-low
snowpack this winter, the spring snowmelt was earlier and less
than usual. That meant less water to refill reservoirs before
the summer irrigation season.
For three years the Sacramento River has been off limits to
salmon anglers, and the silence on the water said everything
about how bad things had gotten. That ended this week.
… The numbers behind the reopening are the encouraging
part. Restoration work has helped bring more than 21,000 salmon
back to spawn, and those fish produced an estimated 500,000
juveniles. Up near Redding, crews are dropping large rocks and
whole trees into the river to slow the current and build the
sheltered water where young salmon can put on size before
making the run to the Pacific. Roger Cornwell of the
Sacramento River Settlement Contractors described the goal
plainly: hold the fish longer so they leave bigger.
A dispute connected to water use at Castello di Amorosa was
settled this week with an announcement the Calistoga-area
winery, fashioned as a medieval-style castle, will study a Napa
River tributary stream located on its property. The winery and
Water Audit California, a local environmental watchdog,
announced in a joint statement Monday, July 13, they would
collaborate on a study of Nash Creek. The first phase of the
work will involve adding monitoring equipment to collect video
and data about creek conditions and track water use, according
to the statement. The Napa River watershed historically
supported thousands of Chinook and Coho salmon along with
steelhead trout, but those numbers have been greatly diminished
over the past century. Information gathered via the stream
study will “guide future habitat restoration and water
utilization,” according to the joint statement.
In the culmination of a process that has been years in the
making, Colorado officials Wednesday announced the creation of
a state-run water conservation program. In what officials are
calling a “near-term contribution program,” the Upper Basin
states (Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming) will
pay water users to voluntarily cut back in 2027 and 2028, using
$100 million in promised funding from the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation. Colorado will now join Utah and Wyoming
in setting up a conservation program within their respective
states. … These types of conservation programs have
traditionally targeted agricultural water users, often seen as
the low-hanging fruit for water savings because they use the
majority of Colorado River water. But
officials are hoping this program will have participation
across all water-use sectors, including municipal and
industrial.
San Diego leaders are calling for a renewed U.S.-Mexico-Canada
Agreement (USMCA) to includesolutions to the Tijuana River
sewage crisis. Their demand comes in response to President
Trump’s refusal earlier this month to renew the trade deal. At
a news conference Thursday in Otay Mesa, officials said the
president’s decision has created an opportunity for the
U.S. to strengthen the agreement. …The Trump
administration already has an agreement with Mexico that
promises to end the decades-long, cross-border pollution.
Adopted last year, Minute 333 lays out new wastewater
infrastructure and maintenance projects that each country must
take on by certain deadlines. … But San Diego
Assemblymember David Alvarez said those plans need the
enforcement and commitment that come with signing a trade
deal.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has downlisted the razorback
sucker from endangered to threatened, citing growth in fish
populations that the agency says has reduced the risk to the
species. The freshwater fish, which is native to the Colorado
River and the Grand Canyon, was first listed in 1991 after dams
on the river and other waterways in the Colorado River Basin
fractured its habitat and created conditions that hampered its
ability to reproduce. Non-native fish in the river
also contributed to losses to the species. … The fish
species still faces threats to its survival, the agency said,
including changes in river flows and habitat, changes in water
quality, drought and non-native species.
Tim York sees Aurora residents watering their lawns on those
extra days when they aren’t supposed to, even when their
illegal watering happens at 4 a.m. … This surveillance is
powered by smart water meters installed last year on homes in
Aurora. They transmit data every 15 minutes via cell signal.
York’s team automatically gets a spreadsheet each week of
thousands of likely outdoor watering violations. Humans verify
the data before sending warnings or fines. … Millions of
Coloradans remain under strict water restrictions because of
historic drought. Failing to conserve could mean empty
reservoirs, and even harsher restrictions. … But for all
the help computers are giving Aurora, its water future is still
in the hands of Mother Nature.
… As lake levels decline, Hoover Dam’s power generation
capacity decreases. Federal officials plan to cut the dam’s
output by up to 40 percent. Analysts warn that the reduction
will result in higher electric bills for families in the Las
Vegas Valley, compounding long-term concerns about the region’s
water supply. The declining lake levels formed the backdrop of
a more than four-hour Boulder City Council meeting Tuesday
night, where members debated the potential impact of a proposed
data center on the city’s water and power infrastructure. The
data center was approved at the federal level for Bureau of
Land Management-owned land within the city’s
jurisdiction. The council voted unanimously to appeal the
BLM’s approval of the data center, citing concerns that the
project could require the city’s local utilities and emergency
services.
Growers who farm within two miles of the Friant-Kern Canal in
southern Tulare County should be prepared for a pumping
moratorium as early as April 2027, water managers learned
Thursday. The move is part of Phase I of the state Water
Resources Control Board’s proposed pumping plan, which zeroes
in on damage to the canal caused by overpumping. The cost of
that damage already tops $797 million, according to a slide
presented Thursday. The severity of the state’s plan did not
surprise water managers, but the accelerated timeline did.
Congressman James Gallagher said several Northstate water and
infrastructure projects were included in the Water Resources
Development Act during a congressional committee meeting
Tuesday, July 14. … The bill includes $155 million for water
and wastewater upgrades across the Sacramento River Basin.
Gallagher’s office said the money would help improve water
quality, environmental restoration and long-term water
reliability. The bill also directs the Army Corps of
Engineers to use forecast-informed reservoir operations at
Shasta Dam. … Other projects included in the bill would
speed up a dam safety review at Black Butte Dam, provide $3.35
million to replace failing sewer mains in Robbins, and support
flood control work in Chico’s Five-Mile Basin.
El Niño is often portrayed as a predictable event that has the
same effect whenever it appears. In reality, however, the
effects of El Niño are not guaranteed. … Classic El
Niño years have historically meant wetter winters for the
Southwest and warmer, drier winters for the Pacific Northwest
and northern continental US. However, judging from the
occasional “drier than average” winters in the Southwest shown
in Figure 5, El Niño is complex and its outcomes are not
guaranteed. … During those periods of time when the
MJO [Madden-Julian Oscillation] is in its “enhancing phase,”
with respect to El Niño: we can expect more precipitation in
the Southwest U.S. (in the Lower Colorado Basin, certainly, but
… how far north into the Upper Basin this might extend is
anyone’s guess).
A community nonprofit opposed to the development of a lithium
mine and geothermal power plant in California’s arid Imperial
County asked a state Court of Appeal panel on Thursday to
reconsider their petition aimed at halting the development of
the project. Comite Civico del Valle argued to the panel the
Imperial County Board of Supervisors violated the California
Environmental Quality Act after it approved the project based
on a flawed and inadequate analysis of the project’s
environmental impacts in 2024. Attorney Doug Carstens
argued to the three-justice panel the project’s environmental
impact report overstated the water availability in Imperial
County and did not fully appreciate the impact the project
would have on an agricultural region that already suffers from
strained water resources.
The trunk line that ruptured early Thursday, sending thousands
of gallons of water rushing down Sunset Strip and surrounding
communities, was installed 110 years ago and has emerged as the
latest example of L.A.’s struggles to overhaul its aging water
system. The break was on a riveted steel pipe from 1916 that
forms the major arteries for water delivery from reservoirs and
tanks to smaller distribution mainlines across Los Angeles. The
section of the Sunset Trunk Line was slated to be replaced in
2031, according to the utility. … In 2019, the Los
Angeles Department of Water and Power said roughly 29% of the
city’s pipes were over 80 years old, approaching their typical
lifespan of 100 years. Utilities have been struggling to
keep the system going, given funds are limited for any kind of
major overhaul of the aging pipes.
A critical year is ahead for the nation’s two largest
reservoirs, with no relief after a record-low snowpack
and a continuing drought. A comment posted on
the Colorado River Basin’s Facebook page Wednesday
morning might have said it best: “Not enough water in the
Monsoons to help. There’s only 2 things that can save Mead and
Powell right now: 150 percent Colorado Rockies snow pack for 5
consecutive years, or God himself.” Projections released
Wednesday show Lake Mead dropping to the lowest
levels seen since Hoover Dam was built in the 1930s,
falling to 1,035.86 feet in November. That’s about 6½ feet
lower than Lake Mead’s level today at noon — 1,042.52 feet.
Lake Mead is the nation’s largest reservoir,
butit’s currently at 27% capacity.
A court ruling is prompting San Diego to propose new water
rates that eliminate discounts for conservation — requiring
rate hikes for low-volume users and cheaper water for
high-volume users. But the rate hikes for low-volume users are
smaller than previously estimated, because plaintiffs in the
court case agreed to a $40 million settlement — despite the
courts awarding them $118 million. Another factor allowing
the city to soften the proposed hikes: Costs for wholesale
water are shrinking, thanks to the County Water Authority
securing deals to sell excess supply to water agencies in
Riverside County. The court ruling against the city is
having a major impact across California by
casting doubt on the rate structures of all water agencies that
reward conservation — nearly every water agency in the
state.
A ballot measure that would overhaul one of
California’s most powerful and controversial environmental
laws has a commanding lead less than three months
before voters begin casting ballots in the statewide November
election. Proposition 45, which would make substantial changes
to the California Environmental Quality Act, has the support
73% of likely voters, with 24% opposed and 4% undecided,
according to a poll released Wednesday evening by the Public
Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan research group in
San Francisco. If approved by a majority of voters, the measure
would set a 365-day limit on environmental reviews for a range
of projects, including new reservoirs, desalination
plants, forest thinning to reduce wildfire risk,
apartments, housing subdivisions, roads, bridges, public
transit, hospitals, solar farms, wind farms and battery storage
facilities.
The state program that helps bring solutions for Californians
with contaminated drinking water is facing a major drop in
funding. At a meeting in Sacramento last week, state officials
presented estimates that grant money to help communities get
clean drinking water, including by drilling new wells or
connecting to nearby water systems, could fall from
$941 million in the current fiscal year to about $103 million
in 2027-28. Both state and federal funds are going
away. Some at the meeting called it a looming “fiscal cliff.”
On a summer afternoon in the Sierra Nevada, a mountain pond can
look calm and still, reflecting granite peaks and alpine sky.
But beneath the surface, these small, shallow waters are
anything but stable. In fact, they are among the most thermally
variable aquatic ecosystems on Earth, with water temperatures
sometimes swinging more than 20°C (68°F) in a single day.
According to new research published in the journal Ecosphere,
the force driving much of that variability begins months
earlier: winter snowfall. The study found that
snowpack largely determines how mountain ponds function during
the summer, influencing water temperature, nutrient levels and
the abundance of tiny aquatic animals that support the rest of
the food web.
The contamination of a Cheyenne water system by a Meta data
center underscores the worries residents have about more than
two-dozen data centers that are and could be consuming
Wyoming’s energy, water and landscape. Water
officials announced in June that they had traced an unusual and
dangerous bacterium called Cupriavidus gilardii, which can
sicken people, to an industrial user first identified by the
Wyoming Tribune Eagle as a contractor for a Meta data center.
Pinpointing the source of contamination came months after the
discovery of the bacterium in late February. … As
Wyoming communities grapple with a surge of rural zoning
changes to enable construction of data center computer
warehouses and offices, the pollution raises questions about
developers’ and tech companies’ assurances.
