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.
Subscribe to our weekday emails to have news delivered to your inbox at about 9 a.m. Monday through Friday except for holidays.
Please Note: Some of the sites we link to may limit the number of stories you can access without subscribing. Also, 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.
This current, remarkably average water year – not last year’s
barn burner – will be the true test to see how well
groundwater agencies are rejuvenating the San Joaquin Valley’s
withered aquifers, longtime water managers say. Yes, 2023’s
historic wet year did a lot to help groundwater levels rebound
in many parts of the valley. And the numbers were impressive:
453,000 acre feet of floodwater was captured for storage,
according to the state’s most recent semi-annual groundwater
report released this month. The valley captured 91% of the
state’s annual managed recharge, about 3.8 million acre
feet. Groundwater levels rose in 52% of monitoring wells
and stayed level in 44%. An area of about 800 square miles
saw ground uplift, 40 times more than uplifted in
2018-2022. But the state report notes even a record
breaking wet year isn’t enough to refill the aquifers and
groundwater deficit persists.
New predictions for the summer season, released by NOAA’s
Climate Prediction Center this week, show weather is likely to
heat up in almost every corner of the United States. The
forecast, which covers June, July and August, indicates nearly
every U.S. state with leaning toward a hotter-than-normal
summer season. The highest chances are found out West, where
Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and parts of Colorado have a 60% to
70% chance of above-average temperatures over the next three
months. … That could create drought conditions in a
region that isn’t faring too poorly now, but has struggled
with extreme drought in recent years. To make matters worse,
we’re heading into a La Niña pattern by late summer.
La Niña years are associated with drought conditions for the
southern half of the country, including Southern California and
the Southwest.
The former general manager of a San Joaquin Valley water
district, accused by federal prosecutors of carrying out one of
the most audacious and long-running water heists in California
history, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a version of the crime far
more muted than what prosecutors had laid out in their original
indictment. As part of a plea agreement negotiated with
prosecutors, Dennis Falaschi, 78, former longtime head of the
Panoche Water District, appeared in a Fresno federal courtroom
and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to steal water
from the government and one count of filing a false tax return.
The plea deal is a jarring twist in a case that has captivated
farmers in the San Joaquin Valley. In 2022, prosecutors accused
Falaschi of masterminding the theft of more than $25 million
worth of water out of a federal irrigation canal over the
course of two decades and selling it to farmers and other water
districts.
California’s freshwater ecosystems—and the native plants and
animals that rely on them—have been in decline for decades.
Roughly half of California’s native freshwater species are
highly vulnerable to extinction within this century. But
efforts to protect and recover native species now face an
additional serious threat: climate change, which is
accelerating and compounding the impacts of past and current
land and water management issues. Simply working harder, using
the same insufficient approaches to conservation, is unlikely
to be successful. New approaches, including some that are
experimental or highly controversial, are urgently needed.
Although California has recently made important strides in
setting goals for salmon, the state lacks a comprehensive
approach to protecting native biodiversity in the face of
climate change. We have identified a portfolio of actions that
can help California rise to this urgent challenge.
The defense lawyer minced no words as he addressed a room full
of plastic-industry executives. Prepare for a wave of lawsuits
with potentially “astronomical” costs. Speaking at a
conference earlier this year, the lawyer, Brian Gross, said the
coming litigation could “dwarf anything related to asbestos,”
one of the most sprawling corporate-liability battles in United
States history. Mr. Gross was referring to PFAS, the “forever
chemicals” that have emerged as one of the major pollution
issues of our time. Used for decades in countless everyday
objects — cosmetics, takeout containers, frying pans — PFAS
have been linked to serious health risks including cancer. Last
month the federal government said several types of PFAS must be
removed from the drinking water of hundreds of millions of
Americans.
“Planned export is 4,500 acre-feet”—that is the
much-anticipated decision from Los Angeles on water diversions
from the Mono Basin this year. This means Los Angeles
Department of Water & Power (DWP) diversions will not increase
from last year, even though existing rules would allow DWP to
quadruple their exports from the Mono Basin. This is good news
for Mono Lake, because the decision will help preserve the five
feet of recent wet year lake level gains. Thanks and credit for
this decision go to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass for her
leadership, city council and agency leaders, community leaders
for speaking up for environmental sustainability, and citywide
investment in water resilience such as stormwater capture and
other local water conservation measures. It follows a request
by the Mono Lake Committee and a diverse coalition of
supporters in March to not increase diversions.
On May 23, 2024, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a
published opinion in Natural Resources Defense Council et al.
v. Debra Haaland et al. (Case No. 21-15163) (“NRDC v. Haaland”)
rejecting the plaintiffs’ challenges to the federal
environmental review of certain long-term water supply
contracts for the Central Valley Project (“CVP”). Specifically,
the Ninth Circuit held that the Bureau of Reclamation
(“Reclamation”), Fish & Wildlife Service (“FWS”), and National
Marine Fisheries Service (“NMFS”) complied with the Endangered
Species Act (“ESA”) in evaluating the effects of executing and
implementing these contracts on listed species. The opinion is
the latest development in a nearly 20-year-old case that is in
its second round of review by the Ninth Circuit. The Sacramento
River Settlement Contractors (“Settlement Contractors”) are
agricultural, municipal, and industrial water users who hold
senior water rights to the Sacramento River. Downey Brand
represents a large group of Settlement Contractors in this
case.
We often talk about water infrastructure as it relates to
reservoirs, aqueducts, levees, and other means of water storage
and flood protection. But California’s water infrastructure
isn’t just made of concrete. Floodplain restoration is fast
becoming a key part of California’s water puzzle. Dos Rios
Ranch Preserve – near Modesto at the confluence of the Tuolumne
and San Joaquin Rivers – became Dos Rios Ranch State Park in
April, and officially opens to the public in June. It’s
California’s newest state park, and the first since 2014. It’s
what’s known as a multi-benefit project; Dos Rios supports
wildlife from fish to birds, is a place for recreation, and
also a place for floodwater to go during wet winters.
A settlement agreement obtained by SJV Water shows the longtime
attorney for the Kern County Water Agency was paid $640,000
when she was fired in March. The agency voted to fire Attorney
Amelia Minaberrigarai after a March 18 special meeting. She had
just three months left on her contract. The agency stated she
was not fired for cause, which meant she was entitled to be
paid for the remaining months on her contract, or about
$80,000. Instead, she received $640,000 in exchange for not
suing the agency, according to the settlement agreement. The
agency also agreed to treat Minaberrigarai as a “retiring
employee,” meaning she was also paid for any sick or vacation
time she had banked.
More than 30 people attended a protest hearing hosted by the
San Mateo Local Agency Formation Commission on Wednesday to
voice their disapproval of a city of East Palo Alto decision to
take over running the sewage district, saying the change will
increase sewer rates and diminish the personal and prompt
service they currently receive. In November 2023, LAFCo
voted unanimously to move management of the East Palo Alto
Sanitary District, an independent sewer service established in
1939 under the purview of the city as a district, subjecting it
to new rules and regulations. The city says the proposal will
have no effect on sewer services. Community members claim that
if the city takes over, yearly sewer rates may double, rising
from about $600 to over $1,300 per year.
The 1950s cruise ship Aurora has now sat partially submerged in
the California Delta near Stockton for two days, but questions
have risen concerning the ownership of the nearly 300-foot
vessel. In a news release from the United States Coast Guard on
Wednesday, the ownership of the ship was mentioned as having
recently changed hands. The Aurora was purchased in
2008 by a man named Chris Willson, who had been working to
restore the ship with the intention of using it as a wedding
venue, event center or museum, according to previous interviews
and articles about the ship. One of the reasons the USCG
noted the recent change in ownership is due to there being no
clear answer as to how much pollutants may be onboard the ship.
Environmental activists have opened a new front in their
long-running fight against a company that pipes water from the
San Bernardino Mountains and bottles it for sale as Arrowhead
brand bottled water. In a petition to the state, several
environmental groups and local activists called for an
investigation by the California Department of Fish and
Wildlife, arguing that the company BlueTriton Brands is harming
wildlife habitat and species by extracting water that would
otherwise flow in Strawberry Creek. Those who oppose the taking
of water from San Bernardino National Forest want the state
agency to assess the environmental effects and uphold
protections under state law, said Rachel Doughty, a lawyer for
the environmental nonprofit Story of Stuff Project.
The 5th District Court of Appeal denied a petition Friday to
rehear the court’s earlier decision to put a hold on a Kern
County court’s order that had required the City of Bakersfield
keep enough water in the Kern River for fish to survive. Both
plaintiffs in the action have said they will likely petition
the California Supreme Court to review the 5th District’s
ruling. … Keeping enough water in the river for fish,
Keats noted, would be more cost effective. Bakersfield does
want water in the river, said its attorney Colin Pearce. But it
only has so much to give. “The city has been trying to get
water in the river for decades,” Pearce said. “The fight is
really between the water districts, who have more water than
the city, and the plaintiffs, who want more water in the
river.”
Federal agencies and California farmers fended off a challenge
by environmentalists seeking greater protections for several
vulnerable fish species, as an appeals court Thursday upheld
the handling of long-disputed irrigation water contracts. In
the latest round of a fight that’s dragged on for decades and
isn’t over yet, a three-judge panel of the Ninth U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals determined that the Biden administration
properly considered the impact of the irrigation water
deliveries on the delta smelt and Chinook salmon. Both species
are protected by the Endangered Species Act.
California is recognized as one of the world’s hotspots of
biodiversity, with more species of plants and animals than any
other state. And a significant number of the state’s species,
from frogs to birds, live in habitats that depend on
groundwater. … Spotting threats to vulnerable natural areas
has become a mission for Melissa Rohde, a hydrologist who has
spent years analyzing satellite data and water levels in wells
to come up with strategies for preventing ecosystems from being
left high and dry. … California is the only state with a
groundwater law that includes provisions intended to protect
groundwater-dependent ecosystems. But the law, adopted in 2014,
gives considerable leeway to local agencies in developing water
management plans that prevent “significant and unreasonable
adverse impacts.”
After more than a year of collecting test results for toxic
“forever chemicals,” the Environmental Protection Agency
says almost 300 of America’s public drinking water
systems – including some that serve hundreds of thousands
of people – exceeded newly established annual limits. That
means these water utilities may need to start filtering their
water or find new sources to comply with new
rules limiting PFAS, or per-and polyfluoroalkyl
substances. PFAS are nearly indestructible chemicals that have
been shown to build up in human bodies, increasing the
risk for certain types of cancer and other serious health
complications. USA TODAY recreated the EPA’s analysis and
found public systems in Fort Worth, Texas; Fresno, California;
Pensacola, Florida; and Augusta, Georgia, were among the
hundreds whose sample averages landed above the new annual
limits.
Within the heart of the Navajo Nation and in the shadow of the
sandstone arch that is the namesake of the tribal capital, a
simple greeting and big smiles were shared over and over again
Friday as tribal officials gathered: “Yá‘át’ééh abíní!” It was
a good morning, indeed, for Navajo President Buu Nygren as he
signed legislation in Window Rock, Arizona, outlining a
proposed settlement to ensure three Native American tribes have
water rights from the Colorado River and other sources — and
drought-stricken Arizona has more security in its supply. The
signature came a day after the Navajo Nation Council voted
unanimously in favor of the measure. The San Juan Southern
Paiute and Hopi tribes also approved the settlement this week.
Water quality levels on the Klamath River are continuing to
improve amid dam deconstruction work, according to the North
Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. Concerns about
the presence of heavy metals like lead and arsenic in the river
after several dams were breached were first voiced by residents
and Siskiyou County officials in March. But a new round of
monitoring from early May suggests those metals concentrations,
many of which are naturally occurring, are dropping as decades
of sediment continues to wash down the river.
I’ve spent years writing about California water policy and my
thoughts on water rights can be summarized simply: the current
system is inequitable and must be modernized if the state has
any hope of staving off the worst impacts of the climate
crisis. It is only a matter of time before we are in another
major drought and our water supply becomes even more scarce.
… The bills are currently making their way through the
committee process and it is vital they pass. The Coachella
Valley’s water future depends on it. AB 1337
(Wicks) gives the State Water Resources Control Board –
the agency charged with protecting water use during droughts
and times of scarcity – the ability to oversee the amount of
water used by all water rights holders when there is
a shortage. -Written by Amanda Fencl, a Western States Senior
Climate Scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Water right exactions are a proposed tool to mitigate costs
associated with water rights and water infrastructure that
would also help users make better decisions about how much
water to use. But first, what are exactions? Exactions are a
land use permitting tool used by cities and other permitting
agencies to ensure developers bear some of the public costs of
new development, like increased traffic, a need for more parks,
or increased sewage from new residents. Technically, an
exaction is property (money or other property) given by a
developer in exchange for a discretionary permit (i.e., a
permit that the permitting entity can decide whether or not to
issue).
