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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Healdsburg, California, residents can expect their water and
sewer bills to go up by 21 percent beginning in August after a
rate hike was approved this week by the Healdsburg City
Council. According to the city’s Water and Wastewater Cost of
Service and Rate Design Study, this could amount to as much as
$34 per month for some residents in the Northern California
community. … The city said the revenue will help improve and
maintain its water system, including fixing bursting pipes.
Hey, Congress: Colorado is doing its part, now we need you to
do yours. As someone who was raised on the Western Slope,
I have always felt a deep connection to water. Whether it is
snow on the slopes, rapids in the river or irrigation on our
fields, water is the common thread that weaves together the
future of our communities across geographic, political and
socio-economic divides. Now, as the state senator who
represents the headwaters of the Colorado River, addressing my
constituents means prioritizing our state’s water interests,
which is becoming increasingly important. -Written by Dylan Roberts, a
Democratic state senator for District 8.
Warm, summer-like temperatures can be expected later this week
in Humboldt County, especially inland. With the weather warming
up in a typical manner for the season, the National Weather
Service office in Eureka and the Humboldt County Sheriff’s
Office have urged safety in the rivers. Johnathon White, a
meteorologist at Eureka’s NWS office, said over the weekend a
ridge brought warmer temperatures and coastal stratus on the
coast, a pattern that continued Monday. Into Tuesday, he said
there will be some clearing of the coastal stratus along the
coast. “It’ll bring more cloudiness and cooler temperatures for
inland areas,” he said. Another ridge is expected to come in
the middle-end of the week to bring warmer temperatures inland
and slightly warmer coastal temperatures. The temperatures are
forecast at a high in the 90s for inland Humboldt County near
the week’s end and in the 60s around coastal areas.
Maria-Elena Giner faced a room full of farmers, irrigation
managers and residents in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas on
April 2. The local agricultural community was reeling.
Reservoirs on the Rio Grande were near record lows and the
state had already warned that water cutbacks would be
necessary. The last sugar mill in the region closed in
February, citing the lack of water. But Mexico still wasn’t
sending water to the U.S. from its Rio Grande tributaries, as a
1944 treaty requires the country to do in five-year intervals.
… The IBWC, based in El Paso, implements the boundary
and water treaties between the two countries. Giner’s team had
spent 2023 working to reach an agreement with Mexico to ensure
more reliable water deliveries on the Rio Grande. In December,
she was confident the U.S. and Mexico would sign a new
agreement, known as a minute. But at the final hour Mexico
declined to sign.
Los Angeles County public health authorities are warning
residents to avoid the waters of some beaches this Memorial Day
weekend after testing turned up bacterial levels that exceed
state standards. People should avoid swimming, surfing and
playing in these waters until further notice, the county public
health department said in a warning issued Thursday. The
beaches are: Santa Monica Canyon Creek at Will Rogers State
Beach, 100 yards up and down the coast from the creek; Malibu
Lagoon at Surfrider Beach, 100 yards up and down the coast from
the public restrooms; Santa Monica Pier, 100 yards up and down
the coast from the pier; and the entire swim areas at Mothers
Beach in Marina Del Rey and Inner Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro.
…Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration is looking for new places
to store water and preparing to prevent saltwater from creeping
into California’s main water hub as part of long-term drought
planning outlined in a report published Thursday. The report
was prompted in part by last year’s state audit that determined
that the state Department of Water Resources did not adequately
factor climate change into its forecasts. It lists several
ongoing efforts to revamp the State Water Project but does not
propose any significant changes in operations … Climate
change is likely to further constrict deliveries by the State
Water Project, the state-run system of pipes, pumps and
reservoirs that provides water to 27 million Californians and
irrigates 750,000 acres of farmland.
The Navajo Nation Council has signed off on a proposed
settlement that would ensure water rights for its tribe and two
others in the drought-stricken Southwest — a deal that could
become the most expensive enacted by Congress. The Navajo
Nation has one of the largest single outstanding claims in the
Colorado River basin. Delegates acknowledged the gravity of
their vote Thursday and stood to applause after casting a
unanimous vote. Many noted that the effort to secure water
deliveries for tribal communities has spanned generations.
Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley and other officials stood
outside the chamber in Window Rock, Arizona, under a clear blue
sky as the wind whipped. She recalled learning about the fight
over water rights in school when she was a girl.
Democratic lawmakers and environmental advocates are urging
Gov. Gavin Newsom to support a bond measure to help pay for
billions of dollars in climate programs endangered by the
state’s record deficit and deepening budget
cuts. … Climate and public health advocates say
cutting or delaying spending on programs that reduce greenhouse
gases or help California adapt to climate change will
exacerbate natural disasters and weather emergencies and allow
air pollution to continue for years to come. California’s
climate spending includes programs to enhance coastal
resilience as sea levels rise, prepare for wildfires, ensure
water security and develop solar and wind energy projects.
Cover crops could be an important tool in groundwater
management but are being unintentionally disincentivized by
groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs,) according to a new
study. GSAs haven’t done enough analysis or
incentivization of cover crops, according to authors of the
study. In fact, the study suggests some GSAs are putting a
negative spin on the use of cover crops by accounting for their
water usage but excluding their water benefits. … [The study]
was a collaborative effort between many organizations and
agencies including the California Department of Food and
Agriculture, the University of California Agriculture and
Natural Resources and nonprofit Sustainable Conservation.
Soon, Monterey One Water customers will no longer receive a
bill in the mail every other month. Beginning July 1,
wastewater fees will show up on a parcel’s annual property tax
bill for the year, eliminating the bimonthly bill. M1W
spokesperson Mike McCullough says once the transition is fully
implemented, the agency estimates it will save about $400,000
annually.
UC Riverside professor Jinyong Liu embarked on a scientific
challenge as an undergraduate chemistry student when he heard
people dub per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as
“forever chemicals.” … Undetectable by sight, smell, or
taste, PFAS is part of everyday American life. It’s found in
personal care products like shampoo and dental floss, in
grease-resistant food packaging, and nonstick cookware. … In
2019, the State Water Resources Control Board ordered 30
airports, including the San Luis Obispo County Regional
Airport, to investigate their groundwater and soil for the
chemical. State regulators pinpointed pollution to a PFAS-rich
foam called aqueous film forming foam (AFFF), which has been
discharged into the environment since the mid-1970s through
firefighter trainings.
It’s been almost a half-century since I first heard the term
“peripheral canal” uttered by William Gianelli, who was
then-Gov. Ronald Reagan’s top water official. The project, in
one form or another, had already been kicking around for
decades. The California Water Project became operative in the
1960s and was the most prominent legacy project of Pat Brown,
whom Reagan had defeated in 1966. The project dams the Feather
River near Oroville and releases impounded water to flow down
the Feather into the Sacramento River and eventually into the
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. Pumps at the southern edge of the
Delta suck the water into the California Aqueduct, which
carries it down the San Joaquin Valley to more pumps over the
Tehachapi Mountains into Southern California. -Written by Dan Walters, CalMatters columnist.
Lawmakers aim to amp up protections for water used by
Colorado’s largest electric utilities with a broadly supported
bill based on recommendations from water experts around the
state. Senate Bill 197 would help electric utilities hold onto
water rights that could otherwise be declared “abandoned” as
the state transitions to clean energy. It would also enhance
protections for environmental and agricultural water, and ease
access to funding for tribes. The bill grew out of water policy
recommendations developed by the Colorado River Drought Task
Force in 2023. The bill, which passed with bipartisan support,
is the legislature’s main effort this year to address those
recommendations — and to help Colorado address its uncertain
water future. Polis has until June 7 to sign the bill, allow it
to become law without his endorsement or veto it.
The Colorado River is flowing again in its delta. While this is
welcome news for birds and people, the long-term progress to
keep the Colorado River alive in Mexico with habitat
restoration and water deliveries depends on high stakes
negotiations currently underway. For the third time since
2021, the United States and Mexico are collaborating to deliver
water to improve conditions in the long-desiccated delta.
Environmental water deliveries began mid-March and will
continue into October …
Gina Solomon bought her house in part for what lies just
outside the back door. The property in [the] northern San
Rafael [community of Santa Venetia] includes a small private
dock extending out over marshland into Gallinas Creek, a
winding tidal slough that meets San Pablo Bay about a mile and
a half away. … But for Solomon and many of her
neighbors, Santa Venetia’s greatest asset is also its greatest
threat. All that protects her home and hundreds of others from
Gallinas Creek waters that rise and fall twice a day – and by
extension the whole of San Pablo Bay – is a short,
timber-reinforced earthen berm constructed in 1983. Already
well past its useful life and failing in numerous spots, the
berm is also increasingly threatened by storm surge and sea
level rise.
The Kern County water world was deeply saddened to learn that
Dana Munn, a fixture in local water for decades, died May 8
after a three-year battle with brain cancer. He was 66. Munn
was extremely well regarded among water managers and engineers
both at the local and national levels as his Watermaster
position gave him the opportunity to work closely with the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers, which owns and operates the Isabella
Dam. “He was just a really calm and sensible voice,” recalled
longtime North Kern Water Storage District Scott Kuney. “He was
someone who loved to solve a problem. And he was an honorable
person down to his roots. People recognized that about him.”
Munn’s unflappable demeanor and encyclopedic knowledge of water
infrastructure, rights and contracts made him one of the top
players in Kern County water for decades.
A Sacramento State professor will work with community
volunteers and student interns to monitor trash and clean up
San Francisco Bay, thanks to a $742,240 federal grant. The
grant – one of eight Bipartisan Infrastructure Law awards
from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – is part of a
$43 million investment in protecting and restoring San
Francisco Bay as well as local watersheds and wetlands. The
funding will help reduce trash going into urban stormwater
systems by utilizing the community-based monitoring system
Associate Professor of Environmental Studies Julian Fulton
developed with Sac State faculty and students as well as the
nonprofit Keep California Beautiful. The grant will allow
Fulton to expand the Trash Rapid Assessment Data Exchange
(TRADE) to Contra Costa County.
July 16 has been, for many years, the day that Chinook salmon
fishing opens to recreational anglers on the Sacramento,
American, Feather and Mokelumne rivers. One of the most popular
salmon fishing spots is the mouth of the American River at
Discovery Park in Sacramento, where dozens of boats and bank
anglers line up in the predawn darkness hoping for the chance
to hook a beautiful, ocean-bright salmon. But this year, just
like last year, the rivers will be closed to salmon fishing. On
May 15, the California Fish and Game Commission unanimously
adopted emergency regulations for Chinook salmon fishing
closures in the Central Valley and Klamath River Basins, due to
dramatic population declines.
Around the world, demand for lithium is surging, and the
Imperial Valley is in a strong position to help meet that need.
State and local leaders have been working hard to ensure that
the communities of the valley will see more far-reaching
benefits this time if the industry continues to grow. As
California races to curb carbon emissions, advocates and
researchers say the growth of the lithium industry could be a
test of a so-called ”just transition.” That’s a movement to
cleaner energy sources that strengthens local communities,
rather than hollowing them out. … Lithium is a soft,
silvery-white metal that’s found in many places around the
world, including in hard rock, layers of sediment and
belowground pockets of salty water. It’s used to lubricate
aircraft engines, added as a fuel to military-grade torpedoes
and is prescribed by doctors as a treatment for bipolar
disorder.
Claudia Sheinbaum, front-runner in Mexico’s presidential race,
aims to overhaul water governance in the agriculture sector,
the top user of the country’s scarce supply, with a potential
investment of 20 billion pesos ($1.2 billion) per year. Julio
Berdegue, a member of Sheinbaum’s campaign team focused on
water and the agricultural sector, told Reuters the candidate’s
six-year plan will review existing water concessions, crack
down on illegal use, update irrigation technology and revamp
national water entity CONAGUA. He cautioned the plan,
details of which have not previously been reported, was still
in development and could change. Sheinbaum has said she plans
to reform the National Water Law and develop a strategy to
confront pervasive issues in Mexico, which is suffering from
crippling drought, widespread water shortages, and heat waves
in recent days so severe that howler monkeys are dropping
dead from trees.
