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 Interim Director Doug Beeman.
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On February 8, project partners from the Rheem Creek Flood Risk
Reduction project gathered alongside neighbors to celebrate the
completion of a project initiated in 2019, an effort led by the
City of Richmond alongside American Rivers, Contra Costa
County, Urban Tilth, The Watershed Project, and Restoration
Design Group. … For two decades, residents had been
dealing with flooding as Rheem Creek, which was choked with
nonnative vegetation, sediment, trash, and other obstructions,
overtopped its banks and spilled out into the streets. Drainage
pipes flowed in the opposite direction and homes were flooded
and damaged. But this past December, after the construction
phase of the project funded by the CA Natural Resources Agency
had concluded, Rheem Creek flowed safely and swiftly through
the backyards of its neighbors.
State and federal agencies plan to deliver more water to
California farms and cities following recent storms that
brought rain and snow and boosted reservoir levels. Cities in
Southern California and other agencies that depend on water
delivered from Northern California via the State Water Project
are projected to receive 35% of requested water supplies, up
from an estimated 20% last month, the state Department of Water
Resources said Tuesday. In a similar announcement, the federal
Bureau of Reclamation said agricultural irrigation districts
south of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta are expected to
receive 35% of their full contract amounts from the federal
Central Valley Project — more than double the 15% they were
allocated at this time last year.
Federal and state representatives Tuesday praised the
Department of theInterior’s announcement of more funding
committed to Sites Reservoir. Both Congressman Doug LaMalfa
(R-Richvale) and Assembly member James Gallagher issued
statements praising the announcement, which stated more than
$315 million was being designated for the future Sites
Reservoir and the existing San Luis Reservoir. The Department
of the Interior didn’t make clear how much was designated for
Sites Reservoir, but both LaMalfa and Gallagher’s statements
indicated it was $200 million. That would raise the federal
government’s investment in the Sites Reservoir Project to $846
million.
Other federal water project funding around the West:
A senior Army Corps of Engineers official offered few specifics
to lawmakers Tuesday on the agency’s controversial decision
last month to suddenly release billions of gallons of water
from dams in California’s Central Valley. Speaking before the
House Appropriations Committee, Lt. Gen. William Graham Jr.
said the unexpected water release was in response to a
directive from President Donald Trump and was “within the
statutory authority” of the Army Corps. But Graham, the
agency’s chief of engineers, was mum in response to questions
from Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) about whether the flow of water
actually helped with efforts to fight wildfires in Los Angeles,
as Trump has claimed.
California’s snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains is lower
than it should be, spurring concerns that the state’s water
supply might suffer once the dry season arrives. Despite the
poor performance, the snowpack is much better than in 2015,
when the state saw one of its lowest snowpacks. … As of
Monday, the snowpack was 88 percent normal for this time of
year and 73 percent for April 1, a benchmark indicating how
much water the state can expect to see from snowmelt. DWR
officials warned that winter storms typically begin to taper
off in March.
In a show of unity on Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors voted
unanimously to submit comments to Pacific Gas and Electric, the
governor and the Trump Administration regarding the county’s
concerns over plans to decommission and eventually remove the
Scott Dam. … The action they took on Tuesday included
approving a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom in which they raise
issue with the state taking sides in the process when they said
it should have been neutral. Their criticism included pointing
out that removal of the Scott Dam contradicts Newsom’s own
January executive order on maximizing water storage, and they
point out that the state, through the Department of Water
Resources, is a party to a memorandum of understanding on the
process that does not include Lake County.
The San Joaquin River, just along the City of Fresno, offers
recreation and a getaway from city life. But it also provides
another crucial resource: gravel. The multinational company
Cemex is proposing to dig deeper for the resource, but
community residents are trying to stop the project. Today, we
speak with Sharon Weaver from the San Joaquin River Parkway and
Conservation Trust about the concerns she and others have about
the proposal.
… (The) San Francisco Chronicle (reported) on Feb. 6 that
the federal government was looking to not renew funding for the
lab after its current round expires on Friday. While sources
close to UC Davis are confident of a new contract being signed
with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, that hadn’t happened as of
press time. … (Nann Fangue, a professor and chair of the
Department of Wildlife, Fish & Conservation Biology at UC
Davis) dismisses the notion that Trump is to blame for the
FCCL facility facing the threat of losing its funding,
suggesting instead that it’s just normal contract
negotiations.
The latest salmon report from the Pacific Fishery Management
Council (PFMC) paints a bleak picture for California’s fall-run
Chinook salmon. In 2024, an estimated 99,274 adult salmon
returned to the Sacramento River Basin—just 55% of the
management objective of 180,000 fish. The PFMC will formally
review these numbers in March before determining regulations
for the upcoming fishing season. This sharp decline follows
back-to-back closures of the salmon fishing season in 2023 and
2024, marking only the third and fourth times in history that
salmon fishing was banned in California. The closures have
devastated the state’s commercial and recreational fishing
industries, which typically contribute $1.4 billion annually
and support 23,000 jobs.
A wildly successful water conservation program piloted in rural
Nevada may soon be the basis for a statewide effort. Assembly
Bill 104, discussed in an Assembly Committee on Natural
Resources hearing Monday, would create the Nevada Voluntary
Water Rights Retirement Program, which would use state funds to
compensate water rights holders to turn over to the state their
power to pump. … Recommended by an interim legislative
committee, the bill and the program it creates is a response to
a pilot program run by the four regional water authorities,
propped up by $25 million from the federal American Rescue Plan
Act.
The Mendocino County Water Agency (MCWA) held its second public
workshop on drought resilience planning in Fort Bragg on
February 21st. The workshops are part of the County’s response
to SB 522, signed into law in September 2021, requiring each
county to prepare a drought resistance plan (DRP) for state
small water systems and domestic well owners. … The
draft DRP, scheduled to be completed in late March, will
contain data and vulnerability assessments, drought preparation
strategies, and a plan for implementing them.
The vibrant wildflowers and poppies that bloom across Southern
California state parks in spring are expected to be “limited”
this season, California State Parks announced on Monday. The
reason behind the forecast is below-average rainfall this
winter, according to California State Parks. … This past
January was the ninth driest in California since 1895, and
despite recent storms that have brought rain to the region,
drought conditions remain, according to a Feb. 13 drought
status update from the National Integrated Drought Information
System.
Nearly 4 million people are served drinking water from
the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, making it
one of the largest water utilities in the U.S. With the release
of the 2025 update of EWG’s Tap Water Database, we took a
closer look at this expansive system for the millions of
Angelenos served by it, comparing it to the nation as a whole.
In addition to information about L.A. drinking water quality,
the Tap Water Database provides details about chemical and
radioactive contaminants in the water of nearly 50,000
community systems nationwide. … Test results through 2024
showed 24 contaminants found in the L.A. system, with nine at
levels above EWG’s health-based limits.
The San Diego County Water Authority is notifying residents in
three cities that their water service could be impacted and to
expect nighttime work this week during work on San Diego’s
First Aqueduct. Work has been ongoing to extend the life of the
historic First Aqueduct, and the San Diego County Water
Authority announced the project has reached the halfway point.
However, as crews transition to Phase Two of the project,
construction will take place around the clock for 10 days from
Feb. 23 to March 4.
Want to keep your lawn green year-round? You might need to
change the way you water. On Saturday, March 1, the city of
Sacramento will start enforcing its spring and summer watering
schedule. The spring and summer schedule accounts for hotter
temperatures by allowing homeowners and business owners to
water their plants more than during the wet winter months. The
new schedule will be enforced through Oct. 31.
After abundant rain and moderate snowfall this year in the
northern half of the state, California’s largest reservoirs are
holding more than 120% of their historical average. But
underground, the state’s supply of water for drinking and
irrigating crops remains depleted. Even after multiple wet
winters, and despite a state law that’s supposed to protect and
restore the state’s precious groundwater, thousands of wells —
mostly in rural, low-income communities in the San Joaquin
Valley — have gone dry because of over-pumping by
growers. So why hasn’t the recent bounty of rain and snow
replenished the state’s underground supplies?
As Arizona’s record-dry winter continues, Western water
managers are quietly preparing for what many have called a
“nuclear option” in the ongoing battle for who-gets-what from
the quickly drying Colorado River. Seven states are locked in a
standoff right now over who should use less water from the
river, as climate change continues to dry it up. They’re facing
a 2026 deadline to create new rules to govern it. Last month,
Arizona rocked the boat by proposing a state budget that
included millions to pay for a court battle over Colorado River
water, they say, just in case those negotiations don’t work.
… The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
employs about 12,000 staffers around the world, more than
half of which are scientists and engineers. NOAA
operates 18 satellites and 15 ships and has
a budget of $6.8 billion. Their job is to study the skies,
the seas, the fish, tracking how they’re changing and
predicting what will happen to them. NOAA’s work is essential
for aviation, fishing, climate research, and offshore oil and
gas exploration, particularly when it comes to modeling
weather.
Other natural resources, water and weather layoff news:
For young salmon, the journey along the San Joaquin River in
Central California is no small feat. Every spring and fall,
thousands of these fish—each as long as a pinky finger— embark
on a 350-mile race, swimming day and night and dodging
predators along the way to reach the Pacific Ocean. But less
than 5% survive the journey, and in some years, hardly any make
it. Elevated water temperatures, dams and poor water quality
all endanger the animal, but human-introduced predators,
including striped and largemouth bass, kill most of them. In a
new CU Boulder-led study, researchers reveal how these salmon
learn to swim in different parts of the river at different
times of day to avoid predators and conserve energy.
It was all kumbaya a couple of weeks ago, as various players in
the drama over the Eel River Project stamped their seals of
approval on a deal that would tear down both Scott and Van
Arsdale dams, while at the same time continuing delivery of Eel
River water to the Russian River watershed. But Lake County —
the actual home of Lake Pillsbury, the reservoir created by
Scott Dam — now seems ready to throw a wrench into the gears,
via a direct appeal to President Donald Trump. At its meeting
tomorrow, the Lake County Board of Supervisors will consider
sending two letters — one to Gov. Gavin Newsom and one to
various cabinet-level officials in the Trump administration,
arguing that removal of the badly broken dams runs contrary to
policy.
