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.
Arizona has filed to join a lawsuit against the federal
government over its new plan for managing the Colorado River.
The federal plan would cut Colorado River supplies for
Arizona, California and Nevada by about 20% through 2028, and
could cut them by about 40% after that. The lawsuit,
originally filed by Nevada in August, argues that the plan is
too harmful to water users in those states. Arizona
would take the largest cuts under the new federal
plan, and state officials have openly criticized
it. … The lawsuit is not the so-called “nuclear
option” that could bring Colorado River matters before the
Supreme Court. That would likely require one state to sue
another. Arizona has laid out its case to sue if it
determines that upstream states are not sending a
legally-required amount of water downstream, but has
not yet done so.
Following a years-long process that included multiple
workshops, hearings and extensive public input, the State Water
Resources Control Board today released final proposed
amendments to the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin
Delta Watershed (Bay-Delta Plan) before considering
the plan for adoption at the end of the month. The proposed
amendments focus on the Sacramento River watershed, Delta
eastside tributaries (including the Calaveras, Cosumnes, and
Mokelumne Rivers), and Delta (referred to as the
Sacramento/Delta). Today’s draft includes
clarifications and minor revisions to the Aug. 18
version that were made based on written comments the
board received during its final written comment period, which
concluded Sept. 18. Oral comments will still be heard before
the board votes whether to adopt the plan at its Oct.
28-29 meeting.
San Diego County on Monday will introduce a former U.S.
diplomat as its first Pollution Crisis Chief, tapping
Bridget Premont to lead its response to the Tijuana
River sewage and pollution crisis as a new study
estimates the crisis could cost the region $7.9 billion over
the next two decades if it is not fixed. Premont will be
introduced at a 1 p.m. news conference at the San Diego County
Administration Center, according to the county.
… According to the county, Premont will coordinate with
federal, state and local agencies to prioritize
planning for local and cross-border infrastructure
upgrades. She will also pursue federal and state
funding, coordinate real-time emergency response when sewage
discharges spike and chair a Sewage Crisis Interdepartmental
Task Force.
A historically strong El Niño is overwhelmingly
predicted to bring a wet winter to California. But new
data suggests the Sierra Nevada snow outlook is more
complicated, and not a guaranteed bonanza. A Chronicle analysis
of three major seasonal forecasting systems points to about
17% less snowfall than normal near Tahoe and Donner
Summit in November and December, followed by roughly
28% more than normal from January through
March. The potential late season boost is even more
pronounced in the Central Sierra, near
Yosemite, where forecast models suggest snowfall
levels nearly 40% above normal from January to
March.
For three decades, developers have tried to build a new town at
the foot of Friant Dam. On Tuesday, Fresno County
supervisors may finally approve one, based on a water plan
built on a claim the federal government says is false.
Friant Ranch is a billion-dollar new town proposal just south
of the community of Friant, aiming to grow to the size of the
city of Fowler. To get through a drought, the county
says, the town can count on a multi-year supply of water stored
in Millerton Lake. But the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation,
which controls releases from the lake, told Fresnoland that
isn’t so. Water can be held behind the dam for only one
year, not several. … That leaves Friant Ranch’s
water supply in limbo during a multi-year drought like the one
in 2014 and 2015, a Fresnoland investigation shows. If such a
scenario were to happen again, public officials could be
left scrambling to find an emergency water supply for
thousands of people.
… Conservation groups and government agencies are increasing
their use of “starter homes” made of wood and brush to
encourage the creatures to move in and expand upon the initial
structures. Beaver dams slow moving water in a way that
promotes localized year-round availability, creates habitat for
native fish and provides a natural break that slows
wildfires. Proponents hope that by increasing active
beaver dams, the ecosystem will grow more resilient. This is
increasingly vital as climate change and overuse make the U.S.
West drier, experts say. … The structures, known as
beaver dam analogs, are typically built near
existing beaver families to encourage them to “move in” and
customize them. The ultimate goal is to cultivate
thriving beaver populations in key watersheds across both
public and private land in the western U.S.
The first real fall-run salmon season on the Trinity in years
hit a wall on its lower reach, with adult Chinook fishing
closing at 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16. The California
Department of Fish and Wildlife reported that anglers are
projected to reach the 536-fish adult quota for the stretch
from the Denny Road Bridge at Hawkins Bar downstream to the
Klamath confluence by the end of the day, triggering an
automatic closure there. … The Klamath and Trinity
are managed as quota fisheries this year, with a combined
allowance of roughly 3,200 adult fall-run Chinook spread across
different sections of the two rivers. Filling a sub-quota this
quickly on the Lower Trinity points to real numbers of
fish in the system, which tracks with reports of salmon
spawning in the upper Klamath for the first time in a century
following the 2024 removal of four dams.
Los Banos and Gustine will receive a combined $361,000 for
water infrastructure projects as part of more than $1 million
in grants awarded by the San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors
Water Authority. The funding is part of the authority’s
Community Infrastructure Fund, which uses proceeds from its
Conservation Water Transfer Program to support infrastructure
improvements throughout the Central Valley. … Los Banos
will receive $150,000 to study alternative water supply
options. The assessment will focus on reducing the city’s
reliance on groundwater, improving long-term water reliability
and identifying opportunities to make better use of available
water resources. … Gustine was awarded two grants
totaling $211,000 for improvements to its wastewater treatment
facility.
The murky, magnificent Eel River was once a
highway for the Wailaki people, who navigated by canoe and
hauled goods between villages in cone-shaped baskets. But the
tribe was forced out during the Gold Rush and, decades later,
a railroad was built along the river in this verdant
stretch of Humboldt County. Perry Lincoln, whose
grandmother came from one of those villages, today sees another
affront — the Great Redwood Trail, a 307-mile path planned
along the remnants of the long-gone railroad that cuts through
his ancestral land. … Alicia Hamann, executive director
of the nonprofit Friends of the Eel River, is among the
ambivalent. She’s skeptical of bypassing the state
environmental law, but sees the project as perhaps the best bet
to address the railroad’s legacy of pollution and restore fish
habitat. Creosote-soaked rail ties leach toxic chemicals into
the soil, sharp scraps of metal litter the riverbed, and
pollution remains from the timber industry the rail line once
served.
Shovelfuls of dirt tossed in the air Friday were a signal that
Marysville leaders hope to return historic Ellis Lake Park to
its former glory. The City Council-approved renovations
at the well-known setting will cost $3.82 million and include
replacing and widening the lakeside path along B Street/Highway
70 with a combination of concrete sidewalks and a precast
concrete boardwalk. … Ellis Lake was originally a slough
fed by the Feather and Yuba rivers and Marysville Mayor Chris
Branscum would like to see the return of fresh water to the
park. … “[T]here were some mistakes made in the late 90s and
early 2000s with respect to the water that’s supplied to the
lake,” the mayor suggested. “It used to be supplied directly
from the river, flow through the lake and exit into a slew that
makes its way into the Feather River. We want to restore
that.”
A new Torrance company, Vital Lyfe, is working to improve and
simplify water desalination technology. While much of the state
is not currently in a drought, the unpredictable future of
climate change has many agencies working to build water
resiliency. This has become a priority in the South Bay,
specifically by the California Water Replenishment District
because underneath Torrance is the largest brackish groundwater
plume in the Los Angeles County Water Basin, spanning 14 miles.
… So while governmental agencies are working to
address the issue at a larger scale, former SpaceX employees
Jonathan Criss and Andrew Harner decided to create a product
that is affordable and accessible to individuals. … [T]hey
started Vital Lyfe and created a portable water desalination
device – called Access.
Governor Katie Hobbs and the Arizona Department of Water
Resources (ADWR) announced the State of Arizona has
intervened in a lawsuit brought by Nevada against the
Department of the Interior to hold the federal
government accountable for failing to enforce Upper
Basin water delivery obligations to Lake Mead and
prevent cuts of up to 3 million acre-feet per year. In joining
this lawsuit, the State will seek to preserve the
two-year Lower Basin Agreement while ensuring the
federal government is delivering the water to Lake Mead that
belongs to Arizona and the Lower Basin states.
Groups opposed to California’s Delta Conveyance Project had a
second chance Thursday to argue why the massive water project
fails to meet essential criteria and should return to the state
water department for further workshopping. The Delta
Stewardship Council heard appeals to a certificate of
consistency for the massive water transfer system,
making no decision that day whether to reject the appeal or
send it back to the Department of Water Resources for more
tweaking. The council can’t outright deny the project.
A decision is expected Dec. 9. … Those
appealing and the Delta Protection Commission, the latter an
advisory body for the council, said the water department failed
to meet the mark. … Department officials argued its
benchmarks were narrow, saying its revised certificate of
consistency complied with the Delta Plan.
… Beleaguered Front Range water utilities responded to
historic drought conditions in the just-ended
watering season with a variety of mandates, restrictions, price
increases, friendly reminders and educational
seminars. The results were decidedly
mixed. With no guarantee that predicted
El Niño weather will bring deep powder in the
spots drained by Front Range cities, utility experts
will be studying their results in case they need to redeploy
restrictions in 2027. We asked a handful of cities to
tell us what they learned, and to add up the numbers. Not
every water agency measures its savings the same way or uses
the same historic period for comparison, so we’re presenting
their savings in the way they talk about it in their
communities.
Winter is coming, and it looks warm and wet in California,
according to new data. In a winter outlook published on
Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
provided national temperature and precipitation forecasts for
December, January and February. The new outlook features
how El Niño, the climate phenomenon that emerged in June and
could reach historic strength this year, will influence winter
weather. In California, meteorologists have expected El
Niño to tip the odds in favor of a wetter season, especially in
the southern part of the state. Sure enough, the
outlook shows a 50% to 60% chance that there will be
above-normal precipitation for much of California, from the Bay
Area to the southern border. North of the Bay Area, that
probability drops to 40% to 50%; and in the northern-most
sliver of the state, it’s 33% to 40%.
Gov. Katie Hobbs is lashing out at those who are trying to
undermine plans for what some call a “toilet to
tap”system of converting waste into drinking
water. The governor’s comments come as the question of
whether cities should pursue programs to produce purified water
from what has been sewage has become an election issue in at
least one Arizona city. There, a candidate is running on a
platform to kill the program, even making a campaign video
featuring some brown-looking liquid and telling viewers that is
what they are being asked to drink. “It’s irresponsible
to spread the kind of misinformation that’s being
spread about technology that we need to continue into the
future,” the governor said after speaking at an event to
promote work done by a program at Arizona State
University tasked with finding new sources of water and
conserving what the state has.
Ahwatukee residents flooded a town hall in Mesa with Attorney
General Kris Mayes on Wednesday to voice their concerns about
a massive data center under construction in their
community near homes, businesses, health offices and a
preschool. … Some in the audience were concerned the
facility’s cooling systems could leech toxic chemicals into
local water supplies and that emissions from the generators
could result in higher rates of cancer or heart disease.
… Mayes told residents her team would be
exploring whether a nuisance lawsuit could be wielded
as a final community backstop. Mayes previously used
nuisance law to challenge a Saudi alfalfa farming
operation that was draining groundwater supplies in La Paz
County.
Candidates for Navajo Nation president and vice president faced
off on Tuesday in the final debate before the November general
election. … Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley said, if
elected president, she’d continue her work to bring
water to the Navajo Nation. … As speaker,
Curley has advocated for congressional approval of a settlement
to resolve tribes’ water rights claims. The federal
deal would bring Colorado River water to the Navajo, Hopi and
San Juan Southern Paiute tribes, but it’s being
stalled in Congress by Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico.
… Curley’s opponent, New Mexico-based attorney Justin
Jones, pointed out that Congress’s window to approve the deal
is rapidly closing. … He continued: “We need to
do some serious lobbying, not only in Washington but also in
the Upper and Lower Colorado [Basin] compacts and
commissions.”
Based upon California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW)
projections, anglers will have met the Lower Trinity River
adult fall-run Chinook salmon quota below the Denny Road Bridge
at Hawkins Bar for the 2026 season as of 11:59 p.m. on Friday,
Oct. 16. This triggers the closure of the adult Chinook salmon
fishery on the Trinity River from the Denny Road Bridge at
Hawkins Bar to the confluence with the Klamath River. The quota
for this portion of the river is 536 adult fish. The reach will
remain open, however, to the harvest of jack (2-year-old)
Chinook salmon (less than or equal to 23 inches). All adult
Chinook salmon caught must be immediately released. The
Klamath and Trinity rivers are managed as quota fisheries
allowing for the combined take of approximately 3,200 adult
fall-run Chinook salmon in 2026.
PFAS chemicals are contaminating waterways across Colorado,
putting fish, wildlife and drinking water at risk. That’s the
conclusion of a new report from CoPIRG Foundation, Environment
Colorado Research & Policy Center and Frontier Group. The
study, PFAS in America’s Rivers and Lakes, finds that PFAS were
detected in Colorado’s waterways at 63% out of 16 testing
locations from 2022 to 2024. … The new report, which
covers 40 states, draws on data from the national Water Quality
Portal maintained by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Researchers detected as many as 18 different PFAS compounds at
one or more water testing locations in Colorado. … As
early as 2019, Colorado legislators began to ban the use of
PFAS, starting with certain firefighting foams. Ensuing bills
have tackled a range of consumer products including carpets,
food packaging, juvenile products, dental floss, outdoor
apparel and artificial turf.
