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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… To many, the functionality of Glen Canyon Dam’s river
outlet works has been a slow-moving crisis. If levels at Lake
Powell fall too low, water deliveries to Lake Mead
could be cut off due to potential damage of those release
tubes, spelling trouble for Southern Nevada and its
neighbor states in the Lower Colorado River Basin. … In
a Friday statement, the Southern Nevada Water Authority said
the uncertainty of Glen Canyon Dam’s infrastructure is another
reason for every state to take swift action to cut water use in
order to protect reservoir storage. “While Reclamation has
acknowledged the engineering feasibility exists to operate at
these levels, the bypass tubes were not envisioned to
be the sole release mechanism,” the statement said.
“Gambling on how much we can safely release while the reservoir
is near empty seems less than prudent.”
U.S. Rep. Raul Ruiz called on the federal government Wednesday
to launch a rigorous environmental and historic review of a
controversial proposal to pump billions of gallons of
groundwater from the Mojave Desert, framing the project as a
threat to local communities, tribal sovereignty, and iconic
national parks. In a formal letter to Interior Secretary Doug
Burgum, Ruiz, D-Calif., urged the Bureau of Land Management to
conduct a comprehensive assessment under federal environmental
and historic preservation laws before deciding on a crucial
pipeline right-of-way application for Cadiz Inc. The proposal
by Los Angeles-based Cadiz, which is backed by foreign
investors, seeks to extract 16 billion gallons of water
annually for 50 years from an ancient desert
aquifer.
Forecasts of summertime moisture will be some welcome relief
for farmers and ranchers in the Intermountain West, after
undergoing a rugged, widespread drought and record snowpack
drought over the past year. Although not a guarantee,
there are promising signs for moisture in the
Intermountain West region (Arizona, New Mexico,
Colorado, Utah and Wyoming) thanks to the El Nino climate
phenomenon combined with monsoon moisture expected this summer,
which was detailed on the latest Intermountain West Drought
Update Webinar, Tuesday, June 16, 2026, hosted by the National
Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s National Integrated
Drought Information System. Not only is moisture critical for
forage for rangeland, pastures and drinking water for cattle,
but also for the major lakes and rivers supplying water to the
western states.
Wildlife experts in both California and Oregon report they’re
seeing a high number of newly released Chinook
salmon sickened and killed by a parasite. The
salmon have been found dead at multiple traps in Oregon
and California in the Klamath River. The deaths, first
reported by Oregon Public Broadcasting, are believed to
primarily be due to a parasite called Ceratonova shasta. The
parasite, which is linked to the salmon, has reached farther
north in the river than ever before following the destruction
of four dams near the Oregon-California border. … A
recent count from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that
almost half, or 46%, of nearly 700 salmon found in traps have
tested positive for C. shasta.
Amid a field of “zombie willows” in the Kawuneeche Valley
within Rocky Mountain National Park, researchers and water
providers are taking lessons from nature’s ecosystem
engineers to build drought resilience and restore
wetlands. … The Kawuneeche Valley exists just
downstream from the Colorado River headwaters.
… “A healthy and functioning wetland is a sponge,” said
Jeremy Shaw, a research scientist with Colorado State
University who has led wetland and stream restoration efforts
in the valley. “It is a fire break. It is a drought resilience
machine. It is a water quality plant. It’s a water treatment
plant. So healthy, functional wetlands, particularly ones that
support beavers, trap sediment nutrients, output clean,
reliable water. It also slows down and spreads out the water.”
A pilot study by the San Francisco Estuary Institute captures
plastic particles in the Bay that are 10 times smaller than
measured before, the width of a human hair. These smaller
microplastics may account for the vast majority of those
present in the water. The study could inform broader
research on plastics and human health, coastal ecosystems and
the ability of the sea to trap carbon from the earth’s
atmosphere. … [SFEI spokesperson Sierra] Garcia
said a statewide plastics monitoring project will begin this
summer under the California Ocean Protection Council. …
Microplastics have flowed through the Golden Gate and entered
the base of the food chain in the Greater Farallones and
Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary.
In California, a sprawling 4,000-mile network of canals winds
through citrus orchards and fields of tree nuts, delivering
irrigation and drinking water to homes and farms across the
state. The canals are critical in an increasingly arid part of
the country. But what if they could help fulfill another urgent
need: renewable energy? To test that idea, researchers, private
enterprise and a public utility in the Central Valley are
installing solar panels atop the man-made waterways. The pilot
program, called Project Nexus, is testing solar
canopies that researchers say could generate gigawatts of power
and save billions of gallons of water by providing shade that
slows evaporation. It could be transformational if
scaled up, researchers say, in helping the state to meet its
ambitious climate and biodiversity goals.
From a fast-melting snowpack in the Sierra to over-pumped
groundwater in the Central Valley and a drought on the Colorado
River, California’s water supply is facing enormous pressure.
Increasingly, some believe the only real alternative is to draw
water from the Pacific Ocean offshore. Former Water Manager Tim
Quinn believes he and his team at OceanWell can do it safely
and more affordably. … The company just released data
from an ongoing study on a reservoir in Southern California.
They say the system produces water roughly 10 times
purer than conventional drinking water, without damaging
surrounding marine organisms. … It comes at a
time of renewed interest in desal.
… [D]ata centers’ everyday utility has been lost in a haze of
anxiety about new proposals. … In 2024, The
Washington Post released a report claiming that a 100-word
email written by ChatGPT consumes an entire bottle of water or
519 milliliters. … When Andy Masley, a former physics
teacher turned writer, saw this report, it didn’t sit well with
him. So he started looking into the article’s methodology, then
reached out to the researcher tapped for the calculation,
Shaolei Ren, an associate professor of electrical and computer
engineering at the University of California, Riverside.
… In a conversation with the Deseret News, Ren said
the Washington Post’s report should not be considered an
accurate measure of today’s artificial intelligence water
demands. … “[I]t’s just never correct to say, ‘AI uses this
much water,’” Ren said.
Palo Alto officials say the San Francisco Public Utilities
Commission is hoarding water based on unrealistic drought
projections, driving up rates and killing salmon.
… Utsav Gupta, a member of the city’s Utilities Advisory
Commission, raised the alarm about the SFPUC planning rates
based on a drought that hasn’t happened in 1,100 years,
according to tree-ring data. Other agencies like Valley Water
and the East Bay Municipal Utility District plan for a repeat
of the worst drought on record from 1987 to 1992, but the SFPUC
uses an unprecedented and severe 8.5-year drought, Gupta said
in a letter to council. The SFPUC sells water to cities
and water districts throughout the Bay Area from eight
reservoirs near Yosemite. Palo Alto buys about 7% of the water.
Golden mussels again dominated board discussions at several
water district meetings. … Eric McDaris, water resources
manager for Wheeler Ridge-Maricopa Water Storage District told
his board that the first step is for costs to hit $5
million. At that point the county would send a letter to the
state Office of Emergency Services that would potentially
result in some reimbursements to districts. … He said
they were finding 100% mortality in mussel testing bags, as
well as no mussel growth on settling plates. North Kern began
its golden mussel treatments with Blue Tech. Ram Venkatesan,
deputy general manager for the district reported they had 90%
mortality in the district’s testing bags, the remaining 10%
were starting to open up and would be dying off as well.
The search is officially underway for the inaugural leader of
the newly established Salton Sea Conservancy. Created under
California Senate Bill 583—introduced by state Senator Steve
Padilla—the state agency is looking for an experienced
executive officer to take the reins of an environmental rescue
mission decades in the making. It is a monumental task:
building durable partnerships, managing completed restoration
projects, and shaping the long-term strategy for a shrinking,
dust-yielding lake that threatens both public health and
ecological stability in the region. … According to the
state’s official job posting, the incoming executive officer
will command a monthly salary between $11,812 and $13,165.
… Local fights are flaring over proposed data centers in Kern
and Imperial Counties, some of California’s most
water-parched regions. The ratcheting up of tension
comes as two bills from Assemblymember Diane Papan that would
force earlier disclosure of data centers’ projected and
actual water use are winding their way through
the Legislature, with a first hearing in the Senate
scheduled next Tuesday. AB 2469 would require data
centers to provide more information on water supply, use and
planning before cities or counties can approve new or expanded
data centers. AB 2619 would require data centers to report
projected and actual water use as a requirement for renewing a
local business license.
Federal agriculture and interior officials convened a meeting
Monday at the White House with PG&E and a Southern
California water district over the future of the Eel River —
and the tribe with senior water rights on that river was not in
the room. The Round Valley Indian Tribes said Wednesday that
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins had called the meeting,
which also included Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and
representatives of the Elsinore Valley Municipal Water
District. The subject was the Potter Valley Project, a
hydroelectric complex on the Eel River. … Round
Valley has spent years at the negotiating table with Russian
River water users working out what the parties call the
Two-Basin Solution — a plan to allow salmon recovery on the Eel
while keeping water flowing to communities that had come to
rely on diversions from the north.
For the 18 ranchers who rely on the Maybell Irrigation
District’s canal to funnel water to their fields, the
127-year-old headgate that diverted flow from the Yampa River
meant a two-hour round trip through a rocky canyon whenever
they needed water. … Then legalized sports betting came
along, and, with it, millions of dollars for Colorado
water projects. … Since sports betting became legal
in May 2020, the state has collected more than $154 million in
taxes, and the Colorado Water Conservation Board has
funneled $140 million to various projects that preserve and
conserve Colorado’s precious water. Supporters say the
gambling money is a godsend for ranchers, fishermen, paddlers
and others who want to protect the state’s water and those who
depend on it for their livelihoods. Critics, however, say
legalized sports betting has come at a cost.
Facing a looming water crisis that could slash deliveries from
the Colorado River by hundreds of millions of cubic meters,
agricultural officials in Baja California are urging
local farmers to pivot toward climate-resilient crops.
The warning comes as the region braces for sharp reductions in
its water supply. According to Alfonso Cortez Lara, director of
the El Colegio de la Frontera Norte (Colef) in Mexicali, Baja
California expects its annual quota from the Colorado River to
be cut by 350 million cubic meters by 2027, La Voz newspaper
reported. Mónica Vargas Núñez, head of Baja California’s
Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (SADER BC), said
the state is working alongside Mexico’s federal agriculture
ministry and the National Water Commission (Conagua) to
mitigate the impact.
California has taken a significant step forward in its
long-term water storage agenda, with Governor Gavin
Newsom announcing that the California Water
Commission has approved an additional $268.9 million for the
Sites Reservoir project. The new tranche brings the state’s
total eligible investment through the Water Storage
Investment Program to $1.363 billion. … The
facility is seen as a cornerstone of California’s strategy to
cope with increasingly volatile precipitation patterns driven
by climate change, which have produced sharper swings between
drought and flooding in recent years. … Before funding
can be formally disbursed, the project must still
satisfy a series of voter-mandated conditions,
including securing financing, obtaining permits, completing
environmental review, and contracting with the relevant state
agencies.
… The Arizona Tri-University Recharge and Water Reliability
Project released [their] findings on June 17 — and included
some hopeful revelations. … Among the research products aimed
at facilitating improved watershed management are hydrologic
profiles for each of the state’s 51 groundwater basins, as well
as a statewide profile illuminating the overall balance of
inflows and losses. … Projected changes in temperature,
precipitation, recharge and runoff by the end of this century,
defined as 2060 to 2099, forecast a drier future for
already-parched Arizona compared with the historical period of
1981 to 2020. … Despite this grim overall outlook for
Arizona’s water future, the report struck a positive
note by compiling a matrix of recharge opportunities.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said a
package of fishery disaster relief for West Coast and Alaska
fishermen is on the way. NOAA announced the
allocation of $123.6 million in fishery resource disaster
funding, appropriated by Congress in the American Relief
Act, 2025. The money will go to address fishery resource
disasters that occurred in Oregon, California, the Squaxin
Island tribe in Washington State, and multiple Alaska fisheries
between 2019 and 2023. … The aid allocations apply to
previously declared fishery resource disasters, including: …
2024 California Sacramento River Fall Chinook and Klamath River
Fall Chinook ocean and inland salmon fisheries.
An area of the Sierra Nevada foothills is experiencing an
“unpleasant” taste and odor in their drinking water,
authorities said. The drinking water in Amador County has
an “earthy odor” but is safe to drink, the Amador Water Agency
said in a Facebook post. The unusual smell and taste is coming
from the algae bloom in the Ione Reservoir, which is the source
of drinking water for the city of Ione and surrounding
areas. The water agency, which serves approximately 10,000
customers, said the algae bloom this year was sudden because of
“hot water quickly following a mild spring.” “Water at the
bottom of the raw water reservoir that supplies Ione’s water
supply quickly warmed, cool water rose to the top, and the
water supply essentially ‘flipped’ in the reservoir. This can
often lead to the formation of elevated levels of taste and
odor,” the agency said.
