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 Vik Jolly.
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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.
California’s dismal snowpack is about to get a
late-season boost. A weekend storm is forecast to drop feet of
snow across the Sierra Nevada, prompting the National Weather
Service to issue a winter storm watch. The watch is
in effect from Friday evening through Saturday evening above
4,500 feet for the west slope of the northern Sierra, including
Interstate 80 and Highway 50. … Forecast snowfall totals
were trending higher, with 2 feet of snow possible
along I-80 over Donner Summit above 4,500 feet. The
highest peaks, including ski resorts, could pick more than 3
feet of snow, with localized totals up to 4
feet.
The USDA has declared natural disaster areas in Inyo County, as
well as three counties in Nevada, over what they say is an
extreme drought. The agency says the disaster area encompasses
areas in the states of California, Nevada and
Arizona, and includes Clark, Esmeralda, and Nye
counties in Nevada. The declaration allows the USDA and the
Farm Service Agency to extend emergency credit to producers
recovering from natural disasters through emergency loans. The
loans can be used to meet recovery needs, such as replacing
essential items, reorganizing farming operations, and
refinancing debts.
… By some measures, 2026 is shaping up to be the worst year
the river has seen since records began. Flows are down 20
percent from 2000 levels. Lake Powell, the reservoir straddling
Utah and Arizona, may drop below the threshold for generating
hydropower before the year is out. The negotiations between the
seven states over how to share what’s left have collapsed
twice, and the U.S. federal government is threatening to impose
its own plan. While the states argue and the river shrinks, a
growing set of machine learning tools is being deployed across
the basin. Federal water managers are running millions of
simulations to stress-test reservoir strategies against
different possible futures.
A groundwater subbasin in western Stanislaus and nearby
counties is no longer threatened with state probation, thanks
to a water board decision Tuesday. The state Water Resources
Control Board took action to move the Delta-Mendota
Subbasin back to the jurisdiction of the California
Department of Water Resources. … Twenty-three agencies,
including the cities of Patterson and Los Banos and many water
districts, are in the Delta-Mendota Subbasin, which was
referred to the state Water Resources Control Board in 2023 for
intervention because their sustainability plans were
inconsistent and would not result in stable groundwater levels.
Along the shores of the shrinking Salton Sea, desert winds
regularly kick up dust and send it drifting through nearby
neighborhoods. New research indicates that living there may
affect kids’ lungs. Scientists from the University of Southern
California tested the lung capacity of 369 children between the
ages of 10 and 12 for about two years and found that those who
live less than 6.8 miles from the Salton Sea have diminished
lung development compared with kids farther away. … The
saline lake has been shrinking rapidly since the early 2000s,
when the Imperial Irrigation District began selling some of its
Colorado River water to growing urban areas under an agreement
with agencies in San Diego County and the Coachella Valley.
Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom warned Wednesday that California
is running out of time to contain the rapid spread of invasive
golden mussels, urging immediate state action to protect water
systems, agriculture and consumers. Speaking during a state
budget subcommittee hearing, Ransom called for funding
to establish five decontamination centers in the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta, which she said is critical to slowing
the species’ expansion into other waterways. … Golden
mussels, first detected in California in 2024, spread by
attaching to boats and water systems, clogging pipes and
damaging infrastructure.
The Bureau of Reclamation released water from Keswick Dam just
after midnight Wednesday, causing water levels to rise along
the Sacramento River. The flow reached about 10,000 cubic feet
per second by 1 a.m. The increase is part of a spring pulse
flow, a short-term release designed to mimic natural river
conditions. The release helps juvenile Chinook salmon migrate
safely to the Pacific Ocean. … While the pulse flow
benefits salmon, officials warn it may also create dangerous
river conditions for anyone nearby.
Local, state, and federal agencies this week marked the
completion of the Los Banos Creek Detention Dam Project, an
upgrade to an existing flood-control facility designed to
improve water management in western Merced County. The Los
Banos Creek Detention Dam, originally constructed in 1966 by
the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, was built to capture
floodwaters and protect the San Luis Canal, Delta-Mendota
Canal, and nearby communities, including Los Banos.
… Under the updated operations plan, natural flows from
Los Banos Creek can be released downstream during certain
periods to create storage capacity. The reservoir can then be
refilled with water conveyed from other sources using newly
installed infrastructure.
Funding from a 2021 settlement agreement between the Central
Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board and Pacific Gas and
Electric Co. is supporting the Drinkable Rivers Program in San
Luis Obispo County, a program that puts elected officials,
students and others on the water to witness the benefits of
beaver dams and ponds. … Once viewed as pests, beavers
are now recognized for their many ecological benefits and their
ability to help revitalize creeks and rivers. Research has
shown that beaver dams can boost groundwater levels,
improve water quality, provide drought resiliency, support
biodiversity and even reduce wildfire risk.
… 86-year-old activist [Brenda Adelman] has for more than
half her life fought to clean and protect the Russian River,
serving as a chief watchdog and champion for the 1,500-square
mile watershed. … The Russian River Watershed Protection
Committee, the nonprofit Adelman launched and led through that
era, made its mission in holding local and state government
accountable for the river’s health and restoration.
… Now, with 140 boxes of documents testifying to that
work stacked throughout her river-side house, Adelman is ready
to hang up her environmental activism boots. Come May, the
Russian River Watershed Protection Committee will officially
fold.
… Some people call it “human compost,” but Sharon Weaver
prefers a different term. “It is technically called natural
organic reduction soil,” said Weaver, who is executive director
of the non-profit San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation
Trust. … Weaver approved of using this compost along the
San Joaquin River because, she said, it would help restore the
land. … The practice had been happening for more than a
year. But last month, it became the center of a public
conversation. That’s because Fresno County Supervisor Garry
Bredefeld caught word of it. … In March, the county
handed Weaver a cease-and-desist letter to stop using this soil
along the San Joaquin River – and she did stop. … Still,
green burials like this are gaining popularity around the
country.
The latest forecasts for Colorado River water supply are
strikingly poor, and the impacts of a dry winter on the region
are starting to come into sharp, upsetting focus. Wide swaths
of the Rocky Mountains saw meager snowfall, setting the region
on course for the driest conditions in recorded
history. That shortage could threaten major
reservoirs, dams and the water supply for central Arizona.
About 85% of the Colorado River starts as mountain snow,
largely in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming. Scientists described the
conditions as “seriously dry,” “dismal” and “depressing” in an
otherwise rote briefing on the state of Western drought hosted
by federal forecasters.
U.S. intelligence agencies are “urgently warning”
private-sector companies nationwide that Iranian actors are
conducting cyber operations targeting critical U.S.
infrastructure, a campaign that has already caused disruptions.
… [T]he EPA warned that Iran’s cyberattack had already
disrupted “commonly used operational technology at
drinking water and wastewater systems,” and
that the federal government is “diligently working to ensure
that Americans can rely on clean and safe
water.” “Cyberattacks on drinking water and wastewater
systems directly threaten public health and community
resilience,” Jeffrey A. Hall, the EPA’s assistant administrator
for enforcement and compliance assurance, said in a statement.
The state Water Resources Control Board unanimously approved
releasing the Delta-Mendota subbasin from potential enforcement
actions at its April 7 meeting. … Landowners in the
region will escape probation, which requires growers to meter
wells, register them at $300 each and pay $20 per acre foot
pumped. In order to avoid state sanctions, the 23 Groundwater
Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) that cover the Delta-Mendota
subbasin submitted one coordinated groundwater plan that
addressed negative impacts, such as land sinking and decreased
water levels. … Delta-Mendota is the fourth subbasin in
the San Joaquin Valley to avoid state intervention.
The Bureau of Reclamation announced Tuesday that it will
temporarily release more water from Keswick Dam into the
Sacramento River to help juvenile Chinook salmon safely
make their journey to the ocean. The move came about
two weeks after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released
more than 6.2 million young salmon from Coleman Hatchery into
Battle Creek, prompting conservationists to urge the agency to
increase dam-releases into Sacramento River that’s facing low
flows. … Meanwhile, the announcement also came as the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service announced its plan to release more
than 2 million salmon into Battle Creek on Tuesday.
We’re hosting our annual open house and reception on May 7 when
you can meet the team behind our Water Leaders programs, tours
and workshops, Project WET teacher trainings and Western Water
news. Visit our office anytime between 2 p.m. and 6
p.m. and enjoy happy hour refreshments and appetizers
while catching up on the latest Foundation news. We have much
to look forward to in 2026 as we gear up for the Foundation’s
50th anniversary in 2027. RSVP
now to let us know you’re coming and to get
directions. Everyone who attends will get their choice of a
water map or guide.
It was a record-smashing first quarter for the American West.
An astonishing heat wave smothered the region for weeks.
Mountain snowpack, already low in many states after a
rainy winter, melted quickly. Drought conditions
intensified. And it’s only early April. Scientists warn that
extreme conditions could continue and cause water shortages and
raging wildfires. Dwindling snowpack is a big warning sign,
climate experts say. Low snow levels in the spring often
foretell drought. Recent research suggests that “snow drought”
can worsen wildfires. A March 23 study in Environmental
Research Letters found that in years with earlier snow melt in
the West, wildfires generally burned more acres.
… National Weather Service forecasters expect a cold front to
move over the region, bringing cooler temperatures and rain
across the Bay Area, with potential snow in the Sierra
Nevada. By Wednesday, temperatures will drop to normal
springtime averages. Temperatures along the coast will be in
the 60s and 70s inland, said Rachel Kennedy, a meteorologist
with the weather service’s Bay Area office. … The cold
storm building from the Gulf of Alaska could also deliver about
a quarter inch of rain in low-lying areas and up to
three-quarters of an inch at higher elevations on Thursday and
Friday. … The frigid storm may add much-needed
snow to the state’s meager snowpack, sitting at 18% of
normal for this time of year.
… [T]here’s been a dramatic increase in investment in cloud
seeding across the Mountain West. Three years ago, the Nevada
legislature three years ago allocated about $600,000to support
DRI’s efforts. Surrounding states have invested even more. Utah
recently allocated $16 million for cloud seeding. And the
federal Bureau of Reclamation provided a nearly $2.5 million
grant for cloud seeding operations in Colorado, Utah
and Wyoming aimed at increasing the levels in Lake
Mead, which is fed primarily by the Colorado River.
… “We did a review of those [cloud seeding projects],
and we found that the vast majority of them had missing
information, incorrect information,” she [Karen Howard,
director of science and technology assessment at the Government
Accountability Office] said.
The explosive growth in data centers is fueling concerns in
California, as well as across the country, about water and
energy use. Some have gone as far as to propose a water usage
fee on data centers. However, others argue that data center
water use is just a drop in the bucket compared to other uses
or that most data centers are moving toward less
water-intensive practices, such as reusing water in closed-loop
systems. To help us understand what we do and don’t know about
California data centers and water use, we spoke with Dr. Marie
Grimm, an environmental policy research fellow at UC Berkeley’s
Center for Law, Energy, & the Environment, about their new
report “Regulating Data Center Water Use in California.”
