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.
The likelihood of a potentially powerful El Niño taking shape
in the Pacific Ocean is rising, heightening concerns that
Southern California could be in for an extreme rainy season.
There is now an 82% chance that El Niño is likely to
emerge over the next few months, up from the 61%
chance estimated a month ago. And there’s now a 96% chance
that the climate pattern — characterized by warmer
ocean waters in the central and eastern tropical Pacific — will
be in force this winter, the National Weather Service’s Climate
Prediction Center said Thursday. … While it’s no given
that El Niño will bring a potent rain season to Southern
California, some previously high-powered patterns have been
monsters.
Arizona climate experts recommended Thursday that Governor
Katie Hobbs renew a drought declaration in effect since 1999 as
the state continues to reel from the hottest March on
record. … In Northern Arizona, wildfires are
already raging about a month ahead of schedule. Little to no
snowpack, drought-stressed trees and a lot of dead pinyon and
juniper means a higher risk this year for crown fires, in which
fire climbs to the tops of trees and quickly spreads across the
canopy. … Both the 1999 declaration and a later drought
declaration enacted in 2007 by then-Governor Janet Napolitano
will remain in effect for the foreseeable future. Hobbs last
renewed the declarations in 2024.
After months of pressing Western states to come to their own
agreement, the Trump administration told their leaders it’s
drawing up a 10-year plan for dealing with water shortages on
the Colorado River. The river is a major water source
forSouthern California and much of the
Southwest, but its largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and
Lake Powell, are severely depleted and their
levels continue to drop. News of the federal government’s
preliminary plan surfaced Wednesday during
a meeting in Phoenix. Tom Buschatzke, director of the
Arizona Department of Water Resources, said federal officials
informed state water managers they are developing a
“10-year framework” with specific rules requiring water
reductions that would be reassessed every two years.
Golden mussels are continuing to spread throughout
California, potentially imperiling key water infrastructure and
leading Kern County to declare an emergency. … This
week, Kern County officials declared a local emergency over the
invasive species. … Kern County is the second to
declare an emergency due to the invading bivalves. On
April 28, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors also
declared a local emergency, reporting that golden mussels had
already affected key infrastructure, including a $100 million
floodgate. And the invasive mussels are also impacting the
Bay Area. Earlier this month, water officials in Santa Clara
County reported two golden mussels were found for the first
time in their water treatment facilities.
After nearly a decade of advocacy, residents of the
unincorporated community of Tombstone Territory in Fresno
County are now connected to a reliable water source. Families
in Tombstone Territory endured years of unsafe and unreliable
water supply, according to the nonprofit organization
Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability. The group
says residents dealt with wells going dry and with contaminated
water. But residents in the area, with roughly 40 homes,
recently celebrated a consolidation project that connected the
community to the City of Sanger’s water system. The
consolidation project cost $5 million. The effort is part of a
state program known as the Safe and Affordable Funding for
Equity and Resilience, or SAFER.
Chants of “no data center!” echoed in the Utah Capitol Thursday
as protesters carried a letter to the office of Gov. Spencer
Cox demanding independent reviews of the planned 40,000-acre
Stratos project in Box Elder County and a “genuine public
comment period.” … With signs saying “Keep sharks out of
the Great Salt Lake” and “You can’t drink data,” they sang,
chanted and called for state officials to press pause on the
fast-moving Stratos proposal. … Cox said the developers
are committing to pursue other types of energy apart from
natural gas that could include low- or no-emissions solutions,
and he’s asked them to publish a water plan showing how they’ll
avoid any degradation to the lake. … Opponents say the
Great Salt Lake Basin doesn’t have an extra drop to give.
Rain and melted snow from mountain forests in northern and
eastern Arizona flow into Horseshoe and Bartlett dams, where
the water is transported by Salt River Project’s canals to
water taps in the Valley. But over seven decades, that water
has been depositing natural sediment at the bottom of Horseshoe
and Bartlett reservoirs, reducing their combined ability to
store water by about 15%, according to the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation’s 2021 survey. As the Verde River flows south into
Salt River, both together supply roughly 40% of the surface
water for the Phoenix metropolitan area. … Gilbert and
22 other Valley municipalities, tribal and agricultural
entities are partnering with SRP and the Reclamation Bureau on
a feasibility study to evaluate four proposed project
alternatives to restore and enhance the storage capacity of
Verde River water.
Emergency repairs began Thursday night on a leaking wastewater
pipe in Tijuana, which may result in stronger odors, increased
wastewater, and potential beach closures, the US International
Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) reports. The repair on the
leaking Parallel Gravity Line is expected to take at least 24
hours. During the repair window, two pump stations — PBCILA and
PB1 — will be taken offline, rerouting flow from the Tijuana
sanitation system to the South Bay International Wastewater
Treatment Plant. The IBWC warned that area residents may notice
increased wastewater and stronger odors along the Tijuana River
Channel as a result. Transboundary flows, which have been a
chronic driver of the ongoing sewage crisis that has prompted
beach closures from Imperial Beach to Coronado for years,
remain a concern.
House appropriators unveiled a conservative spending bill for
federal energy and water infrastructure
programs Thursday, proposing to surge funding for
nuclear energy and artificial intelligence while slashing
Biden-era energy priorities. … The House Energy
and Water Development Appropriations Subcommittee is set to
mark up the new legislation Friday morning. Extended
debate on the bill and votes on amendments will take place at
the full committee markup, which is scheduled for next
Wednesday. “This legislation builds on the successes of prior
years by continuing the modernization of our nation’s nuclear
deterrent, pushing the frontiers of science and technology,
unleashing more abundant and reliable energy to power our
communities, and improving the coastal and inland waterways
that connect our nation and link us to the global economy,”
said subcommittee Chair Chuck Fleischmann.
Many of us almost forgot what it’s like to have a real salmon
season along the Central Coast of California. As the Chinook
situation developed over the past month, things are actually
looking pretty good. Last week, water temps dropped a critical
four or five degrees thanks to an increase in northwest winds
and resultant upwelling, which brings cool nutrient-rich water
towards the ocean surface and feed a beautiful array of sea
life, including salmon. … Because the population of
Chinook salmon is fragile, with most West Coast runs labeled as
“threatened” and a few considered “endangered,” the powers that
be included total harvest restrictions in the regulations. The
Harvest Guideline for “Summer Season” in the Central Region is
set at 21,800 fish. The official count of king salmon caught
since the opener as is 2,328 recreational chinook as of April
30. That leaves 19,472 fish still available to catch before
Aug. 31.
Three months after residents began waging a campaign on
Instagram saying they’re concerned herbicides are poisoning
local creeks, Orange County officials announced they are
halting spraying of the chemicals, for now, in waterways
throughout the county. Starting in February, posts by the
community group Creek Team OC sparked an outpouring of concern
among residents. They posted images of workers spraying
chemicals and used artificial intelligence to make
illustrations featuring surfers under the slogan “Endless
Herbicides.” In March, county Supervisor Katrina Foley told
residents the county would halt spraying of herbicides in two
creeks near Doheny State Beach.
… Being collaborative with water will help ensure it is a
sustainable resource into the future. As we move through
another year with the reservoirs in Marin mostly full, drought
may not be the first issue we think to address. However, we are
in the midst of climate change that can have significant
impacts on water supply. We need to know our water system and
use available tools to keep it functioning for future
generations. The “old” water that seemed plentiful is not the
“new” water that we recognize as a limited resource. We can
reinvent our understanding of water for our future. –Written by Ken Eichstaedt, president of the North Marin
Water District Board of Directors, and Ranjiv Khush, a member
of the Marin Municipal Water District Board of Directors.
The Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA) and the
California Institute for Water Resources have signed a
collaboration agreement aimed at addressing the impact of
climate change and droughts, two elements that are increasingly
frequent in both territories. This agreement will promote
scientific cooperation in research, innovation, and
technological development related to sustainable water
management, and to promote the movement of researchers between
both two centres. The two institutions sealed their cooperation
arangement with Catalan president Salvador Illa present in
California, while ICRA researchers visited the University of
California. … Additionally, a Catalonia-California
seminar on water management is planned to be held in California
in November 2026.
A pound of mushrooms requires less than two gallons of water to
grow. That’s a lot less than crops like sweet corn, which uses
148 gallons per pound. A pound of beef soaks up 1,852 gallons.
Eating more mushrooms could be a helpful adaptation in a world
with dwindling water supplies. That was one of the messages
from Dr. Gordon Walker, a mushroom educator who visited
Carbondale in April for a talk about his new book, hosted by
the Western Colorado Mycological Association. Walker, aka “Dr.
Fun Guy” has amassed millions of social media followers of his
informational accounts called @fascinatedbyfungi. But Walker
said Americans have barely scratched the surface of edible
mushrooms’ potential.
Unable to get Colorado River states to hash out a new 20-year
deal to share in worsening water shortages, the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation has told them it’s now aiming for a 10-year
plan with prescribed cutbacks to be reassessed every two
years. Federal officials informed the seven states of
their new preference late last week, and Arizona’s lead
negotiator made it public on Wednesday, May 13, during a
meeting of a committee representing the cities, tribes and
other water users who meet to develop a unified state position.
The shift to what could effectively become five two-year plans
carries both opportunities and risks for Arizona.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers wants to create a new tax
credit for water recycling projects in a bid to reduce
water use from industrial facilities and artificial
intelligence data centers. Sens. Ben Ray Luján
(D-N.M.) and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) on Wednesday introduced the
“Advancing Water Reuse Act.” The bill would offer companies
a 30 percent investment tax credit for
installing or expanding water recycling systems at
manufacturing sites, including food processing facilities and
data centers. Water recycling or reuse refers to efforts to
treat wastewater so that it can be used again for industry,
irrigation or drinking. The idea is gaining steam across the
nation, especially in the arid West and in
places seeing a resurgence in manufacturing or a growing number
of data center projects.
Seven years ago, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law to
bring safe and affordable drinking water to the state’s most
disadvantaged communities. Last week, Newsom celebrated
the program’s accomplishments. … But that work could
lose critical funding as the Newsom administration overhauls
its source: California’s carbon market. The changes to
the program’s funding priorities and revenue threaten efforts
to bring clean drinking water to schools, homes and communities
across California. … The cuts began in
September, when Newsom and lawmakers struck a deal to
reauthorize the state’s carbon market after weeks of tense and
chaotic negotiations — renaming it “cap and invest.” The
new laws deprioritized funding lawmakers had promised to safe
drinking water.
From farmers to winemakers, commercial water users pumping from
the Paso Robles Area Groundwater Basin may soon need to pay for
their water use — and this time, they won’t be able to protest
the fees. On Friday, the Paso Robles Area Groundwater Authority
released a draft rate study that proposed charging
$22.90 per acre-foot of groundwater used by water
systems, farmers and commercial pumpers. … Meanwhile,
domestic well owners would not be charged water use fees, the
report said. The city of Paso Robles is the largest water
system that would pay fees, but this wouldn’t impact the city’s
ratepayers, Mayor John Hamon told The Tribune.
The Water Education Foundation’s 2025 Annual
Report is now available in an interactive,
digital format and recaps how we accomplished a lot of “firsts”
last year. A standout moment was our first-ever Klamath
Basin River Tour, where we brought 45 participants
into the heart of the watershed that underwent the nation’s
largest dam removal project. In 2025, the Foundation also
elected, for the first time, a graduate of our
California Water Leaders program to serve as Board
President – Alfred E. Smith
II. Check out our
2025 Annual Report to learn more about our
accomplishments and to find out which journalist received the
Rita Schmidt Sudman Award for Excellence in Water Journalism!
Rainfall across much of California and the West has become more
clustered in heavier storms, with longer dry spells in between.
The net effect is a drying out, researchers found in a new
study. It isn’t just the western United States; the same is
true in much of the rest of the world. The research is
the first to reveal how this concentration of rainfall into
fewer, heavier events dries out the landscape.
… The trend is less clear in Southern California and
more pronounced in the North. The America West is one of the
places where rainfall has become most clustered or
concentrated. The analysis, published Wednesday in the journal
Nature, offers new insight into how rainfall is shifting as the
climate warms.
