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.
Evacuation warnings were issued across Los Angeles County on
Thursday evening as an atmospheric river approached Southern
California, bringing with it the potential to put an early end
to fire season while also bringing fresh risks of
flooding and mudslides. Under the storm
scenario deemed most likely by forecasters, downtown L.A. would
see 2.62 inches of rain Friday morning through Sunday. … Rain
of that extent would also make this L.A.’s wettest November in
40 years. … In Sierra Nevada, snow levels are
expected to fall to around 8,000 feet above sea level
around Tahoe and in Mono County from Thursday night into Friday
morning.
Delta Caucus co-chairs, Assemblywoman Lori Wilson and Sen.
Jerry McNerney on Thursday called on the Delta Protection
Commission to file an official appeal of the certification “of
the costly and destructive Delta Tunnel Project.” “The
Legislature established the Delta Protection Commission to
‘protect, restore, and enhance the Delta ecosystem,’ so we call
on the commission to appeal the certification of the Delta
Tunnel Project because it will devastate communities, farms,
the environment, and historic and cultural resources
surrounding the largest and most important estuary on the West
Coast,” Wilson, D-Suisun City, and McNerney, D-Pleasanton, said
in a joint statement.
A late fall storm that soaked the North State and brought high
wind gust is padding rain totals for what has been a wet start
to Northern California’s water year. … November is
typically the month when Lake Shasta, the state’s
largest manmade reservoir, drops to its lowest level
for the year. But the lake’s level is trending higher so far
this year. Lake Shasta is at 106% of the historical average and
57% full, the California Department of Water Resources said.
Trinity Lake was 71% full, which is 123% of the historical
average.
Two Northern California tribes announced Wednesday that they
signed a treaty last month, committing to jointly restore the
Eel River and its fish populations. Leaders from the Round
Valley Indian Tribes in Mendocino County and the Yurok Tribe in
Del Norte and Humboldt counties met at the Eel River Canyon
Preserve in Trinity County last month to sign the “Treaty of
Friendship.” The agreement commits the tribes to restoring
the river and rebuilding its declining fish populations as
PG&E moves to decommission the Potter Valley Project
hydroelectric system’s Scott Dam in Mendocino County and Cape
Horn (also known as Van Arsdale) Dam in Lake County.
The CVP and SWP (referred to collectively as “the Projects”)
rarely deliver their full contracted amount of water. … [I]n
late 2023 USBR contracted with the National Academies of
Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) to form an expert
committee that could serve as an independent review for the CVP
and SWP as they operate into the future. … The three actions
chosen for the study—the Shasta Coldwater Pool Management
Action, the Old and Middle River Flow Management Action, and
the Summer-Fall Habitat Action for Delta Smelt— are perceived
as consequential for species survival and controversial for
their effects on water deliveries to contractors.
The seven Colorado River basin states, including
Wyoming, missed a Tuesday federal deadline to reach a
preliminary agreement on managing the river’s dwindling water
supply. Even so, there could be one last chance. In June, when
the Nov. 11 deadline was set for a preliminary agreement, the
Department of Interior also demanded a final agreement by
mid-February 2026. So, now representatives from the states and
federal officials are placing their bets on a consensus being
reached by then. If not, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum might
be forced to decree a new set of operating plans for the river,
regardless of what the states want.
The specter of California’s strict but confounding
conflict-of-interest law prohibiting public officials from
profiting from their own agencies came up recently in regards
to the Kern County Water Agency hiring its former board
president as its general manager. Was it OK, under California
Government Code Section 1090 for KCWA to hire Eric Averett as
its general manager though he had served as board president
while the position was being discussed for nearly four months?
A reader sent SJV Water several “advice letters” from the Fair
Political Practices Commission that seem to suggest it may not
have been OK.
Officials at the Rincon del Diablo Municipal Water District on
Thursday formally unveiled plans to build a solar canopy array
and battery energy storage project at the Harmony Grove Village
Water Reclamation Facility in Escondido. The reclamation
facility runs up a power bill of about $5,000 each month and
the solar-plus-battery project will help offset the wastewater
treatment center’s energy costs. … The 302-kilowatt
solar array with 559 panels atop a canopy will generate
electricity to help run the treatment facility that recycles
more than 180,000 gallons of wastewater on a daily basis.
Three years ago, Matteo Serena barely knew the difference
between a beaker and a bunker. Today, the native of Italy could
be the most crucial person to ever visit your golf grounds.
Sporting a history of academia and turfgrass research on his
C.V., Southern California-based Serena has fast risen to the
forefront of the game’s water conservation efforts as the
senior manager of irrigation research and services for the
USGA. His ascent fueled by intellect, outreach and an
inherent European charm (“golf’a”), Serena’s drop-by-drop
efforts have achieved exacting results across water-starved
SoCal and beyond.
A new film from Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) provides an
exclusive, inside look at the emotional, historic, and
triumphant journey of a group of Indigenous youth paddlers down
the newly restored Klamath River. “First Descent: Kayaking the
Klamath” premieres today as part of OPB’s “Oregon Field Guide”
series and on YouTube. “First Descent” captures the
transformation underway not just to the Klamath River itself –
where sections of river are now flowing freely for the first
time in more than a century – but among the Indigenous
communities that have lived in the Klamath Basin since time
immemorial.
California water-rights holders are required by state law
to measure and report the water they divert from
surface streams. For people who wish to take
the water measurements themselves, the University of
California Cooperative Extension will offer in-person training
to receive certification on Dec. 1 in Davis. … Senate
Bill 88 requires that all water right holders who have
previously diverted, or intend to divert, more than 10
acre-feet per year (riparian and pre-1914 claims); or who are
authorized to divert more than 10 acre-feet per year under a
permit, license or registration; to measure and report the
water they divert.
H.R. 2940 was introduced into the United States House of
Representatives. The legislation is denominated “Advancing
Water Reuse Act’’ (“Reuse Act”). The Reuse Act provides a
federal tax incentive to invest in water reuse projects.
Proponents of the Reuse Act argue that the United States water
infrastructure is aging and inadequate to meet growing public
and private demands for freshwater. They further argue that an
increasingly important way to supplement freshwater supplies is
water reuse. … The Reuse Act was referred to the U.S.
House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee.
A drought in California affects much of the western United
States. From 2011 to 2015, there was little rain and snow in
much of the region, but that was just part of the problem.
These areas also experienced record-high heat, which baked away
what little moisture remained in the soil. … One
study from the University of Minnesota and the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution found it’s the worst drought in 1,200
years. …To get historical data about past dry years, we can
use data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration and a computer climate model called the North
American Drought Atlas.
Water is often taken for granted, if you’re lucky enough to
have it coming out of taps. Yet it lies at the heart of
national security. … I’m an academic specialist in the
field of trans-boundary rivers and national security. This
field of research studies the clash between the legal concept
of sovereign equality (that all countries are equal under
international law), and rights associated with river flows and
border demarcations. Disputes over rivers, from the Chobe and
Orange rivers in southern Africa to the Nile in the north, show
that being able to access water and control water sources can
determine social stability, migration, investment and even
international relations.
Nevada and six other Colorado River states failed to reach a
broad agreement Tuesday on how to share the river’s dwindling
water supply, missing a federally-imposed deadline after days
of intense closed-door negotiations. Despite missing the
deadline, the Department of the Interior and the Bureau of
Reclamation indicated states would be given additional time to
continue negotiations after making “collective progress.” …
The Bureau of Reclamation – which manages water in the West
under the Interior Department – initially gave states until
Nov. 11 to submit a preliminary agreement for a plan that could
replace the river’s operating guidelines set to expire at the
end of 2026. The initial timeline also called for states to
share a final consensus-based plan by mid-February
2026 in order to reach a final agreement in the summer
of 2026 with implementation of the new guidelines beginning in
October 2026.
A strong, wet storm was set to deliver gusty winds, heavy snow
and drenching rains across California beginning Wednesday
evening, and forecasters are growing increasingly concerned
about its potential to bring flash flooding to Southern
California in the coming days. This complex system will bring
potentially the most widespread and heaviest precipitation to
the state so far this fall, and the heavy soaking is expected
to bring a decisive end to the state’s wildfire season.
… Pulling in moisture from the tropics, this storm is
warm. Rain is forecast at lower elevations and snow will fall
only at the highest elevations.
The Trump administration will soon roll out a sweeping Clean
Water Act rule that could erode protections for many
wetlands and small streams. The White House on Friday
finished reviewing EPA’s plan to redefine which waters are
covered by the law, signaling that the proposal is ready to be
released to the public. The issue is a top priority for the
Trump administration. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced in
March plans to amend the scope of the Clean Water Act through a
new “waters of the U.S.” definition, marking the fifth time in
less than 15 years that would be changed.
Conservationists restoring salmon along California’s North
Coast have a mantra: A good coho salmon stream looks like a
teenager’s bedroom—if teenagers discarded logs and branches
instead of dirty clothes. … The first attempts to
restore Mendocino’s streams for coho and other salmon began in
the 1960s. Decades of logging in the area’s old-growth forests
left woody debris in stream channels, creating miles-long
barriers. Well-intentioned state conservationists decided to
remove it. … Gradually, researchers realized that salmon
needed the shelter provided by logjams.
… California is blessed with top-notch researchers—from state
and federal agencies, universities, consulting firms, and
NGOs—who are responsible for many of the tools the state uses
to manage its water. This spring, we convened some of these
experts, along with select leaders in water policy, for a
one-day intensive conversation. We asked them to evaluate the
state of water research in California and to identify research
priorities that could meet the challenges of the 21st century.
These conversations form the basis of our recommendations. This
report also highlights the challenges California is facing to
maintain vital research to support water management.
U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, Republicans from Texas,
have filed a bill to hold Mexico accountable for failing to
provide water to south Texas in accordance with a 1944-era
treaty. The Ensuring Predictable and Reliable Water
Deliveries Act of 2025 would strengthen enforcement of the 1944
Treaty of Utilization of Waters, which governs water usage
between the U.S. and Mexico. … The bill would impose
restrictions and measures against Mexico if it does not meet
its average annualized obligation. It requires the secretary of
State to report to Congress on Mexico’s status of meeting its
treaty obligations. If the secretary finds that Mexico hasn’t
met its obligations, the bill directs the president to deny all
non-treaty requests from the Mexican government.
