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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A large coalition of Native American tribes, environmental
groups and fishing organizations is asking California Gov.
Gavin Newsom to oppose a federal plan to raise Shasta Dam,
saying it would harm rivers, wildlife and tribal lands. In a
letter sent to the governor, about 50 groups said the proposal,
backed by the Trump administration and some Central Valley
farming interests, would increase the height of Shasta Dam in
the Northstate. Supporters say the project could store more
water, but opponents argue the costs would be too
high. The groups say raising the dam would flood parts of
the McCloud River, which is protected under California
law.
It might seem like an April Fool’s joke. But it’s not. After a
month of dry and sometimes record hot weather, rain is finally
back in forecast. A low-pressure system from the Pacific
Northwest is expected to bring rain to much of Northern
California next Tuesday and Wednesday. The showers would be the
first rain in the area in a month — since March 2 — and
although it is still early, could generate half an inch to 1
inch of precipitation across the Bay Area. … The same
two-day system is also likely to bring 1 foot or more
of snow and cooler temperatures to the Sierra Nevada,
where ski resorts have been closing early for the season and
the snowpack has been dwindling due to record-high temperatures
in recent weeks.
Arizona has lost about 90% of its snowpack in just three weeks
following this month’s record-breaking heat wave, according to
a new survey. The snowpack in the White Mountains acts like a
slow-release savings account that feeds Phoenix’s largest
reservoirs. But this year, that bank is emptying fast. …
Arizona State University and SRP have been tracking the
snowpack from the sky using a new airborne survey that measures
snow across the entire watershed, not just one spot.
… SRP officials say runoff is still tracking below
normal. But with reservoirs slightly more than half full, they
say the water supply is stable for now as they wait for the
next big wet year.
Under the rusty cliffs of Marble Canyon, the start of the Grand
Canyon in Arizona, a nondescript river measurement gauge has
been tracking the flow of the Colorado River for decades. …
The Colorado River’s flows at the gauge, called Lees Ferry, are
fundamental to water sharing agreements among upstream states,
like Colorado, and downstream states including Arizona,
California and Nevada. If the river’s flow falls too low, the
three downstream states can raise a ruckus, arguing the
upstream states are breaking century-old agreements and forcing
the basin into a legal mire that might only be decided in the
U.S. Supreme Court.
Utilities and cities across California secured a victory
Thursday in a water dispute that hinged on contracts between
the federal government and local agencies. U.S. District Judge
Jennifer Thurston granted summary judgment to the U.S. Interior
Department and a host of cities and agencies, dismissing the
case against them. A coalition of environmental groups, headed
by the North Coast Rivers Alliance, failed to persuade her that
Central Valley Project water deliveries require judicial
approval. After years of litigation, the environmental
coalition had one remaining claim: that no water delivery by a
federal reclamation project to an irrigation district could
occur without a proper court confirming the contract.
California Democrats on Wednesday moved to reinstate some
environmental protections they rolled back last year, reopening
a fight over how far the state should go in weakening its
landmark environmental law. State Sen. Catherine Blakespear on
Wednesday introduced amendments to SB 954, which previously was
a spot bill, to narrow the California Environmental Quality Act
exemption that lawmakers granted last year to “advanced
manufacturing facilities,” which range from data centers to
lithium mining. Lawmakers passed the exemption as part of
last-minute budget negotiations with Gov. Gavin Newsom in SB
131. … The advanced manufacturing exemption, however, ran
into immediate opposition from environmental and labor groups.
One Kings County groundwater agency will send an emissary to
Sacramento to ask for more time before its farmers are charged
fees while other agencies pour over a recent state report for
guidance. At its March 24 meeting, the Mid-Kings River
Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) approved sending Doug
Verboon, also a Kings County Supervisor, to Sacramento April 7
to appear before the Water Resources Control Board.
… Meanwhile, other GSAs are reacting to a recent Water
Board report on the neighboring Tule subbasin. … That report
recommended none of the Tule GSAs requesting exemptions from
reporting and fees be granted the so-called “good actor”
exclusions. The Water Board will consider the recommendation at
its April 21 meeting.
State lawmakers are considering a proposal that would allow a
New York-based investment company to sell water from rural La
Paz County to more urban parts of the state. The McMullen
Valley Basin is what’s known as a “transfer basin,” which
allows the water in it to be moved elsewhere. There are two
others, including the Harquahala Basin. Last year, lawmakers
approved a bill allowing water to be moved out of that basin.
Phoenix used to own the land in question but sold it in 2012. A
few years ago, a firm called Water Asset Management bought it.
The company is supporting the bill in the state Legislature.
As record heat melts snow in the Rocky Mountains and threatens
Arizona’s water supply, Phoenix is investing in a different
kind of solution, turning wastewater into drinking water. City
leaders say a major milestone at the Cave Creek Water
Reclamation Plant marks a step toward making that future a
reality. Crews this week filled a one-million-gallon treatment
basin as part of system testing, a sign the project is about
50% complete. … The facility is designed to take
wastewater and purify it into a reusable resource, something
water leaders say could help offset expected cuts to
the Colorado River.
During the 2024–2025 spawning season, endangered Central
California Coast coho salmon (CCC coho) migrated to Mendocino
Coast rivers in numbers few scientists thought they would see
in their careers. Monitoring teams estimated that more
than 30,000 adult coho returned, double the previous
season’s record-breaking return of 15,000 coho. These numbers
represent a significant leap from the past decade, where as few
as 3,000 fish returned annually. Several factors contributed to
this surge. Many scientists believe that reconnecting spawning
streams to mainstem rivers and other large-scale habitat
restoration projects significantly boosted their productivity
and abundance.
For decades, Southern California’s water system has relied
heavily on importing supplies from hundreds of miles away.
Water from the Colorado River and Northern California helped
sustain the growth of one of the world’s largest metropolitan
regions. But increasing pressure on those sources is prompting
the region to rethink how it secures its long-term water
future. Shivaji Deshmukh stepped into the role of General
Manager of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern
California at a time when those questions are becoming more
urgent. … In this interview, Deshmukh discusses how
Metropolitan is diversifying Southern California’s water
portfolio through conservation, infrastructure investment and
new local supplies such as recycled water.
Mono County has adopted an ordinance aiming to protect
waterways from golden mussels. The ordinance was adopted by the
Mono County Board of Supervisors and establishes the mandatory
Water Vessel Inspection Program. Golden Mussels were first
detected in the state of California in late 2024, and county
officials say they have been spreading across the state
rapidly. Unlike other species of mussels, golden mussels can
survive in a wider range of temperatures and extreme alpine
environments, meaning they provide a greater threat to
ecosystems in the area.
The Bureau of Reclamation has launched a new project webpage
designed to centralize public access to its Bay-Delta flow and
water quality monitoring data, agency officials announced this
week. The site provides information on how interested parties
can access monitoring data collected at stations funded by
Reclamation. Data from those stations continue to be collected
through routine manual downloads and posted online. As
equipment becomes available, telemetry systems are being
installed to allow real-time access to sensor readings through
the California Data Exchange Center.
The San Diego River Dog Beach in Ocean Beach has reopened on
Friday after water quality samples met state health standards.
This latest development comes after the beach was closed due to
a large volume of sewage that was released. San Diego County’s
Department of Environmental Health and Quality announced the
closure of the San Diego River where it meets Dog Beach in
Ocean Beach on Wednesday. According to County officials, 18,000
gallons of sewage were discharged, with an estimated 9,000
gallons reaching the San Diego River near the intersection of
Friars Road and Sea World Drive. … The Tijuana Slough,
Imperial Beach, Silver Strand and Coronado Shoreline remain
closed for similar sewage-related reasons from the Tijuana
River.
Denver Water has enacted Stage 1 drought restrictions for all
customers across the service area, effective immediately. The
Denver Water board approved the plan Wednesday morning, aiming
to cut water use by 20% due to worsening drought. They warned
that this year’s low snowpack could impact supply.
… This is the first time a level of restriction
this high has been in place since 2013, according to
Denver Water. Other areas, such as Thornton, Erie, and the
mountain communities of Fairplay, Bailey, and Shawnee, are also
under restrictions. The move comes as drought conditions deepen
across Colorado.
Under pressure to strike a compromise on water cuts, and amid
talk of litigation, Wyoming and other upper Colorado
River Basin states are pointing to the climate-driven
disaster unfolding in the West to insist they can’t cut what
Mother Nature isn’t providing in the headwaters. While
some observers suspect that argument is cover for withholding
more cuts in water use, the upper-basin contingency insists it
has negotiated in good faith and still hopes to strike a deal
with its lower-basin counterparts despite missed deadlines.
They simply cannot commit to calculations that are beyond their
control. … Upper Colorado River Commission members [met]
Tuesday to discuss what they say are ongoing negotiations with
lower Colorado River Basin states Arizona, California
and Nevada, as well as 30 tribes and Mexico.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released more than 6.2
million juvenile Chinook salmon from the Coleman Hatchery into
the Sacramento River this week, even as the river faces unusual
March heat and low water flows. The announcement of the release
came during a spell of extreme heat throughout California,
prompting urgent calls from conservationists who warn the young
fall‑run Chinook could die in the river’s warm, low‑flow
conditions before making their way to the ocean, unless the
Bureau of Reclamation releases more water from Shasta
Dam.
As the Arizona Department of Water Resources works to regulate
groundwater pumping in western Arizona, a megafarm responsible
for more than 80% of all pumping in a 912-square-mile
groundwater basin seeks to stay a public nuisance lawsuit in
which it’s accused of excessive pumping. In a state courthouse
Wednesday, Fondomonte Arizona LLC argued the ongoing process to
designate the Ranegras Plain Basin as an active management area
would achieve the same groundwater regulation goals as the
lawsuit Attorney General Kris Mayes filed against it in 2024.
Rather than move forward with the litigation, Riley Snow of
Rose Law Group suggested the court allow the two-year process
to play out and address any remaining concerns later.
At 4:30 a.m. on a recent Wednesday, three alpine scientists
arose from fitful sleep in a chilly research lab in the
Colorado mountains. … They had a satellite to meet. … The
satellite, known as NISAR, was launched last summer by National
Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Indian Space
Research Organization. The satellite’s capabilities are the
closest humans have come to measuring water content in snow
across vast regions, from space, the holy grail of snow
science. The new technology comes at a critical time. As
the world warms, snow is vanishing across many parts of the
planet. That includes Western United States, which is currently
undergoing a record snow drought.
Last week fog crept over the Tijuana Estuary in Imperial Beach,
oozing a pungent rotten-egg smell, as hydrogen sulfide bubbled
up from the polluted Tijuana River. … Later that day,
Thursday, March 19, air pollution monitoring data showed
hydrogen sulfide levels at 500 parts per billion, more than 15
times the California state standard of 30 parts per billion.
… When raw sewage enters the river in Mexico because of
wastewater system failures or spills, the health impacts are
felt across the border. Imperial Beach residents describe
asthma, migraines, rashes, nausea, eye irritation, dizziness
and brain fog when the sickening smell of hydrogen sulfide
wafts off the water.
