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.
… A series of storms is bringing huge snow totals to the
highest peaks of the Tahoe Basin. As of Wednesday afternoon,
ski resort reports are showing anywhere from 4 to almost 7 feet
of powder since Sunday. … Four days ago, the statewide
snowpack was at just 52 percent of average. By midday
Wednesday, the snowpack jumped by 17 percent.
California is now at 69 percent of average for
this time of year and 53 percent of the average peak
snowpack. … Rain totals in the Valley and Foothills have
been impressive, too with several rounds of beneficial
accumulation over the past few days. … According to
California’s Department of Water Resources, Shasta is at 78
percent of capacity. Lake Oroville is at 80 percent of
capacity. Folsom Lake is at 55 percent of capacity which is 114
percent of the historical average.
River conservationists on Wednesday urged state regulators to
reassess how aging hydropower infrastructure is operated and
maintained — and, in some cases, whether certain facilities
should remain in place — following a 14-foot diameter,
high-pressure water pipe ruptured last week. While praising the
immediate emergency response of Yuba Water Agency and
California Department of Fish and Wildlife, advocates said the
rupture raises broader questions about how dams and related
infrastructure are managed in California. … The
incident, which took place about five miles downstream of New
Bullards Bar Dam, led to the deaths of hundreds, possibly
thousands, of juvenile salmon.
As the state has built up its legal warchest ahead of
a legal battle over how Colorado River water will be
divvied up, one failed Republican proposal at the Capitol
sought to notify Arizona residents of the worst case
scenario. … [Ariz. Rep. Alexander] Kolodin’s bill would
have required that every municipal water provider that receives
water from the Central Arizona Project notify customers of the
potential increase to their water rates if 100% of that water
is no longer available. … The Central Arizona
Project, a series of canals that supplies Colorado River water
to the Phoenix and Tucson areas. But because it is one of the
newest users of the Colorado River water, it will be among the
first to be cut if the states that are part of the Colorado
River Compact can’t reach an agreement before the deadline set
by the federal government.
A new study from researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno,
finds elevated mercury levels in wood ducks along the Carson
River, downstream from Nevada’s historic Comstock Lode. In the
1800s, miners used mercury to extract gold and silver from
crushed rock. Much of that toxic metal washed into nearby
waterways, where it settled into sediments along riverbanks and
floodplains. … While the research focused on the
Carson River watershed, the implications extend beyond northern
Nevada. Historic mining shaped watersheds across the
Mountain West, including parts of Colorado, Idaho and Montana.
Many of those rivers still contain legacy contamination from
gold and silver extraction.
The Water Education Foundation, which celebrates
its 49th birthday this year, is proud to be
the only organization in the West providing comprehensive,
unbiased information about the region’s most critical natural
resource. Don’t miss your chance to go beyond the news
headlines and gain a deeper understanding of how water
flows across California and its challenges by signing up for
our popular spring tours and workshops, including the
Water
101 Workshop March 26, the Central Valley Tour April
22-24 and the Bay-Delta Tour May
20-22. All of which have limited seating and
may sell out before long, so register while you can!
… As the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers considers making a
decision on the embattled Delta Tunnel, Democratic Rep.
Josh Harder (CA-09) called on the federal agency to deny
the federal permits required for the project to be
completed. … Joined by the Democratic members of
Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Congressional Delegation,
including John Garamendi, Ami Bera, Mark DeSaunier and
Doris Matsui, Harder led a letter urging the Army Corps’
final Record of Decision to protect Delta waterways, families,
and the regional economy by denying these permits.
The Mid-Kings River Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA)
will spend $360,000 to repair four dry wells in its boundary
caused by excessive groundwater pumping. The Mid-Kings board
approved drilling three new domestic wells and connecting one
home to the City of Hanford’s water system during its Feb. 17
board meeting. This is all part of its $2 million pilot program
to help owners repair well damages. … For now, the two
entities that make up the GSA, Kings County and the City of
Hanford, will foot the bill for the pilot program. The GSA
will have to hold a Proposition 218 election, which is required
for new or increased assessments, in order to raise its own
money.
As a storm passes through the San Diego-Tijuana region, Ruben
Cervantes says the non-stop flow of sewage-tainted water coming
from south of the border is contaminating wells used by
ranchers like him in the Tijuana River Valley. … On
rainy days, the International Wastewater Treatment Plant is
often overwhelmed by the effluent coming in from Tijuana, and
as way to prevent damage to its pumps and other infrastructure,
it gets shut down. The polluted water is simply released.
… Cervantes says the foam seeps into the ground tainting
aquifers and wells in the Valley.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff conducted more than 438,000
watercraft inspections in 2025 to prevent the spread of
invasive species in state waters. The agency decontaminated
more than 30,000 high-risk boats and intercepted 136 vessels
carrying invasive mussels during the year-long effort. The
inspections are part of a statewide prevention program designed
to protect water infrastructure from destructive aquatic
nuisance species. … In 2026, staff will install a
decontamination dip tank at Highline Lake to reduce wait times
for departing boaters. The agency also plans to partner with
federal and local groups to sample Grand Valley ponds and lakes
that receive water from the Colorado River.
At least three beaver dams spanning Dry Creek in different
spots between the Creekside Golf Course and Claus Road were
spotted for the first time recently. … Though a thriving
beaver population creates considerable upsides, like
contributing to biodiversity, flood resistance and groundwater
recharge, the rodents can also cause some unwanted issues that
landowners should look out for. … “We now have a beaver
help desk (www.calbeaverhelp.org) that’s available to anyone in
the state of California, and that’s a place where any landowner
can get advice,” [Water Institute at the Occidental Arts and
Ecology Center Co-director Katie] Lundquist said.
California Trout is deeply concerned by the repeal of the
federal endangerment finding, a decision that departs from
decades of scientific consensus and raises serious implications
for the health of our wild fish, rivers, communities, and
climate. … Beyond impacts to human communities,
best available science tells us that if current trends persist
45% of California salmonids are likely to be extinct in the
next 50 years. Climate change is the major, overarching threat
affecting salmonids in California. It is considered a critical
or high threat for 27 of 31 species (87%) according to
CalTrout’s State of the Salmonids II Report. The majority of
salmonid species in California currently face, or are likely to
face, extinction from climate change if present trends continue
due to a lack of access to cold water and low and variable
stream flows.
A major storm blanketed Sierra peaks in feet of snow
over Presidents Day weekend. And even more is on the
way, with two to four more feet due by Wednesday morning,
according to Chronicle meteorologists. … UC
Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Laboratory, located at
Donner Summit, tallied 37.5 inches in the two days leading up
to Tuesday morning. Over 28 inches fell in the past day
alone. … This week’s storms are good news for
California water supplies. According to the California
Department of Water Resources, the statewide snowpack is 59% of
normal for this time of year, as of Tuesday.
A letter from California Governor Gavin Newsom to his fellow
governors in states along the Colorado River is offering
support for a multi-state solution to managing the water supply
for 40 million people. But it’s a paragraph tucked in that
letter, obtained by FOX 13 News, that has reliably red state
Utah leaders praising their blue state counterparts. … [T]he
letter praised Utah Governor Spencer Cox for an idea that has
been pushed by state political leaders for years now — the
notion of trading Colorado River water shares for money for
desalination plants.
Keeping on the state’s good side was paramount in the decision
by a southwestern Kings County groundwater agency to cut
pumping allocations to less than one acre foot per acre of
land. The new allocation was one of a flurry of policies
enacted by the Southwest Kings Groundwater Sustainability
Agency (GSA) over the last few weeks, after the GSA had not met
in six months. Effective immediately, growers in Southwest
Kings will only be allowed to pump .66 acre feet per acre.
Growers who go over that amount will be fined $500 per acre
foot over the allotment starting Oct. 1, according to the
policy approved by the board at its Feb. 13 meeting.
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla announced Tuesday that he and Sen. Adam
Schiff secured $54 million in federal funding for the Pajaro
River Flood Risk Management Project, aimed at strengthening
flood protection for Watsonville and Pajaro. The funding will
go toward reconstructing failing levees along the Pajaro River
and its tributaries in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties,
according to Padilla’s office. The project is intended to
reduce flood risk for residents, businesses and infrastructure
in the low-lying communities. … Problems with the aging
levee have plagued the region for years, overtopping its banks
and allowing devastating floods in 1955, 1995 and 1997. Some
3,000 properties lie in the floodplain.
… On Tuesday, she [Rep. Tomi Strock] presented House Bill 116
to the [Wyo.] House Agriculture, State and Public Lands & Water
Resources Committee, calling it “a clear Wyoming first water
protection bill.” … The bill, sponsored by the Select
Water Committee, declares that splitting water molecules to
industrially produce hydrogen “shall not constitute a
beneficial use of water” — the foundational legal standard
governing every water right in Wyoming. The committee passed it
8-1. … State Engineer Brandon Gebhart told the committee
that if the bill’s declaration that water-splitting is not a
beneficial use remains in place, his office would have no
ability to permit the process under any circumstance —
including with wastewater or produced water from oil and gas
operations.
Construction on a long-stalled, $13 million project that would
make recreation along the San Joaquin River more accessible to
cars and foot traffic is scheduled to begin later this year,
Fresno officials said Tuesday. The river, a public space, is
considered a potential economic driver for the Fresno area that
could improve residents quality of life and draw more visitors.
But many properties in the San Joaquin River Parkway, a
collection of public green spaces planned to stretch from
Friant Dam to Highway 99, remain either closed to the general
public or difficult to access by vehicle or even on foot.
The Arvin-Edison Water Storage District and Wheeler
Ridge-Maricopa Water Storage District boards both agreed
recently to spend $2.5 million and $2 million, respectively, on
efforts to rid their systems of invasive golden
mussels. At its Feb. 10 meeting, Arvin-Edison’s Resource
Manager Samuel Blue laid out a two-phase attack against the
mussels. First, Blue plans to start with a chemical treatment
called Natrix CA in March, when there is less water demand by
district farmers and the temperatures are cooler. The mussels
are more active in warmer water, Blue explained. He hoped the
treatment would kill off 90%, or more, of the adult golden
mussels.
Hundreds, and possibly thousands, of juvenile Chinook salmon
were found dead in the lower Yuba River after a large water
pipe burst at the New Colgate Powerhouse on Friday, according
to a local conservation group. Aaron Zettler-Mann, executive
director of South Yuba River Citizens League, explained that
flows on the lower Yuba River briefly fell following the
rupture, stranding young salmon in the rocks along the shore.
… Carson Jeffres, a senior researcher at UC Davis’
Center for Watershed Sciences, said Friday’s rapid drop in
flows and resulting salmon deaths are unlikely to wipe out the
Yuba’s runs, thanks to several recent wet years and a strong
return of adult salmon.
San Diego County Supervisor Paloma Aguirre is inviting the
candidates for Governor of California to tour the Tijuana River
Valley and surrounding communities. Katie Porter accepted that
invitation, and on Tuesday morning, she and Aguirre met with
community leaders at a cafe in Imperial Beach, where beaches
have been closed for more than 1,200 consecutive days due to
the pollution that comes in from south of the border.
… Porter said, if elected governor of California, she
would declare a state of emergency clearing the way for federal
and state money to be delivered for mitigation programs in the
Valley and in communities affected by the contamination.
