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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Representatives of the four upstream Colorado River states
called Tuesday for the Interior Department’s Bureau of
Reclamation to mediate talks among the Western states that are
warring over a water-sharing deal for the drought-riddled
waterway. “I think it’s worth us recommending that the
seven states and Reclamation engage with us in a mediated
process,” said Estevan López, New Mexico’s lead Colorado River
negotiator and a former Obama-era Reclamation commissioner.
“Every single state has said that litigation is not a good
outcome; we ought to put our money where our mouth is,” he
said, noting that talks have come down to the wire with rules
governing the river set to expire at the end of August.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District has
finalized its Record of Decision for the proposed Sites
Reservoir Project following completion of its National
Environmental Policy Act review. The Sites Reservoir Project is
a proposed off-stream water storage project located in Colusa
County, California, north of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The ROD documents the Corps’ evaluation of the project in
accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act and
informs future permit decisions under Section 404 of the Clean
Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act. The
Environmental Impact Statement for the project was prepared
under the leadership of the Bureau of Reclamation, with USACE
participating as a cooperating agency.
… Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins posted on X on Tuesday
that talks are underway with a Riverside County water district
to take over the Potter Valley hydroelectric project owned by
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. … The post immediately raised
a host of questions about a Southern California entity’s play
for a Northern California water project. … The news also
put more distance between parties who have for years labored to
ensure Eel River diversions for farms and
residents in Mendocino and Sonoma counties continue once the
dams are torn down and those behind more nascent attempts to
keep the dams, despite PG&E’s move to abandon them and
eventually see them torn down.
The Central Valley could soon be home to three new state parks
in what officials say is the largest expansion of California’s
state park system in decades. The proposed parks —
Feather River Park in Yuba County, San
Joaquin River Parkway near Fresno, and Dust Bowl Camp
in Bakersfield — would serve historically park-poor
communities. … The largest of the proposed parks,
Feather River in Olivehurst, Yuba County, sits on nearly 2,000
acres along the Feather River. It would be the first state park
in Yuba County, complete with a boat launch and riverside
beach, as well as a floodplain designed to take on
water in high-flow years. The San Joaquin River
Parkway in Fresno and Madera counties would join various
properties into an 874-acre state park directly upriver from
the city of Fresno.
The Water Resources Control Board voted to go forward with
sanctions against some Tulare County farmers – including up to
$12 million in pumping fees – after they failed to show
they had made enough progress toward stemming subsidence, among
other issues. More than 20 farmers from the Tule
subbasin, which covers the southern half of Tulare County’s
flatlands, appeared at the Water Board’s April 21
hearing on the issue. They made technical, tearful and even
angry pleas that they be exempted from the sanctions, including
the fees and a requirement that they report to the state how
much they pump beginning May 1. But, after a nearly
five-hour hearing, the Water Board voted unanimously to deny
the exemption requests.
U.S. Senators Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, both Democrats from
California, have introduced legislation to approve a water
rights settlement agreement involving the Agua Caliente Band of
Cahuilla Indians, the federal government, the Coachella Valley
Water District, and the Desert Water Agency. … The proposed
Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians Water Rights Settlement
Act would ratify an agreement finalized in May 2025
that resolves long-running disputes over the tribe’s water
rights in the Coachella Valley. … Under the
settlement, the legislation would confirm the tribe’s federally
reserved water right of up to 20,000 acre-feet per year of
groundwater from the Indio Subbasin, along with surface water
rights in Tahquitz Creek, Andreas Creek, and Whitewater Ranch.
More plaintiffs, including a Catholic church, have joined the
lawsuit over “useless turf” regulations after the Nevada
Supreme Court ruled against an appeal. An amended class action
complaint filed in Clark County District Court on Tuesday shows
multiple community associations, homeowners and Our Lady of
Victory Catholic Church have been added to the case against the
Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA). The suit alleges that
SNWA’s enforcement of the state law to reduce non-functional
turf, part of larger water conservation efforts, has killed
many trees and destroyed property interests.
The latest flurries that dusted parts of the Sierra Nevada this
week are unlikely to do much to ease California’s snow
drought. Since April 1 — when the state measured its
second-lowest snowpack on record — the Sierra Nevada has seen a
few rounds of storms. This week’s system triggered winter storm
warnings in the range and brought up to two feet of snow at the
peaks. … “It’s not going to do enough to get you back to
a normal snowpack year,” said Chad Hecht, a meteorologist with
the Center for Western Weather and Water Extremes at UC San
Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography. “Since we are in
April and approaching May, it will not last too long up in the
higher elevations. It’ll continue to melt off.”
Nearly one-fifth of Americans relied on drinking water systems
with elevated and potentially dangerous levels of nitrate in
recent years, according to a new study released Thursday. The
nonprofit Environmental Working Group examined test data
collected by water systems across the country between 2021 and
2023, the most recent data available. Water systems
serving more than 3 million people exceeded the federal safety
limit of 10 milligrams per liter over the three years, the
research and advocacy organization found. … [T]he report
found that 64% of all water systems that recorded nitrate
levels at or above the legal limit were in just five states:
California, Texas, Kansas, Nebraska and
Oklahoma.
The California State Water Resources Control Board now has
rules for distributing nearly $50 million in state bonds for
water quality projects that could help fix pollution in the
Tijuana and New rivers. Leaders in San Diego
and Imperial counties had been making their case for why their
regions should receive the full amount of funding that
Proposition 4 earmarked to clean up rivers and coastal waters
near the California-Mexico border. Proposition 4, which
California voters approved in November 2024, however, did not
specify who would get the funding and how much. On
Tuesday, board members unanimously approved a process to
decide.
The town of Kearny could use up its entire water allotment by
August if current usage continues, leaving the community about
90 miles from Phoenix in a crisis. The town’s water supply was
cut by roughly 85% due to ongoing drought conditions. Kearny
normally receives about 600 acre-feet of water, but is now
allocated only 77 acre-feet. The town uses an average of 280
acre-feet per year. “We will run out of water legally on August
1 at this point,” said Mayor Curtis Stacey. “There are 2,000
people here that I am responsible for.” The Gila
River, which flows from San Carlos Lake, serves as
Kearny’s water source. The supply is split among several
eastern Arizona communities. Little snowpack in Arizona and New
Mexico has left less water to distribute.
Sacramento River fish swimming through Redding will have more
places to rest, eat and hide from predators starting this
spring. Conservationists announced they’ll build rockwad homes
— tree and rock structures — for juvenile salmon and trout
to live until they migrate out of Shasta County. Rockwads
imitate debris clusters that once collected in the river. That
debris was “a refuge to nurture young fish at the start of the
life cycle,” said engineer Josh Watkins, Manager of the City of
Redding Water Utility. Replicating those habitats will “ensure
salmon and trout populations have a place to grow and thrive.”
… [T]he Affordable Insurance and Recovery Act would
empower California’s attorney general to sue fossil fuel
companies over climate damages in an effort to shore up
insurance. Amid destructive wildfires, insurance companies have
retreated from California in large numbers and increased policy
costs significantly, according to advocates and experts.
… The new bill, introduced by Democratic state Sen.
Scott Wiener of San Francisco, would have Big Oil companies pay
up for the ways fossil fuels have historically contributed to
the global warming that is driving conditions for deadly
wildfires, more powerful storms and other weather extremes. …
Climate disasters fueled by climate change, including larger
and more destructive wildfires, floods and other
extreme weather events, are “exploding” insurance
costs, Wiener said.
A Bay Area congressman rolled out a new plan that aims to make
Bay Area waters safer for migrating whales. This comes after a
dead whale was spotted this week near Alcatraz, marking the
ninth dead whale reported in Northern California waters in a
matter of weeks. … While marine experts continue to
investigate, they say at least one of the nine deaths was
likely linked to a ship strike, an issue linked to dozens of
whale deaths in the past several years. The Marine Mammal
Center says the safety of the whales is critical, as data shows
an increasing number are now spending their time in Bay waters.
The Trump administration injected a surprising twist into the
fight over Northern California’s Eel River on
Tuesday, offering up a potential plan to stop the removal
of two dams in the basin — though how serious the
plan is remains to be seen. In a social media post, U.S.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said she had been in touch
with a Southern California water agency that
was interested in buying the Scott Dam in Lake County and Cape
Horn Dam in Mendocino County and continuing their
operation. Such a move would run counter to longtime plans
by Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the owner of the dams, to
remove the facilities as part of the retirement of the
century-old Potter Valley hydroelectric
project.
Utah and other Upper Basin states gave their reluctant support
for the federal government to release an unprecedented amount
of water from Flaming Gorge to bolster Lake Powell, which could
fall below hydropower-generating levels as soon as August,
forecasts show. The Upper Colorado River Commission on Tuesday
approved a drought response operations agreement with the
Bureau of Reclamation that authorizes releasing up to 1 million
acre-feet of water from Flaming Gorge, which straddles the Utah
and Wyoming border. … Projections shown during the
commission meeting show that even a 1 million acre-feet release
from Flaming Gorge will not be enough to prevent Powell from
dropping below minimum power pool, or 3,490 feet.
Over the next two days, forecasters expect a cold storm to
temporarily reblanket the Sierra Nevada with several feet of
snow. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm
warning through 5 p.m. Wednesday for the Northern Sierra above
5,000 feet. While the storm will bring yet another round of
April snow after a historically warm, dry March for California,
it’s not expected to do much lasting good for the state’s
meager snowpack, which sits at 18% of normal for this time of
year. “My guess is if you look at the snowpack analysis on
Thursday, this will show up as just a blip on the curve,” said
Chris Smallcomb, a meteorologist with the weather service’s
Reno office.
California environmental officials proposed upholding the
state’s approval of the Delta Conveyance Project in a draft
decision Monday, rejecting most of the legal challenges brought
by opponents while ordering a redo on two environmental issues
that could complicate the project’s path forward. In a draft
ruling released Monday, the Delta Stewardship Council rejected
the bulk of 10 appeals challenging the Department of Water
Resources’ consistency certification for the long-contested
Delta Conveyance Project — a planned 45-mile tunnel to move
more water beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta — finding
the state had sufficient evidence to comply with most Delta
Plan policies.
Each summer, dozens of dedicated teachers take time from their
summer break and gather in Butte, Solano, and Sacramento
counties to participate in Water Institutes for Educators. Over
the course of three days, they explore their local watersheds
and learn from scientists, water resource experts, and each
other. Through these hands-on water institutes, teachers
discover new ways to bring water topics into their classrooms.
… Information and registration can be found on
the Water Education Foundation’s Project WET website.
The ground may be sinking throughout most of the Central
Valley, but it’s actually rising in some parts of southern
Fresno County. Westlands Water District says thanks to its
efforts, the county has seen “measurable uplift” in and around
the area between Cantua Creek and Huron. The map below details
the change from January 2025 to January 2026 in blue. According
to the legend, the land in this area rose at least 1.2
inches. The “rarely seen” phenomenon is the result
of efforts borne from the Groundwater Sustainability
Plan. It was introduced in 2014 in response to
increasingly degraded water quality, land subsidence, and dry
wells exacerbated by overpumping and drought.
