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Water news you need to know

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 Chris Bowman.

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Aquafornia news Monterey County Now

Commentary: The peninsula’s water usage hits historic low

This past water year—a calendar built around the wet season, from Oct. 1, 2023 to Sept. 30, 2024—just 8,972 acre-feet of water were pumped into Cal Am’s system to meet customer demand. It marks the first time since 1977—a severe drought year that led to water rationing—that number has dipped below 9,000 acre-feet. For contrast, the amount of water put into the system in 1976 was around 16,000 acre-feet.  … Meanwhile, both the population and the price of water for customers have grown considerably.  What does that mean?  For one, it means that water conservation measures implemented by the Monterey Peninsula Water Management District are working. It also reflects that the demand for water, to a certain extent, is elastic—residents need water to drink and for domestic purposes, but perhaps some decided watering their lawn or whatever else was just not worth the cost. 

Aquafornia news Salt Lake Tribune

Utah Speaker Mike Schulltz calls for pause on major water bills in 2025

House Speaker Mike Schultz hosted lawmakers for a water policy summit where he urged his colleagues to ensure efforts are taken to help the state deal with growth, protect the Great Salt Lake and ensure Utah gets its fair share of water from the Colorado River. “Every part of this state has different needs, different water issues,” Speaker Schultz, R-Hooper, told FOX 13 News on Thursday. “Collaboratively, we can come together as a state and work to move the state ahead and make sure we have enough water not just for us, but our kids and grandkids in the future.” The Speaker has called for a “pause” on major water bills in the upcoming session of the Utah State Legislature. He said he believes major policy shifts have happened with bills and spending on water conservation and rewriting more than a century of water rights law.

Related article:

Aquafornia news Fox 13 Salt Lake City

At Utah water summit, updates on the Colorado River, Great Salt Lake and property taxes

House Speaker Mike Schultz hosted lawmakers for a water policy summit where he urged his colleagues to ensure efforts are taken to help the state deal with growth, protect the Great Salt Lake and ensure Utah gets its fair share of water from the Colorado River. “Every part of this state has different needs, different water issues,” Speaker Schultz, R-Hooper, told FOX 13 News on Thursday. “Collaboratively, we can come together as a state and work to move the state ahead and make sure we have enough water not just for us, but our kids and grandkids in the future.” The Speaker has called for a “pause” on major water bills in the upcoming session of the Utah State Legislature. He said he believes major policy shifts have happened with bills and spending on water conservation and rewriting more than a century of water rights law.

Aquafornia news Los Angeles Times

Thursday Top of the Scroll: Climate change identified as main driver of worsening drought in the Western United States

Humanity’s heating of the planet, driven by the burning of fossil fuels and unchecked emissions of greenhouse gases, has become the main driver of worsening droughts in California and the American West, according to new research.A team of UCLA and NOAA scientists found that while droughts in the last century were caused mainly by decreases in precipitation through natural cycles, an entirely different pattern has taken hold as a result of the rising temperatures this century. The researchers determined that since 2000, human-caused warming has become the dominant force leading to more drought severity in the Western United States. In the case of the intense Western drought from 2020 to 2022, the scientists attributed 61% of its severity to high temperatures, and only 31% to reduced precipitation.

Other drought articles:

Aquafornia news E&E News by Politico

Emboldened president-elect plans to undo President Joe Biden’s energy and environmental policies

President-elect Donald Trump will return to the White House in January with an agenda to slash government regulations, expand fossil fuel production and fire his critics in the federal government. Following Trump’s decisive win Tuesday and with Republicans clinching control of at least one chamber of Congress, the president-elect and his team are poised to make drastic overhauls to energy and environmental policies.

Related articles:

Aquafornia news E&E News by POLITICO

California voters greenlight $10B climate bond

California voters approved a bond measure Tuesday that will let the state borrow $10 billion to fund wildfire, flood protection and other climate resiliency projects. Proposition 4 easily passed in a state where devastating wildfires, heat waves and other natural disasters linked to climate change are occurring more frequently. Pollsters say those events — which have driven a homeowners insurance crisis — have led to growing support for climate action across regions and demographic groups. The measure represents California’s latest effort to spend big on climate resiliency and environmental health projects, with billions allocated to prepare for droughts and floods. While the largest portion of the money will go to water infrastructure, Prop 4 also finances new projects to address wildfire protection and sea-level rise. Forty percent of the money is designated to projects in disadvantaged communities.

Related articles:

Aquafornia news CBS Los Angeles

Ventura asks residents to limit water use amid Mountain Fire

The City of Ventura asked its residents to limit their water use as crews tried to extinguish the Mountain Fire Wednesday night. The rapidly-spreading wildfire quickly burned through more than 10,400 acres after sparking near Moorpark in Ventura County. Firefighters attributed the explosion in size to the Santa Ana winds that prompted a Red Flag warning. In this particular instance, they issued a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” alert because of the threat posed by “an ongoing or imminent fire weather pattern.” Meteorologists tracked some gusts of wind that reached more than 60 miles per hour as the fire burned. The strong winds grounded firefighting fixed-wing aircraft, adding another hurdle toward full containment, according to Ventura County Fire Department.

Other wildfire articles:

Aquafornia news Desert Sun (Palm Springs, Calif.)

Election results: Coachella Valley WD incumbent trounces challenger; IID too close to call

Incumbents in two contested Coachella Valley Water District races trounced their competitors in the Nov. 5 General Election, but the race for a key Imperial Irrigation District seat was too close to call on Wednesday morning. Longtime Coachella Valley Water District board member Peter Nelson received 8,774 votes, or 76.4% of ballots cast, blowing out challenger Robert Keeran, who received 2,705 votes, or 23.6%. Nelson, a veteran farm company manager, won a seventh four-year term representing Division 4.

Related water district stories:

Aquafornia news Deseret News (Salt Lake City)

October was kind to Utah with precipitation, officials say. Will it keep it up?

Soil moisture levels across Utah are extremely low, a factor that could bring foreboding when it comes to the efficiency of the spring runoff and what moisture is sucked up by the ground. Still, the state’s mountains regions have reason to celebrate, according to a new report by the Natural Resources Conservation Service which tracks the water supply outlook during the snow accumulation season. Jordan Clayton, supervisor of the agency’s Utah Snow Survey, said the 2025 water year started off pretty well even for Utah’s valley locations.

Other Colorado River Basin articles:

Aquafornia news The Eastsider LA

Army Corps to dredge L.A. River for 10-year sediment removal

This winter, the Army Corps of Engineers will begin dredging the L.A. River from Griffith Park to the 110 Freeway area. By the time the project ends, nearby third graders will be in college. About 50% of the sediment will be removed during the 10-year project, according to Stephen Baack, a public affairs specialist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Los Angeles District. Work will begin with excavation and invasive species removal, he added. According to Baack, $18 million has been allocated for the project, though more money could come in later. The next step involves awarding a contract to the entity that will do the work.

Aquafornia news San Mateo Daily Journal

Redwood City studies sea-level rise

With more than 10 miles of Bay shoreline, a Redwood City Council study session focused on its vulnerability to sea-level rise and adaptation planning considerations.  A study shows major sources of flooding in Redwood City include elevated Bay water levels, runoff and emergent groundwater. Wet winters and heavy storms also influence high tides and more severe flooding along watersheds.  Mayor Jeff Gee said addressing flooding, sea-level rise and groundwater concerns will be a long-term effort, but it can only start with these studies of gaps in the city’s infrastructure and steps forward.

Aquafornia news South Yuba River Citizens League

News release: Haskell Peak Meadows Restoration Project: Second and largest year of implementation completed

SYRCL, in partnership with the Tahoe National Forest, completed the second year of project implementation on 229 acres of meadow, fen, and meadow edge habitat within five high priority meadows in the North Yuba Watershed: Haskell Headwaters Fen, Chapman Saddle Meadow, West Church Meadow, Freeman Meadow, and Bear Trap Meadow.  Meadows are important ecosystems for sequestering carbon, they serve as habitat for threatened native species, and act as a “water bank” by holding snow water as it melts then slowly releasing it through the summer.   As temperatures rise and precipitation shifts from snow dominant to rain dominant, the resiliency of these meadow ecosystems is increasingly threatened. While existing habitat degradation in these meadows was initially caused by a variety of historic human impacts, this degradation is expected to worsen in response to the impacts of climate change without intervention.  

Aquafornia news 10News KGTV (San Diego)

Watch: Volunteer group committed to clearing trash from Tijuana River

Over in the South Bay, the sewage crisis has been impacting the community for years on end. We’ve heard complaints about the smell and the pollution and all the heartache it has caused. To help alleviate the pain, one local group, Wildcoast, is working hard to at least stop thousands of pounds of trash from flowing in. Watch the video in the player at the top of this page to see how ABC 10News reporter Madison Weil follows through with those volunteers.

Aquafornia news Los Angeles Times

Wednesday Top of the Scroll: Proposition 4, the bond measure for water and environmental projects, takes wide lead

A $10-billion California bond measure to finance water, clean energy and other environmental projects was leading by a wide margin in Tuesday’s election. Proposition 4 called for spending $3.8 billion for water projects, including those that provide safe drinking water, water recycling projects, groundwater storage and flood control. An additional $1.5 billion would be spent on wildfire protection, and $1.2 billion would go toward protecting the coast from sea level rise. Other money would be used to create parks, protect wildlife and habitats, fight air pollution, address extreme heat events and fund sustainable agriculture.

Related articles:

Aquafornia news CalMatters

California election results: Resistance state braces for Trump 2.0

… Californians now face a repeat of Trump’s first term from 2017 to 2021 — another four years of governance consumed by combative showdowns between the state’s Democratic leadership and Washington, D.C., possibly distracting from or even setting back progress on addressing California’s own problems. … Across state government, officials have been gaming out a response to “Trump-proof” California. Gov. Gavin Newsom and his budget team are developing a proposal for a disaster relief fund after the former president repeatedly threatened to withhold emergency aid for wildfire recovery from California because of its water policy. In 2019, as the Trump administration narrowed federal water protections, California adopted even more expansive state regulations that developers complained made it more complicated and costly to get building permits. 

Other election-related water articles:

Aquafornia news Los Angeles Times

Invasive mussels could harm California Delta ecosystem, add to water costs

The recent discovery of a new type of invasive mussel in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is raising concerns that the non-native species could cause major ecological harm and inflict costly complications for the infrastructure California relies on to deliver water across the state. … After finding the golden mussels in O’Neill Forebay, state workers have begun surveys to determine the extent of the infestation in the State Water Project system, including the California Aqueduct, which transports water pumped from the Delta to cities and farmlands. The increased monitoring and maintenance that will be required is expected to have an economic impact for the State Water Project, increasing water delivery costs, said Tanya Veldhuizen, manager of the Department of Water Resources’ Special Projects Section.

Related article:

Aquafornia news SJV Water

Lawsuit accuses Friant Water Authority of holding secret meetings that resulted in massive fees pinned on a handful of Tulare County irrigation districts

The legal fracas over who should pay to fix the sinking Friant-Kern Canal grew Friday when three Tulare County irrigation districts sued the Friant Water Authority for imposing steep fees on the districts approved through allegedly secret communications and serial meetings. In a suit filed Nov. 1 the Terra Bella, Saucelito and Porterville irrigation districts also seek to declare the fees, up to $295 million approved in a special meeting held in August, void. “We are hoping that Friant will go back and re-do that board meeting, and if they do, that the outcome will be different,” said Sean Geivet, general manager for the three districts. “The unlawful tactics of Friant’s leadership need to cease because my three middle-sized districts can’t continue to function on an uneven playing field.” He said the districts have documents that show the fees were approved illegally.

Other groundwater article:

Aquafornia news Arizona Republic

Phoenix provides water to a new chipmaker. Any cause for worry?

… The Arizona [semiconductor manufacturing] facility is being built to mimic its “mother fab” in Taiwan, where TSMC has already invested heavily in water reuse at its existing fabs. Company officials say the new facility in Arizona aims to be as efficient as possible. With blueprints in hand, [Greg] Jackson’s job is to make that statement a physical reality. … TSMC says its reuse and recycling efforts will make its water use manageable and even small compared with other Arizona water uses. Phoenix doesn’t expect it to strain city resources. At the same time, other growth stemming from TSMC’s arrival, uncertainty around the region’s Colorado River supplies, and additional environmental concerns related to semiconductor manufacturing generally could create more troubling questions for the Phoenix community.

Aquafornia news The Guardian

Nearly all of US states are facing droughts, an unprecedented number

Every US state except Alaska and Kentucky is facing drought, an unprecedented number, according to the US Drought Monitor. A little more than 45% of the US and Puerto Rico is in drought this week, according to the tracker. About 54% of land in the 48 contiguous US states is affected by droughts. … California, which relies heavily on the agricultural industry to support its economy, lost $1.7bn in crop revenue in 2022 due to the ongoing drought. Dry conditions can also result in low water levels on rivers and other waterways. Ports and other water-borne transportation may become limited due to a reduction in available routes and cargo-carrying capacity, which increases transportation costs.

Other weather related articles:

Aquafornia news The New York Times

Growing food instead of lawns in California front yards

On a corner lot in Leimert Park in dusty South Los Angeles, not far from Obama and Crenshaw Boulevards, sits a curiosity that’s wildly different from all the neighboring grassy yards. Abundant and lush, it looks like a mash-up between a country idyll and something dreamed up by Dr. Seuss. Run by a gardening wizard named Jamiah Hargins, this wee farm in the front yard of his bungalow provides fresh produce for 45 nearby families, all while using a tiny fraction of the water required by a lawn. … The project has expanded to three front yard microfarms growing in adjoining neighborhoods and transformed into a nonprofit organization. …The mini farms bring environmental benefits, thanks to irrigation and containment systems that capture and recycle rain. That allows the farms to produce thousands of pounds of food without using much water.