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 15-year water supply agreement between agencies in Sonoma and
Marin counties has received final approval. Under the
agreement, the Marin Municipal Water District will pay $12.5
million to the Sonoma County Water Agency to boost regional
drought resiliency. The agreement replaces previous contracts
and establishes the terms for how Russian River water is
delivered to Marin County through 2040. Marin Municipal Water
District officials approved the contract at a meeting in
August. The board governing the Sonoma County agency solidified
the agreement on Tuesday.
The San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG) is
partnering with several local agencies to host a public
workshop inviting community members to give their input on the
Morro Bay Estuary Climate Resilience Transportation Plan. The
plan outlines a long-range effort to protect the roads, bike
routes, and coastal access connecting Morro Bay and Los Osos.
Looking ahead to 2030, 2060, and 2100, officials say the plan
explores conceptual, nature-based solutions that make the
corridor safer, more accessible, and better prepared for
long-term coastal vulnerability.
San Diego County residents are turning to rain barrels to make
the most of Tuesday’s rainfall, with environmental advocates
saying even small amounts of precipitation can provide months
of garden irrigation. A 50-gallon rain barrel can capture
significant amounts of water during San Diego’s infrequent rain
events, according to Jessica Toth, executive director of the
Solana Center for Environmental Innovation. … Through
the rain barrel program, they’ve kept about 90,000 gallons of
water from going into the rainwater system.
As part of its ongoing commitment to responsible water
stewardship, Primo Brands Corporation … owner of the
Arrowhead® Mountain Spring Water Brand, is joining forces with
River Partners, a California conservation nonprofit driving
large-scale river and floodplain restoration, to support an
ambitious, multi-site project helping to revitalize key
portions of the Sacramento and Feather rivers. The
initiative delivers increased water resilience while advancing
other beneficial outcomes — including supporting wildlife
habitat that seeks to improve biodiversity, climate resilience,
flood safety, and renewed access to culturally significant
natural resources for Tribal communities.
The U.S. Department of the Interior has pulled more than $2
million in federal grants for restoration work in the Mid
Klamath Basin. The $2.1 million would have funded seven
projects along the Klamath River in Northern California. The
Mid Klamath Watershed Council said the work included wildfire
prevention, habitat restoration, and surveys of Chinook salmon.
… The Interior Department told the council in late
September that the grants no longer align with U.S. Fish and
Wildlife priorities.
October is typically the peak of Southern California’s fire
season, when Santa Ana winds paired with dry conditions after
summer allow flames to explode into major brush fires. But this
year, the region was hit by an early atmospheric river rain
storm that left the landscape drenched. And that could be good
news on the fire front — at least for a while. The storm,
classified as a weak, or Level 1, atmospheric river brought
enough moisture to Southern California’s drought-stricken
landscape to delay fire season for weeks, if not months.
California’s largest drinking water supplier named Shivaji
Deshmukh as its new general manager Tuesday, seeking to move
past turmoil at the top in time for major decisions on water
supply and costs. … The 38-member board had
preliminarily selected Deshmukh last month, as POLITICO
reported, but only formally appointed him Tuesday after
negotiating his contract. … The move comes after years of
instability at the top of the state’s — and the country’s —
largest supplier of drinking water. In January, the board voted
to fire General Manager Adel Hagekhalil, following an
investigation into claims of harassment. Hagekhalil was only
narrowly voted in by the board in 2021.
The Nature Conservancy analyzed data from more than 6,000 wells
across Nevada and found that nearly 4 in 10 are losing water,
threatening springs, wetlands, and wildlife habitats.
Researchers point to groundwater pumping as the main culprit,
whether the water is pumped for farms, cities or industry. But
climate change, rapid development, and population growth are
compounding the strain. … The report outlines several
strategies that could help stabilize groundwater levels and
provide a roadmap for neighboring Mountain West states.
Are you an up-and-coming leader in the water world? The
application window is now open for our
2026 California Water Leaders cohort, and submissions are
due no later than Dec. 3, 2025. If interested in
applying, start by checking out the program
requirements and look at the frequently asked
questions and mandatory dates on the application
page. Colorado River leaders, stay
tuned: Applications will be opening soon for the 2026
cohort of our biennial Colorado River Water
Leaders program.
A company’s opaque plan to build a huge datacenter outside
Tucson, Arizona has roiled the desert city over the past few
months, the latest US community to push back as tech companies
aggressively seek to build out infrastructure for cloud
computing and to power the AI boom. The proposed datacenter,
known as Project Blue, would span 290 acres in Pima county. …
But since the parcel sale agreement, the proposed center has
faced stiff pushback from a community upset over the enormous
amounts of water and electricity it would require, and the lack
of transparency with which the developers and some in local
government have pursued the project.
… The [California Fish and Game] Commission adopted
regulations adding invasive non-native mussels, including
golden mussel, pond mussel and axe-head
mussel, and green crab to the list of live animals
restricted from importation, transportation and possession. As
part of an emergency regulation, golden mussel was added to the
list of restricted species in December 2024 after the discovery
of golden mussel in California in October 2024. Golden mussel
was first detected in the Port of Stockton and have since
spread from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River
Delta into other California waterways that receive
water from the Delta.
California’s megadrought seems as endless as the Mojave Desert.
Between killer heat and growing wildfires, the state
experiences some of the harshest effects of climate change.
Although California is leading in clean energy policies needed
to tackle the worst impacts, water management is still a real
problem. … Ángel S. Fernández-Bou, bilingual senior
climate scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists, has
spent part of his career studying the problems facing
California’s land, including farms, farmworkers, and people. He
has devised several solutions that can protect people and help
them prosper. They start, he says, with listening to and
respecting community and Indigenous knowledge.
Danielle Henderson laughs when friends call her a water nerd,
but for her, the Truckee River is more than just a job–it’s a
living system she’s spent 18 years learning to protect.
Henderson is the Natural Resources Manager for the Truckee
River Flood Management Authority (TRFMA). For years, she has
pondered a particular part of the river corridor, an area now
being considered for a major flood mitigation project: The
Rock-McCarran Flood Project. … In her role with TRFMA,
Henderson is eager to see this project break ground, which will
encompass nearly 170 acres of open space that will be
revitalized, with river health and flood mitigation at the
forefront.
A new thematic map depicting primary water rights systems
across the U.S. has been developed by a collaborative team from
the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute, the National
Drought Mitigation Center and the Department of Agricultural
Economics, all at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. The
innovative tool provides a clearer understanding of the
variability of surface water and groundwater rights systems,
which are crucial for effective water management and policy
development by researchers, policymakers and landowners alike.
The San Lorenzo Valley Water District is set to begin a project
on Oct. 27 to create defensible space around 37 of its water
infrastructure sites, aiming to protect water systems from
potential wildfire damage. This initiative comes in response to
the CZU Lightning Complex Fire in 2020, which burned
approximately 80% of the district’s lands and resulted in the
loss of about 50% of its infrastructure. … The $170,000
project, funded through a Cal Fire grant, will prioritize
protecting key sites, including water treatment plants, pump
stations, wells and water intake sites.
A new state bill aims to improve cleanup of abandoned shopping
carts. Joshua Lopez is with the South Bay Clean Creeks
Coalition, a volunteer-based group that works to clear local
waterways in San Jose. … Every Wednesday, the
group’s volunteers work to restore certain areas off of rivers
and creeks. With more than 500 cleanups this year, they’ve
pulled out around 2,000 shopping carts. … “These things
become like cages to the salmon as they’re coming in. And if
there’s not enough water in the waterway, the fish end up
getting trapped there,” Lopez said. On Tuesday, California Gov.
Gavin Newsom signed a bill that makes changes to the state’s
laws on abandoned carts.
Southeastern San Diego County residents can expect even pricier
water bills due to higher sewer rates that their water agency
approved earlier this month. Otay Water District board members
unanimously approved gradually increasing sewer rates over a
five-year period. Next year’s hike takes effect in January and
will raise the cost of sewer service by about 4%, though
increases in subsequent years could reach nearly 10%.
… Otay Water officials say the new rates are necessary
to cover anticipated rising costs for sewage treatment, as well
as increases in payroll and construction costs.
The Silicon Valley-backed group, California Forever, has
unveiled its latest proposal, a massive Suisun City Expansion
Plan that calls for annexing more than 20,000 acres east of the
current city boundaries. … The Solano County
Economic Development Corporation has voiced support for the
project, saying it could strengthen Suisun City’s financial
future. However, groups like the Greenbelt Alliance have raised
concerns. … Some of those community concerns include
environmental impacts, the additional water supply needed, and
the potential loss of farmland.
Sustainable Conservation is pleased to announce that Dr.
Josette Lewis has been selected as the organization’s next
Chief Executive Officer, following a nationwide search led by
the Board of Directors and executive search firm DSG|Koya.
Lewis will assume leadership at the beginning of 2026.
… She currently serves as Vice President and Chief
Scientific Officer at the Almond Board of California, where she
oversaw its water stewardship programs and spearheaded the
California Pollinator Coalition, a first-of-its-kind
partnership among agriculture, conservation organizations, and
government agencies to protect threatened pollinator species.
A senior House Democrat is pushing EPA for answers on a delayed
report on the health effects of “forever chemicals.” Rep.
Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), ranking member on the House
Appropriations Subcommittee overseeing EPA, sent a letter
Thursday pressing EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin over “a growing
pattern of interference with the Agency’s scientific work,” the
letter reads. A ProPublica exposé published last week revealed
the agency has for months delayed the release of a final
toxicity report linking developmental, liver and reproductive
risks to the chemical perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA).
