President Donald Trump’s trade wars are putting California
farmers and ranchers, happy with his promises to deliver more
water, back into financial — and political — limbo. … The
California Almond Alliance told Agriculture Secretary Brooke
Rollins and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in a March
letter that retaliatory tariffs would hurt American profits and
cede more market share to competitors, like Australia. Its main
ask: a smooth government bailout if retaliatory tariffs can’t
be avoided. … Almonds do have a few things going for them. They
have an ally on the inside: Trump last month named former
Almond Alliance president Aubrey Bettencourt to lead the
Natural Resource Conservation Service, a USDA agency focused on
soils.
A significant spill that sent more than 2 million gallons of
sewage into the Truckee River which went unreported in 2022 and
2023 has prompted legislative action in Nevada. A new bill,
Senate Bill 276, introduced by state Senator Ira Hansen in
Carson City, aims to prevent similar incidents by requiring
that downstream users be notified in the event of a spill.
Chairman Steven Wadsworth of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe
expressed frustration over the lack of notification regarding
the spill, which originated from an apartment complex.
“Unbelievable how this could happen and even worse than that
how could we not be notified,” said Wadsworth.
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) has
announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
intends to fund a project aimed at addressing sediment
accumulation and infrastructure damage in the Los Banos Dam
Area. This initiative is a response to the severe impacts of
the 2023 winter storms, which caused significant sediment
buildup and structural issues in the region. The 2023 winter
storms brought unprecedented rainfall to California, leading to
excessive runoff that overwhelmed various water control
structures in the Los Banos Dam Area. This resulted in the
accumulation of sediment in drainage basins and culverts, as
well as erosion and damage to access roads. These issues have
compromised the functionality of the water management
infrastructure, posing risks to both the environment and local
communities.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration finally finalized its
regulatory approach for how farms will be required to manage
the food safety risk posed by preharvest water applications
that contact fruit. The compliance dates for the new rule,
which is part of the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Produce
Safety Rule, take effect for large farms this month and for
small farms next year. The final rule replaced the initial
approach that included water testing criteria with an annual
risk assessment approach specific to each farm. This
change makes the regulation both more flexible and more
complicated, according to experts who have been on the speaking
circuit at industry meetings this past fall and winter.
A Navy admiral, a lawyer, a fisherman, an environmental group
leader and a former head of the American Meteorological Society
excoriated the Trump administration Wednesday for what they
called a dangerous gutting of NOAA, the nation’s climate,
weather and oceans agency. In a forum hosted by Democratic
members of the House Natural Resources Committee, panelists
representing a broad cross-section of experts and groups cast a
grim picture of a core science agency hollowed out by firings
and budget cuts. “I have hesitated to say this in prior
instances in my life, but lives are at risk, people will die
from this, I’m sorry to say,” Mary Glackin, the former AMS
president and senior vice president of the Weather Company,
told attendees of the hearing led by Rep. Seth Magaziner of
Rhode Island.
The Trump administration is considering rolling back a major
Biden-era regulation on “forever chemicals” in drinking water,
a move that could leave people more exposed to the substances
linked to cancer, high blood pressure and fertility problems.
But any attempt to weaken the rule would run into a formidable
statutory standard, experts say — the same one that has gotten
EPA into legal messes in the past. Finalized last spring, EPA’s
current rule requires water utilities to remove the man-made
chemicals from drinking water starting in four years. Formally
called per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, “forever
chemicals” are known for their virtual indestructibility and
have been found in approximately half the nation’s tap water.
From its origins in the High Sierra, all the way to the Tulare
Lake, the Kings River is one of the defining features of the
landscape of the Central Valley. Today on KVPR’s Central Valley
Roots, we explore its history, and its many names. It was early
January 1805 and Spanish Lieutenant Gabriel Moraga was leading
an expedition through the east side of the San Joaquin Valley.
When his party came across a great river they camped for the
night. The next day January 6th was the day Catholics call
Epiphany. It’s the holiday which celebrates the visit of the
Magi to the baby Jesus. Moraga named this river in their honor
– El Rio de los Santos Reyes – or the River of the Holy Kings.
California is only halfway through the rain year, and in
Redding’s case, the rainfall and snowfall amounts exceed what
the area typically receives in total precipitation, making 2025
one of the wettest years since 2019. …Wet winter storms
left waters in California’s largest reservoir,
Lake Shasta, less than 16 feet from the top on Tuesday.
Precipitation in March pushed the lake level more than 18 feet,
according to data from the California Department of Water
Resources, boosting the top almost as high as Shasta Dam was
after torrential rains in early February. It is expected the
lake may be full by end of May.
(Yesterday,) leaders of the Hoopa Valley and Yurok Tribes
signed an agreement to share 50,000 Acre-Feet (AF) of federal
water from the Bureau of Reclamation’s Trinity Reservoir near
Lewiston, CA. The Tribes’ rights to that water come from a 1955
federal law under which Reclamation dammed the Trinity River
and diverted most of the water it stored to the Central Valley,
and a 1959 contract between the Bureau of Reclamation and
Humboldt County for a portion of the reservoir supply. Congress
awarded the water to Humboldt County and the Tribes to ensure
their opportunity for economic development with Reclamation’s
water supply and to mitigate Trinity Dam’s impact on the
downstream communities. The ceremony took place at the
confluence of the Klamath and Trinity Rivers on the border of
Yurok and Hoopa Valley tribal homelands.
The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors on Tuesday,
April 1, approved the first-quarter amendment to the
2025-2026 biennial budget. … The board also approved a new
forbearance agreement with the state of California, pledging
not to use water conserved by neighboring water districts, an
action aimed at addressing ongoing water shortages in the
region. The 2025 California Forbearance Agreement commits IID
to forego using or diverting water conserved under agreements
with Metropolitan Water District and Coachella Valley Water
District, according to Tina Shields, IID Water Department
manager.
The most powerful man in the world is waging war on a tiny,
almost extinct fish. The fish is the minnow-like delta
smelt, less than three inches long with a lifespan of only a
year. Its sole natural habitat is the Sacramento-San Joaquin
River Delta – a marshy maze of more than 1,100 miles of
waterways, levees and islands where its namesake rivers
intertwine. … It has become a flashpoint in the California
water wars – the never-ending debate over the best use of a
scarce resource in a state burdened with recurrent drought,
wildfires, and the climate crisis. Now Trump is seizing control
of the debate – regulations and the truth be damned. –Written by columnist Bill Walker
A packed veterans hall in the northern Sonoma County city of
Cloverdale became the latest battleground in Northern
California’s escalating water war. On March 20, Cloverdale
Mayor Todd Lands hosted a town hall that brought together
community members from across the region to discuss the future
of the Potter Valley Project. … Although PG&E
announced its plan to give up control of the diversion system a
decade ago, the March 20 gathering was the first town
hall-style public meeting that invited Russian River officials
and residents to question the plan’s impact, voice concerns and
demand answers about the path forward. The meeting, which
SFGATE attended, drew a strong turnout from Russian River
residents critical of the decommissioning plans, reflecting
deep community frustration about how PG&E’s plans could
fundamentally change water availability throughout the
region.
Project Nexus: California’s first solar-covered canals. The
initiative that’s been years in the making is now generating
electricity while conserving the state’s water supply. The
solar panels sit over Turlock Irrigation District canals in
Central California. … The project is funded by the state and is
a public-private-academic partnership between Turlock
Irrigation District, Solar AquaGrid, UC Merced and the
California Department of Water Resources. Project Nexus stems
from a 2021 research project by UC Merced alumni and project
scientist, Brandi McKuin. Her study found covering canals with
solar panels reduces evaporation while generating power – and
brings other benefits.
Time is running out to register for next week’s
Water 101 Workshop and go beyond recent national
headlines to gain a deeper understanding of how water is
managed and moved across California. Plus, only a handful of
spots remain for the opportunity to extend your ‘beyond the
headlines’ water education experience on our Central Valley
Tour! And come one, come all to our
annual Open House
& Reception on May 1.
The headgates are open and water is returning to Highline Lake
in the state park located outside of Grand Junction
(Colo.). The lake — fed by the Government Highline Canal
and connected to the Colorado River — was
drained in November after a years-long battle against invasive
zebra mussels. Colorado Parks and Wildlife announced that it
began refilling the lake on March 31. The first adult
zebra mussel was found in the lake in 2022, marking the first
discovery of the species in Colorado water. After finding more
mussels, Colorado Parks and Wildlife launched a response that
included applying molluscicide to the lake, water sampling,
cleanup efforts and ultimately, draining the lake entirely.
This was the first time the lake was fully emptied in 60
years.
In a much-needed break after multiple years of severe droughts
over the past two decades, California’s statewide Sierra Nevada
snowpack, which provides nearly one-third of the state’s water
supply, was at 96% of its historical average on Tuesday, up
from 83% a month before. The April 1 reading, considered the
most important of the year by water managers because it comes
at the end of the winter season, follows two previous years
when the snowpack reached 111% of normal on April 1 last year
and 237% in 2023. Although Tuesday fell just short of a third
year in a row above 100%, together the past three years
represent most bountiful three-year period for the Sierra
snowpack in 25 years. The last time there was this much snow
three years in a row came in 1998, 1999 and 2000.
New polling shows Americans view ensuring a reliable water
supply as their top issue, beating out inflation, healthcare
reform and others. The polling comes from the US Water
Alliance’s Value of Water Campaign, an effort to raise
awareness of the need to support water infrastructure, and is
the first time a reliable water supply topped the list of key
issues. Reducing water contamination came in third, behind
inflation. Most Americans polled also expect the federal
government to make investments to improve and maintain water
infrastructure, the polling found, with the majority of
participants going as far as supporting bond measures and
higher local water bills to do so.
The California Natural Resources Agency has submitted its 2025
Annual Report on the Salton Sea Management Program (SSMP) to
the State Water Resources Control Board. … CNRA said 2024 was
the largest single year for Salton Sea restoration and
management funding in program history. In the fall of 2024, the
U.S. Bureau of Reclamation committed $175 million to accelerate
construction of restoration projects at the Sea, in addition to
$70 million previously committed, for a total of $245 million
in federal funding. California voters also passed the Climate
Bond (Proposition 4) in November 2024, which included $160
million for Salton Sea restoration and management projects, as
well as additional funding up to $10 million to create the new
Salton Sea Conservancy, which will focus on the long-term
operation and maintenance of the State’s restoration projects.
In early 1871, American shad was a popular food and sport fish,
and the California Fish Commission engaged Seth Green, regarded
as the father of fish culture in North America, to transport
more than 12,000 American Shad fry by train to California.
Green filled milk jugs with shad fry and took them onto a
transcontinental train. After a seven-day journey, he arrived
in California with 10,000 little fish still alive, and he
released them into the Sacramento River near the town of
Tehama. The project turned out to be more successful than Green
could have imagined. From Sacramento, shad colonized and were
introduced to rivers all along the West Coast. … They make
up over 90 percent of the recorded upstream migrants in some
years and raise concerns about their impact on diminished
salmon runs. … However, according to Thomas Quinn, a
salmon expert and professor emeritus at the University of
Washington, the impacts of shad on salmon may not actually be
as bad as some people think.
“If you’ve ever owned the same piece of land since 1972 the
year the Clean Water Act became law, you’ve operated under 14
different definitions of the Waters of the US,”
(says) National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Chief
Counsel, Mary Thomas-Hart. Lee Zeldin, who’s the new EPA
Administrator, made two pretty substantial announcements.
First, they dropped a guidance document that pulled back some
of the prior more aggressive enforcement activity from the
Biden administration and then opened up a Request for
Information docket for 30 days, so the agency is basically
seeking input from regulated stakeholders as they try to create
some finality in this WOTUS space. Thomas-Hart says that
questions remain for landowners and farmers trying to apply
WOTUS on their operations specifically what guidance they need
from the EPA to confidently make preliminary determinations on
whether a feature falls under federal regulation.
