The Trump administration plans to increase “regulatory
flexibility” for oil and gas companies trying to find ways to
dispose of copious amounts of toxic wastewater. … Fracking
generates massive quantities of this toxic wastewater that
companies are struggling to manage. … Under the Environmental
Protection Agency’s current rule, discharges of produced water
are more restricted in the Eastern United States than in the
arid West. The agency announced last week that it will revise
that regulation to “help unleash American energy.” Among
the items it’s considering: expanding the geographic range
where treated oilfield wastewater can be discharged into rivers
and streams. The EPA also said it will review new
opportunities for using treated wastewater for industrial and
agricultural applications, including for artificial
intelligence and data center cooling, and to irrigate
rangeland.
On Jan. 31, the California Fourth District Court of Appeal
upheld a Riverside County Superior Court ruling that the
Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) is required to reimburse
to non-agricultural customers a minimum of $17 million. On
March 12, CVWD filed an appeal with the California Supreme
Court. In what has been dubbed “the canal water rates case,”
the court found that the water district illegally charged this
group more than its agricultural customers for the delivery of
water via the Coachella Canal during the CVWD’s 2020, 2021 and
2022 fiscal years. According to the court, the plaintiff, the
Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA), established that
the water district was charging agricultural businesses $34.32
per acre-foot during these years, while non-agricultural
customers—primarily single-family residence customers—were
charged $102.12 per acre-foot.
The California Coastal Commission on March 13 approved the
two-phase restoration of the southern area of the Los Cerritos
Wetlands. The project area is in Seal Beach. The coastal
development permit was approved with conditions. The Los
Cerritos Wetlands Authority, created in 2006, was the
applicant. “The Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project,
a partnership of 17 state and federal agencies, has identified
the acquisition and restoration of the Los Cerritos Wetlands as
a high regional priority,” according to the unsigned staff
report.
The Inland Empire Resource Conservation District (IERCD) has
announced the opening of its California Underserved Small
Producer (CUSP) Program, supported by funding from the
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). This
initiative aims to support small and underserved farmers and
ranchers who have experienced economic hardship due to extreme
weather. The program offers reimbursement grants ranging from
$2,500-$20,000 for lost revenue and increased costs due
to drought, flooding, wildfire, pest quarantine, severe
windstorms, and extreme cold. Eligible farmers can
seek reimbursement for allowable expenses such as crop and
livestock loss, debris removal, pest quarantines,
infrastructure and equipment damage, and increased utility
costs.
The country’s largest public water district hired a new science
adviser to guide the organization and help balance water
availability with environmental needs. Brad Cavallo comes to
Westlands Water District by way of Cramer Fish Sciences, where
he was vice president and principal scientist at the research
institute, according to a release from Westlands. Before that,
he also worked as senior environmental scientist for the
California Department of Water Resources and as a fisheries
biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Cavallo says there is a way to balance water needs for
California’s endangered fish species and ensure water
availability.
The Klamath Water Users Association announced Elizabeth Nielsen
has accepted a position as executive director of the
organization, effective April 7, 2025. Nielsen currently serves
as deputy county administrator for Siskiyou County, California.
… Nielsen has worked on Klamath Basin watershed issues for
the past 14 years in various capacities, including with the
Bureau of Reclamation in Klamath Falls. In her current
position, her responsibilities include overseeing Siskiyou
County’s natural resources department. In recent years, Nielsen
has been instrumental in the work of the “Tri-Counties,” a
coalition among Klamath County Siskiyou and Modoc counties in
California, that has engaged effectively on water issues
regionally, statewide, and nationally.
Six months after the collapse of a $1.5 billion plan to expand
Los Vaqueros Reservoir in Contra Costa County to provide more
water to Bay Area residents, state officials began Wednesday to
redistribute nearly half a billion dollars that had been
earmarked for the failed project. The California Water
Commission, a panel appointed by the governor, voted 7-0 to
give $73 million immediately to the Harvest Water Program in
Sacramento County, in addition to $291 million it had
previously provided. … But the commission punted Wednesday on a
question being closely watched by water managers around the
state: When will it dole out the rest of the Los Vaqueros
money? And which other reservoirs and other water storage
projects being planned around California will receive it?
A series of atmospheric rivers slammed California in early
2023, dumping as much as 300% of the historical annual average
rainfall on some parts of the state. The rains replenished
surface water storage above its historical average, but
scientists are still unraveling how the influx of precipitation
affected the state’s groundwater, which suffered from extreme
drought conditions from 2020 to 2022. In a new study
published in Science, researchers used an existing network of
seismic instruments to probe that question. They found that
surface water, such as lakes, streams, and reservoirs, had
recovered above its historical average after the winter storms.
But the volume of groundwater—defined in the study as water
stored more than 50 meters (164 feet) below the surface—lagged
far behind.
The proposed Delta Conveyance Project aims to divert more water
from the Sacramento River to 27-million people, largely in
Southern California, along with acres of farmland. Supporters
say the tunnel would cut down on earthquake risks, provide
cleaner water, and bolster the state’s water supply. However,
Delta residents worry about how construction could affect their
communities and native wildlife. CalMatters Environment
Reporter Alastair Bland joins Insight to talk about these
concerns, proposed alternatives, and whether the “Delta Tunnel”
is too big to kill.
Steady storms continued to benefit California in March, with
reservoirs across the state gaining 200,000 acre-feet of water
from the beginning of the month to Tuesday — that’s
enough to fill 100,000 Olympic-size swimming
pools. Across California, reservoir storage is well above
average for this time of year, according to the Department
of Water Resources. Statewide storage was 115% of normal, as of
Tuesday. … California’s largest reservoir, Shasta Lake,
was at 86% of its total capacity on Thursday, or 113% of normal
for this time of year. … Lake Oroville, the state’s
second-largest reservoir, received some 30 billion gallons of
water, with water levels rising by more than 6 feet. … The
statewide snowpack is 93% of normal for this time of year, as
of Monday.
Other water supply and snowpack news around the West:
Legislation to prevent the unnecessary and harmful discharge of
California water from reservoirs under false pretenses was
introduced by Assemblymember Diane Papan, D-San Mateo. Assembly
Bill 1146 would prohibit the release of California’s stored
water if it is carried out under knowingly false or fraudulent
representations regarding the purpose or intended use of the
water. … In January 2025, the ordered release of more than 2
billion gallons of California water from reservoirs was widely
criticized as unnecessary and disruptive to the state’s
delicate water storage system. Experts have warned that such
politically motivated decisions could have devastating
consequences, including increased flood risks and water
shortages during critical dry periods.
Wildfires in Los Angeles. Tornadoes in the South and Midwest.
Flooding in North Carolina. From coast to coast, a wave of
extreme weather events over the past year has destroyed homes
and upended lives. As the planet gets warmer, it’s essential
for home buyers to consider climate vulnerability. If you
already own a home, how can you best protect it from the next
weather disaster? A good place to start is double-checking your
insurance policy (hazard insurance is often required when
closing on a home). You may also want to make a record of all
the items in your home, as most insurance carriers require
policyholders to submit comprehensive lists of everything lost
in a disaster.
Colorado lawmakers, worried that a key source of money for
water projects is too easily tapped for other programs, want to
create a special task force to examine ways to stabilize and
boost funding for things like new water pipelines and
conservation programs. Under Senate Bill 40, a nine-member
panel would examine new options to replace severance tax money
that is collected on nonrenewable resources, such as oil and
gas and some minerals, and is highly variable. A portion of the
revenue is used to help Colorado address looming water
shortages. According to state forecasts, by 2050 those
shortages could be as high as 740,000 acre-feet of water, under
a worst-case planning scenario, or much lower if growth slows
and climate change impacts are less than expected.
… State and federal agencies, nonprofits and other groups
have spent more than $3 billion over the past quarter century
for more than 800 projects that aimed to protect and improve
(Lake Tahoe) and its environs. And public investment is
accelerating: Congress recently reauthorized the Lake Tahoe
Restoration Act, allocating $300 million for an array of
projects for another 10 years. Work the region has prioritized
for the next five years is estimated to cost more than $2
billion in federal, state, local and private funds. But
despite all of the billions lavished on Lake Tahoe, questions
remain about whether all of this funding and attention have
actually improved the quality of the lake and its surrounding
environment.
Residents have until 5 p.m. April 11 to submit comments on the
proposed renewal of the National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System at the Easterly Wastewater Treatment Plant,
6040 Vaca Station Road. Treated wastewater is discharged to Old
Alamo Creek, a tributary of New Alamo Creek, Ulatis Creek,
Cache Creek Slough and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. …
The tentative order includes updated effluent limitations for
ammonia nitrogen, nitrate plus nitrite, dichlorobromomethane,
dibromochloromethane, and cyanide. It removes effluent
limitations for acute whole effluent toxicity and electrical
conductivity.
This spring, students can learn about water use and runoff
through interactive assemblies or explore local water resources
while engaging in class projects — all thanks to water
education programs hosted by Inside the Outdoors. In
celebration of World Water Day on March 22, the OCDE-led
environmental education program is making a splash by opening
applications to Orange County classrooms eager to learn more
about the wonders of water. The traveling scientist programs,
available for students in grades three through 12, are offered
through a grant partnership with the Municipal Water District
of Orange County and the Family of Orange County Water
Providers.
California’s most-destructive and least-welcome swamp rodents
have arrived in its fifth-largest city. To be precise, they’ve
arrived in the stretch of San Joaquin River that traces
Fresno’s northwest border. Eight years have passed since a
reproducing population of nutria was found in western Merced
County — their first discovery in the state since the 1970s.
Despite eradication efforts that began in March 2018, nutria
have since spread north into the Delta, east into foothills
along the Merced River and south into the Fresno Slough and
Mendota Wildlife Area. … Since 2023 more nutria have been
taken from Fresno County than any county in California,
according to CDFW data. In the overall tally of 5,493 animals
that dates to 2018, Fresno County (1,140) trails only Merced
County (2,593). -Written by Fresno Bee columnist Marek Warszawski.
Mexico will invest $6.1bn on 17 water projects in regions hit
by drought and flooding over the next six years, news website
Aquínoticias reports. The country is increasingly prone to
drought partly as a result of climate change and partly through
rapid urbanisation, which are draining aquifers. The work will
help 36 million people, said Efraín Morales López, director
general of Conagua, which manages Mexico’s water
infrastructure. He said $750m would be spent in the coming
year, and would fund site preparation for a desalination plant,
aqueducts and flood protection. The plant will be built in
Rosarito, Baja California, with a six-year investment of around
$600m. It will provide water to the Tijuana area, benefiting 6
million residents. Work will begin in November.
… The removal of the four dams on the Klamath, which were
owned by the power utility PacifiCorp, represents the first
real attempt at the kind of river restoration that Indigenous
nations and environmentalists have long demanded. It is the
result of an improbable campaign that spanned close to half a
century, roped in thousands of people, and came within an inch
of collapse several times. Interviews with dozens of people on
all sides of the dam removal fight, some of whom have never
spoken publicly about their roles, reveal a collaborative
achievement with few clear parallels in contemporary
activism.
Last week, the Sites Reservoir Project received $134 million in
federal funding from the Water Infrastructure Improvement for
the Nation Act (WIIN Act), which provides funding to help
improve water infrastructure around the United States. … With
the $134 million investment, the Sites Reservoir Project has
been designated a total of $780.15 million in federal
contributions to date. The Sites Project Authority says that
they will continue to work with the United States Bureau of
Reclamation on achieving their 16% participation goal as space
in the reservoir becomes available and sufficient funds are
appropriated to the project.
