A wrap-up of posts published on Maven’s Notebook this week …
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In California water news this week …
Chowchilla groundwater subbasin earns “get out of jail card” from State Water Board
“The state Water Resources Control Board Tuesday passed a resolution to send the Chowchilla subbasin back under the purview of the Department of Water Resources. So far, it is the only subbasin of seven in the San Joaquin Valley to have succeeded in making the U-turn away from potential probationary status. Water Board members noted that early engagement from Chowchilla’s four groundwater sustainability agencies (GSAs) was key. “This was the first basin that openly invited our staff to participate,” said vice chair Dorene D’Adamo. “I think we collectively came a long way so we could have good, strong, open dialogue. A good part of the reason why we are here as a state was highlighted in those first meetings.” … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Small Kings County city jumps in the ring in legal fight against state Water Board
“The small city of Lemoore recently joined the legal fight against the powerful state Water Resources Control Board over groundwater sanctions issued against Kings County farmers by the state last year. The Lemoore City Council on May 22 subbmited an “amicus brief,” or friend of the court motion, in support of an injunction that has, so far, held those groundwater sanctions at bay. The injunction was ordered by a Kings County Superior Court judge as part of a lawsuit filed against the Water Board by the Kings County Farm Bureau. The state appealed the injunction, which is now under review by the 5th District Court of Appeal. A state spokesman wrote in an email to SJV Water that the Water Board disagrees with Lemoore’s brief and would file a response by this Friday. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
New high-tech maps developed by Stanford could fast track groundwater recharge: Here’s how it works
“Researchers at Stanford are hoping to jump start a water revolution in California. The goal is to rapidly expand the areas where we store water — not by building reservoirs, but by returning millions of gallons back into the ground in a new and efficient way. You could say San Jose is a city on the way up. We’re not talking tech jobs or housing prices, but its geology. A recent study found the elevation of San Jose has risen slightly over the decades, while dozens of other cities around the country are steadily sinking. One common factor is groundwater. Just ask Jason Gurdak, hydrologist with Valley Water.”Well, here in Santa Clara County, we’ve had subsidence that was first measured in 1915. We were actually the first city in the United States that had subsidence caused by groundwater over pumping,” Gurdak said.But, that early warning set water managers on a decades-long road to recharge. … ” Read more from KGO.
Spilling reservoirs and empty basins – California’s storage dilemma
“Climate Change is bringing warmer and wetter storms, reducing our snowpack and increasing the need for more storage. At the same time, extended droughts have contributed to the over-pumping of our groundwater basins, leaving ample storage space for new water supplies, provided we can get the water to them. How is California managing its water storage dilemma? At the April meeting of the Southern California Water Dialog, Jeff Mount with the PPIC, Tim Godwin with DWR, and Aaron Fukuda with the Tulare Irrigation District and Mid-Kaweah Groundwater Sustainability Agency discussed water storage in California, both surface and groundwater, and how groundwater recharge is a critical tool for long-term sustainability. … ” Continue reading at Maven’s Notebook.
Study indicates human-caused dust events are linked to fallow farmland
“An average of more than 1 million acres of idled farmland a year is a significant contributor to a growing dust problem in California that has implications for millions of residents’ health and the state’s climate. A new study published in Nature Communications Earth and Environment by UC Merced professors Adeyemi Adebiyi and John Abatzoglou finds that the Central Valley accounts for about 77% of fallowed land in California and is associated with about 88% of major anthropogenic, or human-caused, dust events. “Idled farmland and dust are particularly concentrated in Kern, Fresno and Kings counties, where annual crops such as wheat, corn, and cotton are fallowed as part of agricultural practices or a combination of water and economic decisions,” said Abatzoglou, a climatologist in the Department of Management of Complex Systems in the School of Engineering. “When fields are unplanted, wind erosion can create dust.” … ” Read more from UC Merced.
New report shows progress in California’s land repurposing program
“As California and the broader Western U.S. brace for an increasingly unpredictable water future, the release of the 2024 Annual Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program Report underscores the viability of land repurposing as a key climate adaptation strategy. California’s Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program (MLRP) plays a vital role in facilitating the transition of irrigated agricultural land toward uses that reduce groundwater demand while providing community and environmental benefits. Launched by the Department of Conservation (DOC) in 2022, this program is strategically focused on shifting irrigated agricultural land toward uses that reduce groundwater demand while delivering community and environmental benefits. In just two years, MLRP has awarded over $75 million in block grants to eight regions spanning 3.3 million acres, including more than 120 underserved communities. With more than 100 partner organizations involved, the program is gaining traction as a model for collaborative, locally driven land use planning in areas that are bringing groundwater use into balance. … ” Read more from the Environmental Defense Fund.
Rapid snowmelt and Trump cuts compound wildfire fears in US west
“Unusually warm springtime temperatures have contributed to rapid reductions in snowpacks across the western US that rival the fastest rates on record, increasing concerns around wildfire season. The rapid snowmelt, in addition to reduced staffing and budget constraints initiated by the Trump administration, has set the stage for a particularly dangerous season across the west, according to an analysis of publicly available data by the Guardian and interviews with experts in the region. The National Weather Service has issued flash flood warnings across the south-west this week as warm weather ushered in rainfall at higher-than-usual elevations, worsening the runoff. In several lower-elevation locations within the headwaters of the Colorado River, mountain terrain is already snow-free – the earliest complete melting of snowpack on record. “Such rapid melt rates are not normal,” according to a special update by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) last month. … ” Read more from The Guardian.
Restore the Delta calls for legislative audit of billions in public spending on Delta tunnel project
“[Yesterday], Restore the Delta submitted a formal request to the Joint Legislative Audit Committee urging a full audit of the Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) spending on the controversial Delta Conveyance Project (DCP) and associated Voluntary Agreements. The request comes amid rising public costs, incomplete project plans, and growing legal and environmental concerns. According to the letter, DWR will have spent nearly $1 billion on various iterations of tunnel project planning, with projected construction costs exceeding $20 billion before inflation or unforeseen expenses. Yet the project lacks a finalized operations plan, an enforceable environmental impact report, and relies on expired water rights. Additionally, questions regarding refunds due to water agencies from DWR in the hundred of millions of dollars remain unanswered. Restore the Delta also highlights that modeling for the project assumes the unapproved Voluntary Agreements will move forward – despite broad opposition from tribes, environmental justice groups, and fishing communities, and evidence that these agreements violate state water law and environmental protections. … ” Read more from Restore the Delta.
COEQWAL and Just Transitions: Innovative projects tackle California’s water future
“California is facing a growing challenge as climate change drives more extreme weather, leading to periods of either too little water or more than we can effectively manage. Rising sea levels push saltwater further inland, adding pressure to ecosystems already under strain. With agriculture, cities, and the environment all relying on California’s water, how can we prepare for these changes? Two innovative projects are tackling these questions head-on. The Collaboratory for Equity in Water Allocations (COEQWAL) is developing tools and strategies to help communities adapt, while the Just Transitions project is analyzing the Delta’s salinity changes and exploring ways to respond. Led by a diverse team of experts from UC campuses, California State University Sacramento, and various partner organizations, these efforts bring together engineers, scientists, community groups, and policymakers to build solutions that are inclusive and forward-thinking. At the Delta Independent Science Board’s March meeting, Dr. Brett Milligan, Professor of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design at UC Davis, shared an in-depth look at these initiatives. … ” Read more from Maven’s Notebook.
Spring runoff is older than you think
“Growing communities and extensive agriculture throughout the Western United States rely on meltwater that spills out of snow-capped mountains every spring. The models for predicting the amount of this streamflow available each year have long assumed that a small fraction of snowmelt each year enters shallow soil, with the remainder rapidly exiting in rivers and creeks. New research from University of Utah hydrologists, however, suggests that streamflow generation is much more complicated. Most spring runoff heading to reservoirs is actually several years old, indicating that most mountain snowfall has a years-long invisible journey as groundwater before it leaves the mountains. The findings also indicate there is an order of magnitude more water stored underground than most Western water managers account for, said research leader Paul Brooks, a professor of geology and geophysics. “On average, it takes over five years for a snowflake that falls in the mountains to exit as streamflow,” Brooks said. “Most of our models, whether for predicting streamflow or predicting how much water trees will have in dry years, are based on the idea that there’s very little water stored in the mountains. Now we know that that’s not the case. Most of the water goes into the ground and it sits there for somewhere between three and 15 years before it’s either used by plants or it goes into the streams.” … ” Read more from the University of Utah.
Stuart Woolf on California water crisis: “a losing proposition” for agriculture
“Stuart Woolf, President of Woolf Farming and Processing, recently sat down with AgNet West’s Nick Papagni to discuss how water challenges have reshaped California’s agricultural landscape—particularly on the west side of Fresno. With a career rooted in California farming, Wolf’s reflections offer a sobering look at what he describes as a prolonged battle for water security.” Read more or listen at Ag Net West.
The iconic California avocado is in trouble, and this farmer is fighting to save it
“Norman Kachuck stood on a loamy ridge overlooking his inheritance. Avocado trees blanketed the hillsides of ACA Groves in three directions, just a portion of a 372-acre spread studded with 16,000 specimens, many of them dense with branches weighed down by that quintessential California fruit. The serene San Diego County property felt far from the chaotic epicenter of the global avocado industry in Mexico. Violence, corruption and environmental degradation have saturated the avocado trade there, causing the U.S. to briefly stop imports and senators to agitate for action by the federal government. “Mexican avocado imports are tainted conflict fruit,” said Kachuck, 70, a former neurologist who heads his family’s business. “The Mexican avocado industry is corrupt and ungoverned — and the American consumer is being deceived.” … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Trump’s proposed budget would cut a major ecology program
“The Trump administration’s proposed budget for 2026 slashes about 90 percent of the funding for one of the country’s cornerstone biological and ecological research programs. Known as the Ecosystems Mission Area, the program is part of the U.S. Geological Survey and studies nearly every aspect of the ecology and biology of natural and human-altered landscapes and waters around the country. The 2026 proposed budget allocates $29 million for the project, a cut from its current funding level of $293 million. The budget proposal also reduces funds for other programs in the U.S. Geological Survey, as well as other federal science agencies. The budget still needs to be approved by Congress and scientists are seizing the opportunity to save the E.M.A. In early May, more than 70 scientific societies and universities signed a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, urging him not to eliminate the program. … ” Read more from the New York Times.
Trump cut UC Berkeley researchers’ funding. Their response is a fierce lawsuit.
“Six Bay Area researchers slammed recent funding cuts by President Donald Trump’s administration in a strongly worded lawsuit on Wednesday, arguing that the moves are not only unlawful but also damaging to them, the University of California system and the public good. … The complaint’s plaintiffs are researchers with projects focused on water management, the effects of wildfire smoke, methane from landfills, Mark Twain’s oeuvre, Indigenous students’ STEM education and Ottoman history. But if a judge certifies UC researchers as a class, the body of relevant research will dramatically expand. All six saw their grant funding suddenly cut off with little explanation, and various co-researchers were also impacted, the suit said. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
LAO REPORT: The 2025‑26 Budget: State Mandates—Regional Water Quality Control Boards
“In this post, we discuss the Governor’s May Revision budget proposal to retroactively suspend three municipal stormwater mandates. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local governments when (1) new state laws or regulations mandate that they implement a new program or higher level of service and (2) the local government does not have offsetting revenues—such as fees or federal funds—available to cover the associated costs. Activities required by federal law are not considered mandates for which the state must reimburse costs. State law tasks the Commission on State Mandates (CSM) with determining whether new state laws or regulations affecting local governments create state-reimbursable mandates. Typically, the process for determining whether a law or regulation is a state-reimbursable mandate takes several years. State law further requires our office to analyze any new mandates identified by CSM as a part of our annual analysis of the state budget. In particular, state law directs our office to report on the annual state costs for new mandates and make recommendations to the Legislature as to whether the new mandate should be repealed (permanently eliminating it or making it optional), suspended (rendering it inoperative for one year), modified, or funded in the annual Budget Act. … ” Continue reading from the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
New CA bill would streamline solar conversion for dry farmland
“As California water law forces more farmland out of production, a new bill would make it easier to convert it to solar fields. Assembly Bill 1156 from Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland) allows farmland under the Williamson Act to be converted to solar fields. Land can be converted back to ag use while maintaining the same tax protections. The 1965 Williamson Act gave farmers tax breaks in exchange for promises to keep the land for agriculture. But with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act poised to put 1 million acres of farmland out of production, many farmers in dry areas face the need to fallow their land. … ” Read more from GV Wire.
Unanimous Senate vote advances SB 72: Statewide water supply legislation continues momentum amid climate and economic pressures
“After passing the State Senate, Senate Bill 72 authored by Senator Anna Caballero (D – Merced), will move to the Assembly, where it is expected to gain support from lawmakers. The unanimous vote sends a powerful message to the Assembly, Governor Newsom, and the public — as California continues to face water supply shortages of historic proportions, we must continue to implement new and collaborative strategies to secure our statewide water supply future. SB 72 would establish California’s first-ever statewide water supply target, to develop 9 million acre-feet annually of new water resources by 2040 to benefit all Californians, including residents, businesses, and the environment. SB 72 seeks to complement and amplify Governor Newsom’s Water Supply Strategy, ensuring water supply improvements extend beyond any single administration, while aiming to foster greater collaboration among federal, state, and local stakeholders to safeguard California’s water supply. … ” Read more from CA Water for All.
In commentary this week …
Adam Schiff has been busy with CA ag issues, but Delta water project needs attention
The McClatchy California editorial boards write, “As the first California lawmaker in 30 years to sit on the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, Sen. Adam Schiff has taken the assignment seriously. Since getting sworn into office on Dec. 9, the senator has released 268 press statements through June 3, of which at least 35 focused on agricultural issues like water, tariffs, farm workers or research. “Whatever our views are on other issues, I’m still going to be an aggressive champion of the industry,” Schiff told Fresno Bee staff writer Robert Rodriguez in April. … We applaud the senator’s efforts thus far, but suggest he get up to speed quickly on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Delta Conveyance Project, a proposal to modernize the state’s water infrastructure by constructing tunnels to divert water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the California Aqueduct. Sen. Alex Padilla has not taken a any stand. “I haven’t reached a conclusion on the conveyance project yet,” Schiff said. “I’m still in the process, frankly, of trying to get my head around the whole agriculture industry. I would say the subset of agriculture that is the most difficult is water. People spend a lifetime studying it and still struggle with it.” … ” Read more from the Fresno Bee. | Read via the Sacramento Bee.
Risk and reward: Why California governors continue to push for the Delta tunnel
Max Gomberg, Senior Policy Advisor, California Water Impact Network, writes, “In its latest propaganda campaign promoting the $20 billion plus Delta Conveyance Project (DCP), the Newsom administration is claiming risk to future water supply as a major justification. The foremost cited risks relate to climate change-driven impacts: loss of snowpack, extreme droughts, and sea level rise. A new study commissioned by water contractors who would benefit from the DCP finds that these impacts, combined with the implementation of laws and regulations to protect the environment, will cause water shortages in Southern California and billions of dollars in economic losses in both the urban and agricultural sectors. It sounds like a dire situation that requires a major governmental intervention – like a gigantic tunnel. Because powerful and wealthy industries support the DCP, it’s easy to understand the political calculus that drives Governors to push for it: as always in California, water flows toward money. Moreover, it is the type of project that is immensely gratifying to the stereotypical male ego. It is a legacy project: massive, long-lasting, and a testament to power. It is a literal monument to any politician who is heir to a family dynasty or aspires to be President. … ” Continue reading this commentary.
Sound science prevails, for now
Scott Hamilton, President, Hamilton Resource Economics, writes, “Delta smelt have been featured in several front-page stories in Valley Ag Voice over the last several years. This is partly because this little fish has cost farmers in the Valley hundreds of thousands of acre-feet nearly every year since measures were implemented to offset Water Project impacts in 2008, and partly because the science supporting some of those measures was weak at best. Since 2008, operations of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project have been governed in part by regulations to protect endangered fish, including salmon and delta smelt. In 2016, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation requested reinitiation of consultation to update water project operations based on new information and science that had emerged since 2008. The USFWS Service completed its Biological Opinion in 2019, approving the proposed water project operations. … ” Read more from Valley Ag Voice.
Why reforming California’s bedrock environmental law is good for the environment
Nick Yost created and formerly led the environmental section of the California Department of Justice and lead draftsperson of National Environmental Policy Act regulations, and Daniel Yost, an attorney and the former mayor of Woodside, write, “In 1947, decades before the federal Clean Air Act, California’s leaders began regulating the causes of harmful air pollution. It was also our state that, in 2006 under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, passed arguably the most aggressive greenhouse gas reduction law in the world, setting off a global race for climate action. California’s leadership on the environment has a well-deserved reputation. So it is with a great deal of pride, and no small amount of sadness, that a growing flaw in the California Environmental Quality Act, one of the principle legal mechanisms we use to protect clean air and water, conserve sensitive lands and habitats and address the pollution that causes climate change, is now cause for concern. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
Small fish, big impact: Efforts to save Delta smelt from extinction in the wild affects water supply for farmers and, cities in Northern SJ Valley
Dennis Wyatt, editor of the Manteca Bulletin, writes, “It smells like cucumbers. It tops out at 2 to 2.8 inches in length. It is a luminous silvery blue color. That is what a Delta smelt looks and smells like in a nutshell. At one point, the fish that have a one-year life cycle were so plentiful that they were caught and sold commercially. Today, the fish that are unique to the San Joaquin-Sacramento Delta are on the verge of extinction in the wild. Fall trawler surveys conducted by state crews in 2014 turned up 9 Delta smelt, in 2015 it was 7, in 2016 it was 8, in 2017 it was 2, and in 2018 it was zero. The next six annual surveys also came up with zilch in terms of Delta smelt. The fish plays a pivotal role in California’s perennial water wars. … ” Continue reading from the Manteca Bulletin.
California’s restoration bottleneck deepens biodiversity debt
Becca Madsen, director of the Restoration Economy Center at the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), writes, “California’s water delivery projects are in desperate need of large-scale, shovel-ready mitigation solutions. Projects like the $4.4 billion Sites Reservoir exemplify the massive infrastructure investments requiring extensive environmental offsets. Meanwhile, water utilities are getting creative and venturing into nature-based solutions—like San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District’s $51.3 million Enhanced Recharge Project that integrates groundwater recharge with habitat restoration. Yet even as state legislators discuss permitting reforms to address the state’s housing crisis and ambitious renewable energy goals, they’ve overlooked the crisis in approving the environmental restoration required to mitigate these developments. The faster California can permit restoration projects, the faster the state will progress without adding a biodiversity debt to its balance sheet. … ” Continue reading this commentary.
In regional water news this week …
California’s Yurok Tribe gets back ancestral lands that were taken over 120 years ago
“As a youngster, Barry McCovey Jr. would sneak through metal gates and hide from security guards just to catch a steelhead trout in Blue Creek amid northwestern California redwoods. Since time immemorial, his ancestors from the Yurok Tribe had fished, hunted and gathered in this watershed flanked by coastal forests. But for more than 100 years, these lands were owned and managed by timber companies, severing the tribe’s access to its homelands. When McCovey started working as a fisheries technician, the company would let him go there to do his job. “Snorkeling Blue Creek … I felt the significance of that place to myself and to our people, and I knew then that we had to do whatever we could to try and get that back,” McCovey said. After a 23-year effort and $56 million, that became reality. … ” Continue reading at the Washington Post.
Life after the Potter Valley Project: ‘The water will not be cheap’
“There are many unknowns regarding life after the Potter Valley Project, but one thing is certain: If diversions from the Eel River Watershed to the Russian River Watershed continue once the Pacific Gas and Electric Company successfully decommissions its hydroelectric plant in Mendocino County, any water still flowing through one of the most life-changing tunnels in the region will become a lot more expensive for humans to use. “It’s not going to be free water that PG&E has abandoned conveniently into the Russian River; that will no longer be the case,” said engineer Tom Johnson, a consultant speaking at an “All Boards” meeting held at the Ukiah Valley Conference Center Thursday that featured most members of the Ukiah City Council, the Mendocino County Supervisors and other boards whose representatives make up the Mendocino County Inland Water and Power Commission. Because the “free water” that entire communities and industries have come to depend upon for nearly 12 decades was at the start just a by-product: An incredibly precious resource that was essentially dumped into the Russian River as “waste” after being used to make electricity. … ” Read more from the Ukiah Daily Journal (gift article).
Land sinking in Red Bluff, Corning: What it means for Tehama and can it happen in Redding?
“Parts of Tehama County, including areas around Red Bluff, Corning, and Antelope, are sinking. — a condition that could cause damage to infrastructure and deplete groundwater permanently if the ag-producing county does not reverse it, geologists say. For those who wonder, Redding and the rest of Shasta County aren’t having the same problem, in part because Shasta’s groundwater is replenished by the ACID Canal, flowing from the Sacramento River. It’s also because Shasta doesn’t have as much agriculture stressing the groundwater supply, according to groundwater experts in both counties’ public works departments. Mid- to southwestern parts of Tehama County are suffering land subsidence, a drop in the Earth’s crust when too much groundwater is removed. The soil collapses into the space left by the lack of water, making the ground above it sink. … ” Read more from the Redding Record-Searchlight. | Read via Yahoo News.
Urgency groundwater ordinance delayed in Tehama County
“The Tehama County Board of Supervisors was split on an urgency ordinance that would have implemented additional regulations for well permitting. A majority of the supervisors decided to discuss and vote on this ordinance fully in February. Supervisor Rob Burroughs proposed that the Board give the county more opportunity to develop a community solution involving Ag that does not feel like it was hastily put together. Supervisor Matt Hansen countered that this groundwater process has been ongoing for 10 years. He claims that Burroughs could see the groundwater continually decline yearly. “We have, it has to stop here, but we have to give the people an opportunity to be able to step up to the plate to say, ‘Okay, we’ve come to a solution that we have to accept it.’ Burroughs replied to him. … ” Read more from the Red Bluff Daily News.
RWA releases water accounting system for the Sacramento Regional Water Bank
“The Regional Water Authority (RWA), representing nearly two dozen water providers in the Sacramento region, has released the Water Accounting System (WAS) framework for the Sacramento Regional Water Bank (Water Bank). The Water Bank is a network of groundwater wells, pumps, and pipelines that enable local water providers to withdraw and replenish underground water reserves. It’s estimated that the region’s aquifers can store twice the volume of water as Folsom Reservoir. The Water Bank is crucial for adapting the region’s water system to climate change, which is expected to reduce snowpack and cause more extreme droughts and floods. The Water Accounting System provides a structured, transparent method for tracking water deposited into and withdrawn from the Water Bank, including losses and water intentionally left in the basin to support long-term groundwater sustainability. … ” Read more from the Regional Water Authority.
Farmers, wineries to vote on water use fees for Paso Robles basin. Here’s how
“From farmers to winemakers, commercial irrigators pumping from the Paso Robles Area Groundwater Basin may soon need to pay for their water use. On Tuesday, the Paso Robles Area Groundwater Authority voted unanimously to send notices of the proposed rates to impacted property owners, giving them the opportunity to protest the fees. If a majority of recipients submit a written protest, the agency can’t implement the rates. The California Department of Water Resources considers the basin “critically overdrafted.” Users pumped about 25,500 acre-feet of water more than was returned to the underground reservoir in 2024, according to the most recent annual report on the basin. The fees would fund administrative tasks like monitoring wells and writing annual reports along with programs designed to balance the basin. If passed, the rate structure will last for five years. … ” Read more from the San Luis Obispo Tribune.
Rising seas complicate Los Angeles wildfire rebuilding
“Since the Palisades Fire destroyed the two-bedroom house that Joan and Laurie Zoloth’s parents bought on the California coast in the 1960s, the cleared lot is a hollowed-out patch of sand and fragments of charred wood. Joan wants to rebuild the Malibu home, just outside Los Angeles. Her sister Laurie, citing climate change, does not. The siblings’ opposing views reflect a larger conflict facing communities up and down the picturesque California coast. With rising sea levels and more severe and frequent flooding and storms linked to climate change, communities are debating if people should rebuild and remain along the sandy shoreline. The City of Malibu says it is committed to helping fire victims rebuild as quickly as possible and has plans to protect its multi-billion dollar shoreline from the effects of climate change. But its plans do not include so-called managed retreat, which proactively helps residents move away from the shore. … ” Read more from Context.
Postcard from California: After the fires, is LA safe from buried toxic hazards? Don’t ask FEMA
“After a wildfire wiped out the northern California town of Paradise in 2018, federal and state disaster recovery crews took exhaustive efforts to determine if it was safe for residents to move back. First, the US Army Corps of Engineers scraped six inches of topsoil from burned lots to remove lead, arsenic and other hazardous chemicals. Then, contractors dug even deeper to collect soil samples to test for remaining toxic hazards. When tests showed that about a third of the deeper samples still had dangerous levels of chemicals, crews excavated more layers of soil, in some cases going back multiple times before declaring a site safe. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) paid for 75% of the $3 billion cost of cleanup. But in the wake of the fires that in January burned more than 16,000 homes, schools and businesses in Los Angeles County, FEMA has repeatedly refused to fund sampling and testing to confirm safety. … ” Read more from The New Lede.
Southern California water agencies end lengthy legal dispute
“Signaling a new era of collaboration, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California and the San Diego County Water Authority today announced the settlement of a 15-year legal dispute over rates and the price term of an exchange agreement between the agencies. At a news conference in San Diego, leaders from two of the state’s largest water agencies hailed the conclusion of all pending litigation, highlighting their commitment to fostering greater teamwork on a range of issues that affect nearly 19 million Southern California residents. The settlement dismisses all pending appeals, maintaining earlier judicial decisions on various matters. It includes provisions to reduce the potential for future litigation, improve certainty in budgeting, and increase flexibility in efficiently managing water supplies. “For far too long, this legal battle sat at the center of Metropolitan’s relationship with the Water Authority,” Metropolitan board Chair Adán Ortega, Jr. said. “That era of conflict has finally come to an end and we can forge ahead, building a relationship based instead on cooperation and shared goals that will benefit the entire region. The agreement is acknowledgement of a regional approach to water supply management with mechanisms to efficiently squeeze every drop of water to assure future prosperity and our quality of life while protecting the sources of water we all depend upon.” … ” Continue reading this press release from the Metropolitan Water District and the San Diego County Water Authority.
Coachella Valley water districts, Tribe reach water rights settlement
“The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, Coachella Valley Water District (CVWD) and Desert Water Agency (DWA) have reached an agreement to settle two long-standing water rights lawsuits that enhances certainty and stability over the future of water management and increases supply reliability for Coachella Valley residents. “The agreement affirms the Tribe’s right to manage, regulate, and govern the use of the Tribal Water Right in the Coachella Valley, and at the same time will provide a real benefit to the entire Coachella Valley,” says Tribal Chairman Reid D. Milanovich. “We all rolled up our sleeves and worked together to come to an agreement that recognizes the Tribe’s water rights and sovereignty, considers the unique jurisdictional issues of our checkerboard reservation, and respects our traditional and cultural uses for our tribal community. It also ensures that Coachella Valley residents from now and into the distant future can be assured that the water management of this basin is done jointly with a continued focus on water sustainability and reliability for all. The Tribe appreciates and recognizes the long-standing relationship with, and continued support of, Riverside County’s Fourth District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez, and looks forward to collaborating on the implementation of the water settlement.” … ” Read more from Desert Water Agency.
Colorado River Basin aquifers are declining even more steeply than the river, new research shows
“Declines of underground water supplies that are vital to cities and farming in the Colorado River Basin are outpacing the losses of the river’s water, according to new research published last week based on NASA satellite data. It’s the latest warning of the region’s rapidly declining water supplies as the seven basin states—Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming—engage in tense negotiations over the Colorado River’s future and cuts to water supplies, but with losses to groundwater left out of the debate. Across the basin, the rate of water storage decline increased by a factor of three between 2015 to 2024 compared to the previous decade because of climate change, said Jay Famiglietti, the study’s senior author and science director for Arizona State University’s Arizona Water Innovation Initiative. “That’s pretty scary,” he said. “When we drilled into figuring out what’s going on, of course, it’s groundwater and the disappearance of groundwater. That should grab people’s attention, and I’m not sure that they do.” … ” Read more from Inside Climate News.
Worsening climate outlooks raise the stakes for an agreement on the Colorado River
“Everyone who’s haggling or agonizing over how to split up the drying Colorado River in coming decades is painfully aware that the river’s flow has dipped below what previous generations thought would water an ever-growing West. That’s now the good news. A leading Colorado River Basin climate scientist told hundreds gathered for a conference about how to stretch, share and save the river that the current warming trajectory will seriously strain their efforts at balancing supply and demand. The world is on track to exceed 3 degrees Celsius of global warming by 2100 — 5 degrees Celsius (or 9 Fahrenheit) over land — according to Colorado State University water and climate researcher Brad Udall. … ” Read more from Arizona Central.
Can learning from past policy save future users of the Colorado River?
“In 1858, the U.S. Army ordered Second Lieutenant Joseph Christmas Ives to provide the government with a better understanding of the Colorado River by exploring the length of the waterway in a steamboat. The New Yorker’s narrative of the trip is rife with accounts of the watercraft running aground in the rocky, twisting river that ran from Colorado to the Pacific Ocean through mountains and canyons. Over the course of his trip, Ives came to rely on directions toward deeper water from native Chemehuevi, who easily navigated the river on light, bundled reed rafts. “This was supposed to be a demonstration of American power to the Native people,” University of Colorado historian Patty Limerick told attendees of the 45th Colorado Law Conference on Natural Resources on Thursday, where this year’s gathering has been curated to reflect on past lessons learned in managing one of the western U.S.’ most important water sources. Several key agreements adapting the century-old Colorado River Compact to the aridifying region’s ever-decreasing water availability are set to expire next year, prompting Limerick to urge river stakeholders to heed lessons from Ive’s ill-fated expedition. … ” Read more from Courthouse News.
Announcements, notices, and funding opportunities …
NOW AVAILABLE: Groundwater recharge public workshop recording now online
NOTICE: SGMA Fees Discussion at Water Rights Fees Stakeholder Meeting on June 11, 2025
NOTICE of Public Hearing and Comment Period – Proposed Changes to the Irrigated Lands Program Sacramento River Watershed General Order
