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On the calendar today …
- LEG HEARING: Senate Commitee on Natural Resources and Water beginning at 9am. Click here for more information.
- PUBLIC LISTENING SESSION: Tribal Stewardship Policy and Toolkit at 3pm. The California Natural Resources Agency is excited to announce the release of the draft Tribal Stewardship Policy and Toolkit for tribal consultation and public comment. Partnering with tribes is a core commitment of the California Natural Resources Agency in conserving 30% of California’s lands and coastal 2030, expanding Nature-Based Solutions as a climate change solution, and creating safe and equitable access to the outdoors. The Agency’s draft Tribal Stewardship Policy and Toolkit provides policy and resources to advance mutually beneficial and durable tribal access, collaboration, and ancestral land return across California. The Natural Resources Agency will be hosting a public listening session. To join, please register here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/bgxE2PA-Qr286Q1GZw7OjA.
In California water news today …
Every mention of ‘water’ in Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill
“The U.S. House passed President Donald Trump’s spending bill on July 3, 2025, that includes tax cuts and cuts to Medicaid and various other programs. The bill now goes to the President to be signed. Initial estimates suggest the bill would add roughly $3 trillion to the national debt.Mentions of water within the bill, as it pertains to the industry, are few and far between. The bill includes funding for a source water protection program and a watershed protection program. Direct mentions of water include: Grassroots Source Water Protection Program, Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act, and Water conveyance and surface water storage enhancement. … ” Read more from Water World.
Like Texas, California faces major dangers when extreme floods come
“The deadly flash flood along Texas’ Guadalupe River showed the devastating toll such a disaster can take, and California could face similar dangers when extreme weather strikes. Low-lying areas along rivers and creeks can be hazardous when downpours and torrents come, as shown by past floods in parts of the state including the Los Angeles area, the Central Valley and the Central Coast. When a series of extreme winter storms hit California in 2023, about two dozen people died statewide, including some who were swept away by floodwaters and others who were killed by a rock slide, falling trees or car crashes. “Those risks exist here,” said Brett Sanders, a UC Irvine professor whose research focuses on flooding. “We have a lot of the same possibility of flash flooding. We have hilly topography. We have streams that can spread out and catch you by surprise with water.” … ” Read more from the LA Times.
SEE ALSO:
- Could California see Texas-level flash flooding? Experts say yes, from ABC 7
- Deadly Texas flood: Could California face a similar disaster?, from the San Francisco Chronicle | Read via MSN News
Scientists stunned after satellite data unveils new information about El Niño and La Niña: ‘We’ve learned a great deal’
“New research methodologies and tools have uncovered a link between the El Niño and La Niña climate patterns in the Pacific Ocean and coastlines. New research published in Communications Earth and Environment used satellite data to examine waterlines along the Pacific coast in the United States, showing how they have changed over time. El Niño and La Niña are climate patterns in the Pacific Ocean that have far-reaching impacts on the weather. El Niño occurs when the Pacific Ocean’s central and eastern waters become unusually warm, which changes wind patterns and can lead to warmer and wetter winters in North America and drier conditions in Australia and Southeast Asia. … ” … ” Read more the The Cool Down.
Increasingly acidic seas threaten oyster farming
“Eighteen years ago, farmed oyster larvae began disappearing in mass die-offs, mystifying hatchery managers in the Pacific Northwest and threatening a thriving part of the region’s economy. Up to 90 percent of the farmed Pacific oysters — the backbone of the industry — were being wiped out. Businesses like Taylor Shellfish Farms, the country’s largest grower now run by the fifth generation of the Taylor family, stood at the brink of catastrophe. “It was a crisis, the industry was going to collapse,” said Bill Dewey, a spokesman for Taylor Shellfish Farms based in Shelton, Wash. The culprit turned out to be an increasingly acidic ocean, and research efforts to solve the mystery have propelled Washington State to the forefront of the world’s efforts to understand and offset the shifting chemical composition of the seas. … ” Read more from the New York Times.
Is dust on the rise in California?
“Dust pollution is a growing problem in California. What’s driving the increase, and how might we combat it? We spoke with UC Merced assistant professor Adeyemi Adebiyi to find out. Dust is an important component of the atmosphere that hasn’t gotten as much attention as it should: it affects human health, ecosystems, weather, and the climate. On the climate front, there’s a growing debate about whether dust warms or cools the climate. In California, there’s also a strong association between dust and Valley fever, an infection caused by a fungus called Coccidioides. There’s still a debate about what kind of dust carries the fungus and what soil conditions enable it. … ” Read more from PPIC.
Digging into the significance of soil moisture at the 2025 National Soil Moisture Workshop
“On the second morning of the 2025 National Soil Moisture Workshop, keynote speaker Syed Huq reminded the audience: “Mni wichoni, water is life.” Syed Huq is the director of Mni Wichoni Rural Water and Water Resources for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota Oyate). The audience he addressed included researchers, network operators, hazard planners, resource managers, private industry service providers, and others. All were gathered for a shared purpose: to broaden their understanding of soil moisture, that subtle but critical component of the water systems we all rely on. The 16th annual National Soil Moisture Workshop was hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture – Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS) and NOAA’s National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS), in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service and Colorado State University. The theme for the June 3–5 meeting was “making soil moisture science actionable.” With 90 in-person participants, this was one of the largest turn outs to date. … ” Read more from NIDIS.
How climate change is worsening flooding and heavy rainfall
“Extreme weather seems to make the headlines almost every week, as disasters increasingly strike out of season, break records, and hit places they never have before. Decades of scientific research has proven that human-caused climate change is making some disasters more dangerous and more frequent. The burning of fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal releases carbon dioxide into the Earth’s atmosphere, where it traps heat, warms the planet, and alters the conditions in which extreme weather forms. These changes are happening more rapidly than at any time in the last 800,000 years, according to climate records. Below, we break down what experts know — and what they don’t — about the connections between climate change and flooding. Flooding is one of the most common natural disasters that can devastate a community. Between 2000 and 2019, nearly 1.6 billion people globally were impacted by floods, according to a study published in Nature. … ” Read more from Grist.
California governor makes controversial decision to overhaul decades-old landmark rule: ‘This was too urgent, too important’
“California has changed its environmental rules to tackle housing shortages and homelessness. Gov. Gavin Newsom said, “This was too urgent, too important, to allow the process to unfold as it has for the last generation,” reported The Guardian. The California Environmental Quality Act has been around since the 1970s. Think of it like the Transportation Security Administration for construction; it checks every detail before letting a project take off. Developers had to see how new builds might affect air, water, and wildlife. Lawmakers just passed two bills so most homes and apartments built in cities won’t require these reviews anymore. Newsom told lawmakers he wouldn’t sign the budget without these changes, which the Guardian summarized as resolving what advocates considered to be “bureaucratic roadblocks” from rules that were “well-intentioned at the time.” … ” Read more from The Cool Down.
First in the nation ban on plastic microbeads in personal products passes Senate committee
“Today, Assembly Bill (AB) 823 by Assemblymember Tasha Boerner (D-Encinitas)passed the Senate Environmental Quality Committee with 7-0 votes. AB 823 would ban the sale of non-rinse-off personal care products and cleaning products containing plastic microbeads by January 1, 2029, and prohibit the sale of personal care products containing plastic glitter by January 1, 2030.”AB 823 is a win for public health, the environment, consumers, and businesses alike,” said Alison Waliszewski, Director of Regional Policy and Program Development at 5 Gyres Institute. “By closing loopholes in California’s microbead ban, this bill helps keep harmful plastic microbeads out of our waterways and bodies, supports a healthier environment, and ensures a level playing field for businesses transitioning to safer alternatives. It’s a smart, forward-looking policy that benefits all Californians.” … ” Read more from Assemblymember Tasha Boerner.
California moves closer to ‘30×30’ conservation goals as threats to public lands loom
“California officials have moved closer to their goal of conserving 30% of lands and coastal waters by the target year of 2030, a revelation that arrives as the Trump administration advances directives that could claw back areas that were set aside. Nearly five years after the inception of the so-called 30x30 initiative, California has conserved 26.1% of its lands and 21.9% of its coastal waters — or roughly 41,000 square miles and 1,150 square miles, respectively — according to a California Natural Resources Agency report released Monday. In 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order that set the 30×30 effort in motion. The initiative kicked off in earnest two years later when officials released a detailed road map for the plan. At that time, approximately 23.8% of lands and 16.2% of coastal waters were conserved. The stated goals of the 30×30 initiative extend beyond conservation. The plan also seeks to restore biodiversity, expand Californians’ access to nature and help mitigate and build resilience to climate change. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
SEE ALSO: Amid Trump’s assault on public lands, California conserves over one million acres of land and coastal waters in just one year, from Governor Newsom
Six months after L.A. fires, Newsom calls for federal aid while criticizing the Trump administration
“Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday marked the six-month anniversary of the Eaton and Palisades fires with a call for billions in federal funding to support the state’s wildfire recovery, and offered a blistering critique of the Trump administration’s most recent immigration raids in MacArthur Park in Los Angeles. So far, the GOP-led U.S. House of Representatives has made no progress on a request from Newsom, made in late February, for $40 billion in additional wildfire funding that would go toward rebuilding schools, churches, homes and hospitals. Newsom said that fire funding is a nonpartisan issue, and that all U.S. states are “in this together.” He said that other states have outstanding requests for federal aid after their own natural disasters, and that the Republican-controlled House will “absolutely” come through. He urged federal lawmakers to do the same for Texas after last week’s deadly floods. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Wildfire Solutions Coalition launches to secure long-term fire prevention funding in California
“A coalition of organizations announced today the formation of the Wildfire Solutions Coalition, a groundbreaking alliance of cross-sector leaders and organizations throughout the state to secure long-term, sustained funding for wildfire mitigation and resilience and to fully implement California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan. The growing coalition of more than two dozen organizations representing every corner of the state, from the redwood forests of the North Coast to the chaparral-covered hills of Southern California, reflects a shared understanding: wildfire is not a regional issue. It’s a statewide crisis that demands a unified, long-term solution. … For decades, California has invested heavily in firefighting, and underinvested in the prevention of megafires. The Wildfire Solutions Coalition is changing that. Compared with the costs of catastrophic wildfire, investments to reduce wildfire risk are extremely cost effective. Wildfires cost the state $117 billion dollars every year in economic losses. In contrast, investments to avoid wildfire disaster can save $6 for every $1 invested. … ” Continue reading this press release.
How climate change is supercharging wildfires
“Extreme weather seems to make the headlines almost every week, as disasters increasingly strike out of season, break records, and hit places they never have before. Decades of scientific research has proven that human-caused climate change is making some disasters more dangerous and more frequent. The burning of fossil fuels like oil, gas, and coal releases carbon dioxide into the Earth’s atmosphere, where it traps heat, warms the planet, and alters the conditions in which extreme weather forms. These changes are happening more rapidly than at any time in the last 800,000 years, according to climate records. Below, we break down what experts know — and what they don’t — about the connections between climate change and wildfires. In a hotter, drier world, wildfires have become more frequent and destructive. Scientists have definitively linked anthropogenic climate change to increased wildfire risks: A 2016 study found that, because of human-caused carbon emissions, the total number of large fires since 1984 had doubled. … ” Read more from Grist.
In commentary today …
California thins its forests, then burns the wood. Is there a better idea?
Opinion columnist Tom Philp writes, “In California’s never-ending effort to thin its forests to prevent devastating wildfires, crews are removing millions of tons of small trees and brush every year. And then most of it goes up in smoke. It is burned, in controlled and intentionally lit fires, before the next fire season. The search for a better solution has been elusive. One proposal to convert much of this biomass into wood pellets, and ship them overseas from Stockton to be burned halfway around the world, drew widespread criticism from environmental groups. This opposition, combined with a worldwide drop in price for these wood pellets, has rural counties rethinking how to create something of market value out of all this material rather than to simply burn it. The new idea is to somehow convert the so-called “biomass” here in California. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
The Klamath Project: monitoring lessons from the largest river restoration in US history
“The 2023 removal of four dams on the Klamath River resets a century of ecological change. The project has been completely unprecedented in a number of ways, not least as the largest restoration of its kind in US history. Simultaneously, this scheme managed to pioneer novel methods of comprehensive environmental assessment whilst attending to social justice issues by partnering with local Indigenous groups. Key concerns included large sediment pulses from drained reservoirs, turbidity spikes and resulting oxygen drops, temperature shocks to fish, and nutrient or pH surges. … ” Read more from EnviroTech.
SEE ALSO: This is a model for partnering with Indigenous groups for environmental monitoring, from EnviroTech
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
California Senator Adam Schiff to keynote 29th annual Lake Tahoe Summit
“U.S. Senator Adam Schiff will keynote the 29th annual Lake Tahoe Summit on August 6 in South Lake Tahoe. This year’s theme is “Protecting Lake Tahoe: Balancing Sustainable Recreation and Conservation.” The event will honor the legacy of California Senator Dianne Feinstein, who, alongside Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, established the summit in 1997. The summit will be held at Valhalla Tahoe, a venue cherished by Senator Feinstein and the site of the last Summit she hosted in 2019. Federal, state, and local stakeholders, along with representatives of the Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California, will gather to continue Feinstein’s efforts to safeguard the lake for future generations. … ” Read more from Channel 3.
Fight for Tahoe’s clarity far from over, but progress is undeniable
Jim Sloan, former reporter and editor at the Reno Gazette-Journal, writes, “Over my nearly 50 years as a journalist — first as a newspaper reporter and more recently as a book coach and ghostwriter — one constant has been my interest in Lake Tahoe. … Like millions, I love the place. And, like many, I worry about it. I worry about wildfires. Climate change. Litter and crowds and traffic. Aquatic invasive species. What I’ve learned in these five decades is that the threats facing Tahoe are unrelenting and require extraordinary vigilance. Protecting this remarkable resource requires backbreaking work and persistent scientific research. This work will never end because the challenges will never end. But from time to time, we should pause and reflect on how that work pays off. … ” Read more from the Reno Gazette Journal.
CENTRAL COAST
County Farm Bureau supports Joint Powers Authority for Paso Robles basin
“The San Luis Obispo County Farm Bureau issued a statement supporting the newly formed Joint Powers Authority as the management structure for the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin under the California Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Paul E. Clark, executive director of the Farm Bureau, released the statement. The organization supports and defends sustainable production agriculture across the county, including small vegetable farms, cattle ranches and large vineyards. “Our underlying principles have always been: protect private property rights; reduce or limit taxes and fees; reduce regulatory burden; maintain local control of our destiny; and create public awareness of the realities of food production in California,” the statement read. … ” Read more from Paso Robles Daily News.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
EdgeConneX and River Partners collaborate to help restore over 350 acres in San Joaquin Valley to conserve water and protect natural habitats
“EdgeConneX®, a pioneer in global Build-to-Suit and Build-to-Density data center solutions, is proud to announce an impactful partnership with River Partners, a leading nonprofit organization dedicated to ecological restoration and climate resilience and thriving communities along major rivers across California. The new partnership supports River Partners’ Hidden Valley Ranch project in the heart of California’s San Joaquin Valley, transforming approximately 350 acres of former dairy farmland into a vibrant, restored ecosystem that supports both people and the environment.This initiative will rejuvenate flood-prone land by planting nearly 80,000 native plants and trees, replacing water-intensive crops with vegetation that fosters biodiversity while significantly reducing water usage. … ” Read more from Business Wire.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Triple-digit temperatures on deck as heat wave descends on SoCal, ‘squashing’ the marine layer
“It’s time to break out the fans and frozen treats as a midweek hot spell is heading to Southern California with temperatures up to 10 degrees above normal expected across the region on Wednesday and Thursday. The worst of the L.A. County heat is forecast for the San Fernando, Antelope and Santa Clarita valleys, where temperatures are expected to sit in the 90s and potentially push into the triple digits, according to the National Weather Service. People living in downtown and East Los Angeles can expect to see highs in the 80s to around 90, while temperatures will remain in the 70s along the coast. “Big changes coming tomorrow [Tuesday] and the remainder of the week as high pressure over Arizona expands west into Southern California,” stated the weather service in its Monday night Los Angeles forecast. … ” Read more from the Los Angeles Times.
Six months after the LA fires, nation’s fastest residential cleanup nears completion as Governor Newsom signs streamlining executive order, joins local leaders to unveil blueprint for rebuilding
“On the six month anniversary of the Eaton and Palisades fires, Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the substantial completion of the public debris removal program from more than 10,000 fire damaged parcels — marking the fastest major disaster cleanup in American history. The Governor also signed an executive order shepherding rebuilding homes and schools. He also joined local officials to unveil a new blueprint for recovery, a step-by-step plan to accelerate rebuilding and provide support to impacted families and communities. The near-completion of the public debris removal program comes months ahead of schedule. … ” Read more from Governor Newsom.
A century of stewardship: San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District surpasses 1.5 million acre feet – or 489 billion gallons – recharged
“In an era when aquifers across the globe are being depleted at alarming rates, the San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District has achieved a historic milestone in sustainable groundwater management. The Redlands-based water district has now diverted and recharged 1.5 million acre-feet—or 489.33 billion gallons—of water into the local aquifer cumulatively since 1912. That volume is enough to fill 740,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools or, more importantly, meet the annual water needs of approximately 6 million households. “This milestone reflects what’s possible when low-cost, locally led solutions are sustained through time,” said San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District’s General Manager Betsy Miller Vixie. “For more than a century, we’ve invested in community-based recharge efforts that have protected water supplies, supported infrastructure, and enhanced resilience for our region. The benefits we see today are the result of patient, collaborative stewardship that has protected local groundwater for generations.” … ” Read more from the San Bernardino Water Conservation District.
No-go on water treatment plant until end of the year
“The water treatment facility on Eucalyptus Avenue in Chino Hills, west of Pipeline Avenue, won’t be operational until the end of the year, after the city learned it would have to build a meter station to comply with a state-mandated blending plan. Utilities Operations Manager Mark Wiley told the city council on June 10 that the city has been going back and forth with the State Water Resources Control Board for a few months on the operations and maintenance monitoring plan. “Another hurdle the state threw out in the 11th hour is that we have to construct a metering station to blend a specified amount of water in the distribution system with well water,” Mr. Wiley said. “Once we build the station, the state needs to sign off on it and issue a permit before we can start operating.” … ” Read more from the Chino Champion.
SAN DIEGO
Mexico owes $88M for Tijuana sewage spilling into San Diego
“The Environmental Protection Agency reports Mexico still owes the United States $88 million toward the treatment of millions of gallons of raw sewage from Tijuana that continues to flow into San Diego, shutting down beaches and even forcing the relocation of Navy SEAL training. “Beaches are closed ahead of the 4th of July — not because of weather, but because Mexico is dumping millions of gallons of raw sewage into our waters every day,” said San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, who noted two San Diego beaches were closed for Independence Day, with another eight beaches under bacterial contamination advisory. “We shouldn’t tolerate toxic waste pouring across our border while families are forced to cancel beach plans and communities suffer.” … ” Read more from the Center Square.
Along the Colorado River …
Environmental groups file petition with Reclamation to curb Colorado River water waste
“A coalition of environmental and water advocacy organizations have filed a legal petition urging the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to stop waste of Colorado River water by users in California, Nevada, and Arizona. The petition, submitted by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and the UCLA Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic, with support from Waterkeepers and local groups, calls on the Bureau to use its legal authority to ensure water deliveries to Colorado River Lower Basin users are “reasonably required for beneficial uses” and are not delivered for uses that are “unreasonable”. Under existing federal law, the Bureau of Reclamation is required to prevent unreasonable uses of water from the Colorado River. The petition demands that the agency enforce this responsibility and cease deliveries for uses that do not meet this standard. … ” Read more from Smart Water Magazine.
Lower precipitation and high heat leading to widespread fish fatalities across Arizona
“The heat and lack of precipitation in the last year are harming fish in Arizona’s lakes. The issue has led to widespread fish deaths throughout the state. “The last several winters we’ve had pretty low snow melt. And then that coupled with the dismal monsoon seasons that we’ve had, those water bodies are just, they’re shallower. So they warm up a lot faster, there’s less fresh water flowing in,” said Jade Dickens with the Arizona Game and Fish Department. Becker and Luna lakes in eastern Arizona are the latest to experience fish kills, bringing the number of these events up to 12 this year. As many as 30 fish died at Becker Lake due to chronically high PH levels similar to baking soda. … ” Read more from KJZZ.
ASU professor involved in water project studying what motivates people to remove their grass
“Researchers from Arizona State University seek to understand the reasons for people choosing whether or not to participate in grass-removal programs. The project focuses on the programs in Scottsdale. Arizona municipalities implement the programs to reduce water consumption. According to the Arizona Department of Water Resources, landscaping uses as much as 70% of residential water. The goal of the study is to find personal or societal circumstances and factors that can be used to motivate people to participate in more sustainable practices for conserving water. … ” Read more from KJZZ.
Arizona growers produce more cotton per acre than U.S. average, despite heat, drought
“Pinal County is among the top 1% of cotton–producing counties in the United States when it comes to yield, despite challenging conditions from extreme heat and water woes, according to a new analysis from the University of Arizona. La Paz and Maricopa counties also ranked high in the study. Growers in Pinal County produced more pounds of cotton per acre than the national average, the report said, and across the state, cotton farming and ginning — separating the cotton fiber from the seeds — contributed $322 million to the state economy. The presence and economic value of cotton farming today pale in comparison to the 1950s and 1980s, when six times more acres were planted across the state. But Arizona remains a top producer in the U.S., particularly for Pima cotton. That’s one of the two kinds of cotton grown in the country, known for its softer and longer fibers. … ” Read more from the Arizona Republic.
For lawmakers, an afternoon float on the Colorado River reignites an age-old question: Who gets access to the state’s streams?
“Sporting sandals, swim shorts and baseball caps — and hopefully plenty of sunscreen — a cohort of state lawmakers hopped aboard several rafts on a hot June day to talk policy as they floated the Colorado River. Splashing their way downstream from Kremmling, less than 60 miles from the river’s headwaters in Rocky Mountain National Park, the group of roughly a dozen politicians found themselves in a quintessential setting for their wide-ranging conversation on what outdoor recreation means for the state. The June 19 trip was donated by the Grand County-based rafting outfitter Downstream Adventures and organized by public lands advocates and river conservationists, who joined lawmakers for the expedition. … ” Read more from the Steamboat Pilot & Today.
Invasive zebra mussel larva found near New Castle — the furthest upstream it’s ever been detected on the Colorado River
“In early June, Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) found a single zebra mussel veliger while sampling the Colorado River near Grand River Park in New Castle. Zebra mussels are invasive, bivalve filter feeders that multiply en masse. They originated in Eastern Europe and came to the U.S. in shipping vessels traveling the St. Lawrence Seaway. From there, they made their way to the Great Lakes region, and have caused billions of dollars in damage by multiplying on important infrastructure like irrigation and drinking water systems. Robert Walters is CPW’s Invasive Species Program Manager. “They will grow on any sort of solid surface that can have significant impacts, not only on our recreational opportunity but also on our use of water, including uses such as hydroelectric production as well as agriculture,” he said. … ” Read more from KSJD.
In national water news today …
Water storage in dams has caused minute shifts in Earth’s poles
“Over the past two centuries, humans have locked up enough water in dams to shift Earth’s poles slightly away from the planet’s axis of rotation, according to new research. Earth’s outermost solid layer sits atop goopy molten rock, so it can move relative to the magma below it. Anytime mass is redistributed around the planet’s surface, like when ice sheets grow or shrink, this outermost rock layer wobbles and moves around. Imagine slapping a lump of clay onto one side of a spinning basketball: to maintain momentum, the part of the ball with the clay on it will shift slightly toward its equator and away from its axis of rotation. When this happens on Earth and the outermost rock layer wobbles around, different areas of the surface end up sitting directly over the axis of rotation. The geographic poles then pass through different spots on the surface than before, a process called true polar wander. A new study in Geophysical Research Letters finds the construction of nearly 7,000 dams from 1835 to 2011 shifted the poles about a meter (3 feet) in total and caused a 21-millimeter (0.83-inch) drop in global sea levels. Together, these dams hold enough water to fill the Grand Canyon twice. … ” Read more from the AGU.
U.S. water-related expenditures for data centers to exceed US$4.1 billion through 2030
“The role of water in the high-growth data center market is fast becoming a critical factor in site selection, design, and operations. By 2030, annual water-related capital and operational expenditures are forecasted to reach US$797.1 million, representing a 31.4% increase from today. According to a new report from Bluefield Research, U.S. Water for Data Centers: Market Trends, Opportunities, and Forecasts, 2025–2030, this surge in activity is accelerating—driven by artificial intelligence (AI)-fueled growth, mounting local concerns over water availability, and the tech sector’s urgent push to safeguard operational resilience amid growing environmental scrutiny. … ” Read more from Smart Water Magazine.
Less than 1% of 300,000 environmentally relevant chemicals in the US have monitoring data
“An analysis of US surface water monitoring records has found that less than 1% of chemicals of potential environmental concern have suitable monitoring data available. The researchers said the findings highlighted both the shortcomings of, and prospects for, macroscale chemical risk evaluations in the US and globally. The ever-increasing speed with which new chemicals are entering the environment has created a significant challenge for the assessment of environmental risks. To find out how the availability of surface water monitoring data affects the interpretation of chemical risk, the researchers compiled 112 million chemical monitoring records for almost 2000 chemicals, along with 78 million environmental records collated between 1958 and 2019 from across the US. They then linked this monitoring data with established toxicity thresholds collated from regulatory sources for over 170,000 chemicals. … ” Read more from Chemistry World.
EWG: Reducing multiple tap water contaminants may prevent over 50,000 cancer cases
“Drinking water treatment that pursues a multi-contaminant approach, tackling several pollutants at once, could prevent more than 50,000 lifetime cancer cases in the U.S., finds a new peer-reviewed study by the Environmental Working Group. The finding challenges the merits of regulating one tap water contaminant at a time, the long-standing practice of states and the federal government. In the paper, published in the journal Environmental Research, EWG scientists analyzed more than a decade of data from over 17,000 community water systems. They found that two cancer-causing chemicals – arsenic and hexavalent chromium, or chromium-6 – often appear together in systems and can be treated using the same technologies. … ” Read more from the Environmental Working Group.
Flood predictions could worsen when Trump’s cuts take hold
“The White House is rejecting assertions from Democrats and former NOAA officials that its cuts to weather and disaster spending contributed to the Texas flooding that killed more than 100 people. But that stance sidesteps a looming reality: The vast majority of President Donald Trump’s rollbacks to the agencies’ funding, staffing and science have yet to land. Scientists and weather prediction experts warned that once he fulfills his agenda, areas around the country could face new risks as federal programs are degraded — from disaster warning systems and satellite observations to funding for flood projects and disaster aid. The Trump White House has proposed cutting $163 billion from the federal budget in the next fiscal year — making it the smallest in recent history. … ” Read more from E&E News.
SEE ALSO: Deadly floods could be new normal as Trump guts federal agencies, experts warn, from The Guardian
NEPA implementation update
“Last week, several agencies released updated National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) implementing procedures. Following the Council on Environmental Quality’s rescission of the government-wide procedures, the Seven Counties Infrastructure Coalition decision from the Supreme Court, and continuing deregulatory policy directives from the President, agencies were tasked with updating their NEPA procedures. Although it will take a little time to review and thoroughly analyze each agency’s updates, there are a few overarching themes to be aware of … ” Read more from ESA.
