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In California water news today …
California’s Salmon Strategy: Progress, partnerships, and the path forward
“Historically, millions of salmon returned to California’s rivers each year. Today, those numbers have plummeted to a fraction of their former levels, with hatcheries now playing a vital role in sustaining the remaining populations. A decade of severe drought, punctuated by sporadic rain and snow events, has further worsened the challenges facing salmon. The California Salmon Strategy, introduced in January 2024, is a state-led initiative aimed at combating the alarming decline in salmon populations, which has been driven by factors such as drought and climate change. The strategy outlines key priorities and actions to support the restoration of these iconic fish. At the June meeting of the California Water Commission, Sheena Holley, Salmon Strategy Implementation Coordinator for the Department of Fish and Wildlife; Marc Commandatore, Statewide Restoration Initiatives Branch Manager at the Department of Water Resources; and Erik Ekdahl, Chief Deputy Director at the Water Board, provided Commissioners with an update on the progress of the salmon strategy’s implementation. … ” Read more from Maven’s Notebook.
Sites Reservoir could break ground in 2026
“Groundbreaking on one of California’s newest reservoirs could begin by the end of next year, officials announced Friday. Work on the Sites Reservoir, west of Maxwell in Colusa County, starts when crews begin testing soils and rocks in and around the 14,000 acre site of the proposed lake, said Fritz Durst, chairman of the Sites Project Authority Board of Directors. Officials expect to complete construction of a dam, roads and other structures around the reservoir within six years. The project is expected to cost about $6.8 billion, according to preliminary estimates, Durst said. The Sites Authority also recently received a favorable opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency on the reservoir’s environmental impact. … ” Read more from the Redding Record-Searchlight.
Looming threat in the Delta could devastate this summer tradition
“On the last Sunday in July, as the Central Valley bakes in the middle of summer, a small community within the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta sees its population grow tenfold for one day as thousands gather in an open field next to an elementary school to celebrate a particular pomaceous fruit. About 66% of the pears grown in California come from the Delta, and the most widely produced is the Bartlett pear. For Courtland, a 521-person community along the Sacramento River, the Bartlett pear is its core identity, even though it might also be a best-kept secret. “Not many people know that Courtland is a very big pear place,” Katelyn Ortega, a rising senior at the local Delta High School, told SFGATE while tending to goats at Arceo Ranch, her family’s farm in Courtland. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
Microplastic Pollution: Impact on the Delta and remediation strategies
“”In May, I had the privilege of attending the Microplastic Pollution: Impact on the SF Bay Delta and Remediation Strategies symposium hosted by the Coastal Marine Sciences Institute (CMSI) and the Delta Stewardship Council (DSC). Microplastics are all over the news and have been found almost everywhere. They are defined as being plastic pollution that are generally smaller than 5mm a piece. When found in the environment, they are often incorporated into the foodwebs, either through filtration or consumption which can cause various issues for those animals that consume microplastics. This symposium was filled with a great series of talks that covered a wide range of the current issues in microplastics being researched. Talks described monitoring programs in different habitats, looked at specific ways that microplastics act as toxins and spread pathogens, and discussed frameworks for monitoring and managing the risks around this emerging issue. Below, I discuss a few of the studies that were presented about the effects of microplastics in the environment. … ” Read more from the California Water Blog.
Feds award $93 million to key San Joaquin River restoration project near Dos Palos
“The Bureau of Reclamation will award $93 million for a fish screen and bypass project on the Arroyo Canal and Sack Dam near Dos Palos – a project necessary to enable Chinook salmon on the San Joaquin River to complete their lifecycle. The project complies with settlement agreements from 2006 and 2009 for San Joaquin River restoration. The Bureau says the project fulfills two of the highest priorities from the 2006 settlement – allowing fish passage and preventing them from being diverted from waterways with irrigation diversions. The project will enable spring-run Chinook to bypass Sack Dam and complete their journeys downriver to the ocean and upriver to spawn. … ” Read more from the Merced Focus.
California Forever wants to build a manufacturing town
“Last year, officials from California Forever pulled an initiative from the ballot box to build a city from scratch in Solano County. Now, it’s back with a plan to build something else there, too: the largest site for advanced manufacturing in North America. CEO Jan Sramek announced the plans at the Reindustrialize Summit in Detroit on Thursday. The proposed 2,100-acre site, called the “Solano Foundry,” would be located within the mega-development the company is pursuing in southeast Solano County. It includes dedicated manufacturing space for companies focused on robotics, logistics, energy, aerospace and defense, among other fields. Andreas Lieber, the Foundry’s general manager, said the proposal solves several problems plaguing Silicon Valley — and the United States — right now: a shrinking middle class and a dependence on other countries to build things, among other issues. “You cannot really operate as a country if you’re only doing service jobs and basically outsource your middle class,” he said. “And then you’re not building anything anymore.” … ” Read more from KQED.
SEE ALSO: Billionaire-Backed California City Pitches Plans for Factory Hub, from Bloomberg via MSN
Kerr County’s tragic flood wasn’t an outlier. It was a preview.
“The country watched in horror as torrential rain drenched Texas earlier this month, sweeping at least 135 people to their death. Kerr County alone lost 107, including more than two dozen children at Camp Mystic. From afar, it would be easy, even tempting, to think that the floods like these could never happen to you. That the disaster is remote. It’s not. As details of the tragedy have come into focus, the list of contributing factors has grown. Sudden downpours, driven by climate change. The lack of a comprehensive warning system to notify people that the Guadalupe river was rising rapidly. at risk. ’ These are the same elements that could trigger a Kerr County-type of catastrophe in every state in the country. It’s a reality that has played out numerous times already in recent years, with flooding in Vermont, Kentucky, North Carolina and elsewhere, leaving grief and billions of dollars in destruction in its wake. “Kerr County is an extreme example of what’s happening everywhere,” said Robert Freudenberg, vice president of energy and environmental programs at the Regional Planning Association. “People are at risk because of it and there’s more that we need to be doing.” … ” Read the full story from Grist.
How a California cloud-seeding company became the center of a Texas flood conspiracy
“Two days before the waters of the Guadalupe River swelled into a deadly and devastating Fourth of July flood in Kerr County, Texas, engineers with a California-based company called Rainmaker took off in an airplane about 100 miles away and dispersed 70 grams of silver iodide into a cloud. Their goal? To make it rain over Texas — part of a weather modification practice known as cloud seeding, which uses chemical compounds to augment water droplets inside clouds, making the drops large enough and heavy enough to fall to the ground. But in the hours after the flood swept through the greater Kerrville area and killed at least 135 people, including three dozen children, conspiracy theories began swirling among a small but vocal group of fringe figures. “I NEED SOMEONE TO LOOK INTO WHO WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS … WHEN WAS THE LAST CLOUD SEEDING?” wrote Pete Chambers, a former U.S. special forces commander and prominent far-right activist, on the social media platform X. … ” Read more from the LA Times. | Read via Yahoo News.
SEE ALSO: Has cloud seeding triggered extreme flooding in Colorado?, from the Colorado Sun
Trump admin to proceed with groundbreaking flash flood risk database, reversing course after media reports
“The Trump administration has changed course and is moving ahead with work to develop a new database that would provide Americans with precise estimates of their flash flood risk in a warming world, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration official and an internal NOAA email seen by CNN that was sent Friday morning. The administration had paused work on the portion of the database, known as Atlas 15, that is designed to show how a warming world is amplifying flood risks. The database would be the first such resource to take this into account and would have applications for everyone from civil engineers to prospective homeowners. After reporting by CNN and the Washington Post this week and following discussions between NOAA leadership and Commerce Department officials, NOAA received permission to move forward with both parts of the analysis through fiscal year 2026, the official said. … ” Read moire from CNN.
After L.A. firestorms and Texas floods, forecasters haunted by warnings not being heard
“Meteorologists warned about the chance of flash floods days before Texas’ Fourth of July disaster that killed at least 133. Yet, local officials in the hardest-hit areas say they were shocked by the scale of the devastation. “I have cried on multiple occasions,” Chris Suchan, chief meteorologist with WOAI-TV Channel 4, the NBC affiliate in San Antonio, wrote in a recent Facebook post. “At times, I’ve been overwhelmed with forecaster regret that I could have done more the night before in my weather report.” Forecasters often issue alerts for possible flooding, landslides and “red flag” fire warnings multiple times a year. Sometimes, those warnings are followed by major catastrophes, but other times they are not. And that has led some to become complacent, rather than heeding the alerts. … ” Read more from the LA Times. | Read via Yahoo News.
Muddy boots and AI are helping this threatened frog to make a comeback
“It had been five years since the first of the frog eggs had been moved, carefully plucked from Mexico’s Baja Peninsula and transported by cooler to Southern California. Anny Peralta-Garcia was getting nervous. The eggs belonged to California red-legged frogs, an amphibian that had been eaten, bulldozed and eventually pushed out of the state decades earlier. Peralta-Garcia, an Ensenada-based conservation biologist, had helped harvest fresh eggs from a pond in Baja. The efforts to move them back to the frogs’ historic range in California had been monumental — involving private landowners, federal agencies, conservation groups, helicopters and an international border. And now, 87 more moved egg masses later, everyone was waiting to see if it worked. If the re-introduced frogs were breeding.Finally this year, the scientists tried something new to listen in on the frogs: Artificial Intelligence. A customized AI model sifted through thousands of hours of audio recordings from the relocation sites and picked out the sound of mature male frogs calling – grunting more like – at their new location. … ” Read the full story at NPR.
CA scores high in new report on the fight against plastic pollution
“California receives high marks in a report on the fight against plastic pollution. This is Plastic-free July and the United States of Plastics report, from Ocean Conservancy, awards the Golden State a score of four-and-a-half out of five. Report co-author Anja Brandon, director of plastics policy with Ocean Conservancy, largely credits Senate Bill 54, California’s landmark law passed in 2022. “It holds plastic and other packaging producers financially responsible for managing their wasteful products. And it requires that producers make 25% less single-use plastics by 2032,” Brandon said. … ” Read more from Northern California Water Association.
In commentary today …
A muffled American environmentalism: So much weakening. So little concern.
Circle of Blue’s senior editor and chief correspondent Keith Schneider writes, “Let’s all stand up and cheer our fellow Americans in the West for raising their voices and shutting down a Republican plan last month to sell millions of acres of the public domain. Even considering Earth Day demonstrations in April, it’s the first time any of the Trump administration’s irrational and dangerous initiatives to impede, weaken, and obliterate the nation’s protections for land, water, and air generated more than a peep of resistance. Where has all the outrage gone? How many of America’s seminal statutes to safeguard the environment will be bludgeoned by the Trump administration and his allies in Congress before Americans resist? For the time being, opposition to the administration’s diabolical work to increase pollution and develop wildlands is barely recognizable, hardly a blip on the radar screen of policy outrages fostered by the president. Almost every one of the country’s foundational environmental laws, enacted since 1970, is under attack … ” Read more from the Circle of Blue.
In regional water news and commentary today …
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Lake Tahoe keeps warming, sees fewer freezing days and less snow, report finds
“Lake Tahoe is getting warmer, rainier, and seeing less snow, according to the new State of the Lake report, released on Thursday by UC Davis researchers. Scientists have been studying the lake for over 50 years, and their latest data from 2024 shows long-term changes that affect the environment and the people who live there. The report shows that over the last century, Tahoe has lost 27 days of freezing weather each year. That means more rain, less snow, and snow melting earlier in the season. … ” Read more from KUNR.
Compliance to upcoming state law leads to some dying turf in South Lake Tahoe
“The median turf along Ski Run Boulevard is dying, and South Tahoe Now wanted to find out why. California Assembly Bill 1572 (AB1572) was passed in the fall of 2023 and will be phased in beginning Jan. 1, 2027. AB1572 prohibits the use of potable water to irrigate non-functional turf on commercial, industrial and institutional properties in California. There was already a temporary ban enacted during the last drought, and this new legislation replaces that ban and makes it permanent. The City of South Lake Tahoe is subject to AB1572, and in efforts to plan for compliance, city crews have evaluated areas of non-functional turf on city property. The turf will be allowed to die and it will be replaced with native landscaping. … ” Read more from South Tahoe Now.
NAPA/SONOMA
Are we losing Sonoma County’s secret wetland treasure?
“The Laguna de Santa Rosa is Sonoma County’s Swiss Army knife. Northern California’s largest freshwater wetland absorbs winter floodwaters like a giant sponge. It filters pollution naturally and shelters wildlife ranging from bald eagles to endangered salmon. Yet this vital habitat struggles, under siege from invasive plants, toxic urban runoff, and shrinking marshlands. Experts warn Sonoma County has reached a tipping point. Covering 30,000 acres, the Laguna goes far beyond its main water channel. “The Laguna is a unique ecological system and landscape feature of critical importance to our water quality, flood control, and biodiversity,” says the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation. Over 200 bird species thrive here, including migrating waterfowl along the Pacific Flyway. Coho salmon and steelhead trout depend on its waters, while endangered red-legged frogs find refuge in its marshes. … ” Read more from the Sonoma Gazette.
BAY AREA
Nicasio opposition intensifies over reservoir expansion
“Complaints from Nicasio residents continue to pile on the Marin Municipal Water District over its plan to increase capacity at the nearby reservoir. Feelings of consternation and mistrust were inflamed recently when two residents reported that project surveyors were on their creekside properties without permission. “We do not feel very respected by this,” Dorene Schiro said during an online meeting Tuesday. “I actually am furious right now, and if you want our lawyers involved sooner than later, this is how you do it.” “We have trusted you,” Schiro said. “We have wanted to work with you in ways that we could, and this is just not appropriate.” … ” Read more from the Marin Independent Journal.
Study proposed for future of Suisun Valley water, sewer
“The Solano County supervisors on Tuesday will discuss a possible study related to current and future sewer service in the Suisun Valley. The Fairfield-Suisun Sewer District has requested to conduct a comprehensive study on the matter. “Since 2011, the number of licensed winegrowers has grown from six to 39, reflecting the area’s development momentum and intensifying pressure on limited infrastructure. However, achieving full implementation of the (Suisun Valley Strategic Plan) has been challenged by a lack of centralized water and wastewater systems,” the staff report to the board states. “Most of the Valley relies on individual septic systems, many of which are impacted by shallow groundwater, unsuitable soils and aging infrastructure. Engineered or alternative septic systems are often required, requiring large land areas for system components and reserve capacity. In addition, wastewater generated by wineries frequently exceeds 10,000 gallons per year, requiring permitting through the Regional Water Quality Control Board.” … ” Read more from the Daily Republic.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Stockton’s plan to land a big shipyard leaps forward
“Stockton’s vision to become the home of a major West Coast shipyard, a project that could bring a boatload of high-paying jobs to the city, took a giant leap forward Monday. Mayor Christina Fugazi, Interim City Manager Steve Colangelo and Port of Stockton officials are part of the city’s delegation to Washington, D.C., for high-level meetings over the next four days, according to city spokesperson Tony Mannor. “They are going to be making a pitch for a shipyard in Stockton,” he said in an interview Thursday. … ” Read more from Stocktonia.
SAN DIEGO
San Diego water bills could soar over 60% by 2029 under new proposal
“San Diego water customers could see their bills increase by more than 60% over the next four years, according to a proposal presented by the city’s Public Utilities Department. The suggested rate hikes, which would begin in 2026 and continue through 2029, were outlined during a presentation to the City’s Environment Committee on Thursday. Compounded, these hikes would result in a total increase of just over 62% for water rates. Additionally, the proposal calls for sewer rates to rise by 31% during the same period. … ” Read more from Channel 8.
Along the Colorado River …
The Colorado River used to be predictable as a water supply. What happens when it’s not?
“In a normal year — the kind before this megadrought of 25 years plunged the river’s big reservoirs and the states that rely on them into crisis and conflict — they wouldn’t need to act so soon. There still might have been 4 feet of snow on and below the giant forested mesa looming over western Colorado’s arid lands, so much that no one along the North Fork of the Gunnison River would need to push water onto their fruit orchards yet. “In a normal year, we wouldn’t even be able to drive up here” yet, Gunnison Basin District Engineer Bob Hurford said from the back seat. But “normal” years aren’t the norm anymore — here or anywhere in the 250,000-square-mile drainage that supplies the 1,450-mile Colorado River. A river that has long been overallocated and draining its massive reservoirs is now nearly tapped out, soon potentially unable to keep flowing past the giant American dams that water and power much of the Southwest. Already, its last drops sink into Mexican sand before reaching the sea. … ” Read more from Arizona Central.
PHOTO GALLERIES: Experts measure the Colorado snow that feeds the Colorado River, Lake Powell and Lake Mead show decreasing water levels
View snow measurement photo gallery from the Arizona Republic. View Lake Powell and Lake Mead photo gallery from the Arizona Republic.
Arizona’s declining groundwater
“By measuring the gravitational pull of water for more than two decades, NASA satellites have peered beneath the surface and measured changes in the groundwater supplies of the Colorado River Basin. In a recent analysis of the satellite data, Arizona State University researchers reported rapid and accelerating losses of groundwater in the basin’s underground aquifers between 2002 and 2024. Some 40 million people rely on water from the aquifers, which include parts of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. The basin lost about 27.8 million acre-feet of groundwater during the study period. “That’s an amount roughly equal to the storage capacity of Lake Mead,” said Karem Abdelmohsen, an associate research scientist at Arizona State University who authored the study. … ” Read more from Earth Observatory.
From nuisance to natural engineer: how beavers are helping restore Arizona’s wetlands
“The Arizona Game and Fish Department is trying out a new technique to restore Arizona wetlands. Though Arizona is largely a desert state, 1% of the state is made up of wetlands, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The number has been slowly falling since the 1800s, resulting in a loss of one-third of the original wetlands. In the past few months, AZGFD has seen a resurgence in the wetlands along a stretch of the San Pedro River. “We’ve seen native cottonwood, willow trees and saplings just rebound,” said Angie Stingelin, Senior Wildlife Specialist with the department. “We’ve had species come back in that we haven’t seen in years in certain stretches of the river.” … ” Read more from Channel 9.
Arizona water officials approve transfer of water from rural Arizona to “Active Management Areas”
“State water officials on Friday approved the first-ever legal transfer of water from rural Arizona into one of the state’s “active management areas” that have restrictions on growth. The Department of Water Resources will allow Buckeye to withdraw up to 5,926 acre-feet of water a year from the Harquahala basin in western Arizona for up to 110 years. That is enough to serve more than 17,000 homes. In the same order, the agency said Queen Creek can take up to 5,000 acre-feet a year, sufficient to build about 15,000 homes. All this comes two years after DWR refused to issue any permits for new subdivisions in some areas of both communities after concluding they lacked the legally required 100-year supply of water. That resulted in a lawsuit by the Home Builders Association of Central Arizona which charged that the agency’s modeling is flawed. … ” Read more from KAWC.
The Colorado River is officially contaminated with invasive zebra mussels. Can the state stop the spread?
“Water managers and state wildlife officials last year hoped the discovery of a microscopic zebra mussel larva in the Colorado River was a one-time event, not a sign of a larger problem lurking beneath the surface. It was the first time larvae from the destructive invasive species had been found in the river in Colorado. For nearly a year, despite increased sampling, state wildlife officials didn’t see any more evidence of the mussels. But their hopes were dashed earlier this month when Colorado Parks and Wildlife detected three more tiny larvae in the stretch of the Colorado River between Glenwood Springs and Silt. The mussels — known to devastate ecosystems and clog critical infrastructure — had once again found their way to the river that is the backbone of Colorado and the Southwest’s water supply. … ” Read more from the Greeley Tribune.
Wildlife officials uncover troubling new threat to Colorado River: ‘Where do we go next?’
“What began with the discovery of one tiny larval mollusk in June has expanded into widespread testing and a confirmation that invasive zebra mussels are spreading in the Colorado River. According to the Post Independent, Colorado Parks and Wildlife found the lone mussel larvae — called a “veliger” — along the river near the town of New Castle in June. It was the first evidence of the invasive species in the Colorado River system since a July 2024 detection. Officials tested the river extensively last year and had begun doing so again in May. After the finding, CPW expanded its testing again, which yielded three new larvae discoveries on July 3 and the official designation of the Colorado River as testing “positive” for invasive zebra mussels, according to The Colorado Sun. … ” Read more from The Cool Down.
In national water news today …
The future of hydroelectric power: Balancing generation with environmental impact
“Hydropower remains fundamental to renewable energy production because it offers steady output and grid reliability in a world racing to decarbonize. However, as global climate goals become more ambitious, the environmental impact of hydroelectric systems — especially on river ecosystems, fish migration and sediment flow — draws increased attention. Energy leaders and water resource professionals are now challenged to rethink how hydro projects can balance power generation with ecological responsibility. The conversation has shifted from expansion to optimization, where smarter infrastructure and adaptive strategies must work together to reduce harm without compromising output. … ” Read more from Water Online.
