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In California water news today …
Will dismantling a dam for one California river doom another?
“In the past week, Northern California’s century-old Potter Valley Project crossed a major threshold toward dismantling. On July 25, PG&E submitted its formal plan to federal regulators to tear down the two-dam system that has rerouted Eel River water into the Russian River for over a century. Just days earlier, the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors became one of seven required signatories to a water diversion agreement, paving the way for a replacement system called the New Eel-Russian Facility, or NERF. Together, the two developments mark a historic shift: The original infrastructure is on its way out, and the future of interbasin water sharing is up for grabs. … Meanwhile, PG&E’s own documents submitted last week to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission make clear just how disruptive dam removal will be for the Russian River watershed. The utility’s decommissioning plan warns of “unavoidable adverse effects” that would follow the end of water diversions. “Flows would return to natural flow conditions,” PG&E writes, meaning less water for farmers, ranchers and rural communities in the Russian River Valley, especially in summer. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
New global study shows freshwater is disappearing at alarming rates
“New findings from studying over two decades of satellite observations reveal that the Earth’s continents have experienced unprecedented freshwater loss since 2002, driven by climate change, unsustainable groundwater use and extreme droughts. The study, led by Arizona State University and published today in Science Advances, highlights the emergence of four continental-scale “mega-drying” regions, all located in the Northern Hemisphere, and warns of severe consequences for water security, agriculture, sea-level rise and global stability. The research team reports that drying areas on land are expanding at a rate roughly twice the size of California every year. And, the rate at which dry areas are getting drier now outpaces the rate at which wet areas are getting wetter, reversing long-standing hydrological patterns. … ” Continue reading from Arizona State University.
SEE ALSO: Freshwater is disappearing from the Earth at alarming rates: Study, from The Hill
State unveils Bay-Delta Water Plan updates for public comment
“On July 24, the State Water Resources Control Board released proposed updates to the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan and opened it for public review and comments. Proposed changes focus on portions of the Plan relevant to the Sacramento River watershed, Delta eastside tributaries, and Delta for the “reasonable protection of fish and wildlife beneficial uses.” The San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta watershed — Bay-Delta — encompasses the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, as well as numerous other tributaries to those rivers, the Delta and tributaries, Suisun Marsh, and San Francisco Bay. The State Water Board has previously adopted water quality control plans and policies regarding the uses of the Bay-Delta and periodically reviews this plan to ensure it provides reasonable protection for the designated beneficial uses. … ” Read more from Valley Ag Voice.
SEE ALSO: Advocates for fish in the Feather River and surrounding waterways respond to State Water Board updates with deep alarm, from the Chico News & Review
Protestants press their case against the proposed tunnel under the Delta: DCP update August 2025
“In July 2025, 34 parties who protested issuing water rights for the proposed tunnel under California’s Bay-Delta estuary filed testimony in opposition to the project. The filing of the protestants’ “cases-in-chief” follows two months of testimony by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) in support of the Delta Conveyance Project (DCP). CSPA filed three pieces of testimony. CSPA Board member Dave Hurley wrote about the magnificent fisheries and fishing opportunities that the Delta has lost and continues to lose. CSPA Board member Dave Fries is also Conservation Chair for the San Joaquin Audubon Society. He wrote about gross underestimates of bird species in the Delta and San Francisco Bay regions. Further, he covered how the DCP would negatively affect birds. … ” Read more from the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.
Learning from fish: the importance of nonprofits’ research projects
“Nonprofits’ research projects on fish serve multiple purposes. They serve an impetus to improve restoration efforts and manage hatcheries better. They make a case for reintroducing species in areas where the species had a historical presence. And they draw funding, volunteers, allies, and media attention. When nonprofits undertake research projects on fish, their results can motivate entities with more funding, staff, and time to complete larger projects later. These parties may include colleges, universities, and government agencies. In the South Bay, the region south of San Francisco in the Bay Area, a number of individuals and organizations are undertaking a number of research projects about fish. These projects are informing nonprofits and the public about the origins, populations, and health of local fish, including Chinook salmon. … ” Read more from the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.
North Fork Feather River Salmon Reintroduction Feasibility Study
“Since dam construction in the early 1900s, Central Valley Chinook salmon have been cut off from their historical spawning and rearing habitat in the upper Feather River watershed. Spring-run Chinook salmon in particular historically utilized the upper river watersheds like the North Fork Feather River. In wake of population declines, especially of spring-run salmon, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is conducting a feasibility study. The question is how DWR can reintroduce salmon in high elevation watersheds. This Feather River project involves introducing fertilized salmon eggs into the North Fork Feather River upstream of Lake Almanor. … ” Read more from the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance.
Create habitat. Support cranes. Get paid.
“This year, the Migratory Bird Conservation Partnership (MBCP), with support and funding from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, will implement the BirdReturns Program to provide essential winter habitat in the Sacramento Valley and Delta for the Greater Sandhill Crane—a threatened subspecies in California. In addition to benefiting cranes, the habitat created through this program will support a wide variety of other waterbirds, including waterfowl, shorebirds, and wading birds. Worldwide, cranes are one of the most imperiled groups of birds. In recent years, wintering Sandhill Cranes populations in California appear to have declined due to the loss of flooded habitats which they depend upon for roosting, and reductions in small grain agriculture which provides their main food source. By maintaining a mosaic of wetlands and well-managed wildlife-friendly croplands, this region can continue to support these birds while simultaneously benefiting other wildlife and the regional economy. … ” Read more from UCANR.
Inside a California data center seeking to model a new era of sustainability
“The environmental impacts of the AI-supercharged data center industry are global, but they’re also local. Objections to new data center projects in communities across the US have focused on the perception that, along with new development, comes higher emissions, overburdened utilities, and massive land grabs. Those concerns are top of mind for engineering design firm Arcadis and developer Terra Ventures as they plan to open a new San Jose, California, facility they call “one of the most sustainable data centers in the world.” The two-phase project includes a 295,080 sq.ft data center with an attached power structure, a three-story 132,000 sq.ft standalone power structure, and a greenhouse and retail center that they believe will not only take from the community but also give back. Data Center Knowledge spoke with Arcadis principal and global practice group director Jeffrey Gyzen about how the project seeks to draw community support, the ways they’re designing toward a net-zero data center, and the tech innovations leading the future of sustainability. … ” Read more from Data Center Knowledge.
What’s up with the unusually cool start to NorCal coastal summer vs anomalous inland heat? Plus: cool everywhere this week, but heat rebuilds into August
Dr. Daniel Swain writes, “It has been a very cool start to the summer (from May through mid-July) across the entire coastline of northern and central California, as well as much of the San Francisco/Monterey Bay Areas in general as well as the southern Sacramento and northern San Joaquin Valleys exposed to cooler marine air via the Carquinez Strait. In fact, in some specific locations, the May-mid July 2025 period has been among the coldest in the past 30-40 years (meaning, for some younger folks in the Bay Area, this might be the coolest start to any summer in their living memory). It has been chilly, unusually windy, and often cloudy under a very persistent marine layer in these regions. … ” Continue reading at Weather West.
Beyond review: Water contract conversion, Reclamation law, and California’s Central Valley Project
“On June 30, 2025, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California held that the conversion of temporary to permanent contracts for the Central Valley Project (CVP) water does not require additional environmental review. The decision applies to a contract conversion process outlined in Subtitle J of the 2016 Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act, Pub L. No. 114-322, 130 Stat. 1628 (2016). The federally owned and operated CVP is a massive water storage system in California that captures, stores, and distributes water from the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers, primarily for use in agricultural irrigation. Due to the relative scarcity of water in the West, federal and state lawmakers and agencies have directed significant attention to CVP operations and water allocations since the project’s inception in the first half of the 20th century. … ” Read more from Beveridge & Diamond.
After wildfire, unstable earth pummels irrigation systems in American West
“The Yakima-Tieton Irrigation Canal, a small-scale engineering wonder cut into the face of soaring basalt cliffs in central Washington, is a precarious and endangered 12-mile channel that supplies irrigation water to some of the state’s most valuable farmland. The farmland bounty enabled by the Yakima-Tieton canal has been at risk of failure for more than a year following the Retreat Fire, which burned 45,601 acres of primarily state and federal land in Yakima County in July 2024. The fire, the second largest in Washington last year, torched the steep slopes and rocky drainages above the Yakima-Tieton canal. … High-severity wildfires like the Retreat Fire are an annual menace growing worse as a warming climate collides with overgrown, tinderbox forests. These fires and the watershed alterations they produce are an emerging risk to the infrastructure that provides water and power to irrigation systems in the western states. … ” Read the full story at Circle of Blue.
In commentary today …
Hiding weather data harms more than hurricane forecasts
Columnist Mark Gongloff writes, “The Butterfly Effect is the chaos-theory idea that the flapping of an insect’s tiny wings can influence massive weather events far removed from it in distance and time. It may overstate the importance of butterflies, but it is a reminder of how small actions can have larger, unforeseen consequences. An even clearer example is the Trump administration’s recent decision to stop sharing military satellite data with weather forecasters just ahead of what will be a busy hurricane season. The effects will reverberate far beyond weather forecasting, threatening lives and livelihoods and even accelerating the nation’s growing home-insurance crisis. Late last month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which houses the National Weather Service, said it would stop receiving weather data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, including readings that have long helped forecasters peer inside hurricanes to predict whether they will intensify rapidly. This information is especially useful at night, when some other observational tools aren’t available and communities in a storm’s path are at their most vulnerable to an unexpected strengthening. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
In regional water news and commentary today …
PCWA preparing to restore full untreated water deliveries following PG&E repairs at Lake Spaulding
“Placer County Water Agency (PCWA) is preparing to restore full untreated water deliveries to customers following Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) completion of repairs at Lake Spaulding Powerhouse No. 1 and resumption of water flows into Rollins Reservoir beginning July 24. With flows now refilling the reservoir—a key source for PCWA’s canal system— PCWA anticipates full service for affected customers will resume by August 15. PG&E first reported critical damage to its Spaulding facility in March of 2024 and cut off releases from Spaulding Reservoir during the summer of 2024 while it completed the first phase of repairs. PG&E began the second phase of repairs this past spring and again halted water flows during the work. … ” Read more from Placer County Water Agency.
SEE ALSO: Water is once again flowing to NID’s Rollins and Scotts Flat reservoirs, from the Nevada Irrigation District
Inspectors fighting to keep tiny, prolific golden mussels out of Lake Tahoe
““Keep Tahoe Blue” may not be the most common bumper sticker in California, but it’s certainly one of them. And for good reason. Californians treasure the giant lake for its clarity, its spectacular vistas and the countless memories made here. But an onslaught of invading species threatens the plants and creatures that have made Tahoe their home for ages. The newcomers gobble up food sources that would otherwise go to native species like the cutthroat trout. And they spew out waste that threatens the lake’s acclaimed clarity. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Butte County Grand Jury reports on Palermo flooding issues
“Dips, trenches and geography add to the already high risk of flooding in Palermo. Combine those elements with poor drainage and one bad storm and the community faces the potential for devastation. The 2025 Butte County Grand Jury took a deep dive into Palermo flooding, an ongoing and often yearly problem, and determined a litany of factors that have historically put the community in deep water. According to the report, the main cause of the flooding comes down to the drainage system being too small, unmaintained and wrought with vegetation clogging. … ” Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record.
Salinas Valley farmers still battling agencies over river capacity
“As natural disasters come and go, Salinas Valley farmer Jynel Gularte is trying to keep the two 2023 floods on the Salinas River at the forefront of discussions amidst a constant drum beat of climate change warnings and the need to be better prepared for life threatening events. Gularte is reminded of this daily as she drives River Road on the western edge of the Salinas Valley. Though the resilience of farmers rehabilitated farmland that is part of the nation’s “Salad Bowl,” flooding along the Salinas River will continue to be an issue of concern for farmers and those living in the region. The two floods of early 2023 may be history, but Gularte is trying to keep them top-of-mind as state and federal officials continue to warn of the need to be “climate smart” and resilient. Ironically, those same officials are doing nothing to open the river channel to allow for greater storm flows when the next storms happen. … ” Read more from the Western Farm Press.
Photo feature: Into Imperial Valley – where “water is like gold” – with Scott Rossi
“In 1900, the Imperial Land Company used water from the Colorado River to irrigate an uninhabited stretch of land in Southern California and named it Imperial Valley. Thirty years later, at the height of the great depression, photographer Dorothea Lange arrived there alongside thousands of agricultural workers fleeing from the over-farming, drought and poor agricultural practices that transformed the Great Plains into an uninhabitable dust bowl. Working on assignment for the Farm Security Administration, Lange documented the extremes of poverty and destitution in the encampments which grew up around the western United States’ new agricultural centres. Now, nearly a hundred years after Lange, Scott Rossi depicts an Imperial Valley threatened by unsustainable farming practices, water scarcity and the impacts of climate change in Dreams on the Dying Stone. … ” Read more from the British Journal of Photography.
San Diego County announces three beach areas reopened
“Coastal areas Coronado Avenida Lunar, Imperial Beach Pier and Carnation opened on Sunday due to improved water quality. The county Department of Environmental Health and Quality announced that “recent water quality samples (met) state health standards.” Due to excessive bacteria levels, an advisory remains in effect for the Charthouse Parking Lot, Del Mar San Dieguito River Outlet, La Jolla Cove Beachline, La Jolla Children’s Pool, Mission Bay North Cove Vacation Isle, Ocean Beach Dog Beach and San Elijo Lagoon Outlet, the DEHQ reported. Also due to excessive bacteria levels, these beach areas are closed: Imperial Beach Seacoast and Cortez, Tijuana Slough Shoreline and Silver Strand Shoreline. … ” Read more from KPBS.
Along the Colorado River …
July Water Supply: New projections show major Lake Mead decline by 2027
“Lake Mead’s level is lower today than it has been in four out of the past five years at 1,054 feet. Currently, the reservoir sits at 31% capacity, and new projections highlight a dire situation for Las Vegas’s primary water source. According to this comparison chart, Lake Mead is still in better shape compared to three years ago, when it hit a historic low point of 1,040.71 feet on July 27, 2022. The situation could worsen, with the latest Most-Probable 24-Month Study from the Bureau of Reclamation projecting an additional 16 feet by June of 2027, reaching an elevation of 1,038 feet. … ” Read more from KTNV.
Colorado Basin Roundtable takeaway
“Today the Colorado Basin Roundtable had a meeting to discuss the state of the Colorado River. The Roundtable discussed the potential Shoshone stream flow acquisition. The area of interest is the 2.4 miles in Glenwood Canyon. It is important for Western Colorado because of its stream flow rate that mimics the current water rates used for hydropower. Wildlife organizations did habitat studies on it, and they show it improves the natural environment. Another topic of discussion was the basin hydrology. With a limited snowpack this year, there is less water. The biggest concerns people had in the meeting related to that was the stress of many systems struggling from prolonged drought and aging infrastructure. Lindsay DeFrates, Deputy Director of Communications for the Colorado River District, said, “The Colorado Basin Roundtable is a great example of a room where a bunch of different stakeholders from agriculture, recreation, environment, municipal, industrial, water users all come together to talk about those solutions. It’s never an easy conversation.” … ” Read more from Channel 8.
In national water news today …
Why farmers may be able to continue fertilizing fields with PFAS-contaminated sewage sludge
“Republicans are quietly moving to kill proposed regulations for PFAS-contaminated sewage sludge that is spread on farmland as fertilizer, a practice that has sickened farmers across the country, destroyed their livelihoods and contaminated food and water supplies. The Biden administration in its final days issued a draft health risk assessment level for some PFAS in sludge that would have dramatically limited the use of the substance, also called biosolids, as fertilizer, if finalized and implemented. Then, in early June, a waste industry trade group met with Environmental Protection Agency leadership to discuss the assessment. In the weeks after the meeting, Republicans quietly slipped a rider into a House appropriations bill that would fund the EPA aims to derail the risk assessment process by cutting off funding. The rider also includes language that appears designed to permanently prohibit funding for the implementation of regulations for some PFAS in sludge. … ” Read more from Inside Climate News.
The life of plastics
“Microplastics have been found in the placentas of unborn babies, the depths of the Mariana Trench, the summit of Everest and the organs of Antarctic penguins. But how do they travel through the world, and what do they do to the creatures that carry them? Here is the story of how plastic contaminates entire ecosystems – and even the food we eat.” Check out the interactive feature at The Guardian.
EPA to launch plan Tuesday for undoing climate rule cornerstone
“The Trump administration is planning to release a proposal Tuesday that would overturn a 16-year-old scientific finding that has allowed three administrations to regulate climate pollution. The draft revision to the so-called endangerment finding for greenhouse gases marks a key move by President Donald Trump to weaken the government’s authority to curtail carbon emissions from the energy and automotive industries, among others. It will be paired with a proposal for rolling back climate rules for cars and trucks. Five people were granted anonymity to speak about internal discussions on the timing of the plan. The proposal entered White House review in late June, and the Office of Management and Budget has held numerous meetings with industry, environmental groups and Indiana’s environmental protection agency. … ” Read more from E&E News.
SEE ALSO: EPA seeks to limit its power to curb climate pollution, from E&E News
Huffman balks at Westerman NEPA bill; other Dems silent
“The top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee wasted little time vilifying new bipartisan legislation to overhaul a core environmental statute — even as lawmakers in both parties say they want to work together on the issue. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) issued a press release Friday declaring the new “Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development (SPEED) Act” would be a handout to fossil fuel corporations while silencing communities during the environmental review process. Led by Natural Resources Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Rep. Jared Golden (D-Maine), a member of the Blue Dog Coalition, the “SPEED Act” would overhaul the National Environmental Policy Act by narrowing the scope of federal actions triggering environmental review and cutting down on litigation. … ” Read more from E&E News.
