Several news sources featured in the Daily Digest may limit the number of articles you can access without a subscription. However, gift articles and open-access links are provided when available. For more open access California water news articles, explore the main page at MavensNotebook.com.
In California water news today …
Groundwater depletion sinks home prices in California’s Central Valley
“A UC Riverside study has found that as land in California’s Central Valley sinks due to excessive groundwater pumping, so do local housing values. The research found that homes in subsiding — or gradually sinking — areas lost between 2.4% and 5.8% of their sale value. In dollar terms, that translates to losses between $6,689 and $16,165 per home. These costs totaled $1.87 billion in aggregate housing value lost across the Central Valley due to subsidence, the study estimated. “Basically, the land is sinking and so are the property values,” said Mehdi Nemati, a UCR assistant professor of environmental economics and policy who led the study. “This is the first time anyone has quantified how much land subsidence costs homeowners in this region.” … ” Read more from UC Riverside.
Farmers in west Fresno County groundwater agency to consider 200% pumping fee hike
“A western Fresno County groundwater agency hopes to increase pumping fees by about 212%, from $8 per acre foot to $25 per acre foot, in a bid to avoid state intervention. The Pleasant Valley Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) board agreed at its July 29 meeting to put the proposed fee hike to a vote of its growers through a Proposition 218 election, which is required before increasing land assessment or pumping fees. A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 28 where growers can protest the proposed increase. If the pumping fee hike succeeds, the Pleasant Valley Water District, which also acts as the GSA, would reduce existing land assessment fees from $6 per acre to $3.25 per acre. The money from the pumping fee is needed, according to GSA board members, to pay for a revised groundwater plan. The Department of Water Resources deemed the region’s existing plan inadequate in February. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
DWR: New key concept presentation video on subsidence released
“DWR has released an approximately 30-minute lecture-style presentation video about a key concept presented in the draft BMP document: the role of critical head in managing land subsidence. Groundwater managers and practitioners may be interested in gaining some insight on this topic when making decisions to comply with SGMA. This presentation explains the science and mechanics of subsidence, introduces the concept of critical head, and describes how subsidence can be managed using critical head. The video presentation also provides examples of subsidence and critical head data in the San Joaquin Valley. … ” View video here.
California legislators issue dire warnings about National Weather Service cuts
“Emergency hiring plans are underway in an effort to keep two Central Valley weather stations fully staffed in the wake of federal budget cuts. The National Weather Service’s Sacramento and Hanford offices have been operating for months with reduced staff. California legislators have issued dire warnings about the service reductions, calling the cuts “the beginning of a public safety crisis.” Hundreds of weather service employees have left the agency under cost-cutting orders from the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency. Tom Fahy, the legislative director for the union that represents the National Weather Service, said that nationally, the agency is short 500 positions, in addition to the 600 employees who retired or took buyouts this year. … ” Read more from Stocktonia.
Predicting California water-year types using seasonal climate forecasts
“Due to its singular geography and differences in regional water demand, the US state of California has uniquely unpredictable precipitation, making efficient water management and allocation difficult. With a water system that supports over 39 million people, it is imperative for the state to enable proactive measures in order to secure water for the population. Researchers from SEI and the University of California, Merced propose a novel model that forecasts water runoffs while keeping in mind variability in seasonal rainfall. The model was first developed by gathering data on temperature and previous precipitation. Then, additional data related to seasonal climate forecasts – the average watershed data from November to March – was incorporated into the model. Finally, the model was tested on its ability to forecast precipitation in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river basins, which are critical water sources for most California residents. … ” Read more from SEI.
California harbor suffers close to $1 million in damage from tsunami waves
“Crescent City — one of California’s northernmost towns and Del Norte County’s lone city — took a close-to-$1 million hit to its harbor after tsunami waves battered the North Coast earlier this week. Harbormaster Mike Rademaker told SFGATE in a call that initial estimates put the damage from rough seas triggered by the 8.8-magnitude quake off Russia’s coast at $100,000. Now, Rademaker said, “It’s probably getting closer to $1 million.” Although tsunami warnings were issued for the entire West Coast and Hawaii late Tuesday night into Wednesday, most areas saw minimal impact. Crescent City was the exception. It recorded the highest tsunami waves in the continental U.S. — up to 4 feet — with powerful surges arriving just before dawn, lifting docks off their pilings and slamming the harbor. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
Sites Reservoir cost balloons to $6.8B
“Inflationary pressures have hit the largest California water-storage project in decades, increasing cost estimates for the Sites Reservoir from about $3.9 billion to as much as $6.8 billion, a 74% increase. Located about 130 miles north of the Tri-Valley, the reservoir project plans to flood an area west of the town of Maxwell to add some 1.5 million acre-feet of water storage to the state’s water supply. The project would capture high- and flood-level river water that otherwise would wash into the ocean. A collaboration between the federal Central Valley Project and California’s State Water Project, the reservoir would function as off-stream storage, capturing water from and releasing it to the Sacramento River, about 15 miles to the east, via two canals and a pipeline. The project authority has said the reservoir would only divert river water during high-flow or flood-flow conditions to adapt to new weather patterns induced by climate change. … ” Read more from the Livermore Independent.
SEE ALSO: Editorial: Water Project is Running Roughshod Over Environmental Concerns, from the Livermore Independent
Webb Tract Update: Project receives statutory exemption for restoration projects, Field notes: collecting carbon data
“The Webb Tract Wetland Restoration Project received a Statutory Exemption for Restoration Projects (SERP) from California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) — allowing project construction to start in 2026, as planned. Keeping on schedule is critical for the Webb Tract Wetlands Restoration Project because it is funded by the Delta Conservancy’s Nature-Based Solutions grant program, which requires planning and implementation to be completed within 5 years. This is challenging given the lead times typically needed for California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements. … By growing rice and restoring wetlands, Metropolitan will stop and reverse subsidence, restore carbon to the land and potentially realize additional income to help maintain the levees and secure the integrity of the central Delta. One of the objectives of the Webb Tract Mosaic Nature-Based Solution grant is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, so it is essential to quantify the island’s emissions, which requires specialized equipment. Working with HydroFocus, Inc., an expert in hydrologic modeling and quantification of greenhouse gas emissions and reductions, Metropolitan purchased two eddy covariance stations and installed one in the agricultural area where the wetlands will be restored, and the other where the agricultural land will be used to cultivate rice. … ” Read the full update.
A California heat wave is coming. Here’s when temperatures will rise
“California is forecast to begin August the same way July ended: mild, at least relative to recent summers. But that cooler-than-normal weather isn’t expected to stick around. A high-pressure system, possibly the strongest on record for August, is forecast to build across the Four Corners on Tuesday and expand toward California in the following days. It’ll likely result in the hottest stretch of weather so far this year from Sacramento to Riverside and other interior parts of the state. The heat isn’t expected to peak for another week, meaning there’s still a lot of forecast details to be resolved. But here’s what to know so far about the significant weather switch ahead. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Before the clawbacks, this ‘freaking game-changer’ for nature made it rain
“These last few months have rendered Sulphur Creek unrecognizable. The quiet stream is a fixture outside Napa—as is the 120-year-oldold bridge it burbles under, universally recognized as a threat to steelhead trout. Since Bill Birmingham started as a project manager at the Napa Resource Conservation District a decade ago, he and his RCD colleagues have been making plans to reshape the stream for fish. Now they’re actually doing it, thanks to a pathbreaking wave of federal funding. Grumbling construction equipment has replaced running water. By fall, the old bridge will tumble and a new, fish-friendly bridge will rise. By winter, if the stars—and rains—align, steelhead will be able to fin their merry way upstream at long last. Sulphur Creek was intended to be part of a movement. Billions of dollars in former President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) were meant to be “a freaking game-changer” for conservation and climate work in the Bay Area, according to one expert Bay Nature interviewed when we first began tracking that money in June 2023. Two years later, the game has indeed changed—but in a new direction. … ” Read more from Bay Nature.
Environmental groups may sue over failure to protect whales
“Two environmental organizations, the Center for Biological Diversity and Friends of the Earth, announced plans to sue the federal government for failing to protect whales off the coast of California from fatal ship strikes. They sent a notice to the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard accusing these agencies, alongside the National Marine Fisheries Service, of neglecting to address how designated shipping lanes contribute to collisions with whales and sea turtles. In 2025 alone, at least eight gray whales have died from suspected ship strikes in the San Francisco Bay Area, indicating an alarming trend of whale mortality linked to shipping traffic. … ” Read more from the SJV Sun.
Regenerative agriculture community charts way forward
“The University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources-UC Merced Symposium ‘Regenerative Agriculture: The way forward’ on July 1 brought together stakeholders to showcase regenerative agriculture in the San Joaquin Valley. The symposium was an opportunity for participants to learn about successful ongoing work and target future objectives while considering possible implementation challenges, like bottlenecks. The day-long workshop offered three credits of Certified Crop Adviser continuing education units towards nutrient management, soil and water management, integrated pest management, crop management, professional development and sustainability. More than 100 people attended, including subject experts, growers, students, researchers, technical advisors, nonprofit and industry representatives, in addition to UC Cooperative Extension personnel. … ” Read more from UCANR.
As Trump defunds federal firefighting, California steps up: introducing the world’s largest helicopter firefighting fleet
“In stark contrast to the Trump administration’s cuts to public safety and emergency response, California continues to ramp up its firefighting arsenal: the state now has the largest civilian helicopter firefighting fleet in the world. Governor Gavin Newsom today announced a monumental achievement in CAL FIRE’s ongoing commitment to protecting California, as the final two of sixteen Sikorsky S-70i Fire Hawk helicopters arrived at McClellan Airfield in Sacramento. This arrival completes a multi-year transition that significantly upgrades the department’s aerial firefighting capabilities. This year also marks the full conversion of all ten CAL FIRE Helitack bases from the Vietnam-era Huey UH-1H helicopters to the state-of-the-art Fire Hawk. It’s a full circle moment on an effort that the Governor initiated at the beginning of his first term. … ” Read more from Governor Newsom.
Sen. Schiff, colleagues demand end to illegal cuts at NASA, reassert Congress’ sole power to authorize science funding
“Today, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and other Senators representing space and science innovation hubs across the nation demanded that the Trump administration halt any preemptive and illegal cuts to National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science programs, justify impoundments of NASA funding from the past six months, and abide by Congress’ set funding levels for the current and future fiscal years to prevent irrevocable harm to America’s space innovation and scientific workforce. “We cannot afford to prematurely gut funding for scientific excellence and technological innovation, which NASA has worked for decades to cultivate – especially when doing so would harm American jobs and progress,” the Senators wrote.The letter to recently-installed Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy condemns the President and Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought’s illegal impoundment of funding approved by a bipartisan Congress for the current fiscal year, and highlights that even proposed cuts from the President’s Fiscal Year 2026 (FY26) budget request have further imperiled jobs and American competitiveness in space innovation in states across the U.S. … ” Read more from Senator Adam Schiff.
In commentary today …
Will the Bay-Delta Plan succeed? It has a good chance if the Healthy Rivers and Landscapes Alternative is allowed to work
The California Farm Water Coalition writes, “On July 24, 2025, the State Water Resources Control Board released an updated Bay-Delta Water Plan, a critical framework designed to protect the ecological health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta while addressing California’s diverse water demands. The plan outlines two primary approaches—the Unimpaired Flow Alternative and the Healthy Rivers and Landscapes (or Voluntary Agreements) alternative, to balance water quality, ecosystem restoration, and water supply needs. So, what are the key differences between these approaches? How is their success evaluated? And what is the unimpaired flow alternative water users may have to adopt? A dive into the Plan helps answer those questions, and more. … ” Continue reading from the California Farm Water Coalition.
Want food security? Keep water on Western farms
Mike Wade, executive director of the California Farm Water Coalition, and Dan Keppen, executive director of the Family Farm Alliance, write, “In the distant past, hunters and gatherers relied on what nature provided. Today, farmers grow food for billions of people around the globe—and that takes water. Yet there’s a growing drumbeat about the amount of water agriculture consumes in the Colorado River Basin and beyond. Critics say farmers use a disproportionate share compared to cities and if farmers would simply use less, there would be plenty for everyone else. There’s no question every water user must pursue efficiency, and urban areas have made impressive gains. Los Angeles cut total water use by 28% between 1986 and 2023, even as its population grew by 16.5%. Farmers, too, have been innovating for decades. In California, crop value increased 86.5% over four decades while water use dropped by nearly 15%, according to the Department of Water Resources. Farmers have embraced technology to do more with less. But the conversation can’t end there. Farmland across the West is vanishing—lost due to water shortages and swallowed up by urban sprawl. … ” Read more from the Desert Sun.
Editorial: Bill would make it easier to ‘plant’ solar panels on dry farmland. Great idea
The McClatchy California editorial board writes, “On paper, it sounds like a perfect trade-off: Take unproductive farmland — much of it located in California’s San Joaquin Valley — and replant it with acres of solar panels that can power hundreds of thousands of homes. Except there’s a hitch. A lot of that farmland is tied up in long-term Williamson Act contracts, which entitle owners to big property tax breaks as long as they keep their acreage in ag or open space. Landowners can cancel their contracts prematurely, but they must pay a stiff penalty based on the value of their property. … That program has not been a rousing success; over its first nine years, only three applicants pursued solar easements under SB 618, according to the state Department of Conservation. Now, another bill, AB 1156, would expand eligibility to include land that can no longer be farmed due to water shortages. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
California’s newly undammed river just opened for visitors: 5 tips for heading to the Klamath
“With the removal of four dams on the Klamath River, Californians now have a new place to kayak, raft, fish and explore. In the footprints of century-old reservoirs in a remote area near the Oregon border is a fresh 45-mile stretch of restored river that flows freely through a varied landscape of striking basalt canyons, evergreen forests and grassy valleys. There’s palpable excitement in witnessing the river corridor come back to life, and opportunities abound for world-class whitewater paddling and steelhead fishing. Local guides are already offering fishing and rafting trips. “It’s like having a new river in California all of a sudden – even though it’s actually the return of a very old river,” said Scott Harding, Stewardship Associate with American Whitewater, which advocated for public access to the newly restored river. “It’s incredibly exciting.” … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Tribal victory of the century
“The saga of the Klamath River basin, site of the world’s largest dam removal, completed last October, is a story of withering setbacks, skin-of-the-teeth recoveries, still more setbacks, and finally, against all the odds, an unalloyed victory, the culmination of a two-decade-long campaign led by three of the basin’s four major tribes. The basin is shaped like a wobbly Dali-esque hourglass draped across the Oregon-California border. The Klamath River was once the nation’s third most-prolific salmon fishery, before environmental insults committed by Americans and Europeans including beaver trapping, mining, logging, and lake-and-wetlands-draining to create farmland turned the waterway into a sad, denatured hydraulic machine. The four now-dismantled hydroelectric dams, built between 1918 and 1962, were the crowning blows, walls that definitively blocked salmon from upstream spawning grounds. The dams rejiggered the river’s flows to respond to changes in electricity demand, not natural rhythms, and changed water temperatures and chemistry in ways that weren’t hospitable to river and riverine animals and plants, starting with fish. … ” Read more from the Boston College Law School Magazine.
Waste from forest thinning gets new purpose in Northern California
“Thinning trees and dense brush from a forest can help reduce the risk of severe wildfire. The brush and branches that are removed are often burned or chipped. But at an 80-acre ecological reserve in Northern California, they’re used for environmental restoration instead. Brock Dolman of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center says during extreme rain, water runs off the hillsides into seasonal channels, or gullies. Over time, the gullies erode and deepen. So his team uses a practice called gully stuffing. They take woody brush from forest thinning projects and layer it into an eroding gully. … ” Read the full article at Yale Climate Connections.
PG&E files Surrender Application for Potter Valley Project
“The Pacific Gas and Electric Company has officially filed an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to decommission its hydroelectric plant in Mendocino County, officials announced this week. In a press release, PG&E officials reported that the company “filed its Final Surrender Application and Final Non-Project Use of Project Lands Application for the Potter Valley Hydroelectric Project with FERC” on Friday, July 25, and that the submittal package contains two applications … ” Read more from the Mendocino Beacon.
SEE ALSO: Eel River Dam Deconstruction Moves Closer as PG&E Submits Plan for Removal, from the Redwood News
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Thompson Builders partners with local volunteers for fish relocation at Lake Tahoe
“As the highly anticipated reconstruction of Fanny Bridge gets underway, Thompson Builders is taking extra care to protect the local ecosystem, starting with the safe relocation of trout from the waters between the Lake Tahoe Dam and the temporary backdam. To support this effort, Thompson Builders has teamed up with Trout Unlimited, Truckee, a local fly fishing club with a strong history of environmental stewardship. The group will assist with the fish relocation process beginning Friday, August 1. This partnership builds on similar efforts in 2019, when local volunteers and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife stepped in to help rescue trout trapped behind the dam during a severe drought. … ” Read more from South Tahoe Now.
Placer County Water Agency preparing to restore full untreated water deliveries
“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— Placer County Water Agency 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 the Placer County Sentinel.
SACRAMENTO
Sacramento water district dissolved amid safety failures
“A Sacramento agency that’s been criticized by the grand jury for its poor operational and safety practices is now being dissolved. The Del Paso Manor Water District has been in business since 1956, serving customers in the Arden-Arcade area. Now a new district is taking over. A long list of problems needs to be fixed in the Del Paso Manor Water District: rusted and corroded underground pipes, contaminated water wells and fire hydrants with broken valves. … ” Read more from Channel 13.
BAY AREA
San Francisco quietly hits summer rain milestone
“San Francisco just quietly notched one of the wettest Julys in the city’s history, according to National Weather Service data going all the way back to the 1870s. Dylan Flynn, a meteorologist for the agency’s Bay Area office, confirmed the statistic to SFGATE on Thursday afternoon, explaining that lingering drizzle from the marine layer squeezed out one more hundredth of an inch of precipitation on Sunday. That puts July 2025 in a four-way tie for the city’s eighth-wettest July, with eight hundredths of an inch of accumulated precipitation. The weather service’s downtown San Francisco weather station, one of the oldest climate sites in the country, previously tracked the same amount of precipitation in July of 1906, 2011 and 2014. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
Editorial: Officials trying to keep Ross Valley flood plan on track face big decisions
The Marin Independent Journal editorial board writes, “As it nears the end of its 20-year disappointing initiative, Marin County is right not to raise the annual Ross Valley flood control fee. Progress toward its promised goal would be justification for raising the fee, but the Ross Valley project is completing a history of being mired in controversy, political battles, piles of costly engineering and environmental studies and a slow-moving bureaucracy. The county Board of Supervisors decided to keep the fee the same, for the fourth consecutive year, with the average annual charge being $153.76. Taxpayers have been right to wonder what they have gotten from the fee. How much safer is the Ross Valley today than it was in 2007 when the program was started in the wake of the 2005 flood that caused an estimated $100 million in private and public property damage. … ” Read more from the Marin Independent Journal.
Berkeley says dogs — and people — shouldn’t dig in popular park atop contaminated landfill
“Half a year after tests revealed elevated levels of radiation lurking underground beneath Berkeley’s beloved César Chávez Park built atop an old landfill, city officials this summer issued a set of new warnings. Dog walkers must prevent their animals from digging in the dirt. Volunteers and staff tending landscaping at the sprawling 90-acre waterfront park cannot plant or weed to avoid disturbing the soil. Any park construction project that could potentially penetrate the ground must halt. Even with these striking new regulations at one of the East Bay’s most popular parks, life continued as normal Thursday. Summer camp kids frolicked and played under an oak tree at a wind-swept outcropping by the bay. A man used a kite to lift himself into the air. People let their dogs run free. Berkeley residents wondered — how serious is the risk? … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
CENTRAL COAST
Santa Cruz-Scotts Valley intertie project entering final phase
“The Scotts Valley-Santa Cruz intertie project, which will connect the water supplies of the Santa Cruz Water Department and Scotts Valley Water District, is nearing its final phases, and portions of La Madrona Drive will be closed in early August as it’s being repaved. According to a statement from the city of Santa Cruz, “The critically important project will dramatically increase system resilience, improve emergency preparedness and ensure the availability of reliable, safe drinking water for customers of both agencies.” Because the roadway will need to be fully closed and to minimize the disruption of weekday traffic, paving work on La Madrona Drive is scheduled for Aug. 9. That day, La Madrona Drive will be fully closed to traffic from Sims Road to the 6000 block of La Madrona Drive, just south of the Santa Cruz-Scotts Valley Hilton Hotel. The Sims Road exit from southbound Highway 17 will also be closed. Drivers should plan to take alternate routes, including Highway 17, Sims Road or Mount Hermon Road. … ” Read more from the Santa Cruz Sentinel.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
San Joaquin Valley farmers face wine industry downturn. Vineyards being abandoned
“If you drive around the San Joaquin Valley these days don’t be surprised if you see vineyards with weeds growing between the rows and bunches of dusty grapes dangling from tangled vines. The vineyards may look abandoned and in some cases they truly are, but most are being “mothballed” as wine grape growers weather one of its worse downturns in recent years. The state’s wineries have temporarily stopped buying farmers’ wine grapes and in some cases are trying to cancel existing contracts due to declining demand and an oversupply. An estimated 30,000 acres in the central San Joaquin Valley, the state’s leading producer of lower value wine grapes, are not being farmed, or minimally being cared for to keep the vines alive. It’s one of the few options available, save ripping them out and planting another crop. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
High level of E. coli detected at Fresno County lake
“County authorities are warning the public to take precautions when going to Avocado Lake after elevated levels of E. coli were found. The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control identified elevated levels of the bacteria after a sample was collected on Wednesday. The sample surpassed the Statewide Bacteria Water Quality Objectives established by the California State Water Resources Control Board. E. coli is a bacterium found in the intestines of warm-blooded animals and serves as an indicator of fecal pollution in water. Officials say elevated levels may indicate a higher risk of illness for swimmers who interact with the water. The latest E. coli result from Lake Avocado is 2,419.60 MPN/ 100 mL. The water quality objectives for bacteria are less than 100. … ” Read more from Your Central Valley.
EASTERN SIERRA
Searles Valley Minerals praises court ruling as positive outcome for the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Basin
“Searles Valley Minerals is pleased with the decision of Orange County Superior Court confirming that the Navy’s federal reserved water right within the Indian Wells Valley groundwater basin is limited to 2,008 acre-feet per year. This provides the Navy all of its ongoing water use plus some additional water for future growth. The court calculated this amount by adding the Navy’s most recent 10-year average annual water usage of 1,536 acre-feet, which amounts are for test, target area, and wildfire management. The court then allocated water for potential future weapons programs and additional personnel, to reach the total amount of 2,008 acre-feet per year. This decision brings certainty and reasonableness to the Navy’s water right in the basin while respecting and ensuring the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake has the necessary resources to carry out its mission effectively now and in the future. … ” Continue reading this press release.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
How one California community is turning an old oil field into protected habitat
“On a clear day, the trails winding through West Coyote Hills near Fullerton, California, offer a sweeping view of the mountains rising over Orange County’s suburban sprawl. Over 500 acres of open space are covered in low-growing, feathery coastal sage scrub, a native plant community that urban development is replacing. Dozens of coastal California gnatcatchers, a threatened native bird species, flit around the shrubs. When it rains, vernal pools, or seasonal wetlands, form between the hills, supporting wildflowers and amphibians. Today, these wetlands are a rare habitat: More than 90% of California’s vernal pools have been lost to development. “I love the fact that even in this urban area, there’s an open space that is just a jewel,” said Angela Lindstrom, who lives nearby. Until the 1990s, that jewel was actually an oil field, owned by the oil giant Chevron. … ” Read more from High Country News.
Monarch butterflies’ mass die off in 2024 caused by pesticide exposure – study
“A 2024 mass monarch butterfly die off in southern California was probably caused by pesticide exposure, new peer-reviewed research finds, adding difficult-to-obtain evidence to the theory that pesticides are partly behind dramatic declines in monarchs’ numbers in recent decades. Researchers discovered hundreds of butterflies that had died or were dying in January 2024 near an overwintering site, where insects spend winter months. The butterflies were found twitching or dead in piles, which are common signs of neurotoxic pesticide poisoning, researchers wrote. Testing of 10 of the insects revealed an average of seven pesticides in each, and at levels that researchers suspect were lethal. Proving that pesticides kill butterflies in the wild is a challenge because it’s difficult to find and test them soon after they die. Though the sample size is limited, the authors wrote, the findings provide “meaningful insight” into the die off and broader population decline. … ” Read more from The Guardian.
Along the Colorado River …
Environmentalists, tribes ask BLM to reconsider southern Arizona mining project
“Tribal leaders and environmentalists are asking the Bureau of Land Management to reverse course on a southern Arizona mining project it green-lit at the end of June. The Copper Creek Exploration Project is the beginning stage of what could become an open-pit copper mine across a roughly 25 square mile stretch near a portion of the San Pedro River in the Galiuro mountain range northeast of Tucson. The BLM released its assessment on the project’s environmental impact on June 30, allowed the mining company to set up 67 drill sites in the area. Russ McSpadden is with the Center for Biological Diversity. The group partnered with the San Carlos Apache Tribe and others to draft a letter this week asking the BLM to reconsider. … ” Read more from KJZZ.
One Utah man’s quest to track the bugs fighting invasive trees on the Colorado River
“Killing a tamarisk tree is a tough job. Unless you’re a hungry tamarisk beetle. Then it’s just lunch. In their native Asia, the trees and beetles live in equilibrium. But when tamarisks were introduced to the West in the 1800s for ornamentation and erosion control, the plants had no natural enemies to keep them in check. They soon ran wild across the Colorado River Basin and began to wreak havoc on native ecosystems. Two decades ago, Utah officials responded by releasing thousands of the beetles near Moab. Their assignment was simple: Enjoy the tamarisk buffet. Like humans enlisting Godzilla to battle other monsters we’d have little hope of defeating, the idea was to let them fight. And for years, it was scientist Tim Graham’s job to see who was winning. “Every year, I would do eight surveys,” he said. “Come out, stare at the foliage and look for beetles. Count how many I could see in 15 seconds.” … ” Read more from KUER.
River District offers proposal on Western Slope water deal
“In an effort to head off concerns about the state’s role in a major Western Slope water deal, a Western Slope water district has offered up a compromise proposal to Front Range water providers. In order to defuse what Colorado River Water Conservation District General Manager Andy Mueller called “an ugly contested hearing before the CWCB (Colorado Water Conservation Board),” the River District is proposing that the state water board take a neutral position on the exact amount of water tied to the Shoshone hydropower plant water rights and let a water court determine a final number. “Although we believe this would be an unusual process, the River District believes it would address the primary concern (i.e., avoiding the state agency’s formal endorsement of the River District’s preliminary historical use analysis) that we heard expressed by your representatives at the May 21, 2025 CWCB meeting regarding the Shoshone instream flow proposal,” Mueller wrote in an email to officials from the Front Range Water Council. … ” Read more from the Grand Junction Sentinel.
Private lake in Eagle County source of zebra mussels in Colorado River
“State officials may have solved the puzzle of how zebra mussels got into the Colorado River. On July 3, Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials discovered a large number of adult zebra mussels in a privately owned body of water in western Eagle County. On Monday, Madeline Baker, an invasive species specialist with CPW, told members of the Colorado Basin Roundtable they believe this private lake is an upstream source of the mussels that have contaminated the Colorado River, the Government Highline Canal, Highline Lake and Mack Mesa Lake. “We do believe this to be the primary source, but it could now have created other secondary sources downstream with locations that hold water,” Baker said. “There is a lot of speculation of could these veligers survive the journey from Eagle County down to Highline and create a new population there or is there some sort of intermediate population in between. So we still have a lot to figure out.” … ” Read more from Aspen Journalism.
‘Corn Sweat’: How Colorado’s crops add thousands of gallons of water to the sky
“My grandmother was born in Olathe, Colorado, and many Coloradans know about the sweet corn the farmers in that area produce. What you may not know is that one acre of this summertime crop can pump 3,000 gallons of water into our atmosphere in a single day. That added humidity affects our weather. It can cause serious thunderstorms. Thunderstorms need a combination of plenty of moisture and plenty of heat. Corn gives us both. … ” Read more from Channel 5.
In national water news today …
As EPA weakens rules on ‘forever chemicals,’ states are moving forward
“State water officials are worried about how to protect residents from drinking water contaminated with “forever chemicals” — and how shifting federal regulations will affect their responsibilities. During a meeting this week with the Environmental Protection Agency on its plan to rescind and reconsider President Joe Biden’s landmark drinking water standard on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), state officials and industry representatives complained that regulatory uncertainty was placing communities in a bind. Despite the lack of clarity on what the EPA will do with the standard, states are still on the hook for implementing it. That creates difficulties if the rule is weakened, said Steven Elmore, chair of the National Drinking Water Advisory Council. “Certain states have state laws that say their drinking water standard can’t be more stringent than the federal law,” Elmore said. … ” Read more from the Washington Post.
EPA research cuts stoke fears over scientific independence
“Despite losing an EPA research grant this May, Jane Clougherty feels relatively sanguine about her individual situation. She’s not as optimistic about the future of EPA-funded research, though. “I’m lucky enough to be tenured and secure in my position at the moment,” Clougherty, an environmental health scientist at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said in an interview early this month. But as the Trump administration slashes funding for university-based inquiry, Clougherty said, “I think a lot of public health schools are going to be in a lot of trouble.” Her project, which was examining the combined impact of extreme heat and air pollution on children’s health in New York state, was one among many axed midstream this spring on the grounds that they no longer meshed with administration priorities. … ” Read more from E&E News.
Trump’s tax bill expands farm subsidies. Not all farmers will benefit.
“In the high plains of western Texas, 600 or so farms in Gaines County are projected to receive an additional $258 million in government payments over the next decade under President Trump’s marquee domestic policy law — the largest increase in the country. By contrast, along the coast of California, 1,000 farms in Monterey County will collectively receive just $390,000 in additional payments, according to one analysis. The difference comes down to what the farms grow, and illustrates the stark disparity in who stands to benefit from the president’s sweeping tax and domestic policy bill. Under the new law, more than $60 billion in additional funding will be funneled toward agricultural subsidy programs, with large farms, particularly those in the South, poised to reap the most benefits. … ” Read more from the New York Times.
