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On the calendar today …
- PUBLIC HEARING: Delta Conveyance Project water right hearing beginning at 9am. The State Water Resources Control Board Administrative Hearings Office will hold a Public Hearing on the pending Petitions for Change of Water Right Permits for the Delta Conveyance Project. Interested members of the public who would like to watch this hearing without participating may do so through the Administrative Hearings Office YouTube channel at: bit.ly/aho-youtube. Click here for the meeting notice.
- WEBINAR: Breeding Waterbirds in San Francisco Bay – USGS from 11am to 12pm. Learn about San Francisco Bay breeding waterbirds from USGS, which has looked at South Bay avocets, stilts and terns to understand how their abundance has changed since the inception more than 20 years ago of the Restoration Project. Link to register
- MEETING: Drought Resilience Interagency & Partners (DRIP) Collaborative, Reducing Ecosystem Impacts Workgroup from 11am to 12:30pm. Join the Department of Water Resources for the Drought Resilience Interagency & Partners (DRIP) Collaborative meeting of the Reducing Ecosystem Impacts Workgroup. Register here.
- MEETING: Drought Resilience Interagency & Partners (DRIP) Collaborative, Drought Definition and Narrative Workgroup from 1pm to 2:30pm. Join the Department of Water Resources for the Drought Resilience Interagency & Partners (DRIP) Collaborative meeting of the Drought Definition and Narrative Workgroup. Register here.
- MEETING: WIIN Act quarterly update on the Long-Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project from 1pm to 3pm. On Sept 9, 2025, Reclamation will hold a quarterly meeting to provide an update on the Long- Term Operation of the Central Valley Project and State Water Project, pursuant to the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act. Click here to join the meeting
- PUBLIC MEETING: Draft Subsidence Best Management Practices (Clovis) from 3 to 5pm. DWR is soliciting public feedback by hosting a series of public meetings across the state focused on a newly released DRAFT Subsidence Best Management Practices (BMP) document. The DRAFT BMP describes activities, practices, and procedures to support Groundwater Sustainability (GSP) implementation and to meet SGMA’s intent to avoid or minimize subsidence. The DRAFT BMP introduces fundamental concepts of subsidence and clarifies how to avoid new subsidence and minimize subsidence where already occurring. The DRAFT BMP provides guidance and examples to help Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) develop or update sustainable management criteria and management actions. Public comments can be provided in-person at the meetings and in writing to sgmps@water.ca.gov throughout the 60-day comment period. Registration is encouraged for planning purposes, but is not required. Walk-in registration will also be available for those who wish to partake. Click here to register.
In California water news today …
California dam removal plan blasted by Trump administration
“U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins took to social media over the weekend to express concerns about dam removal on California’s Eel River, even suggesting that the Trump administration may intervene to stop or revise the project. Rollins, on X, cited the loss of water for cities and farms that would come with the proposed removal of two dams in Mendocino and Lake counties while also invoking well-worn Republican criticism about California “putting fish over people.” In the post, the agriculture secretary said she was working with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum to bring “real solutions” for securing Northern California water supplies. Exactly what she might do about the dam removal and how the federal government could get involved, however, remain unclear. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Federal satellites gather critical data for managing California’s water
“California relies on federal satellites to understand and manage its water resources every day. Data from these satellites are used to estimate irrigation use, manage groundwater, predict storms, assess flooding, and track water quality, among many other applications. And as the changing climate brings weather whiplash and warmer temperatures to California, these data are becoming increasingly key for adaptation efforts across the state. One of the most important sources of images has been the federal Landsat program, which has sent a series of satellites into space to observe the Earth continuously for over 50 years through a partnership between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the US Geological Survey (USGS). … ” Continue reading from the PPIC.
The hunt for water: a 45-mile tunnel, retired farmland and desalination all loom
“In the more than four decades since I started at the L.A. Times, we’ve never had a reporter cover water with the depth and persistence of Ian James. California’s story is often the story of water — who’s got it, who doesn’t and who will find our next acre-foot. Ian is a former foreign correspondent who has written about everything from novel water solutions like reclaiming sewage, to the intersection of H2O with wildlife and farms. Essential Cal talked to Ian about his work. … ” Read the Q&A from the LA Times.
Shaping the future of the Bay-Delta: The update to the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan
“The goal of the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan is to balance the needs of the environment, agriculture, and urban water users in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, one of the state’s most critical ecosystems. The State Water Board’s update to the plan, in progress for over a decade, is considering changing how water quality standards are set and enforced, expanding responsibilities to a broader range of stakeholders through voluntary agreements. In July, the State Water Board released a draft version of the updated plan for public comment and scheduled two days of public hearings at the end of September. With significant implications for water availability, environmental protection, and statewide resource management, the plan’s progress and proposed changes were the focus of a recent update presented to Metropolitan’s Imported Water Subcommittee. Rebecca Sheehan, an attorney with the Metropolitan Water District, gave the update. … ” Read more from Maven’s Notebook.
‘We have had enough!’ Tribes, Enviros and Delta advocates rally in Sacramento as Newsom tries pushing anti-CEQA bills for tunnel
“Tribal leaders, Delta farmers, conservationists and environmental justice advocates rallied for the imperiled Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta on the west steps of the Capitol last Friday. As they held signs proclaiming “Pro Delta Means No Tunnel” and “Stop the $100 Billion Delta Tunnel,” they called on lawmakers to defend the state’s water rights, environmental protections and public due process from Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders’ attempts to bypass all of those via new trailer bills benefiting Big Ag and water agencies in Southern California. Newsome continues to argue that approving the controversial Delta Tunnel before he leaves office is vital to California’s ability capture, store and move water, as well as safeguard the state’s utilities against natural disaster. … ” Read more the Sacramento News & Review.
Commentary: “Father Knows Best” isn‘t a water policy for California‘s future
Tom Zuckerman, a Delta farmer located in Stockton, and Gary Bobker is the Program Director at Friends of the River, write, “Governor Newsom doesn’t trust Californians to make smart decisions about the state’s future water supply. His push to waive state laws through budget trailer bills — gutting public disclosure, fiscal responsibility and environmental protections — makes clear he thinks he alone knows best. The facts be damned. California’s current reliance on Central Valley rivers and the Delta is unsustainable. For a century, state and federal agencies have operated the world’s most extensive and complicated system of dams, reservoirs, canals and pumps to divert river water through the Delta for hundreds of miles, mostly to industrial farms of the San Joaquin Valley. This feat of engineering once fueled economic and population growth. But over time, the system has also drained rivers, promoted toxic algal blooms in the Delta and elsewhere, devastated fisheries and fishing communities, driven the fish that make the Delta unique toward extinction, and drawn salty ocean water into the southern and western Delta, diminishing agricultural productivity. … ” Continue reading this commentary.
SEE ALSO: Gov. Newsom makes it clear: To hell with Delta and Northern SJ Valley when high water comes, from the Manteca Bulletin
9th Circuit: Lawsuit would make agricultural runoff exemption “dead letter”
“A federal appeals court has rejected a legal argument that it has determined would render an agricultural exemption to the Clean Water Act a “dead letter.” The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit that challenged the lack of a Clean Water Act permit for an agricultural drainage project in California. Agricultural organizations feared that if the lawsuit’s interpretation of the Clean Water Act prevailed, irrigated agriculture across the West would face a tremendous new regulatory burden. Originally filed 14 years ago by fishing and environmental organizations, the complaint alleged the Grassland Bypass Project has violated the Clean Water Act because it discharges non-agricultural pollutants into a wetland along with runoff from irrigated farmland. … ” Read more from the Capital Press.
Fed court upholds irrigation exemption for Grasslands Bypass Project
“A federal appeals court ruled a key grassland bypass project in California does not need a Clean Water Act permit. Fishing and environmental groups had alleged in a lawsuit that the project does not qualify for an agricultural exemption. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit at the end of last week upheld a lower court’s ruling of summary judgement in favor of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the San Luis and Delta Mendota Water Authority in California. The California Grassland Bypass Project is a project launched in 1996 to address selenium contamination from ag drainage of about 97,400 acres of farmland in central California. The project diverts selenium-contaminated subsurface drainage water away from irrigation canals and wetlands by using the San Luis drain to move the water to the San Joaquin River. The project has been operating without a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit since 1997. … ” Read more from the Progressive Farmer.
California’s dry dilemma: No clear winners in the battle for water conservation
“Living in a hostile regulatory environment is nothing new to California. This is the perspective and viewpoint of Geoffrey Vanden Heuvel, director of regulatory and economic affairs at Milk Producers Council. … Earlier this year, Senator Anna M. Caballero introduced SB 72, California Water for All, to modernize water planning by establishing statewide water supply targets, enhancing long-term planning, and promoting stakeholder collaboration to address the state’s water challenges. Vanden Heuvel believes SB 72 is great symbolism. “I don’t believe there are any enforcement mechanisms in the bill to give it weight,” he says, noting that symbols can be important. “But the same legislature that passed SB 72 is also on the verge of passing AB 1319, which will give State of California Endangered Species protection to any species that the Federal Endangered Species Act regulations lessen protection for.” … ” Read the full story at Dairy Herd.
ICE raids in California block farmworker access to clean water
“Water for crops, but not for those who pick them — a tale as old as time for California’s farmworkers. But the latest threat to farmworkers and their water supply has nothing to do with the state’s notoriously polluted groundwater. It’s the fear of being deported by federal immigration authorities knocking down their doors. Maria, an agricultural worker who asked to be identified only by her first name, has a story that grounds this plight. The water in her unincorporated community of Royal Oaks in California’s Central Coast region is contaminated with nitrates, rendering it unsafe for drinking or cooking. She was enrolled in a free bottled water program until federal agents seized her son. She withdrew from the program, afraid that identifying information used to deliver the water to her home could be weaponized by immigration enforcement. A month has passed without news of her son’s whereabouts. … ” Read more from Circle of Blue.
Water Wrights: Urban Water Institute Conference Part One
“Good water management is key to both agricultural and urban water supplies. The urban water districts of Southern California have more in common with the San Joaquin Valley ag irrigation districts than they do with the urban water providers serving portions of the Bay Area, Sacramento and the Delta. Like the Valley, much of the Southern California urban supplies must pass through the Delta from Northern California. Like the Valley, Southern California’s urban groundwater also depends on surface supplies. And like the Valley there is pressure from Sacramento, the Bay Area, NGOs; all the challenges we face in the Valley, they face in Southern California. Of course there are many differences as well. Southern California is dealing with changing Colorado River supplies and its tax base is far, far larger. Half the people in the state live in or south of Los Angeles County. And they consume much of the water that is delivered to the San Joaquin Valley in the form of food. A lot of mutual interests overlap in keeping the family feed sack full of safe, affordable California grown groceries. I was invited to attend the Urban Water Institute’s 2025 annual conference held in San Diego from August 20th through the 22nd. The location was Paradise Point Resort on an island in Mission Bay. … ” Continue reading from Water Wrights.
Mount Rose, Sierra peaks could see snow this week
“The National Weather Service’s Tahoe-area forecast for this week contains two words that the region hasn’t seen since June. “Snow level.” With midweek storms set to hit Tuesday, the agency predicts the possibility of snow for some of the highest peaks in the Greater Lake Tahoe area. Snow levels are expected to be between 9,500 and 10,000 feet from Tuesday night into Wednesday. That could bring snow to the top of more than a dozen peaks within the forecast area, including Mount Rose (10,776 feet), Freel Peak (10,881 feet), Jobs Peak (10,638 feet) and Slide Mountain (9,702 feet). … ” Read more from the Reno Gazette-Journal.
‘Early season cold front’ brings cooling, rain across California this week
“After weeks of monsoon-fueled thunderstorms, wildfires and sweltering heat, “an early season cold front” is expected to bring temperatures down across California this week. “We’re going to have rapid cooling, with the biggest drop in temperatures tomorrow,” Kristan Lund, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard, said Monday. “This is one of the biggest cooldowns we’ve seen, especially since June. … This will bring temperatures pretty far below normal.” While temperatures in parts of inland Southern California hit close to 100 Sunday, Lund said by Wednesday and Thursday the highs in those same areas will struggle to reach into the mid-80s. Daytime highs are forecast to be 10 to 20 degrees below average for this time of year, with coastal areas remaining in the high 60s or low 70s. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Valley residents are growing alarmed by solar-and-battery project taking over farmland. Here’s why.
“Fresno County residents are unhappy with a planned solar-and-battery project coming to their community. Roughly 15 square miles of retired agricultural fields in the western part of the county are to eventually be home to one “of the world’s largest solar and battery energy storage projects — a behemoth capable of powering some 850,000 homes for four hours,” the Los Angeles Times reports. The Darden Clean Energy Project, says the Times, “is the first development to be fast-tracked under a 2022 state law that allows large renewable energy projects to be reviewed and permitted without sign-off from county and municipal governments.” The California Energy Commission gave its blessing in June. The locals, however, see a curse instead. … ” Read more from the San Joaquin Valley Sun.
GOP retreat on solar energy sows doubt for farmers
“Shifting politics and on-the-ground realities are changing the conversation about solar energy in rural America — and congressional Republicans like Andy Harris of Maryland are riding the anti-solar trend. Harris, who six years ago celebrated $270,000 in solar and energy efficiency grants to farms and small businesses in his Eastern Shore district, has switched gears. Solar energy is “undependable,” he said recently in supporting the Agriculture Department’s decision to stop supporting solar arrays on prime farmland. The chair of the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee is far from alone. He and other Republicans have turned against solar development in farm country since the Biden administration and Democrats boosted renewable energy grants in their climate law. Republicans are following the lead of President Donald Trump, who’s deemed solar energy — along with wind energy — “the scam of the century.” … ” Read more from E&E News.
Post-Blob, California’s kelp crisis isn’t going away
“In 2024, I was scuba diving in Northern California’s Casper Cove where the Watermen’s Alliance, a group of ex-abalone sports divers, has been culling purple urchins since 2020. It had been six years since abalone season shut down, following the region’s kelp forest collapse. About 4 meters (13 feet) down, I spotted a few surviving red abalones, their thick-muscled feet showing from under their single shells as they clung to the bottom of boulders. Purple urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) clustered near them. I also spotted a single white anemone (Diadumene leucolena) and a spiny, bulbous-eyed Cabezon fish (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus) amid scattered stalks of remnant kelp. A short distance away, it was all bare rock and purple pin-cushion-like urchins. It’s different than watching videos of urchin barrens: Aside from being wet and cold and breathing underwater, I was taken by the scale: it’s so expansive, even with only 2 m (6 ft) of visibility in the murky water. … ” Read more from Mongabay.
In LA port, bobbing blue floats are turning wave power into clean energy
“On a recent sunny morning in a channel at the Port of Los Angeles, seven blue steel structures that look like small boats are lowered into the ocean one by one. Attached to an unused wharf on a site that once housed oil tanks, they gently bob up and down with the waves to generate renewable power. Nearby, a sea lion peeks from the water and pelicans and sea gulls soar overhead. This is the nation’s first onshore wave energy site, and on Tuesday, Eco Wave Power will officially unveil the pilot installation and begin operating. The pilot will generate just a small amount of electricity that can be used locally, but the larger goal is to prove the technology works well enough to expand along 8 miles of breakwater at the port — enough to power up to 60,000 homes. … ” Read more from the Courthouse News Service.
Forest Service watershed bill would boost funding, adjust programs
“The forest-focused Water Source Protection Program would be reauthorized and expanded under the Headwaters Protection Act. The bill would increase the program’s annual appropriation threefold to $30 million, according to a summary from the office of U.S. Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. The bill would broaden the range of water users, including historically disadvantaged communities, who can participate and would reduce financial barriers to participation. The Headwaters Protection Act prioritizes projects that benefit drinking water quality and improve resilience to wildfire and climate change, according to the summary. The bill directs the program to prioritize local, collaborative partnerships to protect forests and watersheds. … ” Read more from the Capital Press.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
Salmon’s secret superfood is smaller than a grain of salt
“In northern California, salmon are more than just fish — they’re a cornerstone of tribal traditions, a driver of tourism and a sign of healthy rivers. So it may not come as a surprise that NAU and University of California Berkeley scientists working along the region’s Eel River have discovered a micro-scale nutrient factory that keeps rivers healthy and allows salmon to thrive. The scientists’ new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) reveals how a partnership between algae and bacteria works like nature’s clean-nitrogen machine, turning nitrogen from the air into food that fuels river ecosystems without fertilizers or pollution. The hidden nutrient factory boosts populations of aquatic insects, which young salmon rely on for growth and survival. … ” Read more from Science Daily.
MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
Water board finalizes 2024 Carnelian Bay sewage spill settlement
“The Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board finalized a settlement agreement on Aug. 13, outlining a $850,000 payment from the California Department of Transportation and the North Tahoe Public Utility District for the July 18, 2024 sewage spill in Carnelian Bay, Calif. Of the settlement amount, $5,000 will go to the State Water Pollution Cleanup and Abatement Account. The remaining $845,000 will go towards the NTPUD led Secline Beach Supplemental Environmental Project. The project will construct permanent public restrooms to replace the portable toilets currently at Secline Beach. Trash receptacles, public drinking fountains and improved stormwater control will also the improve facilities there. … ” Read more from the Sierra Sun.
BAY AREA
Rain and even thunder are possible in the Bay Area. Here’s what to expect
“The Bay Area is in the middle of a weather stretch that doesn’t feel very much like the typical September. The air is muggy, skies are gray and Tuesday will bring a chance for that humidity to spill out as scattered showers and storms. … Forecast model runs show an upper-level trough digging closer to California, cooling the air aloft and steepening vertical temperature profiles. That means the atmosphere will be primed for parcels of warm, moist surface air to rise and condense. With bay and ocean waters running warm and near-surface humidity unusually high for early September, there’s more than enough fuel for scattered showers from Tuesday afternoon through the evening. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
Opposition group to Montezuma carbon project plans rally
“An organization opposed to a proposed carbon injection and pipeline project for the Montezuma wetlands plans a rally on Tuesday at the Solano County government building. “Specifically, CACTI will be calling on local officials to reject the Montezuma LLC Carbon Hub – a dangerous and unnecessary 45-mile carbon pipeline near the Bay’s communities and sensitive wetlands that will put people and wildlife at risk while doing nothing to protect our climate,” organizers said in a statement. CACTI stands for Communities Against Carbon Transport and Injection. “The proposed pipeline infrastructure threatens public health across the Bay Area and especially in Contra Costa and Solano (counties),” the statement said. … ” Read more from the Daily Republic.
San Anselmo council gets flood control project update
“Plans to head off catastrophic flooding in the Ross Valley are progressing, if at a trickle. The San Anselmo Town Council meeting on Sept. 2 included an update on the county effort to remove “Building Bridge 2.” The project is part of the Marin County Flood Control District’s effort to lessen the effects of a 25-year flood, or the kind of severe flood that has a 4% chance of occurring in any given year. The county has declared the downtown bridge structurally unsound and said it blocks the creek’s natural flow, increasing flooding by pushing runoff during storms into the surrounding area, potentially inundating hundreds of properties. … ” Read more from the Marin Independent Journal.
East Bay MUD adopts new UV light technology to combat water quality threats
“The East Bay Municipal Utility District’s newest $325 million addition to the Orinda Water Treatment Plant centers around a high-tech plan to use ultraviolet light as the primary decontamination strategy to combat rising organic matter found in the Mokelumne watershed. The project seeks to protect against future increases in run-off, flooding and water temperatures that lead to more pathogens, viruses and natural organic matter. When organic matter is treated with chlorine, it can create harmful byproducts, known as trihalomethanes (THMs), which can impact human health. … ” Read more from the San Jose Mercury News.
CENTRAL COAST
Santa Maria’s water supply is safe despite false solicitor claims
“Santa Maria is warning about a possible scam targeting residents. The scam involves misinformation about the local water supply. While the business organization has not been identified and the specific products being sold are not being commented on, the city wants residents to know there is nothing wrong with the local water supply. Santa Maria residents are reporting some door-to-door solicitors selling water purification products who are claiming the city’s water supply is contaminated and unsafe. “The City of Santa Maria is aware that there’s a potential scam involving water customers,” says Santa Maria’s city manager Mark van de Kamp. “We’ve received several concerned inquiries from residents.” … ” Read more from KEYT.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Techachapi commentary: Residents should ask TCCWD: What happened to our water?
Chris Carlson, general manager of the Golden Hills Community Services District, and Greg Garrett, city manager of the city of Tehachapi, write, “To the residents of the Tehachapi Valley: It seems rather ironic that the Tehachapi-Cummings County Water District writes a letter to the editor titled “Where’s the water?” Didn’t we answer that question more than 60 years ago when Tehachapians voted to form your district and the taxpayers funded the State Water Project importation system that you own and operate today? Maybe the residents should be asking the board members of TCCWD: “What happened to our water?” The city of Tehachapi and Golden Hills Community Services District have been asking that question for the past few years. Sadly, it has taken court action to force TCCWD to release basic information to answer the question “What happened to our water?” Only recently has TCCWD provided partial data on where the water is going, and the answer is shocking and not what the residents of the Tehachapi Valley planned more than half a century ago. … ” Read more from the Tehachapi News.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
SoCal businesses and public institutions can get $7 per square foot to ditch their lawns
“The days of huge, unused swaths of public and commercial lawns appear to be numbered in California and the Metropolitan Water District is offering an incentive to hasten their demise, at least in Southern California: A whopping $7-per-square-foot rebate to businesses, schools and other public institutions that replace their thirsty lawns with sustainable landscapes containing native and/or drought-tolerant plants. The offer, which went into effect Sept. 1, is the largest rebate ever offered by the agency and more than double the $3-per-square-foot rebate it previously offered to commercial and public customers, thanks to a $30-million grant from California’s Department of Water Resources and $96 million from the federal Bureau of Reclamation’s Lower Colorado Basin System Conservation and Efficiency Program. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
Metropolitan funds six research projects to explore innovative water-saving ideas
“Six innovative strategies that could help Southern California curb water waste and permanently lower its water use will receive funding from the Metropolitan Water District this year through its Innovative Conservation Program, the agency announced today. The grant recipients selected through the program include a variety of water-use efficiency projects, from using artificial intelligence to track irrigation use to studying the most environmentally beneficial mulches. Metropolitan is focusing its funding this year on projects that save water in the non-residential sector in response to new state regulations banning the use of potable water to irrigate unused grass at commercial, industrial and institutional properties starting in 2027. Through the program, the projects will receive grants of up to $50,000 to evaluate their water-savings potential. … ” Read more from the Metropolitan Water District.
OC Coastkeeper enforces Clean Water Act to improve local water quality
“Orange County Coastkeeper (Coastkeeper), a local clean-water advocacy organization, has successfully employed the Clean Water Act to improve local water quality by reducing industrial stormwater pollution from RJ Noble Company, an asphalt manufacturer in Orange. As a result of Coastkeeper’s legal action that led to a mutual agreement, RJ Noble has made major upgrades to its facility, which sits adjacent to the Santa Ana River. These improvements include a one-million-gallon system that captures runoff and recycles it into the plant’s production process, along with a state-of-the-art stormwater treatment system for intense storms. Together, these systems eliminate polluted stormwater discharges and reduce the facility’s demand for potable water. … ” Read more from the OC Coastkeeper.
Decades-old barrels of industrial waste still impacting ocean floor off LA
“In 2020, haunting images of corroded metal barrels in the deep ocean off Los Angeles leapt into the public consciousness. Initially linked to the toxic pesticide DDT, some barrels were encircled by ghostly halos in the sediment. It was unclear whether the barrels contained DDT waste, leaving the barrels’ contents and the eerie halos unexplained. Now, new research from UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography reveals that the barrels with halos contained caustic alkaline waste, which created the halos as it leaked out. Though the study’s findings can’t identify which specific chemicals were present in the barrels, DDT manufacturing did produce alkaline as well as acidic waste. Other major industries in the region such as oil refining also generated significant alkaline waste. “One of the main waste streams from DDT production was acid and they didn’t put that into barrels,” said Johanna Gutleben, a Scripps postdoctoral scholar and the study’s first author. “It makes you wonder: What was worse than DDT acid waste to deserve being put into barrels?” … ” Read more from Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
SEE ALSO: Waste dumped off SoCal coast has drastically altered life on the sea floor, study finds, from the LAist
IMPERIAL/COACHELLA VALLEYS
Desert Hot Springs has the third-best-tasting water in the world, according to a prestigious water tasting competition
“A water company in Desert Hot Springs, California won third place at the 35th Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting, also known as the “Olympics of Water.” The Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting announced 2025 winners for the best-tasting water in the world, and a water company from a small city near Los Angeles won bronze in the Municipal Water Category. The Mission Springs Water District in Desert Hot Springs, California, was lauded for its delicious water by a panel of expert judges. … ” Read more from Secret SoCal.
Salton Sea oversight failures raise business compliance risk
“Two new UCLA studies reveal a troubling disconnect between environmental data and regulatory enforcement in California’s Salton Sea region—a largely Latino and Indigenous area that has long suffered from underinvestment. The research points to a breakdown in both monitoring infrastructure and accountability mechanisms, with direct implications for businesses operating nearby. Hydrogen sulfide levels in the region exceeded California’s health standards for hundreds of hours in 2024 and 2025. However, government sensors only captured a fraction of these pollution events, calling into question the reliability of existing compliance frameworks. Water quality data showed nitrogen concentrations higher than 95% of lakes nationwide—an alarming figure not fully captured by official monitoring systems. This misalignment leaves industrial operators, agricultural firms, and energy developers exposed. … ” Read more from Energy & Environment Leader.
SAN DIEGO
Grassroots group gathering support to raise Lake Hodges, help reduce wildfire risk
“The Rancho Santa Fe Association board has added its voice to a growing coalition of North County neighbors seeking answers from the state about the future of Lake Hodges and its 106-year-old dam. At the board’s Sept. 4 meeting, they heard a presentation from Raise Lake Hodges, a grassroots group that would like to see the lake raised 13 feet, from the state-restricted 280 feet to 293 feet, to refill and cover what is now an exposed, dry lakebed and help keep the region safe from the risk of the wildfire. The group first presented to the RSF Association’s infrastructure committee, which recommended sharing the information with the full RSF Association board. … ” Read more from the San Diego Union-Tribune.
City of San Diego offers optional warranty program for costly water, sewer line repairs
“San Diego residents will soon be getting letters in the mail about a program that city officials say could save them thousands of dollars in pipe repair costs. While the city is responsible for maintaining water and sewage systems in neighborhoods, the actual service lines that run to individual homes are the homeowner’s responsibility — a fact many residents only realize when problems arise. “If you have reduced pressure in your line or if you notice that you’re getting a high bill from the water department because there’s a leak between the meter and your house or there’s pooling of water in the front yard … you know you’ve got a problem,” said Miles Meehan, a spokesperson for Service Line Warranties of America. “On the sewer side, if you have a backup inside the home or something like that, there’s the telltale sign that there might be a problem in your sewer line,” Meehan added. … ” Read more from Channel 10.
Along the Colorado River …
Tribal leaders huddle with feds in push for landmark Arizona water deal
“Leaders from three tribes met with federal officials in the Navajo capital about securing a vote in Congress on a landmark water settlement, which would open the taps for thousands of people who lack running water and add certainty for others on the Colorado River. Hopi Tribal Chairman Timothy Nuvangyaoma, San Juan Southern Paiute President Carlene Yellowhair, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren and Navajo Speaker Crystalyne Curley met Sept. 4 in Window Rock with representatives from the Department of Interior and the Bureau of Reclamation. The Northeastern Arizona Indian Water Rights Settlement Agreement still requires congressional approval to ratify terms and secure water rights for the Navajo Nation, the Hopi Tribe, and the San Juan Southern Paiute Tribe. If enacted, the settlement would end decades of legal disputes between the tribes and state and federal governments. … ” Read more from Arizona Central.
‘Prolific alien invaders’ threaten waters in the West
“Water is a driving force in the American West, and today it’s at risk more than ever. Not just from overuse, not just from megadrought, but from minuscule invaders that pose a nearly unstoppable threat to the region’s rivers, lakes, dams and reservoirs. Typically smaller than a nickel, zebra and quagga mussels have spread across Europe and the Eastern United States, doing billions of dollars in damage by clogging infrastructure, wreaking havoc on ecosystems and eating food on which native fish and other animals rely. The mollusks’ westward sweep recently crossed a feared Rubicon when Colorado discovered zebra mussels in its portion of the Colorado River system, an imperiled lifeline to 40 million people. “This news is devastating,” a water manager on the state’s arid Western side said. “From irrigation to drinking water, the ramifications cannot be underestimated or overstated.” Almost nothing can keep the mussels from proliferating once they gain a foothold. But scientists and government agencies are desperate to try. … ” Read more from the Washington Post.
Rainwater harvesting grows in the Southwest and beyond to nourish thirsty gardens in a hotter world
“Nothing makes Brad Lancaster happier than a monsoon downpour. The tall 58-year-old jumped like a kid in the puddles on the sidewalk one recent August afternoon after a half inch (1.3 centimeters) of rain suddenly fell in Tucson, Arizona, during an especially dry summer. “Sweet!” Lancaster exclaimed, beaming when he saw how the water pooled in a basin he had dug earlier in dirt planted with native vegetation along the public walkway. “It’s really important that you are ready to plant the rain when it comes, even if it is a small amount,” he said, referring to a simple type of rainwater harvesting that involves digging a hole to allow rainwater to sink underground and be held like a sponge. “The key is to collect every drop of it.” … ” Read more from the Associated Press.
Utah: Mixing native knowledge, modern technology to reclaim Bear River
“In January 1863, U.S. Col. Patrick Edward Connor led his California Volunteers through deep snow and bitter cold to Bear River to attack the Shoshone people who regularly wintered along the shores of what they called Wuda Ogwa. What was supposed to be a response to ongoing tensions between the Mormons, settlers, and Indigenous tribes in the area culminated in one of the deadliest massacres of the 19th century – with at least 400 Shoshone men, women, and children killed at the hands of the American troops. The area was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1990, and a small memorial exists along Highway 91 near Preston, Idaho. But Brad Parry, tribal council vice chair of natural resources for the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, says the tribe long wanted to reclaim the land that was so important to its people before the massacre. … ” Read more from The Source.
U.S. water systems need $1 trillion in upgrades. Some Mountain West states are making progress
“Many Western states use outdated methods to measure their water system needs according to an analysis by Pew Charitable Trusts, a nonpartisan research group. Some states don’t even have inventories of basic assets, like aging pipes, or where lead service lines still exist. Aleena Oberthur, a project director at Pew and report co-author, said good data drives smart spending. “It’s really important for policymakers and for states to understand what is the scope of their infrastructure need,” Oberthur said. “Because that helps them kind of make the best decisions about allocating funds.” … ” Read more from KJZZ.
In national water news today …
Will NASA kill a pair of critical climate satellites?
“As Congress returns to session this month, the fate of two satellites that have become integral to climate science hangs in the balance. The Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 and -3, or OCO-2 and -3, have been circling the globe for years, gathering some of the best data available on carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere. They helped scientists determine that natural systems struggled in the extreme heat of 2023 and failed to pull in as much CO2 as normal. They’ve helped researchers track early indicators of agricultural drought in India, and measure climate-warming emissions coming out of coal power plants in Montana, Poland and Canada. They are the “gold standard” for measuring the most abundant climate-warming gas in the atmosphere from space, according to NASA. Yet the space administration has proposed ending the satellites’ missions next year, part of the Trump administration’s proposed 24 percent reduction in the agency’s budget. … ” Read more from Inside Climate News.
