A wrap-up of posts published on Maven’s Notebook this week …
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In California water news this week …
Trump administration adopts plan to pump more water in California over state objections
“Acting on an order from President Trump, the federal government on Thursday announced plans to pump more water to Central Valley farmlands from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a unilateral action that California officials warned could threaten fish and reduce the amount of water available for millions of people in other parts of the state. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said in a statement that its update of the operation plan for the federally operated Central Valley Project aims to “maximize water deliveries across California while maintaining protections for endangered fish species.” The revised plan will increase water deliveries to farmlands and communities across the San Joaquin Valley. A spokesperson for Gov. Gavin Newsom strongly criticized the plan. “The Trump administration is putting politics over people — catering to big donors instead of doing what’s right for Californians,” Tara Gallegos said. … ” Read more from the LA Times. | Read via Yahoo News.
California water wars reignite as Trump administration plans to send more water to farms
“The Trump administration is pressing forward with its pledge to send more Northern California water south to farms, even as state officials warn that the move could cut vital supplies for cities and fish. The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation announced its plan Thursday in an update to operations at the Central Valley Project, calling for increased pumping from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to points south. The delta, where California’s biggest rivers converge, is the crux of the state’s water supply and a lifeline for fish and wildlife. How it’s managed is a perennial source of tension, and the Bureau of Reclamation’s change in operations is already stoking a fresh round of fighting between the federal government and California. In a statement Thursday, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said the federal government’s move would ship much needed water to farms and communities in the San Joaquin Valley with little downside: “This updated operations plan reflects our commitment to using the best available science to increase water deliveries while safeguarding the environment.” … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle. | Read via Yahoo News
‘A bit like poker,’ California’s wet winter brings La Niña/El Niño confusion
“Californians can be excused for being confused about the weather forecast. Scientists in October said La Niña had arrived, which many associate with dry conditions, particularly in the Southland. But we have instead experienced a very wet season — at least so far — with rain bringing much-needed moisture to the brush, likely putting an end to the autumn fire season, and helping to keep the state’s reservoirs in good shape. So what is going on? It is still true that La Niña tends to correlate with dry water years, which the National Weather Service defines as from Oct. 1 to Sept. 30. … But La Niña “doesn’t always mean drought,” said meteorologist Jan Null, an adjunct professor at San Jose State University. In fact, out of the seven La Niñas seen over the last 15 years, three were whoppers when it came to rain. …” Read more from the LA Times. | Read via AOL News.
DWR Announces initial State Water Project allocation of 10% for 2026
“Today, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced an initial State Water Project (SWP) allocation of 10 percent of requested supplies for the new water year. This allocation represents the first water supply forecast of the season for the 29 public water agencies served by the SWP which provides water to 27 million Californians and 750,000 acres of farmland. The SWP is contractually required to make an initial allocation forecast by December 1 each year. Since it is so early in the season, the initial allocation typically reflects current hydrological conditions, existing reservoir storage, and an assumption of dry conditions through the rest of the year. So far, the wet season is off to a good start with beneficial rain falling in Northern California and Southern California already seeing significant rainfall following a dry year last year. “Recent history has shown us that anything can happen during a California winter, so it’s important that our early season allocation for the State Water Project is conservative,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “Traditionally our wettest months are yet to come. With improvements to forecasting and science, we are better prepared to capture water supply during wet periods if Mother Nature delivers.” … ” Read more from the Department of Water Resources.
Growers eager for “lifeline” being offered by state farmland transition program
“Farmers in the San Joaquin Valley faced with drastic cuts to the amount of groundwater they can pump are finding some relief with the state’s Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program, or MLRP. And more money can’t come quickly enough as landowners adjust to requirements of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. The land repurposing program, started in 2022, has already spent $80 million in two rounds of funding for 17 projects throughout the state, the majority of which are in the San Joaquin Valley. Another $32 million was appropriated by the state legislature this year from Proposition 4, also known as the Climate Bond, which was passed by California voters in 2024. By transitioning irrigated acres into new uses, projects aim to reduce groundwater reliance while creating environmental and economic opportunities, thus the term “multi-benefit.” … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Report: Well ordinance guidance to protect California’s streams
“The California Salmon and Steelhead Coalition (SSC), a partnership between Trout Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, and California Trout, has developed a new report to help local governments address water security, community benefits and wildlife habitat associated with groundwater resources. Groundwater management is changing across California. The passage of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) in 2014 was a response to unsustainable groundwater pumping, which has been exacerbated by drought conditions. However, SGMA only applies to a limited portion of the state, leaving many areas without consistent guidelines for managing groundwater resources. In 2018, a legal decision by the State Water Board ruled that counties must address the potential negative impacts on public trust resources, particularly streamflow necessary for fish, when approving new well permits. … ” Read more from The Nature Conservancy.
SB 72: A new era for the California Water Plan
“In 2022, Governor Newsom released California’s Water Supply Strategy, outlining how the state must adapt to a hotter, drier future. As temperatures rise, more precipitation will be absorbed by dry soils, consumed by plants, or evaporate — meaning less water reaches streams, rivers, and reservoirs, placing new strain on the state’s water supply. In October 2025, the Governor and Legislature gave the Department of Water Resources (DWR) an important opportunity to address this challenge: Senate Bill 72 (SB 72). SB 72 directs DWR to modernize the California Water Plan by building a data-driven playbook for the state’s water future. It requires DWR to quantify statewide and watershed-level water-supply gaps, identify effective water management actions with economic analyses, and set measurable statewide and watershed-level targets, including an interim statewide goal of 9 million acre-feet by 2040. Together, these elements create a consistent, data-driven foundation for statewide water resilience. Learn more: SB 72 Frequently Asked Questions
New watershed studies highlight how the San Joaquin Basin can turn floods into opportunities
“California’s San Joaquin Basin is at the center of the state’s water challenges, with decades of groundwater overdraft and increasingly severe floods putting water supplies, communities, agriculture, and the environment at risk. The Department of Water Resources’ (DWR) newly released San Joaquin Basin Flood-MAR Watershed Studies assess how climate change is intensifying these water management challenges across the Calaveras, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Merced, and Upper San Joaquin watersheds and identifies strategies to help the San Joaquin Valley prepare and adapt to a more variable future. “San Joaquin Valley communities will be dramatically shaped by growing extremes in drought and flood, and our capacity to respond to them. The Watershed Studies begin a broad path forward for the Valley – outlining the risk if we do nothing and what we can gain if we begin acting together now,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “They show how coordinated watershed investments can protect our water supplies and support agriculture and ecosystems, reduce flood risk and provide our partners the information they need to protect communities.” … ” Read more from DWR.
Sites Reservoir: Where will the water come from?
“California can still wring water out of its rivers — in theory, and only if you’re willing to pay an increasingly steep premium for it. Take Sites Reservoir, which could become the first new major reservoir in California in decades. It would pull water from the Sacramento River to fill a valley in the coast range with enough water for roughly 3 million households, then distribute it to the local farmers and Southern California cities that would partly fund its construction. Sites has serious political weight: it’s on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s priority list, has growing interest from the Trump administration and is drawing on tens of millions in state dollars reallocated from other now-defunct water projects. But regulators are wrestling with a deceptively complex question in an arcane water rights proceeding expected to wrap as early as this month: Is there actually water to fill it? And even if there is, is it worth the cost? … ” Read more from Politico.
Supreme Court urged to decide if diverting water in California counts as government ‘theft’
“A legal battle over California water rights has reached the doorstep of the U.S. Supreme Court, raising a fundamental constitutional question: When the government commandeers water for environmental reasons, is it merely regulating a resource or physically seizing private property? The Liberty Justice Center filed an amicus brief last week in the case of United Water Conservation District v. United States, asking the high court to clarify the boundaries of the Fifth Amendment. The brief argues that diverting water specifically for government use should be classified as a “physical taking,” a designation that would mandate just compensation for property owners. … ” Read more from the Tampa Free Press.
Research: Californian water suppliers consistently overestimate water demand
A study of 61 water suppliers in California found that projections of water demand from 2000 to 2020 consistently overestimated actual demand — by 25% for five-year projections and by 74% for 20-year projections, on average. Water demand per capita, which suppliers typically assumed to be stable or growing, dropped nearly 2% per year over the study period. Researchers attribute this to an increase in rebate programs and mandatory regulations for limiting outdoor water use. As climate change makes water conservation more uncertain, they write, water suppliers should improve forecasting methods to avoid needless infrastructure costs and support sustainable water management. Read the paper at Water Resources Research.
State agencies near completion of regulatory alignment study
“The California Department of Food and Agriculture, State Water Resources Control Board and Regional Water Quality Control Boards, and the California Environmental Protection Agency are nearing the completion of their Regulatory Alignment Study, with the final report expected in December. The study was funded by the State in 2022 through the Budget Act, as a means to improve the regulatory system for farmers and ranchers. Public comment on the final draft report closed in October 2025. According to the draft report released in September, CDFA contracted with Crowe LLP and their partner, Blankinship & Associates to conduct the study, developing 18 recommendations that utilize insight and interviews from producers, agency staff, and other interested parties across California. The study focuses on regulatory alignment across select program areas: Produce Safety Program, Irrigated Lands Regulatory Program, Confined Animal Facility Program, and the Winery Order. While the program areas have varied priorities and structures, the draft report explained that they share common processes including enrollment, reporting, monitoring, inspection, and enforcement. Taken together, they represent a large portion of the food safety and water quality regulatory environment for California agriculture. … ” Continue reading from Valley Ag Voice.
EPA ‘rightsizing’ key offices in California, Illinois
“EPA is shedding office space and reorganizing staff in at least two key offices — one on the West Coast and another in the Midwest — in a move the agency says will save money and reduce the agency’s footprint, according to a union representative and an internal memo obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News. EPA is “rightsizing and restacking” staffers at the agency’s Region 9 Office in San Francisco, Kerry Drake, director of EPA’s Mission Support Division, told staffers in an email Tuesday. … The changes arrive on the heels of an exodus of hundreds of employees at the agency through early retirements and layoffs. EPA is maintaining office spaces in both regional offices. … ” Read more from E&E News.
In commentary this week …
Nine California water rites
Jay Lund, Vice-Director, Center for Watershed Sciences Distinguished Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering at UC Davis, writes, “Rite” noun:
1. a religious or other solemn ceremony or act.
2. a social custom, practice, or conventional act.
California has complex and hallowed water rites. Here are some … ” Read more from the California Water Blog.
Response to Jay Lund’s “Nine California Water Rites”
Deirdre Des Jardins, California Water Research, writes, “Jay Lund published a clever satire of California water rhetoric today, and he’s right that policy-based evidence-making occurs in our water debates. I worked with Jay and other Delta Independent Science Board members in 2021 to save the Delta Independent Science Board from defunding, and I value his truthtelling. But Jay’s framing misses something critical happening at the Department of Water Resources. There’s a difference between rhetoric and documenting actual methodological failures in climate risk assessment. … ” Continue reading at California Water Research.
California salmon are endangered. So is the Democrats’ environmentalism
Opinion writer Tom Philp writes, “In the eyes of the world, California was supposed to be the green city on the hill, the showcase of environmental stewardship fueled by a new economy advancing clean energy, smarter growth and sustainable living. Instead, today’s California has more homeless people than anywhere in the country, the priciest gasoline and electricity and residents migrating to other states. California’s once-vaunted brand of environmentalism is in trouble. The Democratic Party, which has run the state nearly singlehandedly for years, is frantically trying to reframe itself as the champions of affordability as its political brand, in the words of Gov. Gavin Newsom, has become “toxic.” This isn’t a good time for an iconic state species like California salmon to find itself on the brink of survival and in desperate need of some human help. For the state’s natural world, the timing of a political recalibration by Democrats couldn’t be worse. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee (gift article).
National Academies of Science committee weighs in lightly on Delta issues
Scott Hamilton, President, Hamilton Resource Economics, writes, “Water management in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is contentious as water users and regulators battle over limited water supplies. The science is complex and answers to difficult scientific issues continue to be elusive in the face of inadequate data and studies that are all too frequently flawed. To help find reconciliation, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation requested an ad hoc committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to conduct a biennial review of the monitoring, modeling, and other relevant scientific activities and initiatives that support the long-term operations of the Central Valley Project. In the first cycle of the study, the committee assessed the state of science as it relates to: a) fish losses associated with Old and Middle River (OMR) flow management, b) Shasta cold-water pool management which influences survival of winter-run salmon, and c) flow augmentation intended to enhance summer–fall habitat for Delta smelt. Additionally, the committee provided recommendations on how modeling and monitoring strategies and decision-support tools can be changed, improved, or replaced to more accurately assess the impacts of the water project operations. … ” Read more from the Valley Ag Voice.
The salmon that surprised everyone
“Wild Souls: Freedom and Flourishing in the Non-Human World,” writes, “When the last of four dams on the Klamath River in southern Oregon and Northern California was demolished in October 2024, everyone who knew the river well had a question: How long would it take for salmon to reclaim the upper reaches they’d been cut off from for more than 100 years? About 10 months later, when they began their fall migration, Chinook salmon immediately took advantage of their new river access, looking for places upstream to lay or fertilize eggs. But the fish still faced two intact dams and no one was sure if the salmon would make it through the fish ladders, structures designed for trout, a smaller species, to bypass the dams. Then in September, a video camera caught them leaping up the ladders like pros. … ” Read more from the New York Times (gift article).
Clear a path for sweeping urban experiments such as California Forever
Chris Elmendorf, a professor of law at UC Davis, and Ed Glaeser, professor of economics at Harvard, write, “Earlier this month, the Silicon Valley dreamers proposing building a 400,000-person city and manufacturing hub on rangeland 50 miles northeast of San Francisco released a detailed rendition of their plan. It’s unlike anything the United States has seen before: exurban in location, intensely urban by design. The new city will be laid out on a compact grid, with interlocking streets, rapid-transit routes and greenways for pedestrians and cyclists. The city’s least dense residential neighborhoods will be zoned for 85-foot apartment buildings, taller than essentially every apartment building erected before 1880. House hunters will be able to purchase row houses as if they were shopping for real estate in 19th century Brooklyn, not in cookie-cutter suburban sprawl. This vision – so distant and so dense – represents a stark break with what has typically sold well on the exurban frontier. … ” Read more from the LA Times.
More collaborative operational solutions for affordable water
Adan Ortega, Executive Director of CalMutuals, writes, “California is unique in that our state policy recognizes the human right to water – a principle that every resident deserves safe, clean, affordable and accessible water. Yet affordability, the ability for families to pay their utility bills without sacrificing other basic needs like rent, food or medicine is increasingly strained. Increasing costs for infrastructure development, regulatory and environmental compliance and climate resilience have made essential services such as water, energy and wastewater more expensive than ever. In many communities, utility rates are increasing faster than inflation, leaving even middle-class California families struggling to keep up. These rising operational costs inevitably trickle down to ratepayers, which disproportionately impacts those least able to pay. From small, rural regions to low-income urban communities, those with the fewest resources are supported by some of the smallest water systems with limited resources. … ” Read more from Capitol Weekly.
Rescinding Public Lands Rule would hurt recreation economy
John Haschak, a Mendocino County supervisor, writes, “Here on the North Coast of California, public lands and waters define our way of life. The rivers, Bureau of Land Management lands and forests in and around Mendocino County provide us with clean drinking water and places to get outside to hike, hunt, fish and more. They create sustainable outdoor recreation and tourism jobs. These public lands make up our cultural and economic fibers. How they’re managed impacts us every day. As a Mendocino County supervisor, I am keenly aware of how local governments need to manage the real-world impacts of land and water policies that are sometimes decided thousands of miles away in Washington without proper transparency and public input. That’s why I was deeply concerned when the Trump administration announced its intention to fully rescind the Public Lands Rule. … ” Continue reading at the Marin Independent Journal.
Why California’s Coastal Commission should let Diablo Canyon keep operating
“In the summer of 2022, the California legislature and Governor Gavin Newsom successfully passed Senate Bill 846 to extend operations at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in San Luis Obispo until at least 2030, avoiding the plant’s planned 2025 closure and preserving the state’s largest single source of clean electricity generation. Diablo Canyon provides around 9% of California’s annual electricity generation and around 17% of the state’s low-carbon electricity generation. Despite the law’s passage, Diablo Canyon must clear several regulatory hurdles to continue operating to 2030 and beyond. Most importantly, the plant must secure an operating license renewal from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), which would grant Diablo Canyon federal permission to continue operating for 20 additional years, not just five years. But before the NRC can consider Diablo Canyon’s license renewal application, the power plant must first secure state regulatory approvals from the California Coastal Commission and the Water Board. In the meantime, the plant has temporary permission to continue operating while it awaits its permit approvals. … ” Read more from The Breakthrough Institute.
Wind, water and solar energy aren’t enough. California needs nuclear options
Leonard Rodberg, professor emeritus of Urban Studies at Queens College, City University of New York, writes, “Sure, California can swear off fossil fuels and shut down its nuclear plants, powering itself entirely with wind, water, and sun. All it takes is getting used to weekly rolling blackouts. Some energy predictions are tricky; this one isn’t. We can estimate how much electricity each solar panel and wind turbine will produce, and when they’ll produce it. Then we can plug those numbers into a computer, along with green advocates’ optimistic projections of future electricity demand, to see how supply and demand match up on an hourly and seasonal basis. Even with vastly expanded battery storage capacity to smooth things out, the match is poor. … ” Read more from Cal Matters.
The Water-Dogecoin Paradox: In an economy awash in capital, why does water want for investment?
“America’s water and sewer utilities need trillions of dollars of investment—a state of affairs now thoroughly documented and loudly lamented.* Water/sewer systems provide the most basic of basic services; they’re tangible, provide real value, and sustain the entire economy. The water sector’s investment troubles aren’t due to a financial crisis or lack of liquidity in the broader economy. In fact, the economy is absolutely awash in capital. So why does the water sector struggle to secure financing for the nation’s most critical infrastructure? … ” Read more from Manny Teodoro.
In regional water news this week …
Klamath Tribes challenge orders based on secret agreement between irrigator group and state
“On November 19, 2025, the Klamath Tribes filed a motion to amend their petition in the Circuit Court of Klamath County. The amended petition seeks to reverse recent illegal orders that replaced a long-time administrative law judge in the Klamath Basin Adjudication (KBA) on the heels of a secret deal cut between the Oregon State Office of Administrative Hearings and certain water users in the Upper Klamath Basin. In August 2025, Chief Administrative Law Judge Jeffrey Rhoades removed long-time presiding Administrative Law Judge Joe Allen from continuing to handle the KBA cases. The removal disregarded two administrative decisions in the past year (in November 2024 and March 2025) that had specifically rejected challenges to Judge Allen from a water users group called the Upper Basin Irrigators and concluded that Judge Allen should continue to preside over the KBA cases. … ” Read more from the Native American Rights Fund.
Shasta Dam spillway undergoes once-in-a-decade routine inspection conducted by ropes team
“The Shasta Dam underwent a once-in-a-decade routine inspection conducted by the Bureau of Reclamation ropes team. There are no safety concerns at Shasta Dam, inspectors are simply looking for small imperfections in the dam’s spillway, before they turn into bigger issues. “As our ropes team goes and rappels down the dam, they’re looking for structural integrity, minor imperfections. They’re not going to find anything that’s really going to hurt the operations of the dam or put it in jeopardy anyway. If you think about it, this dam at the base is 850ft thick. So the spillway of the dam takes a lot of use when we’re in high water releases. So you can imagine all that pressure, 60,000 cfs and pressure going down the face. So one of the things we want to make sure is that this dam is in the best serviceable condition it can be. So putting a ropes team down to do manual inspection every ten years is just part of our operations,” said Michael Burke, the Bureau of Reclamation Public Affairs Specialist. … ” Read more from KRCR.
Martinez residents want more than apologies — they want protection
“Nearly three years after a massive release of toxic dust coated homes, gardens, and cars across Martinez, many residents say the question is no longer what went wrong at the oil refinery in their backyard in 2022 — but what it will take to make the community more resilient the next time something happens. And lately, the “next time” feels less hypothetical, says Heidi Taylor, co-founder of the advocacy group Healthy Martinez and a local family law attorney. During a maintenance procedure at the Martinez Refining Company in February of this year, workers loosened bolts on a pressurized pipe, causing flammable hydrocarbons to escape and ignite. The fire spread in less than a minute, according to KQED, and sirens echoed across the city as residents scrambled to sort through text alerts, automated phone calls, and social media posts that at times offered conflicting instructions. “Living in Martinez means you start the day with a smile and hope you end it with one,” says Taylor. “At any moment, you could get a Level 1, 2, or 3 alert, and it can derail your whole day. That’s just the reality here.” … ” Read more from Knee Deep Times.
Salmon returning to Bay Area creek for first time in 70 years could be sign of environmental renewal to come
“For the first time in 70 years, adult Chinook salmon have been spotted swimming the 86 vertical feet needed to return to Alameda Creek in lower Niles Canyon – and it could be a turning point in the decades-long effort to restore the East Bay’s watersheds. Chinook salmon, along with the endangered steelhead trout, are considered indicator species for the environment, suggesting that other animals such as otters, eagles, beavers and bears may also return to the Sunol Valley region, which increases the diversity and resiliency of its “food web,” a term for interconnected food chains. Since the beginning of November, volunteers from the nonprofit group Alameda Creek Alliance — which has worked to remove dams and install fish ladders since 1997 — have recorded nearly a dozen specimens of Chinook Salmon. These sightings come just weeks after PG&E and the nonprofit CalTrout finished a $15 million project to remove a gas pipeline that was the last barrier impeding fish migration upstream. The latest salmon run came shortly after an atmospheric river, and
When the world’s largest battery power plant caught fire, toxic metals rained down – wetlands captured the fallout
“When fire broke out at the world’s largest battery energy storage facility in January 2025, its thick smoke blanketed surrounding wetlands, farms and nearby communities on the central California coast. Highways closed, residents evacuated and firefighters could do little but watch as debris and ash rained down. People living in the area reported headaches and respiratory problems, and some pets and livestock fell ill. Two days later, officials announced that the air quality met federal safety standards. But the initial all-clear decision missed something important – heavy metal fallout on the ground. When battery energy storage facilities burn, the makeup of the chemical fallout can be a mystery for surrounding communities. Yet, these batteries often contain metals that are toxic to humans and wildlife. The smoke plume from the fire in Vistra’s battery energy storage facility at Moss Landing released not just hazardous gases such as hydrogen fluoride but also soot and charred fragments of burned batteries that landed for miles around. … The batteries’ metal fragments, often too tiny to see with the naked eye, didn’t disappear. They continue to be remobilized in the environment today. … ” Read more from The Conversation.
Paso Robles Authority moves forward on groundwater plan as wells continue to fail
“The Paso Robles groundwater basin has been declining for decades, and local agencies are under increasing pressure to show progress toward stabilizing the aquifer. The Paso Robles Area Groundwater Authority this week approved a budget of nearly $1 million to continue monitoring, reporting and management programs through June 2026. The work is part of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act, which in 2014 labeled the basin “critically overdrafted” after years of pumping more water than nature could replace. For many rural homeowners and farmers, the basin is their only water source and the impacts are already visible. … ” Read more from KCBX.
Order to release more water from Lopez Lake vacated, SLO County wins appeal
“The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday vacated a court order to release more water from Lopez Lake to support steelhead trout migration because of the rulings possible impacts on the California red-legged frog and tidewater goby—both Endangered Species Act-listed species. In December, U.S. District Judge Sherilyn Peace Garnett sided with environmental groups with a goal of protecting a threatened species. She ordered San Luis Obispo County to increase the amount of water it releases from the Lopez Lake Dam each year to support steelhead trout migration through Arroyo Grande Creek for spawning in the watershed. The water then runs into the Pacific Ocean. The county appealed the decision on Jan. 24 arguing the additional water releases could lead to shortages during drought years. The county’s primary concern was protecting the water supply not the district courts failure to weight the impacts of its decision on other endangered systems. … ” Read more from Cal Coast News.
Plan would raise Pine Flat Dam 12 feet
“Earlier this month Congressman Vince Fong (CA-20) toured Pine Flat Dam and met with officials from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Kings River Conservation District (KRCD), and the Kings River Water Association (KRWA) to discuss ongoing water conservation research and long-term infrastructure needs critical to the Central Valley. During his visit, Fong received briefings on efforts to raise the Pine Flat spillway by 12 feet — an infrastructure upgrade that would add roughly 120,700 acre-feet of new storage to the reservoir’s existing one-million-acre-foot capacity. The project was authorized for initial study in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2024 but requires a federal feasibility study to be conducted. Congressman Fong is actively pressing to launch that study without delay. In June 2025, he led a bipartisan letter with Reps. Gray, Valadao, and Costa urging the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to begin the Pine Flat Dam feasibility study well before FY 2028, citing the urgent need for additional storage and stronger flood protection across the region. … ” Read more from the Hanford Sentinel.
Clean drinking water harvested from tomatoes at Los Banos processing plant
“A gadget capable of extracting evaporation from tomato pulp is producing 120,000 gallons a day of “new water” clean enough to drink in Los Banos in Merced County. The “water harvesting” unit was developed by Australian company Botanical Water Technologies, which moved to the United States around five years ago. The Ingomar Packing Company in Los Banos processes tomato products such as tomato paste and diced tomatoes. The choice to set up a pilot project at Ingomar was a simple one, Botanical Water’s Chief Impact Officer James Rees said, calling the Los Banos plant a “natural partner.” “We gravitated towards Informar because of their sustainability program in place. They’ve been actively investing into the environment and into programs around water reuse, energy efficiency and carbon.” … ” Read more from SJV Water.
State officially takes Kaweah off groundwater “naughty” list
“The holiday season in the Kaweah subbasin got a little more jolly thanks to its formal removal from the state’s groundwater enforcement process on Tuesday. The state Water Resources Control Board passed a resolution at its Dec. 2 meeting that officially ended the threat of state intervention for the Kaweah subbasin, which covers the northern part of Tulare County’s flatlands and a portion of Kings County. It will continue to work under Department of Water Resources oversight to implement plans to reduce excessive groundwater pumping. The move frees landowners from costly probationary fees under the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA), which also comes with well metering and reporting requirements. If Kaweah had not escaped probation, landowners would be forced to reveal pumping records, and pay $20 per acre-foot of water pumped while registering wells at $300 each, on top of what they already pay to their irrigation districts and groundwater sustainability agencies. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Watershed Moment: Groundwater ruling sparks fears for Ventura County farmers
“When Jacob Dakessian retired to Ventura County to grow lemons, avocados and persimmons on his 67-acre farm, he thought he would spend his golden years in pastoral peace. A descendant of Armenian genocide survivors, Dakessian immigrated with his family to the United States, where he became a successful architect and the designer of the Armenian Apostolic Church and nearby school in Hollywood. In 2023, at 90 years of age, he was shocked to discover that the water allocations for his farm had been completely stripped away. “I spent more than $200,000 to drill a well and get a permit for the well and followed the rules and regulations for 30 years,” Dakessian said. “For 30 years! And all of a sudden, because I didn’t want to sue somebody, the water rights are gone. How? Why?” The answer is as complicated as one might expect when investigating the water wars of Southern California. … ” Read more from the Ventura County Reporter.
Settlement wipes out $24 million in groundwater fee debt, removes pipeline opposition in high desert dispute
“A settlement between a desert mining company and groundwater authority in eastern Kern County will erase $24 million in past groundwater fees by allowing the company to use other sources, including 2,000 acre feet of reclaimed water. In exchange Searles Valley Minerals agreed to drop its lawsuits against the Indian Wells Valley Groundwater Authority and not oppose its planned pipeline project to import water from the Antelope Valley, according to recent press releases. Searles will, however, continue to “actively participate” in a larger legal action, known as an “adjudication,” in which a judge will ultimately determine how much water can be pumped from the Indian Wells Valley basin and who has rights to that water. Though the groundwater authority characterized the settlement as a “partnership” and the “beginning of cooperative planning” in its Nov. 20 press release, Searles was less collegial. In its own press release, the company stated it would actively participate in the “safe yield” portion of the adjudication set for trial in June 2026. It will also continue to oppose Assembly Bill 1413, which would require judges in adjudications to accept local groundwater authorities’ safe yield figures. AB 1413 was tabled in the last legislative session but could come back as a two-year bill. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Boeing accused of discharge violations at Santa Susana Field Laboratory
“Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board staff proposed a nearly $600,000 penalty against The Boeing Company for 39 stormwater discharge violations at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory in Ventura County. The alleged violations occurred from January 2023 to March 2025 and involved discharges of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), lead, mercury, manganese, iron, sulfate and pH. The Los Angeles Water Board tentatively plans to hold a public hearing on Feb. 26, 2026, and solicit comments before considering whether to approve the proposed penalty, officially known as an administrative civil liability. “The proposed penalty holds the company accountable for its actions and is a necessary step to protect the waterways that continue to receive runoff from the site,” said Russ Colby, the board’s assistant executive officer. … ” Read more from the LA Regional Water Board.
