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On the calendar today …
- LUNCH-MAR: Accelerating Soil Health and Sustainable Agricultural Productivity with Realtime Data from 12:30 to 1:30pm. Presenter: Kathleen Glass, AquaSpy Support California’s definition of regenerative agriculture via sensor driven process control for water efficiency and nutrient management. This session explores how below ground nitrate, water and redox sensors provide data intelligence that can inform smart nitrogen strategies and support better soil health and cleaner water through reduced runoff and leaching. To join a Lunch-MAR Session, please use this link
In California water news today …
A long-awaited California water policy promises balance. Opponents call it an ‘extinction plan’
“California is on the cusp of adopting a sweeping plan to manage the ecologically stressed Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, a move that Gov. Gavin Newsom deems “critical” to protecting state water supplies but critics are calling a major environmental setback. The state’s Bay Delta Plan, years in the making, aims to moderate the amount of water that cities and farms take out of rivers and creeks, from Fresno to the Oregon border, to ensure enough is left to flow downstream to the delta. As it stands, some upstream rivers at certain times of the year see as much as 90% of their water diverted. Last week, at three days of public hearings in Sacramento, scores of conservationists, fishermen, delta residents and Native Americans blasted the plan as doing too little to rein in water users, saying struggling fish, wildlife and water quality would not see the improvements they need. It was a last-ditch bid to derail the policy, which state water regulators appear likely to sign off on later this year. … ” Read more from the San Francisco Chronicle.
How to best protect the Delta? California water agencies advocate for flexibility
“Regional water agencies on Monday urged the State Water Resources Control Board to advance a voluntary agreement option in the updated Bay-Delta plan that would give agencies more flexibility in how they meet state water rules. Under Healthy Rivers and Landscapes, the regional agencies would not be mandated to strict river flow targets. In a letter reviewed by The Sacramento Bee, the Sacramento Regional Water Authority wrote to state water regulators on behalf of anticipated American River Healthy Rivers and Landscapes participants, asserting that relying only on the regulatory pathway would create severe “trade-offs” for regional water supplies and river ecosystems. The regulatory pathway, meanwhile, is the board’s framework that would impose an “unimpaired-flow requirement,” which would require about half of river flows to keep moving downstrean instead of being stored in winter and spring. The flow rules would apply to water users outside the voluntary program, which local water agencies say could undermine the state’s water supply stability and the Delta ecosystem. … ” Read more from the Sacramento Bee.
Tribes, fishermen and enviros slam California’s big ag-backed voluntary water agreements
“As fish populations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta continue to crash, a broad coalition of Californians said a resounding “No!” last week to a Newsom administration water plan they said would further exacerbate the ecological decline of the estuary. On Friday, Tribal members, fishing families, youth, and community allies hosted a rally and public comment opposing the Bay-Delta Plan and proposed Voluntary Water Agreements (VAs) at the California State Water Resources Control Board in Sacramento. Participants held colorful signs proclaiming “Save Our Salmon,” “Respect Our Rivers,” “Protect Our Rivers,” “Fish Need Cold Water,” and “55 to 65% Flows = Living Rivers.” … ” Read more from Dan Bacher at the Daily Kos.
Delta advocates speak out against Bay Delta Plan update and the Healthy Rivers and Landscapes Program
Last week, the State Water Resources Control Board held a public hearing on the latest documents released for the update to the Bay Delta Plan and the Healthy Rivers and Landscapes Program. Here’s what Restore the Delta and the Delta Tribal Environmental Coalition, Save California Salmon, and C-WIN had to say. Read the statements.
Trump’s water ambitions have a staffing problem
“Federal water managers and the local agencies they serve usually gather every January in Reno, Nevada, to swap wish lists, from higher dams to new reservoirs to changes to endangered species rules. This year, at the Mid-Pacific Water Users Conference, the focus was more basic: whether the federal water system has enough people left to keep it running. “We’re left with so many holes, there’s no way we can do business the way we used to,” Adam Nickels, acting regional director for the Bureau of Reclamation’s California region, told the gathering last week. The shift was striking given the politics. President Donald Trump has made Western water a priority, maintaining close ties with farm districts that receive federal deliveries — including Westlands Water District — and ordering agencies like Reclamation to move more water, faster. … ” Read more from Politico.
A dry January has created dire conditions for California’s snowpack
“On a clear January day about a week ago, California water resources engineer Jacob Kollen jammed a blue Mt. Rose sampler deep into the snow at Phillips Station, near Lake Tahoe in the Sierra Nevada. The second California Department of Water Resources survey of the season showed the snow was 23 inches deep, with a snow water equivalent (the amount of water contained) of eight inches. That’s just 46% of average, an alarming fall from the 89% of average seen at the beginning of the month. These are crucial measurements to watch, as the snowpack is California’s most important reservoir. As snow melts throughout the year, it provides residents, agriculture and the state’s vast landscapes with much-needed moisture. Our wet season began with quite a strong showing of rain, but a dry January coupled with warm weather has set California off in the wrong direction. … ” Read more from the LAist.
SEE ALSO: California Water Officials Issue Warning as Key Water Supply Number Plunges, from Newsweek
Building California’s water future: DWR’s framework for the 2028 Water Plan and SB 72 implementation
“At the January meeting of the California Water Commission, Joel Metzger, Deputy Director of Statewide Water Resources Planning at the Department of Water Resources (DWR), presented an overview of the proposed framework for organizing the 2028 California Water Plan, the rollout of Senate Bill 72, and coordination and consultation with the Commission. The passage of Senate Bill 72 authorizes DWR to develop a data-driven playbook to guide and secure California’s water future. The legislation establishes a target to identify 9 million acre-feet of additional water supply by 2040 to address anticipated losses from rising temperatures. Mr. Metzger shared early conceptual ideas for the 2028 Water Plan update and Senate Bill 72 implementation, emphasizing that these are preliminary concepts and that many decisions remain pending. Final decisions will need to be made quickly to initiate the process, as the legislation was only signed on October 1, and the water plan is due in a few years. With only about a year available for technical work, the process must begin immediately, with a statewide launch anticipated as early as mid-February. … ” Read more from Maven’s Notebook.
Inside the polarizing plan to stash carbon in a California wetland
California Department of Water Resources
“The Montezuma Wetlands drape across 1,800 acres of Solano County, California, where the Sacramento River empties into San Francisco Bay. Once drained and diked for farming and grazing, the marsh has been rehabilitated over the past two decades, and in 2020, tidal waters returned for the first time in a century. Today, the land teems with shorebirds, waterfowl, and other wildlife in a rare example of large-scale habitat restoration. But just as the ecosystem is on the mend, another makeover may be coming. A company called Montezuma Carbon wants to send millions of tons of carbon dioxide from Bay Area polluters through a 40-mile pipeline and store it in saline aquifers 2 miles beneath the wetland. Approval could come in as little as 12 to 18 months once the county approves a test well, with what its backers call “limited disposal” coming one year after that. If the project proceeds, it could be the Golden State’s first large-scale, climate-driven carbon capture and storage site. Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency approved Carbon TerraVault, a smaller project in Kern County, California, that would store carbon dioxide in depleted oil wells. … ” Read more from Grist.
Over 10,000 Chinook salmon return to California river to spawn
“Over 10,500 Chinook salmon swam from the Pacific Ocean into the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to reach their spawning grounds in the Mokelumne River last fall. The salmon’s return helped the East Bay Municipal Utility District’s fish hatchery in the Sierra Nevada foothills reach its yearly goal of collecting and fertilizing 7.5 million salmon eggs, the agency announced last week. Their numbers “represent a healthy count for natural spawning in the river,” EBMUD wrote. The Mokelumne River is the primary source of drinking water in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, and the river’s salmon population can make up about half of California’s commercial coastal catch. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
Padilla introduces bills to bolster California’s water supply, drought resilience
“U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, introduced a pair of bills to help address growing water supply challenges in California and the American West. As severe droughts, warming temperatures, limitations on groundwater pumping, and outdated infrastructure compound California’s water scarcity issues, these bills would bolster water security for both cities and agricultural communities while delivering environmental and ecological benefits. The California Department of Water Resources estimates that the drinking water deficit will reach 6 million acre feet of water per year by 2040 — enough drinking water for 36 million people. The Making Our Communities Resilient through Enhancing Water for Agriculture, Technology, the Environment, and Residences (MORE WATER) Act would help fill this deficit by reauthorizing expiring Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) programs that support the development of water recycling projects and by creating a new federal grant program to help repair California’s water delivery system. … ” Read more from Senator Alex Padilla.
Wildfire urgency unites congress. The ‘Fix Our Forests’ Act does not.
“Lawmakers from both parties agreed at a congressional hearing Tuesday that the federal government must act to address the growing threat of catastrophic wildfires, but they were sharply divided over how, and whether pending legislation known as the Fix Our Forests Act offers the right path forward. The House of Representatives passed the FOFA legislation on a bipartisan 279–141 vote in January 2025, and its companion bill is pending in the Senate. Despite some support from Democrats, the act has created sharp divisions among lawmakers and drawn fierce backlash from conservation groups. Republican supporters of the bill championed its focus on fast-tracking the thinning and clearing of forests on large tracks of land by making exceptions to requirements in bedrock environmental laws. They argue that those steps are a fix for intensifying fires. … Democrats also voiced frustration with Republicans for holding repeated hearings on FOFA while declining to examine how the Trump administration is reshaping, and in some cases hollowing out, federal agencies tasked with managing public lands and fighting fires. “How much is it going to cost? Is it going to save money? Is it going to make us safer? Nothing. Crickets,” Huffman said. … ” Read more from Inside Climate News.
In commentary today …
Drought is over, but state sets Sites on storage
The Southern California News Group editorial board writes, “It’s been a rough winter in the Midwest, South and East, but in California we’ve been the beneficiaries of something the state has long needed: extended, steady rain to fill our reservoirs and create a deep snowpack in the Sierras. The U.S. Drought Monitor showed California with no abnormally dry areas anywhere within its boundaries, which is the first time we’ve seen such good news in 25 years. Most reservoirs are above 75% capacity. “We’re not just managing for today’s conditions — we’re building a system that can handle whatever our changing climate throws at us,” saidGov. Gavin Newsom. “That means capturing rainwater when storms hit, storing it for dry seasons.” We’re of mixed minds with that statement. Yes, the governor detailed a solid water policy — capturing more water in wet years so we have it in dry ones. We liked his phrasing about building a system that is resilient in the face of climate change. But we’ve generally been disappointed in the administration’s reluctance to prioritize traditional water infrastructure. … ” Continue reading at the OC Register.
In regional water news and commentary today …
NORTH COAST
Lawsuit launched to secure protection for Clear Lake hitch
“The Center for Biological Diversity notified the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today that it intends to sue the agency for failing to finalize Endangered Species Act protection for the Clear Lake hitch — a rare fish found only in Lake County, California. “It’s appalling that the Trump administration is sitting on its hands, leaving these iconic fish stranded in bureaucratic limbo,” said Meg Townsend, a freshwater attorney at the Center. “Clear Lake hitch are vital to the health of their namesake lake and to the cultural legacy of the Pomo people. Only Endangered Species Act protections will keep these irreplaceable fish swimming safely into the future.” Each spring, adult Clear Lake hitch migrate into tributary streams to spawn before returning to the lake. Millions once surged through these waterways in spectacular spawning runs, sustaining the lake’s ecosystem and providing a critical food source for birds, fish and other wildlife. … ” Read more from the Center for Biological Diversity.
Clearlake expands sewage spill impact area, leaving more residents without water
“Three weeks after 2.9 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into a Clearlake neighborhood, more residents have been told to not use their water after city and county officials expanded the original impact area, saying contaminated groundwater may have traveled farther than first believed. On Friday, Jan. 30, officials said that contaminated groundwater may have traveled more than anticipated when the spill occurred and that residents who rely on private wells drawing from a shallow aquifer could be affected. The spill is now affecting 164 homes across 549 acres. The expansion is intended to ensure that all areas that could potentially be affected receive appropriate guidance, testing and support, Clearlake officials said in a press release. … ” Read more from the Lake County Record-Bee.
SIERRA NEVADA
Yuba Water approves additional funding for wastewater project, hears forest resilience study results
“Yuba Water Agency today approved a more than $3 million grant to the Olivehurst Public Utility District to complete planning and design work for the City of Wheatland and OPUD’s joint Regional Wastewater Transmission and Treatment Facilities Project in South Yuba County. The agency also heard results from a large tree study that can help guide future forest resilience efforts in the North Yuba River watershed. … ” Read more from Yuba Water.
SACRAMENTO VALLEY
Students work with nature to improve soil health
“On an otherwise quiet day at the Chico State University Farm, other than the distant sounds of pile burns crackling, students Kaylee Mulhearn and Paige Flaig could be found in one of dozens of outbuildings conducting intricate soil tests with the goal of determining and creating ideal, natural conditions for growth. “This is the soil processing area, and it’s under the wing of the Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems,” Flaig said. “And basically what we do is we partner with producers of different commodities across the state and we try to implement more regenerative practices and management styles into the system.” On Tuesday, that meant testing different soil samples for various nutrient qualities. … ” Read more from the Chico Enterprise-Record.
CENTRAL COAST
County supervisors review Paso Robles groundwater overdraft efforts
“The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors received an update on efforts to correct overdraft conditions in the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin during a recent meeting, according to a recent post on social media. According to the County of San Luis Obispo, the Paso Robles Groundwater Basin is one of 21 basins in California designated as “critically over drafted” and is required under the state’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act to reach sustainability by 2040. County Groundwater Sustainability Director Blaine Reely provided supervisors with an overview of progress and planning efforts to meet state requirements. Reely reported that options to replenish the basin using other water sources have been explored but have not proven financially feasible. He expressed optimism that the basin could meet state objectives through voluntary groundwater reduction measures by agricultural users, who account for approximately 90 percent of groundwater use in the basin. … ” Read more from the Paso Robles Daily News.
SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY
Turlock: Snowpack drops below normal, raising concerns for local farmers
“California’s snowpack has fallen sharply after an unusually dry January, creating new uncertainty for area farmers who rely on Sierra runoff to irrigate thousands of acres of cropland. The Department of Water Resources reported Friday that its second manual survey at Phillips Station measured 23 inches of snow depth and a snow water equivalent of 8 inches — just 46 percent of average for the site. Statewide, electronic sensors show the snowpack at 59 percent of average for early February. Three weeks ago, the statewide snowpack sat at 89 percent of average following a burst of atmospheric river storms. But January — historically California’s wettest month — delivered little precipitation, and forecasts show no major storms in the next two weeks. … ” Read more from the Turlock Journal.
Kings County groundwater agency threatens to fine landowners $1,000 a day and shut off wells if they don’t register and report extractions
“The Southwest Kings Groundwater Sustainability Agency (GSA) held its first meeting in six months and covered a lot of ground including setting a policy to fine landowners $1,000 a day for not registering their wells and vowing to sue a neighboring GSA. It also changed the location of its meetings from 944 Whitley Ave. in Corcoran to 19813 Madison Ave. in Stratford, a facility owned by Sandridge Partners, which is controlled by Southwest’s chair John Vidovich. Neither location is within the Southwest GSA, which runs along the southwestern edge of the Tulare Lake subbasin. Southwest’s next meeting will be at 9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 6 in Stratford. The well registration deadline is also set for Feb. 6, with a 20-day grace period before the penalty kicks in, according to the policy approved at the GSA’s Jan. 30 meeting. … ” Read more from SJV Water.
Keene residents face $800 monthly water bill increase as railroad seeks a rate hike or service exit
“Keene residents are facing the possibility of water bills skyrocketing as the Union Pacific Railroad subsidiary that operates their water system seeks dramatic rate increases or permission to abandon service entirely. The Keene water system, originally built to supply steam locomotives, has been maintained under a legacy agreement since trains were phased out. Union Pacific has been trucking in water to supply the small community, but now says the operation is financially unsustainable. “My bill would go from, let’s say, $300 or so, to about $1,250 to $1,400 a month for water,” said Debra McTaggart, who has lived in Keene for over eight years. McTaggart says her current water bill is already high compared to larger cities like Bakersfield, despite their more extensive infrastructure. … ” Read more from Channel 23.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Mass killing of invasive deer approved on Catalina Island
“The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has approved controversial plans to kill nearly 2,000 deer on Catalina Island, despite recent opposition from Los Angeles County officials. The department approved the Catalina Island Conservancy’s restoration management permit, a wide-ranging plan for the island’s future that includes installing native plants, restoring soil and water, and tracking species like the island fox and native birds — all relatively noncontroversial. But the plan to hire specialized hunters to shoot and kill deer has become a particular flash point, touching on tensions over fire prevention, nonnative species and a private landowner versus public officials. … ” Read more from SF Gate.
SEE ALSO: All of Catalina’s deer will be killed to restore the island’s ecosystem, from the LA Times
New system to save millions of gallons of water during fire department drills
“A recycling system that’s capable of simulating a free flowing fire hose — without wasting water — will be the main feature of a Riverside Fire Department drill Tuesday attended by the mayor, fire chief and other officials. The agency’s new “PumpPod” will be unveiled during a demonstration exercise scheduled for Tuesday morning at the city’s Emergency Operations Center on Saint Lawrence Street. The recirculation system was acquired by the fire department thanks to a $3 million California Department of Water Resources grant administered by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. … ” Read more from My News LA.
LADWP to replace floating cover at Santa Ynez Reservoir to maintain water quality and prevent longer, unplanned outages
“The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is moving forward with the replacement of the floating cover on the Santa Ynez Reservoir, which stores drinking water for the Pacific Palisades and must remain covered to meet drinking water regulations. The 15-year-old cover, which spans approximately 10 acres, has sustained damage over its service life and remains vulnerable to further deterioration. While emergency repairs made following the Palisades wildfire allowed the reservoir to resume normal operations, installing a new cover now will reduce the risk of an unplanned outage, if the cover tears again, and protect water quality. … ” Read more from LADWP.
IMPERIAL/COACHELLA VALLEYS
Nitrates draining into the Salton Sea underestimated by a factor of ten
“A UC Davis study on the Salton Sea air basin found that nitrogen oxide emissions from soils (driven by fertilizer use, irrigation, and heat) were underestimated in the official inventory by about a factor of ten. Soil NOx emissions averaged 11 tons per day, ten times the state inventory value. Recent work and briefs using the Salton Sea Environmental Time Series data show that nitrogen levels in the Salton Sea water column are extremely high (higher than 95% of U.S. lakes) and that government monitoring systems are missing much of the nutrient-related and hydrogen sulfide–related hazard, but they emphasize incomplete or spatially biased monitoring. … ” Read more from Coyote Gulch.
SAN DIEGO
Audio: County dips into reserves for Tijuana River sewage fixes
“Last week, San Diego County leaders approved the use of nearly $9 million in county reserves for new Tijuana River sewage fixes. The funds will pay for a pipeline extension project in the Tijuana River Valley designed to mitigate airborne contaminants, provide additional air purifiers for households exposed to the pollution, and support long-term public health studies. Supervisor Paloma Aguirre, whose District 1 includes the affected communities and who spearheaded the spending plan, joined Midday Edition on Tuesday to discuss a detailed breakdown of the funding and the need for an epidemiological study.” Read more from KPBS.
Along the Colorado River …
Colorado River negotiators are nearly out of time and snowpack
“Time and water are running low on the Colorado River. Amid one of the driest winters on record, representatives from seven Western states have less than two weeks to meet an already-delayed federal deadline to find a new way to share the dwindling Colorado River—one that recognizes the megadrought and overconsumption plaguing the basin. The current guidelines for implementing drought contingencies expire later this year, but as the Feb. 14 deadline looms, basin states, particularly Arizona and Colorado, have begun discussing the prospect of settling their disputes in court, suggesting that a deal is far from guaranteed. And while a meeting last week in Washington, D.C. between the Interior Department and all seven basin states brought some hope, state negotiators have again dug in their heels. “I’ll certainly own whatever failure attaches [to me for] not having a seven-state agreement,” said Tom Buschatzke, the director of the Arizona Department of Water Resources and the state’s lead negotiator, in a meeting among the state’s stakeholders on Monday. “The only real failure for me, when I look in that mirror, is if I give away the state of Arizona’s water supply for the next several generations. That ain’t gonna happen, and I won’t see that as failure if we can’t come to a collaborative outcome. To me, that’s successfully protecting the state of Arizona.” … ” Read more from Inside Climate News.
Arizona lawmakers prepare for Colorado River water fight with unanimous vote boosting legal fund
“Arizona is working to build up its legal fund ahead of a possible fight for the state’s fair share of Colorado River water. On Monday, the Arizona House of Representatives voted unanimously to pass House Bill 2116 and put another $1 million in the state’s Colorado River Litigation Fund. The proposal was sponsored by Hereford Republican Rep. Gail Griffin, who chairs the House’s Natural Resources, Energy and Water Committee. “Arizona does not get to wish its way out of a water fight,” Griffin said in a statement. “Other states have been positioning themselves for court long before this fund was created. Hopefully, the fund will not be needed, but if it is — this bill makes sure that Arizona is ready to defend the water that millions of people and billions of dollars of economic activity, depend on.” … ” Read more from the Arizona Mirror.
Hobbs and Buschatzke maintain Arizona’s hard-line approach to Colorado River water
“Gov. Katie Hobbs said Monday that unless “Upper Basin” states actually offer up some firm commitments to conserve water she won’t agree to any deal for Arizona to cut its own withdrawals from the Colorado River. And that would lead to either Interior Secretary Doug Burgum imposing his own solution on the seven states drawing water from the river or the situation having to be hashed out in court. The only thing is that Burgum has so far refused to do more than bring the governors of the affect states together, as he did on Friday. And Terry Goddard, president of the Central Arizona Water Conservation District, which oversees the state’s Colorado River supply, said the options put forward by the Interior Department “are not palatable to Arizona or California,” one of the two other “Lower Basin” states. … ” Read more from the Arizona Daily Sun.
EXPLORE MORE COVERAGE:
- Arizona House prepares for legal fight over water rights, approves $1M, from Arizona Family
- Arizona won’t cut Colorado River withdrawals without enforceable conservation promises, from the Arizona Capital Times
- Arizona water leaders are cautiously optimistic as Colorado River talks near deadline, from KJZZ
- Arizona leaders signal lawsuit of Colorado River water rights is possible amid search for better deal, from the Daily Independent
- Commentary: Dismissive logic drives Western water policy, by Rusty Childress at the Fountain Hill Times
Mayes plans to continue suit vs. Fondomonte for groundwater pumping, despite new protections.
“Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes says she’ll continue her lawsuit against Saudi Arabian megafarm Fondomonte, despite new actions to restrict groundwater pumping in the area. Mayes is suing Fondomonte under Arizona’s public nuisance statute. She argues the company’s groundwater pumping has harmed the surrounding community in La Paz County. The state Department of Water Resources recently established new groundwater protections in the Ranegras Plain Basin, where Fondomonte operates, putting the basin in an “active management area,” but Mayes argues her case is still necessary. “Public nuisance and active management areas are complementary,” Mayes said in a statement. … ” Read more from KJZZ.
Water-intensive industries spring up in Maricopa County during the worst drought in 1200 years
“American consumers are well aware that their electric bills have been going up, in some areas dramatically.1 The construction of AI data centers have been widely blamed for this, even though (at present) they’re responsible for only a small part of the increase. In Phoenix and Chandler Arizona – two of the nation’s hottest and driest cities – enormous factories are being built to fabricate the semiconductors used in those data centers, and they’re widely expected to drive up costs that local residents pay for both electricity and water. Since the increased costs are shared by all rate payers, it can be said that residents of Maricopa County who pay for water and power are subsidizing the cost of water and power used by these new industries. … ” Read more from Coyote Gulch.
ADEQ’s quick PFAS action secures safe water for Arizona residents
“The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) has led efforts to eliminate PFAS from Arizona’s drinking water, ahead of federal deadlines. This achievement is part of a major effort to ensure safe drinking water for residents, ADEQ said. The initiative, completed in partnership with the City of Globe and the Town of Star Valley, involved four major PFAS mitigation projects. Funded by Gov. Katie Hobbs’ $5 million state investment, these projects connect small water systems to larger municipal systems already meeting U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards. … ” Read more from KVOA.
Colorado water groups scramble to weigh in on historic Western Slope water rights case
“Over 60 Colorado water groups want a seat at the table to weigh in on a historic Western Slope bid to purchase powerful water rights tied to a small power plant on the Colorado River. Cities, irrigation districts, hydroelectric companies and other groups submitted filings Friday to have a say in a water court case that will decide the future of Shoshone Power Plant’s rights to access water. The rights are old and large enough to shape how Colorado River water flows around the state. A proposed change to the legal rights has sparked concerns from big dogs in water, like Denver Water, Colorado’s oldest water utility, over possible impacts to their water supplies and a debate that continues decades of west-versus-east water fights in Colorado. … ” Read more from the Colorado Sun.
Mexico agrees to make more predictable water deliveries to the US
“Mexico and the United States said Tuesday that they had reached an agreement under which Mexico would send a minimum amount of water annually to the U.S. President Donald Trump had threatened to raise tariffs by 5% on Mexican imports if it did not deliver more water. The countries have been negotiating the issue for months. Under the new agreement, Mexico will send at least 350,000 acre-feet of water to the United States each year during the current five-year cycle. An acre-foot is the amount of water needed to cover 1 acre of land to a depth of 1 foot. Mexico’s commitment to a minimum annual delivery amount is a change from what is required under the 1944 Water Treaty. … ” Read more from the Associated Press.
In national water news today …
Reclaiming water from contaminated brine can increase water supply and reduce environmental harm
Mervin XuYang Lim, University of Arizona, writes, “The world is looking for more clean water. Intense storms and warmer weather have worsened droughts and reduced the amount of clean water underground and in rivers and lakes on the surface. Under pressure to provide water for drinking and irrigation, people around the globe are trying to figure out how to save, conserve and reuse water in a variety of ways, including reusing treated sewage wastewater and removing valuable salts from seawater. But for all the clean water they may produce, those processes, as well as water-intensive industries like mining, manufacturing and energy production, inevitably leave behind a type of liquid called brine: water that contains high concentrations of salt, metals and other contaminants. I’m working on getting the water out of that potential source, too. The most recent available assessment of global brine production found that it is 25.2 billion gallons a day, enough to fill nearly 60,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools each day. That’s about one-twelfth of daily household water use in the U.S. However, that brine estimate is from 2019; in the years since, brine production is estimated to have increased due to the continued expansion of desalination plants. That’s a lot of water, if it could be cleaned and made usable. … ” Read more from The Conversation.
