As drought and water shortages become California’s new normal, more and more of the water that washes down drains and flushes down toilets is being cleaned and recycled for outdoor irrigation. But some public officials, taking cues from countries where water scarcity is a fact of life, want to take it further and make treated wastewater available for much more — even drinking. “This is a potential new source of water for California,” said former Assemblyman Rich Gordon. “We need to find water where we can.”

A giant Southern California water district that could decide whether to invest in the Delta tunnels as soon as September has released the first of three “white papers” which are expected to address some unresolved issues. Among other things, this latest document from the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California describes the new joint powers authority that might be formed to oversee construction of the 40-foot-wide tunnels. The tunnels are a state project, but the Department of Water Resources is busy with the reconstruction of the Oroville Dam spillway after this year’s flooding, the white paper notes.

The preliminaries are just about over. Permanent structural repairs are about to begin at Oroville Dam. Five months after an unprecedented emergency forced a mass evacuation, state officials said Wednesday they’re ready to start replacing the now-demolished lower portions of Oroville’s main flood-control spillway. Construction contractor Kiewit Corp. plans to install the first slabs of concrete Thursday in the lower 350 feet of the spillway chute. The so-called “leveling concrete” will create a smooth foundation for structural concrete that will be poured on top, said Jeff Petersen, Kiewit’s Oroville project director.

A coalition of environmental and fishing groups on Thursday filed the first of what are expected to be many lawsuits challenging Gov. Jerry Brown’s $17.1 billion plan to build two massive water tunnels through the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The suits, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, come four days after two federal agencies said the controversial project can coexist with endangered Delta fish.

Federal wildlife officials gave the first approval last week to Gov. Jerry Brown’s decade-old plan to re-engineer California’s water system by building twin tunnels to ship water around the delta to cities and farms. It’s a regrettable step in a long, costly and politically charged approval process with an uncertain outcome. It doesn’t make sense to spend $17 billion to move water instead of investing in water saving and reuse. Within 72 hours, environmental groups and fishing interests sued, saying the agencies are failing to protect native salmon and allowing the river to degrade further.