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California Water Commission Boosts Sites Reservoir Project With $10.9m

/in , /by /Action News Nowby Alejandro Mejia Mejia

The California Water Commission awarded $10.9 million to the Sites Reservoir Project this week. This early funding from the Water Storage Investment Program aims to assist with permitting and environmental documents.

“This additional funding will help the Authority secure key federal and state permits that will advance Sites Reservoir closer to construction,” said Fritz Durst, Chair of the Sites Project Authority Board of Directors.

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California’s Farmland Program Offers Water-Saving Lessons for the Mountain West, Experts Say

/in , /by /KJZZ Phoenixby Kaleb Roedel

California’s Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program helps farmers transition irrigated land into new uses, such as wildlife habitat, groundwater recharge areas, or even solar farms. The idea is to save water while strengthening rural communities.

This offers a more sustainable path forward than simply leaving fields unplanted, which is a common “business-as-usual” strategy, said Gopal Penny, a researcher with the Environmental Defense Fund who co-authored a study about California’s new approach in the journal Frontiers.

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Forecast Is In: Legacy Water Systems Are Holding Us Back

/in , /by /Smart Water Magazine

In a world of record droughts and surging demand for reliable water resources, decision-makers need speed, scale, and smarts. Here’s how one unique collaboration is delivering all three.

With HydroForecast, Upstream Tech provides accurate inflow predictions for virtually any point on Earth without the need for local calibration, manual tuning, or historical datasets. Built on machine learning and remote sensing, the model updates continuously and performs with proven accuracy even in ungauged or data-scarce regions.

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Southern California Lakes (Silverwood, Pyramid) Identified With Infestation of Invasive Golden Mussel Threatening Water Infrastructure.

/in , /by /CalCoast Timesby Josh Friedman

In a startling development for California’s water system, state officials have confirmed the infestation of invasive golden mussels (Limnoperna fortunei) at two major Southern California lakes: Silverwood Lake in San Bernardino County and Pyramid Lake in Los Angeles County.

The rapid spread of this highly destructive species from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to the southern reaches of the State Water Project marks a new chapter in the state’s ongoing struggle to safeguard both water infrastructure and delicate aquatic ecosystems. The golden mussel is notorious worldwide for its ability to multiply quickly, clog pipes and screens, destabilize local ecology, and create costly headaches for urban, agricultural, and recreational water systems.

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White House Scraps Water Expert’s Nomination as States Hash Out Colorado River Plan

/in , /by /U.S. News

A veteran water expert from Arizona says the Trump administration withdrew his nomination to lead the federal agency that oversees water management in the western U.S., leaving the Bureau of Reclamation without permanent leadership this year.

Ted Cooke told The Associated Press late Wednesday that he was preparing for a Senate confirmation hearing early this month but his name was removed from the agenda. He wasn’t told until this week that there was an unspecified issue with his background check. Cooke said the White House didn’t offer any details and asked only that he withdraw himself from consideration.

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Trump EPA Will Defend Biden Rule Forcing Polluters to Pay for ‘Forever Chemical’ Cleanup

/in , /by /The Hillby Rachel Frazin

The Trump administration says it will defend a Biden era-rule that is expected to keep polluters on the hook to clean up toxic “forever chemicals.”

The rule in question designated two types of these chemicals as “hazardous substances,” giving the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) more authority to clean up their contamination and require polluters to pay for it.

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Lake Powell Water Level May Be Dropping Faster Than Policy Can Keep Up

/in , /by /KNAUby Alex Hager

A new report from Colorado River researchers found water levels at the nation’s two largest reservoirs are dropping fast and on track for dire consequences. The authors are calling on policymakers to move with urgency and protect Lake Powell and Lake Mead. Negotiators are locked in talks about the future of those reservoirs after 2026, when the current rules for managing water there expire.

But the authors of this report say a dry year could bring levels so low, the reservoirs stop working before any new rules go into effect.

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One Dam to Rule Them All

/in , /by /Politicoby CAMILLE VON KAENEL

California was supposed to kick off a new era of dam building when voters passed a $7.5 billion water bond in 2014. But ten years later, only one dam project from the list is still alive.

Sites, which would divert water from the Sacramento River into an offstream reservoir capable of storing water for 3 million homes annually, is the sole survivor, as of Wednesday, of a batch of four new or expanded reservoirs that California officials had envisioned would bolster supplies for cities and farmers.

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Snowpack ‘Hotspots’ Better Than Basin-Wide Mapping for Predicting Water

/in , /by /Capital Pressby Kyle Odegard

Adding new snowpack monitoring stations at strategic locations would be better at predicting water supply in the western U.S. than basin-wide mapping — and it would be less expensive — according to a new study.

“Measuring snow in the right places can benefit forecasts more than measuring it everywhere,” said lead author Mark Raleigh, an Oregon State University snow hydrologist.

 

 

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Move Over, Green Lawns. Drier, Warmer Climate Boosts Interest in Low-Water Landscaping

/in , /by /U.S. News

When Lena Astilli first bought her home outside of Denver, she had no interest in matching the wall-to-wall green lawns that dominated her block. She wanted native plants — the kind she remembered and loved as a child in New Mexico, that require far less water and have far more to offer insects and birds that are in decline.

“A monoculture of Kentucky bluegrass is not helping anybody,” Astilli said. After checking several nurseries before finding one that had what she wanted, she has slowly been reintroducing those native plants to her yard.

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