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For the second time in 122 years, a sensitive gauge measuring the San Pedro River’s streamflow near Sierra Vista went dry, a reading conservationists say is bad news for one of the Southwest’s last free-flowing rivers.

On June 22, the river stopped flowing at a U.S. Geological Survey stream gauge east of the city. That site, known as the Charleston gauge, monitors the river’s water level at the surface and remained at zero for over two weeks.

As the Trump administration delays regulations on “forever chemicals” that pollute reservoirs, rivers and aquifers nationwide, California officials say they are unsure what the consequences will be for an estimated 1.5 million Californians served by utilities with contaminated sources of drinking water.

With uncertainty over when regulations on some of the most common of these cancer-causing pollutants, called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances or PFAS, will take effect in California, lawmakers are floating alternative plans to remove them from the state’s tap water.

A developing El Niño is forecast to become unusually powerful this winter, which could hold major implications for California’s water supply, reservoirs and flood risk.

The odds of a “very strong” El Niño—defined by exceptionally warm sea-surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific—have increased dramatically as the event develops. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) latest outlook, released Thursday, shows a 75 to 81 percent chance of a very strong event between November and January, the heart of California’s wet season.

Michelle Dugan-Delgado has had asthma for as long as she can remember. It’s why she always takes an inhaler and face mask with her when she leaves the house — just in case the wind picks up and a dust storm hits.

“I know that it’s not safe for me to go outside,” she told DW. “It’s like I live in a bubble. I have to really protect myself.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom is putting his stamp on the powerful agency overseeing California’s biggest water fights — and racing to get his pet projects across the finish line before his term ends.

Jared Blumenfeld, Newsom’s former CalEPA secretary, took his seat for the first time Tuesday on the five-member State Water Resources Control Board days after Newsom appointed him to replace Laurel Firestone, the environmental justice advocate who stepped down last month to “pursue other opportunities” in water.