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Sierra Club Sues for Changes in Major Water Deal to Protect Salton Sea and Residents

/in , /by /Desert Sunby Janet Wilson

The Sierra Club filed a legal challenge Thursday seeking to halt a huge Colorado River conservation deal between the Biden administration and the powerful Imperial Irrigation District, saying that rare desert wildlife and low-income residents near the shores of the already-fast dwindling Salton Sea would be further harmed if concrete steps weren’t taken immediately.

The environmental group on Thursday filed a request for an injunction in California Superior Court in Imperial County, saying both the water agency and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation had violated a tough state environmental law, the California Environmental Quality Act, by rushing through cursory approvals to conserve as much as 900,000 acre feet of water through 2026 — more than the entire state of Nevada receives annually, and enough to potentially supply 2.7 million households.

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How a California County Got PFAS Out of its Drinking Water

/in , /by /NPRby Pien Huang

Yorba Linda is a small, sunny city southeast of Los Angeles. It’s perhaps best known for being the birthplace of President Richard Nixon.

But in the past few years, Yorba Linda has picked up another distinction: It’s home to the nation’s largest per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) water treatment plant of its kind, according to the city.

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California Remains in Puzzling Earthquake ‘Drought’ Despite Recent Shaking

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Rong-Gong Lin II

Despite an unusual number of modest earthquakes this year in Southern California, the state overall remains in the midst of a “drought” of major earthquakes.

There have been no significant damaging earthquakes underneath California’s most populous cities in the last 30 years. That’s a stark contrast to the prior three decades, when earthquakes in suburban or mountainous areas caused catastrophic damage in the urban infrastructure, causing freeway and building collapses and resulting in the deaths of scores of people.

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Trump Threatens to Hold Disaster Money if California Rebels on Water Rules

/in , /by /Politicoby Tyler Katzenberger, Debra Kahn and Melanie Mason

Former President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to withhold federal disaster response funding from California over Gov. Gavin Newsom’s position on water deliveries to farmers.

Speaking to reporters from a golf course in Rancho Palos Verdes on Friday, Trump said he would strong-arm California’s governor into agreeing to send more water from California’s lush north to farm fields in its drier south.

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OPINION: No, American West, You Can’t Have Our Great Lakes Water

/in , /by /Governingby Dan Pogorzelski

It is my hope to put to rest the mistaken belief that Great Lakes water, now, or at any point in the future, will be used to solve the water woes of the western United States. This is not going to happen. Westerners cannot have an honest discussion about their future until we dispel this myth once and for all.

Standing anywhere on Chicago’s famous lakefront, it is easy to imagine the freshwater resource in front of you is limitless. I have seen visitors to our city stare in awe at Lake Michigan and say, “You call this a lake? That’s an ocean!”

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California Supports Projects to Bolster Drinking Water Systems and Climate Resilience

/in , /by /Water World

The California State Water Resources Control Board distributed approximately $880 million to water systems and communities during the past fiscal year for projects that will benefit around 12 million Californians.

395 projects across the state have received funding to capture and recycle more water, recharge and protect groundwater, improve stormwater management, expand access to safe drinking water and improve sanitation.

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Can Eating Less Beef and Dairy Help Save the Colorado River?

/in , /by /NPRby Erin Stone

Western states and the federal government face a looming 2026 deadline to divvy up falling water levels in the Colorado River basin. As overuse and climate change stretch the river thin, research suggests relatively small shifts in global eating patterns could save enough water to fend off steeper cuts for cities and agriculture — and help reduce climate pollution.

Nearly half — 46% — of all the water drawn from the Colorado River goes to growing feed for beef and dairy cows, according to a recent study published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment. It’s the most detailed analysis yet of how the river’s water is used.

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Prop 4 Explained: Borrowing Money to Fund Environmental and Climate-Related Projects in California

/in , /by /KCRA3by Ashley Zavala

Proposition 4 asks California voters to allow the state to borrow $10 billion in bonds for water, wildfire prevention, and other environmental projects. It would require yearly audits of the money. The funds would help clean up and protect water supplies, help with wildfire prevention and response, and provide for projects that try to protect beaches, forests and mountains.

This is expected to cost taxpayers another $400 million a year for 40 years to repay the bond.

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California Farmers Turn to Agave Amid Drought Conditions and Climate Change

/in , /by /NPRby Manola Secaira

Most of the United States’ fruits and nuts, like avocados and almonds, come from California. But scientists say human-caused climate change means more extreme heat and intensifying periods of drought for the state. That has led some farmers to seek out less-thirsty crops — like agave.

The succulent has long been grown in Mexico and is the key ingredient in making tequila and mezcal. Agave, though, as a crop is a new idea for the United States. In California, it’s more often seen as part of decorative landscaping.

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‘I Won’t Let Them Drink the Water’: The California Towns Where Clean Drinking Water is Out of Reach

/in , /by /Cal Mattersby Rachel Becker

In a major milestone, state regulators announced in July that nearly a million more Californians now have safe drinking water than five years ago.

But across the state, the problem remains severe: More than 735,000 people are still served by the nearly 400 water systems that fail to meet state requirements for safe and reliable drinking water. Latino farm communities struggling with poverty and pollution are especially hard-hit.

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