Endangered cold water fish are appearing leaps and bounds ahead of where they were in the past five decades thanks to efforts by one Northern California region to restart local salmon runs.
From the Pacific Ocean to 20 miles up Alameda Creek, the endangered red chinook salmon have made it farther than in any season since the 1950s, according to the Alameda Creek Alliance.
Western states are brawling over the future of the Colorado River — with President Donald Trump looming in the background.
Talks kicking off Tuesday in Las Vegas will help determine whether the Trump administration has to step in and take the political heat of deciding how to divide the shrinking river’s water supplies among powerful industries and more than 40 million people — a fight that includes the swing states of Arizona and Nevada, politically influential farmers and ranchers, and burgeoning semiconductor and artificial intelligence companies.
Water officials in Kentucky spotted a worrying increase of one specific chemical in the local drinking water, according to NPR, and their attempts to address it revealed a frustrating level of corporate coddling.
Last December, officials at the Louisville Water Company identified a “sudden spike” in levels of HFPO-DA in drinking water. More commonly called “GenX,” HFPO-DA is one of several synthetic fluorochemicals used to create polymers, and it’s classed as a “forever chemical,” or PFAS.
The water that flows down irrigation canals to some of the West’s biggest expanses of farmland comes courtesy of the federal government for a very low price — even, in some cases, for free.
In a new study, researchers analyzed wholesale prices charged by the federal government in California, Arizona and Nevada, and found that large agricultural water agencies pay only a fraction of what cities pay, if anything at all. They said these “dirt-cheap” prices cost taxpayers, add to the strains on scarce water, and discourage conservation — even as the Colorado River’s depleted reservoirs continue to decline.
There’s only one way to restore reliable water allocations to farmers, avoid turning our cities into rationed “xeriscaped” heat islands, and cope with whatever the climate ultimately delivers. That’s to build more infrastructure to safely and sustainably produce millions of acre feet of new fresh water every year.
There are many practical ways to accomplish this. Some are controversial. Others, less so. But chances are slim that any of them will happen anytime soon unless advocates for more water are unified.
Water levels in the largest reservoir in the United States are looking a whole lot healthier after two years of voluntary conservation efforts from an array of local stakeholders in California.
SFGATE reported that after years of decline and getting perilously close to “dead pool” status — when a reservoir’s water is too low to send downstream — Lake Mead’s water levels are up 16 feet in the last two years.
California cities pay far more for water on average than districts that supply farms — with some urban water agencies shelling out more than $2,500 per acre-foot of surface water, and some irrigation districts paying nothing, according to new research.
A report published today by researchers with the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and advocates with the Natural Resources Defense Council shines a light on vast disparities in the price of water across California, Arizona and Nevada.
California’s major reservoirs have surged to their highest levels in years, with all key water storage facilities now holding at or above 100% of historical averages for this time of year, per Newsweek.
The dramatic turnaround is welcome news for communities that have endured years of persistent drought, offering critical relief to nearly 40 million residents and vast agricultural operations.
From the onset of his foray into presidential politics a decade ago, Donald Trump has been obsessed with managing California’s water, often interjecting himself into decades-long conflicts over how the precious commodity should be divvied up.
During his first stint as president, Trump was heavily influenced by the Westlands Water District, a huge agricultural water agency in the San Joaquin Valley that sought more irrigation water for itself and other farm interests.
National Integrated Drought Information System officals say wet start to California water year improves drought, but snowpack lags.
Water Year 2026 (October 1, 2025–September 20, 2026) began very differently than Water Year 2025. Drought developed in the first few months of the last water year and expanded over the region. This water year, over the course of 2 months, drought across California-Nevada has improved by 1-3 categories, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.
