A new bill in the state Legislature would require California to review the environmental impacts of a company’s proposal to pump groundwater from beneath the Mojave Desert and sell it to Southern California cities — a controversial plan that was slowed down by President Obama, but which appears to have the backing of the Trump administration. Cadiz Inc. hopes to pump 16.3 billion gallons of groundwater annually in the heart of the desert, about 75 miles northeast of Palm Springs, on land surrounded by Mojave Trails National Monument and near Mojave National Preserve.

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.