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An atmospheric river is poised to funnel gigantic amounts of rain and snow to the Northwest over the next few days. As much as 15 inches of rain is forecast in the mountains along with several inches in coastal areas, including Portland and Seattle. It could be Seattle’s wettest weather since February, the National Weather Service said. There is also a risk of flash flooding in western Washington and northwestern Oregon on Thursday as a result of the heavy rainfall, the weather service warned.

The Trump administration has cleared the way for a controversial project that would suck groundwater from under Southern California’s Mojave Desert and sell it to water providers. On Friday, the Bureau of Land Management wrote that Cadiz Inc.’s plan to build a 43-mile pipeline along a railroad right of way did not require the agency’s approval. The letter reverses the Obama administration’s opinion, which said in 2015 that the 1875 law governing the easement required that it be used for railroad purposes. Otherwise, it required federal approval.

Like just about everything else that involves water, the Cadiz Inc. Mojave Desert aquifer project saga has been one of many ebbs and flows. There were two new developments in this situation recently. The federal government reversed itself this month and gave its blessing to the massive project to transfer as much as 16.3 billion gallons of groundwater per year from beneath the desert floor near ecologically sensitive public lands to thirsty urban communities via a long pipeline.

Silicon Valley’s water district Wednesday rejected Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to build twin tunnels beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta but said it would support a smaller, less expensive project. A top state official said the Brown administration is willing to consider such an approach. The Santa Clara Valley Water District’s board voted 7-0 to give the Delta plan “conditional support,” but only if it involves one tunnel instead of two. The board’s vote indicated the district would be willing eventually to commit more than $200 million to the project. That’s well below the $600 million or more in support it had been considering.

On Oct. 10, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California voted to endorse the Delta tunnels, the $17 billion project that aims to reboot California’s main water supply system. Two days later, the Kern County Water Agency offered its own bid – albeit it a hesitant one – of support. However, even with backing from the nation’s largest municipal water supplier and a major agricultural district, some water policy experts and analysts believe the massive project, dubbed California WaterFix, may still buckle under its own weight.