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Rare Look Inside Underground Aqueduct in San Jacinto Built Almost 100 Years Ago Entirely by Hand

/in , /by /ABC 7by Rob McMillan

Eyewitness News was given a rare look inside the engineering marvel, which was the largest public works project in Southern California during the Great Depression, while it’s shut down for its annual maintenance. It’s the final leg of the massive Colorado River Aqueduct: the 13-mile-long San Jacinto tunnel, bringing up to 1,700 cubic feet of water per second underneath one of Southern California’s tallest mountains.

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EPA to Revise Waters of the U.S. Rule

/in , /by /Water FMby WFM Staff

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin announced last week that EPA will work with the United States Army Corps of Engineers to review the definition of “waters of the United States.” EPA said it will move quickly to ensure that a revised definition follows the law, reduces red-tape, cuts overall permitting costs, and lowers the cost of doing business in communities across the country while protecting the nation’s navigable waters from pollution.

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California, Arizona and Nevada All Agree: The Trump Administration Needs to Fix a Key Colorado River Dam

/in , /by /Las Vegas Sunby Ian James

Representatives of California, Arizona and Nevada are urging the Trump administration to take a different approach in confronting the problems of the water-starved Colorado River. As Trump’s appointees inherit the task of writing new rules for dealing with the river’s chronic water shortages, the three states are raising several concerns they want to see addressed.

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Trump Moves to Unwind Over Two Dozen US Air, Water Regulations

/in , /by /Reutersby Valerie Volcovici

The Trump administration announced a wave of regulatory rollbacks on Wednesday including a repeal of Biden-era emissions limits on power plants and automobiles, as well as reduced protections for waterways.

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Water Officials Knew That Opening Dams to Meet Trump’s Wishes Was Ill-advised. Here’s Why It Happened Anyway

/in , /by /Los Angeles Timesby Ian James

When President Trump called for the federal government to “maximize” water deliveries in California, commanders of the Army Corps of Engineers quickly found two dams where they could carry out that order. And even though the officials knew the water couldn’t be moved out of the Central Vally as Trump wished, they released billions of gallons anyway, according to a newly released government document.

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The Salton Sea is California’s Most Imperiled Lake. Can a New Conservancy Save It?

/in , /by /Cal Mattersby Deborah Brennan

Haze hung over the Salton Sea on a recent winter day, while black-necked stilts and kildeer waded in the shallows, pecking at crustaceans. Something else emerged a few steps closer to the lakeshore: a briny, rotten egg stench wafting from the water. The Salton Sea is nearly twice as salty as the ocean, laden with agricultural runoff and susceptible to algal blooms that spew hydrogen sulfide, a noxious gas. It’s also a haven to more than 400 bird species and a key stop on the Pacific Flyway, one of North America’s main bird migration routes.

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Levin Demands Answers Following Trump’s Water Releases Amid LA-Area Wildfires

/in , /by /Spectrum Newsby Cassie Semyon

After the Washington Post revealed late last week that the Army Corps of Engineers knew that releasing water from two California reservoirs at President Donald Trump’s direction in January was unlikely to reach the southern part of the state, Rep. Mike Levin, D-Calif., is demanding answers from the Pentagon and the Department of Interior for what he calls the “politically motivated, uncoordinated, unscheduled, and opaque water releases” in the Central Valley between Jan. 31 and Feb. 2.

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Utah Will Be the First State to Ban Fluoride in Drinking Water

/in , /by /AP Newsby Matthew Brown and Hannah Schoenbaum

Utah will become the first state to ban fluoride in public drinking water, despite widespread opposition from dentists and national health organizations.

Republican Gov. Spencer Cox said he would sign legislation that bars cities and communities from deciding whether to add the mineral to their water systems.

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Texas Senate Panel Sends Message to Trump: Get Our Water from Mexico

/in , /by /The Texas Tribuneby Berenice Garcia

Texas senators advanced a resolution Monday that calls on the U.S. State Department to ensure Mexico meets its obligations to deliver water to the U.S. under a 1944 water treaty.

The Water, Agriculture, and Rural Affairs Committee voted in favor of the resolution after hearing testimony from state and Rio Grande Valley officials on how Mexico’s failure to deliver water has impacted the local farmers and stalled growth.

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What the War on California’s Water is Really About

/in , /by /NY Timesby Ryan Cristopher Jones

The sprawling estuary about 70 miles inland from San Francisco feels distinctly out of place — more like the swampy Florida Everglades than arid California. But from that confluence of two great rivers, the Sacramento and the San Joaquin, 1,100 miles of webbed waterways and levees send upward of six million acre-feet of freshwater a year to thirstier parts of the state, from farms in the San Joaquin Valley to the Southern California megalopolis. Known as the California Delta, the estuary is among the state’s most important sources of water — and most consistent flash points over environmental protection.

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