Arizona and California’s chief water negotiators are coming for Colorado in a blistering public pressure campaign aimed at getting upper basin states to capitulate.
In an interview with the L.A. Times, the negotiator for California accused the upper basin states of Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico of clinging to “their most aggressive and rigid dreamland legal positions.”
Appellate court justices heard arguments Tuesday in the highly watched dispute over whether the state exceeded its authority when it placed the Tulare Lake subbasin on probation last year for failing to come up with an adequate plan to protect the region’s groundwater.
Or, whether a Kings County judge erred by refusing to dismiss the case and issuing a preliminary injunction that has held probationary sanctions at bay all this time. A ruling by the 5th District Court of Appeal is expected “soon,” which could mean two months or longer.
A bill with unanimous support is basically a unicorn in today’s divided politics, so California just saw the return of a water-planning unicorn in the form of SB 72 that Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law Oct. 1.
Prior to being signed, the bill — effectively an update to the California Water Plan that enforces the need for quantifiable water needs reports and water goals — passed through the state’s legislature without any “no” votes.
The results are in. California’s 446 urban water suppliers have conducted their supply and demand assessments, and 95.5% say they will have ample supplies to meet projected demand in the coming year, even if it is dry. The remaining 4.5% who project some level of shortage have identified response actions to address and mitigate the potential shortage.
The Annual Shortage Report is a yearly stress test for water suppliers and serves as an important tool for successful and effective local water shortage contingency planning, ensuring water supply reliability and drought resiliency. This year’s Annual Shortage Reports cover projections for the 12 months from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. The Department of Water Resources prepares a report summarizing the findings by September 30 and submits it to the State Water Resources Control Board.
California lawmakers started the year signaling they were ready to get tough on data centers, aiming to protect the environment and electricity ratepayers. Nine months later, they have little to show for it.
Of four data center bills in play, two never made it out of the Legislature, including one that would have required data centers to publicize their power use and another that would have provided incentives for them to use more clean energy.
This year, winter storms could be on the way for California, thanks to a Pacific marine heatwave that could trigger storms along the West Coast.
California’s wet season started with a bang, or at least a drizzle, as rain pitter-pattered on the Bay Area last week.
But the state’s water experts say at this time of year, they still have to prepare for floods, drought or even both. Oct. 1 officially began the rainy season in California, and with this seasonal shift, they sealed their record of annual rain and snow and started a fresh tally.
The Environmental Protection Agency was already reeling from massive staff cuts and dramatic shifts in priority and policy. A government shutdown raises new questions about how it can carry out its founding mission of protecting America’s health and environment with little more than skeletal staff and funding.
In President Donald Trump’s second term, the EPA has leaned hard into an agenda of deregulation and facilitating Trump’s boosting of fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal to meet what he has called an energy emergency.
California water officials are warning that the state “must be prepared for extreme weather events of all kinds,” even as water levels for the state’s reservoirs remain near or above average as the new water year began Wednesday.
California is entering a new water year with the largest reservoir in the State Water Project (SWP), Lake Oroville, at 109 percent of average capacity. Despite this promising start, officials stress the ongoing threat posed by climate extremes driven by a warming atmosphere. The state faces the dual challenges of preparing for both drought and floods, as climate variability increases the frequency and severity of weather swings. Recent scientific outlooks warn of a likely La Niña event in the fall, which could deliver increased dryness but also the risk of intense storms and flooding. These dynamics underscore the importance of water management and emergency preparedness for communities across California.
A La Niña pattern for the first few months of this water year (Oct. 1 to Sept. 30) means there is potential for extreme weather events, both flooding and drought, depending on where you are located in California.
Despite Sacramento receiving 76% of its normal rainfall for this past water year, Lake Oroville, the State Water Project’s largest reservoir, is currently sitting at 109% of average.
