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A controversial California irrigation drainage deal designed to resolve one of the West’s trickiest, most expensive and longest-running water problems won approval from a key House of Representatives panel Thursday. But the debate – and uproar over the proposal – is only beginning, and its long-term fate is uncertain. On a mostly party-line 23-16 vote, the House Natural Resources Committee approved the bill to settle the irrigation dispute between the mammoth Westlands Water District and the federal government.

Foam floated downstream and made circles on the water last week in the pool below Oroville Dam. Water quality experts are trying to determine why. Foam can happen naturally, or it can be a result of something else in the water. At this point the cause of the foam is unknown. Water tests were planned Wednesday, with lab results available in about two weeks, said Bryan Smith, supervising engineer with the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board.

Nothing quite like calling a group of committed activists “stupid” to light an even bigger fire under their already aggrieved asses. In publishing a factually challenged editorial that uses the S-word five times, “dumbest” once, “narcissistic” once (rubber/glue, anyone?), calls their mission a “little takeover hobby” and compares them to stoners who celebrate 4/20 every day of the year, Carmel Pine Cone Publisher Paul Miller gave Public Water Now what I think of as a new sense of resiliency in its mission to bring public ownership of the Monterey Peninsula’s water utility to reality.

Lake Tahoe is full. As of Thursday, April 20, the lake’s surface elevation was 6,227.69 feet — almost 5 feet above its natural rim. U.S. Water Master Chad Blanchard said his office has been spilling water from Lake Tahoe since Feb. 22 in an effort to prevent the lake’s level from rising too high. It’s the first time since 2006 that excess water has been spilled from the lake.

Arroyo Grande residents can once again pull out their garden hoses without fear of financial penalty, though they’re still being required to restrict some of their water usage. The city declared an end to its water shortage emergency on Tuesday, following Gov. Jerry Brown’s announcement earlier this month that California is no longer in a drought. The decision removes the city’s water bill penalties, which charge users if they fail to reduce their water usage by a certain amount compared with their property’s historic usage.