As California continues to grapple with ongoing drought conditions, state lawmakers have introduced new regulations to curb unnecessary water use. Assembly Bill 1572 now prohibits the use of potable water—water safe for drinking and bathing—to irrigate non-functional turf.
Over $500 million is on the table for water storage projects across California. Options on how to allocate this money were discussed at the February meeting, and a final decision on funding was expected to be made at the March 19 meeting. However, the commissioners ultimately decided to withhold the majority of the money, at least for now.
The United States has refused a request by Mexico for water, alleging shortfalls in sharing by its southern neighbor, as Donald Trump ramps up a battle on another front. The state department said on Thursday it was the first time that the United States had rejected a request by Mexico for special delivery of water, which would have gone to the border city of Tijuana.
Californians could be drinking water tapped from the Pacific Ocean off Malibu several years from now — that is, if a company’s new desalination technology proves viable. OceanWell Co. plans to anchor about two dozen 40-foot-long devices, called pods, to the seafloor several miles offshore and use them to take in saltwater and pump purified fresh water to shore in a pipeline.
California has long struggled with chronic drought and water scarcity—Newsweek spoke to two experts about whether capturing water from fog may be able to help. They were both optimistic about using fog harvesting for California, which is being explored there with several research initiatives and pilot projects, but warned that it probably “can’t produce water for all of the needs and demands of humans and society.”
To understand how San Diego County — with its erratic, unreliable natural water supply — ended up with too much water, you have to look back in time. Over the decades, drought after drought taught San Diego water officials an important lesson: the region can’t rely on just one source or agency to meet its water needs.
A new report released on March 13, 2025, shows that changes to reservoir operations at Lake Oroville and New Bullards Bar Reservoir in California can further reduce flood risk for communities along the Tuba and Feather rivers during extreme atmospheric river storm events and potentially benefit water supply during drier river periods.
The recent rain and snow are much needed for Central California’s water supply.
The latest set of storms is already sparking talk of a “Miracle March.”
Malynndra Tome was helping to map livestock ponds in the Navajo Nation when she saw something that inspired her to act. An elderly woman was filling milk jugs with water at the back of a gas station in the Native American reservation, where about 30% of people live without running water.
We also broke down San Diego’s soaring water rates and discussed Councilmember Marni von Wilpert’s surprising suggestion that the city of San Diego should consider leaving the San Diego County Water Authority.
