The Trump administration has ordered firings and buyouts at the federal agency that operates water infrastructure in California, potentially jeopardizing the agency’s ability to manage dams and deliver water, according to Central Valley water officials.
In these turbulent times, nearly every issue gets filtered through a political lens, where real solutions are often sidelined in favor of scoring political points. When it comes to managing our state’s water supplies, this dynamic is unfortunately all too common.
We do, however, have essential truths: Water is essential to life, and how we manage this resource is one of the most crucial responsibilities we bear, so we must get this right.
Showers and thunderstorms are expected throughout San Diego County in the middle of the week, with periods of gusty winds, forecasters said Monday.
Measurements taken across the Sierra Nevada show that California’s snowpack, which typically supplies nearly a third of the state’s water supply, now stands at 85% of average for this time of year. The latest state data released Friday also show the amount of snow in the mountains varies dramatically depending on the region.
Saturday commemorates the 89th anniversary of the Hoover Dam’s completed construction, considered by most experts “a modern miracle” and one of the most visited sites in the world. The 726-foot-high arch-gravity dam stretches 1,244 feet across the Black Canyon and was built over five years starting in 1931, helping provide water and hydroelectrical power to the West.
The city of San Diego will be completely shutting down a portion of Friars Road between Napa Street and Sea World Drive Friday evening to accommodate work on the Morena Pump Station project part of the sweeping Pure Water San Diego project. From 9 p.m. Friday to 9 p.m. Saturday, the aforementioned portion of Friars Road will close.
DOGE-ordered firings at the federal agency responsible for delivering water to farms and cities across California are getting in the way of President Donald Trump’s order to maximize the state’s water supplies. The Bureau of Reclamation’s California office has lost 10 percent of its staff due to buyouts and orders by Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency to fire short-tenured employees, according to three people close to the office who were granted anonymity because they feared retaliation.
Fitch Ratings downgraded the outlook for San Diego’s water fund from “stable” to “negative” this week because of rising debt and concerns that city water rates won’t be able to go much higher once proposed 61% rate hikes have taken effect. Other factors in the downgrade are sharp increases in what the city pays for imported water and falling demand for water among city customers, especially during the rainy fiscal year that ended last June.
A new report from the nonprofit Environmental Working Group shows millions of Americans are drinking water tainted with unsafe levels of chemicals, metals and radioactive substances.
The California Water Commission has $526.3 million to spend on water storage. At February’s commission meeting, options on how exactly they’ll do that were discussed, and it could mean more funding for two Northern California water projects.
