The battle over whether California should build a $20-billion water tunnel in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta is escalating, with Gov. Gavin Newsom pushing to lay the groundwork for the project before his term expires and state water regulators considering whether to grant a key authorization.
President Donald Trump’s intrusion into California’s long-running conflict over water management – essentially favoring farmers over wildlife habitat – has drawn massive media and political attention. Trump ordered federal water managers to release more water for farmers but the increased flows have so far been largely symbolic because farmers use little water during the winter but need more during the growing season. Trump’s action has been denounced by environmental groups which have long sought to enhance river flows for salmon and other species, with tacit support from Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who recently revived his relationship with President Donald Trump as he pushes for federal assistance for the catastrophic Los Angeles wildfires, is traveling to Washington for Wednesday meetings with Trump and Republican officials. Newsom’s aides confirmed he left the state midday Tuesday. The planned meetings at the White House and likely Capitol Hill follow what Trump and Newsom described as a cordial phone conversation in recent days — part of a breakthrough in their on-again, off-again dynamic that had effectively ended shortly before the president left office in 2021.
As downpours soak Northern California, Gov. Gavin Newsom has ordered state officials to capture and store more stormwater in San Joaquin Valley reservoirs for farmers and towns, and to “remove or minimize” any obstacles that stand in the way. If that sounds familiar, it is: The governor issued similar orders two years ago, when he waived environmental laws to store more water as storms drenched the state and caused disastrous flooding.
Following yet another year of brutal heatwaves and devastating wildfires, Californians have the chance to tell elected officials they support urgent climate action by voting for a $10 billion climate resilience bond on the November ballot.
During an unprecedented budget surplus two years ago, California earmarked $54 billion to forge “an oil-free future” and protect residents from the extreme effects of climate change. That surplus morphed into a multibillion-dollar deficit within a year, after rosy projections of rising revenues from income taxes failed to materialize, forcing Gov. Gavin Newsom and state lawmakers to cut and defer billions from their ambitious climate spending plans.
In the heart of California, a new mandate is reshaping the landscape of Homeowners Associations (HOAs) and how they manage their communal green spaces. On a sunny afternoon, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1572 into law, marking a significant shift towards water conservation in the Golden State.
The three top Democrats seeking to replace the late Dianne Feinstein in the United States Senate managed to clearly answer every question California’s McClatchy opinion team recently managed to pose. Except for one.
Restaurants, stores and other property owners will be banned from using drinking water to irrigate their lawns under a new California law. Assembly Bill 1572 requires business owners, public agencies and other entities to phase out the use of potable water to irrigate nonfunctional and decorative turf starting in 2027.
Within a couple of years, drivers in San Diego County can expect to see solar panels along the highway.
That’s the plan for Senate Bill 49, one of a number of energy-related legislation Sacramento lawmakers passed and Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law.
While Gavin Newsom has tried to shoehorn in the Delta tunnel, state lawmakers have been adamant about not including the project in the state budget. With the July 27 deadline looming to agree to a finalized budget for California, state lawmakers and Gov. Gavin Newsom appear to still be split on the controversial Delta tunnel.
