Water roundup #10: Local rules
"Playing political games with this water:" A release to nowhere, storms and more.
Hello, and welcome to Western Water Notes.
Clearing out my reading list today with a news roundup. And first: For the last few weeks, I’ve written about misinformation around water, turning on the “valve,” and the L.A. fires, pushed by the Trump administration. The rhetoric gave way to material consequences last week, and importantly almost resulted in its own disaster: Flooding out communities hit hard in 2023.
That and more below. The incident highlights, too, how much water work is done at a local and statewide level (in concert with other actors like the federal government). That’s my theme for the water roundup this week, as statehouses across the West also head back into session.
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🛠 A release to nowhere:
On Thursday, the Army Corps of Engineers—unilaterally and without soliciting local input—decided to release so much water from two Central Valley reservoirs it would have inundated communities recovering from 2023 floods. SJV Water broke the news (they’ve been doing incredible work on this; Give them a follow and spread the word!)
The releases were puzzling for several reasons. There was no flood control rationale to evacuate the reservoirs. There was also no irrigation rationale for the releases (i.e. farmers did not want or need the water right now). The opposite was true. After a dry January, farmers wanted to store as much as possible in reservoirs for the summer.
Local water officials were able to talk the Army Corps down to smaller releases, and by Friday it became clear that the releases were a show of political messaging by the Trump administration, one untethered to the reality on the ground and the physics of how water moves in California. On X, Trump claimed the releases were connected to getting water to L.A., even though the water released was physically miles away, part of a separate system, and the fires that sparked the controversy had been contained.
The rhetoric and misinformation had consequences locally.
Tulare County officials were “frustrated and perplexed,” SJV Water reported: “Every drop belongs to someone,” said Kaweah River Watermaster Victor Hernandez. He added that “the reservoir may belong to the federal government, but the water is ours. If someone’s playing political games with this water, it’s wrong.”
That last quote gets to one of the more concerning elements of the releases: The way the Army Corps went about its decision-making sidestepped the usual process. Some called it “extremely unprecedented”. Water, maybe more than other areas where U.S. agencies are involved, is often governed—legally and politically—on a local level, even when the federal government has an infrastructure roles. The order undermined that.
More reporting on this:
The L.A. Times on how the water released from dams on Trump’s order didn’t help farms or L.A. The Tulare Sun Gazette on how the reporting unfolded.
🏛️ Back in session
Statehouses across the West are back in session and will begin weighing important water bills. First up here is Arizona, where Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs introduced legislation that would aim to better regulate groundwater in rural areas. AP reports:
Hobbs stood alongside local officials, rural Republican leaders and Democratic lawmakers to unveil her proposal to create new management areas to regulate groundwater pumping — long used by farmers and rural residents without restriction. She urged legislators to take swift action to reach consensus.
Meanwhile, New Mexico is considering legislation that would protect waterways by putting state officials in charge of its Clean Water Act permitting. Last week, the legislation passed its first committee, with mining and oil interests in opposition.
Nevada’s legislature convened this week, and the Great Basin Water Network has a rundown on bills in both Nevada and Utah posted to its website. One thing I’ll be watching is what happens to Nevada’s groundwater retirement/buyback program.
Hoping to dig more into these soon. If you have any tips on bills, please email me.
❄️ A needed winter storm
It’s been an eerily dry January and snowpack in the Sierra is below average, so I’m happy to report that I’m very writing this while watching the rain fall outside of my window. Over the weekend, precipitation in the form of rain helped fill reservoirs,
Most importantly, snow is coming down in the Sierra mountains, a boost for regional water supply. Snowpack-dominated watersheds in the Sierra feed important rivers in California and western Nevada. And snowpack accumulation is a key variable in water supply for the remainder of the year. It’s also an important reminder, that more than politics or rhetoric, it is hydrology that often dictates so much of the West’s water fate.
More from the UC Berkeley Central Sierra Snow Lab:
The Sierra are not the only important place to watch. Snowpack in the Colorado River is an important measure of how much water is available when snow begins to melt in the spring. Right now, snowpack in the Upper Colorado River Basin is at about 85% of median. It’s important to note that many other factors, like soil conditions, play into the amount of snow that actually melts as spring runoff and makes it into rivers.
🔎 A few more things to watch:
How Nevada is fighting to bighorn sheep population decline from drought and disease. Amy Alonzo reports for The Nevada Independent.
InsideClimateNews’ Jake Bolster on how Wyoming tribes are pushing to control reservation water amid proposed federal legislation. The Tribes “believe the water in question is theirs, and any law that transfers land or infrastructure from the federal government to private management within the boundary of their reservation is a continuation of centuries of mistreatment from both.”
A new report on water banks in Utah.
“After years of studying and experimenting with pilot programs, the future of Colorado River management will almost certainly include a permanent water conservation program for the Upper Basin states,” Aspen Journalism reports.
Surface water and groundwater users reached an agreement for conjunctively managing the Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer, Ag Proud Idaho reports.