This month we’ve created a compiled edition of Currents (CA water policy news), to keep you in the loop on recent happenings that affect California Rivers. Read on for updates about this water year, the California State Legislature, PG&E’s efforts to spin off its hydropower assets, and Sites Reservoir.

It’s silly season in the California legislature. It’s the time for spot bills (bills introduced with the intention of being amended later) to materialize — and some are pretty ugly. One of those is ACA 2, the Water Resiliency Act of 2024, introduced by Assemblyman Juan Alanis (R-Modesto). This bill would give billions of dollars per year to a water project slush fund…

U.S. Congressmen Valadao and McCarthy’s latest effort to drown more of the McCloud River under Shasta Reservoir was enshrined in the House-passed Energy & Water Appropriations bill (H.R. 4394). Luckily, the U.S. Senate version did not do so. There was some indication that California’s Senators played a positive role. This is critical since they will need to continue to do so even though the odds favor them being in the minority party next year — and the previous President may return…

I confess. It’s hard to keep up with the state of play in the nationwide and California efforts to defend Clean Water section 401, which gives states and some tribes authority to ensure that federal actions meet state and tribal water quality standards…

Governors Brown and Newsom have made no secret of their strong support for the construction of another west-side off-stream reservoir to park Sacramento River water. Such a giant reservoir would exist in the seismically prone valleys of the Coast Range west of the Central Valley…

The California State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board or Board) recently released its Draft Staff Report for the Phase II Update of the Bay-Delta Water Quality Control Plan (Bay-Delta Plan or Plan). This report, and the process to update the Bay-Delta Plan, will have critical implications for the health of California rivers and ecosystems. Unfortunately, the Staff Report outlines several options that will fail to protect the Delta and its tributary rivers…

Republican California Governor Ronald Reagan signed the legislation creating the California wild & scenic river system in 1972. In 1989, California Governor George Deukmejian (the Duke), also a Republican, signed legislation providing similar protection for the McCloud River under the state Wild & Scenic Rivers Act. Current House Republicans are working to dismantle these protections…

H.R. 4821, the Interior Appropriations bill, proposes to substitute what should be a scientific conclusion — that the Central Valley Improvement Act (CVPIA) is “complete” — for a Congressional “expert” political opinion. Among CVPIA’s goals were the doubling of natural stocks of salmonid fish…

The Smith River is the largest entirely free-flowing river in California. Unfortunately, the Smith River National Recreation Area and wild & scenic river designations exclude the North Fork Smith River watershed in Oregon. Although relatively small in area, the northern headwaters of the Smith River supports a unique landscape, miles of pristine rivers and streams, and priceless recreation opportunities…

Some folks just won’t quit. Some years ago, the Nevada Irrigation District (NID) asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to supersede the State of California’s authority to protect its waters under the Clean Water Act (CWA). FERC obliged. We responded by taking the issue to court. NID is now trying again…

Brent Blackwelder recently passed away. He had a long and important career as an environmental leader in our nation’s capital. His passing is worth publishing a trinity of short remembrances by three of us who worked with him…

Recent updates on Sites Reservoir: A rushed application for regulatory streamlining, and more news about Sites greenhouse gas emissions.

The Karuk Tribe of California and other groups filed a petition to set minimum flows on the Scott River, which has completely ceased to flow at certain locations during the summer months due to excessive withdrawals by local agricultural users. This request was vehemently opposed by the same water users who have drained the Scott and resist governmental efforts toward a balanced ecosystem…

As might be expected with Republican control of the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee, several Wild and Scenic bills have not moved forward. But each Congress meets for two years, so the deadline to pass these bills is still one year out…

The issues with the poor foundation conditions under the Oroville Dam spillways became apparent as far back as 2005, when Friends of the River led a coalition of environmental organizations in asking FERC to confront these problems…

It had long been the worst of times.

The sand and gravels torn out of the Gold Rush Sierra had raised the Yuba River channel and increased flooding in the Yuba River Basin below…

They were troubled times.

Large parts of the City of Sacramento had nearly flooded. A big urban water district had recently won an ambiguous court decision to divert water from the City’s cherished American River and down the massive federal canal slated to snake down the east side of the San Joaquin Valley to Tulare County…

As a relatively new volunteer with FOR, I decided the best way to get familiar with policy was to jump into the deep end and get involved. I recently had the honor to represent FOR during the Green California - Environmental lobby day at the State Capitol on August 30th…

Friends of the River and the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), along with a coalition of tribes and environmental organizations submitted a formal protest against the water rights application of the Sites Project Authority for the proposed Sites Reservoir. This protest is part of a legally required process to ensure public concerns are addressed when granting water rights in California…

In addition Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s desire for the federal and state taxpayers to rebuild, expand, and build more infrastructure to supply water to his Congressional District (he is achieving some success there), he wants to help the giant Westlands Water District expand Shasta Reservoir…

I am pleased to report that the Congressional sponsors of California-related wild & scenic river bills show no signs of growing weary. Three bills have been reintroduced in the House to grant federal protection for rivers in California and Oregon…

Getting dams built nowadays requires taxpayer subsidies — and easing the regulatory path to getting them built also seems to be necessary. Needless to say, this is an interest of the speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy…

Like many toddlers, Governor Newsom has a patience problem. He can’t understand why the 2014 Proposition dams (deadbeat or not) haven’t been built yet…

Senator Feinstein has long been a friend of dam builders in the state, and her perch in the Senate Appropriations Committee gives her a powerful say in federal dams and taxpayer subsidies for dams in general…

From its founding in 1902, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation built a lot of dams, especially during the Great Depression and the post-World War 2 years. Think Hoover, Shasta, Grand Coulee, and Friant Dams. Although Reclamation has stated that “the West essentially has been reclaimed,” the political movement for taxpayer subsidized dams has not stopped…

Representative Lauren Boebert (R-CO) has made quite a name for herself in the U.S. Congress with a number of claims that seem untethered to reality. However, that does not prevent her from introducing bills that in reality are favored by wealthy Reclamation water service contractors…