The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) supplies electricity to much of northern California. It also has a somewhat diminishing large fleet of hydroelectric dams in the north state.

It’s also been going broke a lot, first because of the ill-advised energy deregulation under Governor Gray Davis some two decades ago, and second because in recent years its equipment has been burning down whole national forests and small mountain communities.

So, to raise some cash, PG&E proposed to create a subsidiary…

California makes its state water right decisions in the CalEPA building in Sacramento, the home of the State Water Resources Control Board. In a water-rights proceeding, you get to speak “on the record” to the Board or it Administrative Hearing Office by “protesting” the new or modified right. In the last year, FOR has protested the water rights of two major water projects…

The proposed Delta Tunnel has reached the water rights stage, and Friends of the River, alongside many partner organizations, submitted two formal “protests” of the Tunnel water rights applications…

Didn’t we just win some significant victories defending the state and tribal role (and our influence) to ensure that federal projects, licenses, and permits meet state/tribal clean water standards?… Nevada Irrigation District is taking another swing at state Clean Water Act Authority…

Threats to the California Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and McCloud River, illegal dam projects on state parks, and a small win for you…

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…