Sacramento County Local News: Water


All Local Water News articles contributed by our local media allies and other local newsrooms.

Image caption: Since the Gold Rush era, land reclamation has cost California 90 percent of its wetlands.
How Land Reclamation Hurts California’s Environment

Since the Gold Rush era, land reclamation projects have helped to build California, but they are also damaging the state’s environment for people, plants and animals by eliminating essential wetlands.

Image caption: How California reclamation districts turned millions of acres of wetlands into fertile agricultural land, starting in the earliest days of the Gold Rush.
Reclamation Districts: Turning ‘Swamps’ Into Farmland

California has used reclamation districts to turn millions of acres of unusable swamps into fertile agricultural land, starting in the earliest days of the Gold Rush. Here’s how it happened.

Image caption: From nitrates to arsenic to “forever chemicals,” California’s water supply faces a serious pollution threat.
Dirty Water: California Faces a Water Contamination Crisis

Almost one million California residents are forced to drink from contaminated water supplies, or pay for bottled water. Economic inequality makes the crisis worse. What is the state doing to fix it?

Image caption: Just because record rains have been falling, the state’s water crisis remains.
What Is Drought? Probably Not What You Think

2023’s torrential rainstorms have eased California's drought conditions. But there’s a lot more to drought than the amount of rain, and this drought isn't over yet.

Image caption: There are more than 300 community service districts in California.
Community Services Districts, Explained

Community service districts can do most anything a city government can do. Here’s how they work and how to start one.

Image caption: RCDs look after the land, whether it’s used for grazing, growing, or getting out into nature.
California Dirt

What do resource conservation districts protect? Pretty much everything that’s worth saving.

Image caption: Water is a human right under California law, but it doesn’t always work out that way.
Agriculture and Water Shortages in the State’s Breadbasket, Explained

Residential wells are drying up in the state’s main agricultural region at the same time that agricultural businesses consume almost 90 percent of the water there.

California Local Pin Marker From CapPublicRadio...

02/07/2025
Read on for more information about how the City of Sacramento works against gravity to convey water from storm drains on rainy days.

Rancho Cordova Grapevine Independent logo From Rancho Cordova Grapevine Independent...

02/04/2025
Image for display with article titled State Water Project Increases 2025 Allocation Forecast

On Jan. 28, the Department of Water Resources (DWR) announced an update to the State Water Project allocation forecast for 2025.

Folsom Times logo From Folsom Times...

02/04/2025
Image for display with article titled County Ratifies Local Emergency Status Involving East Sacramento Levee

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors has ratified a Proclamation of Emergency in response to what is being cited as significant uncontrolled levee erosion along a stretch of levee east of Dillard Road and south of Highway 16 in east Sacramento County. The proclamation is in response to Reclamation District 800 proclaiming an emergency on Monday.

California Local Pin Marker From The Sacramento Bee...

02/03/2025
The City of Sacramento released renderings for a planned new bridge over the American River. Read on for more information.

California Local Pin Marker From Local News Matters...

02/03/2025
Snowpack in the Sierra Nevada, which supplies about one-third of California’s water needs, was far lower than average for the end of January at one of the state’s measurement points on January 31.

California Local Pin Marker From Stocktonia...

02/01/2025
Read on to learn more about the Trump-ordered "emergency" release of water from two San Joaquin Valley reservoirs and how it is literally going down the drain (and not to preserve LA from fires as claimed).

Sacramento News and Review logo From Sacramento News and Review...

01/28/2025
Image for display with article titled Delta Communities, Regional Fishing Groups, Startled by New Presidential Executive Orders

On January 24, President Donald Trump issued executive orders that will have “devastating consequences” for California’s water future, public health and environmental protections – threatening a federal takeover of the state’s right to manage its land and resources – according to a coalition of fishing, tribal and environmental organizations.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

01/22/2025
It would be impossible to overstate the complexity of water supply management in California.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

01/21/2025
Trump apparently wants to override new Biden-Newsom rules that have widespread support among Southern California cities and some Central Valley farmers.

California Local Pin Marker From San Joaquin Valley Sun...

01/17/2025
Read on for the latest progress in the B.F. Sisk Dam Raise and Reservoir Expansion Project to raise the dam at the San Luis Reservoir to add storage capacity.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

01/08/2025
President-elect Donald Trump faulted California water policies for the devastating wildfires that are burning in Los Angeles County. The fires started because of fierce winds and extremely dry conditions.

American River Messenger logo From American River Messenger...

01/07/2025
Image for display with article titled Salmon Success in River

Within weeks following completion of a $1.7-million Water Forum project in October, giant Chinook were spawning in new gravel beds. The 2024 effort to aid the endangered species centered on River Bend Park (Rancho Cordova) and William B. Pond Park (Carmichael).

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

01/07/2025
Some Northern California cities have been soaked with almost twice their average rainfall, while southern cities are bone-dry. This season’s huge — possibly unprecedented — disparity works in favor of the state’s water supplies.

California Local Pin Marker From Local News Matters...

01/04/2025
The Delta Stewardship Council, a state-appointed agency that works to protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta while preserving it as a major water source, recently released a draft adaptation plan called Delta Adapts: Creating a Climate Resilient Future. 

Sacramento News and Review logo From Sacramento News and Review...

12/30/2024
Image for display with article titled SN&R’s Top Ten Stories of the Year

Based on reader feedback, web analytics, SN&R’s storytelling history and the broader community conversation, here are the top ten stories for 2024 that we think are worth a second look if you missed them the first time.

California Local Pin Marker From The Sacramento Bee...

12/21/2024
Following resent storm erosion to a levee protecting Sherman Island, residents are advised to remain alert. Read on to learn more and how to sign up for updates from the Sacramento County Office of Emergency Services.

California Local Pin Marker From Elk Grove News Net...

12/20/2024
Learn more about the massive Harvest Water Project which is under construction to process and deliver billions of gallons of reclaimed sewage for agricultural use and to recharge southern Sacramento County groundwater.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

12/20/2024
New operating rules for massive Delta systems will increase water deliveries to Southern California cities and some growers. Salmon numbers could drop, especially in dry years.

Sacramento News and Review logo From Sacramento News and Review...

12/17/2024
Image for display with article titled Sites Reservoir in the Sacramento Valley Remains a Second Environmental Battlefront Between Newsom and California Tribes and Conservation Groups

Gavin Newsom continued his “California Jobs First” tour last week with a press event at a farm in Colusa in the Sacramento Valley where the governor promoted efforts to build Sites Reservoir. However, similar to Newsom’s embattled Delta tunnel, Sites is a water project that’ is strongly opposed by a broad coalition of indigenous tribes, environmental groups and fishing organizations.

California Local Pin Marker From The Mercury News...

12/10/2024
In a December 10 press conference, Governor Newsom urged lawmakers to press forward in building the Sites Reservoir in Colusa County. Read on to learn more about the project, the largest new reservoirs to be built in California in the last 50 years.