San Benito 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 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).

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.

Benito Link logo From Benito Link...

01/07/2025
Image for display with article titled Q&A With Former San Juan City Council Member John Freeman

After eight years on the San Juan Bautista City Council, John Freeman has changed direction and will now represent Division 2 on the San Benito County Water District Board of Directors.

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 Monterey Herald...

12/23/2024
Learn about the bill introduced by Rep. Jimmy Panetta which would initiate the process to designate the communities neighboring the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary as a National Heritage Area, and what that would entail.

Benito Link logo From Benito Link...

12/21/2024
Image for display with article titled Congress OKs $15 Million for San Benito County Water Projects

Rep. Zoe Lofgren has secured seven provisions relating to local water issues, which could bring as much as $15 million to San Benito County to pay for the San Juan Bautista Water and Hollister Downtown Water Line Replacement Projects.

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.

Gilroy Dispatch logo From Gilroy Dispatch...

12/17/2024
Image for display with article titled Valley Water Board Elects Chair, Vice Chair for 2025

The Valley Water Board of Directors elected Tony Estremera as the Chair for 2025, and Richard P. Santos as Vice Chair. The board voted on their new officers at the Dec. 10 meeting.

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.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

12/04/2024
Each December there’s a new version of an old guessing game about how much water will be provided to agricultural and municipal users in the year ahead.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

11/25/2024
Most ships discharging ballast water into California waters are inspected, but state officials have tested the water of only 16 ships. Experts say invaders like mussels are inevitable under current rules and enforcement.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

10/31/2024
Sixty years ago, I was a reporter for the Klamath Falls (Oregon) Herald and News and with my family lived in a small house on the Link River, which flows out of Upper Klamath Lake, draining a large portion of the Cascade mountain range.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

10/30/2024
Low counts of spawning salmon could mean another year without fishing. Experts say the outlook still has time to turn around.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

10/27/2024
Image for display with article titled From Local News Matters: Water War on the Delta

“This is a local story about a global issue, the future of water. In a three-part series of field reports and podcasts, Bay City News reporter Ruth Dusseault looks at the tunnel’s stakeholders, its engineering challenges, and explores the preindustrial Delta and its future restoration."

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

10/24/2024
Growers support a federal and state proposal for operating California’s massive systems that send river water south. But it could harm more salmon and other endangered fish.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

10/23/2024
Most of us operate on the calendar year — the 12 months that begin on January 1 and end on December 31.

Benito Link logo From Benito Link...

10/21/2024
Image for display with article titled San Benito County Water District Works to Meet Region’s Needs Amid Drought

As the region’s overall water supply and demand for municipal and industrial uses are almost on par at current usage levels, the San Benito County Water District is working on expanding resources to account for immediate future demands.