Statewide Region 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 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.

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 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.

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 California Local...

11/17/2024
Image for display with article titled The Chumash National Marine Sanctuary

Thousands of square miles of ocean and coastal habitat are now preserved for future generations.

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.

California Local Pin Marker From California Local...

10/13/2024
Image for display with article titled How California Governments Borrow Money

Municipal bonds fund water systems, school buildings, parks, police stations and other public projects that require voter-approved money.

California Local Pin Marker From Los Angeles Times...

09/08/2024
The California state goal to conserve 30% of its land and coastal waters has advanced, with conserved lands reaching 25% and coastal waters 16%.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

07/16/2024
A Kings County judge today issued a temporary restraining order against the state that pauses its unprecedented move to crack down on groundwater depletion in California’s agricultural heartland.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

07/10/2024
Harnessing clean energy is a venture of unprecedented scope in California, bringing big changes to Humboldt and the Central Coast, and requiring 26 ports along the coast.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

07/03/2024
The measures are substantially weaker than a previous proposal after an onslaught of criticism. But they will still save enough water through 2050 to supply the state’s entire population for a year, at a cost of $4.7 billion.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

06/25/2024
Almost 400 suppliers, two-thirds in communities of color, don’t meet safety and reliability standards. Fixing them would cost billions.

California Local Pin Marker From The Mercury News...

06/18/2024
A new round of litigation began when environmental groups opposed to the Sites reservoir in Colusa County filed an appeal on a ruling which dismissed their suit seeking to halt the project from proceeding.

California Local Pin Marker From CalMatters...

06/17/2024
Legal rights to use water — particularly those obtained prior to 1914 — lie at the heart of California’s perpetual wrangling over the allocation of increasingly limited water supplies.