Water

The irrigation bill, which aims to force businesses and institutions to remove their lawns, now goes to the governor.

As four aging hydroelectric dams are demolished, tribes and communities along the Klamath River wait anxiously to see what the future holds. “Once a river is dammed, is it damned forever?” experts ask.

Three fossil fuel plants will stand by to provide emergency power for three more years despite California's mandate to switch to clean energy by 2045.

A discrimination complaint filed by Native American tribes and environmental justice groups alleges that California has failed to protect water quality in the Bay-Delta. The EPA is investigating.

Waste would undergo extensive treatment and testing before it’s piped directly to taps, providing a new, costly but renewable water supply. The state’s new draft rules are more than a decade in the making.

The package of laws aims to speed up lawsuits for solar farms, reservoirs and other infrastructure, and relax protection of some species. Environmentalists and business groups call them a good compromise.

Legislators threatened to reject Newsom’s infrastructure package if he won’t remove the Delta water tunnel. The issue could be ammunition as the budget deadline looms.

The legislation would expand California’s authority to fine water scofflaws who keep pumping. Even if fines had reached $10,000 a day, “I'm not so sure we wouldn't have done it again,” one rancher says.

Environmentalists say it's past time for California water officials to halt Los Angeles' diversion of Mono Lake's tributaries. But L.A. officials insist that water is a tiny but vital part of the city's water supply.

Southern California growers agreed to use less water through 2026 and receive federal funds in return. But it's not a long-term solution to the Colorado River's water woes.