Water

After widespread, bipartisan criticism, the governor revised his budget proposal to bring back $40 million to restore San Joaquin Valley floodplains.

Nitrate contamination of well water has been a decades-long problem in the San Joaquin and Salinas valleys — and now stormwater has flushed more fertilizer and manure into aquifers.

One of the options would override California’s water rights and split the cuts evenly between California, Nevada and Arizona — which would be a big blow to Imperial Valley farmers.

The governor eliminated $40 million for restoring floodplains, halting projects that help protect vulnerable, disadvantaged communities like Stockton. San Joaquin Valley legislators are pushing back.

California ended its voluntary statewide target, triggering concerns from experts that many water supplies remain depleted. Other drought measures remain in place.

The salmon industry, worth about half a billion dollars, is devastated. The culprits: Drought and decades of water diversions and development.

State officials say the urgency to store more water has vanished as storms swell reservoirs. The reversal is a victory for environmentalists, but they say the damage to salmon and native fish is already done.

As storms melt snowpack, managers released water to prevent reservoirs from overflowing and flooding Central Valley towns — and that sends water into the ocean. The warm rains melt snow that ideally would last into spring and help with water deliveries.

Groundwater plans, largely serving low-income Latino communities, were deemed inadequate for preventing dry wells and sinking land.

The Sites Reservoir — a $4.4 billion project to add dams and store more water that’ll be sent south — is still years away from completion. The final environmental report is expected this year, before construction of two large dams and other structures can begin.