Water

Hundreds of water systems in California are failing; many serve disadvantaged communities and people of color. The state can help but its resources are limited.

Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers representing the Delta say Newsom is trying to upend existing water rights and land acquisition laws, while the governor says "we're done with barriers."

Enlarging the dam would deliver more Sacramento River water to Central Valley farmers but a tribe could lose sacred sites and endangered salmon could lose habitat in wet years.

Collapsing salmon runs and restrictions on Dungeness crab have forced restaurants, charter boats and commercial fishers in California's coastal villages to adapt.

The cancelation of the commercial salmon fishing season for the third consecutive year in California is a grim milestone, but there are glimmers of hope, a top wildlife official argues.

The Delta faces a funding crisis to repair and maintain an aging network of 1,100 miles of levees. These earthen berms, mostly on private land, could rupture and endanger half a million people and flood thousands of acres of farmland.

Billions of state and federal dollars are spent on Lake Tahoe. But is all this attention actually protecting this unique treasure? Pollutants pour in, while development continues. Funding has shifted in focus to tourism and traffic projects, while money spent directly on fixing the lake has declined.

The governor’s planned $20 billion tunnel to divert more water south and bypass the Delta would bring years of construction noise, pollution and traffic. Residents worry their rural farm towns will never be the same.

A new conservancy will oversee work to improve vegetation, water quality and natural habitat in the Salton Sea. Will nearly half a billion dollars in projects be enough?

California needs to "facilitate new construction at an unprecedented scale" to solve housing, water and climate issues, a legislative report says.