As El Niño nears, California found 57 dams in poor or unsatisfactory condition, and regulators have never yet penalized an owner.
Rachel Becker / CalMatters
Posted inPolitics & Policy
How would Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton manage California’s most precious resource, water?
CalMatters asked California gubernatorial candidates Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton how they’d manage conflicts over water. The Republican endorsed more spending on dams.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Newsom vetoes Delta levees bill as El Niño winter looms
California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed SB 872, saying money in the budget made the bill’s $170 million for levee repairs redundant. The state puts those repair costs at $3.3 billion.
Posted inLatest News
Federal wildfire crews are stretched thin. California is stepping in to help
As fire season takes hold, California is managing fuels and fire on federal lands. Can the Golden State keep it up?
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Forest fires follow roads. The Trump administration wants to build more
The Trump administration announced Tuesday it is rolling back a rule prohibiting logging and road construction in undeveloped parts of national forests, including more than 4 million acres of federally managed forest lands in California.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
California can’t replant its forests fast enough to keep up with wildfires
California’s wildfires are destroying forests faster than the state can replant them, and federal cuts are making the gap worse.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
California scales back golden mussel safeguards at vital reservoir, alarming experts
California ends boat inspections meant to keep destructive golden mussels out of Lake Oroville, balancing a new risk analysis with the ongoing costs.
Posted inBusiness & Technology
Data centers are guzzling California’s water. We have no idea how much
Data centers are expanding into water-stressed California communities, but lax disclosure rules keep the public in the dark about actual usage.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Will California ever build the Delta tunnel? Major battles ahead as Newsom era nears end
California’s Delta tunnel largely cleared a key hurdle last month — but far bigger obstacles still stand in the way.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Endangered salmon returned to California’s far north — then the money dried up
Gov. Gavin Newsom promised to help a Native tribe restore sacred salmon to their ancestral river. Now, California is ending the funding. The fish made it back to their ancestral waters for the first time in 80 years — so why is the state walking away now?
