California ends boat inspections meant to keep destructive golden mussels out of Lake Oroville, balancing a new risk analysis with the ongoing costs.
Rachel Becker / CalMatters
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?
Posted inLatest News
Sparse snowpack in California fuels concern over fast-approaching fire season
With California’s reservoirs brimming — but snowpack abysmal — experts warn of a potentially early fire season.
Posted inLatest News
Record heat, melting snow: What does it mean for California’s reservoirs?
Providing about a third of the state’s water supply, the Sierra Nevada snowpack is a vital source of spring and summer runoff that refills reservoirs when the state needs the water most. But a warm, wet storm followed February’s snow, and now, March temperatures are shattering records — prompting warnings of rapid snowmelt and swift rivers.
Posted inLatest News
A contentious project to raise California’s Shasta Dam just got a funding boost from Trump
The Trump administration Tuesday announced $40 million for “planning and preconstruction activities associated with raising Shasta Dam.” Opponents say the project could swamp sacred sites and harm a protected river.
Posted inLatest News
Facing ‘extinction vortex,’ California grants new protections to some mountain lions
State fish and game officials declared mountain lions on the Central Coast and in Southern California threatened under the state’s endangered species act.
Posted inLatest News
‘Little death bombs’: Illegal cannabis farms poison California’s forests. Who’s cleaning them up?
Even after legalization, illicit cannabis grows continue to pollute California’s public lands. And the contamination, new research shows, lingers.
Posted inRecreation & Sports
A new invader threatens California water supplies. Can the state stop its spread?
Officials are shoring up water systems infiltrated by the golden mussel. Dogs and human inspectors are checking boats at some California lakes, but a patchwork of oversight leaves many lakes unprotected. “There’s just too many boats and too many people out there,” one warden said.
