The National Audubon Society has released the Great Salt Lake Birds and Habitat Assessment, a science-based tool that integrates habitat, hydrology, and climate modeling to illustrate the importance of Great Salt Lake and its wetlands for waterbirds. Built by Audubon scientists with input from habitat and water experts, the assessment is designed to identify and…
A new report finds that natural disaster impact on US food supply has reached $5.1 billion in annual losses across the country’s 1.9 million farms. Drawing on FEMA National Risk Index data and USDA agricultural census figures dating back to 1996, the analysis identifies drought, cold waves, hail, and hurricanes as the dominant drivers of…
A Dartmouth study published in Nature finds that rainfall consolidation – the packing of annual precipitation into fewer, heavier storms with longer dry spells in between – is reducing effective water availability for land, aquifers, and ecosystems globally. The research analyzed precipitation records from 1980 to 2022 and found the trend consistent across both wet…
A new report from the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute and the National Drought Mitigation Center examines how Tribal water rights shape agricultural development across US Reservations, tracing the legal foundation established by the 1908 Winters v. United States decision. That ruling affirmed that Reservations carry an implicit right to sufficient water, with priority…
A new study of the largest dam removal project in US history on the Klamath River has found that agricultural producers and conservation groups share more priorities than their long-running conflict suggests. The research, published in Society & Natural Resources, identifies four areas of mutual concern that could guide future river restoration decisions. Conducted…
California’s Department of Water Resources has released a new planning document aimed at strengthening San Joaquin Valley water management and climate resilience amid intensifying pressures on communities, agriculture, and ecosystems. The plan builds on three recent DWR studies covering State Water Project adaptation, valley conveyance, and regional watershed conditions. Decades of groundwater overdraft have…
A new study finds that the US-Mexico border barrier system restricts wildlife access to water along a stretch of the Rio Grande in southern Texas. A future continuous barrier could eliminate that access entirely in some areas. Researchers modeled how javelina, coyote, and white-tailed deer move across the landscape under three scenarios: no barrier, the…
California is directing $46 million of voter-approved Proposition 4 funding toward worsening Tijuana River water quality and New River contamination at the US-Mexico border. The funding was opened for applications by the State Water Resources Control Board in June 2026. Eligible projects include those that reduce bacteria and trash loads, address public health impacts,…
A proposed data center in Kern County, California, is drawing scrutiny over data center water use as state regulators weigh how much environmental review is needed for the project. The proposed RB Inyokern Data Center project would draw roughly 40,430 gallons of water per day from a groundwater basin already in overdraft that are under…
A new paper outlines how flexible conservation pools could help protect the Colorado River’s two largest reservoirs during increasingly severe drought years. Lake Powell and Lake Mead are approaching historically low water levels under current management guidelines. The Bureau of Reclamation’s April 2026 projections showed Lake Powell could fall below 3,500 feet this year,…
A recent study highlights the growing difficulty of tracking data center water use. Much of this operational information remains unavailable to the public. This lack of data creates significant planning challenges for communities located in water-scarce regions. Facilities utilize massive amounts of water to cool computer servers. The current data gap includes both direct…
A new report from the Neptune Flood Research Group, California Underwater: A Blind Spot in the Golden State, reveals that California carries one of the largest residential flood insurance gaps of any state in the nation, leaving millions of homeowners financially exposed to a threat they may not even know they face. Residential flood…
For anyone who has been forced to evacuate during a wildfire, the experience of not knowing how fast the fire is moving or which direction it will take is terrifying. That unpredictability is exactly what a team of researchers at USC Viterbi’s Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering is working to eliminate. The new model,…
A new study from researchers at the University of British Columbia, delivers some of the clearest evidence yet that the rhythm of the seasons is fundamentally changing – and faster than scientists previously measured. The study analyzed global temperature data from 1961 through 2023, tracking not the calendar definition of summer, but the actual…
A new report from a team of water law scholars, engineers, and policy experts argues that the 80-year-old framework governing how the United States delivers Colorado River water to Mexico is no longer fit for purpose – and that a fundamental redesign is both possible and urgent. Since 1945, the US has been obligated…
Applications Due June 29. NOAA Fisheries has opened applications for up to $99 million through the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, directing federal investment toward conservation and habitat restoration projects across the West Coast and Alaska. Eligible applicants include state agencies in Alaska, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, as well as federally…
The Water-AI Nexus™ Center of Excellence has released two resources designed to move artificial intelligence from pilot projects to everyday operations in water and wastewater systems. Their new insight report, “Principles for AI and the Future of Work in Water: Building an AI-Empowered Water Workforce,” lays out four principles centered on a worker-first approach…
A new policy report by UC Berkely Law entitled “Regulating Data Center Water Use in California” addresses the environmental impact of the AI-driven data center boom on the state’s water resources. The report identifies a critical lack of transparency and a fragmented regulatory framework, offering a roadmap for how the state and industry should manage this…
The Utah legislature has officially passed a bill requiring water reporting for new data facilities moving into the state. Driven by concerns over resource consumption, the new legislation aims to increase transparency by mandating that operators publicly disclose their annual water usage to state officials. The bill specifically targets new data centers measuring at…
The California Department of Conservation has approved 13 new projects for the Multibenefit Land Repurposing Program which now has more than 4,800 acres of land enrolled. Since launching in 2022, the initiative has allocated nearly $80 million to help transition the least-viable irrigated agricultural lands into alternative uses that conserve groundwater and support local ecosystems.…
A new study from the University of California Riverside and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) reveals that the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence is placing unprecedented demand on municipal water supplies. As cloud computing grows, servers require massive amounts of cooling during peak temperatures, creating sudden spikes in demand that local systems cannot currently…
When severe weather strikes, the National Weather Service Office of Water Prediction relies on complex modeling to make critical safety forecasts. Despite improvements, these predictive capabilities have plateaued. To overcome these limitations, a University of Vermont scientist has collaborated with federal agencies to develop the Next Generation Water Resources Modeling framework, with the goal of…
More than 80% of watersheds in the United States currently lack adequate protection, but the new National Protected Rivers Assessment tool can now tell you if your local river or creek is in trouble. Developed by the nonprofit American Rivers and Conservation Science Partners, this online framework evaluates waterways across the entire country to address…
Federal officials are proposing to increase logging in Oregon with the goal of returning timber harvest rates to 1960s levels. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently announced plans to update the Western Oregon Resource Management Plans to reflect this new goal which would impact 2.5 million acres across 17 counties. This proposal could…
For 35 years, Professor Robert Mahler at the University of Idaho (UI) Department of Soil and Water Systems has meticulously tracked changing public perceptions of water resources in Idaho. His exhaustive dataset represents one of the longest-standing public water surveys in the nation, capturing exactly how residents view their most vital natural asset. …