Stakeholders should stay informed as state and federal officials advance plans and policies for water conservation, water quality, and climate resilience in California.
Following consecutive years of heavy rainfall, California experienced record heat and dry conditions during the summer of 2024, which led parts of the state back into drought. Despite late 2024 storms in Northern California, January 2025 saw statewide precipitation fall below average for the water year, resulting in dry conditions across much of the state, especially in Southern California. Although a stormier February provided some relief, snowpack, which accounts for 30% of the state’s water supply, remained below average in the Central and Southern Sierra Nevada mountains.
All this highlights that California’s resilience has been and will continue to be tested as the state increasingly grapples with extreme fluctuations between drought and flood conditions. This post summarizes key actions taken by state and federal officials in 2024 with respect to California’s water, and provides a forecast for the California water landscape for 2025 in the wake of the new federal administration.
State Actions Affecting California Water Resources
California’s Drought Emergency Orders
On September 4, 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom ended the drought state of emergency in 19 counties, including Los Angeles, Imperial, and San Bernardino counties. This move builds on prior rollbacks, including a March 2023 executive order, which lifted several components of Governor Newsom’s 2021 drought emergency orders. Among a host of other rollbacks, Governor Newsom’s September 4, 2024 executive order terminates several emergency drought provisions, including May 10, 2021 provisions suspending environmental review for actions addressing drought impacts in certain watersheds. The order also terminates an October 19, 2021 provision granting the State Water Resources Control Board authority to adopt emergency regulations to prohibit wasteful water practices. As of the date of this post, a drought state of emergency remains in 39 counties.
State Water Project
Water Allocations
On December 2, 2024, the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) issued an initial State Water Project allocation forecast of 10% of requested supplies. This allocation did not account for heavy precipitation brought by storms in Northern California in November 2024. After those storms, CDWR updated the allocation first to 15%, then to 20%. On February 25, 2025, CDWR announced a further increase to 35% of requested water supplies. According to CDWR Director Karla Nemeth, “California is experiencing a winter of extremes” with “predominately dry conditions broken up by very wet, short storm events.” This pattern will likely continue to influence future allocation changes as the state balances both flood risk management and water storage.
New Operating Permit
The State Water Project received a new Incidental Take Permit (ITP) from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), effective November 4, 2024, through November 1, 2034. The revised operating permit from CDFW covers five species protected under the California Endangered Species Act, including Longfin Smelt, Delta Smelt, Spring-run Chinook Salmon, Winter-run Chinook Salmon, and White Sturgeon. According to CDWR Director Nemeth, the ITP “provides California with new tools and resources to better manage [the state’s] water supply for endangered fish species and millions of Californians.” The ITP issuance followed certification of a Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) by CDWR addressing long-term operations of the State Water Project.
Delta Conveyance Project
The Delta Conveyance Project, also called the Delta Tunnel, is a proposal for a new 44.6-mile-long tunnel to divert water from the Sacramento River, bypassing the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and directing it into existing State Water Project infrastructure. The project seeks to safeguard California’s water supply against the challenges posed by climate change, sea-level rise, earthquakes, and extreme weather fluctuations. However, the Delta Tunnel faces opposition from environmental groups due to concerns that it could disrupt the Delta’s ecological system, exacerbating the decline of native fish populations including Delta Smelt, Chinook Salmon, and Central Valley Steelhead.
In December 2023, CDWR approved the Delta Tunnel and certified the project’s Final EIR. The project has now moved forward with numerous other federal and state compliance and permitting processes. On February 22, 2024, CDWR filed a Change in Point of Diversion petition for the project, which, if approved by the State Water Board, would allow the State Water Project to divert water from two new locations for the project. CDWR will hold a public hearing on the petition throughout 2025. The public hearing began on February 18, 2025, and will continue on March 24, 2025. As of March 6, 2025, the project’s pre-construction approvals are expected to be complete by the end of 2026.
State Water Resources Control Board
Water Conservation
The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) adopted the “Making Conservation a California Way of Life” regulation, which went into effect on January 1, 2025. The regulation establishes efficiency goals for urban water retail suppliers in response to 2018 legislative mandates (AB 1668 and SB 606). Under the regulation, urban retail water suppliers are held to annual “urban water use objectives,” which include budgets for a subset of water uses. The regulation provides for variances and temporary provisions to address unique water use circumstances. Suppliers must annually demonstrate compliance with objectives beginning January 1, 2027.
Efforts to Protect Groundwater Basins
On February 27, 2025, CDWR announced determinations for groundwater sustainability plans (GSPs) in 16 California basins, a key milestone in the implementation of the 2014 Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). CDWR approved all 16 GSPs except one. According to CDWR, 86 basins are now operating under an approved or alternative plan. Basins with inadequate plans require consultation with the SWRCB.
On April 16, 2025, the SWRCB placed the San Joaquin Valley Tulare Lake Subbasin in probationary status under SGMA. The designation imposes reporting requirements and potential fees on extractors within the subbasin. However, these enforcement mechanisms have been suspended amid ongoing litigation filed in Kings County Superior Court. The state has appealed the trial court’s temporary injunction pausing SWRCB enforcement, with the trial court’s order currently under review at the California 5th Appellate District.1
The SWRCB held a February 20, 2025, hearing to determine whether to place the Kern County Subbasin on probation under SGMA. The SWRCB decided to continue the hearing to September 17, 2025, to allow the subbasin time to resolve deficiencies in its draft GSP. The subbasin’s groundwater sustainability agency must submit an updated draft GSP by June 20, 2025.
New Water Quality Regulations
On April 17, 2024, the SWRCB adopted a maximum containment level (MCL) of 10 parts per billion for hexavalent chromium, a known carcinogen. This is the first standard in the country to regulate the heavy metal’s presence in drinking water. The Superior Court of Sacramento County struck down a previous MCL for hexavalent chromium in 2017.
On April 12, 2025, the SWRCB announced that it is expanding testing for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the state’s drinking water supply. PFAS are a group of man-made chemicals used in a wide range of products such as non-stick cookware and products that resist grease, water, and oil. This announcement followed federal action regulating the presence of six PFAS in drinking water, discussed below.
Federal Actions Affecting California Water Resources
Trump Administration Issues Executive Order on California Water
On his first day in office, President Trump issued the “Putting People Over Fish: Stopping Radical Environmentalism to Provide Water to Southern California” executive order. The executive order directed the Secretaries of Commerce and the Interior to route more water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to Southern California and report back on their progress within 90 days, which would be April 20, 2025.
Central Valley Project Allocations
In February 2025, the Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), which manages the state’s Central Valley Project, announced an initial 2025 water allocation of 35% for south-of-Delta water contractors — a 20% increase from the February 2024 allocation. The Central Valley Project, which transports water from Shasta Lake in Northern California to the southern San Joaquin Valley, stores and distributes approximately 20% of California’s developed water.
In 2024, Reclamation increased Central Valley Project allocations in March, April, and June, after its initial February allocations followed below-average precipitation in January. The March increase brought north-of-Delta contractors to a 100% allocation. By June, the allocations for south-of-Delta contractors had increased to 50%, up significantly from the 15% initial allocation.
Reclamation Approves Updated Operations Plan for Central Valley and State Water Projects
On December 20, 2024, Reclamation signed a Record of Decision adopting an updated water management framework for operations at the Central Valley Project and the Delta facilities of the State Water Project. The new framework prioritizes water storage in Shasta Reservoir to manage water temperatures during multiple years of drought to better protect temperature-dependent fish species. Additionally, the framework seeks to harmonize operational requirements of the Central Valley Project with California Endangered Species Act requirements for the State Water Project and adjusts water deliveries under both water projects in specific drought conditions. The projects’ long-term operations plans were evaluated in biological opinions by both the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency’s Fisheries division, which address the water projects’ impacts on federally listed species and their critical habitats. The framework is the result of a coordinated effort between federal and state agencies to help better manage California’s water supply while mitigating the projects’ ecological impacts.
Ongoing Negotiations and Executive Order Create Uncertainty for Colorado River Management
As of March 3, 2025, the two largest reservoirs in the Colorado River system — Lake Powell and Lake Mead — sit at roughly 35% full, having rebounded from record lows in recent years. Forecasters, however, predict only 67% of normal spring runoff into the reservoir in 2025. This forecast comes as states and other stakeholders continue to negotiate over water management in the Colorado River system and Reclamation charts long-term operations of the system.
On January 17, 2025, Reclamation released a report outlining alternatives for managing Colorado River operations after 2026 as part of its effort to develop long-term operating guidelines. The report builds on proposals from Colorado River Basin states, Tribes, and other stakeholders, and is intended to provide flexibility for stakeholders to continue negotiations towards a consensus agreement. Reclamation will analyze the report’s alternatives in a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which is expected to be published in the summer of 2025. The alternatives report follows the 2023 consensus agreement, brokered by the Department of the Interior, which currently guides Colorado River operations but is set to expire at the end of 2026.
On January 10, 2025, the Biden administration announced a $284.8 million investment for long-term conservation projects in the Lower Basin of the Colorado River. The projects, financed through the Inflation Reduction Act, aim to conserve nearly 500,000 acre-feet of Colorado River water to support Lake Mead. Overall, Congress has earmarked $4 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funds for water management across the West. On his first day in office, however, President Trump issued “Unleashing American Energy,” an executive order which, among other priorities for the administration, halted disbursement from the Inflation Reduction Act. It is unclear how this funding freeze might unfold for Colorado River water management going forward. On March 3, 2025, six US senators representing states in the Lower Basin of the Colorado River sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum, requesting that the Interior Department work to rescind the freeze and minimize federal workforce cuts impacting Reclamation.
Federal Water Quality Updates
Before the change in federal administration, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) took multiple actions to protect drinking water systems and improve water quality across the US.
On October 8, 2024, the Biden EPA issued a final rule under the Safe Drinking Water Act, requiring the replacement of lead pipes in drinking water systems across the US. Under the rule, the vast majority of lead pipes must be replaced within 10 years. EPA touted the health and developmental benefits of the rule, which is anticipated to “protect up to 900,000 infants from having low birthweight” and “reduce up to 1,500 cases of premature death from heart disease,” among other benefits.
The Biden EPA also took action to regulate PFAS. On April 10, 2024, the Biden EPA issued a national drinking water standard for PFAS, establishing MCLs for six PFAS. Public water systems have three years, until 2027, to complete initial monitoring for these substances and report on PFAS levels in drinking water. Additionally, on January 3, 2025, EPA announced the addition of nine PFAS to the Toxics Release Inventory (TRI), a public database maintained by EPA that contains information on toxic chemical releases and waste management activities reported annually by certain industries as well as federal facilities. Data on TRI-listed chemicals is publicly available and helps inform communities, companies, organizations, and government agencies on chemical management in certain industries and at specific facilities. With the addition of these nine substances, 205 PFAS are now subject to TRI reporting requirements.
What to Watch in 2025
Stakeholders should stay up-to-date and informed on evolving policies, including with respect to PFAS regulation, which has the potential to significantly impact costs of water treatment. Additionally, as discussed above, the Trump administration has targeted California’s water management strategies. More changes can be anticipated as the Trump administration reviews Biden-era policies and continues efforts to shrink the federal workforce. Reports indicate that the administration has already reduced the size of Reclamation staff, which may impact operation and management of federal water facilities in California.2
