On January 9, 2026, Governor Newsom announced his 2026-2027 $348.9 billion budget proposal. Contrary to his 2025 proposal, this proposal includes a deficit. However, this proposal’s deficit is only $2.3 billion, substantially less than in 2023 and 2024, and the press release calls this projected deficit both “modest” and “solved”. The budget proposal’s deficit projection stands in contrast with the Legislative Analyst’s Office November 19, 2025 report, which predicted an $18 billion shortfall.
The budget site includes a full combined summary, summaries of ...
On January 21, 2026, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) published its Best Management Practices of the Sustainable Management of Groundwater – Land Subsidence (Subsidence BMPs). The press release details the importance of addressing subsidence, which costs Californians hundreds of millions of dollars annually, largely through damaging public infrastructure and reducing water deliveries.
Background
Subsidence is the process of land sinking. In the water context, it is generally caused by removing groundwater quicker than it is replenished, which ...
On January 15, 2026, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a proposed rule titled “Updating the Water Quality Certification Regulations” (Proposed Rule). This rule implements changes to the Clean Water Act’s (CWA) Section 401 permitting process. EPA intends to narrow the scope of the States’ certification authority to the application of solely water quality-related conditions which may be applied only to the discharge, not the project as a whole.
This change, among others in the Proposed Rule, will significantly reduce the ability of States or ...
California Water Views provides timely and insightful updates on the water sector in the state. We relay information on how water legislation and policy from the nation’s capital, Sacramento, and around the U.S. affect California’s water utilities, agencies, practitioners, and consumers. We also write about important events, conferences, legal cases, and other key happenings involving all things water in and around California.
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