Month: December 2025

By Alan Gionet

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    COLORADO (KCNC) — A new report compiled by the University of Colorado’s Colorado River Research Group warns that threats to the river’s water supply are now so severe that they pose a significant risk to the water supply in seven Western states and tribal areas, potentially impacting the economy and governance.

The report is titled “Colorado River Insights 2025: Dancing with Deadpool.” It is a compilation of reports by a variety of experts looking at different aspects of high demand and supply shortages that have led to low water levels in places like Lake Powell and Lake Mead. These issues threaten both power generation and supply.

“What’s missing is urgency. The window for decisive, collaborative action is closing fast,” said Douglas Kenney, director of the Western Water Policy Program of the Getches-Wilkinson Center at the University of Colorado Law School and chair of the Colorado River Research Group.

This warning comes after more than two years of re-negotiation of a 100-year-old water use pact that sets aside water for use by Western States, native tribes, and even Mexico, missed a November deadline for cutting a deal. That deadline is now pushed back to Feb. 14, 2026.

“The Colorado River Compact of 1922 has some language in it about how much water must move from the upper states to the lower states, and we’re getting very close to dropping below the threshold specified in that compact,” said Kenney.

At a conference in Las Vegas, Kenney said he was reading the room, and there were still vast divides.

The lengthy report has a series of conclusions that paint an ugly picture of the future. Reservoirs that formerly stored four years of river flows are currently more than two-thirds empty. The report indicates that a single dry year or two could jeopardize hydropower, water deliveries, and even physical conveyance downstream as Lake Powell and Lake Mead fall below critical thresholds.

“The problem is that there is more water that’s been promised to people than has ever existed, and that will ever exist. I mean, it’s just a simple case of everyone can’t have what they were promised, and so the solution to that is everyone needs to agree to take less than they were promised,” said Kenney.

But the political will to do so has been hard to generate. The Upper basin states – those that use less water than they add to the river system, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico- are loath to give up rights to claim water for use. Colorado maintains that it has never used all the water it was allowed to under the 1922 pact.

Lower basin states are primarily consumers of Colorado River water. They are Arizona, Nevada and California. California is a major consumer, and much of the water goes to agriculture, over 70%. California uses more than 50% of the power from the Hoover Dam on Lake Mead. There are half a million acres of high water-consuming alfalfa, as well as winter vegetables and other crops, in the state’s Imperial Valley. Farmers are faced with the potential of growing less thirsty crops, but say they should not be alone in cuts.

The original pact was negotiated at a time when the Colorado River had more water, and there was far less population in the Western States. Experts in the report note that climate change has been part of the cause of reductions in available water.

“In the last 25 years, the flows in this basin are down about 20% from what they were the previous century,” said Kenney. “And that correlates quite closely with the fact that this basin got a couple degrees hotter. You know, the whole world got hotter, but parts of this basin got even hotter than that.”

The report indicates that more heat means more rapid evaporation of snowpack, so even if the snowpack is the same, less gets into the basin. Growing seasons are longer, and the vegetation takes more moisture for growth, rather than re-supplying the basin.

Kenney says the Federal Bureau of Reclamation may need to play a bigger role.

“I’ve been writing about this since 1991. I mean, my God, that’s 35 years ago,” said Kenney.

“This is just like driving a car at two miles an hour toward a cliff in the distance, and now we’re right up against that cliff, and we still don’t have the good sense to put our foot on the brake. I mean, it’s just so frustrating, because we’ve had so much warning that this was coming.”

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

KPIX

By Ryan Yamamoto

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    SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — Almost every day, you will find amateur photographers Dan Sarka and David Young traversing the trails around Alameda Creek, looking to capture and document the return of Chinook salmon in the Niles Canyon area.

“I catch more fish with cameras than I do with a hook,” joked Young. “I used to liken it to a kid in a candy factory, but it’s better, it’s better.”

Sarka would agree, and will patiently spend two to three hours staring at the creek, hoping for any sign of salmon.

“We are looking for ripples in the water,” Sarka said. “And when you see it, it is total excitement to see those fish struggling to make it up into the watershed and beyond. It is a fabulous experience.”

Together, the pair have taken dozens of photos of salmon, including the most recent migration through the creek, which began this fall.

Young even recorded a video of a salmon leaping over a weir.

“I got the final leap,” said Young. “I have several leaps before that that weren’t successful, but the very last one, he leapt all the way across and made it by, you know, a good 2 to 3 feet.”

The return of Chinook salmon has been a historical and pivotal moment for the region after a community of environmentalists, scientists and researchers spent the past several decades trying to restore the area’s natural habitat.

In 2022, the Alameda County Water District completed a massive infrastructure project downstream that included a series of fish ladders to help with the migration of Pacific lamprey, endangered steelhead trout and, of course, salmon.

“They’ve been showing up in big numbers, and the unique thing about them is they are highly visible,” said ACWD water planning manager Thomas Niesar. “They’re just an enigmatic fish, and they are energizing for people.”

No one is more energized than Jeff Miller with the Alameda Creek Alliance, whose group has worked with other environmental organizations to clear dams along the creek, including the final unnatural fish barrier that was removed by CalTrout and PG&E this year, creating nearly 20 miles of potential spawning habitat.

“This is the biggest run of Chinook we’ve seen,” Miller said. “And this is the first time we know since the 1950s that showed Chinook salmon could swim on their own, all the way up as far as they’ve gotten to the Sunol Valley.”

The return of the salmon is already having an impact on the ecological health of the region.

“We have already seen a family of river otters move in, there is a local bald eagle pair that comes in and gets the salmon carcasses,” said Miller. “Turkey vultures, raccoons, and we may have bears here in the next couple decades in the Bay Area.”

It will only mean more natural wildlife for Sarka and Young to document, and whose work capturing the migrating salmon has been more than just a hobby, but also an invaluable piece of research for scientists.

“We actually refer to them as citizen scientists,” said Niesar. “Those early photographs that Dan captured were critical for biologists to determine when we would expect to see the fish. If we didn’t have that data, we would have been shooting in the dark.”

ACWD is encouraging other photographers to upload their photos and videos of wildlife to study and share with researchers.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Ryan Yamamoto

Click here for updates on this story

    SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX) — Almost every day, you will find amateur photographers Dan Sarka and David Young traversing the trails around Alameda Creek, looking to capture and document the return of Chinook salmon in the Niles Canyon area.

“I catch more fish with cameras than I do with a hook,” joked Young. “I used to liken it to a kid in a candy factory, but it’s better, it’s better.”

Sarka would agree, and will patiently spend two to three hours staring at the creek, hoping for any sign of salmon.

“We are looking for ripples in the water,” Sarka said. “And when you see it, it is total excitement to see those fish struggling to make it up into the watershed and beyond. It is a fabulous experience.”

Together, the pair have taken dozens of photos of salmon, including the most recent migration through the creek, which began this fall.

Young even recorded a video of a salmon leaping over a weir.

“I got the final leap,” said Young. “I have several leaps before that that weren’t successful, but the very last one, he leapt all the way across and made it by, you know, a good 2 to 3 feet.”

The return of Chinook salmon has been a historical and pivotal moment for the region after a community of environmentalists, scientists and researchers spent the past several decades trying to restore the area’s natural habitat.

In 2022, the Alameda County Water District completed a massive infrastructure project downstream that included a series of fish ladders to help with the migration of Pacific lamprey, endangered steelhead trout and, of course, salmon.

“They’ve been showing up in big numbers, and the unique thing about them is they are highly visible,” said ACWD water planning manager Thomas Niesar. “They’re just an enigmatic fish, and they are energizing for people.”

No one is more energized than Jeff Miller with the Alameda Creek Alliance, whose group has worked with other environmental organizations to clear dams along the creek, including the final unnatural fish barrier that was removed by CalTrout and PG&E this year, creating nearly 20 miles of potential spawning habitat.

“This is the biggest run of Chinook we’ve seen,” Miller said. “And this is the first time we know since the 1950s that showed Chinook salmon could swim on their own, all the way up as far as they’ve gotten to the Sunol Valley.”

The return of the salmon is already having an impact on the ecological health of the region.

“We have already seen a family of river otters move in, there is a local bald eagle pair that comes in and gets the salmon carcasses,” said Miller. “Turkey vultures, raccoons, and we may have bears here in the next couple decades in the Bay Area.”

It will only mean more natural wildlife for Sarka and Young to document, and whose work capturing the migrating salmon has been more than just a hobby, but also an invaluable piece of research for scientists.

“We actually refer to them as citizen scientists,” said Niesar. “Those early photographs that Dan captured were critical for biologists to determine when we would expect to see the fish. If we didn’t have that data, we would have been shooting in the dark.”

ACWD is encouraging other photographers to upload their photos and videos of wildlife to study and share with researchers.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

KCBS

By Dean Fioresi

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    LOS ANGELES (KCAL, KCBS) — A man’s body was found inside a partially submerged car in Lancaster on Friday morning, hours after the region was battered by rain from a powerful winter storm.

The discovery was made at around 9:45 a.m. near 58th Street East and Avenue H-10, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputies said that a department helicopter was flying over the area and spotted a “blue sedan that was partially submerged following yesterday’s flooding.”

They said that due to the terrain and significant flooding that occurred, the car was not visible from the road. Deputies from Lancaster Sheriff’s Station and the Los Angeles County Fire Department were called to the location.

The man, who hasn’t yet been identified, was declared dead at the scene.

“The investigation remains ongoing,” deputies said. “No further information is available at this time.”

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Dean Fioresi

Click here for updates on this story

    LOS ANGELES (KCAL, KCBS) — A man’s body was found inside a partially submerged car in Lancaster on Friday morning, hours after the region was battered by rain from a powerful winter storm.

The discovery was made at around 9:45 a.m. near 58th Street East and Avenue H-10, according to a news release from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputies said that a department helicopter was flying over the area and spotted a “blue sedan that was partially submerged following yesterday’s flooding.”

They said that due to the terrain and significant flooding that occurred, the car was not visible from the road. Deputies from Lancaster Sheriff’s Station and the Los Angeles County Fire Department were called to the location.

The man, who hasn’t yet been identified, was declared dead at the scene.

“The investigation remains ongoing,” deputies said. “No further information is available at this time.”

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

KTVT

By Bo Evans

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    TEXAS (KTVT) — 10 years ago today, an EF-4 tornado touched down and ripped through Sunnyvale, Garland, and Rowlett, leaving more than a dozen dead.

But things could have been worse; a storm spotter watched the tornado form and alerted the National Weather Service and emergency responders immediately, no doubt saving countless lives.

“Just hate to think that people lost their lives and there was nothing we could do,” said Laszlo Laky.

10 years later, Laky still lives with the fact that 13 people were killed when an EF-4 tornado touched down in Sunnyvale.

He saw the events of that day from the beginning.

“We were warning them, and they were setting off the sirens based on what we were seeing when it first formed, so we couldn’t have done it any earlier. We saw it before it actually touched the ground,” said Laky.

The trained storm spotter called 911 as the tornado was forming

“It’s fixin’ to cross I-30. It’s fixin’ to cross I-30. We need to shut traffic down on I-30,” Laky can be heard on the 911 calls. “It’s getting bigger. God it’s huge.”

There’s no doubt Laky saved lives that night, but the memories of the ones he couldn’t save stay with him.

“Man, this is 10 years later, and I can still see that lowering and I can still see that closet, I can still see the gas station,” he said. “The closet was exposed, and there was a dress hanging that was undisturbed. How does that happen?”

But he knows that his actions that night mattered.

“That’s why we do it. The idea of spotting is to give early warning to people, give them a chance to seek cover,” said Laky.

Laky did exactly that. He gave people a chance.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.

By Bo Evans

Click here for updates on this story

    TEXAS (KTVT) — 10 years ago today, an EF-4 tornado touched down and ripped through Sunnyvale, Garland, and Rowlett, leaving more than a dozen dead.

But things could have been worse; a storm spotter watched the tornado form and alerted the National Weather Service and emergency responders immediately, no doubt saving countless lives.

“Just hate to think that people lost their lives and there was nothing we could do,” said Laszlo Laky.

10 years later, Laky still lives with the fact that 13 people were killed when an EF-4 tornado touched down in Sunnyvale.

He saw the events of that day from the beginning.

“We were warning them, and they were setting off the sirens based on what we were seeing when it first formed, so we couldn’t have done it any earlier. We saw it before it actually touched the ground,” said Laky.

The trained storm spotter called 911 as the tornado was forming

“It’s fixin’ to cross I-30. It’s fixin’ to cross I-30. We need to shut traffic down on I-30,” Laky can be heard on the 911 calls. “It’s getting bigger. God it’s huge.”

There’s no doubt Laky saved lives that night, but the memories of the ones he couldn’t save stay with him.

“Man, this is 10 years later, and I can still see that lowering and I can still see that closet, I can still see the gas station,” he said. “The closet was exposed, and there was a dress hanging that was undisturbed. How does that happen?”

But he knows that his actions that night mattered.

“That’s why we do it. The idea of spotting is to give early warning to people, give them a chance to seek cover,” said Laky.

Laky did exactly that. He gave people a chance.

Please note: This story was provided to CNN Wire by an affiliate and does not contain original CNN reporting. This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.