Bipartisan Group Of Legislators Call for Drought Declaration

Last year, California saw everything from intense drought to torrential rain. Researchers and water agencies say that the future of the state’s drought depends on adapting to these shifts.

As the drought dries up California’s wetlands, traveling birds such as ducks, geese and eagles are struggling to survive and breed. “This drought is bad. The odds are against us,” a state expert said.

Drought resilience depends on location but also extraordinary engineering — determining which California places are running out of water this year and which remain in good shape.

About 4,300 users were issued notices to halt diversions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Experts say the current drought is hotter and drier than previous ones, meaning water is evaporating faster.

California wildfires have burned nearly five times as many acres on state land this year compared to the same time period last year.

The Legislative Analyst’s Office warns California lawmakers to prepare to dispatch emergency drinking water to vulnerable communities, particularly in the Central Valley.

Pressured by growers and legislators, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a drought emergency in 39 counties as most of California experiences severe drought.

The Russian River watershed is hard hit by lack of rainfall. The emergency order will allow state officials to relax some restrictions on reservoirs and assist endangered fish.

Over the past week Northern California was walloped by winter’s first big storm. But experts say more storms are needed to ward off drought this year

Two-thirds of California is in at least some degree of drought at the moment. With little rain in the forecast and a predicted dry winter climate, scientists say drought could get a lot worse. But is it the beginning of another multi-year drought?

Parts of California just witnessed the driest February ever, and there’s around an 80 percent chance the state will enter a full-blown drought this year. If that happens, it could be the third-driest year in just over a century.

When it comes to rain and snow most of California is running below average this year, and little is forecast in the near future.

If you spent time on the water at Lake Tahoe last year and thought it looked a lot cloudier, you're right. UC Davis researchers say extreme weather — drought followed by heavy rains — caused clarity in 2017 to drop to its lowest recorded level.

(AP) — Despite dry conditions in much of the state, water managers say it's too early for fears that California is sliding back into drought as abruptly as the state fell out of it.

Caltrans is worried about the possibility of dead trees falling onto some California highways. The agency has already removed 107,000 trees. Now the agency is getting ready to remove another 54,000 trees, including some on private land.

Sacramento city council voted in favor of a proposal that makes some drought watering restrictions permanent.

Tuesday marks the start of a shortened commercial salmon fishing season in the waters off San Francisco. A smaller salmon population is one effect of the drought that could persist for years.

A wealth of weather and climate data and the jobs of the scientists who analyze it may be at risk under President Trump’s budget proposal.

The Central Sierra Nevada snowpack this year is larger than the previous four years combined, according to new data from NASA.

It is now the wettest season on record in Northern California, where most of the state gets its water supply.

Some farmers in the San Joaquin Valley will finally get a full supply of water.

California Governor Jerry Brown ended the drought state of emergency in most of California Friday. Water reporting requirements and prohibitions on wasteful practices are still in place.

California is experiencing one of its wettest winters in years. But farmers on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley still won’t receive a full supply of water from the federal Central Valley Project.

Some farmers who rely on water from the federal Central Valley Project may receive more water than they’ve had in several years. Others will have to wait until mid-March to find out what their allocations will be.

The San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors has voted to continue its drought emergency while other counties are looking at lifting conservation measures.

A UC Santa Cruz study finds transmission of West Nile virus is higher in drought years.

Today's Sierra snowpack survey has scientists with the California Department of Water Resources optimistic about the state's water supply.

California farms and ranches saw a nearly 17 percent drop in revenue from 2014 to 2015, according to a new review. The decrease had little to do with the drought.

California's tree die off has led a state oversight board to review forest management policies.

Despite an abnormally wet rainy season for California, groundwater levels have not responded as expected.

(AP) - The latest figures show Californians' water use is still on the rise since the state lifted mandatory conservation for the drought.

(AP) - President Barack Obama has signed a bill authorizing water projects across the country, including $170 million to address lead in the drinking water in Flint, Michigan, and $558 million to provide relief to drought-stricken California.

Rivers in the Sacramento area were reaching levels not seen in a decade on Thursday night.

California state agencies have released a long-term plan for water conservation. The proposal makes permanent some emergency water conservation measures already in place to deal with the state’s drought.

California regulators hear from residents and farmers concerned about a plan to provide more water for threatened fish in the San Joaquin River and its tributaries.

The State Water Project will deliver more water to California cities and farmland in 2017 than it did this year- at least initially.

(AP) - California water agencies that spent more than $350 million in the last two years to pay property owners to rip out lawns are now trying to answer whether the nation's biggest lawn removal experiment was all worth the cost.

Five years of drought exacerbated wildfires across California. Fire and flood agencies say those burned areas now have an increased risk of flash flooding.

An odd assortment of corporations, nonprofits, environmental and agricultural groups have joined forces to help increase California’s water supply.

A new study shows that forest fires have doubled in the West because of climate change.

Statewide water conservation dropped below 18 percent in August.

Improved drought conditions and more renewables lead to decrease in natural gas use this summer.

Californians' water use kept creeping back up in July after the lifting of mandatory statewide conservation orders for the drought.

A new study shows fire-fighting foam containing highly fluorinated chemicals is contaminating drinking water supplies around many of the nation's military bases, airports and industrial sites.

It has been a busy fire season across California. But there are fewer fires in the state’s 18 U.S. national forests so far this year, compared to 2015.

Update 8:00 p.m. Sunday: Crews are making "good progress" on the Cold Fire in Yolo County, now at 60% containment. In Monterey County, the Soberanes Fire remains at 45% containment with wind creating an additional challenge for firefighters.

The Soberanes Fire near Big Sur is burning in a rugged area that hasn't "seen fire in decades." The wildfire is 45 percent contained at 57,500 acres.

The number of acres burned by wildfires in the U.S. is about average for this time of year. But, in California, the 'new normal' includes larger and more frequent wildfires.

Californians saved less water in June than they have in previous years. It’s the first month since new rules gave suppliers more autonomy to set their own conservation standards.