Aquafornia

Snowpack—which essentially serves as a water tower for the western United States—produces vital meltwater that flows off the mountains each spring. … But the snowpack is becoming more like a snow gap, as temperatures in the Cascades and Sierra Nevada become too warm for the snow that replenishes the ecosystem each winter.

Surveys by the Department of Water Resources showed the snowpack across the entire mountain range at 19 percent of average for early March, a level deemed “alarmingly low” by officials. … On March 17, the State Water Board will consider extending emergency drought regulations and adding more stringent conservation measures.

The agency that oversees aquifers in the Salinas Valley is finally on track to publicly disclose detailed groundwater levels there, a move that comes after years of delays.

Yuba City’s water supply outlook in 2015 is grim, and there is a possibility that water demand may exceed supply.

Efforts to clean up and make repairs following the storm cost Lake County and its cities more than $4 million, officials said.

Climate change is increasing the risk of severe drought in California by causing warm periods and dry periods to overlap more often, according to a new study.

There was a paradox in the flood of recent drought news.

Initial efforts implementing the state’s new Sustainable Groundwater Management Act must focus on getting local and state agencies organized and able to communicate with each other. Having common expectations for the contents of the law’s required “Groundwater Sustainability Plans” will save the agencies and stakeholders considerable grief and confusion.

This weekend, the Southland got some much needed rain. … Unfortunately, too much of this stormwater simply ran straight into local rivers and the ocean, picking up numerous pollutants along the way.