For eight glorious weeks, from March 23 to May 18, 2014, the Colorado River flowed all the way to the Gulf of California, something it hasn’t done regularly since the 1930s.

 

Minute 319, a 2012 amendment to the 1944 water treaty between Mexico and the United States, allowed water from the Morelos Dam to run through a 40-mile stretch of parched riverbed to the Colorado River Delta. Scientists designed a “pulse flow” to release 105,392 acre-feet of water to mimic spring floods and “base flows,” which will continue until the measure expires in 2017.

California’s drought-ridden cities are on track to collectively meet Gov. Jerry Brown ’s call for a 25% reduction in water usage. But there is a notable laggard: the state’s desert resort areas.

 

Many desert water agencies continue to miss their targets, even after some have been slapped with fines. Officials in desert communities—which as heavy water users were given tougher goals than many other municipalities—say they face unique challenges, such as irrigating grass in the extreme summer heat.

 

The farmers and cities that rely on the California State Water Project got some slightly encouraging news Tuesday – the state is raising their water allocation to 15 percent of what they requested.

 

Reflecting the stormy weather California has seen so far this winter, the Department of Water Resources said it was increasing the allocation to 15 percent, up from the previously announced 10 percent. That’s still lower than the 20 percent the State Water Project delivered last year.

The heavens have opened up this winter and are dumping gobs of snow on the Sierra Nevada.

 

The snowpack in the Sierra contains more water than any year since 2011 on this date, according to the California Department of Water Resources. It’s a good sign, but no guarantee that the four-year drought that has left the Golden State high and dry is coming to an end, officials said.