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As a record number of trees stand dead or dying in California’s forests due to drought and beetle infestations, concerns are mounting that the die-off is creating an abundance of fuel likely to trigger wildfires that could threaten homes and lives.

However, an emerging body of science finds little evidence to support these fears. Researchers studying wildfires across the western United States during the past decade have increasingly concluded that forests ravaged by bark beetles and other insects aren’t more likely to burn than healthy expanses of forest.

As water restrictions shift to local water agencies, a few North County communities are moving to ease limitations after winter storms. In Del Mar, city staff recommended downgrading the drought level, which would have allowed power-washing the sidewalks, and turning on the showers at the beach, The Coast News reports. Not all members of the City Council were on board, though. “I think it’s a mistake to relax our drought restrictions — a big mistake — because the drought’s not over,” Councilman Don Mosier said.

City officials hope to better understand the health of Long Beach’s urban forest, which contains some 92,000 street trees throughout the city.

As cities across Southern California have grappled with a historic drought and worked to comply with state-mandated watering restrictions, trees and park systems have suffered, including those in Long Beach.

A handful of City Council members, led by 5th District Councilwoman Stacy Mungo, asked the council to support having the Public Works Department study the condition of the city’s street trees – and based on that assessment, develop a life-cycle management plan.

Los Angeles has chalked up yet another dreary milestone in its growing almanac of drought.

On Wednesday, experts at the National Weather Service confirmed that the last five years have been the driest ever documented in downtown L.A. since official record keeping began almost 140 years ago. Having missed out on most of El Niño’s bountiful rains this winter, the Southland experienced yet another dreadfully below-average year of precipitation between July 1 and June 30. As a result, downtown Los Angeles recorded an average of just 7.75 inches of rain every year since July 2011, according to NWS meteorologist Scott Sukup.

On an overcast day in May, construction is in full swing on the Charles E. Meyer Desalination Facility in this affluent enclave on the Central California coast. Several workers fine-tune rebar in foundations for processing units, while two others deploy a large spinning plate to melt the edges of an ocean intake pipe so it can be attached to another pipe. In response to California’s epic drought, the Santa Barbara City Council voted last year to reactivate a desalination plant built in 1992 to fight an earlier drought. It operated for only six weeks before being shuttered.