After extensive fieldwork, site observation and geologic mapping, a team of scientists hired by Cadiz Inc. concluded that a proposed water transfer project in a remote part of San Bernadino County desert won’t harm one of the largest wildlife water sources in the Mojave Desert. Cadiz commissioned a peer-reviewed geologic investigation “to address lingering questions as to whether the project could impact Bonanza Spring under any circumstance. That question has now been answered definitively no,”  Cadiz CEO Scott Slater said, in a statement.

The pear trees are already blooming in Celeste Cantú’s garden. She usually sees the blossoms appear in late February, but this winter’s extreme warmth triggered the bloom a full month early. As the thermometer hit 80 degrees in her garden, she snapped a photo of the blossoms and posted it on Facebook with the question: “Do you think the three weeks of winter are over in So Ca?” A winter heat wave has settled over the Southwest and is bringing record-high temperatures to parts of Southern California, along with dry, gusty winds that have prompted warnings of fire danger.