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Farmers in two of Southern California’s ag-centric irrigation districts have long been playing their part to slow the decline in the Colorado River’s system supply. They do this while working with Metropolitan Water District of Southern California to provide water to 19 million urban residents.

Blythe farmer Grant Chaffin is working toward a solution that could help him farm with less irrigation water from the Colorado River. Chaffin knows his solution won’t solve long-term drought but can help him better manage the irrigation water he has.

Brad Riesenberg has worked in the winter sports industry for more than 20 years, and he’s never seen a winter with such paltry snowfall and mild temperatures as he has this season. Riesenberg, who is an owner at Backcountry Snowmobiling in Park City, Utah, said customers have been canceling their tours due to a lack of snow. Snowmobiling requires a thick snowpack at lower elevations in order to be viable, Riesenberg pointed out.

“We’ve lost lots and lots of money and it’s been pretty tough,” he said. “This is up there with some of the worst [winters], if not the worst.”

For the first time in 25 years, the US Drought Monitor shows that no area of California is experiencing unusually dry or drought conditions. The Drought Monitor tracks and reports on the development or recovery of short and long-term drought patterns across the U.S.

Experts analyze recent rainfall, snowpack, streamflow, soil moisture and climatology to assess the severity of drought conditions, ranking them on a scale ranging from “abnormally dry” to “extreme drought.”

In a decision that could complicate Gov. Gavin Newsom’s push to build a giant water tunnel and remake California’s water system, a state appeals court has rejected the state’s plan for financing the project.

The 3rd District Court of Appeal ruled against the state Department of Water Resources’ plan to issue billions of dollars in bonds to build the 45-mile tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

The Rio Grande Basin is experiencing pronounced aridification, with a trend toward persistently warmer, drier conditions. These conditions now mark a “new normal” for the region and exemplify a broader pattern among bodies of water worldwide.

As the Alamosa Citizen reported, the Rio Grande Basin experienced atypical weather patterns in 2025, characterized by prolonged warm, dry periods followed by late-season heavy rains.