You are now in California and the U.S. category.

After more than a decade of dead lawns, vacant storefronts, and failed community action, District 3 Supervisor Jim Steele’s report of a significant decrease in future water rates took a while to sink in with residents Tuesday at the Northshore Community Center in Lucerne.

In fact, he had to ask them for a response.

The audience erupted in applause. Finally, some cheer in a town that recently has had little reason to celebrate, at least when it came to the water bill.

“This is fantastic news for everyone,” 26-year resident William Becker said. “The best I’ve heard in a long time.”

New research suggests that “flash droughts” – like the one that unexpectedly gripped the Southern Rockies and Midwest in the summer of 2012 – could be predicted months in advance using soil moisture and snowpack data.

Researchers at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) analyzed the conditions leading up to the 2012 drought, which ultimately caused $30 billion in economic losses, looking for any warning signs that a drought was on the way.

Farmland values are tumbling in California’s Central Valley, reflecting a drop in key commodity prices as well as concerns over water shortages and the state’s enduring drought.

A study released Wednesday by agricultural lender Rabobank N.A. says the price of farmland in parts of the valley will decline by as much as 30 percent between now and the end of 2017, following several years of substantial gains. The drop follows declines in the prices farmers are getting for important crops such as almonds and walnuts.

It looks like the politically powerful Westlands Water District, one of the main backers of Governor Jerry Brown’s Delta Tunnels and Congressional legislation to eviscerate protections for Sacramento River Chinook salmon and Delta smelt, is in more financial trouble. Fitch Ratings downgraded the scheduled October 26 bond sale by Westlands from ‘AA-‘ to ‘A+’. Among the issues facing Westlands Water District, Fitch cites shrinking irrigated acreage, previous financial obligations, and the potential for increased “leveraging” to pay for the Delta Tunnels,” according to Restore the Delta (RTD).

Hydropower dams are generally thought to be a clean source of electricity. By moving water through turbines, dams can generate large amounts of electricity almost continuously and without causing air pollution. It’s partly for these reasons that more than 3,700 hydroelectric dams are currently proposed or under construction worldwide. But a growing body of science reveals a dark side. It turns out the reservoirs formed by dams are a significant source of greenhouse gases – particularly methane, about 34 times more potent than carbon dioxide. In the last 10 years, dozens of studies have shed light on this problem.