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This U.S. Drought Monitor week saw a swath of above normal precipitation stretching from western Texas northeastward through parts of western Oklahoma, much of Kansas, northwest Missouri and into northern Illinois. A combination of moisture flowing in from the Southwest and Southeast along with a stalled frontal boundary brought abundant precipitation to areas of Texas and New Mexico. The heaviest rains during the period fell in western Texas and southeast New Mexico where at least 5 inches were measured. Approximately 5 inches of rain also fell in northwest Missouri and northeast Iowa.

Although most of California has continued to conserve water during the ongoing drought after mandatory water usage cuts were dropped, the state has now passed legislation to discipline water wasters if conservation levels fall. A bill signed by Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday requires urban water suppliers, cities, water districts and private water companies with more than 3,000 customers to institute rules that define “excessive water use” and enforce them during drought emergencies.

 

Located in Riverside and Imperial counties, about 150 miles (240km) southeast of Los Angeles in the desert, the Salton Sea is a 360-square-mile (930-square-km) lake, the largest by area in California. But that status is under threat, as the lake has been shrinking for years, exposing the dry lakebed and creating dust that has hurt the air quality for local residents, while taking away critical wetland habitat for thousands of birds. Now conditions are expected to deteriorate at a rapid clip when it stops receiving Colorado River water as part of an earlier agreement.

It can be difficult to see any bright side when it comes to the water challenges facing the western U.S. Whether it’s the severe drought going on its fifth year or the nation’s largest reservoir, Lake Mead, hitting a historically low water level, there are many valid reasons to be concerned about the region’s dwindling water supplies.

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem was once a very different place. Before levees and dams, the rivers and streams that flowed through the Central Valley into the San Francisco Bay swelled and shrank with the seasons. Huge, shallow floodplains warmed by the sun mingled with icy mountain snowmelt to create a habitat rich with microscopic plankton, the base of the aquatic food chain. Now, nearly all the waterways that feed the Delta are channelized for shipping, farming and flood control, none more so than the Sacramento River.