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First seabirds started falling out of the sky, washing up on beaches from California to Canada. Then emaciated and dehydrated sea lion pups began showing up, stranded and on the brink of death. A surge in dead whales was reported in the same region, and that was followed by the largest toxic algal bloom in history seen along the Californian coast. Mixed among all that there were population booms of several marine species that normally aren’t seen surging in the same year. Plague, famine, pestilence and death was sweeping the northern Pacific Ocean between 2014 and 2015.

 

California’s drought is costing farmers an estimated $603 million this year, although the impact is far less than a year ago, according to a study released Monday by UC Davis.The latest annual survey by UC Davis researchers shows that the reasonably rainy winter has eased the effects of the drought, even though considerable shortages persist in crucial areas of the San Joaquin Valley. “The drought continues for California’s agriculture in 2016, but with much less severe and widespread impacts than in the two previous drought years, 2014 and 2015,” the researchers wrote.

 

There’s plenty of summer left, but the season for boating at Folsom Lake is getting cut short because of low lake levels. Starting Monday, the maximum speed limit for boaters and other watercraft will be reduced to 5 miles per hour [mph]. “It’s very early, and it’s sad,” boater Darrell Perry said. “It feels unfair because it’s our water here. We’re getting penalized for it.”

Gov. Jerry Brown’s misguided tunnel vision on the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta has taken the focus off other valuable water projects California should be implementing. Unlike the governor’s $17 billion twin-tunnel disaster, Assemblyman Richard Bloom’s AB 2480 would produce additional water for California, improve the state’s environment and help ward off or at least mitigate climate change. It’s a no-brainer of an idea that should have been prioritized years ago. The bill has passed the Assembly and is currently winding its way through the Senate. The Senate should pass the bill and send it to the governor for his signature.

To most people in the U.S., water is simply assumed. Without much thought, they turn on the shower, brush their teeth, make coffee or tea, flush the toilet, and grab a full, cold plastic bottle of name-brand water. Taking a bite of food or slipping on a cotton T-shirt does not inspire thoughts of water, its role in agriculture, or challenges to managing the nation’s water supply. But water is the lifeblood of agriculture, and plays an ever-increasing role in food availability, cost, food security, and national security… and competition for it is increasing as supplies decrease.