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

The return of rain and snow to California “could be helpful” to prospects for bringing federal water to farms this year, but officials could still be a couple of weeks from making that determination, a spokesman says.

The Central Valley Project typically makes its initial allocations to cities, farms and other entities in late February, but hydrologists and other officials aren’t ready to predict how much water they’ll be able to deliver this spring and summer, spokesman Louis Moore said.

Two words. Nine letters. That’s what it takes to sum up Ventura County’s rainfall so far this year.
Not enough.

“The rain we’re getting now is not enough,” said Casitas Municipal Water District’s Ron Merckling as showers started earlier this week.

A new bill by Assembly member Das Williams, AB 1882, would require the State Water Resources Control Board to monitor groundwater safety by closely reviewing underground injection control (UIC) wells. Such wastewater disposal wells are used to extract oil and natural gas, thereby producing brine water, which may contain fracking chemicals, said Williams’s office, which cited the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s unfavorable review of California’s UIC program and alleged contamination from UIC wells within his district.

If you have never heard the term “El Nino”, you might have been living under a rock.
The common informed person is probably somewhat aware that we are amidst a record-setting El Nino, and rumors of a possible switch to La Nina later this year have also danced into the public’s ear, particularly those with an interest in commodity markets.

But comprehension of such a scenario, and what it may mean, is quite difficult without an understanding of what El Nino and La Nina actually are and why they exist.

Court adjudication of California’s groundwater basins is more often focused on resolving conflicts among water users and less on sustainable groundwater management, according to a UC Santa Cruz study commissioned by the State Water Resources Control Board.

The finding comes in “An Evaluation of California’s Adjudicated Groundwater Basins” scheduled for release today (Feb. 18).