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

Ballot measure establishes in the California Constitution — above the reach of politicians, bureaucrats, special interests or judges — that the priorities of water use are: domestic use first, and irrigation use second.

A proposed California ballot measure funds water storage projects to address the state’s immediate water supply needs. The proposed Reallocation of Bond Authority to Water Storage Initiative also prioritizes water uses in California by putting people and growing food first in the California Constitution. For 25 years, politicians, bureaucrats, special interests and the courts have made other uses of water more important than domestic and irrigation uses.

A nearly average spring snowpack in the Sierra Nevada will likely prolong tough water conservation measures in drought-stricken California – although the restrictions could be loosened in some areas after an El Nino storm system drenched the northern half of the state this winter, officials said.

“The message is still very strong: Conservation measures are still going to be important,” Frank Gehrke, chief of the California Cooperative Snow Survey Program, said Wednesday after he trudged through the snow to manually measure the snowpack at nearly 95 percent of normal.

California and federal officials want to delay crucial hearings on Gov. Jerry Brown’s plan to build two giant water tunnels to help move water from Northern California.

The 60-day delay was sought Monday by the Brown administration and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. It was the second request for a delay of the hearings, currently set for May. Officials said they wanted time to try to deal with objections to the project by Northern California water districts, environmental groups and others, the Sacramento Bee reported (http://bit.ly/22KUXpY ).

Survey finds nearly average California snowpack, setting stage for tough decision on water conservation.

The blame for California’s below-average snowpack was placed Wednesday at the feet of a largely impotent El Niño, which failed to deliver the powerful storms forecasters expected.

Snow surveyors for the California Department of Water Resources found that the water content of the Sierra snow is only 87 percent of the historical average for this time of year. That’s a bug drop from January when the “frozen water supply,” as it is called by hydrologists, was well above normal.