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Fire Hydrants Ran Dry in Southern California Just When They Were Needed Most
The water system used to fight the Palisades fire in Los Angeles buckled under the demands of what turned out to be the most destructive fire in city history, with some hydrants running dry as they were overstressed without assistance from firefighting aircraft for hours early Wednesday.
Too Wet and Too Dry: The Crazy North-South Gap in California’s Rain
A remarkably wet kickoff to Northern California’s rainy season has coincided with a desperately dry fall in Southern California — a huge disparity, perhaps unprecedented, between the haves and have-nots of rainfall.
Los Angeles usually gets several inches of rain by now, halfway into the rainy season, but it’s only recorded a fifth of an inch downtown since July, its second driest period in almost 150 years of record-keeping. The rest of Southern California is just as bone-dry.
Southern California Is Dangerously Dry for This Time of Year
Southern California is extremely dry right now, with huge portions of the region having seen less than a quarter-inch of rain in the last eight months. The landscape is parched and vegetation is withered, making the area dangerously susceptible to burning, an unusual situation for January.
“The sort of dryness we’re seeing in a lot of the plant species right now mirrors what you would typically expect in October or early November, when the rainy season starts,” said Jonathan O’Brien, a meteorologist with the U.S. Forest Service.
What a New Study Does — And Doesn’t — Say About Fluoride and Its Link to IQ
A new report linking fluoridated drinking water to lower IQ scores in children is sure to ratchet up the debate over a practice that’s considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century.
The report published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics synthesizes the results of dozens of research studies that have been released since 1989. Its overall conclusion is that the more fluoride a child is exposed to, the lower he or she tends to score on intelligence tests.
EPA Recognizes Water Affordability Challenges in Report to Congress
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a report to Congress on December 17, 2024, detailing water affordability across the U.S. among households and utilities.
The report, “Water Affordability Needs Assessment,” summarizes decades of research by utilities, academics, and associations, and includes recommendations, such as potentially establishing a federal water assistance program; increasing education, outreach, and knowledge around solutions to address affordability; and increasing ways to reduce water infrastructure capital and operating costs.
Nearly 60% of California Is ‘Abnormally Dry’ to Start 2025. Where Are Drought Impacts Worst?
More than half of California was “abnormally dry” just days into the new year, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor’s latest update.
As of Friday, Jan. 3, areas of “moderate drought” were isolated to Southern California while a sliver of the state near the Oregon border was under “severe drought,” the Drought Monitor said.
With Negligible Rain in 8 Months, Southern California Swings Toward Drought
California is entering the fourth month of what is typically the rainy season, but in the Southland, the landscape is beginning to show signs of drought.
The last time Los Angeles recorded rainfall over a tenth of an inch — the threshold that officials typically consider helpful for thirsty plants and the reduction of wildfire risk — was May 5, when downtown received just 0.13 inches of rain.
California’s 1st Snowpack Survey of 2025 May Offer Promise, but Will It Last?
California’s first monthly snowpack survey comes on Thursday. It’s likely to be reasonably good for this early part of the rain and snow season.
As the new year begins, it’s good to take a look back and see what’s happened with California’s fire and water; essential elements, but also something that can lead to real problems. The Golden State had some big fires last year, but not in swarms.
For Those Who Don’t Trust Tap, There’s ‘Raw Water’
The highway that winds along the coast of Marin County offers some of California’s most magnificent vistas, with the deep blue Pacific Ocean glittering through veils of fog. But for a handful of travelers, the views aren’t the prize.
At one blink-and-you’ll-miss-it pullout is a natural spring that draws people from across the San Francisco Bay Area, some of whom drive hours through traffic to get there. Many of them reject water from any other source and drink only what they say is “liquid gold” that gushes from the copper pipes of Red Rock Spring.
