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

Currently, we are fully immersed in the second winter of a “double-dip” La Niña.   Although it will take some time before we can see how this event stacked up with past events, you might have noticed that it has been quite dry over much of the U.S. this winter, with drought expanding across several regions, particularly in the south.  Being the big ENSO fans that you are, you might have asked yourself, are these conditions typical in the second winter of a double-dip La Niña?

Water policy is becoming a prisoner of its own limited vocabulary, particularly when it comes to the weather. Here is a case that “drought” and “normal” belong in the dustbin of history, for their overuse can lead to the wrong conversation. These words are not so sinister as to be banned from the dictionary. But they tend to miss the mark as to what seems to be happening with our weather this century.

Hoping for a March Miracle to bail out California’s dry winter? It’s not likely. A review of more than 100 years of rainfall records of major cities in California — including San Jose, Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Rosa, Redding and Fresno — shows that none have ever finished the rainy season with normal rainfall totals after ending January with the amount of rain they’ve had so far this winter.

California is once again suing the Trump Administration, joining New York and eight other states in a case about water. The states filed the lawsuit Tuesday just hours after federal agencies announced a new delay in the federal Clean Water Rule. The Obama-era rule expands what water bodies must comply with federal standards, including streams that do not flow year-round. Courts have blocked the rule while it has undergone complicated lawsuits about jurisdiction.

While it has been assumed the federal government will pay 75 percent of the now-$870 million cost for repairing the Oroville Dam spillways, the agency that actually would allocate the money has been hedging on whether that is the case, according to two north state congressmen. A joint press release from Doug LaMalfa, R-Richvale, and John Garamendi, D-Fairfield, said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been telling Congress it’s uncertain whether FEMA has the authority to pay for the types of repairs being made.