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The recent rupture of a massive pipe at the New Colgate Powerhouse on the Yuba River, about 50 miles north of Sacramento, was not a natural disaster. It was an infrastructure failure.

The rupture of the penstock pipe in February sent a torrent of water down a steep hillside, triggering erosion that carried sediment and man-made debris into the Yuba River. An oil sheen was detected. The emergency also triggered the shutdown of another powerhouse downstream, causing a sudden drop in river flows, killing hundreds — possibly thousands — of young Chinook salmon at a time when the state has been trying to help struggling salmon populations recover.

Hydrologist Maureen Gutsch trudged through the mud and slush to confirm a grim picture: Colorado just had its worst snowpack since statewide recordkeeping began in 1941.

Even more troubling, mountain snow accumulations peaked a month early and contained just half the average moisture.

A major milestone has been reached for the proposed Sites Reservoir project, a plan to build a large new water storage facility west of Colusa.

The state has issued a draft decision to conditionally approve a key water right permit for the project. Under the proposal, water would be pumped from the Sacramento River to the reservoir, which would store up to 1.5 million acre-feet of water. Supporters say the added storage would help improve water supply during dry years for farms, communities and wildlife.

A new state-commissioned report finds that Mono Lake in California’s Eastern Sierra has only a 1 in 3 chance of reaching its target water level by mid-century if current water exports to Los Angeles continue.

The report suggests that halting water exports would significantly increase the likelihood of the lake reaching its target, but climate change could still lower lake levels by up to 6.5 feet by the end of the century.