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Packing winds in excess of 100 mph (160 kph), a fast-moving winter storm that dumped about a half-foot of snow on the Sierra Nevada made its way Wednesday across the northeast part of the state where the forecast called for icy roads and several inches of blowing and drifting snow. A winter weather advisory was set to expire at 4 p.m. in Lander, Eureka and Elko counties but remained in effect through 10 p.m. Wednesday in White Pine County, where 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) of snow was expected at Great Basin National Park along the Utah line.

Elected officials and other groups representing those living below the troubled Oroville Dam have asked the Trump administration to hold off on renewing its 50-year license, saying the federal government should at least know why the spillway broke in half last winter before signing off. On Wednesday, the dam’s owner, the California Department of Water Resources, sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission saying it was past time to renew the dam’s license, an effort that has been on hold for the past 11 years.

Is California back in drought? The unusually warm, dry start to this winter – along with intense wildfires in southern California – has many Californians experiencing “drought deja vu.” Despite this uneasy feeling, we are not in drought. The state’s reservoirs – the traditional measure of vulnerability during drought – are in good shape thanks to last year’s near-record precipitation. And for a change, more water was stored in the state’s underground water basins this past year than was taken out.

After a series of powerful atmospheric rivers brought the wettest rainy season on record to Northern California, brimming reservoirs became a symbol of the state’s plentiful water reserves and the end of a five-year drought. Now that this year’s season has started with below average precipitation and the northern part of the state has seen  very little rain in December (only .02 inches in S.F. and .18 in Shasta County), you might be wondering how the reservoir water levels are looking.

The California Public Utilities Commission has amended its long-standing mission statement, leaving out the idea of ensuring “reasonable rates” for the water and power used by the public. The change comes as state utility regulators have been under criminal investigation for potentially improper backchannel dealings with the utility companies they oversee and facing multiple lawsuits alleging they failed to protect the people they serve.