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

Urban water conservation figures for March were released Tuesday by the state Water Resources Control Board, and showed statewide savings of 22.5 percent compared to March 2013, the benchmark pre-drought year. On average, each Californian used 67 gallons of water each day in March. Local results from 40.5 percent in Paradise, to 5.1 percent in the areas served by the Del Oro Water Co. Del Oro customers only used 47 gallons of water a day, however. Here are the local figures: Chico Division, California Water Service Co: 38.8 percent savings in March compared to March 2013; 70 gallons per capita per day.

Well over 300 people turned out for the Oroville Spillways Community Meeting held last Thursday at Butte Hall in the fairgrounds. The 5:30 p.m., informational sharing was not explained well in advance and those coming at that time were surprised they had to wait an hour for the meeting to begin. This was a time for people to ask Department of Water Resources personnel questions but people were anxious to get the meeting started.

New Melones Lake soared past 2 million acre-feet of storage over the past few days, a level that no one thought possible (well, I certainly didn’t) a mere six months ago.The reservoir is now at its highest mark since 2011. And still rising. This afternoon’s heat has pushed inflow above 9,000 cubic feet per second as Sierra snow begins to melt. New Melones is now encroaching into space reserved for flood control. And as a consequence, officials are finally releasing substantial amounts of water from the dam — about 5,000 cfs on Tuesday.

The adage “One thing leads to another” is reaching new heights in California. For 150 years we have attempted to suppress forest fires instead of managing them, hindering nature’s way of thinning our forests. Prior to the spotted owl and the Endangered Species Act, we selectively logged the forests which replenished themselves every decade. We also used prescribed burns and grazing to accomplish forest thinning. Grazing and logging also provided jobs and revenue.