Over the past few years, Lake Oroville’s water levels have significantly recovered following years of drought that depleted the state’s reservoirs to concerningly low levels. Above-average snowfall in the winter of 2023 and 2024 helped the reservoir recover. Although less snow fell this year, the lake is expected to reach its capacity this spring as snow melts, signaling positive news for California.
Thousands of feet below the snowy summit of Mt. San Jacinto, a formidable feat of engineering and grit makes life as we know it in Southern California possible. The 13-mile-long San Jacinto Tunnel was bored through the mountain in the 1930s by a crew of about 1,200 men who worked day and night for six years, blasting rock and digging with machinery.
Outside of major cities like Fresno and Clovis, drinking-water quality for San Joaquin Valley residents can be dicey.
The Valley is full of examples of rural water systems failing to either produce enough supply or deliver fresh water that is not tainted by contaminants, be they manufactured, like farming chemicals, or naturally occurring elements in local soils like arsenic.
The previous six months have proven to be a tale of the haves and have-nots when it comes to atmospheric river events impacting the West Coast.
Forecasters are warning of elevated fire risks for all of California come fall, especially in the north, saying that the vegetation that benefited from rain and snow in Northern California will become potential fuel for wildfires later this year.
The horrific firestorm in January in California has already marked 2025 as a disastrous year for U.S. wildfires. Blazes in the Carolinas in March and current fires in New Jersey are signs of what could be a long, arduous year for firefighters across much of the country.
The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is developing plans in order to protect California’s waterways from the spread of the invasive golden mussel. A spokesman with the Department of Water Resources said that watercraft inspections at Lake Oroville and surrounding State Water Project facilities are set to begin within the next month. Officials say that golden mussels, which first appeared in the waters of California in October 2024, pose a significant threat to the state’s water systems.
The top federal official overseeing the sewage dispute between the U.S. and Mexico has left her post. Dr. Maria-Elena Giner posted a resignation letter on her LinkedIn page Monday afternoon, indicating that Chad McIntosh would be the new commissioner for the U.S. Sector of the International Boundary and Water Commission. McIntosh is the EPA’s acting deputy administrator. Giner was appointed as IBWC commissioner during the Biden administration.
As the Trump administration spearheads federal rules revisions on water, considering the removal of Clean Water Act protections, Utah environmental advocates worry it could impact 79% of the water in the Great Salt Lake Basin.
In winter, we often think of fun times: skiing, snowboarding, maybe some sledding as well, but as things warm up in the mountains, all that snow melts away, and that turns into a very important resource for California.
