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

Since the tallest dam in the United States threatened California with catastrophe last winter, state officials have responded with policies to stanch the flow not just of water but of information. The latest example is the Legislature’s vote to exempt a whole class of crucial information about dams from the state’s public-records law. A provision in the recesses of a lengthy budget-related bill requested by the governor and passed by both houses last week could prevent public and press access to plans for responding to dam emergencies.

California’s Mediterranean climate, with its wet winters and dry summers, brings enviable weather to the Golden State but also earthquakes, according to UC Berkeley research. In a study over nine years, university scientists found that the weight of winter snow and rain on California’s mountains puts enough pressure on both the Sierra Nevada and coastal ranges that when the state dries out come summer, the Earth’s crust lunges back up, triggering increased fault movement.

In 2007, then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger revived a plan that big agriculture loved – to build a peripheral canal or tunnels around or under the Sacramento Delta. Since then, a coalition of fishermen, Tribal leaders, conservationists, environmental justice advocates and Delta residents have been fighting to stop this Delta tunnels plan pushed by corporate agribusiness interests and Southern California water agencies. Now, 10 years later, we may be coming to the climate of that struggle.

Sunshine and extreme heat, that’s what is in store for much of California and other areas of the western U.S. during the last stretch of Spring. After some cool rainy weather days in many areas of the West, with daytime temperatures 10 to 20 degrees below average, a drastic change in the weather pattern is on the way. Between mid-week and the weekend, the jet stream configuration will experience a noticeable change, and while it pushes well to the north high pressure will build into much of the southwest increasing sunshine and heat.

Arizona risks losing water rights because of a lingering, nearly two-decade long drought in the Colorado River that could restrict water use ranging from farmers’ crops to how many households receive water, state water experts say. Calcium rings around Lake Mead tell the story of declining water levels, with cream markings permanently decorating the canyon walls that shows high levels that haven’t been seen since 1983. Current surface elevation is at 1,081 feet. If it drops another six feet, water to Arizona will likely be cut, according to an Arizona budget document.