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The ponderosa pine had taken root decades before the Revolutionary War, making a stately stand on this western Sierra Nevada slope for some 300 years, Nate Stephenson figures. Then came the beetle blitzkrieg. Now the tree is a dab in the gray and rusty death stain smeared across the mountain range. At the base of its massive trunk, a piece of bark has been cut off, revealing an etched swirl of insect trails. Higher up, naked branches reach out, as if from a many-armed scarecrow. “This was alive until the drought killed it,” Stephenson says mournfully.

Northern California and Oregon farmers who lost irrigation water in 2001 for the sake of fish are plunging into a climactic courtroom battle for tens of millions of dollars in compensation. Years in the making, the trial set to start Monday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims near the White House involves a lot of money, but that’s not all. For other Westerners, too, it can have broader implications, clarifying what the government may owe for water steered away from crops toward environmental protection.

The recent storms that have buried the Sierra Nevada in snow have taken a big bite out of the state’s five-year snowpack deficit, according to researchers. Using satellite data, computer models and snowpack measurements, University of Colorado at Boulder scientists estimated the water content of the snow that has fallen since late December. They then compared it with the total snowpack shortfall of the five-year drought.

California’s drought continues to ease, with more wet weather helping to fill reservoirs and contributing to a mounting snowpack in the Sierra Nevada – but it has also led to emergency declarations in some areas. As of Jan. 26, the snow water equivalent statewide for the Sierra snowpack is 189 percent of average for this time of year and already over 100 percent of the April 1 average. The U.S. Drought Monitor for this week reports that the northern half of California is now out of drought and no parts of the state were designated as experiencing “exceptional drought” – the most severe designation.

A town hall meeting held on Thursday is answering questions after toxic levels of lead were found in the water supply for Sacramento State. The study was done after the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. The overall goal is to have no lead in the water, but different agencies have different regulations for what’s acceptable. The California Department of Public Health allows lead concentration up to 0.2 micrograms per liter. The FDA allows up to five micrograms per liter. The Environmental Protection Agency takes action at 15 micrograms per liter.