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

Water levels in Lake Mead, which stores water for Arizona, California, and Nevada, have plunged in recent years.  If levels drop below a certain point, they trigger an official shortage.  But as Maya Springhawk Robnett of the Arizona Science Desk reports, the three states are trying to avoid that… Federal water managers say there is a 50/50 chance water levels in Lake Mead will fall below one-thousand-seventy-five feet above sea level, or about 35% capacity for the reservoir.  That’s the point at which federal rules will kick in mandating radical cuts in water taken from the Lake.

Wet.  After five years of drought, most of California finally has become wet.  The mountains are exceptionally wet and covered with snow.  The state’s reservoirs are fuller than their long term average (with a few exceptions).  Flood control structures are being employed, some for the first time since 2006. We can now better understand the balance needed for California’s water system – which must operate for many sometimes-conflicting purposes in a climate with wild swings in water availability.  Every year, California must operate for drought, flood, public and ecosystem health, and economic prosperity (or at least financial solvency).

The Folsom Dam auxiliary spillway project is in its last phase and on schedule to finish by October, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District.The $900 million structure, which runs parallel to Folsom Lake Crossing, has been in construction since 2008 and is a joint project between several federal and state agencies: the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, State of California and Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency. The Corps of Engineers built the dam, while the Bureau of Reclamation excavated the spillway chute and will operate the dam when it is finished.

California’s historic drought may be winding down. But water officials across the Golden State are increasingly exploring a hidden but promising way to add to the state’s water supply: removing salt from the billions of gallons of brackish — or distastefully salty — water that lies deep below the Earth’s surface. A new report by the Pacific Institute that explores the cost of potential water sources in California is spurring hopes that the desalination of brackish water could quickly become a vital tap in the state.

On the heels of a storm-tossed January, another atmospheric river is taking aim at Northern California, but there’s a chance it might miss the Bay Area, according to the National Weather Service.The steady flow of moisture from the Pacific is expected to set up Tuesday morning above the North Bay and Northern Sierra Nevada; however, there’s a possibility it could shift south to the Santa Cruz Mountains, according to Steve Anderson, a forecaster with the weather service. Forecasters will have a better idea of its path in the coming days.