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Water is California’s lifeblood, feeding Central Valley farmlands, inviting Malibu lawns and gardens to grow and cooling Silicon Valley data centers. It spurs the state’s diverse ecosystem, allowing for an economy and production exported all across the U.S.  California’s secret suffering — a record-breaking, six-year drought — has become irreversibly visible in recent years, as the impact of dwindling water levels, population growth, aging infrastructure and climate change strain the state’s access to fresh water. All of California is in “severe drought” or worse, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. 

Signaling a cutback in water supplies for farming and cities, California regulators on Wednesday issued a new scientific analysis that proposes overhauling the management of the Sacramento River and devoting more water to Northern California’s dwindling fish populations.The State Water Resources Control Board, in a widely anticipated report crafted by its staff, said it’s considering allowing much more of the flow from the Sacramento River and its tributaries to wash out into the ocean.The board avoided issuing a specific recommendation on how much additional water should go to fish.

Tree rings in the American Southwest provide evidence of megadroughts that hit the region hundreds of years ago. According to a new study from Cornell University, these droughts have been linked to the demise of civilizations, and changing climate conditions virtually assure that another one is on its way. If precipitation decreases, stays them same, or even increases slightly in the coming years, there’s a 99 percent chance of a megadrought hitting the region, the study says.

Forecasts are already showing a possibility of La Niña in our future, with the Climate Prediction Center for the National Weather Service rating our chances at about 70 percent. The system is predicted to be weak and short-lived, possibly arriving early next month. La Niña is not expected to make it through the winter, and forecasters gave it about a 55 percent chance of it lasting past December. Why the uncertainty? La Niña depends on different factors, including ocean water temperature along the central Pacific.