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The rain this winter has improved the City’s water supply situation, allowing us to avoid the peak demand shortage that had been projected for summer 2017. With this updated water supply news, the Santa Barbara City Council lifted the mandatory lawn watering ban on March 21^st and reduced the Citywide conservation target from 40 percent to 30 percent while encouraging residents and businesses to continue conservation, including minimized lawn watering. All other drought water use regulations remain in effect, including but not limited to, watering times, irrigation runoff and overspray, and more. Information on drought regulations may be found by visiting www.SantaBarbaraCA.gov/Drought.

Heavy rain in California could lead to emptier salad plates this year. Two months of precipitation this winter have threatened almond, celery, strawberry and other crops in the Salinas Valley, the latest in a string of increasingly erratic weather events to hurt farmers. Farmers say the record rains could damage and delay some crops, leading to shortages and higher prices. The Salinas Valley produces most of the leafy greens for the U.S. during this stretch of the season until cooler areas supplement supply, and some grocers say the winter conditions have forced them to brace for disruptions in supply.

California is getting a dose of spring showers as the first in a series of storms moves ashore. Drivers experienced a wet morning commute Tuesday in the San Francisco Bay Area, where several inches of rain is expected before the week’s out. The system will push snow levels down to 5,000 feet and add to the already stuffed snowpack in the Sierra Nevada. A band of heavy rain soaked the Central Coast overnight before moving into Southern California with winds gusting more than 40 mph.

After learning a lesson from what could have been the largest dam disaster U.S. history, California officials are reported to be considering withdrawing from the National Flood Insurance Program. Capital Public Radio is reporting that a proposal to exit the NFIP is based on the research of Nicholas Pinter with the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. “Examining data since 1994, Pinter said that California paid more than $3 billion more into the federal program than it has received in payments during the last 21 years,” a Capital Public Radio article states.

Reportedly, an effort to save millions of salmonoid fish below the Oroville dam may have caused a delay in releasing water from Oroville Dam on February 12. It set up the evacuation of at least 188,000 people in the area after authorities warned of an emergency spillway in the structure was in danger of failing and unleashing uncontrolled floods of water on towns below. It was a near disaster and would have taken agricultural irrigation water with it, which has a lot of people asking questions. One person is Edward Needham. He provides agricultural services for growers throughout the state.