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

Some bad news for avocado lovers — some local restaurants have taken the fruit off their menus due to a shortage. Several things play into this shortage, including California’s drought and an early harvest. Plus, according to local avocado farmers, growers in Mexico went on strike because they weren’t happy about the prices they were getting. “And that’s what you have now, is a created shortage by them because they did a shutdown,” said Alan Cavaletto, Morro Creek Ranch General Manager.

New research may have found a solution to address California’s prolonged period of drought. A study conducted by researchers at Stanford University suggests that California’s aquifers, underground areas where water collects, may have up to three times the amount of useable groundwater as previously estimated. The research estimates that the previously untapped deep groundwater source could hold up to 2,700 billion tons of freshwater under the state’s Central Valley.  Historically, deep groundwater aquifers have been developed for gas and oil extraction, rather than used as a viable water source.

Back-to-back bouts of rain that began Monday will make for an unusually wet week leading up to Halloween, said forecasters who are beginning to grow concerned about potential flooding this winter in fire-scorched areas. Sprinkles began falling Monday morning and spread throughout the afternoon, with downpours expected to last through the night. The stormy weather will continue until Tuesday evening, with as much as 2 inches of rain expected in the hardest-hit areas of the North Bay, National Weather Service meteorologists said.

The San Joaquin River is the longest river in Central California, and the second most endangered river in the country. But because of dams, levees, and water diversion, over 100 miles of the river has been dry for 50 years. Sacramento – The San Joaquin River is second only to the Apalachicola, Chattahoochee and Flint rivers basin in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida as a seriously endangered river in this country.