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A newly formed water and power company managed by a San Diego housing developer is negotiating behind the scenes with the City of Industry on the future of 2,500 acres of undeveloped rolling hills near the borders of Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties. The business-centric City of Industry has been aggressively trying to regain control of the historic Tres Hermanos Ranch in Diamond Bar and Chino Hills, one of the largest remaining pieces of vacant private land in the region. The city lost access to the land during the demise of local redevelopment agencies five years ago.

As Northern California braces for more wet weather, state officials plan to resume releasing water down a damaged spillway at Oroville Dam. The California Department of Water Resources said Thursday that dam operators will reopen the damaged spillway for up to 14 days beginning Friday as state officials finish repair plans. But as Northern California continues to be hit by more storms and in anticipation of runoff from the snowmelt, DWR Director Bill Croyle said that repairs probably won’t start until May or early June.

A southeast San Diego elementary charter school that discovered high levels of lead and vinyl chloride in its water plans to bring in a free mobile clinic to test kids for any possible lead exposure. The contamination was discovered after a therapy dog named “Star” would not drink the water. Charter school leaders say the 2-year-old black lab went to great lengths to alert them to the potential danger in the water.

California’s climate has long been dominated by cycles of intense dry conditions followed by heavy rain and snow. But never before in recorded history has the state seen such an extreme drought-to-deluge swing. Experts and state water officials say California is seeing more of these intense weather swings as temperatures warm, which has profound implications for the droughts and floods the state may face in the generations to come.

The San Diego Unified School District is planning to flush pipes with water at schools prior to the City of San Diego administering tests for lead. District officials say the practice will protect students, while water quality experts warn it could hide dangerous levels of the metal. The San Diego Unified School District began testing its schools’ water Tuesday after lab reports confirmed “higher than allowable” lead levels were found at one campus. Samples will be gathered at five campuses a day, Tuesday through Saturday, now through mid-June.