The fire chief noticed it when he tested hydrants in August — a rare occurrence as Coalinga desperately seeks to conserve water — and the first one shot out a foot-long block of compacted dirt. The second one ejected a can of Axe body spray.
Much-needed rainfall and thunderstorms are hitting central and northern parts of California, bringing relief to places that typically see little precipitation in September. An upper-level low-pressure system, an occurrence more likely in winter, is churning off the coast of Northern California. It follows unprecedented heat across much of California at the start of September, when a prolonged heat wave shattered thousands of records across the West.
After 22 straight years of drought, the Colorado River is no stranger to crisis. But even by its standards, the outlook this summer is bleak. The nation’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, are nearly three-quarters empty. Satellite images show the river’s topography has changed dramatically since 2017, and scenes on the ground are no less shocking: stranded houseboats, dead plants and cracked lake beds.
