PHILLIPS STATION — California water officials say cities and farms can expect ample water supplies this summer after winter storms blanketed the Sierra Nevada, nearly doubling the snowpack average for this time of year. The Department of Water Resources said Thursday the fifth and final survey at Phillips Station recorded...
US Declares Drought Plan Done for Colorado River
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — Seven states that rely on a major waterway in the U.S. West have finished a yearslong effort to create a plan to protect the Colorado River amid a prolonged drought, the federal government declared Tuesday. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Brenda Burman commended Arizona, California, Nevada, New...
Rain Brings 2nd California Super Bloom in 2 Years
BORREGO SPRINGS — It started with the desert lilies in December. Since then a wave of wildflower blooms has been crescendoing across Southern California's Anza-Borrego desert in a burst of color so vivid it can be seen from mountain tops thousands of feet above. Two years after steady rains followed...
Storms Boost Sierra Snowpack to 98% of Seasonal Average
PHILLIPS STATION — California officials say January storms have pushed the Sierra Nevada snowpack to 98 percent of average to date, which is good news for state water supplies. The California Department of Water Resources said Thursday that the snowpack is already at 71 percent of average for the state's...
Fresno County Crops Eclipse $7 Billion in 2017
It's amazing what a wet year can mean to the Valley's farming economy. The rains of 2017, coming after five years of drought, enabled Fresno County growers, ranchers, and dairymen to eclipse $7 billion in agricultural production last year. It was a record total for the county. Fresno County's total...
Battling 18 Blazes, California May Face Worst Fire Season
The largest wildfire ever recorded in California needed just 11 days to blacken an area nearly the size of Los Angeles — and it's only one of many enormous blazes that could make this the worst fire season in state history. Some 14,000 firefighters from as far away as Florida...
Gov. Brown Pledges Any Resources Needed for Fires
UPPER LAKE, Calif. — A massive wildfire in Northern California has torched more than 1,000 homes in and around the city of Redding, authorities said Wednesday as some evacuees were allowed to return home and new blazes exploded in what has become an endless summer of flame in the Golden...
How Many San Joaquin College Grads Passed Latest Bar Exam?
Passing the state bar is hard. It’s supposed to be. The California bar exam results from February prove it. Of the 5,000-plus hopeful attorneys, only 29% passed. It is the lowest passage rate since the state started keeping records in 1951. On the surface, the 13% passage rate for San...
Wildfire Season Begins With a Bang. Are You Prepared?
SAN FRANCISCO — Thousands fled their homes as major wildfires encroached on a charred area of Northern California still recovering from severe blazes in recent years, sparking concern the state may be in for another destructive series of wildfires this summer. Severe drought has already forced officials in several western...
Vidak: Brown Disrespects Valley Again With Dam Funding
Many of my Central Valley legislative colleagues are furious that the staff at Gov. Jerry Brown's Water Commission have rigged the system so the recently announced proposed funding for Temperance Flat Reservoir is just that — flat. It's not surprising that environmentally-oriented staff at the California Water Commission (and other...