California drought

Water pours out of Lake Oroville in Northern California in March. Reservoirs levels plummeted over the last three years, but now have more water than they can hold.

Environment

3 reasons why California's drought isn't really over, despite all the rain

5:05am March 23, 2023

by Lauren Sommer

California has been deluged by storms this winter, but fixing the state's severe drought will take more than rain. The state had deeper problems in how it uses water.

Residents of Red Lodge, Mont., are seen clearing mud, water and debris from the small city's main street after flood waters coursed through a residential area with hundreds of homes.

Science

La Niña, which worsens Atlantic hurricanes and Western droughts, is gone

3:19pm March 09, 2023

by The Associated Press

The cooling in the Pacific Ocean has gone on for three years. Its end is usually good news for the U.S. and other parts of the world, including drought-stricken northeast Africa, scientists said.

A small stream runs through the dried, cracked earth of a former wetland near Tulelake, Calif., on June 9, 2021. Southern California's gigantic water supplier has taken the unprecedented step of requiring some 6 million people to cut their outdoor waterin

California cracks down on water use as it sees its most severe drought ever

3:44am June 02, 2022

by Ayana Archie

Water departments had the option to choose between an outdoor watering limit of one day per week or by volume of water used.

Frank Gehrke of California's Department of Water Resources checks the snowpack depth with Courtney Obergfell and Michelle Mead of the National Weather Service.

California Appears Headed Back To Drought

9:48pm February 01, 2018

by Richard Gonzales

Less than a year ago, California declared an end to a five-year drought, but a lack of winter precipitation is bringing new worries.

Bidwell Marina at Lake Oroville in April in Oroville, Calif. After record rainfall and snow in the mountains, much of California's landscape has turned from brown to green and reservoirs across the state are near capacity.

From Moonscape To Lush: Photographs Capture California Drought's Story

10:50am April 17, 2017

by Kevin Leahy

Getty Images photographer Justin Sullivan's "before-and-after" images show how recent rains in California swelled formerly dry reservoirs and turned brown landscapes green.

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Motorcyclists enter the Carrizo Plain National Monument near Taft, Calif., during a wildflower "super bloom" on Wednesday. After years of drought, an explosion of wildflowers in Southern and Central California is drawing record crowds.

Gov. Jerry Brown Lifts Drought Emergency For Most Of California

8:12pm April 07, 2017

by Colin Dwyer

Still, the state will retain some rules it placed on water use during the years-long drought. "This drought emergency is over," Brown said Friday, "but the next drought could be around the corner."

Winter rains have eased the drought in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area northwest of Los Angeles.

With Drought Emergency Over, Californians Debate Lifting Water Restrictions

5:47pm March 30, 2017

by Kirk Siegler

California is expected to begin easing sweeping water use and drought restrictions after an extraordinary winter of storms. But a fierce debate rages over whether the rules should become permanent.

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All of California is now free of "exceptional drought" status, but pockets of extreme or severe drought remain in the south, as seen in this image from the U.S. Drought Monitor.

Nearly Half Of California Emerges From Drought In Latest Report

2:38pm January 26, 2017

by Bill Chappell

For the first time since January of 2014, no part of California is in the "exceptional drought" category, according to a U.S. Drought Monitor report.

These Central Valley sheep are happily munching on sprouted barley grown indoors. Farmer Mario Daccarett says the barley, grown in shipping containers, is sweet and keeps his sheep full longer.

With Water In Short Supply, One California Farmer Grows Feed Indoors

1:22pm August 31, 2016

by Ezra David Romero

The extended drought in California has farmers looking for ways to use less water. Among them, growing feed indoors using hydroponics. The new diet is making some Central Valley sheep very happy.

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Officials found the toxin microcystin in the blue-green algae present at Discovery Bay, Calif. For people exposed to the toxin, symptoms include dizziness, rashes, fever, vomiting and in more unusual cases, numbness.

Poisonous Algae Blooms Threaten People, Ecosystems Across U.S.

7:36pm August 29, 2016

by Lesley McClurg

Serious algae outbreaks have hit more than 20 states this summer. Algae blooms aren't unusual. But the frequency, size and toxicity now are worse than ever, and changes in climate are partly to blame.

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