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The National Weather Service is warning that the storm hitting Southern California on Sunday could be the strongest since 2010, prompting at least two cities in burn-scarred areas to issue evacuation notices in advance of heavy rain, flooding and possible mudslides. Light rain was falling across the region Sunday morning, with more intense rain expected as the day progresses. The heaviest rain was expected Sunday afternoon and evening.

After a half-decade of drought, California has been buffeted this winter by a series of powerful rain and snowstorms that dumped countless billions of gallons of water on the state’s watersheds. Some of the deluge was captured in the form of mountain snows that will feed rivers and streams during the annual spring melt. But at lower elevations, it was rain, some retained in man-made reservoirs that had become seriously depleted, but most flowing swiftly to the Pacific Ocean. At one point last week, flows on the Sacramento River and its American River tributary were more than 130,000 cubic feet...

Nearly all of California's reservoirs are far above their historical average volumes for this date of the year. This is somewhat due to the La Nina, and it's a La Nina heading OUT of an El Nino, not into one, so a subsequent drought is unlikely. Reservoir levels are so high, that many are approaching their typical April peaks. And the snowcaps are already approaching their average post-winter depths. Shasta Lake, the largest reservoir, is at 81% capacity and 126% of average. Terminus reservoir is at 321% of normal. Statewide snowcaps are at 160% of normal for the date, and...

A lull in a series of powerful winter storms gave Northern California a chance Monday to clean up from widespread flooding while also assessing how all that moisture is altering the state’s once-grim drought picture. A few big storms alone won’t end the six-year drought, but there were growing signs that the so-called atmospheric river was making a major dent.

TEL AVIV – Israel is set to double its annual water supply to Jordan as the country suffers from a deepening water crisis, made worse by the influx of refugees flooding its borders since the Syrian civil war broke out. Next month, Israel’s national water carrier, Mekorot, will lay a new pipeline from the Sea of Galilee and through the Jordan Valley to provide the Hashemite Kingdom with 100 million cubic meters of water annually, double its current allocation, the Israeli website Globes reported on Wednesday.

“There is no drought….If I win, believe me, we’re going to start opening up the water so that your farmers can survive” – Candidate Donald J. Trump, May 27, 2016, Fresno, California “If we don’t move now, we run the real risk of legislation that opens up the Endangered Species Act in the future, when Congress will again be under Republican control, this time backed by a Trump administration.” Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), “Latest Compromise Drought Relief Bill Receives Praise, Opposition”, Capital Press, December 7, 2016. President-Elect Donald J. Trump is poised to score a win-WIIN deal in the California...

A heavy dousing of autumn rain in Northern California has lifted a quarter of the state out of drought, the highest percentage in more than three years, according to a new federal report Thursday. Water officials who oversaw mandatory water conservation by cities and towns emphasized three-fourths of the state remains in the five-year drought. "Droughts are like recessions. Recovery from a recession doesn't happen overnight; recovery from a drought doesn't happen overnight," said Max Gomberg of the state Water Resources Control Board.

Six months into a deepening drought, the weather is killing crops, threatening cattle and sinking lakes to their lowest levels in years across much of the South. The very worst conditions — what forecasters call “exceptional drought” — are in the mountains of northeast Alabama and northwest Georgia, a region known for its thick green forests, waterfalls and red clay soil. […] The drought has spread from these mountains onto the Piedmont plateau, down to the plains and across 13 southern states, from Oklahoma and Texas to Florida and Virginia, putting about 33 million people in drought conditions, according to...

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. On Golden Valley Farm an hour north of Fresno, Mario Daccarett's employees milk 500 sheep every day, in rounds of 12. This creamy milk eventually is turned into cheese and sold at places like Whole Foods. "They tell me that our Golden Ewe cheese is the best for grilled cheese sandwich ever," Daccarett says. (I bought some and it was really tasty.) He says he gets about 800...

California has put the green lobby elite ahead of the normal human need for water, building no new reservoirs in decades and diverting the water of the Central Valley to flow to sea in order to protect a locally endangered smelt. Now an Israeli company is coming to the rescue of San Diego County, soon to be providing 10% of their water and creating 2,500 jobs through state-of-the-art reverse-osmosis technology. IDE Technologies dedicated the largest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere on Monday ..quenching the thirst of roughly 10 percent of San Diego County... The plant, which will be operated...

Taking the salt out of seawater helped Israel move from the constant threat of drought to a plentiful supply of water, but Israel has learned that desalination is not the only answer. Ben-Gurion University's Institute for Water Research is deep in Israel's Negev desert and away from the sea. Prof. Jack Gilron, head of the Department of Desalination and Water Treatment, and other researchers here test concepts in desalination to see if they might hold promise for industrial development. Israel has long sought solutions to the threat of drought. Commercial desalination began in the 1970s in the city of Eilat,...

As surely as the hot, dry Santa Ana winds bring blue skies to the coast and wildfires to the hills, severe California droughts bring calls to build desalination plants up and down the seashore. All that ocean water, begging to be converted to fresh and pumped into our pipelines, would solve our water supply problems instantly and permanently, boosters say. In the coming months, the drumbeat will only get louder. That's not only because the current drought is the longest and most severe in memory, but because a $1-billion desalination project scheduled to start operating in Carlsbad this fall will...

Making drinking water out of sea water is a growing trend, but the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says it is a potential threat to the environment that also could exacerbate climate change. The global review of desalination plants worldwide: "Making water: Desalination -- option or distraction for a thirsty world?" -- states that some of the driest and thirstiest places are turning to desalination. These include regions where water problems affect large, populous areas -- Australia, the Middle East, Spain, the United Kingdom and United States, with India and China following suit. "Desalinating the sea is an expensive, energy-intensive and...

The researchers compiled data from the California Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, which tracks oil and gas wells around the state. Researchers determined if water had been detected while drilling, and also gathered data about depth, salinity and pressure. After looking at 360 oil and gas fields spread across eight counties, the researchers say that they’ve documented a trove of fresh water just over half the size of Lake Michigan hidden in California’s bedrock 1,000 to nearly 10,000 feet below the surface. This is almost three times more groundwater than what was indicated in previous studies, many conducted...

Note: My usual web host didn't like this article because it would hurt the feelings of many of their friends. Sorry; no I'm not. We now know that some conservatives can be as disgusting, hateful, and illogical as the old Bush-Deranged liberals. Here I now speak of the Never-Trumpers, the loudmouths that have engaged in a full court press with their rhetoric, claiming not only that voting for Trump is the act of a stupid person, but that God will judge against you if you vote for the tycoon. Yes, I’ve read screeds directed at Christians that the Almighty will...

Thousands of witches angered by the lenient sentence given to Stanford rapist Brock Turner have performed a mass hexing after organizing online. As well as creating the event, Hexen posted instructions for the spellcasting ceremony online. Followers were told to get a black candle, piece of string, and a representation of Brock Turner, noting that the candle could be anointed with 'urine, menstrual blood or hexing oil'. Next, the hexers were told to draw a circle of power around themselves for protection - with salt being recommended as a good material - before marking 13 crosses on the candle and...

Volcanic activity worldwide 1 Jun 2016: Colima volcano, Bromo, Semeru, Dukono, Turrialba, Nyiragongo...

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump told California voters Friday that he can solve their water crisis, declaring, "There is no drought." Speaking at a rally in Fresno, Calif., Trump accused state officials of denying water to Central Valley farmers so they can send it out to sea "to protect a certain kind of three-inch fish

Link only per agreement with Gannett

Gov. Jerry Brown's executive order requires cities and towns to continue monthly reporting of water useGov. Jerry Brown ordered California to permanently follow some conservation measures taken during the state's drought. Brown's order on Monday came as water officials considering whether to ease a 20 percent conservation order for cities and towns. The order does not set a mandatory percentage for saving water. Any changes proposed on Monday would likely go before the State Water Resources Control Board on May 18.