Yet it's easy for the experts to sound out a clear warning: This may become, simply, the worst drought California has ever seen.  »

Score one for California's new political force: toilet power. An uprising in rural counties has obliged Sacramento to postpone a crackdown on that backcountry essential, the septic tank. »

It is apparent that fundamental components of the Clean Water Act are not being implemented faithfully in California.  »

Putah Creek in summer is a dam-worthy creek, but river beaver will simply hole up in banks, piling up sticks over the air hole of the den. In all cases, beavers are highly territorial and mark their areas by piling up mud and marking the mud pies with their scent.  »

In Butte and Glenn counties, water officials are watching groundwater levels carefully, noting some areas where wells are reaching levels seen in dry years of the early 1990s. Yet, so far it's still OK to water your lawn.  »

El Dorado Irrigation District is preparing to declare a Stage 1 drought March 9, barring significant increases in snow and rainfall in the next four weeks. »

Weather forecasters are quietly using the term "Fabulous February" to describe a series of storms likely to bring heavy rain and snow to California through at least Tuesday. »

The Google Earth computer virtual tours and accompanying information sheets are provided at the Chester branch library, free of charge, to the community by the Almanor Basin Watershed Advisory Committee. »

On Feb. 4, environmental and agriculture advocates squared off over water policy before an overflow crowd at the Fresno State University satellite student union. Agreeing only that California's water delivery system was broken, each side defended directions they believed state and federal water agencies should take to repair the system. »

With California's major reservoirs at woefully low levels, state and federal water agencies on Tuesday made a pitch to keep more water behind their dams this month. »

The past week of cold, wet weather hasn't been fun, but at least it's helped ease the state's drought problem. Right? "Not even close," said Elissa Lynn, a senior meteorologist with the state Department of Water Resources. "In spite of the fact we had all this precipitation, we're still very, very dry." »

California's degraded rivers and voracious water demand are not just a local problem. They threaten to exterminate a unique population of Pacific killer whales, federal scientists have found. »

Drinking water in the American west could become more toxic as a result of climate change, according to a new study, thanks in large part run-off from thousands of abandoned mine sites that pepper the region.  »

The smallest number of Pacific Ocean salmon ever recorded swam back to the Sacramento River via San Francisco Bay last fall, the latest evidence of the decline of the storied fish along the West Coast, officials said Wednesday.  »

Hikers, bicyclists and equestrians soon will be able to trek between Folsom Lake and Highway 49 near Coloma, following a trail along the south fork of the American River. »

A California drought entering its third year has led to reduced water shares for many farmers locally and statewide, federal and state officials announced this morning. »

A steady rainfall over the weekend helped bring California a lot closer to its normal levels of precipitation for the year - and more rain is on its way this week. Still, officials cautioned, it's too early to tell whether the state will have a drought. »

California water officials admitted this week they have already violated a key water flow standard in the Delta intended to protect imperiled fish. »

Northern California's second group of rainstorms in as many weeks marks relief for the drought-stricken region. But water managers cautioned that far more rain is needed in the coming weeks to loosen restrictions threatening to crimp agriculture statewide. »

A judge in California on Monday gave the federal government three more months to finish a new set of rules to protect endangered winter-run Chinook salmon, spring-run Chinook salmon and Central Valley steelhead. »

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California approved a $3 million settlement today between the U.S. Department of Justice, on behalf of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, and settling defendants Newmont Capital Limited and Newmont Mining Corporation of Canada Limited to resolve liability at the Lava Cap Mine Superfund Site in Nevada County, Calif. »

More than any other agency, the Department of Fish and Game is the designated steward of California's natural bounty -- its coastlines, its mountains, its 7,000 species of plants and 100,000 varieties of animal life. Yet it is fair to say that, despite hard work from many of its employees, the DFG hasn't been the effective and respected steward that California needs or deserves.  »

Prospects are not good this year for the folks who fish for salmon off the California coast - or for the people who like to eat it. »

In a newly published article in the February 2009 edition of the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Research Letters, the Pacific Institute estimates that the annual consumption of bottled water in the U.S. in 2007 required the equivalent of between 32 and 54 million barrels of oil -- roughly one-third of a percent of total U.S. primary energy consumption. »