The city of Sacramento has issued a "Spare the Water" alert through Thursday in response to temperatures expected to exceed 100 degrees each day. »

An annual water resources report generated less debate this year than it did when home building was at its peak in El Dorado County. Nevertheless, El Dorado Irrigation District officials worry that current restrictions on meters available in El Dorado Hills could hinder development. »

Potential sites for an Oroville whitewater rafting park have been narrowed to three locations, and the Department of Water Resources will do a feasibility study of the options.  »

The discovery of American Indian artifacts along the Feather River could add more than $1 million to the cost of building new levees to protect south Yuba County homes and businesses. »

Owners of the vast Conaway Ranch in Yolo County said Monday their hope in offering the property for sale is to push regional leaders to embrace a complete conservation strategy for the ranch. »

Plans for a proposed facility to manufacture sparkling water southeast of Orland will be reviewed Wednesday morning at a meeting of the city's technical advisory committee.  »

The state Legislature has approved a bill to temporarily ban suction dredge mining in the state's rivers, a largely recreational practice blamed for harming salmon spawning habitat. »

Water rates for Marysville residents could rise as much as $23 per month by 2013, if California Water Service Co. gets the OK from the state Public Utilities Commission. »

On July 7, about 300 passionate conservationists — sportsmen; representatives of numerous conservation, fishing, farming organizations, Indian tribes and business and tourism groups — assembled on the steps of the California State Capitol Building to express their outrage about the declining state of the Sacramento Delta, and a proposed water diversion canal as long as the Panama Canal. »

A proposal to divert water from the Sacramento River around the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta through a peripheral canal is moving forward. State water officials plan to drill into riverbeds that are part of the delta starting next month to try to gather information about the composition of their soils. »

Community uneasiness apparently caused an anonymous bottled water company to reveal its identity in proposed plans to locate to Orland. Friday afternoon Crystal Geyser Water Co. of Calistoga announced it has applied with the city of Orland to develop a bottling plant to produce its product, Sparkling Mineral Water.  »

A new study of local waterways has made some troubling discoveries about a widely used group of pesticides and the role of homeowners and businesses in putting them there. »

A new report by Shasta County on a proposed power plant in Anderson raises a number of environmental concerns about the project.  »

Armed with a new water-rate schedule, Nevada City officials will place liens on property owners who don't make timely payments on their water bills. »

California farmers could save enough water each year to fill Yosemite's Hetch Hetchy reservoir 16 times by using more efficient irrigation techniques, according to a study that is bound to be highly controversial among the state's powerful agriculture interests. »

Operations at America's tallest dam are back to normal after an accident deep inside the structure Wednesday hurt five people. Workers were testing 6-foot-tall valves that move water through Oroville Dam, which is owned by the California Department of Water Resources. When they opened one, a steel wall in the valve chamber where they stood was blown out. »

Finding it hard to make a living logging in Trinity County, Elmer and Gloria Reynolds of Big Bar focused on pulling gold from the Trinity River to earn an income this year. Now they are worried that a bill banning suction dredging passed by the state Legislature and being considered by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could put a stop to their search for gold. »

Staff at Cache Creek Conservancy knew the drought would take a toll on the wetlands back in January. The water for the Conservancy is usually supplied by the Yolo County Flood Control District at no cost. But with a hard-hitting drought in the middle of summer, the wetlands are now looking dry. The district doesn't have the extra water, and the conservancy can't afford to pay for what water it does receive. »

California may be caught in the throes of a years-long drought, but the scientists are now planning for a flood of Noah's Ark proportions. Worried about the long-term effects of climate change, the USGS and the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration are co-creating a scenario for a cataclysmic flood across the Golden State.  »

The extensive pumping of groundwater, first by nearby farmers and then, increasingly, by Sacramento County and its growing cities, upset this natural cycle. Throughout the region, pumping of groundwater now exceeds direct diversions of surface water from rivers significantly.  »

Drilling soil samples in Delta river bottoms is expected in September as California begins planning a controversial water diversion canal – a canal that also has a fleet of Delta boaters planning to weigh anchor in protest. »

An Almeda County Superior Court judge reaffirmed his ban on suction dredges in state rivers and threatened to hold the state Department of Fish and Game in contempt of court if it continued issuing dredge permits. »

Gov. Schwarzenegger's move to eliminate the state's Integrated Waste Management Board led to a fierce, behind-the-scenes battle at the highest levels of the bureaucracy. The tensions flared not over removing the board but over turf and money - the transfer of millions of dollars of fees from the state's Environmental Protection Agency to a department within the Natural Resources Agency.  »

The California Department of Fish and Game has stopped issuing permits for gold miners to use suction dredges in rivers until it develops new rules to protect salmon. »

The U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday unanimously passed legislation by Congresswoman Doris Matsui of Sacramento that brings the region a step closer to fully funding a more than $600 million levee improvement project in Natomas that would result in 200-year flood protection for the community. »

After months of budget wrangling, lawmakers are preparing to make water policy a central focus of the final month of this year’s legislative session.  »

A popular east county fishing reservoir could be saved after Shasta County joined Tetrick Ranch and the Abbott Ditch Users to try to stop its pending demolition. »

A rare joint meeting of the Woodland and Davis City Councils discussed joining forces under a new agency to solve the cities' water problems.  »

California lawmakers are working on a historic plan — the first of its kind in the United States — to require a 20 percent reduction in per-capita urban water use by the year 2020. It signals the end of cheap water for water wasters, a change that's bound to come as a shock to some residents in the Golden State. »